The original voice recordings by a supposed scientist called ‘Dr. Cynthia Stein’ that are transcribed here were apparently found on July 29th, 2015. A local discovered them during a trip through the stony corridors below Hillsborough County. They are surely unnerving, and he apparently tried to spread them via the more easily accessible parts of the Dark Web to see if anyone had heard of something similar and could verify their contents. That is where I found them as well. The local and his friends had apparently often played in the corridors below Hillsborough County in secret when they were young and were glad to return to them as adults for a trip down memory lane. However, they were quite baffled when they found a tablet next to one of the walls, close to the entrance. The local was not sure whether the following recordings are real or a f**d up play devised by some students. I don’t know either, but should they be legit, I hope I can spread them beyond the Dark Web as well. I’ll let you decide.
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02-27-2013, 8:04 PM
Finally, our tablets have arrived, and I can save these logs of mine in a more secure way. Unfortunately, my supervisors don’t allow videos, probably to save space on the hard drives.
Well, whatever.
The logs from the past weeks must be looked up in the filing cabinets if one is interested. Perhaps I should firstly give a general summary of everything to save you the time? Recently, we spent more and more time inside these tunnels, hollowing out the carbonate rocks below Hillsborough County.
These corridors must have formed thousands of years ago, or so experts say. We had discovered these dark tunnels during ground surveys and build our laboratories down here under highest possible secrecy.
Perhaps I should introduce myself? My name is Dr. Cynthia Stein and I have been doing my research down here with several colleagues for three weeks now.
As a computer scientist, I fit perfectly into our little team of engineers and technicians and the control program I wrote for our research made huge steps forward in development.
Unfortunately, I must admit that my workplace is not very comforting. The tunnels are smelling strangely rotten in parts, even though nobody ever found a cadaver, and the rough, cold winds make me feel uneasy.
When thinking about the people who first ventured into this terrible darkness to install the lamps on the ceiling, I get a sick feeling.
They must have been very brave to dare enter these veins of blackness, only armed with torches, to get the lighting on. Well, perhaps I am just a scaredy-cat. But at least I am not the only one.
My supervisor Dr. Adam Moore can be heard cursing our location at least twice a day.
The worst thing, however, are the rumors spreading within the research team. Bodiless voices inside the walls, clicking sounds in the dark. I am incredibly glad to never have heard them for myself and maybe they are just a stupid hoax.
I would have rather worked at another of our secret labs. Nevada would have been nice…
But no, they just had to place us in these accursed tunnels in the heart of Florida! Who knows when I will be able to see daylight again…?
Of course, we are not allowed to go to the surface: Too many people disappearing inside a cave on a daily basis would surely be noticed by the public.
For that reason, they had smashed in parts of the walls to make room for small cots. If they wouldn’t pay me this unbelievably well, I wouldn’t even think of working down here.
At least we are making good progress! The technicians have built the first prototype and we can download our software within the next few days. I am so excited for our experiment’s results, who knows, a breakthrough could change the world! Ending hunger, armed conflict, poverty? Great times are to come, I can feel it.
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02-28-2013, 00:07 AM
I can’t sleep. The air is heavy and disgustingly humid and warm. The sound of the power generators isn’t helping me fall asleep either. For how long have I been lying here, wide awake? Three hours? Hopefully I will get some rest soon.
Tomorrow, I will download the first version of my program to the robot’s brain. I hope that everything works!
But I can’t sleep. I just can’t. The cot is hard and uncomfortable, the cloth board itchy.
Why did they not bring something better down here? I just don’t get it, they spent so much money on this facility…
Only seven people are currently working on the project. The others have returned to the sunny surface, whilst we as experts are about to start the first trials down here. The rations will last us for weeks, but I have always hated canned food.
And this rancidly tasting water…
After my first sip I feared there to be contaminants, but Robert tested it and found it safe. I think he was a chemist once, before his time as an engineer.
I hate darkness.
Yes, I confess: I am afraid of the dark.
But isn’t everybody? Of course, it is not the black itself frightening you, but more what could hide within.
And down here, below the ground, one’s mind will conjure up pictures of gruesome creatures, slumbering forgotten in the Earth’s depths a lot easier.
Don’t… don’t I hear something?
A… murmur, a whisper?
No, my mind is playing tricks on me.
Or isn’t it?
Even when listening very closely into the darkness, I can’t determine whether there is a sound or not…
How can this be?
My stomach is hurting. I am glad for the light the tablet is giving off. But only four feet away from the screen, darkness awaits.
Now everything is silent. I think I am going crazy. If only there weren’t those rumors floating around. Who thought up such crap? But it can’t be helped, I need some sleep.
