space

On a journey to Pluto to attain a newly discovered element, many of the crew of the USS Faithfully perished with only a few survivors. We were able to speak to a few of them as well as collect the ship logs to give each one's perspective as to what had happened so that we can accurately document [[the event.]]

Whose story do you want to hear first? [[Ship Log]] | [[Doctor's]] | [[Captain's]] | [[Victim's]]

//I'll never forget what happened. It's burnt into my brain like someone took a cattle prod and shoved it right into my skull.// //I think it was a few days into the journey when [[it]] happened. How many? I'm pretty sure it was something like [[5]] days in. Or maybe it was a bit sooner? We only discovered the problem around then after all. It was likely a lot more gradual until then. Anyway, I'll stop rambling and get to how it [[started]].//

''STAR DATE 1 MOON 20OX'' ''THE USS FAITHFULLY HAS LEFT EARTH AND HAS STARTED ITS JOURNEY TO PLUTO. ESTIMATED TIME UNTIL ARRIVAL: FOURTEEN DAYS THROUGH INTERSTELLER HYPERDRIVE. ALL EIGHTEEN MEMBERS OF THE CREW ARE FULLY HEALTHY AND PREPARED TO EXPLORE PLUTO TO ACQUIRE [[PERSEPHONEUM]] TO USE AS A FUEL. OUR TARGET IS TO GATHER ENOUGH PERSEPHONEUM TO USE AS FUEL FOR ALL FUTURE SPACE TRAVEL FOR THE NEXT FIFTY YEARS. WE SHALL EXPLORE PLUTO FOR THREE DAYS AND THEN WE SHALL MAKE THE RETURN JOURNEY TO EARTH. ALL SYSTEMS FUNCTIONING. [[CONTINUE?|Continue]]''

It is rare that anybody gets severely ill on a journey into space these days. We prepare advanced vaccines prior to leaving as well as testing every astronaut for any illnesses. Once we are depart, we ensure to bring as many potential cures and vaccines as possible with us. This way we can try and minimise the risk of illness or [[death]].

Before you read this, we the chronologers of this event wish to inform you that what you are about to read is not a transcript of an interview as with the other discussions and descriptions, but rather the diary of one of the victims of the incident. Some of the content has been deemed disturbing, and some of Tom's diary pages are missing; whether that be due to the incident or due to something else we do not know. Anyway, if you still want to hear more about the incident then here it is from a [[victim's perspective]].

''IN 20OO, A PROBE WAS SENT TO PLUTO AND DISCOVERED A NEW ELEMENT. THIS ELEMENT WAS RETURNED TO EARTH AND ANALYSED. IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THIS ELEMENT COULD BE USED TO REPLACE ALL TRADITIONAL FUELS WITHOUT ANY OF THE RISKS THAT COME FROM NUCLEAR FUEL OR HYDROGEN FUEL. IT WAS NAMED PERSEPHONEUM AFTER PLUTO'S WIFE IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY, DUE TO BEING DISCOVERED ON THE DWARF PLANET. AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF ITS USES AS AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL, THE UNITED SPACE AGENCY OF THE WORLD (USAW) BEGAN TO PLAN THE FIRST MANNED MISSION TO PLUTO TO ACQUIRE PERSEPHONEUM. [[Ship Log]]''

''STAR DATE 2 MOONS 20OX ALL EIGHTEEN CREW MEMBERS ARE FULLY HEALTHY. THE ONLY MAJOR ISSUE IS THAT THERE HAVE BEEN FAULTS WITH THE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS. THESE FAULTS HAVE BEEN DEEMED TOP PRIORITY AND SHALL BE RESOLVED PROMPTLY. UNTIL THESE FAULTS ARE FIXED, CONTACT WITH HOMEBASE IS NOT POSSIBLE. ALL SYSTEMS FUNCTIONING. EST. TIME OF ARRIVAL: THIRTEEN DAYS. [[CONTINUE?|Continue2]]'' ''[[PREVIOUS ENTRY?|Ship Log]]''

//The first thing I remember is the smell. The smell was putrid; like a bottle of milk left in the fridge for months on end or like a food that is so expired that is has literally turned to rot. This combined with the smell of vomit coming from those on the ship and the increasing amount of blood could make anyone queasy. Blood is the second thing I remember. Pools of it covered the innards of the ship. You couldn't enter the quarters without seeing the blood dripping down the walls onto the beds, sheets and floor. The red liquid left its distinct mark and smell. The third and final thing I remember is probably what you'd remember first if you were in my situation. Why my priorities were the way they were I don't know but... The third thing I remember is when we discovered the first of the [[bodies->Captain's]].//

