what we have chosen to become

August 14th 1945.

It has been settled that what had transpired will be an undocumented incident that shall never be revealed to the public. Even under threat of incarceration and death, any and all remaining members of Unit 731 have agreed to keeping this incident a complete and total secret. Any witnesses that could've revealed the information have already been settled with. The burden of what we have done will weigh on our shoulders and on our shoulders alone. Of course, if it comes to needing immunity we are to reveal what happened around it. Recount the bits and pieces that surrounded the event but never interacted with it. It's a secret we need to take to the grave. The only thing that will have any record of it happening...

Is my diary.

July 5th.

New batch of logs came in. Means it's time for more experimentation and to gain more understanding. My juniors are asking to perform the frostbite experiment again, to use hammers instead of ice picks. Something about an ice pick may result in a hole in the hand, rather than the satisfying effect of it shattering into pieces. I tend to resent them at times. For them these experiments aren't about the pursuit of knowledge, they're a way to satisfy a primal urge within them. They think emotionally, not scientifically. I at least have my peers and superiors who follow the same mindset I have. Albeit they still have an issue in terms of sedentary. They are curious to learn more about the limits of our human bodies yet they have fallen into the doing the same usual experiments with slightly tweaked parameters. Instead of mustard gas, phosphorus gas. Instead of -15 degrees Celsius, -30 degrees Celsius. Repeat ad nauseum. Very few of them wish to step beyond the boundaries we set for ourselves and actually challenge our knowledge of humanity. Hopefully this idea I have for them shall be one they'll take an interest in.

July 14th.

I have been discussing my idea with a couple of my trusted co-workers. They held an immediate and enjoyable interest in the idea. If they liked it well enough, I don't see any reason why I should withheld that information here. It's very simple. It is the application of reducing the structure of a human body into clay and rebuilding them into something more fitting. Well, a clay-like substance. Our vivisection sector has dabbled into a similar concept what with the removal of limbs and attaching them to other parts of the body. Yet that's only scratching the surface of what I aim to achieve with this possible experiment. To restructure the human form may be a cause in an absolute change of the future. One can only imagine the possibilities of what can be done once we are able to change our bodies into something else. There are a couple of ways in order to achieve this but I will first need clearance from my superiors. I wish for the best.

July 18th.

Good news, they have given me the go ahead to conduct this experiment. They've given me 5 logs to do my experiments on, a little bit less than expected but it's no issue to complain about. Testing will begin in a week as we'll need to obtain the materials required to conform a human being into clay. After some dedicated research and intel from Axis spies, I have come to the conclusion that nuclear energy will be required to enact this process. Uranium and Plutonium are the candidates of choice, to be on the safe side I have requested that we have both for usage. The plan of action is to keep the logs within a locked room with uranium and plutonium exposed and in close contact with them. Three of them will be with uranium, two shall be with plutonium. Observation will be held with great effort taken for our safety, including hazmat suits for all personnel and binoculars for long range observation. We've been graciously given the chance to have these tests be conducted with a great amount of visibility due to the location. The doors have been outfitted to be tempered glass, with the tests being conducted 50 metres apart to reduce the amount of variables. Now perhaps it is unbecoming of me to say but I do feel anxious to make a start on this project.

July 25th.

The experiment has begun and we have just finished the first day. The logs we have received consist of 2 men in their 30s, 2 women in their late 20s and a child. A near even split was able to made with the child being chosen to be on the plutonium side. The decision came "gracefully" thanks to the juniors asking to decide it on a coin toss. As much as I would've loved to lock them into the rooms myself, I could do nothing but accept their offer. I was originally going to place the child on the uranium side due to the stronger radiation that plutonium irradiates but thanks to the coin toss, I had to honour their word. There's a certain part of me that wants to throw them into the rooms and block the room with cement. Regardless, the experiment began. They are to be fed and watered with standard rations as an interruption with malnutrition could stand to put the experiment into a crisis. So far the logs on the uranium side are faring moderately well, albeit with some slight emotional distress due to being separated from their families. The ones on the plutonium side are handling the situation more roughly, with the child complaining about headaches and feeling ill. Nothing else to really make note of yet, results are expected later along the experiment regardless. Very interested to see what happens when that time comes.

July 27th.

The plutonium logs are having difficulty with moving around the room. Mostly stemming from a sense of vertigo that may be paired with the nausea. Due to the vertigo they use the wall as assistance to walk. The man was unable to reach the toilet in time at 3:02PM and needed to vomit in a corner of the room. The uranium logs aren't fairing much better, the woman has made a complaint about having clumps of her hair falling off. The juniors have nicknamed her Spot due to the spots of her scalp peeking through. The temptation to ask my superiors about their removal from my sector grows stronger with each passing day. Hopefully this will be the extent of their interruptions.

July 30th.

The symptoms for the plutonium logs are gradually intensifying. The child has been reduced to crawling on the floor and needing to be picked up by one of the adults in order to use the toilet. Incidents of vomiting are occurring more often, a corner of the room now being designated as where one would throw up if they could not reach the toilet. The man and woman are starting to lose their appetite both from the poisoning and the general sense of nausea. Many complaints have been made about needing to leave at this point. The uranium logs are also suffering from ailments, the man in particular being constantly seated on the toilet due to diarrhoea. This has caused in-fighting with the two logs, security personnel have been informed of this for the potential scenario of tensions increasing. A couple of the juniors were spotted trying to slip an inappropriate message to the uranium logs without the use of hazmat suits, that particular group now being barred from interrupting the experiment. It is quite the immense relief.

August 2nd.

