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My father left me a box of VHS tapes. Things are much worse than I thought. (Part 2) (by Sparky)
(29 / M-F / Massachusetts)
My father left me a box of VHS tapes. Things are much worse than I thought. (Part 2)
Part 1
I'm going to be honest right off the bat with everyone. I didn't want to make this update. I don't want to keep this up. I want to destroy these goddamn tapes and lobotomize myself. I want to forget any of this ever happened. I want to forget I ever had a father.
I've gone through a few more of the tapes as well as the case files contained with them. Some were uneventful, just a news broadcast or late night film with a stock Emergency Broadcast System message. One warned of an impending meteor strike then went to static. One just cut off in the middle of an old cartoon, no message or anything. Turns out that one was a universe where a black hole suddenly formed somewhere between Mercury and Venus, collapsing the entire solar system in fractions of a second. No pain, no mess, just something to nothing.
All of this though... it's taking a toll. Looking into all this death and destruction, all these untold horrors that lurk out there in the world. There has to be something out there to counter balance this. For every world that ends violently there has to be some world where they've found the cure for cancer or ended world hunger, right? God I hope so. Otherwise what I have here is a box full of nihilism and analog tape.
I've been doing a little more research into what dad said in his letter as well. These... Cognizants? That's what they keep getting referred to as, anyway. They can apparently see into other dimensions and see interdimensional beings in our own world. Apparently on occasion the walls between realities will tear and things will slip through. In most of the reports I've seen they're referred to as Aberrations. Dad had a couple of files in here about a near apocalyptic event months ago caused by some tearing into our world.
I'm going to transcribe a couple more of the casefiles now. I tried my best to get the tapes transferred over to digital but some of them are so old they didn't make it. The one I did get was attached to an old movie rerun on late night TV again. Night of the Living Dead this time. At least the other realities still have good movies, I guess.
??????????????????
10/18/1977 CASE: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD EARTH 24-601
Cognizant on duty today is Agatha, for the most part recovered from her trauma earlier this year. Still protects whatever spiders she can find, but has managed to let us take the Brown Recluses to a "safe area". She does not realize this entails Robin throwing them in the incinerator.
Tuned universal surveillance over to Earth 24-601 where Agatha said tensions between the United States and communist Russia were highly elevated. Also mentioned that Vietnam was still ongoing as well, with much higher casualties to American troops as well as deployment of a new Uranium based biological weapon, codenamed Agent Green.
The American military, desiring to bring a swift and decisive end to the Vietnam conflict as well as intimidate potential enemies, decided to drop a hydrogen bomb on Ho Chi Minh city. The devastation of the blast is immeasurable, leveling the entire city as well as most of the surrounding countryside. An unintended effect soon follows, however, that will bring about the end.
The nuclear capability of the hydrogen bomb reacts with compounds in Agent Green that have been sprayed throughout the Vietnamese jungle. This causes any deceased that were not immediately evaporated by the blast began to mutate, rising from the dead into a reanimated state. Mutations typically consisted of grotesque boils growing on exposed patches of skin, extra teeth growing on arms, legs, and in a few observed cases, stomachs of deceased. Subjects typically wandered aimlessly once reanimated, roaming the countryside and ruins of the city until they came in contact with anyone still living. Upon seeing a living being they would grow into a frenzy with the singular goal of attacking and capturing the live victim, upon which they would pull them in close, lacerating skin with the exposed teeth then popping the boils, allowing the pus to seep into the victim.
This in turn infected the living victim, who would first die a slow, painful death much like that observed in victims of radiation poisoning after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They would begin the mutations while still living, often screaming in pain while doing so. Typical time to expire was one week after initial infection.
The infection spread slowly through Vietnam, mostly among remnants of guerrilla fighters at first then eventually through to US troops that were still stationed along the beaches and in the jungles. Military leadership initially did not take reports of infection seriously, leading to higher rates of infection in the early days of outbreak.
Infection spread to neighboring countries after approximately two weeks, with infected individuals seemingly acting as a hive mind after gathering enough numbers. They would swarm cities in what appeared to be coordinated waves, attacking and infecting large groups of people, then retreating before mounting another attack hours later. This ensured that the living were slowly picked off, with the infection spreading exponentially as more and more joined the subjects ranks.
Overseas transmission was accomplished by infected walking into the ocean. They did not appear to require respiration of any kind, thus they were able to walk across the ocean floor and, although at a slow rate, eventually move into other countries across bodies of water. Once on land they would then seek out the nearest living being and begin the cycle.
