[Journal Entry #78]
(A text transcript of a journal entry by Subject [REDACTED] Jenkins during [DATA EXPUNGED]. Notes are indicated by parentheses)
[Audio recording begining in 3..2...1-]
The camera fucking broke 'gain, so this is all yer getting future me. No bitching about it, and I'll uh...draw some of this. Not gon' be the best though, but it'll do.
(Subjects have reported complex electrionic devices requiring repair frequently when inside [DATA EXPUNGED]. This is the last known mention of the camera originally brought inside with Jenkins, it likely having been unrepairable and abandoned.)
'Nyways, I've gone down a...couple miles more? Dunno...the uh GPS stopped working too, and it's not easy to get yer bearings in a place like this...
[Cloth rustling]
(Indication, alongside lack of general movement, that the recorder has made camp before making an entry, unusual behavior, which may be linked to the Subject's doubts about the mission.]
It's hot. Like really damn hot. And it's only getting hotter. Tha' would be fine if I werent so damn close to the surface, I'm only in the early hundreds. It shouldnt be this hot already, right?
(All reported temperatures by Subject Jenkins and other Subjects were incredibly unusual for the areas climate, location, and depth. However, due to the lack of basic thermometers, and the more complex machines nonfunctional state, these answers cannot be trusted. Later testing gave incredibly variable results, with no Subject giving a matching answer on temerature and humidity, pointing to the experienced temperature being linked to a non-physical cause. Subject Jenkins is most likely hallucinating the sensations of heat.)
Cant get comfy in my sleeping bag now, though it's still better than sleeping on rock.
The roofs all shelly now too. Got layers, they overlap each other. Kinda like scales, but all warped at the edges. Uniform, smooth too....
Whatever came down through here came down fast, hot, and weird. And it's prolly still burning too. That aint no normal asteriod.
It's so uniform, thats whats been buggin' me so much.....No branching tunnels, no scars in the earth. Jus' a long, smooth tunnel, that bends and twists more like a worm dug it than a crash site. Musta been a mighty big worm, 'cause there aint any signs of erosion I can spot, 'n astroids leave craters. They dont burrow.
(All samples taken back for testing showed signs of melting, with no other types of erosion.)
Speakin' of how fuckin' weird this place is, I think the stone is changing color. It's gotten deeper, purple-y or somethin' like that. It's strange, not like any normal rock I've seen. Now I'm wishin' I liked geology a lil' more in school!
(Subject Jenkins was correct in his guess that the rock was not native to this area. Tests on samples have shown it to be not native to any location on Earth.)
[Horse laughter, then silence]
Y'know...
[Another long pause]
I'm starting to get uneasy about this whole thing, with the GPS and electronics not working right. The whole cave is unearthly. I know, I know it'll be the find of a lifetime, and probably safe 'n all, 'n I'm prolly watching these tapes back 'n laughin' right about now...
I jus' can't get the thought out of my head that whatever is down there is more trouble than it's worth.
(First direct vocalization of doubts about the mission by Subject Jenkins, incredibly late for most Subjects.]
[A third pause]
It's just the lack of sleep, lettin' what Ross said get to me... I'll travel some more in the morning.
[Movement. Audio crackles for a brief moment.]
(Recording device is likely being moved well Subject Jenkins attempts to turn it off.)
Jus' hope this thing keeps kickin down there too...
[Recording End. Play next recording?]
