My Perfect World, Shattered

DAY 0

It’s only a few weeks since I left the mainland. Good riddance. It’s been years since I got my doctorate. I was trying to follow in my grandfather’s footsteps, becoming a scientist to try and better the world. In the mainland, however, I’d unfortunately experienced nothing but set backs in concern to my peers and my government. Using the knowledge I’d gained through years of studying engineering and robotics, I built my own craft in secret. It’s taken a while, but I finally completed it. I set out today from the main continent toward one of the larger, uninhabited islands far from my home nation.

I’ve had my fill of my corrupt, unjust government and what they call progress. After all, this is the same government that allowed my favorite cousin to die years prior, when she fell ill to a terminal disease. This was same government who jailed my grandfather, then in their employ, for attempting to find a cure for her fatal ailment. I had always sought to use my gifts to better humanity, yet I knew, as I grew older that the culture of the mainland would not allow me to. It was because of this that I’ve set out, far away to an unclaimed chunk of land, in an attempt to pioneer my own nation. I hope to create a land where corruption and sadness are nonexistent. I know this is not completely possible, but I must try.

By morning I will arrive at the new land. I must rest now.

DAY 1

I set forth to explore the island. There are no people here, but there is a great myriad of wildlife. The animals seemed to be dwarf variations of those I’d find on the mainland. Most of them, even those that are considered feral and territorial, such as bears and walruses, have proven friendly and sociable towards me. I must take care to protect them and preserve a safe environment for them as I build my new country. Things of such a good nature should be protected, after all.

During my survey of the island, I came across the ruins of an old, extinct culture. Apparently it had inhabited the island before, yet there was no trace of its people. At the core of the structure, I found a group of relics atop pedestals. Afraid to disturb them, I ran a test to determine their composition, in hopes that it may’ve given me some clues to the culture that was here before. The relics seemed to be emitting a large amount of energy. A machine would easily be able to harness it as a power source. Fearful that, should I been followed by my government, they would fall into the wrong hands I removed the six of them from the ruins. In doing so, I accidentally reactivated the structure’s archaic security system: a series of traps that rely on a lava flow running underneath the ground for both its power source and firepower. The natives obviously realized the power of these relics, as they wanted them protected as well.

I’ll have to disable it later, after I’ve put things in order. Now in order to build my country, I must keep these animals safe as well as the relics. This is becoming more troublesome than I initially imagined, but I feel I will persevere. Every problem has a solution, after all. Tomorrow, I will begin construction.

DAY 2

I began construction today. In order to keep the animals out of harm’s way, I’ve developed numerous suspended animation systems. The initial model was a capsule structure designed to house numerous animals at once, though the number was still limited. After all, I didn’t want them slumbering in a cramped space where they could be unintentionally injured while they were unconscious. After filling up the few models I had, I discovered there was a slight overflow of the population. Not wanting them to be injured by the robots I’d built to help with construction, I had to engineer some way to house this overflow. I created portable suspended animation capsules and added them to the internal workings of my worker bots.

This’ll house the overflow, and keep them safe. The animals will be completely unconscious the entire time, so when matters are put in order, they’ll wake up as if they’ve just been asleep for the night. This is one issue out of the way.

As for the relics, I’ve placed them in secure locations throughout the island. Each of them is hidden in a virtual reality simulation stations that I’ve engineered as a barrier. The unearthly physics and constantly changing gravity in the program would make it impossible to retrieve the relics inside. Since I’m the only one with access to disable the program, I’m the only one who can get to them. They’ll be safe for now. Now I can move onward with building my nation.

DAY 17

I’ve established my base of operations at the center of the island. It’s a bit barebones at the moment, but setting up the rest of the island first is more important. The robots have made construction go along so much faster. I’ve already set up a city and a highway. At least I have my nation’s capital completed.

I came across a series of buried ruins and an underground lake while building both. I built over it, while taking care not completely destroy the structure. I sent several of my robots down into the ruins to investigate. Hopefully, they’ll return with valuable data about the island’s original people.

I made the decision to preserve the island’s coast as is. It was too difficult for me to sully such natural beauty. I sent a few of my robots there to monitor the area and to keep watch for signs of any visitors. I don’t want any tourists or government officials interfering with my plans, after all.

I keep forgetting to disable the traps in the aboveground ruins I encountered on my first day here. The days keep growing shorter, I suppose. I’ll have to take care of it later.

