December 19th, 2018

Hello again. This is the research log number one hundred nineteen, and I must say that I’ve been impressed with our recent discoveries. Our latest test subject, a sea bunny, reacted to the chemical different from the ones in the past dozen tests - growing in size to be larger than a polar bear… I have developed a theory. It doesn’t necessarily matter the animal, or species, because test subject number forty-seven indicated two completely unique specimens can have the same gifts given. I believe that it goes as specific as the genes behind the animal - but I even think it goes further than that. This chemical, this element has the capability to understand and read a given specimen mind. The element can understand the test subject’s personality, its weaknesses, and strengths, and learn its past. This is why I am so fascinated with this element, even a hundred thirteen logs in and I’m still learning and understanding what it has to offer to our world. Although, something strange that I’ve never thought about… We’ve studied and researched the chemical for over four months now, and we’ve never given it a name. It sounds silly, but this whole time we’ve called it a “thing”, “chemical”, and most frequently called “the element”. I guess we should decide a name for it… Well, I suppose that will be for another day. I am far too exhausted to determine a classification for it. I can only simply waste my time pondering the capabilities of it.

I am rather frustrated by the fact that the government does not allow us to use humans as test subjects. I know it sounds like a “Mad Scientist” kind of wish, but I am rather curious. This is because the animals and plants that we’ve tested have been of simple creatures, and the end products that we’ve seen have been - not to make it sound disappointing - but underwhelming. We’ve seen reactions ranging from plants gaining the ability to change their color to adapt and camouflage; we’ve seen smaller animals grow larger and larger animals shrink to the size of a fist. We’ve seen things from the ranges of size, shape, color, but these are all such simple reactions in comparison to what I believe the capabilities of this elect truly are. Imagine if this chemical could combine with a human, or something more complicated than what it has received… A silly idea, but I believe it could become a world of magic, powers, and wonder if this chemical was brought together with the human race.

But the world doesn’t see it like that. It sees it as a disease, a curse from whatever sent this to our world. And - although a lot of people think I’m lying about this - I don’t know where this thing came from. This is me being honest, honest to god: I think this was a gift. A gift from some force above that sees our world for what it is, and as I see it too - falling short. We’ve seen all that can be seen, and I’m not impressed anymore with what we have. With the element, we can be so much more than what we are. Whoever once had this gift realized this, and it blessed us with the capabilities to become what it saw. But no one sees this as a gift: they shun this element, and I don’t know why. This is a blessing! A blessing from above, and we should be praising it like it’s our new bible… Although, that does sound a little insane. What I’m trying to say is that we shouldn’t be afraid of this element - maybe some alien out there felt pity for our planet and felt they should give us a Christmas present.

Well, this concludes my research log for the day - I will update what we find tomorrow as it happens.

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The scientist tapped the button on his desk labeled End Recording, and the red blinking from the light in his microphone came to a halt, staying at a faint glow of orange. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose - a habit of his from childhood. He turned his chair around and confronted the only subject that was on his mind - the element.

The element wasn’t something as simple as a glowing stone, or shiny orb, but it was found in the dirt to be inside a small metal capsule - no larger than a pencil. Inside the capsule was the element: a thick metallic liquid that had no smell, made no sound when you shook the capsule… it just existed. It lured him in like bait to a fish, and he began to push his chair forward to take a closer look.

He hung his head over the table it rested on, casting a shadow upon the metallic capsule. As he observed it, the black liquid inside grew more and more into focus. The testers had taken out a small sample of the liquid from the capsule - as they do every day - but by the time the tests had ended, the material had already regenerated what it had lost. A completely filled capsule; when he looked inside, he couldn’t find a single bubble of air from the liquid.

Carefully, he leaned in closer to the capsule and dragged a nearby table with wheels towards him, the cold metal of the table leg stinging his tired fingers. On the table was a set of tools they had used earlier on the sea bunny: injection tools. He carefully poked a needle into the capsule and pulled the liquid out, shivering from how eerily silent it was.

He lifted the needle to be eye level and stared at it with a cracked open mouth. What if this goes wrong, he thought to himself, tapping the glass and slightly shaking the liquid, what if I’ve been wrong all along? What if it really is some disease that could harm the rest of the world? What if it really is some disease that could harm the rest of the world?

Setting down the needle, he fished a pocket watch from his pants to see the time as 1:14. From the top of the watch, a faded picture of a woman in black and white was framed in the watch’s stainless steel.

If today is the day I die, then I’ll see you soon.

With that final thought, the scientist picked up the needle.