DR.KEL'S DIARIES DAY 2
0:23 - I think my head is going to explode. I passed out right in front of the radar and fell face first into it. At least the glasses are okay, but cleaning blood off the console is going to be a pain in the ass. Whatever was in those woods isn't on the radar anymore. Did it leave? Did it hide? I don't know and I don't think I care anymore. If it wants me, I'm here. Do whatever the fuck you want. I need a drink.
0:33 - There are shooting stars outside. Pretty. I wish I was as far away from this base as they are. At least, if I'm going to die here, there's going to be a pretty backdrop.
0:45 - Bao and Noa sent me new working instructions. These fuckers still expect me to work? They still expect me to do their fucking bidding after all this? I hope they're watching. WATCH THIS, BAO
1:58 - I'm back. I'll admit, getting drunk off old beer and throwing bottles at imaginary cameras, while screaming at Bao to go fuck himself wasn't my proudest moment, but at least I got my anger out. I feel better. My head hurts and I feel like I'm going to throw up, but I can finally think again. Somehow, I managed to muster up the courage to go outside, ordered the hook from the shop and used it to fish out some sort of keycard from a window in the bunker. I guess being drunk and ignorant to danger has its benefits, huh. Anyway, that keycard opened up the bunker doors, which is good news. The bad news is that there is a second door down there, which ignores the card completely. I feel like I'm doing an escape room puzzle with these doors. My guess is that there is a second card somewhere, if we follow the puzzle logic. I need to find it, but that can wait until morning. I am feeling much better, but getting out there again doesn't seem like a good idea to a sober version of me. I guess I'm starting to understand why Dee had so much beer bottles scattered around. But I need my head cold and functional. I am not dying here. I am finding out what the fuck happened here and living to tell the tale.
NOTE TO SELF: The hook might come useful for getting around and, eventually, escaping, but I'm going to need practice or I'll break my legs, I'm not exactly an acrobat. Maybe I could start by getting the rotting whatever-the-fuck-it-is from the vents in the main room.
2:26 - I opened the vents. Good thing I decided to try and practice climbing the rope and didn't just pull down the vent itself. There was a Molotov strapped to it waiting for me to do just that like a fucked up Home Alone trap. Fucking hell, Dee, who were you hiding from? In the vents were a few packs of spoiled food (thank god nothing died in there) and a hideout. Someone, Dee, most likely, was hiding there from something. There was also a note, where he wrote about some figure standing outside and it's footprints. "I do not feel safe I want to leave". Oh, if only you knew how much I get you right now, you hoarding bastard. Maybe this figure he mentioned and the signal the radar picked up yesterday are one and the same. Fuck. If Dee made a fire trap to protect himself from it and still ended up as those basement remains, there's not much I can do even if I tried. Whatever. I am armed. I am not going down without a fight.
NOTE TO SELF: The note says this someone was watching him from a concrete pole. Which one? I'd better look around during the day.
2:43 - Oh, almost forgot, I also found a lead pipe in the vents. I think I'm going to keep it. I know it might not be as good a weapon as the axe, but I'm feeling better NOT using a weapon that most likely killed the previous crew. I also still have that Molotov, but it is kinda scary to keep it around, so I locked it up with the axe for now.
3:00 - Noa sent me some background on the pictures I sent him. I don't know if he's trying to help me find something out or he just loves rambling about history, but right now, he's my only source of information about the facility. He said that the bunker is indeed a safety bunker, but nobody knows why they built it and it's been out of order for a long time. This and the fact that it's actually securely locked, unlike the base, lead me to believe Dee doesn't have anything to do with it. So, what could be in there that ASO needs so securely locked away in a remote radar compound? That might be a whole different investigation, even deeper than what happened to the crew. Or maybe it's connected. Maybe someone opened it and found out too much, so ASO killed everyone to silence them? Who knows. This is moving more into government conspiracy theory territory than I'd like, but I can't rule it out yet.
Noa also told me that the freezer was built not by ASO, but by some W. Ziegler's construction company and specifically said it’s nothing special and I shouldn't investigate it further. This sounds shady as fuck and I don't think some construction company would just build a giant meat freezer under a radar base for no reason at all. I can't yet think of how it can factor into whatever was going on here, but I keep thinking about it. Something is so wrong about this fucking freezer. I would say the thought of it sends chills down my spine, but that's a pun too dumb even for me.
