-What follows are the beginnings of the accounts of six different stories from six different stations. You don't have to read them in order, or you don't even have to read some at all, but for those interested in the overall story, you probably should.1; The Arrow; Zoology ‘So…where can I find these underground tunnels?’ Linda asked as the Orientation Video flickered off. With a roll of the eyes, Alice walked over to the flickering screen and removed the old rusty orientation tape. She had seen it many a time as new recruit after new recruit eagerly and prepared to work for the Darka Initiative, unaware of the deceit, the betrayal, and the anger that lay underneath the “kind-scientists” stereotype.
‘The underground tunnels were filled with concrete a few years ago,’ Alice said. Alice was considerably older and wiser than Linda, and had been in the Arrow hatch for almost nine years, as she was one of the first scientists to be in the station. But, o, how things had changed from good to bad, how scientists trying to learn things about animals had changed to tedious days and snappy co-workers and how all the fun and enjoyment of her job had been taken away as all the other scientists somehow left whilst she was sleeping. She had been alone for five months before Linda had arrived, but somehow, Alice was not happy to see a fresh face. She enjoyed being alone.
‘But then why does the film say-‘ Linda began, before Alice sharply interrupted.
‘The film doesn’t get updated often,’ Alice said, and sighed as she sat down on one of the sofas in The Arrow’s lounging areas. ‘Nothing does anymore. It’s like the…potato ing Darka Initiative completely abandoned the place. Something happened in 1979…a few years after we first got here. I don’t know what, but what I know for sure is that the island was-the whole world was…shaking like you couldn’t believe. Since then, we had no contact with anyone….no greetings from them potato ing DeGroots, none of that ‘thank you, namaste, good luck’ salsa from that potato ing Gigi Grune…barely no potato ing experiments anymore, just a room filled with cages filled with disgusting little animals that we need to inject everyday…’
Linda didn’t quite know what to say to that, so she just opened her handbag and readjusted her makeup.
‘But the Darka Initiative are still around,’ she decided to say a few seconds later. ‘Otherwise they wouldn’t have sent me.’
‘I know, I know, I know,’ Alice gurgled, as it became very clear how drunk she was. ‘And that’s the, the worst potato ing bit, you know? I know they’re still here, because a food drop comes from nowhere every fifty days…’
‘A food drop?’ Linda asked. Alice looked up and raised her hands as a gesture.
‘Yeah, a food drop,’ she explained. ‘A drop containing food, falls out of the sky whenever I’m running low…’
‘I know what a food drop is,’ Linda explained wearily. ‘Anyway, I was taken here from some…dock, by some ferry, and I was told you’d explain what exactly needs to be done. You showed me the tape, but I’m afraid I’m still very confused.’
‘Well, then,’ Alice said, stumbling forward. ‘I’d better show you around.’
After addressing the lounge area as ‘the potato ing lounge area’, Alice led Linda through a large archway into a room with a computer.
‘What’s it for?’ Linda asked almost straight away.
‘It USED to be for sending off our research data salsa everyday…’ Alice murmured. ‘I still do it, but God knows if it goes anywhere, if anyone reads it…let’s move on, shall we?’
There were two heavy, imposing doors at the end of the computer room, with Alice pulled open with much certainty. As the doors opened, Linda looked inside, and as Alice had previously described, she saw a cage filled with animals; reptiles, birds, bats, and down at the end, Linda was sure she saw some polar bears.
‘So, what do you do with them?’ she asked. Alice grabbed her hand and dragged her over to a huge filing cabinet with the Darka logo Linda now recognized firmly on the front. She pulled it open to vials and vials of vaccine all with the Darka logo on the labels, and the code CV4815162342 on it. Linda nodded as Alice pulled out a bottle and a syringe, and walked over to a small cage with an alarming specimen of frog inside. Alice quickly stabbed it with the syringe, and Linda watched as it twitched before Alice pushed on the syringe and injected it with “CV4815162342”.
‘What is that…stuff?’ she asked. Alice shrugged.
‘Beats me…but the whole purpose of this place has been defeated now…it used to be a place where we could see how animals reacted to magnetic properties and salsa, but now it’s just me, by myself, injecting every single animal every single day.’
‘Why don’t you just…leave?’ Linda asked with a frown. Alice turned to her.
