(This is a collaboration between too_spooked or 'Roger Straten,' Gahlo or 'Quincy Fuller' and BMPixy or 'Raymond Shen')
Name: Roger Straten Occupation: Engineer working with the X-COM Project
Age: 38 Current Whereabouts at the beginning of this journal: The shooting range
Date: March 24th, 2015
//Begin Journal
I didn't know what troubled Steve. I never was interested at gauging a person's mood by observing their micro-expressions and all that other bullshit that shrinks are into. I can only assume that he's affected to a certain degree by post-traumatic stress disorder, but even then, it isn't difficult by any stretch of the word to figure out if someone has been traumatized by something. Based on his background, probably has to do with one of his comrades dying on the field of battle. I didn't have the time to get into it, I had more important matters to do than speaking with someone about their problems for forty five minutes every Wednesday. I've gotten past mine, and hopefully Steve can get past his.
Our first satellite rolled off the production line today, and boy, does it look beautiful. Thankfully, due to my ingenuity, the satellite will only take several days to become operational over the country of the commander's choosing, X-COM certainly is lucky to have such a valuable asset. We've already identified that alien ships 'cloak' themselves to make themselves invisible to the naked eye and to a conventional satellite. The alien ships do this by bending light rays around themselves to make their ships undetectable, because if light cannot reach an object, you cannot see it. But their cloaking technology is imperfect, our satellites function by detecting these warped rays, which do not occur normally on this planet, and using them to find the source of the distortion, in this case, the alien craft. The satellite then begins streaming the location of the UFO to HQ in real time, which triggers the alarm and sends an image to the holo-globe for the Commander's viewing. This allows our fighter jets, equipped with same technology, to intercept and engage the alien craft before it begins doing something that harms humans, our infrastructure, or our planet. Truly ingenious, the works of our minds in the labs and the exceptional craftsmanship of engineers such as I.
Aside from a second satellite which Commander Odd ordered, the engineering team has received more schematics from the brains next door. A vest crafted from alien materials which follow the same principles as armor currently being developed from the bark spider's silk. Similarly to the spider silk vests, our state-of-the-art nano-fiber vests utilize tightly woven strands of material in order to absorb the energy of the bullet before it can puncture the soldier's skin. Those strands are more advanced than any spider silk or kevlar strands could ever strive to be. Fabricated out of thin carbon nano-tube fibers along with a gel-like alien substance bonding the strands with one another, their tensile strength is unmatched. It can stop even the highest caliber rounds at only 3cm thickness! But unfortunately, due to the high manufacturing cost of the material the vest can only be made several millimeters thick and still be economically feasible. Along with the incredible stopping power against projectile weapons they're extraordinarily resistant against extremely high temperatures! Say, a plasma bolt? The impediment of the otherwise lethal plasma will most assuredly increase the lifespan of our field operatives, and lucky Mrs. Robinson is our first customer. Hopefully it holds out as a viable source of protection on the field, but of course, we'll know after they come back from their latest mission.
I heard word from the lab boys that they're finally beginning to study the orange, crystalline substance found in those ominous canisters which they have unofficially dubbed 'Meld.' Early reports that got leaked apparently say that the crystals have incredible bonding power. Like a form of super glue. I can't wait to hear more, especially since they've appeared everywhere that our men have found aliens. I wonder if they use it to hold their space ships together, or as a method to bond their weapons with their skin, to ensure that they self-destruct upon their deaths, or maybe even to see if humans will bond with other objects, as an experiment of sorts? It's really difficult to assume, but the preliminary reports are extremely promising if anything.
Aside from engineering, I'm glad to say that I've been acquainted with the majority of the facility's personnel. I've met incredibly outgoing and social individuals, including Ryan Chen and Steve Maltus, and more secluded folks, like Abbygail and a scientist named Quincy Fuller, the later of whom mumbled his name almost unintelligibly as I introduced myself to him. I was passing through the laboratory, exchanging casual 'hellos' and 'how are you doings' with the geeks as they burrowed their faces in their screens, when he bumped into me while a large stack of boxes and beakers lay balanced precariously in his sweaty hands.
