Artifact 2427E

Much like with "Artifact 0535C," this is entry from The Agency is written by my fiancé and shared with their permission. Initially, they planned on having this be an item to find in a Dungeons & Dragons game, but decided that it fit better with The Agency. 

They wrote the time-stamped section from the unlucky researcher and I framed the rest of this entry around it. Once it was finished, I decided to post this for our anniversary.

Artifact 2427E

Description

The artifact appears as a scaled egg, roughly the same size as that of a goose egg. It is off-white in color and was found inside the throat of a corpse, which was found riddled with holes from what appeared to be scavenging insects. When exposed to heat and carbon dioxide, the scales open so that the artifact resembles a pinecone. The “scales” are in fact human teeth, incisors. The teeth vibrate at ninety-eight degrees Fahrenheit. What follows after this is documented in Testimony 2020-02-17.

            Containment protocol requires that the artifact be kept in a sealed, transparent box kept at a temperature of no higher than ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit. Curators, Omega scientists, Omicron researchers, and even Zeta janitors are required to exercise extreme caution when interacting with the artifact.

Testimony 2020-02-17 (recorded 2020-02-19)

Arch. Crane: Statement of the late Omicron researcher Ezra Price. Statement recorded by Researcher Price and recovered by a team of collectors after the incident. Read by Archivist Omari Crane. Statement begins:

            0430: I’ll get this all typed up in proper format later. For now, cataloging. Artifact 2427E is an egg. That’s it. Just a scaled egg, about the size of a goose’s. It’s off-white in color, and it was reportedly found inside the throat of a corpse. As for the corpse, it was riddled with holes from scavenging insects and who knows what else. Time of death was put at two weeks ago. So far, no tests have yielded anything unusual—no magnetic fields, no delta or theta wave interference, no temperature changes. No signs the egg is rancid, though, either.

            0923: After running several more tests, something finally happened. Exposure to higher levels of carbon dioxide and heat have caused the scales to peel slightly. It resembles a pine cone more than an egg now.

            0931: Those aren’t scales. They’re teeth. Human teeth, or at least it looks like it. Incisors, over a hundred of them, all sticking out and vibrating ever so slightly. It’s most prominent at around ninety-eight degrees Fahrenheit. That can’t be a coincidence, can it?

            1211: One of the teeth shed onto the table, like a child’s baby tooth. There’s something pinkish-red beneath it, with a pocket where the root would be. I’m not getting any closer without a hazmat suit.

            1345: The teeth are shedding one by one. About half have fallen away now, leaving behind a viscous, fleshy mass underneath. If I’m being honest, I’m scared to go any closer. This is wrong on so many levels. I’ve gotten my hazmat gear on, but it was designed for your basic toxins and pathogens, not…whatever this is.

            1349: Scared or not, I have to investigate. It’s my job.

No, you didn’t, Ez. That’s not your job. That’s for collectors and Betas. You are—ahem, were—an Omicron. You didn’t have to investigate. You…you could have…ahem. Right. One more. Just…just have to read this last entry and then I can…I can never think about this again.

            1927: Inside. They’re inside me. I can feel them, crawling in my veins, scraping the inside of my skull.

            I looked closer at the holes in the mass. Touching it with tools knocked most of the rest of the teeth off, and I pried open one of the root pockets. One single compound eye stared back at me, then the whole thing started to pulsate. They erupted from it like a plague of Egypt, like…No. No time to get flowery.

            It’s too late now to save me. I can feel it growing inside, can feel them growing. Breathing is getting hard.

            Sarah, if they ever let you see this, I’m sorry. You said this job was too good to be true, and you were right. I love you, don’t forget that. Okay? And take care of Mom, tell her I love her too.

            Goodbye.

Arch. Crane: Statement ends. Ahem. That was…that was the last thing Ezra—ahem—Researcher Price ever wrote. He was found…found…God. I can’t. It was…I’ve seen the photos. They’re in the file. He…he was found dead with…with holes burrowing into—or out of—him and a…a scaled egg in his throat. The egg is currently in the museum with strict precautions in place. Too bad those precautions didn’t come sooner. Then Ezra might…might still….

So, that was another entry mostly written by my darling fiancé. I've got to say I'm rather glad they decided it fit better with The Agency. It was such a joy to transcribe what they wrote and write an entry around it. I hope they'll be writing more entries.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a nice day. Try not to think too hard about the teeth currently rooted in your mouths and what