Humanity attempted multiple methods of killing the subjects, though none were shown to work. While gunshots to the head appeared to stop them temporarily, the subjects bodies seemed to allow mutations which moved smaller, more rudimentary brains to other parts of the body, thus allowing basic survival and motor functions even with separation of the head. The only method found for complete and total destruction of the subject was burning to ash.
The subject arrived in mainland America within three weeks of first infection in Vietnam. Any word of the disease had been suppressed initially, with American troops and citizens being told that the infected were victims of a "Communist Biological Weapon". This facade was kept up in order for America to appear blameless in their use of biological and nuclear warfare, whereas meanwhile most other countries across mainland Europe and Asia were also dealing with their own outbreaks of infection.
Subject spread across most of the earth in a matter of weeks, attacking and infecting anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths with carriers of the pathogen. Infected numbers grew exponentially in the first few days, soon outnumbering humans ten to one. The infected then began coordinated attacks on any surviving communities, systematically rooting out and turning any humans found. In a desperate final bid at eradicating the disease, the American military conducted bombing raids. Nuclear arms were dropped on hordes of infected as they traveled in packs.
These attacks decimated a large amount of the infected population, but had unintended effects on those not destroyed by the initial blasts. The radiation only strengthened the creatures, turning them into walking nuclear reactors. This in turn scorched any ground they came across, leaving fallout and infection in their wake. This also ensured that any human within range of subjects became infected simply through proximity.
Agatha notes two months after infection approximately ten thousand healthy humans are left on earth. Most have been forced to adapt a nomadic lifestyle, constantly staying on the move to avoid roving groups of the infected. Cognizant will continue to monitor and update on situation.
UPDATE: 3/20/1978
Agatha reports ~300 survivors remain, most having lost any hope to continue. Radiation has spread into most of the worlds water supply, and storm systems spread nuclear fallout across the earth. Agatha reports that the remaining humans are divided across the planet, with most believing they are the last remaining alive. Infected are still hunting, using their hive mind to develop a network across the world to find survivors.
UPDATE: 4/7/1978
Agatha reports that the final human has been killed, opting to die by gunshot to the head instead of from the encroaching infected. Will continue to monitor dimension for any sign of anomaly and potential Aberrations, as well as research for any potential countermeasures in the event of Aberration.
I still can't believe any of this. It's so insane. How could dad see all of this, deal with all of this, and not go insane? No wonder he rarely came home. Facing these horrors had to change him.
Until now I've just been taking tapes off the top of the stack in the box and going on by one. I've gone through three layers of what I estimate to be about ten layers. This is the point when I found something new. There was a large envelope, almost filled to bursting with papers. I opened it and slid the pile out onto the floor. On top was another letter from dad.
Mark,
I know what you've seen so far has been a lot to take in. These tapes, the case files, everything that's been in this box... I know I didn't sleep for weeks after being taken into the Collective. I never knew there could be such terrors Now, I'm honestly just happy to die and not have to worry about any of this. If there's a heaven or hell, it can't be as bad as the things I've seen.
What's enclosed in this envelope is two-fold: there is a brief history of the Collective. This entails the founding, how long we've known about the parallel worlds, Cognizants, and a brief history of who's who in the organization. You'll probably be surprised by the amount of famous historical figures that were more special than they let on.
The second part is an archive of high-casualty Aberrations that have crossed into our world. Many events throughout history were given a natural explanation because the real reasons were far too much for ordinary humans to handle. There are things you'll learn here that will scare you, and honestly they should. Our world is not safe. No world is.
Here is where I leave you. Again, I'm so sorry. Even now, as I write out this letter I'm tempted to take it all and burn it. Part of me wants you to continue living in ignorance, not knowing the horrors that lurk out in the world. The father in me wants to protect you. The scientist in me though, knows that this research needs to continue. Someone has to do it, and I trust it more to someone that I know is smart enough to see the connections I could not.
I love you,
Dad
There was a case file along with an old newspaper clipping kept in a plastic sleeve. The paper was yellowed, and the print on it faded to nearly nothing. I could see the edges disintegrating in the plastic. The headline read GREAT FIRE DEVASTATES CHICAGO.
There was a case file attached.
The Great Chicago Fire
Cognizant Martin Ford and his partner were in the city of Chicago on thier annual rounds when an Aberration appeared in the city. Ford describes the being as being humanoid, but made of pure flame, burning white hot. Ford said he attempted to make contact with the creature, asking it of it's intentions on our world, and where it came from. The creature reportedly appeared uncaring of Ford's presence, instead looking around before finally touching the nearest building, setting it ablaze.