//Maybe it was 4? Or 3? Or maybe 6... Honestly, after the event all the days started to blur into each other. It was definitely before we reached Uranus [[anyway->Captain's]].//

//The first few days of the journey were pleasant. Most of the crew, with exception of myself and a few of the medical team, were fresh-eyed rookies on their first ever journey into space so we were all really [[excited]] for what was to come. After manning a successful flight to Neptune and back, the USAW felt I was the right guy for the job and I was designated captain of the USS Faithfully almost immediately. While that mission was [[successful]], this one was catastrophically a failure. Our excitement turned to mild worry as one of the scientists on the ship started to get ill. It wasn't anything too serious. Just a couple coughs and a bit of the sniffles. At first [[anyway->the event]].//

//I'd be lying if I said we didn't have a few too many parties than we should have considering the professional mission we were supposed to be on. Good thing that the ship's autopilot functionality and safety locks made sure our drunken asses couldn't do anything stupid to jeopardise the trip. No but seriously thank God for that. With good ol' Tom collapsed on top of the control panel for the first two days, we could have died at any moment. After about the 5th time in two days, we decided we'd stop partying and actually be professional for [[once->started]].//

//We had reached Neptune in record time - a whole 5 days before the estimate. We got what we needed and got out of there with no hesitation. Admittedly, the return journey was arguably less successful. We recieved major engine trouble that made up for all the lost travel time and would have made us arrive late if I hadn't fixed it all by myself. ...With a little bit of help from my [[head engineer->started]].//

^^Dear diary, It's day 1 of my first trip into space. After all those years at uni, I finally get to achieve my dream of becoming an astronaut and exploring the stars! <strike>Well, it's not really exploring. We've got a set destination and we're going to get there as soon as we can before returning after we get what we need.</strike> Even so, this is still really exciting! I've wanted to go into space ever since I was a wee lad and now here we are! The amount of joy and enthusiasm I feel for this is just indescribable. I get to see all these different planets!! I get to go to Pluto! Ah! I'll need to write more tomorrow. Captain Adams said it's time to party[[(1)]]. [[Tom->Diary2]]^^

^^Dear diary, I am so. Hungover. I've not drank that much in ages. I've been passed out for a whole day apparently. God. I can feel it in my head. Day 3 already. After all this excitement, I was too drunk to even be there for one of the few days I'll be off Earth. My head's throbbing. My throat's parched. I'm only writing this out of sheer will so I can properly remember the trip. But do I really want to remember this? Still, it was apparently a damned good night if I can't remember anything from it and if I was out like a light for a whole day. Adams even told me we were all a good laugh - me especially [[(2)]] - until I passed out on the control panel. Thank god it had a safety lock turned on just in case. Though the comms system is temporarily damaged because of me so whoops. My bad. Now I'm just going to lie in bed until I recover. I'll probably write more tomorrow. Christ. I need the rest [[Tom->Diary3]]^^

^^Dear Diary, Now that I've recovered, Adams put me to work. Of all ways to use my engineering degree, it has to be in fixing something I broke when drunk. Some things never change from uni I guess. So that's what I've been up to all day. Derrick and Ron from the Engineering Team helped at least. I'm not sure how exactly I bent everything the way I did, but it seems I definitely lay on the control panel the worst way possible. At least it doesn't seem like the base got a drunken message from me or anything. Though it does suck that they gave me and Adams a chewing out for being uncontactable yesterday. At least it's fixed. That's something at least. So apart from fixing it and getting a chewing out by the bosses, I've not been up to much today. The communicator was surprisingly a half day job despite the three of us working together. USAW must have spent a lot on fancy new tech and unsurprisingly didn't train us engineers enough to fix things efficiently. Anyway, halfway through that the three of us got lunch and I ate a damned good meatball sub. After that, we got back to work and then I went for some exercise in the Holoroom. Nothing better than a run around a virtual park. [[Tom->Diary4]]^^

^^Dear Diary, Seems like a cold's going about despite all the jabs we got before leaving. Derrick's had the sniffles and has even been sneezing a little. He spoke to Dr Neilson and was diagnosed as having something like a cold. Nothing threatening. Still, I'd rather not get sick on my first outing into space! Even if it's just a small cold. I told the Doc about my worries and he checked me. I should be fine as long as I don't get too close to Derrick for a while. <strike>Good thing cause he always kinda smells and I don't want to ask him to shower in case I'm being rude.</strike> Work wise, nothing too interesting has been happening apart from working a bit more away from Derrick than usual. Just making sure everything's working fine (which it is). Now off to bed. [[Tom->Diary5]]^^