3:33 - I have a camera in my computer menu that wasn't there before. Where the fuck is it? Seems like some sort of elevator or something like that. Who's showing me this? Why? I tried to take a screenshot, but all transformers blew out immediately. Bao rebooted my power, thankfully; at least he's doing something useful. But where is this room? Is this inside that bunker? Seems like a warning. Which means someone IS watching me. The timing is too good to be a coincidence. The screenshot came out too dark, so I took and printed a picture of the monitor to have a better look. The camera is still there, but I can't control it in any way. I need to find this elevator. Or is this a sign to avoid it?
3:43 - The radar is picking up something again. Two signals somewhere in the mountains near the compound entrance. I am not alone again. Fuck. Is one of them the same signal I saw yesterday? Is this whoever or whatever killed Dee and the others or is ASO sending someone to watch me? In any case, this doesn't look good. I pray that the base is safe from anyone coming in, but I'm not so sure anymore. Doesn't matter. My doors are locked and I have my pipe with me, so whatever they want with me - I will fight back.
NOTE TO SELF: The signals don't seem to be moving closer for now. Let's play the waiting game then.
4:03 - The camera is gone, good thing I took pictures. The signals on the radar are acting strange. One of them disappeared and then another appeared on the other side of the valley. Is it the same one? Are they trying to scare me and force me to run? Too fucking bad, I'm not taking the bait. I know I am safer in here, as fucked up as this base is. Want me? Come and get me. I'm waiting.
4:29 - Bao accused me of photoshopping the creepy camera screenshot of the elevator to prank him. What an asshole. But I actually don't think it was him showing me that elevator footage. He knows what happened here, and I'm sure as shit not getting ny info on that, or even an acknowledgement that something is wrong, but he responded to the photo. That's the first actual response I've gotten from him. Whatever is going on with that elevator is not ASO's doing. Something is up with this bunker outside, and I guess that's another investigation for me to do on my own. No rest for the wicked, I guess.
4:50 - Ordered some new cameras to put in the basement and outside the front door. More security never hurt. Especially with those signals jumping around the forest outside.
5:10 - One of the new radar signals moved closer to the base, but is now staying in a forest near the Yankee radar. I am scared shitless, no matter what I tell myself, but maybe If it stays there until the sun starts coming up, I can go there and try to take a picture of whatever it is. I need to be stealthy about it, though, so I'll have to go on foot and just pray that whatever it is doesn't see or hear me.
5:48 - I went out to look for that signal. Nothing was there except a wooden stick stuck in the ground near one of the cement poles. Are the poles important in some way? Dee mentioned a figure watching him from near one. I took a picture of the pole next to the base for my board, but I didn't find any footprints there and there were no signs of anybody on the Yankee pole. Only the stick. Why did the signal bring me there? Does the stick mean something? I think I may be overthinking stuff at this point, I haven't had quality sleep in about a month and barely had any sleep at all since yesterday. My head hurts and the questions keep piling up. At least now that I know I'm alone in the base and there is nothing coming from the woods, I might be able to sleep for bit. The day is promising to be a shitshow.
7:48 - I found some notes in the TR_2 office. The guy working there not only saw something, but was attacked by some sort of creature. The note claims it was "undead" and hard to kill even with a hammer. I can't make out most of the note, but I guess he killed whatever the hell attacked him. There were some weird bones in the office, I am not sure about bringing them here, but I took a picture. I don't think I can be surprised by something at this point. Undead bone dog in the forest? What the hell, sure. At least I think it's dead, but the guy that killed it is probably dead, too. He said that those towers around the perimeter are watchtowers to stop the staff from escaping. Said they'd shoot him if he ran away. They probably did. Once again, I'm not fucking surprised by this point. ASO clearly put us all here to die. I am just another useless test dummy to them. I don't think anyone is coming to save me. I don't think they care if I survive. Not even Ena. I really shouldn't have taken this goddamn job. I wish I could go back and refuse it. Maybe I would've been happy just being a broke nerd with a regular day job. Maybe I would find a use for my skills elsewhere. Maybe I would've been happy still being able to fucking trust people close to me. Maybe. I would at least be living some sort of a life, not surviving on whatever scraps Bao throws my way and hiding under the desk every night from things I'm not even sure are real. I tell myself I'm ready for anything and that I'm strong and I'll manage, but it's hard to fool myself. I'm tired, scared and alone. I am not ready for any of this. I can't believe Ena would do this to me.
