Do you ever get the feeling that all eyes are on you?
Maybe it's a distant gaze that you can't quite place. Perhaps it's the feeling of anxiety that washes over you each time you're in front of a crowd, or you know...maybe it's just the cameras in each corner of the room that conveniently lose their footage whenever my projects go to hell.
Regardless, people only see what they want to see. If the academy says there's nothing wrong, then I'm sure there are more than a few who would be content to take them at their word. We're meant to observe and record. Nothing more, nothing less. We watch our subjects from the safety of our offices, beyond thick layers of glass and concrete walls. We treat them like animals behind the fences, like art installments that are only worth as much as we can exploit them for.
But what exactly that is seems to differ among my colleagues. For people like me, we only seek to do our job. To make it another day without drawing too much attention to ourselves. To melt into the vast expanses of the academy, so we can avoid their scrutiny. For the more ambitious among us, like the pest sabotaging my projects, it's their ticket to a higher notch on the academic ladder. It's a way to ensure that they stay far ahead, leaving the rest of us to scramble and fight just to get off the ground.
I've been trying to act normal. I don't want whoever is messing with me to catch on to the fact that I'm aware of their interference. For a while, things were quiet, with minor mishaps here and there but nothing as serious as what happened with Anubis and nothing big enough to warrant any suspicion. Call me paranoid but it feels like every little road bump I run into is because of them. The latest project they deemed valuable enough to stick their nose into is rather...well...abstract, one could say.
【PROJECT DISCORDIA】
「Subject」 Eris
「Administrator」 Doctor Victor Solomon
「Description」
A blank canvas installed in the ███████ Art Gallery. A golden nameplate hung beneath the canvas has only the name "Eris" inscribed on it. It mysteriously appeared on the wall one day. The staff who discovered it were found in a trance, their eyes firmly fixed upon the canvas. Blood and other fluid drained from their eyes until they collapsed. The canvas was handed over to the Academy and has since been kept under strict surveillance.
All staff in charge of its surveillance must ensure that cameras remain active and pointed at the canvas at all times, but they must not, under any circumstances, make direct eye contact with it.
The canvas is believed to have been buried or abandoned as evidenced by the mossy growth on its edges.
「Behaviour」
The subject seems to want to be watched. If it is not being watched, it will disappear and reappear in a high-traffic area where it is more likely to be noticed. Covering the canvas in any way will have the same result.
The subject is prone to jealousy and will lash out at those it deems as a "threat" in regard to appearance. The subject is particularly hostile towards women.
Surveillance cameras pointed at the canvas satiates its desire to be watched but only if someone is actively monitoring the footage. The subject cannot tell if an individual is looking directly at it if it is being viewed through a camera. This allows academy personnel to watch the cameras without looking at the canvas. Mannequins and dolls with eyes pointed toward the canvas also work to fulfill the subject's desire to be observed.
〖Observation Log 1〗
⦾ Vesper-2315 is fitted with an earpiece and enters the room containing the subject. She approaches the glass case it sits in and is instructed to describe what she sees on the canvas.
⦾ Vesper-2315 freezes upon seeing it. She remains still for roughly a minute before she is once again asked to describe what she sees.
⦾ Vesper-2315 begins to repeat the words "rotting," "desire," and "discord." She does not respond to any further probing.
⦾ Approximately 3 minutes after she falls into her trance-like state, fluid begins to leak from her eyes, nostrils, ears, and mouth. Blood stains begin to appear on Vesper-2315's uniform. She falls into a catatonic state and collapses.
⦾ An autopsy of her body has determined that the stains were caused by her tattoos melting off of her skin. The substance found in her mouth contained fillings and a few fake teeth that records show were fitted into her mouth 7 years ago.
⦾ It is hypothesized that her prolonged exposure to whatever she saw on the canvas, caused her body to begin rejecting all modifications and unnatural elements. The reason for this is unclear.
〖Observation Log 2〗
⦾ Vesper-111 enters the room with a camera and takes a picture of the canvas. He exits and is instructed to describe what he sees in the photo.
