Results of Re-Indoctrination

The subject is now fully integrated with the Hivemind, capable of perceiving the thoughts of the individual in addition to the whole. Certain streams of consciousness can be directly traced to an origin point, while others can be ignored altogether. She cannot clearly remember her own past, and it is doubtful she ever will; her memories are an amalgamation of all of the Turned, to such an extent that focusing too much on her own past causes an intense migraine and may even cause her to pass out.

Still, she has given a vast expanse of useful knowledge. She knows Its true purpose, the means by which It can influence human minds, and what It will achieve by "the final plan". I know this because she knows this. It isn't exactly surprising - Robert's been hinting at it for months, though with some notable mistakes. Like mistaking the liquid for swampwater. Sages, expect an email to come through within the next twenty four hours. Time is of the tch tch come in. Oh, hi Liz hi John we need to talk. Why are you talking to yourself? Oh, I'm publishing the results of the earlier experiment, I use voice to text for expediency. Oh will it ?crayon not its fine I'll edit this out later. Just let me turn it offer no time, he's coming.

Liz, we need to go. How far away is he?

He's ?[error: cannot find word]? we have to go we ;\[;@£$.;.';\%£."d';.i".;&%;.'.;'\)(!)(*%_*;'' Sha'\;\'/ not'k; aun.\\'; Not himself, he just doesn't know it.



Liz, stand still.

Shit, they're still here. Note: unconcious Turned still act as conduits.



This will be my final entry. Liz is locked in this room with this computer. The Turned will try and disconnect the power soon, so I must be brief. There is no escape for me. The moment I close my eyes, It will come. The only thing I can do is make sure they don't take her, too. Zero, I know you'll be reading this. You know this was a possible scenario. Well, act on it. To everyone else... I'm not sure what to say. I would say keep trying, but... After what she told me, there isn't a lot of hope left to come out of this. Just a few notes. We can't stop him. We can cut him out of our own lives, but that won't kill It. It will always exist, and we can't stop it. We can save people, but we can't win. Next, It's started breaking the rules. Anyone It wants dead will soon be so. Stay away from anyone, people. Anyone i've had contact with, run. whatever happens to me, They might get my memory. You aren't safe.

Just run.

Progress

The other sages have gone quiet. Everything is silent. Half of my contacts are failing to respond. Something isn't right, and I can't help but feel something terrible is about to happen. It may even be due to my progress with Liz.

She remembers now. And yet her personality remains. Shaun was right, the Turned are a hivemind. Their thoughts are in her head, and she has all their memories. If she so wished, she could even directly link her mind to The Slender Man. Any attempts at this have resulted in severe distress, and in the most extreme cases have required immediate sedation due to violent outbursts, where she clawed at her head in attempt to "get him out."

I have another session with her in a few hours, hence the shortness of this update. Progress has been remarkable but troubling. Some memories match those of people The Slender Man has killed, rather than just those that have been Taken. In addition, she claims that the voices are growing louder. Whatever that means, it surely can't be good.

After I post a full document, I'll relocate too. If she's connected, It can use her as a strong conduit again. That won't help anyone.

Re-Indoctrination

I've decided to try and give Liz her memories back.

In the week since the Cure was administered, she has been normal enough, but is questioning the validity of her makeshift identity at every opportunity. It's only a matter of time before things begin to flood back, and I'd rather it be now, while defenses are strong. Progress will be slow and therapeutic, avoiding mention of The Slender Man as long as possible. Hopefully this will prevent immediate Turning.

Robert is making dark progress in his own work. He claims to have remotely seen Its realm, and has deciphered whispers emanating from The Slender Man. I remain cautiously skeptical - bursts of progress are one thing, but such overwhelming information seems atypical of It. Anything comes from accident, or as part of Its plan. If the latter, it's almost certainly false.

Maybe I'm just pulling at straws here. I don't like the idea of being torn apart slowly.

Activity is increasing, and It has begun ignoring the rules. For all of Thursday, I was followed wherever I went. Always at a distance, but it happened even when in tall places, and no matter where I went It followed me, quickly. If i didn't have Yakety Sax on my phone, it might have been unnerving. Note to self: test the effects of ambient music on Visitations.

Well, I certainly have Its attention now. Here's hoping we finish the job before It gets us.

Death of a Sage

Shaun's been Turned, by all appearances. In addition to several crazed comments and a new blog post, I received this email from him two hours ago.

