Subjects: D-1176 and D-5327
Procedure: D-1176 and D-5327 are given a waterproof radio, an inflatable raft with a motor, two months of provisions for two individuals and other supplies. They are instructed to enter the water at the same location as D-8872 and then briefly submerge themselves for thirty seconds. After submerging, they are then to inflate the raft, and then to explore the encountered area, sending regular radio reports to the Foundation.
BEGIN LOG
D-5327: Hello, command! 5327 and 1176 here! We've set up our raft, hooked up the motor, rigged up the solar power thingy, and we're setting off now.
D-1176: Our plan was to sail due north until we saw something of note, like land, another ship, or really anything. We'll make regular reports every couple of days, but like, that whole schedule you guys wanted of every day? Too much. Nothing you can do to stop us, so we're sticking it to the man!
D-5237: As you can tell, we're radical anarchists.
D-1176: So, we've been sailing for about three days now. Haven't see anything yet.
D-5237: Well, there was that gyre of corpses.
D-1176: Oh yeah, but that was on the first day and they had told us to expect it.
D-5237: True. Other than that, nothing. We didn't see the other boat that you guys sent in here.
D-1176: Okay, it's been a week now. Still nothing.
D-5237: Well, we've found an excessive amount of boredom.
D-1176: Nothing other than that!
D-1176: Two weeks now, nothing but boredom, like last time.
D-5237: That aurora was pretty nice, though. It seems odd to see it where we are.
D-1176: It was weird, now that you mention it.
D-1176: Four weeks now, we've made the decision to only check in when something interesting happens.
D-5327: We caught a fish!
D-1176: Yeah, one little fish swam into our nets. My theory is that there are other ways to get to this endless sea, and little fishy got into one.
D-5327: My theory is that we're eating fish for dinner tonight.
D-1176: Six weeks. We've still only caught the one fish, and I really think we're wasting time and energy fishing.
D-5327: What better use for our time do we have?
D-1176: We could be trying to navigate! Find a way out!
D-5237: We're going to run out of food in two weeks!
D-1176: So we need to get out in those two weeks.
D-5237: We both know that won't happen!
D-1176: I haven't given up yet, unlike you, apparently.
D-5237: I'm just being rational!
D-1176: No you're not! I'm the one who's being rational!
D-5237: Turn the radio off. They don't need to hear this.
D-5327: Uh, 1176 fell off the boat last night. I, uh, tried to help rescue him, I couldn't. He must have drowned. He's definitely dead. So it'll only be me from now on, and that's why. I'll still carry on north.
D-5327: It's lonely out here, since 1176 died.
D-5237: It's really boring now, specially since he's gone. He was my friend. How could I have … not saved him.
D-5237: There's nothing here. Not even clouds.
D-5327: Command, I see a boat in the distance. I'm motoring the raft closer as we speak, but I'm already getting a weird sense from it. It looks like a schooner, like the Mayflower or something. I think it might be a mirage.
D-5327: The boat's not a mirage, I'm aboard it. It took me a couple tries, but I was able to throw one of those harpoons you gave me into the side and climb aboard on the rope. This is a real schooner, it looks like. Got a couple masts, sails and everything. Pretty weird to see something like this.
D-5327: I've been walking around the ship, and it's pretty much completely deserted. No people or bodies. I'm going into the kitch - woah. Okay, so scratch that about the no bodies. Looks like there are a bunch of skeletons in the kitchen. I'm no forensic expert, but it looks like they had to resort to cannibalism too.
D-5327: Just entered the captain's quarters, and I found the one last body. He, uh, shot himself. It's really messy. There's a captain's log here, I'll start reading it and seeing what's up.
D-5327: Uh, so still reading the log. But there's just one really weird thing about this whole thing. I love maps, and I'm not recognizing any of these. Well, I recognize the geography - it's the Mediterranean - but the countries aren't the same. Like, at all. Some of the cities are the same - I see Rome, Athens and Barcelona are all here. But the countries are different - there's a Monacan Empire, Carthage is still around and is on here. The map says it's from 1883, so it's not like it's just super old.
D-5327: Okay, so it seems that these guys set out from Rome and were going to be trading with Carthage. That's weird, right? Anyway, they got caught in a really big storm, and I think when that sucked them into this place. That's what they think, anyway. They couldn't find any land, after sailing north and south for months.
D-5327: The other weird thing is that this captain's corpse is definitely not a hundred years old. Like, if I had to guess… I'd say a couple days, maybe? It seems pretty fresh…
D-5327: So, the big thing here is that these guys never found anything here. They only caught a couple fish, because I guess fish can get stuck here too. They've got almost over a year of searching. Nothing about ever finding another ship, nothing about any land, anything.
D-5327: Even with the boost in rations and food I got after I-1176[sic] died, I only have about… week, week and a half remaining? I was on the raft for a while. I'll stay on this big ship until then, but… I don't want to starve to death.
D-5327: Hey, it's been a while since I checked in. Uh, nothing major happened over the last ten days. I'm out of food now even getting the, uh, last of what was on this ship. If these guys couldn't get out… I don't think I'd be able to either.
D-5327: I've given up on fishing. Even if I did catch anything, it would just be delaying the inevitable. Also, I'm not going to drink anything. I think that'll make it faster.
D-5327: My skin itches. My tongue is cracking. My stomach hurts. When is it going be over?
D-5237: It hurts to talk. This'll be my last call. Please tell my family I love them.
END LOG
