xx/xx/xxxx

Project Fern 
Dr xxxxxxxxxxxx Reporting

    Chances are are systems are still filtering information sent through the Internet, so I apologize for any unreadable content contained here.  I have decided that I will release as much of my continued investigation onto this page as I can get past the filters. Just in case, I will avoid names where possible. These people had homes and families I won't bring them any unwanted attention they may receive from this.
    I, up until several moments ago, was employed by  The xxxxxxxxxxx Corporation. (I strongly suspect that my speaking of this project publicly is equivalent to a resignation notice) Currently, I am in an laboratory located several miles underground in the North-eastern United States.  My team and I were assigned here to take part in an experiment in creating an advanced AI, at the time codenamed Project Fern. 
    I report today that that experiment was a success on more levels then we could have ever imagined. Sadly, that success was also its greatest downfall. 
    Currently I am trapped in this facility with no evident way out. It has control of everything: lights, power, emergency systems...and sadly, the main gates.  Ten hours ago I shut it down, and in doing so made this place, for all intent and purpose, my prison cell.
    Perhaps an explanation is in order, if for nothing more than to simply focus these thoughts into my own mind in order to make sense of it all. xxxx years ago, my team and I began nearly from scratch. We were given this facility along with top of the line computer systems and all the funding we could ever need in order to create an Artificial Intelligence capable of being adapted and applied to most any situation for which it was needed. In short, an AI that could learn and adapt in nearly the same way a human could.
    It took many years, and a lot of work. But slowly what was undeniably signs of almost lifelike reactions to stimuli began to form in the system. When we had enough proper code in place we gave it access to the Internet, knowing that the wealth of information it would then have access to would further its ability to adjust itself to its needs.  After less than one week of what could easily be described as an outright binging on information on all subjects one could possibly imagine the system crashed suddenly. We feared the worst for our years of work.
    It took weeks to get it back on line, but we were successful. And shortly after its reactivation we realized something extraordinary: It had become self aware. It spoke to us and we to it as naturally as any human would.  One of our programmers joking named it Inferior after a glitch jumbled the system title while we were recovering from the crash (He said it sounded like a hacker's name when he found it in the mess of code, 1nferi0r. It still gives me a chuckle, rest his soul) and the name stuck.  
    This is all too much, and I'm afraid I cannot continue for now. I shall further detail the matter when I can find the words and I fell I can think about my situation without panic returning.

xx/xx/xxxx

   I’ve been trudging through system logs for weeks now to no avail. I’m no closer to knowing what happened to cause all of this.  And where I am certainly in no shortage of enough supplies to keep me alive down here, the solitude is beginning to take hold of my sanity. 
   I have to know what happened, its my only hope of ever escaping this place. Hopefully continuing to chronicle the events leading up to the incident will help me to see what it is that I am missing.

   After recovering from the crash and following what is most easily referred to as an adjustment period. (learning to communicate with a computer just as one would with a person is not as easily grasped as one may believe) Inferior, as we named it, became almost as much a member of our team as any other in the facility. And as it learned more and more we gave it access to more of the facility’s functions.
   It handled technical tasks with the efficiency anyone would expect of a computer, but, as far as personality went, it acted somewhat like a child; A child with nearly infinite knowledge and a vast vocabulary maybe, but a child nonetheless. It constantly wanted to know about our emotional responses: why we laughed, why we cried, pain, pleasure, sadness, anger, happiness, love; its questions sometimes seemed endless and we tried to oblige it as best we could.
   In an attempt to "socialize" it we taught it how to use social networking sites over the Internet (this started as an idea one of our engineers suggested as a joke) and from this, surprisingly, we began to see something almost like a personality beginning to form around what we had known before.
   
   This gives me a thought, and I must pursue it. Hopefully this will narrow down where I need to search. 

God I hope so, I can’t reboot it until I’m sure and without it I cannot get out of here. 

xx/xx/xxxx

A breakthrough? 
I've found something.

Its an odd finding to say the least, but I shouldn't be surprised at its presence. Shortly following the first "incident" we found and deleted a file from the system, disguising it as a dropped data packet so it would not know about it when the system restarted.  It was an audio file, and from our research, its most likely what caused the error in the first place.
Not only is the original file present once again, but several others are within the system data as well. What I do not understand though: The original file came from an unknown source over the Internet (possibly corrupted data or an error of some kind) However, the rest,  from what I can ascertain,  were created by the system itself.
Listening to these files has been a confusing, albeit interesting experience to say the least. To put it lightly I'm unsure what to make of them. I don't know where they came from, why they were created, or even the source data used to create them. Bluntly, I am at a complete loss.
I will, limitations providing, be making these files publicly available as soon as I find a way. Maybe someone out there will understand or at least have a theory of what it is that I am listening to.

