Sincerely, Jennifer x

Supervising Officer Mia Woodburn Personal Log – 30th May 2069

He has a heartbeat, and I can hear it everywhere.

It’s always dark outside, but today, it seemed even darker. The stars seemed to be hiding. It’s cold in here, no matter what setting we have the heating units on, and the prisoners have begun to get restless.

The peace and quiet, as unusual and creepy as it was, will be sorely missed. They’re not quite back to their old selves yet, but they’re fired up, over… something.

They’re all looking over at Nukan, whispering along with him, staring, scratching all over their skin. Some of them are getting really upset, crying, screaming, scratching themselves until they bleed, and we’re running out of ways to restrain them. They’ve broken three of my Nursebots, broken the arm of a junior staff member, and two of my senior staff have been scratched up so badly that their faces are pouring with blood.

One of the senior officers was killed. Benny Jones. He was a nice guy. I’m going to write to his husband after and let him know. I feel terrible for him… There will barely be anything to bury or cremate. Benny was… well… he was torn to pieces. He was ripped apart, and… I know it sounds crazy, but as I found his body, that’s when I first heard the heartbeat. It was all around me.

On the cameras, I could see that Benny went down in Nukan’s cell, but the camera blacked out for a few seconds, so I can’t see what happened. I had a Nursebot scan Nukan, and… now he has a heart. I don’t know how. I don’t understand what’s going on.

We’re used to violence from the prisoners, but it’s never been this bad before. I know that they’re not exactly angels, but they never get like this, not all at once anyway.

I think it has something to do with Nukan. Think about it. He shows up, and all this kicks off? But… why? What is he? What does he want?

He just sits there in his cell, watching them as they focus on him, and he whispers quietly, smiling a little every time I look over. I know there’s something wrong with him, but I think it goes deeper than that.

The Prison Service is sending us some doctors and some extra guards, but they won’t be here until morning. I’m not sure what they’ll do when they get here. I’m not sure what I’ll do until they get here.

I wish I’d never taken this job.