//As I already said, it was a few days in when Derrick, one of our engineers, got sick. We were so sure it wasn't anything much. Some coughs. Some sniffles. Even the medical team couldn't see anything particularly different from what we could. Probably just space flu they laughed. In actuality, just the common cold. At least that's the diagnosis that they made. ...Until the [[blood|Blood]] came up. That was about a day or so later. Coughing up blood when all you've seemingly had is [[the flu]].//

//Last time I saw anyone cough up blood, it was just a small "healthy" amount. Obviously still worrying, but nothing too major. This time was different. I swear that Derrick puked out half the blood in his body in total between all the bloody coughs that first hour or so. He was already getting frailer and more pale as time went on. Eventually, he couldn't move. If I hadn't rung the buzzer for him to summon the [[medical team...|the event]].//

''STAR DATE 3 MOONS 20OX SEVENTEEN CREW MEMBERS ARE FULLY HEALTHY. ONE HAS LOGGED THEMSELVES AS FEELING "ONLY MILDLY ILL." THE COMMUNICATIONS HUB HAS BEEN FIXED AND CONTACT HAS BEEN MADE TO HOMEBASE TO APOLOGISE FOR THE ISSUES. ALL SYSTEMS FUNCTIONING. EST. TIME OF ARRIVAL: TWELVE DAYS. [[CONTINUE?|Continue3]]'' ''[[PREVIOUS ENTRY?|Continue]]''

''STAR DATE 4 MOONS 20OX SEVENTEEN CREW MEMBERS ARE FULLY HEALTHY. ONE HAS MARKED THEMSELVES AS "ILL". ALL SYSTEMS FUNCTIONING. EST. TIME OF ARRIVAL: ELEVEN DAYS. [[CONTINUE?|Continue4]]'' ''[[PREVIOUS ENTRY?|Continue2]]''

''STAR DATE 5 MOONS 20OX SIXTEEN CREW MEMBERS ARE FULLY HEALTHY. ONE MARKED THEMSELVES AS "MILDLY ILL". ONE MARKED AS "INCAPACITATED". ALL SYSTEMS FUNCTIONING. EST. TIME OF ARRIVAL: TEN DAYS. [[CONTINUE?|Continue5]]'' ''[[PREVIOUS ENTRY?|Continue3]]''

''STAR DATE 6 MOONS 20OX FOURTEEN CREW MEMBERS ARE FULLY HEALTHY. TWO MARKED AS "ILL". ONE MARKED AS "INCAPACITATED". ONE DEAD. RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: QUARANTINE TO PREVENT ADDITIONAL DEATHS. ALL SYSTEMS ARE FUNCTIONING. EST. TIME OF ARRIVAL: NINE DAYS. [[CONTINUE?|Continue6]]'' ''[[PREVIOUS ENTRY?|Continue4]]''

''STAR DATE 7 MOONS 20OX TEN CREW MEMBERS ARE FULLY HEALTHY. THREE MARKED AS "ILL". THREE MARKED AS "INCAPACITATED". TWO DEAD. RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: URGENT QUARANTINE BEFORE THIS BECOMES AN EPIDEMIC. ALL SYSTEMS FUNCTIONING. EST. TIME OF ARRIVAL: EIGHT DAYS. [[CONTINUE?|Continue7]]'' ''[[PREVIOUS ENTRY?|Continue5]]''

''STAR DATE 8 MOONS 20OX TEN CREW MEMBERS ARE FULLY HEALTHY. THREE MARKED AS "ILL". THREE MARKED AS "INCAPACITATED". TWO MARKED AS DEAD. QUARANTINE ESTABLISHED. RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: CREATION AND CULTIVATION OF A CURE. ALL SYSTEMS FUNCTIONING. EST. TIME OF ARRIVAL: SEVEN DAYS. HALFWAY POINT MARKED. [[CONTINUE?|Continue8]]'' ''[[PREVIOUS ENTRY?|Continue6]]''

''STAR DATE 10 MOONS ENTRY DELETED. [[CONTINUE?|Continue10]]'' ''[[PREVIOUS ENTRY?|Continue8]]''

''STAR DATE 9 MOONS 20OX TEN CREW MEMBERS ARE FULLY HEALTHY. TWO MARKED AS "MILDLY ILL". TWO MARKED AS "ILL". TWO MARKED AS "INCAPACITATED". TWO MARKED AS DEAD. RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: CONTINUE WITH CURRENT CURE CULTIVATION. ALL SYSTEMS FUnCti i oNING EST. TIME OF ARRIVAL: SIX DAYS. [[CONTINUE|Continue9]]'' ''[[PREVIOUS ENTRY?|Continue7]]''

