Logbook Entry #1:
It’s the year 2075 and this is Professor Heather Hawkes.
Technology has advanced tremendously in these past five decades, but so has the decay or our own planet we call home.
Over millennia we continued to pollute and poison our lands and seas with our waste. And combined with each country’s “efforts” (read as: nuclear and quantum sub-surface bombardments) to remove the organism we call “The Hive”, it seems that this world has finally had enough of us.
At present we record 10°C higher temperatures than even just ten years ago globally, and it’s expected to rise even more. As we speak special measures are being taken to assure workers and families will be safe from the heat to come in the years.
We have also discovered large cracks in the planet’s crust. This too is only going to get worse unless we do something about it.
As part of our mission to save humanity, dubbed “Project Hope”, I have decided to start this logbook recording our progress in this matter.
As of right now there are two teams working on separate ends of this project. Team Hawskes, my team, has started working to stabilize the planet’s core. Currently, under the best circumstances it is expected that a disaster of a calamitous scale will befall us by 2120. As we try to fix this, Team Richards has begun their work on “The Cradle”, the fallback plan should we fail to save our home. This massive ship is designed by the world's most renowned engineers to take in any survivors and deliver them to a safe haven. The star system in question is rather far away and even with the fully developed hyperdrive and the planned supplies we will have available we’re not entirely sure we’ll make it there. Unfortunately however it is the only hospitable planet we have discovered thus far. This however remains our last resort should all else fail.
This concludes the first logbook entry. Let us hope we make it through this.
May Izanami guide our souls…
Logbook Entry #14:
It’s been five years since the start of the project.
Recently developed tech gave us an edge in fully analyzing the core more precisely, giving us a better grasp on how to proceed with the project from here. It’s getting hotter every year however and right now there are no concrete solutions in sight.
The Cradle seems to be progressing mostly smoothly.
Logbook Entry #58:
It’s been 18 years since the start of this project and we have finally had a breakthrough! Once we figure out how to properly combine the ka’mi’so-wave generator with a modified nuclear warhead it might interact with the core just well enough to fix its instabilities! It’s most likely going to take us some time to figure that one out…
As for The Cradle, they seem to have run into some issues lately. The outer shell is pretty much done but the specialized parts it needs for its inner workings aren’t being produced nearly as fast as they need them, so progress is slow right now.
Logbook Entry #97
It’s been 26 years since the start of this project.
Tomorrow is finally the big day when we’ll launch the ka’mi’so bomb towards the planet’s center. We have tempered the drilling machine and the warhead as much as we could to make it survive the trip to the core. At this point all that’s left to do is hope and pray that it works. Oh and we also like to call that bomb “The Chill Pill” ahaha!
The Cradle managed to get all its machinery worked out properly and as of right now it would probably be ready for takeoff by 2105, though I am hopeful we won’t need it.
Logbook Entry #98
It’s been 26 years since the start of this project and on this day I am happy to finally be able to say that The Chill Pill is now moving towards the center of this planet. It’s expected to get to the core in a bit less than a month.
The Cradle is proceeding smoothly as it was
Logbook Entry #101
It’s been 27 years since the start of this project…
It’s terrible. Our hopes and dreams crushed in an instant. The Chill Pill didn’t manage to survive the trip and got destroyed by the pressure in the depths near the core. It seems to have suffered from a small construction failure that made everything fall apart. The explosion barely touched the core from what we can make out with our readings. It also made a large hole near the core. Whether that’s good or bad remains to be seen…
We will try and build another one. Hopefully we make it in time. We have the know-how now at least.
In other news, The Cradle is still right on schedule. We might need it in the end… but I still hope we don’t. I don’t want to leave our home behind.
Logbook Entry #117
It’s been 28 years since the start of this project.
We were in the middle of preparing The Chill Pill 2.0 when our scanners picked up a dramatic change near the core.
It seems the hole our last warhead left, together with its radiation made the core even more unstable than before. It absolutely backfired. It’s not entirely certain how much time we have left, but we need to hurry.
Thankfully, The Cradle will be completed in the next few years…
Logbook Entry #122
It’s been 29 years since the start of this project and we have to give up our side of it. As I’m writing this more and more cracks are opening at the surface. The temperatures have risen above 70°C in some places, even higher in others. Only select locations and routes are safe anymore. Everyone is getting hurried towards The Cradle to use its advanced cooling system, keeping people safe. At this rate even The Cradle might not be finished in time… is humanity doomed to fall here? Did we dig our grave too deep?
Logbook Entry #123
Lava has begun erupting from the cracks that formed yesterday. It’s raining fire and ash. The streets are getting flooded with molten death. The earth is rumbling and the seas are angry.
A lot of people didn’t make it to The Cradle. The engineers are hurrying to finish it. We might make it, we might not…
Logbook Entry #124
We made it. Barely, but we made it. We managed to save a good chunk of lives but there are many who weren’t so lucky as well…
I will never forget the screams of the ones left behind to die in the fires as we closed the shutters for departure. We had to… there was no other way. This was the only choice! I hope they will understand… May Izanami have mercy on their souls…
And let’s hope the rest of us survive the trip to our destination.
Logbook Entry #127
I’m not sure how long it’s been since we left our home behind, but so far it’s going smoothly and we should arrive at our destination on schedule.
On a more personal note (yes, this’ll double as a diary now, so I have decided!) I’ve started hitting it off with Simon recently… hehe.
Oh yeah - his full name is Simon Richards, he was the head in charge of The Cradle :)
Logbook Entry #139
It feels like forever since we left. But it’s alright… We’re still on schedule just fine.
Also… I have a child on the way now~
Logbook Entry #142
This is bad… really, really bad. There was a failure in our preservation systems for some of our food and a good chunk of it spoiled. At this rate we might starve… or at least some of us. I don’t want to have to go through a decision like that again…
At least our child got born safely and healthy so that’s a plus!
Logbook Entry #153
People have been getting sick left and right and it’s spreading like wildfire. Some have died. The doctors can’t keep up with all the patients coming in daily… They suspect it happened with the food that went bad. For now, the sick are being moved into quarantine and provided with necessities daily. I’ve gotten sick myself so now I’m sitting in this small room by myself… My husband and child both seem to still be fine, thankfully. I hope I get better soon… I feel like shit. Even typing this is kind of strenuous if I’m being honest… I might put off writing new entries until I’m better.
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