Chapter Text
Begin Transcript 00:00:10
GRAHAM: Good Afternoon, Dr. Marley. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us about your research.
MARLEY: Good afternoon, Professor Graham. It’s a pleasure to discuss our project with you.
GRAHAM: Now, from my understanding, your team has been researching an entity known as ‘Carrion’. Could you elaborate on the choice of name?
MARLEY: It’s CARRION. The distinction is vital.
GRAHAM: I’m afraid I’m not following.
MARLEY: (laughing) No one ever does.
[00:00:35]
GRAHAM: I… alright, then. Why is it that you chose… that name?
MARLEY: We needed to.
GRAHAM: (pauses) Pardon?
MARLEY: It was… we needed to call it that. That’s its name.
GRAHAM: (hesitates) I was under the impression that this… Carrion—
MARLEY: (Aggressively) CARRION.
GRAHAM: Of course. That… that it was dormant, no? Asleep in its containment chamber. Is it capable of communication?
MARLEY: It is in stasis now, yes. As for communication? CARRION is most likely incapable of speech.
GRAHAM: Then how do you know it’s name with such certainty?
MARLEY: Because that is its name. CARRION. We couldn’t call it anything else. We would never.
[00:01:22]
GRAHAM: I... I see. What can you tell me about its physiology?
MARLEY: (remains silent)
GRAHAM: Doctor Marley?
MARLEY: (startles) Oh! I… I apologize, professor. I’m unsure as to what came over me.
GRAHAM: (hesitantly) Nothing to apologize for. I was asking about its physiology. I have heard that it is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.
MARLEY: Yes, CARRION is… (she trails off)
GRAHAM: Doctor Marley?
MARLEY: Can you hear it?
GRAHAM: Pardon?
MARLEY: The song. You can hear it, can’t you? The song of its heartbeat.
GRAHAM: (confused) Doctor, if you are unwell, we can continue this interview another time—
(There is the sound of a chair screeching, and the rustling of fabric.)
MARLEY: Stay. I wish to continue.
GRAHAM: We may continue another time. Thank you for your time today—
MARLEY: No.
(There is the sound of rustling.)
GRAHAM: Please let go of me, Doctor.
MARLEY: You can’t. It’s not supposed to work like that.
GRAHAM: (angry) Let go of me.
MARLEY: (softly) I cannot.
(There is the sound of flesh hitting flesh. Prof. Graham takes a deep breath.)
GRAHAM: I… apologize.
(There is a long pause, filled with nothing but the sound of Dr. Marley’s heavy breathing.)
GRAHAM: (Getting closer to the recorder.) I will take my leave now.
(There is the sound of rustling, and a short altercation. There is the sound of glass shattering, a thump, then the sound of panting.)
MARLEY: You will not be leaving here.
[00:02:54]
MARLEY: (voice breaking) It hurts.
END TRANSCRIPT 00:02:54
ii.
CARRION learns many things.
Flowers smell nice, but they don’t taste very good. It learned that on the second day. Unpleasant and bitter. Flowers do not provide biomass.
CARRION likes biomass.
But CARRION likes flowers.
It’s interesting.
CARRION learns.
The humans here are strange. They were not clad in yellow nor white nor grey, completely unlike the medical men and the guards that sought it dead.
CARRION watches them, but they do not watch it. CARRION knows instinctively what happens when eyes are laid on its form, how humans react to the unknown.
CARRION does not want to be feared.
It just wants to live.
The humans here dress strangely. They cover themselves in lambs wool and the pelts of beasts. They travel on tall, four legged creatures and speak a tongue it does not recognize.
They travel down a road of hard pressed dirt, and carry with them sticks and sharpened metal. Weapons, CARRION thinks. Not guns. CARRION has learned to recognize a gun when it sees one. But the sharpened metal, the swords— as the humans called them— posed no threat to CARRION.
The sticks however, those were a different story.
It was more common to see swords than sticks, but the ones carrying sticks tended to travel in groups. The sticks were long and of varying sizes, but they all had the same effect.
The sticks— the staves— they were used to cast magic.
CARRION observed the magic.
Fire. The humans twirled the fire into shapes, into beams and cones and spears they used to attack the growling beasts of the forest. They used their staves to manipulate fire, to shape it to their designs.