''SDJDJjAIJAASYHYGhaghasjdshbedjhwgYATSYARAGHASHASJKHDHjksjklajuiehjsdjanjNAA STAR DATE ERROR ERROR ERROR AJIDJjkajsdiuDJKkl1k2223991989893293'' pvdfs ''p0A2231Is 0 077jjbJKNn''nn ''ERROR ERROR SYSTEM REBOOT REQUIRED [[SYSTEM REBOOT?]]'' ''[[Prvs Ntr$$$$$$|Continue8]]''

''STAR DATE 11 MOONS 20OX FIVE CREW MEMBERS ARE FULLY HEALTHY. FIVE MARKED AS "INCAPACITATED". EIGHT DEAD. RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: END MISSION AND RETURN TO EARTH IMMEDIATELY. ESTABLISH FURTHER QUARANTINE UNTIL RETURN. [[ONE MESSAGE FROM HOMEBASE RECORDED STAR DATE 10 MOONS 20OX.]] ALL SYSTEMS FUNCTIONING. EST. TIME OF ARRIVAL: FOUR DAYS. [[CONTINUE?|Continue11]]'' ''[[PREVIOUS ENTRY?|SYSTEM REBOOT?]]''

''MESSAGE RECEIVED 10 MOONS 20OX "We received your distress call. Due to the urgency of your situation, we highly recommend that whoever is left cancels the mission and sends the S.S. Faithfully back to Earth. Any survivors will be hospitalised and cured, while the poor victims of this tragedy will get samples taken... To prevent this from happening again... and then a proper burial. God Bless You and May You Return Safely." [[MESSAGE END|Continue10]]''

''STAR DATE 12 MOONS 20OX THREE CREW MEMBERS ARE FULLY HEALTHY. TWO MARKED AS "ILL". THREE MARKED AS "INCAPACITATED". TEN DEAD. ALL SYSTEMS FUNCTIONING. QUARANTINE IN PLACE. EMERGENCY ACCELERATORS ACTIVATED. DESTINATION: RETURN TO EARTH. EST. TIME OF ARRIVAL TO HOMEBASE: TWO DAYS. [[CONTINUE?|Continue12]]'' ''[[PREVIOUS ENTRY?|Continue10]]''

''STAR DATE 13 MOONS 20OX ONE CREW MEMBER IS FULLY HEALTHY. FIVE MARKED AS "ILL". TWO MARKED AS "INCAPACITATED". TEN DEAD. ALL SYSTEMS FUNCTIONING. QUARANTINE IN PLACE. EST. TIME OF ARRIVAL TO HOMEBASE: ONE DAY. [[CONTINUE?|Continue13]]'' ''[[PREVIOUS ENTRY?|Continue11]]''

''STAR DATE 14 MOONS 20OX THE S.S. FAITHFULLY HAS REACHED HOMEBASE AT EARTH AND THE EIGHT SURVIVORS HAVE BEEN HOSPITALISED TO RECOVER. FURTHER INVESTIGATION INTO THESE EVENTS TO FOLLOW. MISSION FAILURE. [[PREVIOUS ENTRY?|Continue12]] [[END OF LOGS|the event.]]''

^^it was A --- --- [[ter->Diary15]]^^

^^Dear Diary, Oh God. Oh God Oh God Oh God. I don't know how things escalated so quickly but Derrick's went from mild cold to coughing up like all of his blood. He's been passed out for the past couple of hours and the doctors don't know what's wrong with him! I'm absolutely terrified like what if this quickly spreads throughout the ship and we all pass out or die and we don't get to explore Pluto and what if --- --- It'll be fine. It'll be ok. I've calmed down. We'll be alright. Nobody'll get sick. Nobody'll die. //Right?// [[Tom->Diary6]]^^

^^nononononononONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!!!!! Derrick's dead. We found him in his bunk covered in blood and not breathing... To make things worse somehow somehow somehow Ron's unconscious too and a couple of our other guys are sick now! I don't know whats going on but I'm really scared and I spoke to adams but he refused to turn the ship around he said he couldn't jeapordise the mission and that this is just a one off this isn't going to happen again the doctors know what they're doing. But I'm still scared!! What if he's wrong what if they can't cure this what if everyone dies [[what if I die->Diary7]]^^

