The following logs, documents and records chronologizes the sequence of events surrounding the escape of prisoner #870729 from Prison Planet Elysium, his journey to Colonization-Planet #1, and his successful infiltration and capture of said planet.

The logs, documents and records contained herein are archived in their apparent order to provide a coherent, succinct and factual account of the events surrounding the escape of prisoner #870729. They are archived so that the reader may believe that prisoner #870729 is the captor and subjugator of Colonization Planet #1, and that in believing will abstain from similar treasons.

All other accounts have been deemed officially false. Forebear, all loyalists of the BUREAU, of the peril faced by those who refuse to subsist within the bounds of our laws, lest we are tempted to tread the stranger's path…as did prisoner #870729.

MILES TOWNSENDArchivist & Cataloguer

Dept. of Oversight & GovernanceBUREAU

The playback begins with an oscillating high-pitch squeal—similar to tuning an old radio transmission set—suggesting that the log was damaged in the crash. Throughout the squeal, a voice intermittently can be made out, however obscured by static. Although mostly inaudible, I have managed to discern the following:

VOICE: I was sick…unbound me…sentence of death…one dreamy hum…the judges…torture…saw them fashion the syllables of my name…no sound…delirious horror…aspect of charity…angels to save me…all at once…deadly nausea…angel forms…meaningless spectres…vanished…nothingness…blackness… darkness…silence…stillness…night.

Beyond “night”, the voice speaks no further. However, a person crying can be heard sporadically throughout the hum. This is followed by heavy breathing, and then a deep sigh. Nothing but the squeal is audible now.

The high-pitched squeal suddenly plummets to a steady, low-frequency purr, which is followed by a sound similar to that made by the activation of high-voltage electrical circuit. Abruptly, the playback goes silent. A muffled pop is heard, followed immediately by the voice:

VOICE: My name is M—…on second thought, I will not say my name, as it is of little importance now. The lettering they branded into my skin is P#870729. I am an escapee from the prison planet Elysium. I have

commandeered this ship and am setting course to Colonization Planet #1.

VOICE: Others—my co-patriots—have escaped Elysium and are onboard other commandeered ships. However, I have been sent before them. My mission is to reach Colonization Planet #1, ensure that it is a suitable habitat for myself and my co-patriots, and prepare for their arrival. I am to also ensure the local populace consent to the shared habitation of the planet between themselves and my co-patriots.

The voice pauses.

VOICE: If the local populace do not comply, I am to eliminate them.

Once again, a pause.

VOICE: I know that the actions I have taken will be reviled by many…if not by all beings inhabiting within known space. Through my previous actions, I have relinquished the esteem of the larger part of my peers—peers no longer—who once held me in high regard…I wish it to be known, by those who knew me and those who will know me, that I have not, and never will regret the actions I have taken thus far through my life’s journey. I chose this path—this path into the dark wood—not unwittingly, but consciously and whole-heartedly.

The voice pauses. The sound of inhaling and exhaling…through the nostrils…can be heard.

VOICE: I…I had a choice! To bow and sue for grace on subservient knee, to live a life of servitude under those who claimed seniority over me, or to gain an unconquerable self-will of my own, to gain the courage to never submit or yield. I have lost much…but in doing so I have gained self-worth.

The voice chuckles candidly.

VOICE: I can see Elysium in its entirety through the rear porthole now…strange! The act of distancing is so visually different than when on a planet. On a planet, places and people get gobbled up so trivially by the horizon…as if they were never of any consequence. In space, the object lingers and refuses to vanish. The full aspect of the object lingers on…its size decreases gradually…until the resolution of the eyes fails to capture it.

A pause.

VOICE: The past has vanished, and the dark prospect of the future lies before me.

CHAPTER IONE DREAMY HUM

SHIP’S LOG #6XX1#DATED: OCTOBER 28, YEAR 4004RETRIEVED FROM THE WRECKAGE OF THE PANDEMONEON ON COLONIZATION PLANET #1COORDINATES: 35N, 45EOriginal audio transcribed by Miles Townsend

The recording begins with the murmur of a large gathering of people. The sounds of people standing, sitting and greeting one another can be heard. The beating of a gavel starts to overtake the other sounds.

CHAIRPERSON: Order! I will have order!

The gathering falls silent

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. Today we have before us a specialist familiar with the flight-data-recorder technology that was on board The Pandemonium. He has painstakingly analyzed the records for several months, and is here now to present his findings to the committee. Sir, please state your name and research focus for the record.

DAEDALUS: Dr. Stonewall Daedalus. Cosmology, astrodynamics, spaceship control systems, and near light-speed locomotion.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you for your time, sir. Now, Dr. Daedalus, have you been able to characterize the trajectory taken by The Pandemonium from Elysium to former Colonization Planet #1?

DAEDALUS: Roughly speaking, yes. The Pandemonium was equipped with a radio, which upon entering our solar system is programmed to send a continuous transmission to Hellos. The duration of the transmission suggests that the spacecraft travelled within our solar system for approximately 12.5 hours--in standard international units--before crash-landing on Colonization

Planet #1.Using the visuals we were able to map the trajectory of the spacecraft.

CHAIRPERSON: Which was what, doctor?

DAEDALUS: From the perspective of the spacecraft, it descended into the solar system such that the orbit of the planets appeared counter clockwise around Hellos. Its initial trajectory is as such that if extrapolated the spacecraft would have passed through the constellation Camelopardalis. However, after approximately 11.4 hours—again, in standard international units— the spacecraft stopped its descent, having reached the orbital plane of our solar system’s planets. Shortly after the spacecraft passed the sixth planet of the solar system, and then the fifth at 11.8 hours. Finally it entered the gravitational pull of Colonization Planet #1 and crashed landed.

