You're stuck in a timeloop but can't tell because you're on a train going through the great plains
Travelers log: I regret buying this ticket, it has been 73 hours of corn, I feel as though I may never see my wife again, The wind mills turn and yet nothing ever seems to move with the wind, this is a forsaken place. I am yet to see the river and despite the speed of this train, I have come to doubt it shall ever arrive
Travelers Log: the faces all seem the same, nobody seems to age or sleep and the sun never sets, I believe this place may be hell, if the letter somehow gets off this train, tell my wife I'm sorry
Travelers Log: I finally saw a new face, I feel as though this hell may be ending after 382 long long hours, the new man had slick jet black hair, pale hollow skin and eyes the color of amber. He was beautiful, he seemed trustworthy
Travelers Log: I have all but lost count of the hours and days, but that doesn't matter I saw the doves today, the strange man told me the secrets of the world
Travelers Log: His name is Lucile Fur and I find myself in love, I feel that he won't leave me like those before him did
Travelers Log: His lips were warm but my energy feels drained, I have not aged and yet I am less able and strong than I was before, but that doesn't matter now
Travelers Log: The radio has stopped broadcasting, it is finally twilight, I am nearing freedom, Lucile's skin seems to glow in the hazy dusk light
Travelers Log: He told me his dreams, he is beginning to scare me and yet I can stop my love of him
Travelers Log: Night Approaches, I found a mirror in the woman's bag, my face has become pale and my eyes are the same shade as his when he arrived
Travelers Log: This shall be my final entry, I am free and the sun has set, I no longer need live this sham identity
Researchers Log #5:
I found a journal in the wreckage of the California Zephyr, the dates imply that thos passenger had spent 3 years on board this train before the crash, it seems to line up with the time that one of the trains was missing, I will update the foundation as I find out more about the crash
Researchers Log #7:
This Journal is the key to the mystery, we may be able to find her if I can decipher what happened on the Journey. There appears to have been involvement from the entity based off early descriptions of the phenomenon
Researchers Log #16:
I am urging the foundation to end the experiment, the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, the entity clearly has a stronger foothold than previously thought, this may have connections to Istanbul, I believe the doves still fly
Researchers Log #18:
I have been removed from my position and am being replaced with Donovan, those fools, they don’t know what forces they are messing with, I must hide the journal
Researchers Log D-1:
The Journal remains a missing variable but using the notes of my predecessor, I believe I can find the asset and the girl for the foundation, my predecessor's disloyalty may have harmed our goals but they will not stop our advance, the energy Signature seen in Kansas and Istanbul is beginning to re-emerge in the San Francisco Bay, the girl is there, I recommend we send a task force with haste to relocate the assets
Undisclosed Astrology Blog:
In San Francisco the stars shall align tonight for the perfect constellations to be visible as the lunar eclipse arrives, The best place to see the stars is in the North where there is less light Pollution
Cable News Report:
A pair of strange bodies of light have been seen moving over the rockies tonight, The US Airforce has stated they are just Jet Tests but many on the ground believe different saying they have seen humanoid figures in the light
Researchers Log D-4:
They are moving, we must mobilize forces in SF now
Researchers Log S-1:
Donovan's blunder has cost him his job and 17 task force members, good. He didn't deserve the glory of solving the Istanbul Incident, that glory belongs to an established and loyal member of the institute such as myself, the photos from San Frans are valuable, from them we can see that the events occur in line with celestial events such as the lunar eclipse or the spring equinox. There will need to be investment to cover up the damage to the Recreation Area. The photographs of the entities show that one was human initially, as in line with previous reserves into the journal. We have deduced the Journal down to 5 locations for its hiding place, he may be disloyal but he wasn't clever
Independent Researchers Log:
News has reached me of what Donovan has done in California, I hope the catastrophe has lead the foundation to abandon their hunt for me and the journal, nothing good can come from investigating these entities, I keep the journal to figure out about the crash, once I have that figured out, I plan to burn it. It's what Delilah would have wanted. I must move soon, they are going to find me soon if I don't, New York sounds nice
Excerpt from the audio logs of the director:
Sylvia has taken authority in the hunt for the entity, while she does not always know her place, she has the institutes goals kn her heart. We both seek to find and destroy the entity from Istanbul and to harness its power for the benefit of mankind, the seal was broken by mankind for a reason and that reason was to harness the power of the gods, my associates, I know that the disaster in San Francisco may have dissuaded you from continuing your investment in our work, but I assure you we are close to capturing the rouge researcher and learning what happened on that train. Thank you for your time. Thank goodness that is ove- hey, you! Send the investors the map of locations where the journal is hidden, they will want to see it
Copy of the Map of locations that the journal could be located in according to the beliefs of the institute
Red is a high likelihood of it being hidden there, The places marked in red on the map are Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Cape May and New York City
Blue is a low likelihood but still enough to merit investigation. The locales marked in Blue are Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Omaha, Baltimore and Philadelphia
Independent Researchers Log:
I have been able to get set up with a cheap apartment in Chelsea with the help of an old friend from before the institute was founded, she was one of the five of us who saw what happened when the seal broke in Istanbul and she urged me not to work with them, she was right of course, as always, but I think I will be safe in New York, there are so many people here that the Institute could never find me. I have begin reading the Journal one last time, I think I have it all figured out, I just need to head to the library to check one last thing about the citadel
Special News report:
An accident at the New York Public Library's Library has caused a bookshelf to fall over onto a local man, permanently paralyzing him from the waist down, thankfully he was able to survive as if he had been standing just a few feet closer to the center of the bookshelf it would have killed him
Independent Researchers Log:
With my legs immobilized, I am no longer able to continue running, I fear they have already found me, it is sooner than I would have liked, but I won't let them get the best of me, before I die, I shall burn the journal and all my photographs and notes. They won't get anything back, this power can not be allowed to fall into his hands and if my last act was to stop him then it was worth it, and with these final words, I strike the match
Researchers Log S-27:
I told them not to take action till we had the journal, but would they listen to me, of course not and now, he's [expletive] bested us, the journal and anything else of value we could get from him burned in the fire, it is time for drastic measure, we move on to Istanbul tonight, I must recreate the conditions of its birth to bring glory to the director, our purpose is holy and the actions of one foolish man won't stop the course of God. If that man survived his fire, he'll wish he hadn't.