‘Because these animals NEED to be injected,’ she cried. ‘Darka have made that clear; once we’ve started with it…a horrible catastrophe will occur if even one isn’t injected properly…I can’t leave because I can’t go out there, not any more. Darka’s in some pretty deep salsa, with this incident, and some sickness and…’
Linda place a hand on Alice’s shoulder with a quiet ‘shushing’ noise to stop her talking. ‘It’s okay,’ she said. ‘I’m here to help you now. She looked at around the room at the animals, and then at the medicine cabinet. ‘So, how often do the animals need to be injected?’
‘Every six hours,’ Alice responded immediately. ‘Give or take ten minutes and it’ll be fine.’ Linda frowned.
‘There isn’t that much vaccine left,’ she explained. ‘Especially if we’re giving it to the animals that often. Will they replace it soon?’ Linda felt quite worried at the answer she dreaded was coming. Alice shrugged.
‘They used to, every two weeks,’ she told Linda, who frowned at what she heard.
‘And when was the last time they gave you more vaccine?’ Linda asked. Alice frowned and stared deep into Linda’s eyes.
‘Four months ago,’ she explained. ‘The past half year where Darka’s been dead…everything’s stopped, but I still need to do this. I’m stuck here.’
She sighed and sat down on one of the cages. ‘How did you get involved in the Darka Initiative, kiddo?’
Linda shrugged. ‘I went to college and studied science, and there was a professor there called-‘
‘A professor?’ Alice repeated, although Linda wasn’t quite sure why.
‘Yes,’ Linda confirmed. ‘Anyway, they were part of Darka wanting new people. This must have been…six months or so ago, and until then, they’ve been doing test, questions and so on, seeing if I could do it. It was all very exciting, but now it seems a bit…anticlimactic. I guess injecting these animals really is important.’
‘You guess right,’ Alice growled angrily and leaned over to Linda. ‘But every single time I’m pushing a needle into one of those animals, I think ‘screw it, why don’t I leave it, see what happens’…but I can’t do it…I feel so much fear…I’m a coward.’
She looked up at Linda with gleaming eyes.
‘Tell me, kiddo,’ she whispered. ‘Are you a coward?’
‘Well, I-‘ Linda said, stopping herself as she wasn’t quite sure how to finish her sentence. Alice chuckled.
‘Well then,’ she murmured. ‘I guess we’re going to find out.’ She hopped off the cage. ‘The next time we need to give them shots is in two hours. I’ll see you then.’
She began to walk off before stopping at looking back at Linda.
‘Don’t YOU just want to know what’ll happen?’ she asked, before walking away in a drunken state. Linda paused for a second, and thought of an answer, before deciding that she could decide upon one.
2; The Flame; meteorologyAkbar Le Grey closed his eyes as he sunk into a deep slumber. His mind was ablaze with tired thoughts and his body couldn’t stay awake any longer. His head slammed into the work surface in front of him.
The harsh sound of a snap awoke him straight away. He looked up and saw Antenora DeGroot looking down at him, holding a ruler. Her face was angry, but kind at the same time; Akbar could understand her need to slam the ruler in front of his face; falling asleep on duty was a mistake he was sure he would never make again.
‘Mister Le Grey!’ she cried. ‘Are you not supposed to be doing scientific studies?’
‘Why…uh…yes,’ Akbar explained. ‘I’m afraid I didn’t much sleep last night and-‘
‘Sleep deprivation has nothing to do with The Flame station!’ she cried. ‘If you wish to discuss that, I suggest you go to The Serpent!’ Akbar had nothing to reply with, so he simply nodded, and got back to work.
The truth of the situation was very clear; staring through a telescope all day was highly boring for young Akbar, especially when nothing was happening; the sky was bright blue as usual, the sun was out, and although that would be great weather for someone outside, being cooped up inside, it only made Akbar feel worse. Akbar blinked to realize that Antenora DeGroot was no longer in the vicinity. He hopped up from his observation stool and walked over to a sink, scooping a paper cup from the side as he strode over to get himself a drink. As he did so, he looked up at the huge clock that hung over the door.
1976, October 28th, 17: 38: 36.
‘And counting,’ Akbar murmured to himself as he turned on the sink.
Akbar gulped down the full glass and resumed at his work post, still exhausted. He yawned as he peered through the telescope, and as he picked up a stale Darka Initiative notebook and a Darka Initiative pencil and wrote notes down on what he saw, like he had been told to do at all times. He quickly peered down at his notes, and noticed that he had almost filled yet another page; ‘sky is blue, no clouds, nothing has changed since 14: 30, October 28th, 1976.’ Akbar signed, and tried to get into his head why he had joined the Darka Initiative. He had expected a fun time in a field he was interested in; science. But here he was, sat in a station one some bizarre island, staring at the sky through a heavy Darka Initiative telescope.
