Lens of History (19)

STEC Archives, Digital Documents Division
Curator signature: ON HOLD
Format: ON HOLD
Object: ENTRY INCOMPLETE; PLEASE INPUT CREDENTIALS TO PROCEED

New Jersey

IDENTITY CONFIRMED; PROCEED

THIS ENTRY IS UNDER PERMANENT EMBARGO UNTIL FURTHER REVIEW

FORMAT: AUDIO INTERCEPT, PHONE CONVERSATION

VOICE ANALYSIS ENGAGED
SPEAKER ONE IDENTITY CONFIRMED, MATCHING, 100%: SHIPGIRL, NEW JERSEY
SPEAKER TWO IDENTITY CONFIRMED, MATCHING, 100%:
ERROR – DATA AUTOMATICALLY EXPUNGED

REANALYSIZING…
SPEAKER TWO IDENTITY CONFIRMED, MATCHING, 100%:
ERROR – DATA AUTOMATICALLY EXPUNGED

REANALYSIZING…
SPEAKER TWO IDENTITY CONFIRMED, MATCHING, 100%:
ERROR – DATA AUTOMATICALLY EXPUNGED

ERROR

ERROR

AUDITORY HEURISTIC ANALYSIS REVEAL NO MATCHES TO KNOWN INDIVIDUALS IN STEC DATABASES. ERRORS HAVE BEEN LOGGED TO CONSOLE FOR FURTHER TROUBLESHOOTING.


00:00:03 (UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): …

00:00:05 (NEW JERSEY): yawning Hello?

00:00:07 (NEW JERSEY): It’s like, four o’clock in –

00:00:10 (UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): Jer. You were right.

00:00:11 (NEW JERSEY): noise made unclear

00:00:12 (NEW JERSEY): Oh my god. Why didn’t you answer any of our –

00:00:13 (UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): You were right.

00:00:16 (UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): About what they’re … doing. It’s sickening. It makes me sick to know that this is what they’re doing.

00:00:20 (UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): I’m going to do something about it. I’m on site.

00:00:24 (NEW JERSEY): Dear God, wait. Way to wake me up like this…

00:00:26 (UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): I thought you’d want to know.

00:00:28 (UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): I wanted to say goodbye.

00:00:30 (UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): I see clearly now. I will act.

00:00:39 (NEW JERSEY): Hollup. Chotto-matte or whatever the hell it is in your language. WAIT.

00:00:42 (UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): I did not call you to seek advice.

00:00:48 (UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): This is something that I need to do. We will not win against the Abyssal if we cannot cleanse the rot from within.

00:00:59 (NEW JERSEY): Goddamn it, listen. So we’ve both had a hunch. So we’re both right. I, ugh. Cripes.

00:01:00 (AMBIANCE): -sound of keys tapping-

00:01:06 (UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): I have thought about this carefully. I know the consequences of my actions and I will bear it.

00:01:32 (UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): I just want someone to know what it is that I did.

00:01:34 (AUTOMATIC SYSTEM TALIESIN): TALIESIN ONLINE.

TRANSCRIPTION LOG ERROR: FILE CORRUPTED; PRECISE TIME DETERMINATION NO LONGER POSSIBLE; SHIFTING TO SIMPLE LOG

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): It is a clean solution.

(NEW JERSEY): Taliesin, alert every member within my immediate command, NOW.

(NEW JERSEY): Listen to me. Listen! What you’re proposing is going to cause an international disaster at best and an extinction event at worst.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): It will be an extinction event if we do nothing.

(NEW JERSEY): I know.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): And this is why I am going to do it.

(NEW JERSEY): …

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): I did not think that things would turn out like this.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): We are each individually a remarkable force. In the hands of a worthy daimyo we are national treasures. In the hands of the ordinary bushi we are weapons of art. In the hands of the self-serving men we are simply tools of murder.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): We do not agree with each other about what our purpose is. We do not agree with each other about how the coming war may be fought.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): Yet prior to today I had thought that we were bound by something all of us understood. To be human. To protect and preserve our people.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): The Abyssal only eradicate. It does not put up a facade of honor.

(NEW JERSEY): …Does the others know?

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): No. I do not know who else I can trust.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): Kaga has gone missing. She might have found out. You know Kaga. They would have to silence her.

(NEW JERSEY): … What about Yamato?

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): She is complicit.

(NEW JERSEY): …Repeat what you just said.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): Yamato is complicit.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): Do you understand now?

(NEW JERSEY): My God.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): Thus this is is the only solution I can think of.

(NEW JERSEY): …

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): We’ve known each other for twenty-eight years, Jer. We are bound by our friendship and our mutual trust.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): Diplomacy will do nothing to solve this. Force is necessary.

(NEW JERSEY): …(audio unclear)

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): No. You have enough burdens on your shoulders. I will not add another.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): This is something I can bear. It is a Japanese matter. It is only fitting that a Japanese resolve it.

(NEW JERSEY): …

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): I don’t have much time left. They’ll find out soon. I’m going to act now.

(NEW JERSEY): …(audio unclear)

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): Thank you.

(NEW JERSEY): …(audio unclear)

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): No need. I do not do this so I can be remembered. Only that it is the right thing to do. You taught me that.

(NEW JERSEY): …(audio unclear)

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): Farewell, old friend.

END OF AUDIO LOG


The next objects associated with the above audio log are a number of newspaper clippings, all from one day after the audio log.

ASAHI SHIMBUN
Explosion at Ishida Institute of Advanced Research flatten city block; thousands dead

MAINICHI SHIMBUN
Japan’s Leading Scientists Killed in Deadly Explosion at Prestigious Ishida Institute

SANKEI SHIMBUN
JAPAN ATTACKED – THOUSANDS Murdered in Cold Blood at Ishida Institute Slaughter – Foreign Involvement Suspected

NIHON KEIZAI SHINBUN
Incident at Ishida Institute leave many dead, wounded; NIKKEI devastated as stocks plunge more than 8,800 points

YOMIURI SHIMBUN
“Like that Fateful Day” – Survivor Describe Horror of Ishida Institute Incident; Diet debate emergency war measures