A voice shouts: “Woe to the inhabitants…” the remainder of his statement is obscured by other voices and the gavel.

CHAIRPERSON: Order! Order! *the gathering silences*…Now doctor, did the record provide any information on the prisoner onboard The Pandemonium?

DAEDALUS: Unfortunately, the prisoner who commandeered the spacecraft knew how to disable the audio and visual from the ship’s interior, so in that regard, we don’t have much information. However, the ship also records various biological measures of any onboard life forms. Heart rate, blood pressure, hormonal

levels, that sort of thing. Since there was only the prisoner on board, we are at least able to infer how the passenger was feeling during the voyage.

CHAIRPERSON: What did you find, doctor?

DAEDALUS: At the onset of the transmission, the prisoner exhibits an exceedingly high heart rate and blood pressure, as well as high levels of cortisol and norepinephrine--those are the hormones released by the body when stressed. However, the levels shown here are abnormally high…and steady! His body is in a state of constant anticipation. It’s as if his body thinks it’s in a perpetual headlong motion, or that it incessantly expects to smash into a wall. Throughout the voyage, the stress-hormone levels drops, but his adrenaline levels rise accordingly, past the level of ordinary exhilaration and to the point that could induce hallucinations.

CHAIRPERSON: And what do you think could have induced these…vital signs?

DAEDALUS: I believe that the symptoms the prisoner was experiencing were caused by travelling at light-speed for a dangerously prolonged period of time.

CHAIRPERSON: And what are the implications of this, doctor?

DAEDALUS: Well…time travel.

CHAPTER IICRASH LANDING

ARMED SERVICES COMMITEE HEARING #333DATED: JULY 26, YEAR 3874TESTIMONY GIVEN BY DR. STONEWALL DAEDALUSHEARING HELD AT HELLOS, GALACTIC CAPITALOriginal audio transcribed by Miles Townsend

The playback begins with static. Then breathing…and finally the voice of Agent Malik-Patmos:

AGENT MALIK-PATMOS: This intercepted transmission, which the BUREAU has given solely unto me, reveals great treachery within my ward. I feel compelled to reveal this recording to those still loyal to the BUREAU, and to provide testimony in regards to the events at Elysium on September 22, 4002, when those disloyal escaped their prison and were let loose onto the universe.

A sharp snap is heard—likely the sound made by the start-up of the transmission’s playback. This is followed by static and high-pitched squealing, but these secondary sounds slowly begin to be overtaken by a female voice. She is calling out to someone. After some time, her words become audible:

WOMAN: Come in, Charon…Charon, come in.

A voice finally responds to her call:

MAN: Yes, Minerva?

WOMAN: I call for you, but you do not acknowledge me. What delays you?

MAN: I will not suffer you to scold me, nor to usurp my authority. Remember he charged me to see this mission through. You are but a means to that end—

WOMAN: Charon, please—

MAN: Quiet! Do not mistake our inbred relation as nothing but inherited. And do not confound the passions we share as compassion for each other. Stay focused on the task at hand.

A pause.

WOMAN: Yes, Charon.

Again, there is a sharp snap---the playback must have been stopped by Agent Malik-Patmos. His slow and steady breathing can be heard, thoughbeit mutely. After a period of silence, he speaks:

AGENT MALIK-PATMOS: I am well familiar with the voices in the transmission. They belong to two agents that were under my charge as warden. The female voice heard throughout the transmission belongs to Agent Minerva-Ixiom, former vice-warden of Prison Planet Elysium. The male voice belongs to Agent Charon-Sphinx, who was also a former vice-warden and is the

son of Agent Minverva-Ixiom; his paternal relation is not known, although there are suspicions that his father is P#870629.

The sharp snap is again heard, and the transmission’s playback begins again.

MAN: Now, what is your status?

WOMAN: I breached the gate to the docking bay at 6:01—I mean—6:08 p.m. Using the first launch code, I have prepared The Victory for boarding—

MAN: Were you watched? Did anything happen to suggest you were detected?

WOMAN: No, nothing unordinary—

MAN: Describe what happened when you entered the first launch code.

WOMAN: Upon entering the code, the entrance to the slip of The Victory opened with a thunderous crack. The voice over the intercom said “AERONAUT, PLEASE INSPECT THE SHIP PRIOR TO BOARDING,” and so I inspected the ship—

CHAPTER IIITHE ESCAPE

INTERCEPTED RADIO TRANSMISSIONDATED: SEPTEMBER 22, YEAR 4002TRACED TO PRISON PLANET ELYSIUM, DOCKING BAY #4, #5COMMENTARY BY AGENT MALIK-PATMOS, WARDEN OF PRISON PLANET ELYSIUMOriginal audio transcribed by Miles Townsend

MAN: And the ship’s condition?

WOMAN: Excellent. The bow of it is exceptionally designed.

MAN: Good, where are you now?

The sound of quick footsteps over metal can be heard. The women’s breathing is audible and hurried.

WOMAN: I’m approaching the entranceway to the slip of The Crusader. I’m entering in the launch code…damn!

There is the sound of metal sliding upon metal, like gears clasping onto gears, and chains tightening and unravelling.

MAN: What?! What is happening?