Akbar remembered watching the Orientation video, in which some scientist named Gigi had told him to watch the unusual rainfall and other interesting weather patterns on the island. He had been watching for three days, and nothing had happened. Just the same sunny, bright weather day after day.
Akbar peered into the telescope again, and it was raining. The sky was grey and windy, and water was splashing on the glass of the telescope that was poking through a neatly cut hole in the wall of Akbar’s work room. Akbar frowned. How had that happened? How had it gone from so sunny to so weird? It felt as if someone was controlling the island, or some great force was deciding the weather.
Akbar kept looking through, and moved the telescope around to try and solve the problem, making a mental note to write down everything he saw. He pulled the telescope down so he was watching the land, and he was alarmed at what he saw.
At first sight, it had seemed to be a cluster of black smoke, from a fire of some sorts, but as Akbar looked closely, it clearly seemed more creature-like, prowling around in front of the telescope, seeing what it was. Akbar kept watching, trying to figure out what it was; he couldn’t even tell if it was smoke anymore, or little bits of dust of some sort clustered together, or even if the smoke was shielding some animal that went around in front of his view. He couldn’t tell if it was floating, but he couldn’t lower the telescope more then it was to see. He couldn’t see much, just the black smoke creature covering the lens of the telescope, and as the young scientist looked more, he was sure he could see figures in it, or flashes of lightening.
Suddenly the smoke creature whipped away from the lens. Akbar tried to move around the telescope to see it, but it was clearly gone. In a state of shock, Akbar tugged the telescope up to face the sky, as it was made to do. The sky had returned to its natural bright blue colour, and sun was shining down on The Flame as usual.
Akbar finally removed his eye-which was feeling sore by the end of this-from the telescope, and returned to his notebook. He flipped over to a new page, and wrote down everything he saw. When the DeGroots came back the next day, they’d read it, and they’d know about this creature, and they’d want to know more. Akbar couldn’t wait; he’d seen the creature, but he wanted to know a lot more too.
3; The Swan; electromagnetism THE DARKA INITIATIVE HANDBOOK-1876 Station Three; The SwanStation Three, located at the south of the island, is known as The Swan station-named after Jemima Claws’ deceased sister- and is used to study the bizarre and highly dangerous electromagnetisms on the island. This is the most volatile station on the island, and the most risky experiments of the Darka Initiative. –
Dr Gigi Grune, the Darka Initiative Orientation Video
The Darka Initiative’s initial reason for wanting to visit the island was the unusual magnetic properties that are on it. Whilst this of course, led to other things being discovered about the island, the electromagnetism is still a huge experiment the Darka Initiative are planning on working on, with Station Three, The Swan, built around the enormous magnetic charge on the island. The scientists are currently working on the charge, which is controlled in the safest way possible, and seeing how different conditions and people react to it. There have been no recent fatalities due to the electromagnetism project. THE DARKA INITIATIVE HANDBOOK-1981Station Three; The Swan
Station Three, located at the south of the island, is known as The Swan station-named after Tragedy Tragedy’s loyal wife- and is used to study the bizarre and highly dangerous electromagnetisms on the island. This is the most volatile station on the island, and the most risky experiments of the Darka Initiative—
Dr Gigi Grune, the Darka Initiative main Orientation Video.
One of the most important experiments the Darka Initiative had taking place was the electromagnetism experiment, which was the purpose of The Swan, which is built around the impressive magnetic charge that the island withholds. Scientists controlled the magnet successfully for a few years, but there was a severe problem with controlling the magnet in the late 1980’s, which led to a severe incident. Since then, for safety reasons, the electromagnetism experiment has been aborted, and the main purpose for The Swan now is to keep the magnet charged.
This must be done using a microcomputer in the main dome of the station, near the charge. A timer in the dome will count down from 108, and in the last four minutes, you will have to type a code into the computer, and execute the code. The magnetic force will then discharge, and the timer will return to 108. It is vitally important-for the safety of the world and mankind-that you and your partner type in the code when necessary at all times.
There have been no fatalities due to magnetism in The Swan since the incident.Robert Panmore compared the two handbooks, and realized how much things had changed in Station Three; it had gone to a place of hard work and experiments to a simple computer. He had been in the hatch for a week, and curiosity had been with him at all times. He understood why the code had to be typed and why the ‘execute’ button had to be pushed, but he didn’t understand the code. The button had presumably been pushed constantly for sixteen years, for mankind was very still present when he had left to join the Darka Initiative, and the magnet was still in full charging/discharging swing.