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02-28-2013, 2:01 PM
All preparations for the first trials are done. Robert Shaw and Dr. Mark Torino have brought the prototype to the computer terminals where Dr. Sven Olderson and I have prepared the software, ready to be downloaded.
The prototype measures about three meters in height and its lower part consists of four movable, spiderlike legs that are fixated to a small base. On top of that base the machine has a part being modelled after a human – complete with two arms and a primitive head. The prototype is made from various metals and alloys and looks old-fashioned, but appearances can be deceiving.
Despite seeming to be impetuous and primitive with its thick fingers and claw-like feet: located inside its head is one of the most advanced technologies ever created. Besides the usual microchips and cables, the circuits, and main boards, the first version of a quantum computer is slumbering in the prototype’s head.
The quantum computer is immensely small and can only do basic calculations, however it far surpasses the models currently known to the public. We hope that together with already researched, normal parts and new software we might be able to make it more efficient.
The goal is to create a robot that can decide on its own what to do in emergency situations. We hope for the similarities between human thought processes and quantum computing to give us some fascinating results. The program has started downloading into the robot’s metallic brain, it should all be finished in about sixty minutes.
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02-28-2013, 3:03 PM
The software had been transferred and the robot turned on. Our first tests did not go very well: Until now, everything seems to be running like it would on a normal computer. Its behaviors can still be predetermined by the programs Dr. Olderson wrote and there are no signs of irregularities in its decisions.
The robot unit moves and acts as commanded, mechanically, but appears to be limited by its software. I will hurry to try and fix it, but the hardware will also have to be changed. At least the robot does something, so that at least I won’t have to deal with people calling me a hack. Well then, work is waiting.
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02-28-2013, 10:45 PM
This has been a long working day! I checked my entire code back to front, doing my best to do little adjustments, but that is all I can change today. The improved A.I. program is currently downloading.
Shaw and Torino want to have another try using some modifications to the quantum computing unit. I have no idea how that is supposed to help us but missing a chance to have a breakthrough is not something I am keen on either. If only we could get this A.I. to work!
I am getting headaches again; the sleepless nights are slowly draining my stamina. Luckily, I took some aspirin pills with me, but too many of those are unhealthy and possibly dangerous…
The humming coming from the robot unit is also not helping to calm me down.
So distracting!
And these lifeless photo sensors it has got for eyes, seemingly cold and full of evil. Such horrible equipment! It feels as if the thing is gazing directly into my soul. One more hour – give or take – and we will at least know if all of today’s work was for nothing or if…
Well, if it won’t work, next week will be incredibly exhausting…
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03-01-2013, 0:16 AM
It… It is unfathomable… what did just…
I don’t know what to do.
Yes, yes, it worked… in a way…
Okay, start from the beginning, calm down…
We downloaded the program as planned and turned the robot unit on.
Everything was as before, it got up, moved towards some crates it was supposed to relocate.
It’s gaze…
Well, we waited for its confirmation phrase.
“Calculating command structure and possible actions”, it always stated.
Every time until now, that is what it stated.
Only now, now it said:
“Mama… Mama…”
At first, I was only perplexed, it didn’t make any sense! But nonetheless it repeated those words, over and over, until it started running around erratically.
We had to get out of the tunnel, to stop it from squashing us like bugs. Like an angered animal it ran around, crashed into walls, started… screaming…
What had we created?
It finally charged into another rock wall and stumbled to the ground. I guess some of its circuits had taken too much damage in the end.
It lay there on its side, its screams piercing the darkness of the tunnel, until Shaw managed to turn it off.
When we were about to salvage the robot’s remains, the wall it had crashed into at the end of its fit started collapsing, rocks breaking down and crushing the machine. Now all that is left of our long day and millions of dollars is a gaping hole in the wall, leading into uncharted pitch black tunnels.
Should I even keep on doing my research?
After what happened? I am feeling sick. Why did it go mad? Why did it call for its… mother? In addition to that, there is the black od the new tunnel, weighing heavily on my mind.
And… Am I not hearing it again?
The whispering… noise?
I am certain!
Perhaps the tablet will be able to record it as well? Hopefully…
I am not mad! It is just a rumor, a stupid rumor, only the winds blowing through the tunnels…
I guess the hole acts as a pathway to a cave system leading to the surface.
That must be it!
A little bit creepy, though… sleeping this close to the gaping hole. But what is the worst that could happen? It can’t be more terrible than everything already is right now.
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03-01-2013, 10:15 AM
What the hell, these idiots! What did they do? What in god’s name did they do? I have gotten a vague, terrible idea of what happened, of what caused the robot’s fit, but I can’t believe it.