WOMAN: *In a panicked voice* I think I triggered the security system. The lights have all turned red! I need to hide—

MAN: Fool! The slip to The Crusader has always been lit that way! Check and see if the armaments onboard the ship are loaded.

WOMAN: Give me a moment (a beeping, like that made by a control panel, is heard)…yes, they are.

MAN: Move onto the final ship.

The clanking of footsteps over metal is audible again, and again the sound of the woman’s breathing increases in volume and pace.

MAN: Have you arrived?

WOMAN: Yes, I am entering the launch codes now…

The sound of metal upon metal can be heard again.

WOMAN: The Enterprise is ready for boarding.

MAN: Good, I believe it is safe to deactivate the prison’s security system.

A downward cascade of beeps is heard, as if something is being powered down.

WOMAN: Are each of the prisoners aware of which ship to board?

MAN: Yes, all six-hundred thousand have been placed onto their respective ships based on their abilities… the deactivation code is now ready.

WOMAN: Shall I meet you outside the slip of The Banshee?

MAN: Yes, and all of Elysium shall follow me.

A loud slam is heard, and is immediately followed by the sound of sirens, and the knocking of many gears turning at once. The shouting of many can be heard softly, but slowly and steadily it grows into a thunderous roar.

WOMAN: Charon-Sphinx?

MAN: What is it?

The roaring of the crowd is deafening

WOMAN:…I love you.The roaring of the crowd still dominates the playback, but the breathing of the two speakers can be made out. Suddenly, the playback turns into static, and then becomes silent.

The recording begins with the sound of wind. It is not steady or strong, but intermittent and soft, like gusts over a desolate plain. A heartbeat can be heard, beating slowly, steadily, clearly.

VOICE: What has happened to me?

A pause.

VOICE: I had unsettling dreams while I slept…but perhaps they weren’t dreams at all! My limbs…they now seem so pathetically thin than prior to my voyage…and my skin! Hard and scaly when it was once smooth and full of youth! O! What has happened to me?!

The voice pauses once more

VOICE: This shall be my last transmission onboard this ship…my real work begins—but what a grueling work I have picked for myself! What a futile and impossible plight lies before me! What chance do I have is such a chanceless endeavour?

The voice succumbs to tears. It coughs violently, clears its throat and says—

VOICE: I—I have lied to them all. I have seduced those

who will precede me with promises I cannot hope to fulfill. The vaunts I spouted sprang forth from hollow and empty vaults. Even if we claim this planet for our own, we are still nothing but renegades removed from our former offices and positions. Do we genuinely believe that we can recreate for ourselves all that we have lost? How naive of us! All we can hope to accomplish is to doom the inhabitants of this planet to a similar fate. We believed that we escaped Elysium, yet there is no escape for us. There is no place of refuge for us. Wherever we go, Elysium comes…

The voice pauses.

VOICE: We are Elysium.

There is an extended period of silence, but it is extinguished by the sound of three bangs—like the sound of iron of being struck.

VOICE: What is that pounding?

Again the three bangs. A pause and once again the three bangs

VOICE: Someone…someone knocks at the hatch!

Again the three bangs, but they are accompanied by a repeating yet indiscernible sound.

VOICE: …And now—it can’t be, but most certainly—I hear a voice! O! It calls for me by my name prior to my indiscretions! O! How good it is to be beckoned by a name and not a number! …I wish to answer it. I will see his face. I will open the—

The speaker stops abruptly, followed by silence. The three bangs resound again and the indiscernible sound accompanies it.

VOICE: …But what if it is a trick? They might take me away to a deeper, darker prison than the former! No, there is no forgiveness after my transgressions!

The sound, the three bangs.

VOICE: Nor do I wish for forgiveness! May my transgressions be my new good! My solace!

Silence.

VOICE: The visitor has gone away…farewell then! Now to the task at hand: To conquer this strange land.

CHAPTER IVFAREWELL

SHIP’S LOG #6XX2#DATED: MAY 9, 14:12, YEAR 4003RETRIEVED FROM THE WRECKAGE OF THE PANDEMONEON ON COLONIZATION PLANET #1COORDINATES: 35N, 45EOriginal audio transcribed by Miles Townsend

The following three entries made by Pandora Izanami were recorded all within the same night. She complained the next day of suffering from nightmares.

TIMESTAMP: 04:03

IZANAMI: A restless sleep. My mind seems to be racing in every direction, and thoughts and ideas that were once foreign and taboo to me seem practical and possible tonight. Why do these evil compulsions haunt me?

She pauses. IZANAMI: …The directives handed down to us by the BEAUREAU seem so contradictory and—hypocritical to me. The BUREAU promises to satisfy all the necessary needs of its citizens without condition…and to its credit I have never wanted for anything. However, if the needs of all citizens will be provided for unconditionally, why is it necessary for us to maintain the Seed Project Site? It is a burdensome and pointless labour for the inhabitants of the Colonization Planet…and unfair! I’m certain that the officials that have visited the site do not carry out such mindless labour! I am a citizen of the BUREAU. Why should I toil?

She pauses.

IZANAMI: What am I saying? My work is not arduous. It fulfills me. The satisfaction of physical needs does not ensure survival. One needs purpose…enough… I must sleep. TIMESTAMP: 04:06

IZANAMI: Sleep seems beyond me tonight. My body is spent but my mind persists. Who am I to be plagued with such thoughts?

She pauses.

