The Imprisoned Geneticist
Log 29
I’ve been on this island for about a month now, continuing to delve deep into my research. Unfortunately, I still have not seen any of the specimens. Not that that’s the only reason I submitted my application for this position. What we’ve discovered here will change the world- it will blur the lines between the past, present, and future. Although it would be nice to actually see and work with one of my fellow researchers. Instead they have us working in separate labs, and we can only relay our findings through email, online chat, or intercom. They are always monitoring everything.
Everything but this recorder.
Click.
Log 30
It’s as though the Gods heard me (funny, because in a way, we are the ones playing God). I was granted a pass to the aquarium this week. I received an email early this morning as I was prepping in the lab. The small yellow bulb flashed atop my computer, indicating I had an unread email message. Given that no one started as early as I did, I curiously approached the screen and read in the subject line:
“URGENT: Your Attendance is Required at The Aquarium This Thursday”.
In the body of the email was simply a QR code. Above it read “Print and bring to the South entrance of the Aquarium”. I can’t wait to tell my lab mates!
Click.
Log 31
Hearing weird rumors about the Aquarium now that I’ve been invited. A lab mate even pinged me over the intercom, asking if I was feeling better. But I never told him I was ill, so I responded:
“I’ve been fine.”
“I don’t know, your voice is.. uh… sounding a bit hoarse. You should probably call in sick this week.
“Again, I’m fine… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Here he cleared his throat and finally said, “Well just think about it.”
Click.
Log 32
I am going to the Aquarium today! Goodness, I sound like a child about to go on a field trip. But in many ways - this is how I feel. I’ve been so passionate about this field since I was a young boy - and now my dreams are finally coming true. I say all this with a huge smile on my face. Although, I can’t help this nagging feeling in the back of my head from everyone’s vague messages over the week. Do they know something I don’t?
Click.
Log 33
I popped into the bathroom to get this recorded as soon as possible. It’s like I walked into a Michael Crichton book - it’s unbelievable. These geniuses, these Gods, have brought back ocean dwelling fish, reptiles, really gross bugs, and even dinosaurs from the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. Later this afternoon, we will be taking a boat out to their man-made, indoor sea to inspect organism habitat and behavior. I can’t believe I’m a part of this…
Door opens in distance.
Ok, time to go.
Click.
Log 34
Heavy breathing. Heavy breathing. Heavy breathing. A small sob.
Click.
Log 35
Sniffling.
I don’t even know where to begin. Deep breath. This fantasy has become a nightmare.
Alright… we were assigned a boat to head out into the sea. I was a little hesitant when I saw it’s size - it was tiny, open and without any safeguards. I asked our head guide about this and she assured me the sea was only full of fish no bigger than salmon. “It would be like a fishing trip!” she said, and handed me a life jacket. It wasn’t 10 minutes while we were out in the sea inspecting prehistoric algae when we heard alarms go off.
“Stay calm”, the guide said. She radioed into the control room to assess the situation, but before we could hear a response, I felt something very big hit our boat and it was suddenly capsized. We were left floating in the water and I was frozen in terror as I saw something huge breach the surface quickly, before heading back down. The guide was able to get her radio working and a response came in from the team:
“They’ve escaped. They’ve somehow escaped - get the hell out of there!!!”
What has escaped?? I thought back to all the contained animals we saw earlier. Jaekelopterus- a 7 foot long sea scorpion. Liopleurodon - a 20 foot predator with a mouth full of pointy teeth. Dunkleosteus - coming in even larger at 30 feet and although it didn’t have teeth, it’s turtle-like ridges had a bite force of 8,000 pounds per square inch. Basically the T-Rex of the sea. Did they all escape? I screamed when I felt something brush against my feet in the sea below.
The guide screamed at me and the other passengers to follow her towards shore- we didn’t have to think twice.
When I saw someone get dragged under, I knew I wasn’t going to survive this. And I knew only damn luck would get me out of there. When we saw the next person go under, we knew we weren’t going to make it to shore on time. The guide led us to a floating platform about 20 feet high, and we all climbed up the side ladder . At this point, I’m in shock but encouraged by the heigh of the platform and even started reassuring myself that the team would come out to get us. But no one came. The guide kept calling in on the radio - giving our coordinates and yelling for help, but the only response she got was “We’re sorry”.
The beast rammed into the side of our platform, until it finally tipped us over and we were back floating in the sea. I saw a small peninsula jutting out into the sea at some distance and swam for it. I could hear the others swim after me. Most of us made it and realized the peninsula was composed of large crates. The cracks were big enough for us to squeeze through and so here we are.
Still no one has come for us.
Click.
Log 36
Our “peninsula” started moving about 10 minutes ago. At first, I thought we were on top of a gigantic sea monster. But being that it was quite steady, I climbed to the top of this crate we were all in and when I looked out, I saw tracks. We were on a train. Other than getting out to the top, there is no other way for us to escape. The sea surrounds us on all sides and the land is only wide enough for the tracks. I can’t help feeling like I was lured into a trap. All we can do it wait for the train to reach it’s destination.
Click.
Log 37
It’s been an hour and we finally see some buildings in the distance. There is no more sea and I think I had felt everyone’s tension release when we noticed. Perhaps this was the rescue mission?
Click.
Log 38
The train took us through a building and halted outside a lab. There was still no one in sight, but there was a note propped up on the front desk. I read it aloud and when I looked up at the others, they asked me:
“Well, what does that mean? Is that good or bad news?”
I responded, “It’s not positive, but it’s also not negative.”
However, it did inspire thought, so I told them,
“It is thoughtitive.”
I could tell they wanted more answers, but I’m sure they also took into account that I had lost a little of my mind.
Then it clicked, and I told everyone “They want us to work in the lab.”
I suppose that’s what we came here to do.
Click.