On July 1, 2052 I finally received official clearance granting me access to Island No6. With this approval now in place I will begin an in-depth historic, archeologic, and anthropologic survey of the island. I estimate this process to take a little under a year. The island has been uninhabited for about 8 years and it is unclear the circumstances that led to the catastrophic industrial accident that made the island uninhabitable for many years. My initial survey work will be solitary but I expect to be joined by my assistants in the spring. The ambition of the survey is to document the current state of the island and uncover some of what may have happened here in 2044. My work is funded by a number of governmental agencies, making some of it proprietary, but I intend to share what I can through this channel.
The work is shared chronologically as a diary / log. To view in the sequence I am working, you should begin at the bottom and work your way to the top of the feed and the most current discoveries. Fingers crossed for my safe return.
I found this place by accident. I was not lost nor was I searching for a specific destination. The wall rose into the heavy fog and disappeared. A single door stood at the base. It was the only break in the solid expanse. A warm light spilled from the frame onto the wet ground.
The light was a signal for someone else. I knew this the moment I saw it. I stood in the center of the dark puddle. The reflection of the building stretched toward my boots. I felt watched as I stood there silently, monitoring my breathing. I did not move closer but stayed at a calculated distance. If someone appeared I could claim I was lost. My distance made my presence ambiguous. It was my only defense against an interaction I was not ready for.
I stood there silently for an hour. The air was damp and heavy. No one arrived to claim the outpost. No one came out to lock the door behind them. I eventually walked away with the memory of that lit door with me for years.
Periodically I returned to this spot. The door remained sealed. The light was never on again. The building grew streaks of rust and dark moss.
I never tried the handle. I never knocked on the cold metal. As much as I wanted to explore the interior, I feared reality could never meet my imagination. I chose to leave this experience as an incomplete memory. That sealed entry was meant for someone else who was supposed to be there. I was an intruder on a timeline intended for a stranger.
Day 860 - using the low light with a slow shutter to capture light traces of the bots. The bots carry out their routines regardless of the need, forever stuck in procedural loops until they lose power.
Day 859 - It is difficult to say if these wandering bots were always prototypes and works in progress or if the passage of time has broken them down from a production level of finish. It’s been many years since they have encountered a human and they are quite twitchy.
Day 858 - The abandoned east quarry marks a high point in the islands influx of intellect when there was a focus on scientific research. The laboratories and offices remain as relics scattered around the quarry.
Day 856 - Revisiting a few of my favorite spaces from the East Quarry. These dilapidated glass structures were once eco-resort spaces for those visiting the island.
The automated kiln ajar, a dormant relic, its empty belly cold. Before it, an army of pale ghosts stands sentinel on the dusty floor – unfired ceramic components, the spectral output left mid-process when the evacuation sirens wailed. Ordered ranks of parts wait forever raw, forever untouched by the transformative flame. Dust coats their chalky shoulders in stillness. Only a single fluorescent light hums in the kiln’s vicinity, bathing the arrested moment in the cold glow of indifference.
Day 854 - Headquarters tasked me with some analysis and research consulting that didn’t pertain to the island. I’ve been hunkered down in my mobile lab for a couple weeks with very little time to explore. It seems the weather is starting to break and I had a chance to take a short hike today.
The stone quarry appears to have been shaped to create overhead protection for vehicles adjacent to this large tarmac.