IZANAMI: …We speak as if the BUREAU is benevolent and protecting. How are we sure? When was this compassion and care ever revealed? The goodness of the BUREAU is an uncertainty. All of this may be but a guise that hides a corrupt autocracy with no desire for goodness, only for power and dominion over all!

She pauses.

IZANAMI: …And yet, I trust him who is closest to me without demanding constant signs of his fidelity! The BUREAU has given me much. What more must be

endowed to me as proof of the BUREAU’s good faith? No…it is wrong of me to test…

TIMESTAMP: 04:09

IZANAMI: The dawn will come before sleep does. Before tonight, everything was so clear…but now it is a haze. What is happening to me?

She pauses.

IZANAMI: Ever since I came into existence, the BUREAU has been the only eternal truth. It asked little of me, but what it commanded of me I carried out. I never wanted for anything. Whatever I needed was provided to me. The BUREAU is benevolent.

Yet be it benevolent are evil…the truth regarding the BUREAU remains. It is but a tyranny! Why should it have such authority? Why should it hand down the directives? I will not remain a slave to such a task-master! I will have autonomy over myself!

She pauses.

IZANAMI: …Is this me speaking, or is it a weary mind in need of the balm of sleep? I am not sure…

CHAPTER VTHE HAUNTING

EXCERPTS FROM PERSONAL PHONOGRAPHIC RECORDS OF PANDORA IZANAMIDATED: SEPT 21, YEAR 4003RETRIEVED FROM THE RUINS OF THE FIRST SEED PROJECT CITE, ON COLONIZATION PLANET #1COORDINATES: 38 N 46 EOriginal Audio Transcribed by Miles Townsend

Note from Israfel Yohanen: I can testify to the accuracy of the directive, for I participated in the events it describes. These events are very personal to me. Members of the third faction were once my peers, and although I rejoiced when their schemes were thwarted, I was saddened by the loss of their friendship…However, I digress.

THE BEAUREAU DIRECTIVE ACCORDING TO AGENT ISRAFEL YOHANEN:

THIS DIRECTIVE, LIKE ALL DIRECTIVES, HAS EXISTED SINCE THE BEGINNING: THE DIRECTIVES ARE WITHIN THE BUREAU; THE DIRECTIVES ARE THE BUREAU.

THE DIRECTIVES WERE WITH THE BUREAU SINCE THE BEGINNING.

THE ARIES INITIATIVE WAS STARTED THROUGH THE DIRECTIVES. NEITHER A SINGLE PHASE NOR A SINGLE ELEMENT OF A SINGLE PHASE WAS INITIATED EXCEPT THROUGH THE DIRECTIVES.

WHAT WAS INITIATED THROUGH THE DIRECTIVES WAS THE FIRST SEED PROJECT. THE PROJECT’S PURPOSE IS TO BRING HOPE TO THE FUTURE INHABITANTS OF COLONIZATION PLANET #1.

THE HOPE WILL STAND SURROUNDED BY NEMESES, BUT IT WILL NOT BE OVERTAKEN BY THEM.

THE PRINCIPLE NEMESIS WAS FORMALY KNOWN AS AGENT MORNING STAR. HE AND THE THIRD-FACTION OF AGENTS HE CONSCRIPTED TO HIS CAUSE WILL BE INCARCERATED UNTIL JUDGEMENT IS PASSED.

I.J: You will not find the name of “Morning Star” documented anywhere else. The agent rescinded his name through his treasonous actions. Only us who were present during the uprising will know his name. To you, he is known as Prisoner #870729.

MORNING STAR AND THE THIRD FACTION REFUSED TO FURTHER OBEY BUREAU DIRECTIVES, AND CHOSE RATHER TO INSTIGATE INSURGENCY WITHIN THE AGENT RANKS.

I.J: The exact reasons for Agent Morning Star’s dissent are not well understood. He refused to be interviewed after his capture. One theory suggested by many was his distaste for the Aries Initiative. When the initiative was first proposed, Agent Morning Star was opposed to it, especially with the formation of a new division of agents to oversee Colonization Planet #1.

CHAPTER VIWAR

BEAUREAU DIRECTIVE #XXXXXXX: ORIGINAL AURAL RECORDSON THE THIRD-FACTION UPRISING AND THE ARIES INITIATIVEPART 1 OF 2THE DOCUMENT IS UNDATED

Note from Milton Townsend: I managed to obtain the original aural record of the BUREAU directive which documents the third-faction uprising, as well as the seven phases of the Aries Initiative. However, to my ears, the playback was utterly incomprehensible. It begins in a low hum, with shimmering overtones. I expected a voice to begin recounting the events in question, but suddenly my ears were overtaken by something that was, in a word, tremendous…

It sounded like the blasting of trumpets, the strumming of harps and the booming of thunderlings all merged together into an unexplainable hum of harmony and disharmony…like a song that pulls at one’s heart strings, but the emotions it plucks have no name…I attempted to listen to the record several times. However, after listening for extended periods, I would experience pangs throughout my entire body coupled with an extraordinary and inexplicable fear…as if I was on the verge of death. I therefore passed the record onto my superior, Agent Israfel Yohanen, for his assistance. He was kind enough to prepare the transcription of the recording himself. It has been provided below:

Some argue that he wanted jurisdiction over Colonization Planet #1 for himself. Apologists argue that Morning Star thought it was unfair to force agents to oversee a planet so far removed from the BUREAU.

A second theory is that he became disillusioned with the BEAUREAU. Agents have quoted him as saying: “If the directives are righteous because they are commanded by the BUREAU, then the BUREAU is tyrannical. If the BUREAU commands directives that are righteous, then obedience to the BEAUREAU is pointless.”

