Michael's Deed (Formerly known as Volvox)

Day 1/ 4:37 P.M.:

     Today I begin the project that I have codenamed Project Volvox and attempt to replicate the 

results of the Russian military.  So far, their findings indicate that the substance found in a secret mission at Chernobyl is a radioactive protein gel that reacts to certain stimuli, and other experiments showed that the gel had a tendency to try to break free of its containment.  One of my colleagues who used to work for the Russian special forces was able to sneak me over some of the substance.  He told me this is the last time he wants to spend time in a Russian military base, something about wanting to avoid running into his old Spetznas comrades.  The Russians have had a terrible time attempting to contain the gel, always struggling to keep it from breaching containment.  However, I have come up with a method of containing the gel in a series of glass spheres that are all kept in a large container and are separated by padded boxes, this way, none of them are able to escape their glass containers or their cubical containment system.

     All of these precautions would seem unnecessary or downright outrageous to a novice researcher or anyone naive to think they could contain a sample of this nature with normal methods.  However, even at my young age, I have already replicated six dangerous diseases in a lab setting and have developed treatments for each one and have successfully eradicated each test subject under a lab setting.  My experience with disease and infection should come in handy for this study, and I fully intend to create a fully developed weapon and tool of both destruction and creation.  As of today, this project shall be labeled Project Volvox and all of the proceedings are going towards creating the most deadly weapon ever devised.  By knowing how to create such a weapon, we further stand to gain a deeper understanding of the most complex and dangerous disease we have ever encountered.  My past days as a researcher at Greenwood Mental Institution have helped prepare me for this moment, and from this day on, I will be focused on extracting purpose from this gelatinous solution that continues attempts at an escape.  

      This entry will be the first of many that will be made to document the results of this study, as well as personal occurrences and thoughts revolving around this study.  With all things boding well, we should see positive results emerge from these experiments that will help us to determine the overall function, properties, and overall applicable uses for this slime.  From initial tests, this gel seems to consist of a complicated arrangement of amino acids and intersecting radioactive elements.  Radioactive elements would normally cause neighboring or connected amino acid chains to decay and fall apart, but these bonds have remained consistently joined together at some ends and act less as a solid and more as a malleable plasma, one that borders the line between being organic and inorganic.  Much further testing will need to be conducted to further map out the entire makeup of the substance itself.  Each entry will be periodical and will be made to recap any major events revolving around this project.  I will remain regular in recapping the events of project Volvox, and will 

Day 3/ 3:26 P.M.:  

     The first major discovery has been made on project Volvox!  The specimen that I received has further revealed the secrets of its composition!  The composition of this gel consists of highly reactive and slowly decaying amino acid chains that change and reshape themselves to adjust to the release of energy by the plutonium trapped within the gel and keeping it from ever joining together as a solid mass.   The gel tried much more vigorously to escape its containment system today, so I decided to open the upper hatch and insert a sugar solution into the sphere.  The gel absorbed the solution quickly and began to move around more.  I looked for more solid food that was present in the laboratory.

    I had a bag of beef jerky lying in my bag that I had planned to save for later.  However, in this instance, I decided to remove it and give the gel a few pieces.  The gel began to absorb the jerky, but much slower: likely due to it being a more solid food.  Once the gel had absorbed the jerky, the gel’s movements subsided.  I made sure to note this in my observations, as the gel shows no signs of possessing a mouth, anus, or even a nervous system.  This peculiar behavior would normally be found only in organic life, yet the composition of the gel is not quite organic or inorganic in composition.  As a pathologist I have spent years studying both living and non-living pathogens, calculating every route and possibility they could take in their progression and spread.  However, the behavior traits of this gel, combined with its seemingly unnatural composition has left me dumbfounded as to what possibilities this gel might hold in its progression, spread, and growth.  The specimen often attempts to escape its containment, possibly to spread to further hosts.  Further analysis is required.  

    Dr. Sennerd arrived in my laboratory today.  He wanted to discuss my first findings on project Volvox.  I discussed with him every observation I had made that showed any significance in regards to the discoveries our American team has made.  He was both intrigued and concerned by my findings.  Dr. Sennerd found it absolutely fascinating, that the gel model on its own and consumed organic material.   However, as rumors from Russian scientists began to circulate, his concerns about the infection rate only grew.  He advised me to make sure that every precaution was taken, to prevent the spread of the gel.  Before he left, he gave me one bit of advice knowing that I had animal trials scheduled for tomorrow.  “Do not let the gel leave the facility”.  With that, Dr. Sennerd left me for the day.  I will continue my research in the morning, but for now, I will prepare for an evening out with my Isha. 

Day 4, 8:05 AM.