9:02 - Found a weird place near the Romeo dish. There's a cliff with radiation warnings dotted around it, which of course means another locked area I just had to wander into. Let's hope I was quick enough to not get any radiation poisoning. That would be ironic, wouldn't it? Anyway, in the center of that area is some sort of cave with something at the end of it. Webs? Weird roots? More of Dee's trash? Whatever it is, I don't like it at all. Another fucking creepy mystery in this cursed forest. There were also skulls in the cave, but they seem too old to belong to anyone working here. A relief, sure, but some poor cave diver still died there at some point, which still creeps me out. Let's see what Noa has to say about this. What the fuck even is this place? Rituals, murders, psychosis, radiation, weird bony animals. What next? Actual fucking aliens? Demons? Any other sort of Lovecraftian horrors to torment me? Give me a damn break.
NOTE TO SELF: I'm gonna need more cork boards for all this crap. And food. And batteries. And some medicine just in case, I almost broke my legs in these goddamn woods a couple times already.
10:10 - Made myself another weapon with that stick I found in the woods and some stones from outside. Now I have something resembling a stone axe. Just like Minecraft!
NOTE TO SELF: What the fuck am I doing with my life...
11:37 - I have a gun now! I found an old hunting rifle in one of the satellite server rooms. What was a hunting rifle doing in a server room? Maybe somebody was using the walkway as a vantage spot for hunting, who knows. It's absolutely against regulations, but someone like Dee would likely not care about that at all. I have never even held a firearm, and It is honestly kinda scary in person, but it gives me a feeling of safety by even just laying in the locker. I am armed now. I can protect myself. I hope I can, at least. I sent Bao some signals I've decoded and, surprisingly, Max sent me some emails. If only she knew what was really going on here. I doubt she knows anything, we got hired at almost the same time and Bao probably just keeps her on decoding. Fucking asshole. I need some way to reach out. If she finds out what this place really was, she could help me. She could go to the police, at least, and somebody could evacuate me from this fucking shithole. I need to keep sending letters with the item boxes. Sending them with the disk ones was probably a bad idea, but I hope whatever Bao saw was innocent enough for him to write off as me being weird. Item boxes go to another department, though. At least they should. For now that's my only hope for outside contact. I need to reach Max. I need to get out of here.
13:54 - I decided to go out and explore the transformer buildings, because the guys working out there have clearly seen some shit and I thought I might find out what happened to them. And I did find some weird shit out there.
TR_1 - The guy working there was the one writing about bone creatures, the building seems fine, abandoned, sure, but mostly fine, apart from some really strange scratches on the front doors and on the windows. This transformer is located near that fucking hut, so I'm thinking this guy was somehow caught up in all that ritual stuff. He was writing about escaping and said that whoever is in those towers was going to shoot him. For some reason I don't doubt they did.
TR_2 - This one is fucking weird. The backroom is kitted out with a workbench and there are a lot of different part around, but I have no idea who was working there. Whoever it was, was supposed to repair the printer, so I guess he was some sort of "repair guy" around here. Behind the transformer is a field with a skeleton. The guy got fucking vaporized. The skeleton gives off so much radiation, my camera almost fried. What the fuck. What could do this to a person? What the fuck are ASO testing in here?
TR_3 - I have no idea what happened here, but this one creeps me out the most. No notes, no signs of life, but the building is trashed even more than the base was and barricaded as if whoever was there was preparing for a war. There are old gravestones on a hill nearby, I guess they might be important to this place's history, somehow, but I couldn't make out the writing on them. I found some sort of military crate in the transformer's backroom, a cat bed and some hiking boots. Was a nightmare hauling all this crap back to base, but at least the boots improve my chances of keeping my legs. I can't open the crate, though. It's rusted shut and I couldn't break it even with the axe. TR3 is not far from Romeo and the cave, and Noa did say that whoever went into those caves came out "rattled". With all this death and craziness around here, I can't even imagine what the transformer staff had to go through. Fucking hell.
On other discoveries - I took a picture of one of the watchtowers, that according to TR1 staff, are sniper towers. I get a feeling of being watched when looking at them and I am sure ASO would fucking shoot me on the spot if I tried to walk out again. Why the fuck did I even take this damn job? I also found a box near the border, It's creepy, but what here isn't at this point, and I have no idea how to open it for now. There's also the doll. I found a plush doll of some smug looking creature at the bottom of a sinkhole in the forest. And after picking it up I just found myself standing back here. I don't remember walking back. I didn't want to bring it back. That's what we're doing now? A cursed furry doll? At least It's not trying to kill me, but for fuck's sake, this goddamn forest just can't stop throwing weird shit at me, huh?
14:39 - Found a really weird signal. Looks kinda like a computer floating through space. Did we put that much trash out into the universe already? Damn. Wonder what kind of signal it's giving off.