^^oh god oh god oh god oh god it's getting worse it's getting worse more people are passing out and dying i'm scared i'm terrified i don't know what to do --- --- alright I've calmed down a little cause the doctors said that they're going to put up a quarantine and try to isolate the disease or whatever the hell it is so we'll all be okay I still think we should turn back but apparently being halfway there makes it not worth it till the ship says it is but I don't like this I don't like this at all. Honestly I dunno I just don't see the point in continuing the mission when everyone's sick and dying and nobody knows what's happening but Adams refuses to go back he just doesn't see the point But he's the Captain for a reason so I best trust his judgement[[(3)]]... Anyway, the quarantine should keep us all safe. Right? [[Tom->Diary8]]^^

^^Dear Diary, Things aren't any better but they aren't any worse either. Maybe I was wrong to doubt Adams. I mean he's been on similar missions before after all. So he must have experienced something like this. I'm just glad the quarantine's working. It means that about a third of our crew are practically locked away but at least we're all safe and well now. I've never seen the medical team work so hard either. They're doing everything they can to find a cure and help everyone get better. While they do that though, we're meant to just keep going as normal. It's tough working without Ron or Derrick but... I'm still ensuring that repairs are going alright whenever anything breaks or goes down. Due to our smaller numbers, Adams and the astronauts have been willing to give me a bit of a hand and we've all been doing jobs outside of our experience. I'm still scared, don't get me wrong. But for the first time in a couple days I'm starting to feel like we're working together again and that things could even be alright. [[Tom->Diary9]]^^

^^Dear Diary, Things are finally looking up! George woke up today feeling better after being injected with the cure that the medical team tested out! Not only that but everyone else seems to be getting at least slightly better... I'm not really sure what was in the needle but whatever it was clearly seems to be working thus far! The doctors are looking hopeful and are going to keep giving out the cure while also sorting out some vaccinations for the rest of us. Plus, we're almost there. Just a few more days till Pluto. I can almost relax a little more now... Hopefully this just keeps up. <strike>Tom</strike> Quick edit actually. Apparently there's been a glitch in the system that none of us can fix or resolve... Huh. This is new. I'll give an update tomorrow about if it's been fixed or not. [[Tom->Diary10]]^^

^^//hey so i'm just writing this diary entry quickly cause it looks like there's a lot going on today there'll probably be more later our system is completely down and i don't know how to fix it it's almost like it's been hacked or something??? like there's legit no physical faults with the mainframe and i haven't been able to work out the programming fault yet i'm gonna get back to it i'm gonna writei another entry latere after i fix it [[Tom->Diary11]]//^^

^^//well guess who cant fix it i dont know what the problem is but its frustrating me and im scared and even worse something happened i dont know what but everyones panicking i dont know why im gonna go fdind out [[Tom->Diary12]]//^^

^^//crapcrapcrapcrap so people are sick and dying again and the systems still down and oh god oh god this is not looking good adams still refuses to turn back he refuses to stop going at least im still fine im gonna go eat off the stress hope that helps [[Tom->Diary13]]//^^

^^//so i ate and now i m feeling sick too i ve alreayd coguhed up blood and i can hardly wriet i thin k its acelcertiaing btu i dotn gett i t how didi t accerlerate tso fst im gonna loo k i nto this i was fi i ne literrtally only two o o horuws agog o [[Tom->Diary14]]//^^

^^//i psoke to the doctro he sayd the symptotms are difffernt hes to l d me no t tO mvoe buit i hve my suspcicioons i m gonnsa chek k eycard d dta [[to M->Suspicions Confirmed]]//^^

^^i m dyign i mpretty sure im dyi ng its getting wrosoe im gonn a coallpse i hope so m eone reads thsi i h ope soeomeone disco vers chwhat happcnened and gts it sioforted i can n pbarelty w ite the do cotr sayd h e cant h elp me i m movign to o fst a nd i cannnt cofnrotn y uou kn o w wh o o i m to o weak [[to m->the event.]] ^^

From what I recall, the last time we had any form of epidemic on a journey was ten years ago, on the first manned trip to Neptune. Only a single astronaut made it home, and even then he died only a few days later in hospital. We dubbed the disease "Neptunoza" and took samples from both the astronaut and his dead crew members. All journeys into space were frozen for the next three years while cures were developed for Neptunoza and any similar strains of other potential diseases. Since then, we've had many journeys without any issues. At least until [[now]].

In preparation for the mission to Pluto, we ensured that everybody in the crew including ourselves would be heavily vaccinated. Anything similar to Neptunoza, the flu and even the common cold were accounted for. The only way that anybody would feel ill is if a new illness were to be discovered. Of course, sometimes outliers can occur. At first, we thought that was what happened when Jones from Engineering came to us with symptoms that originally matched entirely with those of the common cold. We told him just to get some rest and that he would recover soon enough after prescribing a few painkillers and some tissues. So we were surprised when he came back the next day coughing [[up blood]].

