Operation MONOGRAM AZURE – Google Docs
Operation MONOGRAM AZURE
Twelve hours ago, six test subjects completed an eighteen month joint NASA/ESA experiment where they stayed, isolated, in an facility located underneath Mount Sermitsiaq in Greenland. The goal was to simulate, to an extent not attempted before, the conditions of a voyage to Mars; the ‘astronauts’ were deliberately kept even more isolated than in other experiments, and were informed ahead of time that the experiment would not be halted for anything less than an emergency with a high chance of literal death. The six subjects volunteered anyway, and appeared to go on to have a remarkably straightforward and drama-free test session.
We are using the term ‘apparently’ because the exit interviews of the six subjects have provided some extremely alarming results:
- Col. Benjamin Briggs (USAF) (mission leader) now thinks that he is a Major in the North American Alliance for Democracy. He has also suddenly demonstrated a remarkable fluency in Russian, but not the German or Dutch that he is on record as knowing.
- Dr. Aimee de Rivery (ESA – France) (physician and life sciences) only refers to herself as ‘Citoyen Rivery.’ The watch she now wears constantly is a giant monstrosity of gears and springs that keeps to the Jacobin calendar.
- Major Barbara Follett (USAF) (mechanical engineer) is now covered in blue tattoos and speaks only archaic Latin, Attic Greek, and a language yet to be identified. She is, however, still a fully-qualified engineer.
- Lt. Commander Robert Parker (USN) (electronics and communications engineer) has acquired all the paraphernalia of a Roman Catholic priest, and now thinks of himself as such (Parker was a Methodist before the test run started). He had copies of both the Vulgate Bible and the Malleus Maleficarum on his person when debriefed — both of which were in Latin — and his English has become remarkably archaic.
- Ina Benita, PhD. (ESA-Poland) (physical chemistry and geology) somehow acquired a fencing saber, sports several scars that are not listed on her medical reports, and now routinely carries a remarkable amount of chemical compounds and solutions about her person.
- Sir Victor Grayson (UK) (psychologist) seemed apparently unchanged at first, until a casual comment revealed that Grayson believes that he is a full member of the ESA. And that the European Union itself is a fully-integrated republic with no national legislatures. And that there are cities on the Moon and Mars. And that he was training for an interstellar mission.
The last transmission from the team took place twelve hours before their original release, and showed no signs of any of this. Somewhere in that intervening time, something happened — unfortunately, internal sensors failed about ten hours before the end of the experiment. This fact, of course, is not really considered to be a coincidence at this stage, but neither it is an actual explanation.
By now the situation has been officially deemed to be esoteric. It honestly can’t be anything else: the delusions are one thing, but the physical props are something else entirely. The test subjects themselves have been worse than useless: they’re absolutely adamant that there’s nothing wrong with themselves, or any of the other team members. When asked for an explanation on any of the mysteries involved here, they shrug.
It should be noted that none of the test subjects have been otherwise recalcitrant or uncooperative in any way. They’ve certainly shown no reaction to any hint that they’re not — it might as well be said — in their own timelines; and have generally acted in a friendly and patient manner. They do, however, seem to be waiting for something to take place. Or perhaps simply someone who can wrap their brains around this particular piece of strangeness.
So, welcome to Operation MONOGRAM AZURE. Your task? Find out what the Hell is going on. Yes, it’s a simple mission objective; but then, those are the worst kinds.