Arguing Interpretations

"I imagine that the rest of the contents of the journal have been omitted due to being trivial in nature?"

"Quite right, Dr Murf" Responded Dr Cyan casually. "The majority of writings are the ramblings of a madman. Most passages are dedicated to a certain woman he calls "Rosa". These passages range all over the spectrum of available human emotions. Surprisingly, Sir, an inquest into S-099's past reveals he was living with a woman named Victoria and they were in a stable and committed relationship and that she is pregnant with his child. Evidence suggests they were planning on getting married."

"Is that so? That's rather interesting. It might be worth looking into. What conclusions have you reached?"

"None, Sir. However, Dr Seon has a very interesting theory. According to him, Sigma 134 has the ability to interact with a subject's memories, not only erase them. However, I do not believe there is enough evidence to support his claim. Furthermore, if it were true, then it would follow that Sigma 134 is keen to playing with its prey. A behavioural attribute that until now has not been observed."

"The Collectors could have evolved."

"With all due respect, Dr Murphy, that is a rather reductivist approach to Sigma 134's existance. My view is that S-099 had a lover that he favoured a lot more and due to the mental influence by Sigma 134 he ended up merging the two women in his mind."

"I'll never get you to just call them Collectors, will I? And for the umpteenth time, you can simply call me Jan."

"That is beside the point, Dr Murf."

"Quite right." He said slyly. If he was annoyed, he didn't allow it to show on his face. Dr Cyan was an impossible man to deal with, many of those working alongside him had filed in complaints regarding his lack of social skills and strictness in all aspects of everyday life. Not two years back had a rumour begun circulating about the possibility of him being a golem artificially created by the higher ups.

Dr Murf, as head of the facility, had his hands full with internal affairs and their inquiry, no doubt launched by Dr Cyan himself. Simply reading the reports had left him with a distaste for the man. Once, he brought a member of the cleaning staff to tears because she had mistaken what looked to be an empty vial of hand sanitizer, which, according to Dr Cyan, was 'a perfectly useful eight millilitres of solution that should not have been wasted if not for that buffoon'. In truth, there were only six left in it, as the inquiry revealed. Why had precious time and resources that could have been better invested wasted on such an asinine inquiry was beyond him, and he resented Dr Cyan for it.

"How long did S-099 last, exactly?" He asked, hoping to change the subject.

"He was on the premises for 369 hours, Sir."

"That's quite the increase."

"Almost a twenty percent increase than in the previous instances."

"Excellent, excellent. It seems your experiment has been somewhat successful. We can now safely assume that the journal somehow impeded the Collector's advance. Now we need to find out why. I want a report by the morning, Dr Cyan."

"Dr Murf, you will find attached to the file a report studying the activity observed from Sigma 134 compared to the different occasions in which S-099 interacted with the journal. My conclusions are outlined at the end."

Dr Murf could have sworn that Dr Cyan was smiling smugly, but in the poor lighting and with his tired old sight he couldn't tell for sure. Maybe it was just his animosity towards the man that was making him see things. There was no denying that from an efficiency standpoint, Dr Cyan was exceptional. A pity he had to be a damned sociopath. Whatever resent he felt, Dr Murf had spent years climbing the hierarchical power relations of the Church; which had, at the very least, endowed him with experience of dealing with many young men and women eager to climb over him. He hadn't maintained his position and standing by taking other people's bullshit. This was a game of chess, and he was a master. He grunted once more and prepared to play his turn.

"Summarise your conclusions for me. I want to hear what you have to say." Acting unaffected by provocation would be safest for him. No one knew how much contact Dr Cyan kept with the higher-ups, but it was not simply casual conversation.

"Very well, Dr Murf." As expected, Dr Cyan didn't deviate from protocol nor did he show any emotion whatsoever. "Correlating the activity of Sigma 134 with the known times of writing in the journal, one can observe the activity slow down when S-099 scribbled down certain passages. These passages are when he addresses himself or tries to communicate with this Rosa figure. I postulate that it is in the act of communicating that S-099 created a mental barrier between himself and Sigma 134."

"Please elaborate, Dr Cyan."

"As it stands, what we now know is that Sigma 134 does not simply engulf its prey and carry them away, it first feeds off their mind. It is unclear when exactly this process begins, but its symptoms manifest themselves between 20 to 30 hours after the subjects enter the field. We know that this process takes a long time as is evidenced by the chronological difference between first contact and how long it takes Sigma 134 to actually terminate the subject's life. We also know that some factors can increase said time. My theory is that those factors represent mental barriers of sorts that impede Sigma 134's access to the subject's mind. I further postulate that these barriers can be recreated, provided we employ the correct method."

"Prithee, what do you suggest that is?"

"Sir, I am afraid that falls under the direct scrutiny of the highest level of discretion and is, as such, protected."

"I see. Where is it, then?"

"In a separate compartment of the portable array. The usual sequence of inscriptions is needed to open it."

"Thank you. Let's see here… Ah! found it." Dr Murf deactivated the layers of protection on the file and brought it out. The report in question was protected by a multi-layered array formation that would immediately destroy the document if the wrong sequence of inscriptions were used to try and open it.