DAY 18

The robots I’d stationed on the coast had alerted me to a disturbance in the early hours of the morning. The images sent back by them appeared to be of some sort of beast. It was unlike any creature I’d ever encountered. I’m certain the zoologists on the mainland would’ve declared it a new species. Despite the intrigue the creature inspired, the reports indicated that it was attacking, and worse, destroying my robots. The animals housed in the robots’ internal suspension capsules would likely die of shock from the suspended animation process being halted unexpectedly. I had to do something.

I set out from the base in my craft, armed, but not looking for a fight. I optimistically assumed that perhaps this animal was one I’d missed in my sweep of the island, and was reacting this way out of fright. I hoped I could calm the creature upon my arrival, and put him into a sleep enclosure like the other animals. How wrong I was. When I arrived at the coast, I spotted the creature from the air, attacking the en mass suspended animation capsule I’d made for the coastal area. I descended in my craft and called out to the creature, in an attempt to reason with and/or calm it.

On first sight, the creature turned and lunged for my vehicle. I dodged out of the way and activated the weapons I’d installed, hoping to subdue it. Such an attempt proved futile. It was too quick to land a single hit upon, and before I knew it, it’d ripped the weapons off of my craft. I had no choice to retreat.

I flew away in my craft; fearful for what chaos this monster may bring to my new home. As I departed, I turned back to see the beast destroying the capsule. The animals I’d safely tugged away convulsed out of the wreckage, flopping about the ground below. My heart sank at the sight. I have to do something to stop this monster.

DAY 19

The airborne drones I released have tracked the creature’s route. It was crossing through the above ground ruins upon the last report. From what I can tell, the monster is heading for the city I just recently finished building. My new country’s capital is standing for three days, and already it’s under threat of attack. What’s more, it seems it found and disabled the VR Security device at the coast and retrieved the relic inside. In addition to being ferocious, it seems the creature is intelligent as well. Foolishly, I’d placed a capsule on the outskirts of the ruins, thinking it was safe. I felt I must go and retrieve it before the creature can destroy it and harm the animals inside.

I equipped my craft with a flamethrower, hoping this destructive beast couldn’t survive flames. When I arrived, once again, it proved too fast to actually land a hit. It sliced the flamethrower clean off of my craft, like a knife through butter. I had to flee again. I’ll have to block its progress at the city itself, I’m afraid. Let’s just hope my plan works.

DAY 20

The additional security I added to the city failed to keep the creature out. Most every robot I stationed there has been destroyed. My attempt to personally assault the creature failed again. I fled, in hopes to find another place to head it off, and later received reports that it’d dived into the underground ruins and destroyed every robot I put down there.

I attempted to dam up a portion of the underground lake to flood the ruins and drown the monster. I optimistically thought I could quell it this way, but the attempt failed. I suspect the creature may have increased lung capacity, as it later escaped the ruins after they’d been completely flooded. It seems bent on destroying every piece of technology I’ve placed on this island.

Less than an hour later, it was attacking the robots I’d left monitoring the highway. I attempted to head it off yet again, but I failed. Nothing I do, no weapon I try will stop this beast. I retreated to my base.

My robots outside the base have all been destroyed. The beast has also managed to find and disable each of the VR systems: now it has all of the relics in its claws. It’s planning something. All I know is that it wants me gone.

DAY 21

I haven’t slept. The creature breached the front gates of the base at the brink of dawn. Every robot and machine in its path has been brutally destroyed. I got desperate and opened up a trap door into a set of ruins I’d built the base on. I managed to plunge the demon down into it and seal it off, while hiding myself behind a force field.

I thought I was safe at that point, as there seemed to be no sign of it returning. To cool my head, I retreated into my lab to try and work on a large-scale hydraulic press I’d been working on to help me better manufacture my robots. It was then that the creature emerged from the floor and attacked the machine. Apparently, there was no killing it.

It totaled the machine before I could blink. I fled the lab and made my way down the corridor to the launch hatch for the craft I’d flown to the island. I could see the beast in hot pursuit. I managed to jump into the craft and lift off in time, flying off from the cliff overlooking the island below. I thought I was in the clear, but then it felt as it something had struck the back of the craft. The machinery sparked and burst into flames. I turned my head to look back at the launch hatch, and I saw the beast standing there, grinning in a grotesque satisfaction that it’d ensured my demise.

As I plummeted into the rocks below in a cloak of flames, I assured myself that I would survive. I would bring this world a utopia, even if it killed me. It was then, for the first time in my life, that I felt contempt for another living thing. This beast, for no reason, has destroyed all my hard work and risked the lives of those innocent creatures. It had more than earned my hatred. As sure as my name is Dr. Ivo Robotnik; I HATE that Hedgehog.