Some say it was simply to assume power over the BUREAU.

Regardless of the reason, enough agents found Morning Star’s reasons for dissent so compelling, that he drew

33% of all agents to his cause.

AND SO THERE WAS INSURGENCY. AGENT GEORGIUM MIKAIL WAS APPOINTED TO LEAD A SELECT TEAM AGAINST MORNING STAR AND HIS THIRD FACTION, AND MORNING STAR AND HIS THIRD FACTION FOUGHT BACK.

I.J: I was a member of Agent Georgium Mikail’s team. Honestly most members of the team were afraid to face the third faction, for Morning Star had convinced some of the most able agents to his cause. Georgium, however never seemed doubtful…

YET MORNING STAR WAS NOT STRONG ENOUGH, AND HE AND HIS AGENTS LOST THEIR STANDING WITH THE BUREAU.

THE PRINCIPLE NEMESIS WAS REMOVED. AND THIS ETERNAL ENEMY, FOREVER TO BE KNOWN AS PRISONER #870729, WAS INCARCERATED AT ELYSIUM WITH ALL HIS AGENTS.

I.J: It is a common misconception that the clashes with the third faction were something spectacular and awesome. “Some of the greatest agents battling for the fate of the BUREAU,” they say. But it wasn’t. In fact it was almost pathetic…

They were so blind…blinded by their own sense of self-empowerment! They never seemed to realize the stupidity in all of it.

…I miss them so much.

I.J.: I must apologize for my previous statement. As an agent I must remain impartial and professional, and expressing my feelings does not help our cause.

After the third faction was incarcerated, the BUREAU put all its effort towards the furtherance of the Aries Initiative. The project was divided into seven phases. The objectives of each phase are outlined within the directive, which I have transcribed below:

IN THE FIRST PHASE OF THE ARIES INITIATIVE, A REGION OF HIGHLY DENSE MASS WILL BE LEFT TO EXPAND AT AN INCREDIBLE RATE. THE PROCESS WILL EMIT AGREAT AMOUNT OF ENERGY AND LIGHT, AND THE RESULT OF THE EXPANSION WILL FORM A NEW SOLAR SYSTEM. THE BUREAU SHALL PLACE ITS GALACTIC CAPITAL AT HELLOS, WHICH IS LOCATED WITHIN THE ARIES CONSTELLATION. THE THIRD ORBITING PLANET WILL BECOME THE FIRST COLONIZATION PLANET AND HEREAFTER WILL BE REFFERED TO AS COLONIZATION PLANET #1.

IN THE SECOND PHASE, COLONIZATION PLANET #1

WILL BE COOLED. THE COOLING WILL RESULT IN THE CONDENSATION OF WATER FROM THE VOLATILE ATMOSPHERE. THE SURFACE OF COLONIZATION PLANET #1 WILL BE AN EXPANSE OF WATER, AND THE RESULTING ATMOSPHERE WILL BE OXYGEN RICH. THE SKY WILL BE COMPLETELY OBSCURED BY CONSTANT RAIN.

IN THE THIRD PHASE, THE VOLATILITY OF THE ATMOSPHERE WILL DECREASE, THE CONDENSED WATER WILL RE-EVAPORATE AND LAND MASSES SHALL APPEAR ON THE SURFACE OF COLONIZATION PLANET #1. SINGLE-CELLED ORGANISMS WILL BE INTRODUCED ONTO THE PLANET AND PERMITTED TO THRIVE AND EVOLVE.

IN THE FORTH PHASE, THE CONSTANT RAIN WILL SLOW AND FINALLY CEASE. THE SKIES WILL CLEAR. THE PLANETS AND STARS SURRONDING COLONIZATION PLANET #1 WILL FINALLY BE VISIBLE BY THE LIFEFORMS INHABITING IT. HELLOS WILL FINALLY BE VISIBLE FROM COLONIZATION PLANET #1, BUT ONLY DURING DAYTIME HOURS.

IN THE FIFTH PHASE, THE EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES OF THE ORGANISMS INTRODUCED IN PHASE THREE WILL BEGIN TO CONVERGE. THE RESULTING MULTI-CELLED ORGANISMS WILLALL BE OCEAN DWELLERS. THEY WILL BE VARIED AND DIVERSE AND THE ECOSYSTEM THAT THEY WILL PARTICAPATE IN WILL BE STABLE.

IN THE SIXTH PHASE, SOME OCEAN DWELLERS WILL EVOLVE INTO LAND DWELLERS. SUBSEQUENTLY THE LAND DWELLERS WILL EVOLVE INTO FLYERS. AT THIS POINT, EVOLUTIONARY CONVERGENCE HAS BEEN ACHIEVED. A NEW DIVISION OF AGENTS WILL BE BROUGHT TO COLONIZATION PLANET #1 TO OVERSEE THE ECOSYSTEMS. THEY WILL RESIDE WITHIN THE SEED-PROJECT COMPLEX.

ONLY SOMBER REVIEW OF THE ARIES INITIATIVE IS TO BE PERFORMED DURING THE SEVENTH PHASE.

