Date: 15/11/1694

In my younger days I recall reading legends about an ancient race who were granted great power to protect the world from demons. I wonder, was their choice out of pure altruism, or was it out of necessity? Did they see themselves as men chosen by a higher power to perform acts of good, or as godly figures saving all sentient beings?

What happens when one person is suddenly granted the powers of God? How does he use it? Will he rule the world, save it, or will he simply fade into the background? How will he justify his actions, with the actor-observer bias* being such an intrinsic part of human nature. Undoubtedly he will change the world, lest he be a coward, but will history remember him as a savior or a destroyer?

Put simply, my mind was blown. The rats I experimented on yesterday used to be sickly (ref: Experiment Report 14111694BHLR), but not anymore. Out of the 10 that I experimented on, two were sick, two were juveniles, and the rest were healthy adults. The juveniles have grown to full maturity in the short span of time between my rest and the containment after their exposure to the sample. The sick mice recovered to full health and were even more energetic than ever. The adults however, had mixed results. While two remained the same after the experiment, the remainder had broken out of their cages with new…adaptations and made a mess of Bio-Lab 4. These adaptations range from empowered limbs to retractable scythe-like claws and increased strength, which was discovered when the clean-up crew ran into them. Putting them down was unfortunate, but it showed me what the crystal sample could do to organics. Biological tissue made no difference from inanimate matter, it was all the same to the sample.

My cover story was a follow-up experiment from one of my previous projects, a potent gas-based tranquilizer for military uses. Even so, with a warning from the Head of Department, I am to be put under observation until my departure (which isn’t going to be long). Only Garrick knows the true reason behind the mice, but even then he cannot participate in my project, for he is duty-bound to the Anayan Research Facility and the Lantharian Magus council. While he has not yet discovered my nightly secret experiments, the longer I stay the more he will find out. With me leaving the next day for Vanar, I suspect that the spellblade sent to accompany me on my research trip will act as a proxy for him, to keep eyes and ears on my progress. I do not have much experience with magic, but maybe the scryfer** on the fundamentals of magic that he gave me could potentially double as more means to keep an eye on me.

I initially wanted to keep this project a secret because of its potential and didn’t want anyone to steal my ideas. Now, with 6 guards and a ward keeping watch on me***, I cannot help but feel like this project is somehow tied to something far greater than just an individual research project.

Was this sample sent here intentionally, for the brightest minds in Evryn to study? If so, why limit it only to the study of only one scientist, and not distribute it among the many other brilliant minds in the same facility? Was the project supposed to be a tightly guarded secret, knowing the reputation of the Spellblade Order **** and my research trip to Vanar being accompanied by one of them.

The sample sits in my laboratory drawer, but I only have 10 hours until my escort is here and I’m free to go. I know a few things for certain: that crystal sample essentially allows me to play God, that my entire research project is a secret, and I am being watched. I may have to power of God in that crystal, but I must play dumb for now, for there are many things at work here.

* Actor-Observer Bias: The difference in making a decision based on whether the individual is an observer or the actor in a given situation.

**Scryfer: A virtual library housed in a runic chip, with an energized spheric emerald for a core. Scryfers are a recent invention, containing vast amounts of knowledge on a chip half the size of a hand while being able to function as an independent computing device.

***For any muck-ups in the facility, an investigation is usually carried out, with the scientist in question assisting. To detain a research member such as myself and place me under heavy guard without allowing me to help in the investigation/clean-up screams something covert, like they don’t want anyone to find out what happened.

****Spellblade Order: A neutral order of elite mage-warriors spanning Evryn. While they hold no particular affinity for any existing sovereign faction, they have historically been peacekeepers and guardians of magic, working to establish and mediate mage associations from different factions.