"Hey, watch it man, don't drop that equipment!" I cautioned him. The various beakers and boxes he had hoisted up to his waist careened back and forth like a boat on a rough day at sea. As soon as I was sure they were going to fall, I lightly pushed them back in position, thanks to me, he didn't spill lab equipment likely worth thousands of dollars. "Roger Straten by the way, just thought you should know the guy who saved you from immediate termination's name." I said, extending my arm to shake his hands, who struggled to keep the boxes afloat. "Oh wait! Haha, looks like your hands are full."
"Quincy Fuller, charmed..." he muttered as he breezed by me. Once again, I'm absolutely, one hundred percent no expert on the psychology stuff, I tend to leave that to the shrinks, but it was pretty easy to tell he was a very anxious individual. Of course, I wasn't sure exactly what troubled him, but I did know that was troubled. That there is the extent of my knowledge in the vast and wonderful field of shrink-ology. The only branch of science where saying 'uh huh' for forty five minutes and earning a hundred grand a year is perfectly acceptable.
After my encounter with Fuller, I was back in the engineering bays. Dr. Shen was overseeing construction on the second satellite, which at the moment, was in its bare skeletal parts. "Ah, Roger, I'm glad you could join us! We need another Engineer to help construct this satellite." he requested with welcoming arms. "Eine moment bitte." I spoke, in rudimentary German. "Picking up some words from Dr. Vahlen I see?" Shen chuckled, and while he wasn't completely right, I had been taking courses for several months prior to my recruitment, I didn't call him out on it.
"Ja, ich habe." I replied. The German language was orderly, engaging in pronunciation, and complex enough to convince me to at least attempt to try to grasp it. It was in January, as I recall, that I made a New Year's Resolution to learn German to impress my colleges at my workplace. A great deal of my friends at my workplace were bilingual, the occasional one friend even being trilingual. Such a feat impressed me enough to sought out a brand new language to learn, and as I expected, I rapidly rose to become fluent at it. Of course, I didn't have knowledge of any other dialects than the one I was taught. I'm not even sure what dialect it was that I was taught in the first place...
Anyways, Dr. Shen and I proceeded to speak to each other in German as I was working that day, and boy, the other engineer's faces were tomato-red as they tried to keep their composure. Sighing, moaning and complaints scattered the bay every few minutes. I'm not positive any of them spoke German aside from Dr. Shen's rather limited vocabulary and my much vaster one. It did not impede our work surprisingly, as the engineers here were the absolute finest, and simply KNEW how to gauge what I was doing without me even giving any verbal prompts. Oh boy, the simplest pleasures in life are often the greatest. Dr. Shen and I had quite a round of fun that night, which was... four days ago to be exact, on the 20th.
I'm aware that Dr. Vahlen is of Germanic descent, but I have yet to try to communicate with her in her dominant language. Perhaps next time I'm in labs and don't have people shove lab equipment into me I might try to hold a conversation with her in her native tongue. But of course, that's only if she can spare the time, which not many of us have much of.
As for our soldiers, the saviours of humanity that I have I personally met are, Kuklinski, Ritofuto, Robinson and Lemarque. I have not yet had the pleasure of acquainting myself with our newest squaddies, Largo or Gorefest, interesting last name by the way, but I am hoping to in the future. But considering they've all made it back in relatively one piece I'd say the S.C.O.P.Es and Medi-kits we've dished out have been a positive influence to their survival. As stated earlier, Robinson is going to be donning the Nano-fiber Vest, so I pray that extra little tidbit of gelatinous alien sludge that coats those woven carbon nanotubes will be the thing that means life or death in a critical situation for her. Good luck soldiers, and may Operation whatever designation mission control assigns it to be a complete and utter success for our men.
//End Journal