The tensions with the uranium logs reached a breaking point. After a trivial argument where the man complained about the smell the woman was making, the two got into a violent altercation. After the man broke the toilet seat into pieces, he then proceeded to stab the woman in the neck. He continued to do so until the head was decapitated. As that side of the experiment has failed, he is to be denied access to food and water for the duration of his stay until his passing. The plutonium logs are decidedly less active, due to the loss of motor function within their legs. They've been reduced to relieving themselves on the floor within their corner of the room. They also seem to be suffering from an immense infection because of the sustained contact with their excrement. The man's skin seems to be coming at a point where it's sloughing off, revealing sickly orange muscles underneath. We may be reaching an apex of the experiment soon, which is quite exciting to think about. Only time will tell of course but I have high hopes.

August 4th.

The juniors, despite their requested removal from the station, have taken to documenting what is happening to the uranium log. The man has mostly been reduced to cannibalism and having sexual intercourse with the corpse to keep himself occupied. His eyes were noted to have been leaking blood and his skin to have started to slough off like the man on the plutonium side. Speaking of, the woman and child are seemingly reach the end of their lives. While under close inspection they've been shown to still be breathing, they have chosen to sit close to each other in an embrace in the far left corner of the room and have refused to move from their spot. The man has been less silent, begging and banging on the door to be let free. It's interesting to note that a puddle of an unidentifiable fluid has been pooling underneath the woman and child and has begun to seep underneath the door crack. Will need to be examined soon.

August 6th

At last. The clay process is undergoing. Both on the uranium side and the plutonium side. For the uranium side, the man had passed out on top of the woman due to a lack of sleep. Once he woke up, he had found himself beginning to fuse with the corpse. He's been screaming non-stop ever since, praying to his God to kill him now instead of letting him suffer. Their skin has taken on a sickly green colour, with dashes of dark red mixed in. It's interesting to note that the man's back has started to collapse inwards, showing a hole that reveals the lungs and stomach. For the plutonium side it's a similar experience. The man had decided to join the woman and child together by sliding himself between the two of them, letting the fluids of their bodies fall onto him. Their skin is of the sickly green that the man had, mixed in with some harsh browns. The faces of the woman and child are collapsing inwards to reveal an empty hole that leads to the throat.

August 8th

Something is starting to go wrong. My peers and juniors are reporting about noises being heard during the night. Awful groans that echo throughout the halls. They are still living despite the immense amount of radiation coursing through them with little to no medical attention. The uranium side is particularly worrying due to the fact that despite being attached to a decaying corpse, the man is still breathing. Aside from the sporadic groans of pain, he is silent. The plutonium logs are still tightly bound together and silent but they are arguably more worrying.

They've moved to the far right corner.

They've taken on a more solid shape too.

They do not resemble people embracing anymore.

They resemble a face, with empty heads for eyes and the man for a mouth.

I hope that this is the extent of what's to come.

August 10th.

I have been unable to sleep since yesterday. It is unlikely that I'll ever be able to sleep again after that night, I'll only be able to sleep when I pass out from exhaustion. What happened yesterday will stay with me for the rest of my life. On both sides of the experiment I have seen and witnessed something I'll never be able to take back. For the plutonium side, the logs moved to the centre of the room and...began to speak. Their voices were mixed together, as if their vocal chords had been melded. For what they said they...

They thanked us.

Thanked us bringing them close. For bringing it "to this world" and to have been given a form it could barely describe as "poetic." I can't get the image of looking deep into the hole of where it spoke from and seeing what could've only been the man's back, completely red and slimy. Reminded me too much of a tongue. I left when it began to talk of what it was going to do as gift of appreciation. The uranium logs weren't any better. They still stood in the centre of the room but it appeared as if the two of them expanded. Every inch of the floor was covered in sickly and rotten skin, the stench was unbearable. The uranium clay spoke with decidedly more venom than the plutonium clay. It might've been my eyesight becoming blurry but I could've sworn I saw the hole open and close as it spoke. It ridiculed me, tore us down and reduced us to nothing. It ranted and raved about being "brought to this world" in pain and misery. It demanded more out of us, to heal and fix it so that it can do "what it was made to do." I do not wish to know what it can do. I do not wish to think on this experiment anymore. I've requested the security personnel to dispose of them by fire, I cannot bear to look at what I've created. I'll be trying to get some more sleep tonight and possibly tomorrow as well. Will be needing a lot of time to process this.

August 12th.

I've been informed of some disturbing information after their passing. Once the corpses and the radioactive material were removed, the juniors took the liberty of examining the area to see if anything was left over. Must've been trying to find something to sell or whatever. But once they looked around, they found symbols that were drawn onto the walls that were by the door. Drawn in blood on a wall where we couldn't observe, were stars. Specifically, after some rudimentary research, pentagrams. They were on both sets of walls for both rooms, which lead to the question of how both sets of logs drew pentagrams. I asked my superior on where they had obtained the logs and they stated that they were a group of tourists who had travelled to the country wearing all black. Carrying pamphlets that described a group known as Under Heaven. From what I could gather, it practices and praises the works of the Christian figure known as Satan.

It calls to mind something that the uranium log said to me as it spoke with pure fury.

"The torture you have given them began this process. But this is what we have chosen to become. And to swear on our graves, this is what you'll become too."

The second and last piece of information came from when the corpses were placed into a furnace and set alight. While the plutonium logs were reduced to ash, the ashes of the uranium logs were unable to be found.

I'll be carrying a knife with me as I sleep for the rest of my life. I can only wish that I will be spared for what I have done.