<Chapter Six — Table Of Contents — Chapter Eight>
I hate this place. I hate this place. I fucking hate this place.
The Agro-Domes. They’re sprawling, you wouldn’t even believe it if you saw it. It’s one of those eye-rubbing sights that just baffles you. Every time I walk through one of these things, I get an uneasy feeling. Of course, without dozens of scientists and onlookers walking about, that feeling is only boosted.
It’s a long walk from one end to the other, weaving in and out of various plants as you go. Tubes with aquatic plants in them, small farm fields where the experimental fruits and vegetables are worked on. Trees, at the beginning of their life cycle. Everything you could possibly imagine, even things that don’t go together. They’re all gathered in these domes, with all sorts of lighting and air filtration systems working to keep them alive. It’s quite impressive, but it’s also disheartening. These plants would be beautiful if they weren’t encased in glass and metal structures. Now they just feel lifeless, almost fake.
I’m going to make a short stop on my way through the science wing. I’m going to the security station to see if I can’t find the video from Dr. Loren’s accident. Considering what he reports in the video log, I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t just an accident. He knew something was wrong, and I have a feeling that’s why he was so off when he came to see me that day. The reason he wasn’t himself was he was paranoid that everything he was uncovering with the Lifeblood project was going to get him killed.
And then he died. Considering everything I know now, I just don’t think it’s a coincidence. I hope it is. I really do. But I doubt it.
“Why!? WHAT DID YOU DO!”
Wha… who… who’s there?!
“You killed them, you killed them all. Mother, father, they are dead because of you, brother!”
…who are you… I didn’t kill anyone. What’s… shit, what happened to your head?!
“The demons, the demons in you killed them. My mother, father, me. We’re all dead because of you! I must make you pay!”
That coat… are you… you’re Kaitlin, Dr. Jones, aren’t you?
“Demon, back, stay away from me!”
No no… I’m not the one who did this. Listen, I think… I think you’re infected. You need to relax and try to remember where you are.
“Stay back! You have done enough already! You killed me, you killed mother, and father. You killed the animals. You killed everything. Devil! Demon!”
Listen, you need to let me look at those cuts. You’re bleeding a lot, you need medical attention… please, let me dress the wounds. Let me stop the bleeding.
“AHHHHH!”
Shit, gah… get, let… go…
*The sound of footsteps on leaves, followed by a loud thud*
I… I’m sorry… Dammit. Kaitlin? Kaitlin… what have I done?! I… I… I killed… her…
It was self-defense. It… she came at me. She was… infected. She had to have been. She attacked me and I killed her. I… I’m so sorry…
*a sniffle, followed by whispers too quiet to hear*
What have I done…
—gap in recording—
I’m in the security station now. Trying to find the recording of the lab accident. I remember the date, I know the location, just trying to find my way through the video feeds.
Dr. Kaitlin Jones is dead. You’ll find her body buried near her hut in the Agro-Dome. I put up a pile of rocks as a marker. She was infected, but must have survived because she was alone in the Dome where no one could find her. She’s at peace now.
Here we go. This should be the footage of Dr. Loren’s lab during the… wait, it skipped. Dammit. Was it damaged? No, couldn’t have been damaged. Must have been… erased?! That’s it, it had to be erased! They really are covering up everything! Dammit! Those sons of bitches… I… wait. Whoa whoa, what’s that? Someone else walked into the lab. That’s not a scientist. Who is that? They went in before the accident. And came out only a minute or two later.
I wonder… I wonder if that person had something to do with it. Sabotage? I don’t know, this is all circumstantial, no way it’d prove anything other than someone else being in the room before the accident. There are no cameras inside the actual labs, so I have no way of seeing what happened. This was a waste of time. I have to get to the pod bay and meet up with Thomas.
I just don’t understand what is going on. Would Central really cover up everything behind the Lifeblood project. Would they really keep risking lives? Are they out of options? Do they justify it because it’s our… our only hope? They always seemed to push the idea that they must save not just themselves, but all humans.
It’s like the consider them expendable. Like they’re fucking objects that they can risk to save a select few. They’d let their own people die, just to keep working on something that hasn’t worked right yet. They are stubborn. And this is what it’s gotten them. All these dead bodies, people dying misreble deaths.
I can’t let this go on anymore. I just can’t. Dr. Loren wanted to stop it, and so do I. But, what happened to him… will it happen to me? The video log is all that’s left of him, will this audio recording be all that’s left of me? I… I don’t want to die. I want to get off this fucking ship. I want to get away from all this. I want it all to just… end.
I’m just so fucking tired.
What the hell is there to drive me anymore? Cora? Cora wants nothing to do with me anymore. Mankind? At this rate, mankind is doomed. We’re not going to be able to sustain life on Earth that much longer, and considering how fucked the Lifeblood project is, we’ll never get to live in space either. I sure as hell don’t want to serve Central anymore. I don’t want to be a pawn in some vicious game.
What else is there to live for when all your hope is placed in corruption and deceit? Why the fuck should you keep fighting when all sides are losing sides? Why am I even bothering? I should just end it now.
But… I have to get Dr. Loren’s message to someone. I suppose that’s something. My life can have some purpose, me surviving on this hell. I can get that message out. Make sure that Central is stopped and no one falls victim to the negative effects of the Lifeblood. At least that’s something…
That’s something… That’s… something… isn’t it?