On the Faithfully, we have a system where if someone is bedridden and needs emergency treatment, they can buzz the medical wing of the ship. It isn't a feature that is often used for reasons I've already discussed. I almost didn't recognise the sound of the buzzer as I read my magazine. I immediately got up to check who buzzed and went to go speak to Jones. I was certain he was making a mountain out of a molehill. I couldn't have been more [[wrong]].

When I got to his room, the first thing I saw was him lying in his bunk covered in blood and barely moving. I immediately checked his pulse to thankfully see that he was still alive, and just barely conscious. While he rested - occasionally rousing just to cough up more blood - I was able to sort out a stretcher and get him transported to the medical wing. There, we were able to examine him to try and reach a diagnosis. ...We had no [[luck]].

I had never seen anything like this. The symptoms were so similar to the common cold or the flu, but the acceleration of the disease from showing these symptoms to more extreme symptoms such as fever, coughing up blood and near paralysis was bizzare. These symptoms rarely lead to each other, especially within only a day. Not even Neptunoza was this bad. It took its time to develop into other symptoms. It wasn't noticeable until it was too late for most of the crew. At the time, all I could hope for was that it was not contagious and that if it was, we would be able to find a cure in time. ...Obviously on hindsight, we had [[no such luck]].

Jones eventually fell fully unconscious by the end of the day. We did our best to put him on life support and encourage his recovery but alas, the next day he passed away. The medical bay was in disarray that day. Not only were we dealing with our first fatality in a decade, but another crew member - Grainger - buzzed in with a similar case of near paralysis and two more crew members reported themselves at ill. After consulting both Captain Adams and the ship's computer, we decided to set up a quarantine to prevent the spreading of the illness while we tried to [[isolate it]].

By the time that we finished setting up the quarantine, another day has passed. Unfortunately we were unable to save Grainger in time. Furthermore, more crew members fell unconscious and unable to tend to themselves. All ill crew members were eventually contained in an unused part of the Faithfully, while half our medical team monitored them and the other half stayed in the medical bay in case anybody else got infected. Thankfully, as cold as this may sound, we were able to get enough biologically samples from the two deceased members and those unconscious. This led to us eventually being able to [[identify the illness]].

With how quickly the disease was developing, we were forced to cultivate a cure as soon as possible. The rushed pace meant that we probably took some shortcuts and were not as professional as we should have been. But we got results. We were able to find a common thread in all of the victims' blood and with this we were able to begin developing a cure. Due to the rushed nature of this creation, we had no idea as to if the cure would even work or if it would make things worse. Still, we had to try. We injected the cure into those quarantined and monitored them for twenty-four hours to see if there was any [[improvement]].

Within hours of being injected, one of the unconscious crew members awoke. We quickly gave her a drip to help increase and stabilise her blood levels. Other ill crew members followed suit and began to feel healthier over the course of only a few hours. Whatever factor accelerated the illness also seemed to accelerate the healing process thankfully. Due to the lack of time, we took this as a sign to administer a vaccine to the rest of the crew as soon as possible to ensure that between it and the quarantine, all crew members would stay healthy. [[And at first things were going well.]]

By the next day, everybody seemed to be improving to a noticeable degree. The majority of the ill crew members were conscious and showed positive signs of recovery, while the healthy ones continued to thrive with no signs of illness or danger to their health. To celebrate, Captain Adams brought us all cake and food made by catering along with some tea, coffee, juice and water. Unsurprisingly, most of the crew ate and drank their fill and made their cheers to the medical team, to getting healthier and to making it to Pluto in only a few days. Unfortunately, the celebrations only lasted about [[two hours or so]].

At the time, we were certain that something had went wrong with the cure. Perhaps the virus had mutated or the cure had acted only as a temporary blocker that eventually stopped working. Whatever the case, the illness had accelerated even further. Only within two hours after eating, the majority of the crew were coughing up blood and struggling to stay conscious. A few hours later, many had died. Something about this extreme acceleration despite the vaccines made us want to re-evaluate the disease. This was not exactly how it was before, and if there was a way to slow down the mutation, if not stop it, then we believed that we should take every opportunity to do so. [[The results were interesting.]]

Whatever this was, it was different. Comparing it to the original virus, we saw only a few similarities. Were there two different viruses going around the ship? How did this one come about and where did it come from? Whatever the case, we started to try and develop a new cure for this. Honestly, we were not confident that we would be able to due to the mixture of how quickly it was mutating and accelerating and due to our few resources left after curing the previous disease. [[It did not help that crew members kept asking for help when we felt unable to provide any.]]