And it would also emit a ball of extremely corrosive acid onto whomsoever tried to access it.

Dr Murf deliberately took his time and care with every word. These files were of the utmost importance and due diligence was necessary.

It was extremely well written, the evidence was perfectly referenced and explained; the syntax was alluring and the ideas very easy to follow. One could almost forget while reading it that lives are being sacrificed. When he'd read it enough times that he could quote it, Dr Murphy summoned a ball of fire and incinerated it.

"Communication as a mental block due to concentrating on another being..." Mumbled the old Church scholar. "It seems plausible."

"Which is why, after we finish with Groamburk, I suggest we send in a large number of volunteers simultaneously in order to replicate this communication and proceed deeper into the tomb."

"It's a very promising scenario. I'll look into its feasibility."

"With all due respect, Sir, I have already conducted an analysis on its plausibility and have concluded positively."

"I know, I just read it. Understand that proper protocol must be followed. Before an experiment of this magnitude is conducted, the necessary formalities must be fulfilled. Surely you understand that much?" In truth, with the analysis on the report there was more than enough to move forward, but he couldn't help annoying Dr Cyan. "I'll give your proposal maximum priority and contact the representatives of the Church and have them approve it as soon as their schedules allow it. I expect you'll get confirmation within the next couple of days."

"I thank you, Dr Murf. If that is all, I shall return to my research." Dr Cyan began to turn towards the door before Dr Murf stopped him.

"One more thing, before you leave." The interruption caught Dr Cyan off guard and left him visibly surprised. Nobody ever spent more time with him than was absolutely necessary so most tasks were conveyed to him by porters or other secondary figures. This momentary stumble pleased Dr Murf. "Earlier on you mentioned Seon's theories. Are you aware that he compiled a report on them and sent it to me?"

"No, I am not. He should have consulted me before doing so, that is a violation of the chain of command."

"Come now, he only did it because he thought they would help. He works as hard as you, you know."

"That is not relevant, only the quality of our results matters." Refusing to abandon proper decorum, Dr Cyan ignored his injured pride and sought to discredit Dr Seon. "What conclusions have you drawn from it, Sir?"

"I'm not sure. His ideas seem preposterous and yet still have sense. For example, his theory on what happens to the subjects taken by the Collectors, he says they use them for parts. Now, from the visual arrays alone it is impossible to discern whether these limbs they use belonged to the Collectors originally or rather if they have been harvested from people. Now, the difference in colour tonalities may indicate this to be the case and would also explain the different witness descriptions. The idea fits the facts. He then goes on to postulate that maybe we've been wrong in assuming that the Collectors are the most dangerous entity inside the tomb. He says that maybe they work like ants and serve something bigger and more fearful. What about that notion?"

"A theory must be properly evidenced, and not be tailored to suit the facts."

"Very true, Dr Cyan. But it would be foolish to not contemplate the possibility. There is a basis for the theory, is there not?"

"Yes, there is some. But if that were the case, it wouldn't explain why Sigma 134 stalks its prey for so long. Furthermore, it does not fit the behavioural attributes observed up to this point. Sigma 134 first feeds off the mind and once the subject is no more than a vegetable, it drags it off to be sacrificed."

"Now, here is where Dr Seon differs from you. He suggests that the sacrifice, which up until now was thought to literally mean loss of life, could actually mean the loss of one's mind."

"That is ludicrous, Sir, the original texts found at the tomb's entrance expressly state "living human sacrifice"."

"Yes, but what's worse, losing your life or losing your mind and being forced to live a hollow existence? I know what I would answer, and something tells me you feel the same. Don't you think there's some truth to this?"

"Good for nothing natural philosophers." Cursed Dr Cyan. 'Dr Seon's theories contradict recorded evidence. We haven't observed an increase in the numbers of Sigma 134 entities, and thus a harvesting is extremely unlikely. Their appearance is best understood by the traditional understanding of it being a voluntary manifestation contingent on the content of the memories of those Sigma 134 stalks."

"If you're correct, what happens to the bodies?"

"Obviously, they are at the bottom. This is common knowledge."

"Ah! Herein lies a big problem." Before continuing, Dr Murf allowed himself to grunt once more. This time, he genuinely saw Dr Cyan's muscles tense up a bit more, a fact that he found pleasing. "Listen. Now, what if we've been wrong about that? It may not seem like much to you, since you've been here only five years, but this has been going on for decades. Surely, some sort of effect should have been observed by now. What happens to all the bodies?"

"Consumed."

"That isn't incompatible with a harvesting."

"Would knowing that they do "harvest" their prey change the function we are to perform? We are moving with the utmost urgency with a view of reaching the bottom and obtaining the inheritance. That will not change even if, in the most ridiculous of hypotheticals, they took their prey in order to build a device capable of wiping out humanity."

"It wouldn't change what we have to do, but it could change how we do it."

"I will concede on that point, Dr Murf, but is a crude debate why you wanted me to stay?"

"You're too much of a positivist." Said Dr Murf grunting in disappointment. "No, Dr Cyan, it isn't. I wanted to ask you about Dr Seon. How is he performing?" Dr Murphy finally said as he neared the end of his pipe.