Ford attempted to chase the Aberration, trying to force it back through the dimensional tear it came from. The creature did not acknowledge, instead continuing to move along the city street, setting buildings afire as it went. Ford, thinking resourcefully, began to find whatever water he could around their immediate vicinity, dousing the Aberration and beginning to force it towards Lake Michigan.
Although they were moving the creature quickly toward the water, the fire continue to spread wherever they went. Teams of local firefighters scrambled immediately to fight the blaze. Finally, after a long struggle, the creature was cornered at the end of the port on Lake Michigan. In a heroic sacrifice, Ford's partner, Ezra Jennings, threw himself at the creature using Ford as his sight guide. Upon grabbing the Aberration he threw both it and himself into the lake, immediately killing the creature. Ford dove in after him, noting the near boiling temperature of the water as he dragged Jennings body back to shore. Jennings burns were beyond repair, and he expired seven hours after the Aberration was destroyed.
Let it be known that Ezra Jennings is receiving the highest commendations the Collective can give, as well as a hefty retirement sum being paid to his widow and family for future generations. He will also be memorialized in Collective HQ and archives as one of our most honored members.
I want to throw up. It was one thing seeing these things that destroyed other worlds and realities. The fact that they could just stumble into our reality though... it terrifies me. This is why dad gave me these files. There are things to watch out for, things that nobody else can see. Hell, I can't even see them.
I'm combing through whatever files I can. I may transcribe some if I think it's important. Some may deserve to stay as they are though. These things shouldn't be known. I'm torn if I should keep sharing these things. I don't want other people to know about these horrors. I've barely slept in days, thinking that at any moment some cosmic terror could break through and destroy us, rending our minds into fragments. There would be nothing we could do.
I need to think on this. There's a lot left to go through but I may just stop here. I may do what dad couldn't and burn it. Maybe check myself in somewhere, or have a drink or twenty until I can forget. I keep hoping I'll wake up, find out dad was really just your normal everyday absentee father. Maybe mom will still be alive and I've dreamed the past decade of trauma. If I'm lucky, I'm actually dying and this is all just the last delusions as my brain fires off every synapse until I die.
Here we are though. I'm alive. You're alive.
Who knows how long we?ll stay that way.
Source.
Part 1
I'm going to be honest right off the bat with everyone. I didn't want to make this update. I don't want to keep this up. I want to destroy these goddamn tapes and lobotomize myself. I want to forget any of this ever happened. I want to forget I ever had a father.
I've gone through a few more of the tapes as well as the case files contained with them. Some were uneventful, just a news broadcast or late night film with a stock Emergency Broadcast System message. One warned of an impending meteor strike then went to static. One just cut off in the middle of an old cartoon, no message or anything. Turns out that one was a universe where a black hole suddenly formed somewhere between Mercury and Venus, collapsing the entire solar system in fractions of a second. No pain, no mess, just something to nothing.
All of this though... it's taking a toll. Looking into all this death and destruction, all these untold horrors that lurk out there in the world. There has to be something out there to counter balance this. For every world that ends violently there has to be some world where they've found the cure for cancer or ended world hunger, right? God I hope so. Otherwise what I have here is a box full of nihilism and analog tape.
I've been doing a little more research into what dad said in his letter as well. These... Cognizants? That's what they keep getting referred to as, anyway. They can apparently see into other dimensions and see interdimensional beings in our own world. Apparently on occasion the walls between realities will tear and things will slip through. In most of the reports I've seen they're referred to as Aberrations. Dad had a couple of files in here about a near apocalyptic event months ago caused by some tearing into our world.
I'm going to transcribe a couple more of the casefiles now. I tried my best to get the tapes transferred over to digital but some of them are so old they didn't make it. The one I did get was attached to an old movie rerun on late night TV again. Night of the Living Dead this time. At least the other realities still have good movies, I guess.
??????????????????
10/18/1977 CASE: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD EARTH 24-601
Cognizant on duty today is Agatha, for the most part recovered from her trauma earlier this year. Still protects whatever spiders she can find, but has managed to let us take the Brown Recluses to a "safe area". She does not realize this entails Robin throwing them in the incinerator.
Tuned universal surveillance over to Earth 24-601 where Agatha said tensions between the United States and communist Russia were highly elevated. Also mentioned that Vietnam was still ongoing as well, with much higher casualties to American troops as well as deployment of a new Uranium based biological weapon, codenamed Agent Green.