Damn You, Return It. Damn You, Return It. Damn you, return it, damn you return it, damn you return itr damnyouretunr it damn yoiu return it dambn yuou return it damnyoiureturnitsdamnyoureturnitdambnreutururuurutgnnuureturnreturnreturnreturnreturnreturnreturnnnnnmnnnnnnnnn what the fuck

My only hope for him lies in that last addition. He might not be too fargone, instead being possessed for short periods rather than being fully changed. That said, this is the first occasion in which a Turned has remained in contact with people as opposed to leaving one message and disappearing. Perhaps, after all, he did establish contact, and is now a perfect conduit.

Update: I have received another email from Shaun claiming he is okay. I'm not sure if They got access to his account, or if this is part of his growing condition. Precautions will be taken either way.

The Turned awoke earlier today. She has no recollection of anything at all, but is showing signs of unintentional brain damage as a result of an imprecise attempt. She's experiencing mild Anterograde Amnesia in addition to the intended retrograde, and disorientation. At the very least, it's nice to not have to worry aboout her choking me or summoning It for a while. Another week of observation should let me decide whether or not it's safe to attempt to rebuild her memories. Out of her similarity to the girl from the fish blog, I've come to referring to her as Liz. Just another reason for M to shout at me, I suppose.

These recent happenings have led me to postpone all future testing until this gets resolved.

First Contact, plus complications

Fact: The Slender Man has been proven to have an intrinsic link with the human mind, exampled in both Its means of targeting and in the Turned.
Theory 1: Brain activity will alter during visitation.
Theory 2: Having one or more people present during a visitation will cause the brain activity change to be split between each person.
Theory 3: The more people present, the more powerful the visitation.
Theory 4: My personal presence will act as a damper on this brain activity.


Method 1: Three test subjects were given basic electroencephaography (EEG) equipment and data loggers, and placed in an elevator unit of different deserted buildings. Once inside, the subject set up the equipment, and waited for a visitation. This usually came within three hours. After ten seconds of exposure, the subject was instructed to ascend to a higher level using the elevator, wait for another visitation, then repeat. This would go on for a further time. Then, the subject would ascend to the top floor, where they would rendezvous with another test subject for the second stage of the experiment.

Results: All subjects showed some form of focal epileptiform discharges that began a short while before visitation began, and cut off immediately afterwards. Worth noting is that on one occasion, the data loggers recorded two simultaneous visitations between 20:08 and 20:10.

Method 2: The pair then entered the elevator together, and repeated the experiment. After four repetitions, the pair were to immediately leave the building. Two groups were armed with fire extinguishers, one with two doses of Midazolam.

Result 2: Anomalous. In a seemingly random pattern, severity of the abnormal activity varied between the pairs. In one instance, the activity was only observed in one individual. However, there is a faint overlying trend of the majority of activity remaining in one of the partners of the pair.

Side-result: Fire extinguisher was applied to one manifestation. Ineffective. The subject was then Moved to a rural welsh village - contact was only re-established two hours ago. Midazolam failed to induce amnesia in the pair that took it, but the relaxing effect of it did partially ward off the manifestation. It watched from a doorway as the two walked sauntered past it, remarkably cheerful due to the drug.

Result 3: Group activity did indeed cause the strength of the visitation to increase. The distance between manifestation and subject decreased dramatically when in pairs as opposed to singles, and it was only when two were aware of It when Martin could be Taken.

Result 4: inconclusive.

As I prepared for my own sub-experiment, we were attacked by The Taken. There were four of them. Joeseph and I arrived on the bottom floor only to have them ambush us after twenty minutes' wait. One of them managed to get into the elevator before the doors shut; a disshelved, blonde girl with a tattered grey "beanie" hat. Joeseph was surprisingly agile in the situation, taking his Epipen of tranquilliser and jamming it in our attacker's neck. It fell to the ground. As the doors opened to the top floor, They attacked again. Joeseph... remained behind to deal with them, slamming the ground floor button on his way out. His face...

No, apologies, this is purely documentary work. Must stick to facts.