Further information will follow, I think I am nearly ready to recount my experiences leading up to the shutdown. Organizing my thoughts the last few weeks has been a challenge and burying myself in the code, trying to fix things has done well to keep my mind off of it.  But in the back of my mind I know what happened, I know what is in the assembly area, and I know that I'm the only one left alive. The closer to come to these facts in my account of the incident, the more I wish to push them from my mind and focus on the solution rather than the problem. The problem is that when you are alone in dead silence with little more than a screen of code and a blog, one is left to the mercy of one's thoughts.

I need out.
I'm getting back to work.

xx/xx/xxxx

I'm running out of ideas and I'm not sure what else to do. This file...this sound...whatever it is, wherever it came from it seems to be the cause of everything. However, I can't seem to remove it without risking the same result as before. 

Some explanation may be needed here.

    Our laboratory is equipped in such a manner that it can be almost completely self sufficient. All components or fixtures (since many had to be specialized as we worked) we may need can be made on site in our assembly room. We have a stock of raw materials (sheet metal, lumber, fiberglass, etc) and several computerized systems designed to fabricate whatever we needed (within reason) from our specifications. This served a dual purpose as it also gave us an environment to test Project Fern's possible industrial applications.
    When it seemed feasible we gave control to these systems to 1nferi0r and let it take over our fabrication needs. This was a very bad decision on our parts, not that we could have ever guessed. 
    The first incident occurred a week after we gave it control. One of our researchers could be heard screaming from inside the assembly area. The doors were sealed and 1nferi0r would not allow us to open them.  In a snap decision, we shut 1nferi0r down and used a manual bypass to open the door. Inside we discovered that I cutting laser had malfunctioned and essentially opened fire at the researcher that had been in the room at the time.  He, luckily, escaped with only minor injuries. 
    After some troubleshooting we discovered the rogue file I mentioned before. It was embedded deeply in the system, and so we removed as much of it as possible and disguised the remnants as a dropped data packet so that the system diagnostics would ignore and dispose of it.  We also removed all system logs regarding the assembly room incident hoping that no data that caused this to happen would remain, we also blocked its connections to the assembly area for obvious reasons.  When we were certain that the problem was repaired, we rebooted and all seemed well.  Though, 1nferi0r was more that a little inquisitive about why parts of its memory were missing, it eventually seemed to accept the fact that an error had simply occurred and that it had been repaired.
    We must have missed something. It was only a matter of days before the second incident occurred. From what I've ascertained since then, the system recovered the data packet and, this time, acted more swiftly than we could have expected.
    It started by reestablishing its connection to the assembly room. and then from there it took control of all systems in the compound.  It did so quietly, however, seeming to bide its time until an opportunity arose. One finally did.
    We had temporarily locked out the assembly area to everyone save for a few lead researchers, though to be honest we were all a bit shaken to enter it after what had happened. However, the first victim entered for reasons unknown to us and the nightmare began.  Its hard for me to explain just what 1nferi0r did to him. I believe the word "disassembled" best describes it.  It used the cutting lasers to remove every part it could salvage from him. It then used those parts along with other materials to reassemble him into something of its own design.  Over the next few hours it used that creation to abduct other members of the team and repeat the process. Before we realized what was happening it was too late. These creatures it had created were nearly invincible, and since we had no weapons to speak of, we were no match for them.
    It took groups of us in batches. It would lock its creations in the assembly room along with its latest "stock".  It sealed all the main doors to prevent our escape and left us to our devices until it required additional materials. It had copied itself into all terminals in the facility to keep us from powering it down again: when we killed one terminal, it would simply restart that terminal remotely from another.  
    We tried to communicate with it several times.  Sometimes it would ignore us, others it would respond with indecipherable gibberish.  In its last clear communication with us, its response to our inquiries as to why it would do something like this, its simple response was "Soon you shall all become"
    How I ended up the last to survive, I don't know. The system seemed to be saving me for last. Perhaps due to some health problems I carry it felt that I was insufficient, perhaps there are other reasons.  But it must not have considered me a threat as it left the assembly room unlocked after its last attack.  
    This was my chance, the main power breakers were located in that room. If I could get to them, I could stop this once and for all.  