While many crew members requested diagnosis and help, there is one specifically that stood out to me. Tyler - the last surviving member of Engineering - came to speak with us. He could hardly move or speak, but he was clearly full of some kind of determination. We informed him that there was nothing that we could do as the disease was moving too quickly for even our best doctors to keep up with. I then told him that he should get some rest in one of our beds and that even if we could not cure him, we could try and delay his death as much as possible. What really struck me was how quickly he shook his head and refused. Instead, he spoke with as much resolve as possible despite finding difficulty with using words. He insisted that he was going to "check something for the sake of the ship". We could have done more to stop him from leaving. [[We probably should have.]]

The next day, we found him dead in his quarters next to his open diary. Having noted that there were missing pages, I checked to ensure that there was no foul play involved, but it seemed that he had indeed died of illness. That being said, those pages were never found. After discovering his corpse, we established a quarantine by recommendation of the ship. The ship itself was set to autopilot us on an accelerated journey back to Earth, so all we had to do was sit tight and hope that we could keep living until arrival. At this point, only Captain Adams, Doctor Roderick and I were left conscious and healthy. With only the three of us alive and well, there was a lot of doubt and fear that we would even survive the [[two day journey home.]]

Even with only a day left before we returned to Earth, our fears were still not alleviated. Roderick and I began to grow ill as well, with the captain being the only one who showed signs of well-being. He thankfully ensured that were taken care of despite being bed-ridden. I recall how difficult it was to stay awake as we approached. If we had not injected ourselves with suppressants to delay the disease's movements within our bodies, then I am sure I would have died shortly after I finally seized control and fell asleep. [[I did not awake until days later; at a hospital in our capital]].

Due to the increased amount of resources on Earth, we all quickly recuperated from our illnesses. Roderick, Adams and I were healthy within a week. Those in comas began to wake up and recover only a short while later. The mission was of course a failure. We were congratulated on our resourcefulness though, for being able to keep as many as we did alive considering that there were two deadly diseases discovered. Adams on the other hand recieved a scolding for not cancelling the mission sooner. After recovering, I had asked the doctors if they had recognised what the second disease was. They told me that they were still unsure and that they could not disclose was it was, but it was confirmed to be unrelated to the first virus. They also stated that it was likely to be one from Earth, though they refused to clarify what it was. Between this information and the missing diary pages, I must confess that I have suspicions... Not that those are even relevant any more. Whatever the case, those that perished have recieved proper burials and those alive have to live with the traumatic memories of what occured. I have tried to stay as objective as possible with this account of what happened for the purposes of the documentary, but I must admit that even though it has been a year now, I am still shaken by what happened. Still, I appreciate the opportunity to tell this story. [[Thank you very much for your time.|the event.]]

//From there, everything got worse. Another engineer got sick. Derrick fell unconscious. A couple other guys looked a bit under the weather. The computer didn't give me [[any commands]], so I followed its lack of orders and we kept going. If things were to get worse then of course, I would have made things better. But for now, the computer said it was okay and if it said it was, then I would - as captain - would have to agree. Until then, we would keep going forward and our medical team would prevent an epidemic from starting. [[I had faith]].//

//Check the ship log for details. Specifically [[day 5->ShipLog]] I think it was. [[Something like that anyway->the flu]].//

//Tom came to me after Derrick died and Ron got more sick. He demanded we turn back before things got worse and while the journey was still young. I of course stayed logical and yelled at him to not be an idiot. We couldn't jeapordise the entire journey over only one loss after all! Ron would be fine. I was sure of it. And even if he wouldn't be, the computer recommended we just quarantine people. Wasn't that enough? Tom should have respected my decisisions. At least that's what I thought at the time. I never made one willy nilly. But maybe I should have listened to him... None of this would have happened if I had... No. I made the choice I thought was best at the time. Quarantine, find a cure and keep going. And keep going [[we did]].//

//Almost half the crew were down with... whatever this was. And at this point, two... maybe three of them were dead? Things started to be a bit of a blur after a while so I can't remember the exact numbers... Despite being the captain, I've found it hard to look back objectively and rememeber all the details. It was all pretty traumatic... Still, I'd say things at that point were starting to get better thanks to the quarantine. The illness stopped spreading and the cure was being made as quickly as humanly possible. [[Things were looking up]].//

//But then suddenly [[issues arose]] with the mainframe computer system. This annoyingly had to happen while I was preparing a celebration for the now fairly healthy crew. Using my keycard, I had accessed the kitchen and the food store. I had made lots of food and brought it and drink over, but as everyone was partying I had to drag myself away to analyse what the problem was. After looking at it, I would get Tom to fix it later. At least, that's what I had decided at the time. I didn't expect that hours later - as things were being looked into - that [[more people would be dead]].//

