January 27, 2284 / The Scientist / Dunbar, Falkland Islands
VIEWED: JANUARY 31, 2284 / SOL NOVUS / NEW ADELAIDE, ANTARCTICA REMOTE ACCESSING IN PROGRESS… ARCHIVAL RECORDS PROCESSED. VIEW? VIEWING MODE ACTIVATED. RECORDS WILL BE TERMINATED AFTER VIEWING. PROCEED ANYWAY? PROCEEDING… SET-UP COMPLETE.
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WELCOME, USER SOL NOVUS.
If you’re reading this journal, it’s too late to change things.
I don’t know why anybody would write a secret log like this, meant to help everyone, and start it like that. It kind of ruins the whole ‘last hope’ vibe. So I’m writing this in the hopes that it will help somebody someday, no matter what I end up discovering.
A week ago I left New Adelaide on the Antarctic peninsula, and as of this morning I have reached the old-world Falkland Islands. The quickstrikes gave me some trouble leaving but I was able to drive them off with the headlights of the ATRV I stole to cross the Southern Ocean. The trip took about four days, and I’m very hungry as my idiot self did not think to take some food out of the storage compartment for the ride. I’m writing this as I sit in the ATRV waiting for the sun to rise. I’m going to head northwest towards old Buenos Aires in the morning, as I’ve heard of increased quickstrike and featherspin activity in the area.
Speaking of which, on the way here I saw such huge swarms of avians, both native and spliced. And they were intermingling with each other! I wonder if the splicers’ aggression genes (which they definitely possess, I don’t care what Sol Ignis says!) are recessive enough to be bred out. Just another thing to study when I finally find a population.
NOTE FROM VIEWER: osah, would you please look into their recorded interactions with splicers? i can’t figure out how they would have seen enough splicer behavior to figure this out.
I need to find a concentrated community of splicers in order to really study their genes. Any intermingled population won’t work because I’ve found that they have an abundance of recessive genes. Their edited genetics are quickly diluted in any setting in which they inbreed- a failsafe from their creators? They also appear to avoid mixing with native species, so if I can find a pure population it should stay that way.
I should probably also start out this journal by listing what we know so far about the splicers. It’s common knowledge that they weren’t around before the collapse, but it’s unclear whether the collapse’s resulting radiation created them or they just escaped from some genetics organization. During my research I’ve also discovered that they seem to adapt to new environments faster than native wildlife, and that’s how they spread across the globe so quickly. In the years after the collapse when the world began to heat up, the splicers appeared in more places than ever- and the few DNA tests I’ve performed on them make it seem like they evolved that way. It should be impossible, the time span was way too short for evolution. But every sign pointed to it.
Looking at splicers next to native life, the splicers always seem to have the clear advantage- they’re larger and designed to survive. I need to observe how the native organisms up north are even still surviving after all this time.
Tomorrow I’m going to find a settlement and ask around for any splicer sightings. They’re not exactly easy to miss, so I should have some luck. I wonder if the Adelaide Sols are hunting for me yet. I can’t say for sure whether what I’ve discovered so far about the splicers is enough for them to kill me, or just imprison me for life.
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I’m going to make some sketches of quickstrikes and paddleclaws, as they seem to be the most common splicers out here. Maybe I can gain some insight on their anatomy that way.
Anyways, goodnight little bundle of carbon fiber!
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