    I began the morning by taking out individual samples of the gel and inserting it into the food of lab mice.  I used a placebo to observe the effects of the gel on the lab mice.  Within the first several minutes, respiratory patterns began to change.  By the time the first hour had passed, the gel had slowed down all movement in the mice.  By hour 2, the gel began to procure from pores, and from the esophagus of the mice.  By hour 4, the gel had nearly completely covered the lab mice and had taken full motor control of the mice’s appendages.  The mice began to act more aggressively, consuming all of their food, and ramming into the sides of their cages, as well as trying to attack the mice I had given the placebo.  Within less than 12 hours the gel had completely transformed the biological composition, behaviors, and functions of the lab mice.  I carefully removed one of the mice and sedated it before performing a biopsy.  As I examined each of the organs, I noticed that the gel had filled everything except for the stomach lining.  The gel had almost completely covered the mouse, inside and out reverting the mouse to a more aggressive and instinctual state.  

    From what my observations have shown so far, the gel has an affinity and need to infect organic hosts, and to consume large quantities of organic matter.  I attempted to study the genetic code of the gel but failed to find any nucleic acid whatsoever.  In terms of an active organism, the lack of nucleic acids is seemingly impossible.  In biology, the only proteins that exist without the need for nucleic acids are prions, and no known prions are capable of the actions conducted by the gel.  Overall, the initial findings on Project Volvox point to a replicable organism that lacks genetic material, as well as an organized cell structure.  Further experimentation will be needed to map out the rate of spread and viable infection routes.  Dinner last night with Isha went well, but she needed to leave early.  Too many of the other scientists at the facility have been over my shoulder on this project.  None of them believe I can eliminate this plague as I did the others, and continue to try and get under my skin.  One of the scientists has been making jokes at me, telling me that if I don’t get my head out of the lab, I’m gonna catch the lovesick bug when Isha leaves me for someone else.  The other scientists here can be cruel, but they will not stand in the way of my research.  I will be unable to make new notes until another discovery or major event occurs and is necessary to document.  

Day 12, 4:16 P.M.

    After many days of experiment replication and further testing of the gel, I have come to full conclusions on the spread rate of the gel, its effects on organisms, and how we can apply this gel as a weapon.  In its overall composition and spread, this gel spreads like a fungus, takes root within the organic tissue of organisms, coating the inner organs and taking control of the nervous system.  Once the neural passageways have been breached, the gel has full control of both the organisms eating habits and aggression levels, as well as all mechanical movement.  The way the gel works its way throughout the body is both beautiful and horrifying.  The gel enters the bloodstream and takes over the animal’s body within a matter of hours.  Once the gel has taken root, it forces the organism to search for high caloric food sources and will consume other organisms to satisfy the demanding appetite of the parasitic gel.  

    The gel has been rather easy to replicate, as it spreads like a fungus and is able to take root in any living organic flesh.  It enters the bloodstream after taking root and replicates itself and spreading throughout the entire body.  As a whole, the gel is a parasitic, radioactive biomass that cannot metabolize or replicate on its own and must continue to infect and spread amongst new hosts to exist in and fuel the lingering hunger within the gel itself.  Since the gel does not metabolize on its own, the gel itself can exist without food for a very long time and will not cease its thrashing function until the proteins that bind it together completely fall apart and leave the gel as a radioactive pool of biowaste.  However, the gel continues to actively look for new hosts and will attempt to pass any barriers to infect a new host.  Many disease researchers and biologists consider viruses to be unliving and almost zombie-like parasites that only exist and replicate due to living hosts that it can infect.  Yet, this gel is still able to exist and perform simple mechanical movements, as well as absorb certain materials to add to its biomass, yet it cannot metabolize anything on its own.  This in itself was the massive discovery that had me on the edge of my seat this entire afternoon.

       As a whole, the gel should be incapable of movement in the slightest and must be entirely dependent on a host to spread, but this gel breaks all known observations and correlated beliefs held by previous researchers on what a living organism really is.  Could this gel actually be a rare organism that only metabolizes off of its hosts, or is this a much more complicated and dangerous version of a virus or prion?  These questions are what I will have to answer if I am going to look for a counter-treatment to combat the spread of the gel if the gel is used in an area near civilians.  The gel has been planned to be utilized as a weapon once I have developed a viable cure to combat the gel if civilians do become infected with the gel during a battle or attack.  Such biochemical warfare would normally be permitted by major organizations such as the United Nations, but with every major country and unified organization placing high stakes on powerful weapons to bring an uneasy peace, the sooner the United States has a weapon powerful enough for all major societies to fear it, the better.