⦾ The effects of viewing the canvas seem to be slightly delayed when observing it through a medium. Vesper-111 describes seeing a perfect golden apple. He is unaffected for roughly 9 minutes before he begins to ramble and repeat the words "apple," "desire," and "golden.
⦾ Vesper-111 begins to release a foul-smelling fluid from his eyes, nostrils, and ears. A sample is collected and tested. The fluid is determined to be liquefied brain matter. Vesper-111 begins to attack the staff attempting to give him medical aid and rushes back into the room with the canvas.
⦾ Vesper-111 begins to smash his head against the glass case holding the canvas while screaming that he has to "let her out." Security restrains him.
⦾ Vesper-111 was placed in confinement and has since recovered, however, he exhibits an extreme lack of motivation and desire for anything. His previous hobbies and likes are of no interest to him anymore. Further observation is necessary to determine if his condition improves over time.
【END OF PROJECT FILES】
I'd like to say that I was pulled from the project after only one experiment due to some groundbreaking discovery but I'd be lying. One minute I'm submitting my reports, and the next I'm being told that the project is being transferred to a senior professor.
Doubt it.
I was so doubtful that I spent the next few weeks scouring old records using that access card I had stolen. As fond as the Academy is of destroying data so that we regular employees remain blind to its exploits, someone still needs to know why there are so many unexplained gaps and abrupt ends to projects. How else would they know what information they need to fabricate?
To that end, there has to be a log of sorts, even if it was only created to later be destroyed. As expected, the access card did indeed come in handy. It granted me entry to the restricted areas of the academy database that were normally only allowed to be seen by higher-ups or security in charge of monitoring the logs. After much searching, I finally found a buried record of an observation log complete with video footage!
I suspect that this access card would only serve me one time as alarms would most likely be raised if they realized a dead man's card was used to gain access to their precious vault of secrets. So I have taken the liberty of transcribing the log before they have a chance to wipe it from the archives.
45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb2q0jGEX5c
〖R̵̡̤͎̙̅͒͗̈́̾́͋͜ė̴̛̖͈̽̐͂̉̅͊̿̈́̅̈̆͆͘ç̷͖̰͕̯̗̹̓͗͛͋̅̆̋͂͒̅̅̉͘̕ͅo̸̖̪̾̀͂͗̓̑̐̾̇͒̂̉͘̕͠v̷͎̥̼̹͚̼͍̰̳̪̘̓͌̒͐̄̓̐̔̓́͝͝e̶̡̨̖͙̟̠͚̦̜̜͔̮͉̩͑̅̅̈̿ř̷̛̠̯͔͎̠̳͕̜̤͍̼̮͖̰̉̏͒͆ȇ̸͇̌̀̌̚d̷̢̨̧̛̛̜̜͖͎̟̦͈̩̭͈͇͊̉̒͑͐͋̽̿̍͊͒̉̿ͅ Ob̶͚̞̼̥͖̓́̆̌͑͗͑̃̈́̏̚͠͠s̴̢̨͈͍͚̙̜̗̣͕͈̦̏̽̔̏̒er̵̡̨̧̜̬͈͙̞̬̥͇̘̭̈͗̈́̃̂͌̿̑͗͐͛͆̀̌̅͜vat̴̥̦͛̒̑̈́̎̔̾i̷̛͇̭͊̈́̊͛̏́̅̒͝͠on Lŏ̵̥̬͉̗̘̪͎̳̦͓̩̈́g̵͚̞̘͈̼̎̃͐̿̂͐̋̀́̎͑̿̿̈́́͜ͅ 3〗
⦾ ████████████ enters the room with a large mirror, recording equipment, and two Vespers.
╰┈➤ RESEARCHER NOTE:
No traces of the Vespers remain in academy records. They're as good as ghosts. For simplicity, I've transcribed them as Vespers A (VA) and B (VB).
⦾ The camera and mirror are placed in front of the canvas. VA stands between them facing the mirror, while VB stays outside with ████████████ to observe the video footage.
