TO: Robert A. Roe
FROM: Derek Faulkner
DATE: January 12, 1989
SUBJECT: Project Gaia
Congressman,
I am pleased to report that Project Gaia has continued to be a major success in terms of research. As of this writing, we have conducted around 25 expeditions into the alternate reality we accessed (designated “EXD-1”—Exterior Dimension #1), which have succeeded in mapping about one square mile of it. Currently, EXD-1 seems to be infinite in size, which could prove incredibly useful for storage or housing purposes.
Recently, a strange anomaly has been discovered within EXD-1, of which it seems to be a “spurt” or “offshoot”. As of this writing, it is officially known as “EX-1” (Extra Area #1).
Though it resembles the main part of EXD-1 in its structure, it is more accurately a “distorted” version of its parent dimension. Its layout is extremely chaotic, with hallways themselves being twisted and fluorescent lights flickering on and off. Nothing about it makes sense, making it an interesting yet dangerous place to study. As it is unknown if there are more spaces like EX-1 in EXD-1, understanding it would be extremely useful for our goals.
As a result of EX-1’s discovery and due to the demands of further exploration of EXD-1 (along with rumors of other sections of EXD-1), I would like to request additional funding and for permission to hire additional workers for the project (the current lack of an ability to hire regular civilians, regardless of their credentials, to work directly for the F.B.E.A. has resulted in the project moving along much more slowly than it could be.)
I will keep you updated with future discoveries as we make them.
Sincerely,
Dr. Derek Faulkner
Director, Federal Bureau of Extrauniversal Affairs
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<Commence>
Before we begin, I would like to congratulate you on your amazing work so far. As of this moment, we have conducted several expeditions within the Interior and have mapped about a square mile of it. We have made leaps and bounds in our understanding of this alternate dimension and of its relationship to our own. Good job.
In addition, as some of you may have noticed, Dr. Johnson is no longer working with us. He has made several requests to go home to [REDACTED] to be with his family, and they have been approved. Until he returns, he will be replaced by Dr. Lloyd as the head of Research Team 1.
Now, let’s move on to the elephant in the room. Some of you, particularly those in Teams 1 and 3, might have heard that we have discovered another “region” of the Interior. Those rumors are indeed true, and are why Team 2 has been frequently away since the 5th. We have found what has been termed, for lack of a better word, an anomaly within it. Some might call it the anomaly in the anomaly. (soft laugh)
Now, this new area has been designated Extra Area #1, or EX-1 for short. I believe we have a picture of it somewhere—ah, there it is. While it does look like the rest of the Interior, it has a few noticeable differences, some of which you can see here. Its structure is much more chaotic than what surrounds it—parts of the walls, roof, and floor are slanted at unnatural angles or jut out. Hallways in it last mere inches before they abruptly stop, and some change height for no apparent reason. Many have random stuff lying around, like the radiator you see here—some of it works, some of it doesn’t. Weirdly, some of the walls seem to have empty space behind them, but as of right now we haven’t been able to investigate that further.
As of right now, further expeditions into EX-1 are prohibited due to the danger of the area. You might be wondering how a simple maze of yellow hallways could be dangerous. The truth is that something’s… wrong with it. Of the four expeditions we sent into it, members of them got separated on half of them. We’re very lucky that we found them.
Avoiding it shouldn’t be a problem—we know where it is relative to the Door, and the last expedition pretty much was just to find out where it starts and stops and put up caution tape everywhere we could. We don’t want anybody going in there. I know that the whole purpose of our project is to explore this place, but I am putting my foot down. Dr. Culman and I agreed that this place is simply too wrong and dangerous.
If this is the first time you’ve seen this Stop error screen,
restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow
these steps:
Check for uses on your computer. Remove any newly installed
hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive
to make sure it is properly configured and terminated.
Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then
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Refer to your Getting Started manual for more information on
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Restart
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IT CAME INTO EXISTENCE WITH A WHIMPER, NOT A BANG. A SIDE EFFECT OF THE SIDE EFFECT, A SYMPTOM OF A SYMPTOM. THE PROBLEM ITSELF PRODUCED THROUGH A DESIRE TO SOLVE ANOTHER, ONE WHICH HAD YET TO BE CREATED.
THE QUEST FOR MEANING UNLEASHED ITS UNDOING.
IT WAS NOT SELF-AWARE, YET IT HAD A GOAL. IT HAD NO MIND, YET IT COULD MOVE ITSELF. IT BECAME A TUMOR, METASIZING ACROSS ITS HOST, TAKING UP MORE AND MORE.
AND, NOW, AS THE DOCTOR WITHIN THE INFECTION WANDERED, HE REALIZED IN HIS FEEBLE MIND WHAT IT WOULD TAKE YEARS FOR ANOTHER TO KNOW. HE THOUGHT IT COULD NEVER END, THAT HE WAS ENTRAPPED FOREVER. HE WAS WRONG, YET HE WAS RIGHT.
FOR IT WOULD ONLY BE A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE HIS THOUGHTS BECAME FACT.