       Many politicians are fighting over power on this new weapon, and an age reliant on bioengineering and bioweapons has taken a grip on Western nations.  The United States wants to be a major leader in this heightened war of ideals and ideology.  The world has become a clash between the old and new, what was once considered realistic and what now seems fictional, society has begun to blur the lines of what we truly identify as core values amongst ourselves and what we are willing to accept from life and our world as a whole.  This gel has been shrouded in large amounts of controversy as to its purpose, its applications, and whether or not it will devastate the world if it were to ever be released.  A lot of the world's biggest questions involving this gel fall on the facility I work in, as well as myself as the main researcher working endlessly on this gel.  

         The key components that make this gel function are its desire to infect more hosts due to continuous protein breakdown from the radioactive plutonium located within the core of the gel, the malleable and continuously changing protein chains that bind the gel together, and the constant need for organic hosts and large caloric food sources.  Developing a treatment that can neutralize these factors will take time, and will need to be replicable in nearly all situations.  I am currently exploring enzymes that could break down the protein bonds quickly, but will likely need something stronger and fast acting that can act on this gel without harming civilians.  Concentrated enzymes and protein agents are under current evaluation as viable treatments for the gel.  

        The American Government is giving very little time to develop viable treatments for the gel and wants it to be weaponized as soon as possible.  Under most circumstances, any government would want a dangerous weapon such as this to be as fully prepared and studied as possible.  However, with nations such as China and Russia rumoring to be weaponizing this gel themselves, my work was further rushed by the American government's demands to have a working gel missile ready.  Dr. Sennerd was restless, working with the other researchers on preparing different carrying methods to hold the gel inside of the missile.  The gel hadn't even been tested to see if it would survive an explosion yet.   All of these questions would have to wait for another day as I prepared several vials with enzymes, acids, and other chemicals capable of breaking down proteins with small samples of the gel.  I left them all overnight and took time today to begin writing down all of the results.  

         My thoughts have been clouded while conducting my research.  My girlfriend, Isha has been much more distant and rarely tells me when she is leaving our apartment, or if the has left on a trip.  I suspect that she is not being honest with me on everything and is hiding something major from me.  If only I had more time to spend with her, none of this would likely be happening right now, but I have direct orders from the American government to continue my work around the clock.  The results from the vial tests will have to wait until tomorrow.  I will document every minute detail when I return in the morning.

Day 13:  10:06 AM

        The results from the vial testing are in, and one of the enzymes effectively eliminated the gel sample entirely.  I ran the samples again through the vial tests and witnessed the enzyme break down the gel sample within a matter of minutes.  This was an excellent sign that this particular enzyme would be key to preventing a massive outbreak.  The problem was replicating the enzyme itself, as it was extracted from a species of beetle and would be needed in high quantities to effectively combat the effects of the gel.  Worse yet, animal testing began earlier today and the gel was effectively removed only after part of the inner organs of the animal were broken down as well.  Further testing was obviously needed and more enzymes would be needed regardless, as they were the only treatment that passed the test, but my superiors wanted to rush the progress of Project Volvox to be complete in a matter of days.  The pressure I feel currently on Project Volvox is insurmountable, and the threat of other nations possibly being able to use the gel as a weapon only adds to the pressure not only I feel but that the entire facility's faculty feel.  However, the biggest pressure I feel is rather coming from my personal life.

      Isha has been refusing dates and has been making excuses up for why she doesn't want to spend time together.  Before I began on Project Volvox, less than two weeks ago, she wanted to spend as much time with me as possible.  Now it seems as if she has grown distant.  On top of all of this, one of the scientists here at the facility has been spreading rumors that she is an unloyal partner.  These thoughts have been going through my mind as I continue preparing enzyme storages, and the thought of her cheating on me continues to be a concern that I have at the back of my mind.  I will try to visit her after work, but a sinking feeling in my stomach tells me that I should prepare for the worse.  

       With that said, I am preparing for the worst case scenario of the gel spreading and have prepared enough enzymes to treat a hundred civilians.  This is a lot of effective enzymes, but not truly enough to make a difference in a major catastrophe.  I had my main supervisor, Dr. Sennerd put in a request for more enzymes to be produced in the facility by other faculty members.  Hopefully, we will have enough enzymes prepared for a gel attack.  I have decided today to name the gel itself Volvox, rather than giving it a nomenclature term since it is not a living organism and does not belong in either the prion or virus kingdoms.  Volvox retained further exposure to testing when more samples were put under extreme situations involving searing heat, freezing temperatures, and outside radioactive energy.  Volvox was able to continue moving in nearly any temperature, and radioactive energy seems to cause Volvox to expand and enlarge in size.  With this knowledge, I plan on using a combination of high-calorie food and radiation to expand and replicate more samples of Volvox.  With the speed of replication that Volvox is capable of, it should be ready for weaponization very soon.  There is very little time left to turn Volvox into a viable weapon, and even less time to determine whether or not we are truly safe from the damage of Volvox.  

