Journal:Ashar Alhazrad
February 1, 2008 So, it looks like Extractor Hacked is officially open for business. Alphonse and I have agreed upon the perfect location for our lab: The Hurst Building in Whittenside. It's a pretty good spot, nicely defendable with access to the NectroTech mainframe. The only problem is that in order to get in I'm going to have to leap from the roof of the building next to it. I'm not sure I'm in good enough shape to do that.
Alphonse and I have both been trekking across the city for the past few days. I'm as the building now, but Alphonse is still a ways off. I'm excited to finally be back in the world of academia. Even if it's just a jury-rigged lab, it's still better than huddling in the ruins waiting for the undead to break through the barriers. Granted, I'll still probably be doing that, but at least the research I'll be doing might end up helping people.
February 3, 2008 I tried getting into the Hurst Building today. It was a miserable failure. The building was all barricaded up, like I expected. So I tried to get in by jumping from the roof of the building next to it. Let's just say that I'm glad the only thing I lost was my dignity. Guess I'll have to spend a little more time practicing on less life-threatening jumps before I can move into my new lab.
February 5, 2008 Oh god, that was so scary. I was a zombie just now. I think I've been out for maybe two days. I just got revived, no idea who did it.
Alphonse is dead. I'm not sure how he got here. Maybe he tracked me down and revived me, only to fall prey to another zed. He hasn't risen yet, so I don't know what to do. I don't have access to the lab yet, so I can't go get a revivification syringe to treat him with. I know that death is no longer a major concern to those of us in Malton, but I can't help but feel awful about what happened. First chance I get, I'm tracking him down and reviving him. Our work is too important to lose him. Not to mention that he was my closest friend.
February 16, 2008
I LIVE! Okay, that's a bit melodramatic, but how are you supposed to act when you've just been revived from the dead? I really have to stop dying. It's just so inconvenient to have to wait for Alphonse to hunt me down and revive me. Oh yeah, he's alive again too. That's pretty cool.
In all seriousness though, it is somewhat disturbing. On the one hand, the immortality provided by the L-strain is horrifying. Death is one of those things that is supposed to be permanent. My very existence is now a blasphemous violation of natural order. I'm a monster, and so is everyone else in this poor wreck of a city.
On the other hand, we're immortal. No matter what the damage inflicted to us, we survivors know that all it takes to get us back up is an injection from a revive syringe. It's wonderful. Mankind's oldest enemy, Death, is now rendered impotent! True, the loss of higher cognitive function that occurs upon zombification is rather unfortunate. But imagine what could be done if we could retain our intellects without having to return to human form. The enhanced physic of a zombie with the sapience of a human. It would be perfect, far better than being some weak little rat scurrying through the alleys of this city. To walk down the street without fear again: I can think of no better goal to dedicate myself to.
March 1, 2008 Wow, it's been awhile since I updated this, huh? Hard to do when you keep dying. I've been back and forth from human to zombie at least three times in the past few weeks. Maybe I should stop concerning myself with improving my scientific skills and focus more on learning how to stay alive. I need to stay on the move. I've been spending too much time in one building working on my research. Sure, I've made some progress, but I can't keeping burdening my friends with having to hunt down my zombified remains. Actually, I think I may have some good news on that regard. Based on the work of fellow ExtractorHacked scientist Breck Scott I think I have come up with, well, I;m not sure what you'd call it. A vaccine, I suppose. It won't keep you from turning when you die, but it will preserve some of your higher brain function. It will be like you were drunk. I'm not sure just how drunk, but you probably won't start killing humans. At least, not if that's not something you usually do when you're intoxicated. Now, if there were only some way to announce to survivors that you aren't hostile, so that jerks don't come around and SHOOT YOU IN THE HEAD WHEN ALL YOU'RE DOING IS JUST TRYING TO GET HOME!!