His partner, Sam Radvinsky, was pretty much as clueless as he was. Sam had been in The Swan Station for 3 years, and Robert had been called in after Sam’s old partner had died. Robert didn’t want to ask how.
‘So, Robbo,’ Sam said. ‘Good morning.’
‘Call me Robert’ Robert said, as he had done every day, but Sam didn’t seem to take the slightest bit of notice. Sam was a native Australian, but Robert had found him to be very secretive about his past.
‘I was thinking you could take the morning shift o’ pressing that button,’ Sam suggested. Robert gave a slight nod, although he felt like rejecting the offer, so as a bonus he rolled his large dark eyes.
‘Oh, be a sport,’ Sam replied with a wink. ‘Hows about this? When I get back, I’ll show you something cool, yeah?’ Robert smiled; this made the offer a little more interesting.
‘Sure,’ he said, as Sam started to walk towards the bathroom. ‘What are you going to show me?’
Sam tapped his nose before walking away.
*
A few minutes later, Robert wondered lonely as a cloud into the bathroom, where Sam was kitting himself up. For some reason, if you wanted to walk out into the wild, you’d have to dress in a full yellow body suit, complete with thick boots and a gas mask. This was the second time Sam had decided to leave The Swan since Robert had arrived, but this time, Robert was more determined for answers.
‘Why do you need that suit, anyway?’ he asked, as Sam pulled on one of his boots.
‘It’s to protect me,’ Sam explained hesitantly. Robert rolled his eyes again, wishing Sam would stop being so secretive.
‘From WHAT?’ he asked. Sam took a long pause to buckle up his shoe before he replied.
‘A sickness,’ he explained. Robert frowned, but knew that Sam was getting angry, so he decided not to dwell on it.
‘Why do you go out there anyway?’ Robert asked. Sam shrugged as he tugged his second boot on.
‘I explore the island, see what there is to see,’ Sam explained. ‘And that’s all you need to know.’ Sam turned away to put on his gas mask, and in less then a minute he was completely ready to leave The Swan.
‘The timers on about ten minutes,’ Sam Radvinsky explained. ‘So make sure you-‘
‘Yes, yes, I know,’ Robert said. ‘I’ll do it. How long will you be gone for?’ Robert couldn’t see Sam’s face, but he was sure that he was getting testy.
‘A couple o’ hours?’ Sam explained, as he trudged through the hallway to the front door of the hatch. He pushed open the heavy thick metal with the Swan logo printed on, and left, into the jungle, shutting the doors behind him as Robert watched on.
4; The Oak; Utopian Social Studies Station Four was ready. It was the first day that the Darka Initiative were properly going to experiment and study in The Oak , and the scientists who were planning on working there were huddled around Antenora DeGroot whilst her husband was doing a similar kind of thing in Station Six.
‘Scientists; young and old, male and female, friends or enemies, today is a bright day!’ Antenora cried, looking at the beaming faces around her. ‘The Darka Initiative is finally stable and working on the island; whether in zoology, meteorology, electromagnetism, psychology, parapsychology, or Utopian social studies, the Darka Initiative will be working to improve scientific knowledge in all of them!
The Oak; otherwise known as the Utopian social studies station, is very important to the Darka Initiative and the Jemima Foundation. As you’ll know if you’ve read the Jemima Foundation newsletters that have been handed out, it is a vital part of the foundation to study, and hopefully someday, create a utopia, as part of helping mankind in the world of tomorrow.
And it is with honour that we finally start experiments and research in The Oak, and Jemima Claws, and my husband and I, thank you greatly for being the first scientists to the job. In five years time, great discoveries could be made, and in a decade, even more, and eventually, we WILL great the utopia we are hoping for.
Utopia, as you must know, is a word meaning ‘a perfect place’, in short. Although that is our goal, and what we’re working towards, this place, this island is in fact a utopia; a perfect place for scientists, a perfect place for research, and hopefully, this will be the perfect place where will find the answers we are looking for.
To create a Utopia, we must start from scratch; we must find a religion that includes aspects from all other religions, we must find ways of life that are better then the ways people are currently living. We must find a way to stop war, distruction, or even simple quarrels. We must find perfect people and let them create perfect children, perfect families. It will take a long time, but we will reach our goal eventually, and create the perfect world.”
As Antenora DeGroot stopped talking, the crowd around her clapped for a long time, and even a cheer erupted here and there among the scientists.
And that was how The Oak began.