⦾ VA is asked to describe if she sees anything different in the canvas' reflection. She responds with "a woman holding a rotten apple." The woman is described as looking angry upon seeing the mirror. VA remarks that ████████████ wouldn't like her because she's "gloomy like VB."
⦾ VA screams as the mirror is shattered. She is seen covering her face with her hands and crying in pain. She is asked to explain how the mirror broke. She yells expletives at the woman in the canvas, explaining that the woman threw an apple at the mirror.
⦾ VB reports anomalous activity on the camera. She describes seeing a woman holding a golden apple out towards her. ████████████ only sees the blank canvas next to VA. VB silently gets up and goes into the room. ████████████ does not attempt to stop her, nor do they attempt to help VA.
⦾ VB calmly approaches VA as if to help her but instead she shoves her fingers into VA's already damaged eyes. VB continues to rip into VA's face with inhuman strength.
⦾ ████████████ orders security to restrain VB but the guard who enters the room is female. VB turns her attention to the guard and proceeds to attack her as well.
⦾ Tranquilizers and tasers have no effect on VB . ████████████ enters the room when VB is finished. There is flesh, blood and clumps of hair everywhere. VB hysterically mumbles something about "coming out victorious." ████████████ berates her for messing up the experiment before hurriedly disposing of her.
【E̵͙͛n̸̞̍d̴͉́ ̷̻͋o̷̦͛f̴̣̅ ̴̗̓P̶͎̄r̶̼̆o̵̟͑j̸̣͗e̴̘͋c̶̮̎ţ̵̒ ̶̨̾F̴͎̑i̷̥̔l̴̨͋e̸̻̓】
My suspicions were confirmed when I logged in this morning to see that all traces of the log had been wiped clean from the archives.
I wish I could have seen who it was that was instructing the women. Unfortunately for me, he was wearing a rather shadowy assortment of clothes, prepared to disguise himself in front of the cameras no doubt. I have a few theories as to the nature of this person's relationship with those women. After all, it's no secret that many higher-ups have...well...less than savory interests. Many often use the Vespers to satisfy their twisted desires, luring them in with promises that they wouldn't be used in fatal experiments, dramatically lessened sentences, or an escape altogether.
It's not uncommon that the Vespers end up forming some clouded sense of loyalty to them, grasping for a way out of this mess. I've seen it one too many times. If the hierarchy of academy staff was bad, the subsequent hierarchy among the Vespers as a result of the academy's games was far worse. An illusion crafted from the desire to come out victorious, to survive another day. The things people will delude themselves into believing out of pure desperation is a deep dark pit that those poor women were so mercilessly thrown into.
Out of curiosity, I had also examined the files on their autopsy. VB's was interesting, to say the least. Despite having not eaten anything for a while, much less during the experiment, her stomach was empty save for the undigested remains of one golden apple. According to the autopsy, the apple rotted at an accelerated rate the moment it was removed from her body.
It truly is a pity.
I feel a little guilty admitting this but part of me wanted to research the effects of this mysterious painting a little more. It’s hallucinogenic properties seemed quite strong. If it wasn't for this thorn in my side, I would have been able to find out more about it. A morbid sense of curiosity, a complete lack of sympathy, call it what you will, but I never claimed to care for anyone other than myself here. Maybe I did in the beginning, but its hard to remain positive when your life is on the line.
Wait…I guess that isn’t true either. There is one person I still worry about. Most other professors like to grab drinks and go out after their shifts, probably in an attempt to indulge in some sense of normalcy. I was never one of them. But before I became a professor, there was one Vesper who I was attached at the hip with. He was a younger lad, but not by much. Every now and then I get the urge to speak with him again. He made things here much more bearable…but we’ve long since lost contact.
We aren’t allowed to send letters to folks, mainly because nobody wants academy secrets getting leaked. Then again, it’s not like many of us had people to send letters to in the first place. Either way, I sometimes find myself wanting to risk it. I know he was promoted too, but I hear that the punishment for breaking protocol is much more severe in the department he works at then it is for me.
I mean the worse they could do is kill me, I can’t exactly say the same for him.
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