The American military, desiring to bring a swift and decisive end to the Vietnam conflict as well as intimidate potential enemies, decided to drop a hydrogen bomb on Ho Chi Minh city. The devastation of the blast is immeasurable, leveling the entire city as well as most of the surrounding countryside. An unintended effect soon follows, however, that will bring about the end.
The nuclear capability of the hydrogen bomb reacts with compounds in Agent Green that have been sprayed throughout the Vietnamese jungle. This causes any deceased that were not immediately evaporated by the blast began to mutate, rising from the dead into a reanimated state. Mutations typically consisted of grotesque boils growing on exposed patches of skin, extra teeth growing on arms, legs, and in a few observed cases, stomachs of deceased. Subjects typically wandered aimlessly once reanimated, roaming the countryside and ruins of the city until they came in contact with anyone still living. Upon seeing a living being they would grow into a frenzy with the singular goal of attacking and capturing the live victim, upon which they would pull them in close, lacerating skin with the exposed teeth then popping the boils, allowing the pus to seep into the victim.
This in turn infected the living victim, who would first die a slow, painful death much like that observed in victims of radiation poisoning after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They would begin the mutations while still living, often screaming in pain while doing so. Typical time to expire was one week after initial infection.
The infection spread slowly through Vietnam, mostly among remnants of guerrilla fighters at first then eventually through to US troops that were still stationed along the beaches and in the jungles. Military leadership initially did not take reports of infection seriously, leading to higher rates of infection in the early days of outbreak.
Infection spread to neighboring countries after approximately two weeks, with infected individuals seemingly acting as a hive mind after gathering enough numbers. They would swarm cities in what appeared to be coordinated waves, attacking and infecting large groups of people, then retreating before mounting another attack hours later. This ensured that the living were slowly picked off, with the infection spreading exponentially as more and more joined the subjects ranks.
Overseas transmission was accomplished by infected walking into the ocean. They did not appear to require respiration of any kind, thus they were able to walk across the ocean floor and, although at a slow rate, eventually move into other countries across bodies of water. Once on land they would then seek out the nearest living being and begin the cycle.
Humanity attempted multiple methods of killing the subjects, though none were shown to work. While gunshots to the head appeared to stop them temporarily, the subjects bodies seemed to allow mutations which moved smaller, more rudimentary brains to other parts of the body, thus allowing basic survival and motor functions even with separation of the head. The only method found for complete and total destruction of the subject was burning to ash.
The subject arrived in mainland America within three weeks of first infection in Vietnam. Any word of the disease had been suppressed initially, with American troops and citizens being told that the infected were victims of a "Communist Biological Weapon". This facade was kept up in order for America to appear blameless in their use of biological and nuclear warfare, whereas meanwhile most other countries across mainland Europe and Asia were also dealing with their own outbreaks of infection.
Subject spread across most of the earth in a matter of weeks, attacking and infecting anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths with carriers of the pathogen. Infected numbers grew exponentially in the first few days, soon outnumbering humans ten to one. The infected then began coordinated attacks on any surviving communities, systematically rooting out and turning any humans found. In a desperate final bid at eradicating the disease, the American military conducted bombing raids. Nuclear arms were dropped on hordes of infected as they traveled in packs.
These attacks decimated a large amount of the infected population, but had unintended effects on those not destroyed by the initial blasts. The radiation only strengthened the creatures, turning them into walking nuclear reactors. This in turn scorched any ground they came across, leaving fallout and infection in their wake. This also ensured that any human within range of subjects became infected simply through proximity.
Agatha notes two months after infection approximately ten thousand healthy humans are left on earth. Most have been forced to adapt a nomadic lifestyle, constantly staying on the move to avoid roving groups of the infected. Cognizant will continue to monitor and update on situation.
UPDATE: 3/20/1978
Agatha reports ~300 survivors remain, most having lost any hope to continue. Radiation has spread into most of the worlds water supply, and storm systems spread nuclear fallout across the earth. Agatha reports that the remaining humans are divided across the planet, with most believing they are the last remaining alive. Infected are still hunting, using their hive mind to develop a network across the world to find survivors.
UPDATE: 4/7/1978
Agatha reports that the final human has been killed, opting to die by gunshot to the head instead of from the encroaching infected. Will continue to monitor dimension for any sign of anomaly and potential Aberrations, as well as research for any potential countermeasures in the event of Aberration.