Cable News Report:
The Hagia Sophia in Instanbul has collapsed in on itself killing over 20 tourists and locals, the building built by Emperor Justinian in the 600s was an icon of the city for centuries and is considered an architectural masterpiece by millions. The mayor of Istanbul has called its collapse the greatest tragedy to hit Istanbul in decades, there is no word as to whether the structure will be rebuilt. At the time of collapse 3 beams of green light were films erupting from the mosque
Researchers Log S-29:
We have broken the final seal, it all has come to this, it will be glorious
Journal of the young boy:
I saw the Americans enter the cistern in the early morning, I heard the rumour of what they planned to do, and so I followed, they entered a hidden passage way and when they opened the door, there stood a man, he floated in the air and had a blueish tint to his skin, one of the Americans found a blade and broke three urns in the room with it, suddenly the cistern shook and I began to run, I saw a flask of green light as I ran, I fear for what may have happened down there
Current year: 2029
The Journal of Sylvia Renne
Paris, May Day, 2026
I was at the protests to observe and report back to the institute, we wanted to make sure our research in France wasn't coming into question, but then something happened, a man pale and dark haired stepped into the crowd and redirected their rage as if he was angelic, I knew in that moment that we had to harness this power, so I have booked a flight to Istanbul with [redacted], Delilah, [redacted], and Donovan to figure out what the pale man means, we believe he has some connection to the energy Signature we have been detecting there
Inscription on the wall within the secret Tomb, photographed by a member of the institute during the Hagia Sophia Expedition
"The 3 princes lie hidden in these walls, the first shall appear within the past to warn of the others, his body pale and hair like coal, the second shall be birthed in eternity by the love of the first, and the 3rd shall be freed from his 3 urns by a woman from a land foreign to this land."
A second photograph shows the inscription that appeared on a different wall when the wall was touched
"The first prince has been freed and has found his lover, turn back. The third can not be controlled and seeks to bring his fire to humanity. The devil can die and lover can be returned, but the fire can only be sealed once"
A final grainer photo of yet another wall reads as follows
"We who were born a thousand years before you ask that you respect these ancient lands and end your search, nothing good comes from the unsealing of the flame"
The Librarian's Log:
The institute has returned to Istanbul, the researcher is presumed dead, we must leave new york with haste, the fire will be coming soon, I have bought 4 tickets to Philadelphia, there should be safe for a time
Researchers Log S-35:
We have begun to find reason to believe that a copy of the journal was made, we believe it is in the hands of who ever got him that [expletive] apartment. We will capture the owner of the journal and force them to hand over the data, we need to control the flame, it is imperative to the institutes success.
Librarians Travel Log:
Wow the Acela is fucking expensive, why on earth did I buy 4 tickets for it, I know that need to get there with haste but how did she convince me of this. At least they have a fucking Cafe car
Librarians Travel Log:
I got the cheese and fruit plate, I love gouda cheese like any normal person and upon seeing it on the menu I had to order it, the food was good, I enjoyed the cheeses but I wonder why they still had the lunch menu at this hour, something feels off about this train
Librarians Travel Log,
The snow is frozen in the air, it will not move, the snow on the glass does not melt, the train is moving but it almost feels as though the snow storm is following us from New York
Librarians Travel Log,
The train has come to a stop in some wooded area in New Jersey, I heard the doors open and now 2 men are sitting behind me that weren't there before. The other 3 are still in the seating, I am alone in this car, luckily I have a silver dagger in my pocket, I may, need it this time...
Oh god, what had this world come to...
Librarians Travel Log,
I stabbed one of the men...
he seems unkillable...
the train has crashed...
I fear they're dead...
I fear she's dead
only my car was remained on the track...
I had to run, I had no other choice...
I didn't cause this, I don't deserve this...
I can't write any longer, the future doesn't deserve to hear these thoughts
The Librarians Log,
I have gotten a smaller apartment than expected and will be going at this project solo for now