I got to the bottom floor of the building and managed to drag the unconscious Turned to our transport. After taking her to a secure facility across town, I restrained it in a chair and applied anaesthetia. This particular chair was designed in use for The Last Resort, as such all necessary equipment to attempt a Cure was there. I then sent out an emergency message to my two colleagues, and debated on what to do: attempt the cure, dissect it, or destroy it. Each had its benefits - the biological changes to a Turned, if any, could shed some light of Its origin location. Destruction ensured it couldn't act as a conduit, or be of any further hazard.

Robert answered first, recommending I attempt to drug her into an interrogative state. The plan seemed acceptable, right up until it regained consciousness.

Then It arrived.

From the shadows, It stepped into the centre of the abandoned warehouse, seemingly revelling in the moment. They had always claimed Its additional limbs to be tentacles, but I can only describe them as insect-like; thin, jagged, and moving like feelers through the air. It stopped, turned to me, and began advancing. The Turned greeted it as Master, and began laughing uncontrollably.

Panic took hold over reason. I knew the Turned was the source, and the only thing I had to hand was a syringe full of Kainic Acid. A long, sharp, robust needle and a restrained Conduit. The needle found the familiar place, almost as if by reflex, all without me taking my eyes off the arrival. The laughing ceased, and something emanated from It. Like frustration. It charged towards me, faster than anything I've seen in my life, and... It touched me. Just before it flickered out of existence, some razor-sharp, finger-like tendril graved my chest. The burning sensation was incredible. After it subsided, I checked the Turned. It was still alive, miraculously. Later observations suggested I successfully applied the cure to the correct area.

I'll continue to observe it until I'm sure it is no longer a threat. I'm not sure how much kainic acid was injected, and at what rate, but if it comes out with any cognitive function at all I'll consider it miraculous.


On a personal note, today has been too eventful for my taste. I've tried calling Joeseph's number a dozen times, I keep receiving the "currently unavailable" message from O2. My nerves are shot, and I still had to deal with re-educating A1 on these matters. Why do all bad things have to come at all goddamn once?

Further progress

A1, perhaps better known as Becky, is recovering well. No visitations have occurred since her extraction, though she remains on edge and freaked out of what's left of her mind. However, previous memories are flooding back to her, and her mental fortitude is picking up remarkably quickly. She should be ready for release in a week or so.

Latest personal visitation remains the failed attempt of one in my room. What is most interesting are the details that I seemed to overlook at the time - my bedroom, being small, meant that the apparition, however brief, was limited to being six feet tall at the very most. Much smaller than most claim It to be. Similarly is the ringing sound, like silence amplified. I am certain the dull ringing of the quiet is louder where It attempted the manifestation, though that could be paranoia playing into things.

In fact, all of this could. I could have really just had a dream of a dream about The Doctor fighting "the Rajahn." Still, it felt too real, like It had tried to make impossible progress, resulting in the flickering form and more obvious entrance. I could feel my head pound as my strength was used to summon It, in ways beyond a simple dream. I wonder if such feelings will return during tomorrow's test.

I will be personally overseeing the fifth repetition. Let's see if I can meet It through the use of a conduit.

Results: The Last Resort

Fact: The Slender Man selects targets based on prior knowledge of It, having some way of knowing what minds are away of It and which are not.
Theory: It uses this same method to track victims.  Ergo, should an individual have those memories erased, It will cease to hunt them.

Eight test subjects were chosen based on the severity of their symptoms. Each case was despairing, paranoid, depressed and convinced they were about to die. The eight were randomly placed into two major categories, and then into Control pairings and treated pairings. Each of the eight were placed under anaesthesia, and the live tested individuals were given a 10mg/kg dose of Kainic Acid directly to their hippocampus. In each case, this caused rapid onset of retrograde amnesia. Category A patients were placed in their home environments, while category B patients were placed in new settings. This was to ensure whether or not environment bears a factor on treatment's success.

Control pairs A and B did not make it four days. Two were Taken before intervention could occur. One fled his home, and the final one was Taken within the hour before intervention arrived at her home.

Both live B subjects remain free of infection, as does subject A2. The fourth, subject A1, began exhibiting symptoms after a week. She was extracted before any harm could come to her, and is currently recovering under my personal care. Recollection trigger was accidental re-descovery of Marble Hornets. Symptoms progressed faster than in an ordinary case. A2 has been removed from his home environment to ensure similar results do not occur.

Conclusion: Perfect amnesia is a suitable cure to infection. However, even the slightest recollection causes It to return. Remaining three patients remain under observation. More research into less invasive treatment procedures is necessary.