SUNDAY JULY 3RD, 2011

(Rael's Exodus V: The Anatomy of Everything)

8:34 AM
“Gooood morning, passengers. This is your captain speaking. Hope you had a good sleep. We’ve got about a day and a half left of this. Try to stick with us for a little longer, will you? Stay alive. Fitzgerald out.”

8:36 AM
So tired. Why am I so tired.
I dreamt of buying a home by the sea. Donnie was my wife. Except we weren’t called Donnie and Jordan; she called me “Rael” and I called her “Victoria.”
In the home, there was a collection of paintings, most of which were variations on album art. They were changed to feature water. Systematic Chaos had all the ants in the city drowning. Hemispheres had Dionysus and Apollo standing over a large ocean. Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV Volume II: No World for Tomorrow had the sky cloudy and rain pouring down.
The only odd one was Wind & Wuthering. It looked normal, except for.. for tentacles in the tree. Moving tentacles.
I’m going back to sleep.

10:02 AM
Dreamt of a long corridor. One single door at the other end of it.
Except this wasn’t just any door. It was a Door. I knew. Because it was my dream!
I walked down towards the Door. I heard someone walking behind me. I heard multiple people walking behind me.
The first person was Donnie, I know that much.
We reached the Door, and I reached for the doorknob. Then I woke up.
I’m getting up now.

10:08 AM
I can hear loud banging somewhere.
I’m not sure where I’m going. Donnie’s coming too; she’s not sure where we’re going, either.

10:10 AM
I can definitely hear someone walking nearby.
I’m not keeping Tiger Stripes close. It might just be me being tired, but I don’t feel like I need to.
I’ll probably die thinking like this. Oh well.

10:14 AM
We’re going to the bridge. We’re going to talk to Captain Fitzgerald.
I’ve been thinking. There really aren’t many of us left, especially not considering a lot of the people on this boat aren’t actually.. people anymore.
They’re just Campers. Part of it. Part of EAT.

10:18 AM
We’re at the bridge.

10:23 AM
Captain Fitzgerald says he’s had to force himself to stay awake all last night because Doctor Jackson never showed up for his night shift. He says he’s a little shaky now, but he thinks he can make it.
I asked if he wanted one of us to take over for a bit. He laughed and said we’re much too young.
Donnie made him promise he’d get us through this voyage. He looked her in the eye and said “I indirectly made that promise by choosing to be your captain for this mission, young lady. And I intend on following through. Just make sure you guys stay alive. Fitzgerald out.”
Then he turned back to his job.

10:27 AM
We’re not entirely sure where we can go now.

10:31 AM
The banging’s getting louder.
Captain Fitzgerald asked if we could find out what was causing that.

10:43 AM
It sounds like it’s coming from the deck.

10:46 AM
I don’t see anything out here.
..TEFAJI)
THAT’S A LOT OF CAMPER.
There’s tons of people down there in the water, people and fucking fish, they’re down in the sea, banging on the ship. Looking up at us. Some are reaching up their hands.
I’m.. well, at least we found out what was causing the banging. o_e

10:54 AM
Almost back to the bridge. God, that banging.

10:57 AM
..o__o;
Captain Fitzgerald didn’t even notice us come in. He’s sitting perfectly still at the wheel.
Is he okay?

10:58 AM
“Hello.”
He said that. So he’s okay.
“Did you find out what was causing the banging?”
I said it was people and fish. I accidentally used the word “Campers.” >.>;
“Oh. Camper. That explains it. Thank you.”
Donnie asked if he was okay.
“Never better. By the way, do you happen to have any more of that music Yates was listening to? I’d like to hear more of it.”
I said we have plenty of it. I offered to go get my folder of CDs.
“That would be perfect.”
Donnie’s coming with me. I don’t blame her.

11:00 AM
I saw someone going ‘round the corner up ahead.
Goddamn, this place is starting to give me the creeps.

11:02 AM
..I hear someone again. I’m gonna take a small detour to find out who.

11:03 AM
It’s Richard Burgandy. o.o
God, I hope he’s not a Camper, too.

11:07 AM
He went into his room. Left his door open.