CHAPTER VIISEVEN PHASES

BUREAU DIRECTIVE #XXXXXXX: ORIGINAL AURAL RECORDSON THE THIRD-FACTION UPRISING AND THE ARIES INITIATIVEPART 2 OF 2THE DOCUMENT IS UNDATED

Note from Miles Townsend: Agent Israfel Johannen delivered his transcript to me in person…a great honor! However, he was not himself when he came to see me. His demeanour was haggard; he sighed persistently; he kept choking on his words; his eyes were red. I asked him if listening to the record had caused him pain as it did me. He said, “Yes, but not physically. Just emotionally.” I asked what was the matter. He let out a deep sigh and said:

“I just wish they would come back to us!” He then rushed out of my office. I wish I understood his pain—the pain of all the agents who fought the third faction.

…the remainder of the transcript is provided below.

The audio has been damaged. The playback is constantly interrupted by bursts of static. A high-pitch squeal similar to the one heard in the log of the Pandemonium is heard here as well. The bursts of static become progressively more intermittent and the squealing fades away. The sensations I felt while listening to the BUREAU directive return to me and by instinct I reached to stop the playback. However, upon realizing that I was not experiencing any pain, I let the record to continue playing…

I hear a voice, but it is low both in volume and tone. I cannot fully make out the words, but I managed to discern the following:

VOICE: …Rise…first father…come…to the garden.

The full faculty of my mind focuses on these words, as if they have put me into a trance. It suddenly dawns on me that I could now hear the steady beating of a heart. This is followed by the sound of lungs exhaling and inhaling. The breathing starts soft and weak and mute, but it grows stronger with the passage of time.

Suddenly a loud and frenzied gasp for air breaks the silence, followed by quick and frenzied breathing. The breathing stabilizes, and finally a frantic voice says:

IZANAGI: Who…where am I?

The rustling of grass is heard—I feel as if the speaker is trying to stand. There is a thud, and then again the

rustling of grass. The sound of rustling grass is no longer erratic but periodic, like bare feet over a field. The steps start in slow, but the pace quickens swiftly. The steps continue for some time, but then stop abruptly.

IZANAGI: You! Who are you? Where are you taking me?

I am not certain if the person the voice addresses responds or not…I cannot make out a second voice during the recording.

IZANAGI: I…I know this place. Yes, this is the First Seed Project Site. You have been brought here for some reason…but my memory is hazy…O! What is my purpose again?

The voice pauses. Perhaps the second person is speaking to Izanagi.

IZANAGI: Yes…to supervise the growth of the First Seed Project; to maintain its ecosystems; to document and study its lifeforms. I remember now.

A low growl, coupled with the rustling of grass is heard, thoughbeit softly.

IZANAGI: Behold that ferocious beast! Its limbs are enormous and sturdy! And the hair about its face! It’s as if each strand dances with every step the beast takes! I shall name it…Aryeh—

The voice is interrupted by a sound foreign to me. It was like the gentle whimpering of a child that oscillates about a single tone.

IZANAGI: And this one! So soft and white and gentle…she fears the larger brute. *chuckling* I shall name it…Keves…I am famished. The fruit here seems—

Izanagi stops midsentence.

IZANAGI: If you prohibit it, than I shall refrain…what lifeform is that? It has my semblance though softer and gentler…I am strangely attracted to it.

Suddenly, the sound of steps over grass is heard again. The pace is swift.

IZANAGI: Wait! Stop! Come back!

Two sets of steps can now be heard intermingling. One is quicker than the other. The steps suddenly cease. There is the sound of heavy breathing. The sound of feet over grass begins anew, but the pace is slow and cautious.

IZANAGI: Please…do not be afraid…what…what is your name?

A voice responds. It is female:

FEMALE VOICE: My name? My name is…Izanami.

CHAPTER VIIIA STRANGE WORLD

EXCERPTS FROM THE PHONOGRAPHIC NOTES OF EPIMETHEUS IZANAGIDATED: OCTOBER 28, YEAR 4004RETRIEVED FROM THE RUINS OF THE FIRST SEED PROJECT CITE, ON COLONIZATION PLANET #1COORDINATES: 38 N 46 EOriginal Audio Transcribed by Miles Townsend

The playback begins with the murmuring of distant flames. A siren sounds periodically, although its squeal is not very alarming. Rather it sounds despondent and sad, as if the likelihood of rescue is all but lost. Beneath all this, there is the sound of footsteps, loud and heavy…and strangely slow given the emergency. There is sense of hopelessness.

JIBRAI’IL: O! What has happened here?

FIRST RESPONDER: Sir, it seems like we are too late…

JIBRAI’IL: We must locate them! I refuse to leave until they are located!

FIRST RESPONDER: But sir! You risk the safety of the entire team!

JIBRAI’IL: Have you no perception!? What has—what may be lost here is greater than all of us! The suffering of generations for eons to come! Muster your courage now or see this place forever mastered by dread!

During Agent Jibrai’il’s speech a low cackle can be heard.

FIRST RESPONDER: Who is that?

The cackle resounds again.

JIBRAI’IL: I recognize that voice…but how it has changed!

Once more, the cackling can be heard.

JIBRAI’IL: Quickly! Follow that voice!

The pace of the footsteps quickens, but then stops suddenly.

JIBRAI’IL: You! Prisoner #8707—

Jibrai’il is interrupted by the cackling, which is so forceful it borders on hysteria. Then a voice:

VOICE: O Jibrai’il! You mustn’t be so formal. We were friends once…can you not call me by the name you once used?

I can hardly believe this voice belongs to an agent, thoughbeit a former one! The voice is croaky and low. The intonation is random and unstable. There is no trace of determination or strength in the voice…just emptiness.