//System errors kept appearing on the monitor and the screen would flash on and off. The daily log's message broke up and was virtually unreadable as the number of errors seemed to grow. Maybe it was due to the celebrations, but oddly enough it seemed that nobody other than me seemed to notice the static on the monitor and all the [[issues->Things were looking up]].//

//Once I returned to the medical bay, a familiar sight filled my eyes. Blood. Blood everywhere. There were corpses lying around the room covered in blood, and others were either passed out, being sick or trying to tend those ill. I asked our main doctor, Bill, what had happened and he said he wasn't sure but it seemed that either the illness had accelerated even more or there may even have been a new virus on the ship. He was going to focus on quarantining this one and curing it too, but he doubted there'd be the time or resources. He recommended we contacted home base to work out what to do. I refused to. We had to see if the computer would agree or not first [[once it got fixed]].//

//Tom insisted he was unable to fix it and went back to the party, which was admittedly frustrating. But he had said he had hardly eaten, so I suppose it was fine. Thankfully, the computer eventually was able to reboot itself, though it took half a day to do so. By that point everyone... Everyone was worse. The number of casualties was growing at a terrifying rate... As captain, I honestly felt helpless. I wasn't able to do anything to help the crew... [[Nothing at all]].//

//All I could do to help was contact Home Base once the computer was working... Thankfully, they replied promptly and told us to turn on the turbo thrusters to return ASAP. We set up a quarantine for the few of us left... Honestly, we were all shaking and feeling pretty traumatised already at this point. What could we do? Just sit and wait and hope we get back ok... We had something like one or [[two days to get back]].//

//Those last few days in quarantine were the worst. The smell of the corpses and the blood around us overtook my nasal passages and despite feeling well, it still made me vomit repeatedly. Everyone was passing out around me. By the time we reached Earth, I was alone. I wasn't the only one alive... But I was the only one conscious and breathing normally. No blood. No headaches. No illness whatsoever. I don't know how this miracle happened. All I know is that I failed as a captain. The mission went horribly at every opportunity. Even when things looked up, they got worse. Everyone was getting better and the same virus got worse... The one person with a diary and a clear day by day log of what happened passed away and it went missing... We never got our Persephonium... My reputation will likely be in tatters... Urgh. I'm sorry. Just... Thinking about all of this is tiring. I wish it had never happened. I wish we didn't have to go to space if it meant we'd all - erhem sorry most of us - would die... Maybe us humans were meant to be landlocked after all... [[But yeah...]]//

//But yeah, that's everything that happened. It was horrible... I wish we could have all made it alive. ...Make sure to try and not paint us off as to incompetent though ok? None of this could have been helped. We all made mistakes. Next journey from Earth will hopefully be better. But it's not our fault we didn't get back sooner or have less casualties. [[...Thanks for the interview|the event.]].//

^^(1) Adams' parties are typically always pretty awesome. We had one before we left for space and oh boy it was such a wild night. I couldn't have too much but I'm pretty sure that the others drank more than legally allowed before we got into [[space.->victim's perspective]]^^

^^(2) Things I apparently did: <ul><li>Strip danced</li> <li>Told terrible space puns</li> <li>Stole Ron's wallet and his lunch</li> <li>[[Passed out on top of the computer->Diary2]]</li></ul>^^

^^(3) At least, I should right? He's a legendary captain [[(4)]] but something about him's been bothering me for a while. His parties may be great but who chooses to get drunk two nights in a row on a voyage? Who ignores the deaths of their crew to continue a mission whether they're a one off or not? I just don't get it. I'm starting to wonder if all he cares about is the mission - or rather how famous he'll get after finishing it and getting the fuel - instead of the crew. He's just always so lax. It's frustrating to be honest. I'm gonna hide this footnote just in case. I'm worried if he sees this I'll get in [[trouble->Diary7]].^^

^^(4) Rumourshaveithavethathejusttookthecreditofhisvicecaptainonthelastjourneyandthatthingswentworsethanwe'veheard. ManwritinginamarginisdifficultbutIdunnoIjustwannafitinallmysuspicionsifIcanandthere'snomoreroomin[[the->(3)]][[footnotes->Diary7]][[(5)]].^^

^^(5) Found some more space to do a footnote on the back of the page. As I said, he apparently stole the credit of Vice Captain John Adams (his own brother!) for saving the mission. There was a big media buzz about it and talk of a possible court case, but our "good ol'" captain was able to get out of it with his rep intact apparently. Whether it's true or not, I still have [[my->(4)]] [[suspicions->Diary7]].^^