11:08 AM
He’s feeding his wife water. She’s lying on their bed. Looks… well, not “sick.”
…o_o She looks comatose.
Oh god. She’s a Camper. >_<
And he’s feeding her water! That’s jus

11:10 AM
He spotted us. I tried to tell him his wife’s gone, but he just denied it and told us to leave.
..bah. ._.;

11:15 AM
We’re back at our room now.

11:16 AM
Donnie closed the door and locked it.
She doesn’t want to go back to the captain. Or to anyone.
She says this place is pretty much a ticking time bomb.
I agree. >_<;

12:03 PM
We can’t just stay here, though! D: That’s not gonna get anything done, and things clearly have to be done.
Besides, most of what we’ve been seeing lately have been the Campers, and EAT’s already told us it’s not hunting us. For all we know, it could be lying, but it won’t do us good to doubt every single thing we find.
I just have a hunch.
I dunno.

12:05 PM
Donnie’s putting her foot down. She doesn’t want either of us leaving this room, not now.
I’ll obey. ._.;

12:48 PM
The banging’s intensifying.
Donnie’s holding me tight.

1:23 PM
..it’s stopped completely.
I have a badrefek9fgsadgj
HELLOOOO

1:24 PM
Out the window, out the window. Flying zombies. Rising up from the water, flying past our window.

1:30 PM
I hear voices. A lot of voices.
“COME OUT, INDISEN!”
It’s the voice of the Camper.

1:38 PM
A lot of footsteps outside the door.
>____<;;

1:39 PM
DOOR
HELLO
HI
YES?
NO INDISEN HERE.
THANK YOU, BYE.
ohgod

1:40 PM
They kicked down the door there were so many of them, one walked in and looked around, it saw nothing so then they all moved on to the next room.
They’re doing an Indisen hunt.

1:41 PM
They’re still walking past our door; there are a lot of them.
Most of them, I don’t even recognize. Folks with eyes missing, leeches on every limb, some even with what looks like what used to be wooden legs, and a lot of torn clothing.
Every single poor soul lost at sea participating in an eldritch witch hunt.
Tiger Stripes, give me strength.

1:45 PM
I hear screaming coming from down the hall.
Sounds like Richard.

1:46 PM
“Give me my wife back,” I heard.
._.;;

2:02 PM
They’re still going. There are a lot of Campers, all marching systematically past our door.
They move as one, for they are one. Every other head is turned to look inside whatever door they pass, while the other set of heads face forwards. I imagine that’s the perfect way to cover all directions.
It’s hard for me to picture, but I can take a guess as to how they work. EAT used the analogy of my arm gaining individualistic sentience, as the Campers are basically EAT’s arms. So they’re all just.. parts of its huge self. EAT can move them individually, just as I can move all my fingers individually, or EAT can move them all at once in a system of eldritch order, much like operating my legs separately but still at once in order to walk, using my arms to balance my weight, and shifting my body forwards to get myself going. To a being considerably different, an alien or I guess a cockroach, I would look just like an eldritch horror.
And that’s basically what this is.
Keyword being “basically.”
I mean, not even I can make my arms grow wings. o_e

2:10 PM
Some of them have longer arms. o___o

2:14 PM
I’m sure I saw one using its arms to help it walk. Its arms were that long.

2:40 PM
..all of them have long arms now. And wings.
Gotta admit. I don’t wanna know what’s gonna happen to the Indisen when they find it.
I wonder what drove them to stop observing it and start hunting it.
I wonder how the hell it’s managed to avoid them for so long.

3:32 PM
“COME WITH ME, INDISEN.”
All of them. o_e It’s hard to get used to that.
I hear struggling. The Campers are going in the other direction now.

3:44 PM
…O___O
Okay. Right. Indisen, Ms. Desmond, being dragged.
Didn’t quite want to see that.
Oh god hug me Donnie

3:59 PM
Oh god, so many splashes.
I take it they took her down with them.
Oh god, I don’t want to think about that.

4:13 PM
…something’s wrong.
The boat’s not moving.
We’re going to the bridge.

4:20 PM
Passed by Richard’s room. He’s sobbing. ._.;

4:27 PM
..Captain Fitzgerald is gone.
This is trouble.