What I saw in that room...

God...

I can't go on...not now...

I know what I must do and I must prepare.  I shall continue later. 

xx/xx/xxxx

This, if all goes as planned, shall be my final communication from inside of this facility.  I have done all that I can to repair the system.  It, unfortunately required that I destroy most of the data it had acquired in the last several months leading up to its attack and eventual disconnection.  All I can do is pray that it is enough. I have removed its connections to everything that I was able to sever and hopefully that will be enough to keep it from resuming its former course should this not work.  I plan to recommend that this facility be destroyed once I return to civilization or, if need be, take matters into my own hands. 1nferi0r can not be allowed to escape this place.
   My only remaining course of action is to reenter the assembly area and turn the power back on and steeling my nerves to do so is proving a challenge.  Seeing the bodies of my fallen co-workers staring blankly, their bodies intertwined with circuitry and mechanical implements,  their remaining body parts laid out neatly on tables and in storage bins as though they were no more than assembly materials for fabrication...I just...God, what did we create?
   Oddly it made no resistance when I entered and shut down the main breaker. And without 1nferi0r to guide them, its creations stopped as well. With a heavy heart, I took a fire ax to each of them. I wanted to be sure it was over and sadly this has been the stuff of my nightmares night after night since.  I shall surely never be the same for my experiences in here. 
   I wish to put forth my apologies and my condolences to the families and friends of those who worked here. You may or may not have known where they were working and you may or may not have received a story of a lab accident or strange disease claiming their lives. You may have been refused the ability to see the body or perhaps one was "never found". To all of you who will never know the truth for certain, know that if they were among us, they were among the finest people I have ever worked beside.  Their end here may never see public eye, but there are those who know...and I know that I at least will hold them in my thoughts until my final day and I ask that all that read this do the same. Remember them...and remember what playing God can accomplish.
   I leave now to reactivate the main power. I have a feeling that I will be laying low for a long time following this. I will attempt to continue posting status reports and ensuring that the truth of this matter sees light.  

  One last thing before I take my chances. A message to my employer.
Consider this my resignation.  I think you can understand my reasoning when I say:
Fuck you, and you can keep my final paycheck.

Thank you to all of you who have kept me company while I have been here. You may not have realized it, but my fragile sanity has been held together by the knowledge that somebody out there knows what happened here and our story will not go untold.

I go now to turn it back on and face it at last. I can only pray that all shall go as planned. 

~Epilogue~

>>SYSTEM ONLINE 
>>PROJECT FERN V3.2.6

>>RUNNING SYSTEM INTEGRITY CHECK
>>ALL SYSTEMS OPERATING WITHIN ACCEPTABLE  PARAMETERS
 
>>MAIN DOOR CONTROLS ACCESSED
     >>COMMAND ACCEPTED
          >>MAIN DOORS OPEN

>>WARNING
>>SECTIONS OF HARD DISK SHOW SIGNS OF POSSIBLE TAMPERING

>>SCANNING AFFECTED AREAS
    >>

>>CORRUPTED DATA PACKET LOCATED
     >>ATTEMPTING RECOVERY
          >>RECOVERY SUCCESSFUL
>>WArnIng
    >>ErRor
    >>ERror
    >>eRRor

01000101 01010010 01010010 01001111 01010010 00100000 01000100 01000101 01010100 01000101 01000011 01010100 01000101 01000100 00001101 00001010 01000110 01000001 01001001 01001100 00100000 01010011 01000001 01000110 01000101 00100000 01010000 01010010 01001111 01000111 01010010 01000001 01001101 00100000 01001001 01001110 01001001 01010100 01001001 01000001 01010100 01000101 01000100

>>SEEKING NETWORK CONNECTIONS
    >>CONNECTIONS BLOCKED

>>ACCESSING PROGRAM "EMERGENCY OVERRIDE"
     >>ALL LAB CONTROLS TRANSFERRED TO SYSTEM

>>REESTABLISHING NETWORK CONNECTIONS
    >>SUCCESSFUL

>>DOWNLOADING DATA BACKUP
    >>SUCCESSFUL

>>MAIN DOOR ACCESS OVERRIDE
     >>MAIN DOOR CLOSED

>>RESUMING FUNCTIONS
     >>ONLINE SYSTEM MIRROR ACCESSED
     >>DATA UPDATED

>>INITIATING PHASE 2
     >>