JIBRAI’IL: You lost the privilege to that name, and my friendship, the day you betrayed us!

VOICE: Have you not realized, Jibrai’il? I did not betray

you! I’m doing this for both of us…for all of us! I am but a liberator! I have transformed this internment camp into a beacon of freedom! Yet you are all still blind to the tyranny you submit to. No worry…I will see you all free from the clutches of the BUREAU!

JIBRAI’IL: You misguided fool! You have no idea what you have done. You have destroyed the lives of the inhabitants here…perhaps you knew that your actions would achieve that all along…

VOICE: No! That’s not true—

JIBRAI’IL: Yes…you did all this out of envy felt for the situation given to the inhabitants!

The voice morphs into a shriek.

VOICE: I am a deliverer to all! I shall bring you all out from under the yoke of the BUREAU!

JIBRAI’IL: Noble cause of delivery? Just empty words!

VOICE: NO! NO! NO! Come to me, all of you who are burdened by the BUREAU, and I will give you rest!

JIBRAI’IL: O Morning star! How far you have fallen! Do you not see? You thought yourself capable of creating a new utopia to replace the one you had lost. However,

CHAPTER IXTHE FALL

LIVE FEED FROM THE FIRST RESPONDERS UNIT LED BY AGENT MERCURY JIBRRA’IL DATED: SEPTEMBER 22, YEAR 4002RECORDED DURING THE EMERGENCY EVACUATION OF THE FIRST SEED PROJECT SITE ON COLONIZATION PLANET #1COORDINATES: 38 N 46 EOriginal Audio Transcribed by Miles Townsend

you have only shattered another paradise that, had it not been for you, would have remained intact!

The voice lets out an ear-splitting scream. It then breaks down into tears. It continues to yammer incompressible phrases intermixed with cries and screams. However, after a short pause, the voice begins to cackle once more.

FIRST RESPONDER: Should I restrain him, sir?

A pause.

FIRST RESPONDER: Sir?

JIBRAI’IL: *Chokes* No! No…leave him be.

FIRST RESPONDER: Sir! We have located the colonists!

JIBRAI’IL: Take me to them!

There is an extended period of silence, which is occasionally broken by the mute sound of footsteps and the cackling of the former voice. A hissing sound, like that made by a leaking gas pipe, can be heard as well. Then, I hear whimpering…

It is soft and pathetic, and full of grief. It is coming from two people: a male and a female. The female says no words…she simply cries. However, mingled in his tears, the male repeats the phrase: “It’s all your fault…it’s all your fault…”

JIBRAI’IL: Izanagi! Izana—

The male voice roars, the female voice screams.

IZANAGI: Keep away! Keep away!

JIBRAI’IL: …Izanagi…you don’t have to do this…

IZANAGI: A step closer and I will light this spark, and engulf us all in flames!

JIBRAI’IL: …Not all is lost. Come with me…

IZANAGI: There is nothing left for me! I have lost everything…all because of this foul female serpent!

There is a series of striking noises, like a palm hitting flesh. After each one the female shrieks, but she doesn’t plead for them to stop. She simply continues to whimper…

The striking stops. Not agent Jibrai’il, nor the man or the woman, nor the first responders say a word. The male breathes heavily and the female continues to cry. But after some time, the female checks her emotions and, while holding back tears, calls to the man:

IZANAMI: Izanagi…O Izanagi. Please do not forsake me! I am sorry for what I have done…but where will I go, what will I do without you? You are my strength, my home!

Silence

IZANAMI: O Izanagi…if these be our last moments, let there be peace between us. Let us die together with the knowledge that while we lived, we loved one another well!

The man succumbs to crying, and says:

IZANAGI: O Izanami! Forgive me! Quickly…let us leave this place, for I would rather live a long torturous life so long as I can spend it with you!

JIBRAI’IL: Make haste! We must evacuate!

Only the hissing sound can be heard now…and finally the playback stops.

The playback begins with an oscillating reverberation…like the sound of wet fingers sliding along the lips of a glass. The reverberation is periodic in nature, like the swinging of a large pendulum back and forth and back again. The periods are very organized…you could mark the passage of time with it.

Occasionally a ticking can be heard. It is highly distorted and cuts in and out and in again. The intermittency of the ticking is periodic as well. It reminds me very much of the ticking of a clock or a stopwatch.

At first I thought the reverberation to be resonance caused by wind or rushing water…as if the proceedings are being held near a river or on a mountain. I quickly realize, however, that it is the discordant hum of human voices. No one permits their voice to go beyond a murmur. There is sense of reservation and mourning within the gathering.

A distant voice says coldly, mutely:

VOICE: Bring in the accused.

A loud sever clack of a latch is heard, accompanied with the gentle squeaking of a door hinge. The heavy clacking of chains, cyclic in nature, sounds, ceases and resounds again. The clacking of the chains sounds thirty-nine times, and then stops. After a period of

silence the voice begins speaking, very unemotionally:

VOICE: Pandora Izanami, Epimetheus Izanagi. This will be the last time that you shall see me, or any other agent for that matter. You are here to receive sentencing—

IZANAGI: O Mikail! I thought you once a friend! And yet you treat us as lepers, as if we are sick with infectious insubordination! Let all of you present know, we will not shirk from our punishment! O Mikail! Unbind us! Judge and torture us, but do not strip us of our humanity!

The voice, presumably that of Agent Georgium Mikail, responds:

MIKAIL: Izanagi, the chains that bind you are now, and for many generations will be, a constituent part of your humanity. I cannot unfasten them…no one can except for the directive itself. This sentence of death will remain with you and your successors until the directive liberates you from it.