4:39 PM
Richard doesn’t want to be bothered, but we really need to talk to him.
Oh god, how can we do this? We don’t know how to drive a ship.

4:41 PM
Donnie’s got an idea. She’s running off.
Be careful, ma’am. D: Please.

4:52 PM
…oh god, why do I still hear people walking nearby? o_o;;
Please be Donnie.

4:56 PM
..Donnie’s back. u_u; Okay. Hi.
She’s got Rogers’ papers.
I fucking love that awesome girl.

4:59 PM
Richard wants some time alone. He wants to read Rogers’ papers.
We’ll let him.

5:04 PM
Donnie wants to talk to me about something.

5:09 PM
…she says, when in the room, she couldn’t find Rogers’ papers.
Then she heard footsteps nearby.
She left the room and saw a man.
She said it was the same man from before, the one who handed her the receipt in Blackpool.
Fedora, slendercoat, sunglasses, mustache, dark hair.
He gave her the papers, then he tipped his hat, turned and left.
It was Bones. o:

5:15 PM
I can’t, for the life of me, figure out what the hell Bones is up to. How the hell he’s been following us, how he’s known exactly what to do and where to be. How he’s possibly been on this ship all this time without anyone knowing.
First thing I’m gonna do in the States is look for him.

5:29 PM
The boat’s moving again!

5:31 PM
“Boy and girl, uh.. Jordan and Donnivan, I believe. It’s Richard. I.. I’ll get us to America. I have to. It’s what Meredith would have wanted, what Bill would have wanted, and.. it’s what Rogers would have wanted, too.
“Besides. We can’t stay here in titan's country, out in the deep blue sea, under the same red sky as I hear they have in Asia, in America, in.. see, we’re all in the same Earth, and everyone’s suffering! We can’t sit around, it’s no good, we’re…”
He’s crying.
”..I’ll get us there. If we work together, I promise we can do as the captain would have wanted. We can stay alive. Richard out.”

5:33 PM
Good work, Richard. ..good work.

5:40 PM
We’re back in our room. All is quiet. The ship is moving at a faster pace than before. There’s not much left before we arrive.
It’s been quite a journey, journal. u_u;; In the end, there’s only three of us left.
Too many unsuspecting people fall victim to the sea. Throughout history, the ocean has offered some of the world’s greatest mysteries and unexplainable disappearances.
I guess we’re starting to find out what gods have been responsible for it all.

9:45 PM
We’re going to bed. We’ll be touching down in America tomorrow.
Then our big-ass journey will resume.

11:00 PM
three

(Attached: “To conclude my writings on Salmacis, I’d may as well discuss the physical contortions. The transformations. Her Camper– both singular and plural are ‘Camper,’ that’s generally agreed as the term for her individual bodies– start off as regular people on the outside, but all their blood is now water. Her water. The water is her. Once it gets into your mind, it can start to mess with your anatomy, make your body grow entire evolutionary marvels in the blink of an eye. EAT is evolution supreme, evolution itself gone sentient and now at last awake, EAT has studied the anatomy of Everything in All Time. EAT knows exactly how far your skin can stretch– and regularly tests that to its extremes– EAT knows exactly what organs it can deem unnecessary and how to turn them into wings of water and cartilage and organ tissue- EAT knows how much digestive fluid your brain can take before it melts, and EAT knows how to hotwire your brain to be ready for more. EAT means no harm. It’s only curious. You can tell by the look in her eyes, in the eyes of every Camper: Always blue like the Earth, always glazed over, always taking in everything on the inside and utterly comatose, dead on the outside. EAT does not care. If it wanted, it could snap her fingers and have a band of a hundred Camper performing the most complicated symphony using the wrong instruments, transposing every part on the spot, and it’d still only be as much effort as a blink to her.”)

(Attached, flipped: “Ask yourself this, how many songs have you heard that were written by a human? How many books have you read that were written by someone who possessed their own mind, singularly and without caveat? EAT could have written OH GOD THE RAPTURE IS BURNING. Who’s to say it didn't? Salmacis knows. We don't. And we must trust her, because there are still secrets left to tell.”)