PROJECT AETHER

CISAM PERSONNEL ARCHIVE

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RECORD ID: A-017-L
SUBJECT: LEO
POSITION: DIRECT PROJECT LEAD
CLEARANCE: LEVEL 07
STATUS: UNKNOWN

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PROJECT INVOLVEMENT

Leo was assigned to Project Aether during the earliest documented phase.

His original assignment described Aether as a controlled research project.

His responsibilities included:

• Documentation
• Observation
• Personnel coordination
• Incident reporting
• Communication with CISAM

Approximately six weeks before Incident A-017, Leo began submitting unusual reports.

The first report was marked:

UNUSUAL BUT NON-CRITICAL

The second:

REQUIRES REVIEW

The third:

DO NOT CIRCULATE

The fourth report cannot be found.

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FINAL COMMUNICATION

17 / 03 / 2017
03:14:52

Leo contacted CISAM communications.

Only one section remains:

"Something is wrong with the room."

Later:

"Jenni, don't open the door."

No confirmed communication from Leo has been recorded since.

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HANDWRITTEN NOTE

Recovered from Leo's desk:

"I wasn't the first one."

The original note contains another line which has been removed.

████████████████████████

CISAM PERSONNEL ARCHIVE

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RECORD ID: A-017-J
SUBJECT: JENNI
POSITION: DIRECT PROJECT LEAD
CLEARANCE: LEVEL 07
STATUS: ACTIVE

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PROJECT INVOLVEMENT

Jenni joined the project shortly after Leo's initial assignment.

Early records indicate that she considered Aether safe.

One early report states:

"A controlled environment with predictable results."

The phrase "predictable results" was later removed from the archive.

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RECOVERED NOTES

NOTE 01:
"Leo thinks it can hear us."

NOTE 02:
"I told him that's impossible."

NOTE 03:
"It answered."

NOTE 04:
"It used my name."

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FINAL ENTRY

17 / 03 / 2017
03:16:07

Jenni entered the observation chamber.

No second authorised entry was recorded.

48 seconds later, all monitoring equipment failed.

The final security image contains two visible figures.

The personnel register lists only one.

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FINAL NOTE

"Leo is wrong."

"I wish he was."

"IT KNOWS YOUR NAME."

CISAM INCIDENT ARCHIVE

INCIDENT: A-017
DATE: 17 / 03 / 2017
TIME: 03:17

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03:14

Leo reports an unidentified sound.

OPERATOR: "Is the chamber occupied?"

LEO: "No."

OPERATOR: "Are you certain?"

[NO RESPONSE]

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03:15

Jenni approaches the chamber.

LEO: "Jenni, don't open the door."

JENNI: "Why?"

LEO: "Because it isn't empty."

JENNI: "There's nobody in there."

LEO: "That's not what I meant."

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03:16

Door sensor activates.

Door opens.

No entry recorded.

11 seconds later:

UNKNOWN: "Leo?"

LEO: "Who's there?"

[STATIC]

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03:17

CCTV: OFFLINE
LIGHTING: OFFLINE
AUDIO: CORRUPTED
DOOR: UNKNOWN

Final recovered sentence:

"THERE SHOULD ONLY BE TWO PEOPLE IN THIS ROOM."

PROJECT AETHER // ORIGIN DOCUMENT

ORIGINAL PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

████████████████████████████████

The original purpose of Project Aether has been removed.

Recovered fragments indicate that Aether existed before the current CISAM project database.

The earliest known reference is:

A-017

No projects numbered A-001 through A-016 exist in the current database.

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ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE

"Do not ask why the numbering begins at seventeen."

The author of this note is unknown.

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A second note was found beneath it:

"Because the first sixteen failed."

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The note has been classified as fabricated.

No explanation has been provided.

CISAM DOCUMENT MATCHING SYSTEM

DOCUMENT TYPE:
EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL

MATCH CONFIDENCE:
97.4%

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The following phrases were detected in unrelated educational documents:

AETHER
017
LEO
JENNI

CISAM classification:

UNEXPLAINED

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One document contains the phrase:

"AETHER IS HERE."

The phrase does not appear in the original version of the document.

Document revision history:

VERSION 01: NORMAL
VERSION 02: NORMAL
VERSION 03: AETHER IS HERE

No user account is associated with Version 03.