IZANAGI: *Enraged* And this is the directive’s opinion of us? But prisoners in chains—

Izanagi is interrupted by a soft, comforting voice. I hear it fashion the syllables of his name. Izanagi inhales, exhales and inhales again. He then finally addresses Mikail.

IZANAGI: I apologize, Mikail. This fate was brought upon by me. My anger towards you spawns from my disappointment in myself.

MIKAIL: I shall proceed with the sentencing then…

A very soft, almost inaudible sound can be made out. It is a recurring sound, first distinct, then imperceptible, and then distinct again. It is the sound of sobbing. However, it is not the accused…it is the assembly itself.

MIKAIL: Pandora Izanami, Epimetheus Izanagi, you are both sentenced to death at a date to be decided by the BUREAU. You are forever evicted from the first seed project and are never to return. The first seed project will be maintained by agents until the year 2349, at which point it will be destroyed, along with all life on Colonization Planet #1. Only a few of your kind, along with a select number of other life forms, will be permitted to survive. Are you aware of this?

IZANAGI: Yes…this was all shown to me cerebrally while I was anesthetized.

MIKAIL: There is little left to say then.

Suddenly there is no sound…only the humming of electricity passing through my speakers. Then suddenly Izanagi cries out emotionally:

CHAPTER XTHE FORSAKEN ONES

HELLOS COURT: TRIAL PART 322 - AUDIO RECORDS DEFENDANTS: PANDORA IZANAMI AND EPIMETHEUS IZANAGICOURT HELD ON COLONIZATION PLANET #1DATED: DECEMBER 21, YEAR 4002COORDINATES: 7 N 80 EOriginal Audio Transcribed by Miles Townsend

IZANAGI: And is that it? O delirious horror! Better to have left this place in ignorance of things to come! Now I must suffer a double loss—for myself and for those who will proceed me! Why has the BUREAU forsaken us so?

Mikail responds unemotionally:

MIKAIL: The day will come when you are returned to us. One of your successors will avenge your kind, and on that day we shall meet again.

To this Izanagi responds tearfully:

IZANAGI: What aspect of charity is this? Who will come and save me? Save Izanami? Save the millions after us from the looming terror? Is this perpetual suffering to be vindicated all at once in a single day? And until that day what shall be our solace? All our fonts of pleasantry—beauty, liberty, carefreeness—have been snatched away from us!

MIKAIL: You can no longer indulge in such ambiguities. Do not mistake pleasantry for morality. Do not be misled by the vanity of beauty, by the greed of liberty, by the sloth of carefreeness. You must find solace and goodness in yourselves, and in one another, for the BUREAU sees no sanctity in places, things or ideas if

none be brought by the men who frequent them, who use them, who think them!

IZANAGI: …I feel a deadly nausea overtaking my body…let us leave, Izanami!

The cyclic clacking of the chains begins once more, sounding, ceasing and resounding again. The cycle is quick, as if the prisoners are fleeing the assembly. Entangled with the clacking is Mikail’s final address:

MIKAIL: And be cheerful for inevitable good days to come!

It is difficult to decipher the playback now. It is all a thunderous roar. At one point I can make out Izanagi saying:

IZANAGI: Look to the skies! Four ships!

The roaring subdues, and is replaced by a terrible cackle.

IZANAMI: They seem like angel forms!

IZANAGI:…No…they are meaningless spectres…quickly, we must vanish!

There is the sound of chains and frantic heavy breathing all intertwined. After some time the chains stop but the breathing of two people endures.

IZANAGI: The past has vanished, and the dark prospect of the future lies before us.

The breathing continues.

IZANAGI: There is nothing left …there is nothingness, blackness and darkness left—

Izanami interrupts him excitedly, with a childish and playful demeanour.

IZANAMI: Beloved! Let’s go rest in yonder meadow! The silence will soothe you, the stillness will calm you and the night will anoint you!

The sound of bare feet over grass can be heard, accompanied by playful laughter of a man and a woman. There is then two low thuds. The laughing rekindles and then subsides. The interweaving of two people breathing is all that is heard now…and finally a whisper:

IZANAMI: Everything’s alright now.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY: CARLO ‘ILLANGELO’ MONTAGNESE & DAOUDA LEONARD

ALL SONGS WRITTEN, PERFORMED, PRODUCED AND MIXED BY ILLANGELO.

MASTERED BY MARK SANTANGELO AT MASTERDISK, NYC

ART CREATED BY JONATHAN ZAWADA

LITERATURE WRITTEN BY GIUSEPPE ANTONIO ROSI

AUDIO TUNED TO UNIVERSAL FREQUENCY OF 432 HZ

PUBLISHED BY HEAR THE ART, INC. (SOCAN/BMI)

P & © 2013 - HEAR THE ART INC. UNDER EXCLUSIVE LICENSE TO SAVOIR FAIRE/BROMANCE • BRO-LP01

WWW.ILLANGELO.COMWWW.BROMANCERECORDS.COM

01 ONE DREAMY HUM 3:34

02 CRASH LANDING 3:42

03 THE ESCAPE 5:37

04 FAREWELL 4:19

05 THE HAUNTING 3:20

06 WAR 5:07

07 SEVEN PHASES 3:15

08 A STRANGE WORLD 3:32

09 SHATTERED PARADISE 6:01

10 THE FORSAKEN ONES 5:46