CARRION knows fire. Fire hurts. Fire was often used against it, a tool to corral it, to harm it. But the fire the humans held did not act like the fire CARRION knew. It was tame. It was... docile.
The humans here were not afraid of the fire, and the fire did not harm them. It was a strange sight. Fire and man, living in harmony.
Sometimes, they would show other kinds of magic.
Ice would spring forth from their hands, crisp and cool. Lightning would bend to their desire, falling from the sky and striking their enemies. Blue-green energy would surround them, not unlike the barriers the men in white would use.
All of this they controlled with their sticks, their staves.
CARRION liked the magic. The magic did not hurt it. The magic was not hostile. It was beautiful, like the flowers, like the soft songs the humans would sing when the sun fell and the moon rose.
CARRION watches. It listens. It learns.
CARRION likes to learn.
And the more it watched, the more it learned, the less the humans seemed like the guards and the men in white.
These humans were different. These humans were not a threat. They were strange and unfamiliar, but they were not harmful.
CARRION felt a strange sensation, an unfamiliar urge. Not hunger, not fear, not anger.
It was curiosity.
CARRION was curious about these humans, about their magic and their songs and their strange clothes. It wanted to learn more. It wanted to understand.
It wanted to understand everything.
CARRION’s curiosity was insatiable, like a deep pit demanding to be filled. It sought out experiences, sampled the world around it with an air of innocent wonder. From the tiniest grain of sand to the tallest of trees, nothing was too insignificant or daunting for it to explore.
Light fascinated it. The way it danced on the surface of the water, filtered through the leaves overhead, and painted the world with colors - it was magical. CARRION would often float on its back, tendrils spread wide, basking in the radiance of the sun.
Night was no less intriguing. The darkness brought about an entirely new world. Sounds were amplified, scents intensified. Above, the twinkling stars created a shimmering tapestry, their light cool and distant. They painted tales of worlds far away, tales that made CARRION yearn for something it couldn't quite grasp.
Touch was a source of endless wonder. The various textures of the world provided an orchestra of sensations. The cold slickness of river stones, the prickle of grass, the brittle crackle of fallen leaves - all spoke to CARRION in languages both new and somehow familiar.
It found joy in the simplest of things. Rain, for instance. The droplets that splattered against its flesh sent ripples of delight through its being. CARRION would stretch out during storms, gathering as much of the rain as it could, relishing the chill as each droplet splashed against its body.
And yet, amid this paradise of discovery, there was an ever-present undercurrent of hunger. It was a gnawing emptiness that lurked in its depths, a reminder of its otherness, its monstrosity. This hunger was a part of it, as natural and essential as the need to breathe is to a human.
CARRION learned how to hunt, how to sustain itself. It was a predator, after all, though not by choice. It was as much a slave to its nature as the fish were to the river's currents.
It did not take joy in the kill, but neither did it feel remorse. It was a necessary act, an echo of the world around it. Life feeds on life. This was the way of things, the rhythm of existence.
A stark contrast to its time in the lab. CARRION remembers little from its time in the lab, but it can recall the blood-blood-fight-fight-red-red-red that has consumed it. That had led it to consume others in its simpleminded goal of survival and escape.
CARRION hungered now, but it wasn’t the all consuming EAT-EAT-EXPAND-DEVOUR that had filled its mind.
It was a calmer hunger, more subdued. It did not demand the flesh of men and the creation of hives, it was satisfied with CARRION gorging itself on the small, fur-less creatures that lived in burrows near the river bank.
CARRION’s life was calm. It was blissful, and quiet.
Good things never last.
00:01 - Automated security systems online. All cameras operational.
01:17 - Motion detected, Camera 4 (East Entrance). Identified as a raccoon. No action taken.
02:23 - System backup initiated. Completed without issues.
03:12 - Security Officer Ramirez began patrol of the west wing. Completed at 03:38. No irregularities reported.
04:00 - Daily system diagnostics run. All systems are operational.
05:09 - Motion detected, Camera 16 (Server Room). Access door opened with authorized keycard - Dr. Hayden. Entry logged.
06:45 - Security Officer Patel took over from Officer Ramirez. Morning briefing conducted.
07:53 - Fire alarm sensor tripped in Lab B. False alarm. Likely caused by steam from experiment. Alarm reset.