14:45 - WHAT THE FUCK. The signal from that fucking space computer or whatever it was, was a virus. HOW DO YOU EVEN SEND A VIRUS TO A SIGNAL DECODER? It fried everything, including the breakers in the basement. And while walking to the fucking basement I found a locker filled with blood and meat. I think those were the remains from down there, Dee's remains. WHAT THE FUCK. Someone is in the fucking base again. Whatever is here, it's out for me. I'm not safe here at all. shit. SHIT. I barricaded the door to the control room. But is it safe? IS ANYWHERE SAFE? I have a gun and Dee's bomb, but what can I do? Whatever is out there killed the whole staff team, even with all their traps and weapons. I am not strong enough to fight. What am I even strong enough for? I never could fight. All I fucking do is run and hide.
I hear sounds from behind the windows. I don't even want to look.
Is this fog? Smoke? Inside the base? It's getting darker. I don't want to look anymore. I don't even have the strength to want to live anymore. I just want this to end.
16:27 - I passed out again. I hate it, I hate being weak and afraid like that, I hate not being able to do shit about being scared but passing out at least helps me through panic attacks like this one. I wish there was another way. I feel absolutely fucking horrible, but, at the same time, a bit calmer. Like whatever was here is gone somehow. I don't know how to explain it without sounding crazy, but I feel... Safe? I don't know if I can feel safe here at all, but at least I feel as safe as possible inside these walls again. I need to get my shit together and keep working to protect myself, keep fortifying somehow. I need to survive until somebody rescues me and keep writing letters so that Max could send someone. While I was out I dreamt about Ena. A rare moment without my usual nightmares. It was a good dream, I saw us having a picnic in these woods. I dreamt we were happy again. I used to hope we could be, but after this, I can't understand her anymore. I don't even want to think about her again for now. I wish I could. As if I could stop my mind from wandering back to her. I need to get back to work. I need to get a grip. I still have that meat in the locker to deal with.
17:10 - I removed the meat from the locker and cleaned the place up. I almost vomited all over the hallway but the thought of cleaning that up too really helped. Sobered me up after the blackout, too. These aren't Dee's remains, those are still down there. This looks and smells more like regular animal meat. Deer? Boars? Not sure what lives around here. I can't even imagine what kind of a prank or whatever the fuck this was, but something is out there and it's clearly shown it knows I'm here and it could get me anytime. What a marvelous fucking thought to have. Thanks, forest creature\serial killer\whatever you are. And fuck you, too.
NOTE TO SELF: I need to stay awake. Good thing I have a coffee machine, because sleep is clearly not an option anymore.
18:00 - I still can't open the strange crate I found at TR_3. Wish they made the tech around here as sturdy as this fucking thing. Even the stick and stone abomination that I made can't break it, and it seems strong as hell.
NOTE TO SELF: Maybe I should try bashing in the bunker doors with it? At this point I don't know what else to try. Could be worth it. Or could make me look like a goddamn caveman. At least nobody is here to witness my shame. At least I hope Bao and the others won't laugh their asses off at me, if they are watching somehow.
18:45 - Even caveman tactics work sometimes. Good reality check for a scientist. I managed to open the inner bunker door by hitting it with my club for about 20 minutes. My hands are aching, but at least I'm getting somewhere. Good news, I know how to get into the bunker. Brute force. It's that easy, for once. Bad news, there's even more doors and not much in the first room. I was too tired to try and break the doors in the back of the first room and almost locked myself in there, the doors still close after a short while, even after all that beating. I found a folder with... something in it down there. Seems like blueprints for something advanced. Not much else, but that's something new at least. I knew there was more to this place than just radar dishes and weird forest cults! Now I have ASO's secret documents, or whatever it is. I should try to make sense of them after I get some rest. Gotta do all this shit and also keep the signals coming somehow. At least my actual work is a relaxing routine. Nothing ever happens up there, only peace, quiet and wonderful noises of space. I actually almost get why I took this offer. As weird as it is, I love this type of work. Looking at the stars and listening in to the noises of these giants was always my dream and my safe place. Almost makes dealing with the local bullshit worthwhile. Almost.
NOTE TO SELF: Always bring more batteries whenever you go outside!!! I know you think you have enough. It never is!!!
19:43 - I read through the papers I found in the bunker. Those blueprints are for something called "Kerfur Omega". I knew it rang a bell, Kerfurs are robots used by Stolas for maintenance. Heard about them while I was in uni, but never seen one in real life yet. So, were they testing some kind of new model here? This could be a lead to what happened here. I guess rogue robots aren't out of the question either. The perspectives get worse by the hour. Is the thing stalking me some sort of killer maintenance bot? Amazing. Just fucking perfect. I feel like I'm in a sequel to Cabin in the Woods that is somehow even amore fucking absurd.