I still can't believe any of this. It's so insane. How could dad see all of this, deal with all of this, and not go insane? No wonder he rarely came home. Facing these horrors had to change him.
Until now I've just been taking tapes off the top of the stack in the box and going on by one. I've gone through three layers of what I estimate to be about ten layers. This is the point when I found something new. There was a large envelope, almost filled to bursting with papers. I opened it and slid the pile out onto the floor. On top was another letter from dad.
Mark,
I know what you've seen so far has been a lot to take in. These tapes, the case files, everything that's been in this box... I know I didn't sleep for weeks after being taken into the Collective. I never knew there could be such terrors Now, I'm honestly just happy to die and not have to worry about any of this. If there's a heaven or hell, it can't be as bad as the things I've seen.
What's enclosed in this envelope is two-fold: there is a brief history of the Collective. This entails the founding, how long we've known about the parallel worlds, Cognizants, and a brief history of who's who in the organization. You'll probably be surprised by the amount of famous historical figures that were more special than they let on.
The second part is an archive of high-casualty Aberrations that have crossed into our world. Many events throughout history were given a natural explanation because the real reasons were far too much for ordinary humans to handle. There are things you'll learn here that will scare you, and honestly they should. Our world is not safe. No world is.
Here is where I leave you. Again, I'm so sorry. Even now, as I write out this letter I'm tempted to take it all and burn it. Part of me wants you to continue living in ignorance, not knowing the horrors that lurk out in the world. The father in me wants to protect you. The scientist in me though, knows that this research needs to continue. Someone has to do it, and I trust it more to someone that I know is smart enough to see the connections I could not.
I love you,
Dad
There was a case file along with an old newspaper clipping kept in a plastic sleeve. The paper was yellowed, and the print on it faded to nearly nothing. I could see the edges disintegrating in the plastic. The headline read GREAT FIRE DEVASTATES CHICAGO.
There was a case file attached.
The Great Chicago Fire
Cognizant Martin Ford and his partner were in the city of Chicago on thier annual rounds when an Aberration appeared in the city. Ford describes the being as being humanoid, but made of pure flame, burning white hot. Ford said he attempted to make contact with the creature, asking it of it's intentions on our world, and where it came from. The creature reportedly appeared uncaring of Ford's presence, instead looking around before finally touching the nearest building, setting it ablaze.
Ford attempted to chase the Aberration, trying to force it back through the dimensional tear it came from. The creature did not acknowledge, instead continuing to move along the city street, setting buildings afire as it went. Ford, thinking resourcefully, began to find whatever water he could around their immediate vicinity, dousing the Aberration and beginning to force it towards Lake Michigan.
Although they were moving the creature quickly toward the water, the fire continue to spread wherever they went. Teams of local firefighters scrambled immediately to fight the blaze. Finally, after a long struggle, the creature was cornered at the end of the port on Lake Michigan. In a heroic sacrifice, Ford's partner, Ezra Jennings, threw himself at the creature using Ford as his sight guide. Upon grabbing the Aberration he threw both it and himself into the lake, immediately killing the creature. Ford dove in after him, noting the near boiling temperature of the water as he dragged Jennings body back to shore. Jennings burns were beyond repair, and he expired seven hours after the Aberration was destroyed.
Let it be known that Ezra Jennings is receiving the highest commendations the Collective can give, as well as a hefty retirement sum being paid to his widow and family for future generations. He will also be memorialized in Collective HQ and archives as one of our most honored members.
I want to throw up. It was one thing seeing these things that destroyed other worlds and realities. The fact that they could just stumble into our reality though... it terrifies me. This is why dad gave me these files. There are things to watch out for, things that nobody else can see. Hell, I can't even see them.
I'm combing through whatever files I can. I may transcribe some if I think it's important. Some may deserve to stay as they are though. These things shouldn't be known. I'm torn if I should keep sharing these things. I don't want other people to know about these horrors. I've barely slept in days, thinking that at any moment some cosmic terror could break through and destroy us, rending our minds into fragments. There would be nothing we could do.
I need to think on this. There's a lot left to go through but I may just stop here. I may do what dad couldn't and burn it. Maybe check myself in somewhere, or have a drink or twenty until I can forget. I keep hoping I'll wake up, find out dad was really just your normal everyday absentee father. Maybe mom will still be alive and I've dreamed the past decade of trauma. If I'm lucky, I'm actually dying and this is all just the last delusions as my brain fires off every synapse until I die.
Here we are though. I'm alive. You're alive.
Who knows how long we?ll stay that way.
Source.
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