       Dr. Sennerd stopped by again today to double check on my final preparations for Project Volvox.  He believes that I'm letting my personal life stress me out too much and that I am pushing too hard to complete the project during the time that the American government demands.  As Dr. Sennerd told me, "True scientific research cannot be conducted in a single day.  True research takes much time to complete, and you are letting the pressure from your colleagues convince you that haste is the best course of action.  Be careful not to let your stress and worries get the better of you."  And with that, he left me for the day.  I will walk home today, with hopes that perhaps Dr. Sennerd is right.  I do hope that my efforts are not wasted and that my stress has only been because of my colleagues and because of Isha.  

Day 14:  9:08 P.M.

       I no longer wish to continue work on Project Volvox.  To be frank, after the events of tonight, I no longer want to live amongst other people, as that would be a cold reminder of what people truly are like.  I say this heavy-hearted statement with the wounds of tonight not having fully healed over.  I arrived at my apartment tonight, only to open the door to the sight of Isha taking part in an orgy within my apartment.  The men left their act of fucking my previous girlfriend after she told them to get rid of me.  Isha, the person I loved and cared for more than anyone not only cheated on me with other lovers but told them to get rid of me out of my own apartment.  

         I wasn't forced out by them simply kicking me out of the apartment.  I didn't want to leave without an explanation, however, the answer was beaten into me by Isha's new lovers.  They drove me out into the hallway and began to beat me senseless. They kicked my pelvis in, broke my ribcage, shattered my left forearm and bruised my collarbone.  I was thrown out onto the streets, coughing up tears and blood.  I was truly broken tonight by the one person I thought I could truly trust; the one person that I loved above all else.  My fellow employees were right.  Especially the one who was spreading the rumor in the first place, as he was the one who made that message clear by kicking my nose in.  Having left my apartment with my tail between my legs, I headed back to the facility and started making plans for tonight, plans that will affect everyone under Project Volvox.

         I stormed inside of my office and began to smash open the containers containing the enzymes designed to treat Volvox infections.  I no longer cared for the safety of other humans and wanted any hopes of stopping Volvox to be wiped out.  I burned the original documents of the enzyme that would effectively combat Volvox and made sure the enzymes soaked the floor. After destroying the treatment enzymes, I took out the original gel sample and began to replicate it.  Volvox was replicated into seven separate copies, and each copy was placed into a spherical container.  I took the crate with all eight samples loaded inside and placed into the back of a work truck.  But before I was able to leave, I was interrupted by Dr. Sennerd, who was about to leave the facility after a late shift.  "Mr. Farrel!  Are you about to leave?"

         I took the time to stop and talk to him so I could avoid suspicion.  "Yes, I am Dr. Sennerd.  Was there something you needed?"

          "No.  I just wanted to give you my thanks for preparing and completing Project Volvox so quickly.  Your work is the pride and joy of the United States military, and this entire facility owes you a debt of gratitude."  

            I ducked my head to avoid direct visual contact with him.  "Well, I appreciate your kind words, Dr. Sennerd, but I'd frankly be much happier once the project is complete."  

            He noticed my injuries and flinched at the sight of my body.  "Are you alright?  You appear as if you were attacked!"  

            I lied to his face and tried to reassure him.  "No, I'm fine, Dr. Sennerd.  I just had a bad fall earlier today and landed face first.  I'll be fine."

            He wasn't convinced, but he didn't want to pester me further.  "I see.  Well, I hope that you have a good night, Mr. Farrell.  Don't let everything get to you."

            And with that, Dr. Sennerd left the facility for the night.  I waited in the truck till he left.  I write down these notes, as they may be the last chance I have of writing down what will happen next.  I will make all members of humanity pay for my suffering, and the entire world will know the name of Volvox.   

       

Day 15:  12:07 A.M.

          I have successfully made my way into the nuclear facility with my clearance badge and made my way in with the case to the nuclear missiles that were designed to hold Volvox capsules in.  I placed each of the spheres into each of the eight missiles and began to prep the launch.  I locked all main doors to the main chamber.  These final words I write now in my journal detail my actions that have sealed the fate of all of humanity.  The nuclear warheads will launch in all directions, each one aiming for an individual continent to strike and will vastly balloon and spread bits of the Volvox gel to all corners of the world, infecting and killing millions in the process.  Once Volvox has infected millions of human hosts, they will wander the world as zombie-like killing machines, consuming and destroying everything in their wake.  I can hear the soldiers now, they're trying to break down the door and stop me, but the timer is ticking down to its final moments.  These bombs will give Volvox the stage it needs to bring humanity to its knees, and this will serve as my final legacy to the world.  If I must guard the control panel with my life, I will.  The world will pay for the damage it causes to innocent people, for the damage that it caused to me.  In humanity's final moments, it will be choked out by the very name of its killer.  The world will know the name Volvox.