Section 2B

I have been with my expedition team as a student intern for several months now. We've been locating and excavating sites all along North America to study the cultures of the past. At our latest dig, we were able to uncover the better part of a wooden house. This was an especially rare find, as wood would have typically decomposed by now, but the sands were able to preserve an amazing amount of the interior and a portion of the exterior. I was assigned to section 2B, which contained a partially collapsed wall where sand ebbed into the corner of the room. As I brushed away sand and took note of the wall's construction, I noticed a sliver of green metal interceding the wooden panels and concrete. I guided my hands along the wall, applying pressure until one of the panels slid, and I was able to see inside. This appeared to be a safe or lockbox of some kind, but it had no gears, no key holes, no combination lock, nothing preventing me from opening it and examining its contents.

Inside this safe was a small black book, a smaller black box, and what seemed to be a stack of bound paper. Upon closer inspection, the paper seemed to be currency from the United States of America, dating this find to at least 2060 when the US dollar collapsed, and naturally, the country along with it.

I grabbed the small book and opened it. The text was written in English. Thankfully I studied this language in college in between Latin, Chinese, and French. I began to read:

"January 7th, 2025: I've never really kept a personal journal. I'm not sure where to begin. If you've found this book, a small box, and $20,000, then something happened to me. If you found this book and the box, but not the money, then someone must have beat you to the chase and decided that the remaining articles were not of value. If you've only found this book, then God rest the soul of whoever took the box. Either way, you're reading this now and if you choose to continue doing so, I have a tremendous favor to ask." This last sentence was scrawled and almost illegible.

I paused and stared at the small box and back towards the book. Never before had a text made me feel so grave, and I’ve excavated old tombs and crypts before. Perhaps if the book was covered in ornate details, gold leaf, or gallywhacks, even a title, I would have more quickly turned the page with awe and wonder. But this was just a small, unassuming black book, with pages slightly tinged with age. There was no lock, there was no signature, or anything that would give this book any identity. The same could be said about the box. It fit in my palm and didn't feel particularly heavy, nor light for that matter. This did not stop the introduction from filling me with dread. The dimly lit and otherwise empty room did not help either. Before my stilled heart could stop me, my hands crept back to the book and turned to the next page.

"I am… or rather, I was a researcher at the Medical Institute of Biometric Technologies and Patents. Though MIBTP is better known for establishing small scientific start ups and patenting medical technologies, there is a small research center established to keep up with the world of biotech. They study many things and perform tests on the efficacy and potential of proposed projects and medical equipment, but that is not what I, nor the black box is concerned with.”

It continued onto the next page, “Please forgive me for I had the best intentions in stealing from MIBTP. This could be the answer to abolishing disease, ending world hunger, eliminating waste, reducing consumption of resources. It would propel a whole new meaning to life as we know it. However, the cost to create this was far too great. I will not detail it in this entry, but the cost in life let alone materials make this an unbearable burden. Many subjects did not survive the first phase of testing nor the secondary and tertiary trials. This specimen inside the box was the lone survivor. It once brought me delight how resilient this specimen was. It could survive extreme heat and cold. It withstood the highest forms of radiation. It no longer even required food or water to sustain itself. This was my own private joy as I have kept it hidden from my colleagues. However, what once brought me delight and wonder, began to fill me with sickening dread. Nothing could kill this … thing. I tried poisons. I tried asphyxiation. Blunt force trauma. Hell, I even tried smashing it with this very book in a weak final attempt to destroy it before casting it away. This money was meant to be used to run and entrap this thing so no one would find it, but MIBTP are keeping a close watch of me and I believe they know I’ve been hiding something. I can’t let them have it and I can’t let it reach the public. God only knows what would happen if it fell into corporate hands or the outside world.”

I placed the book down and held the box between my fore thumb and secondary thumb. I glided my fingers over its smooth surface and found that one corner of the box had completely deteriorated. Much like the wall, I could see inside the box. It was completely bare except for some wood shavings. I looked deeper into the safe to see if the contents or remains of the box could still be found despite the eons that must have passed.

I gasped as something reached its paws out towards me. I did not know what to expect, but it was not a creature, let alone a live one. Propping itself out of the safe, like a vampire out of its crypt, was a little brown mouse. It stared at me with wide violet eyes. My devilish hands reached out towards the mouse just as it had with the book. It hopped into my hands and just stared at me. It was cool to the touch and its fur glistened in the little light that was ebbing into section 2B. I was slightly stunned by its lack of fear. While it continued to stare at me, I pondered how it could have gotten there. There didn’t seem to be any holes or cracks in the safe. It must have chewed through the box, but it couldn’t possibly have been inside. As far as I could tell, this safe hadn’t been open for centuries and there was no mouse waste inside. Still perplexed, I put the mouse in my front pocket to continue reading while it nestled against my chest.

“To get back to the point, if you found all the items in question, then I failed and I leave it up to you to destroy it. DON’T. LET. MIBTP. GET. THIS! Or any company for that matter. I can only hope that you will toss this wretched thing into the depths of space and its story will go untold and its mysteries unanswered.

May God forgive me for encroaching upon His realm.

–Dr. Elizabeth Rosenthal”