Part 1: Introduction
Subject 4, later referred to as "Nick", was selected for the Human Rebirth Project due to his high physical resilience and low psychological resistance. Aged approximately twenty. Male. Prior identity: “Jake” (no surname verified). Frequent record in local systems for crimes typically associated with instability and survivalism: trespassing, petty assault, vandalism, unarmed theft.
No existing medical history. Family fragments were found, a possible brother named Alex, and another figure referred to only as “FP.” Subject had reportedly formed a brief domestic partnership with an unidentified female individual before detachment. Selection criteria were clear: instability that could be leveraged, not corrected. We were not concerned with recovery. Only reconfiguration.
The HRP’s intent is to fully restructure a subject’s body and mind across three phases: somatic, cognitive, and social re-encoding. In Subject 4’s case, physiological anomalies emerged early:
- Height reduction: 175cm to 168cm.
- Skin: changed to a durable, red-hued dermal layer resembling synthetic hide.
- Cranial geometry: angular, unnaturally cubic. Aesthetic deviation deemed non-critical.
- Apparel rejection: subject experienced tactile discomfort with fabrics, resulting in shirt refusal. This was tolerated post-Phase II.
His musculature developed beyond projected capacity, but symmetry failed to stabilize. The effect was jarring but operational.
After stabilization, Subject 4 demonstrated no apparent distress at his new form. He adjusted faster than expected. He would often align the edges of his square head against corners of the testing chamber, a behavior that repeated in various environments. We assumed it was pattern-seeking, or possibly comfort-seeking.
He spoke rarely. When he did, it was either a direct response or an abstract fragment.
Once, during observation, he stated, “I’m not human anymore, am I?.” Most of the team dismissed him as cognitively incomplete, residual synaptic noise. I wasn’t sure. I kept a log of his statements. No pattern, but tone. He drew obsessively. Diagrams, faces, geometric loops. Nothing identifiably sourced. I’d leave paper out and it would vanish, absorbed into shapes the others didn’t care to look at. He never engaged with other subjects. He sometimes stood near the edge of my station for prolonged periods, silent. Never disruptive. Just standing. Watching me calibrate. I logged the behavior once or twice, then stopped.
I didn’t feel threatened. I don’t know if that was a mistake.
Part 2: Incident Log #4.528
Subject 4 - Status: Dissapeared
Departure was not logged through standard exit procedures. No force detected at containment points. Sedation records are clean. No failed locks.
We found a single marking in the steel panel of his chamber wall, etched deep enough to cut the reinforcement plate:
"R E T U R N"
I examined the linework myself. It was clean. Intentional. Not carved in panic. A drone picked up movement in the southern suburb ring days later. Heat signature matched. Visuals distorted. Red figure, angular head, traveling on foot. We attempted pursuit. Signal was lost before confirmation. No attempts were made to retrieve him after Phase IV called for internal reevaluation.
We have no official name for the region where he was suspected he ran in, but I've been calling it “The Verge.” That’s where they went, the escapees. It isn’t on any map. You only find it if you’ve already failed. I’ve been cataloging rumors. Mutated figures seen around half-constructed neighborhoods, collapsed transit lines, irrigation ruins. Testimonies from transient populations, graffiti on fallout shelters in languages no one can trace.
The entirety of this document will not be placed in the archive, and will be saved for personal reasons, even despite the multitude of warnings about how it doesn’t align with the lab’s code of conduct. This document won’t go public, and by the chance it does, I will find a way to retreat this lab and delete whatever trace of my existence was left here.
Below is the information that I have collected and will share.
I need to keep studying Nick. End of Log.
- M