09:17 - Visitor check-in: Ms. Erica Simmons, Cybersecurity consultant. Escorted to Meeting Room 3.
10:33 - Unauthorized access attempt, Camera 12 (Main Gate). Individual turned away by Officer Patel. Description: Male, approximately 6', wearing a gray hoodie. License plate recorded.
12:12 - Package delivery. Scanned and cleared for biological and explosive materials. Accepted by Reception.
12:20 - Security Officer Patel retrieves the package from Reception. Begins returning to security desk.
12:27 - CCTV footage from Camera 9 (Main Hallway) shows Officer Patel stopping abruptly and looking at the package. His movements appear more rigid than normal.
12:30 - Officer Patel, still carrying the package, enters the restroom. Remains inside for approximately 10 minutes.
12:40 - Officer Patel leaves the bathroom, package absent. Officer Patel approaches Dr. Hayden in the hallway. The two engage in a short conversation before Dr. Hayden looks alarmed and moves away quickly.
12:42 - Dr. Hayden is seen on Camera 7 (Research Wing Corridor) hurriedly entering his lab and locking the door. Officer Patel follows closely behind and begins aggressively pounding on the door.
12:44 - Security alerts are activated. Additional personnel are dispatched to Research Wing Corridor.
12:47 - Backup arrives. Officer Patel manages to break the lab door's security mechanism, entering the room. Sounds of a struggle are heard over the security intercom.
12:49 - Camera 15 (Inside Dr. Hayden's Lab) captures Officer Patel lunging at Dr. Hayden, pinning him against a lab counter. Dr. Hayden attempts to fend him off using a nearby lab instrument.
12:52 - Security Officer Clarke and two other security staff enter the lab and taser Officer Patel, effectively subduing him. Medical staff are called to the scene to tend to Dr. Hayden, who appears shaken but mostly unharmed.
13:05 - Officer Patel is taken into custody and placed in a secure holding area pending further investigation. He remains unconscious.
13:15 - Dr. Hayden, once treated, mentions his earlier encounter with Officer Patel. A search of the bathroom is initiated.
13:23 - The package is located in the restroom's trash can by Security Officer Clarke. It contains a glowing blue rock, approximately the size of a fist.
13:27- Security Officer Clark reports his findings to Director Morrison. Director Morrison orders the site to be put on lockdown. The package is sent to an external location.
15:47 - Camera 23 (Holding Cell) captures Security Officer Patel awaken from his unconsciousness. Begins to pace the cell. He is seen to be murmuring, although no audio is provided.
15:56 - Security Officer Patel stops his pacing. He looks towards the ground, and spits out a mouthful of blood, along with what was later confirmed to be a severed tongue.
15:59 - Head Physician Beaumonte arrives on the scene. She confirms Patel as dead. Samples are taken. The body is taken off site for disposal.
16:15 - The facility remains on lockdown. No one is allowed entry or exit. All personnel accounted for.
16:30 - Routine perimeter check conducted by automated drones. No anomalies detected.
17:02 - Director Morrison holds a debriefing session with senior staff to discuss the events of the day and provide guidance on next steps.
17:45 - Cybersecurity consultant, Ms. Erica Simmons, completes her assessment in Meeting Room 3 and is escorted out of the facility.
18:30 - Evening shift security staff arrive. Morning shift, except for those involved in the day's events, are debriefed and released.
19:15 - Daily system diagnostics run. All systems remain operational.
19:50 - Security Officer Ramirez, having been kept on-site due to the earlier incident, starts his evening patrol. No irregularities reported.
20:30 - Dinner is served in the cafeteria.
21:04 - Motion detected, Camera 5 (South Entrance). Identified as a rabbit. No action taken.
21:45 - Director Morrison sends a memo to all staff, expressing condolences for the day's events and ensuring that a thorough investigation will be conducted.
22:10 - Security Officer Clarke ends his shift and is replaced by Security Officer Lee.
23:00 - All labs and offices have been locked and secured. Security patrols continue as scheduled.
23:45 - Automated security systems undergo a brief maintenance update. All cameras offline for approximately 5 minutes.
23:50 - Security systems back online. All cameras operational.
24:00 - No further incidents reported.
End of Log for February 2, 2018.