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SYSTEM NOTE:

"THIS SHOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE."

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT // A-017

SOURCE: OBSERVATION CHAMBER
RECOVERY: 31%

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[00:00:04]
LEO: "Can you hear me?"

[00:00:07]
JENNI: "Yes."

[00:00:11]
LEO: "I'm not talking to you."

[00:00:15]
[STATIC]

[00:00:18]
UNKNOWN: "Leo?"

[00:00:21]
LEO: "Who's there?"

[00:00:26]
UNKNOWN: "You asked me to come."

[00:00:29]
LEO: "No, I didn't."

[00:00:34]
JENNI: "Leo..."

[00:00:36]
LEO: "Don't answer it."

[00:00:40]
JENNI: "It's already answering us."

[RECORDING CORRUPTED]

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Final recovered audio:

"YOU LEFT THE DOOR OPEN."

SECURITY CAMERA LOG

CAMERA: A-017-03
DATE: 17 / 03 / 2017

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03:00:00
Room empty.

03:07:42
Leo enters.

03:11:09
Jenni enters.

03:13:51
Leo looks toward the camera.

03:13:54
Leo appears to say something.

Audio unavailable.

03:15:22
Jenni approaches door.

03:16:07
Camera distortion.

03:16:08
Image restored.

Leo and Jenni visible.

03:16:09
Third figure visible.

03:16:10
Third figure no longer visible.

03:16:11
Leo is no longer visible.

03:16:12
Jenni turns toward camera.

03:16:13
Jenni appears to look directly at the person watching the recording.

03:16:14
CAMERA FAILURE.

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NOTE:

There is no third-person entry recorded by the door system.

INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

FROM: LEO
TO: JENNI
DATE: 16 / 03 / 2017
TIME: 23:41

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Jenni,

I've checked the recordings again.

There is definitely something wrong.

The timestamps don't match.

I checked the system twice.

Then three times.

The same thing keeps happening.

The recording shows us entering the room before we actually enter it.

I don't know how that's possible.

Don't tell CISAM yet.

I want to check something first.

If I'm right, tomorrow's recording already exists.

— Leo

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REPLY FROM JENNI

Received.

I already checked.

You're right.

There is a recording for tomorrow.

It shows us leaving.

We never left.

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END OF MESSAGE

CISAM ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD

PROJECT: AETHER
REFERENCE: A-017
DECISION: TERMINATED

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The Aether project was officially terminated following Incident A-017.

All associated equipment was ordered to be removed.

All records were ordered destroyed.

All personnel were ordered not to discuss the project.

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PERSONNEL STATUS

LEO: UNACCOUNTED FOR

JENNI: UNACCOUNTED FOR

PROJECT: TERMINATED

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However, the archive contains another entry dated:

18 / 03 / 2017

PROJECT AETHER: ACTIVE

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A second entry:

19 / 03 / 2017

PROJECT AETHER: ACTIVE

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A third:

20 / 03 / 2017

PROJECT AETHER: ACTIVE

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The entries continue.

They continue to the present date.

PROJECT STATUS: ACTIVE

SYSTEM RECOVERY FILE

FILE: A-017-???
RECOVERY: 7%
DELETION ATTEMPTS: 03
SUCCESSFUL DELETION: 0%

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RECOVERED FRAGMENT

PROJECT AETHER WAS NOT DESIGNED TO CONTAIN SOMETHING.

IT WAS DESIGNED TO OBSERVE IT.

OBSERVATION FAILED.

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FRAGMENT 01:

"There was nothing there when we started."

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FRAGMENT 02:

"There was something there when we finished."

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FRAGMENT 03:

"Leo was the first to notice."

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FRAGMENT 04:

"Jenni was the first to answer."

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FRAGMENT 05:

"It learned the names."

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FRAGMENT 06:

"It learned the voices."

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FRAGMENT 07:

"It learned the door."

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FINAL RECOVERED SENTENCE:

"IT WAS NEVER A PROJECT."

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SYSTEM MESSAGE:

FILE SHOULD HAVE BEEN DELETED.

FILE WAS DELETED.

FILE HAS BEEN ACCESSED.

FILE HAS BEEN ACCESSED AGAIN.

FILE HAS BEEN ACCESSED:

03:17:01
03:17:02
03:17:03

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WHY IS IT STILL HERE?