NOTE TO SELF: There are Kerfurs available in the shop, but they are out of my price range for now. Maybe I should save up for one? If anything, at least finally seeing it in person would be really interesting. And maybe I could really use some company, for once. Never thought I'd say that.
19:54 - WHAT. THE. FUCK. THIS CAN'T BE REAL.
Aliens. REAL FUCKING ALIENS. Either I've gone completely fucking crazy, or I just recieved the FIRST REAL ALIEN SIGNAL IN HISTORY!!!! There is someone out there, and I mean LIFE!!! Sentient life. In space. HOLY SHIT! What are these symbols? Peace signs? A hello? A declaration of war? An SOS? Is this a prank by somebody again? Can't be. I don't know, I don't care, I need to send this to Bao, ASO, Stolas - Whatever. Fuck. I need to send it out there. I can't believe this is happeing. WHAT? My head is spinning. I can't believe this!!!!
20:24 - Did they not see it? Do they even look through the signals I send them? I send them proof of fucking alien life and all I get is "good data, Kel, keep on working"?! I can't believe this. I can't be the only one seeing these symbols in the noise. Max should've noticed it too. Bao should've noticed, but he didn't even respond, as usual. Ena would kill for signals like this one. I can't believe she didn't respond. Is she even there? Does she even know what I'm doing here? What are they doing in there? Aliens. Fucking Aliens. And I just get a pat on the back, some credits and nothing else? What the fuck? I have to keep digging. There are alien symbols on that signal, good thing I saved extra backup copies. I need to decode it. Of course I have to do everything myself. As fucking always. But I will get to the bottom of this. And I will make them see what I see. I need to understand this. I will decode these symbols. And I need the world to know. I don't care how many disks and packages and letters it takes. I need to make them see what I saw. This is big. Massive. This is world-changing, for fuck's sake. I won't let ASO just ignore and bury a thing like that.
21:02 - The only reason Stolas, ASO, Bao, Ena and all the others wouldn't acknowledge this is because they know. This is not the first, nor, I guess, the last time aliens contacted us. They are real, they chose this place as their entrance. And they sent me here to be the frontline. That's why I'm alone here. That's why Dee went insane and why the last crew - those who tried to escape - were eliminated. ASO wants me to receive these signals and be their disposable failsafe in case whatever is out there turns out to be aggressive. I'm just a fucking canary. Nothing more. Fucking hell.
There is no way out and I sincerely doubt I'm supposed to make it out alive at any point. And I'm sure as shit not getting any help surviving out here, they can just replace me. There's always the next wide-eyed astronomy student who dreams of hearing the stars. But I'm not going to let them for as long as I possibly can. This isn't right. This isn't a welcome committee, this is a hunter's trap in which I am the bait. I won't let them mislead anyone else like this. I don't know if Max realized all this yet, but I hope she will, on her own or through my letters. I hope they let her.
A new cork board is set up. I'm going to decode this. I don't even know where to start, I'm as much a linguist as Dee is a clean freak. But I'm going to. I have to. For humanity's sake and for my own sanity. And I guess there's no stopping decoding whatever the satellites pick up. That's what they want from me. That's my mission. I get it now.
I need a break. My head hurts so much, but I need to think this through.
21:50 - Well played, Ena. Well played. I always wanted to be the one to find aliens out there. To prove to the world that they exist and we are not alone in the universe. To prove I was not crazy. And after laughing at me for it you bring them to me on a silver fucking platter. You went and made this my personal hell. You sent me to see my dream come true without ever being able to live to tell anybody about it. Fucking perfect. Thanks. Love you, too.
NOTE TO SELF: YOU WILL GET OUT AND YOU WILL TELL THE WORLD ABOUT THIS. REMEMBER THIS, KEL. EVEN AT YOUR WORST MOMENTS.
22:55 - The situation I'm in is beyond fucked, but I have to keep going. I have to keep investigating and I have to keep translating the signals. The more I know about these signals and what is going on in the forest the more valuable I am to Stolas and ASO. I am still completely replaceable, sure, but maybe I can be valuable enough for them to at least help me survive while I'm staying here. And the more I know about the previous crew, the more I know about what killed them and what they went through, the more prepared I am to escape and tell the world about what is really going on up here. I will need a plan, I will need the tools to survive out here and I'm going to need information from every single source I can get. And ASO will provide if I do my job well enough. Well, now I know the rules. I'm ready to play your game, Bao.
I need to rest to be ready to get back to work tomorrow. It's gonna be a long day.
Ain't no rest for the wicked, huh, Kel?
