The experiment required sixty days in solitude.  The equipment and rations I was provided were not dissimilar to the ones at my disposal now.  I would be isolated in a chamber slightly smaller than a standard escape pod, with no ability to contact the outside world.  My physical and psychological state would be constantly monitored and at the first sign of life-threatening illness or madness, the experiment would end.  Anything less than a critical failure of my physical or mental health would be my problem and my problem alone.

It was grueling in every conceivable way.  On the fifty-fifth day, I had collapsed and lost consciousness.  I learned later that my heart rate had become erratic after consuming food I had only half-processed – a mental error that could have cost me my life.

I have lasted longer this time around then I did in that chamber, but there are two crucial differences.  The first is that after years of active duty, I am stronger mentally than I was all those years ago.  The second is that in that chamber, I knew the situation I was in and I knew when my test would end.  Today, I am adrift, with little hope of rescue.  It appears that my position in time and space is fluctuating wildly.  I may or may not be the subject of some twisted experiment being conducted by my attackers. My wife may be dead. I may be all alone. All I have are the tapes in my archive, voices from who knows when, and a sliver of hope that I pray is strong enough to get through this blackest of nights.  Is it enough? I don’t know, and now even my dreams provide me no comfort.

Visions of darkness plague me, as if the world, the universe, is on the verge of some horrific crisis.  I see creatures of unspeakable horror, twisting terrors from some nether region threatening to tear existence apart.  Is this madness? Or something worse? Either way, there is no peace in sleep for me anymore.  The nightmares have begun.

The performance starred Derek Long as John McCutcheon, Kofi Appiah as Sterling Hawley and the beggar, Izzy Nuttall as Gwen Carlyle and Maureen, Charles Giardina as Archie Talbot, Adrienne Losch as Catherine Pease and Bess, Cynthia Wang as Miss Mary Jane, Dave Malinsky as Inspector Nesbit, and David Seamans as Assistant Inspector Dinsdale.

It has been two hours since I wrote that last sentence – two hours of which I have no memory.  What is happening to me?

I am still in the process of sifting through the information I received during the incident, but I am filled with hope by the possibilities.  Among the disparate elements, I believe I have found a series of transmissions from Earth.  They could be anything, even old entertainment programs, but they’re still a little piece of home, and I treasure them.  If I find anything worthwhile among them, I will relay it you as soon as possible.

To you.  I often wonder if I am just imagining that someone is hearing this broadcast as a means of preserving my own sanity. Is there really anyone listening?  Or am I merely shouting alone into the blackness with no one to hear me?  Is there anybody out there?

Is there anybody out there?

Is it not outside of the realm of possibility that my attackers are observing me even now, conducting a sick and twisted experiment designed to broaden their understanding of the human race’s potential?  If indeed I am their captive, then this whole exercise seems pointless.  Why transmit if all of my transmissions will be blocked?  Why bother struggling at all?

In the event that they are watching, if I were to give in, to stop trying and allow myself to die in this pod, would it frustrate them or inspire them?  Would it disappoint them that man gives in so easily to his surroundings, or would it convince them that conquest of Earth is well within their means?  It is impossible to know how to take a test unless one understands how one is being judged.  In this respect, I am ignorant.

I cannot choose to live my life based on what I do not know.  I do not know who is watching me or for what purpose, or if I am merely drifting through space and time due to a freak coincidence and a series of unlikely but natural events.  My very existence has become a mystery, one that I do not know how to solve.  Until more evidence presents itself, I can only soldier on into the darkness and the silence.

I cannot begin to explain how or why.  I have my theories.  There is a chance that my attackers are far more powerful than I had previously suspected, and that they are manipulating me for some unknown purpose.  It is equally possible that I have simply had the misfortune of being caught in a heretofore unknown universal slipstream that is carrying me backwards through existence.  In any event, escape is imperative.  I will continue broadcasting in the hope of finding assistance, but as of now, all resources are being turned toward find a solution to this dilemma.

A final, curious note: the further back in time I go, the louder the noise grows.  It’s beginning to sound like… drums.

Further updates coming soon.