Shaw and Torino, these… these disgusting freaks! What were they thinking? Not to speak of the illegality of their actions…
The quantum computer they installed yesterday afternoon… it had stem cells as parts of its circuitry… to enhance the “sentient components”.
What kind of sick shit is this?
And worse… why did the peototype call for its mother?
Cell memories?
I don’t believe in such stuff, but who knows what really happened?
Olderson just quit, he is packing his things at the moment. Of course, everything will be covered up and even if it wouldn’t be, who could believe such a story? And repeating the experiment is off the table. Probably.
After our horrid trial, I can only hope for us to continue our research in a normal manner and get results with that. I pray for nothing else of this kind to happen again and for the military to send replacement staff members and seal this goddamn hole…
Oh, the whispering…
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03-02-2013, 6:10 AM
Why, why did I accompany them? Why?
This damned curiosity!
They woke me up, about two hours ago, to take me with them on their stupid expedition.
The hole had been… whispering all night long.
Not as muffled as before, no, it was crystal clear, a high-pitched, rustling voice, purring unintelligible, distant words.
The others woke me up at around 4 AM and asked me to join them. We wanted to end it, we wanted to see what on earth made those horrible noises.
So, we set out. The hole led us into a long stony corridor. We could not see much as everything was only illuminated by our small flashlights. It smelled unnaturally, the air was humid and fresh, almost tropical, and the whispering started hurting my ear drums.
Luckily, they let me stay at the back of our small group.
Olderson cursed continuously, mad that he had not left the day before and only went silent when a strange, dim light appeared in the distance. We ventured closer whilst the voice started to increase in volume even more.
The ground glistered in the light of our lights, covered by a clear liquid.
Finally, we reached an opening in front of us.
I am almost not able to describe the view. There was a cave, completely made of hexagonal pillars, almost like a beehive. They came out of the ground in different heights, some only reaching up to my ankles, some up to my neck.
They seemed to be made of an alien, grey, granite-like material, some secreting water, covering the ground with a cloudy liquid; however, I could not determine the exact origin of the water. Those pillars constantly emitted the foreign light and after a while I noticed a spot on the ground where one of them was missing.
There was a only gaping hole, filled with dark water. The whispering came without a doubt from that hellish opening.
Torino stepped closer, shining his torch down into the water. He did not seem to worry too much and leaned forward.
“I can’t see any-…”, was all he could say, before slipping on the wet ground and tumbling downwards.
I must have let out a scream when he dropped into the dark water like a rock, never to be seen again.
Shaw, Olderson and the others were as shocked as me, and without another word we slowly slid back into the corridor behind us, terrified. For a moment we could catch our breath and started to calm down somewhat, but…
Suddenly, the whispering stopped.
Silence lay all around us. It was unbearable.
When the whispering resumed, it weirdly changed and… started to sound increasingly mad and elated.
For a moment, I imagined hearing Torino’s voice mixed in there as well, but I surely must have been mistaken. We did not stay at the cave entrance for long and were about to turn around and flee when a roaring sound echoed through the tunnels.
To my horror… a swirling mass came out of the cave’s walls and the hole in the ground.
How to describe it…
It looked like a crawling swarm of bees or ants, coming from the Earth’s depths, swirling, and humming. The strange little parts of the mass shone metallic in the light of our flashlights, almost like a billion little machines.
Never before did I run as I did just now, and it luckily was fast enough. The others and I had just fled back into the direction of our research area when I noticed a bright, yellowish light from behind.
Looking over my shoulder, I could see the mass – no, the swarm – less than thirty meters away, shooting in my direction. The thing shone brighter than a thousand stars and suddenly disappeared in its own gleaming light. A shockwave knocked me off my feet and I hit the ground.
My hip still hurts.
Why the being, the mass of whirling madness, destroyed itself, I cannot say.
It ripped a hole into the ground, probably a million meters deep but also piercing the surface. Perhaps it’ll even be on the news.
We survived, but our minds have suffered irreversible damage. I am leaving this tablet down here, some distance away from our former research base.
The project will probably be terminated and covered up, the base buried under tons of rock and sand. But this way, I can leave something behind that tells the real story.
Perhaps it will be found one day.
After I have returned to the surface, after I probably have gotten sworn into secrecy by the military, I might finally be able to start forgetting this darkness and the whispers.
Officially, Torino died during a rockslide in the mountains.
And who would ever believe anything else?
Who would believe the words that the being had screamed whilst destroying itself, having come from the depths of some other, stranger time?
Nobody.
But in my thoughts, they will live on till the end of my days, haunting me…
“Mama… Mama…”
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