Observation
Subject #134150
Date: 12/20/2203 Observer: 0042023-H Subject Mood: Irrational, Violent. The subject was woken up today for its first run of examinations. Almost immediately upon awakening, it reacted very negatively to its new surroundings. It began calling out at a rather loud volume. I believe it is trying to get back into contact with the rest of its group, who were recently euthanized. This subject is the only one with the biological make-up that we require. It called out for approximately fifteen minutes, finally realizing it was alone. It then began to prowl the perimeter of its cell, examining the walls closely and finding each of them to be equally bare and equally impenetrable. It began to call out again, scratching and beating the walls. After approximately five minutes of this activity, it once again ceased. It then sat on the nesting area we prepared for the remainder of our viewing period. Gas was then administered until the subject lost consciousness. A crew then entered to sanitize the room. All physical functions registered as normal. This is the best specimen we have collected since Subject #133440. Hopefully it will be less violent. Note for maintenance crew: remember to hose off the interior of Subject #133440’s cell. Supervisors found it quite unsanitary. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject #134150 Date: 12/23/2203 Observer: 0042023-H Subject Mood: Aggressive, Violent. The subject was woken up for the second run of examinations. Today, we attempted to determine exactly what food it prefers, if any. To consider this examination problematic would be a gross understatement. Immediately upon entering the containment room, the nutrition technician was set upon with shouting and aggressive posturing by the subject. This is troubling, as the gas pumped into the room is intended to both release dopamine in the brain and create a sense of ease in the subject, yet it continued to demonstrate aggressive behaviour. Typically, other subjects only demonstrated this aggression when protecting their young. Perhaps it was currently going through a rather intense part of its mating period, and was merely lashing out at anything that approached? The technician offered food to the subject, and was violently rebuffed. The technician then left to retrieve a different meal. The subject eyed the food and stalked around the room, never taking its eyes off the pile of vitamin sludge. The technician returned with a platter of food the subject would be more accustomed to. It was met with similar results. The subject seems to be acting counterproductive to its own survival. Perhaps it doubted the nutritional value of the food? Remember to prepare meals with lower sugar content for the next feeding session. Note for maintenance crew: Please do not include sharp utensils along with the subject’s meals. Food technician 00566-S will not be in the medical bay for a week thanks to your actions. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject #134150 Date: 12/27/2203 Observer: 0042023-H Subject Mood: Curious. The subject has appeared to have reduced its aggression considerably. We should start considering removing the body-armour from the food technicians, as I believe the subject will cease its attacks on them. I believe it is beginning to acclimate to its surroundings, and is becoming accustomed to us as its caretakers. Nevertheless, it continues to pursue escape through increasingly elaborate means. Yesterday, a maintenance staff member discovered a rather unimaginative attempt to seek escape by scratching a hole through the wall of its containment cell using one of it eating utensils. It would then attempt to hide the hole underneath one of the posters we provided to decorate its room. We have since sealed the hole. Since the incident, we have suspended giving the subject any entertainment material, film or otherwise, as it seems to be rather easily influenced by them. Nevertheless, I advise that we should continue to provide pleasing food for it, as well as decorating its den in a manner it is familiar with. If we continue this long enough, the subject will begin to rely on us for its protection and will cease such suicidal escape attempts. It has taken to predicting the onset of the sedation gas, and has begun to fall asleep well before the gas seeps in. This made it much easier for the maintenance crew to enter the room for daily sanitization. I believe that now that its aggression has begun to subside we can move on to testing its higher brain functions. Note for maintenance crew: I question the logic of supplying a contained subject with the film “The Shawshank Redemption.” Really, that was a disaster waiting to happen. Additionally, I observed the subject watching the first half of a certain romantic-comedy film, but the film was finished during another observer’s session. Please provide me with a copy of the full film, as I wish to know how it concludes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject #134150 Date: 12/28/2203 Observer: 0042023-H Subject Mood: Thoughtful, Melancholic The subject was awoken today, and presented with a pencil and paper. The purpose of this experiment was to gauge the creative abilities of the subject, if any exist. The subject was told to write about what they were feeling, being promised extra food should it complete the task. The subject was then left alone for about four hours. After the time elapsed, the writing was retrieved and brought to me for examination. The results were... They were remarkable. The subject seems to be capable of writing poetry. Poetry which is like nothing that currently exists in our archives. The words seem to flow off the page. Even now, as I write this report, the subject’s words stay with me, floating around my mind. The subject deeply misses its mate and family, and wrote a poem to mourn them and all that they have lost. The subject’s work is fiery, tragic, and cruelly beautiful. I looked up from the writing to see that she has already gone to sleep, anticipating the arrival of the gas. There is a note included after the poem. She wants me to write back to her. I intend to. Note for maintenance crew: Visit the archives and retrieve all the works we possess on the writing of poetry. Deliver them to my quarters immediately. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject #134150 Date: 12/29/2203 Observer: 0042023-H Subject Mood: Passionate. The subject was awoken for a repeat of yesterday's exercise. The subject was given paper and pencil, along with my response to her work. I saw her pick it up, saw her scrutinize it, and crumple it into a ball and toss it into a corner of the room. She then begins to write, and write furiously. This goes on until I can't bear to wait anymore, and send a technician in to retrieve what she has created. As it is delivered to me she walks towards the observation camera and stares into it. Stares into me. I see in her eyes the same soul that I hear when I read her writing. She is alone, and afraid. I devour her latest work. It is everything I could have hoped for. Each line pulled me in deeper, until I was trapped like a fly in her web. I read it ten times over before writing this report, and I intend to read it ten more times after I finish. Why didn't my writing appeal to her? I must know what she wants. I scribble down my query and instruct the technician to take it back immediately, but she has already gone to sleep. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject #134150 Date: 12/30/2203 Observer: 0042023-H Subject Mood: Calm, Waning I know I am not scheduled to observe today, but I must. I must know what she wants me to write. Again, she was given the paper and the pencil. Again, she read my note. Again, it bounced off the white wall in a crumpled, useless ball. A technician brought her work to me immediately. This time the words were not lyrical, but were written in a flowing prose. She wrote to me about the gas we pump into her cell. She told me how it is affecting her, how it is wearing down her mind. It's certainly possible. The gas is designed to pacify, and her mind is anything but peaceful. She asked me to turn off the gas, only for a few nights, or she won't have the capacity to write anymore. This cannot happen. I need her writing. The gas will be shut off. What's the harm, anyway? She goes to sleep well before the gas is activated. No one will notice. When I look back into the cell I see she has gone to sleep. I will not. I will write. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject #134150 Date: 12/31/2203 Observer: Heimlen Dallar Subject Mood: Free. She is gone. I didn’t fill the room with gas, as she asked, until I was sure she was deeply asleep. The maintenance crew entered the room to clean it, and then she was upon them. She stabbed one in the chest with a knife she had somehow hidden during her earlier feeding session and fled the cell. Even as I write this report, there are alarms ringing down the halls. Once they read these reports, they will know I was responsible. I will be removed. I am at peace with that. I don't know where she is, but I doubt she will get far. We are everywhere. But my hopes are with her. She signed all her poems with a name. She is not my subject. She is Margaret Watson. Margaret, I will write for you. Note for maintenance crew: Please, do not destroy her work. Keep it safe. Give it to everyone you know. It is our only hope. Tommy Nicholls is a second year student at Huron/Western University. He is pursuing an Honors Specialization in English Language and Literature, and a Minor in Writing. |