Project Blink

Contest Round 1: Protagonist Background Story

Write a story about your protagonist that takes place outside of your novel. Make your readers relate to him or her in such a way that we would be devastated if he or she were to experience conflict (which, ultimately, sometime in November, he/she will.) The object of the contest is to make your judges root for your protagonist! Simply put: the character we like best wins. If your protagonist is an assassin or someone similarly "unlikeable," never fear! I love Vlad Taltos, the professional assassin . You can make us love your character, too.







Personal Log

Illeana Moore

Project Blink

Day 1, Entry 3



I got extremely lucky being able to join this mission. I have a lot of work to make up to complete my Thesis for my Doctorate and I can’t say that I’m sure I could’ve done that stuck between the silence of all those books in the Main Library. I miss you guys so much but sitting in that quiet hall lets my mind wander too much to the accident. It reminds me too much that you guys won’t be calling me checking on my studies anymore and I need a break from my thoughts. I can’t complete my job and do what I promised to do if I don’t push forward. I hope you understand.



I’ve already missed 4 months of classes. I don’t want to be remembered this way. I don’t want to be the girl that everyone feels sorry for graduating 6 months behind her class because some freak accident killed her parents. No, I will finish my Thesis on time and this Project is my golden ticket. I’m holding on to this for dear life. I won’t let you guys down. I’ll keep my promise to not let anything stop me from reaching for those stars.



Project Blink is taking us to some new possible M-Class planet they’ve discovered in the next system. Per the Satellite video, there seems to be some movement just under the planet’s surface concentrated in one large area. The movement may indicate new alien life.



Susanne WIlliams, the head Biologist at Central Labs, where I could only dream of working, is said to be busy working on some classified project and since I have already completed my Specialist Class project already I have been deemed “good enough” to fulfill the position needed on this mission.



Hell yeah I’m good enough. I have my Bachelors Degree AND Specialist Class nominations in HAB2P3. I am the next generation of Alien Research and completing this mission will give me Doctorate across the board. I can do this. And then, I will show Susanne Williams a thing or two.



Personal Log

Illeana Moore

Project Blink

Day 2, Entry 2



As I approached him, I overheard the Captain ask who the hell I was and why some green-horn lab rat was joining his mission instead of Ms. Moore. My liaison began to speak but I was so pissed that I stepped in, shook his hand forcibly and said, “Captain Sir, I am Illeana Moore Specialist Class in Alien Human Behavior, Biology, Physiology, Pathology, and Psychology and this Green-Horn has more experience hands on than most lab rats you’ve ever probably come in contact with. I may not yet have my Doctorate but noone else besides Susanne Moore herself would do your team justice. Now if you’re done with your male display of dominance, I know who’s in charge, I know my place, and I ask permission to board and prepare for my job.” I heard the deck get quieter than usual. But the Captain came right back at me in a blink.

“Permission granted S-Class Illeana Moore, I see I shall have my hands full but I appreciate someone who is confident enough to step up to me like that. Don’t let it happen again.”



I had to hold in a giggle as I was directed towards my quarters, I really don’t know what had come over me but it felt good. I am so ready for this.



Personal Log

Illeana Moore

Project Blink

Day 15, Entry 1



We reached Domino today and a small Recon Team went down to exam the tunnels. Seeing the opening and closing pattern blocks of those tunnels suggested a higher intelligence in underground species as they were Alien built of course. The team would be at a great disadvantage if they were caught by surprise. Underground species of alien tend to have heightened senses and be more agile and aggressive. The captain noted my statement and sent them in anyhow. I wanted to suggest he at least send a bigger team or more guns or something but I had a feeling I’d be crossing the line again. Besides I wanted them to find something so I can complete my thesis.



Personal Log

Illeana Moore

Project Blink

Day 15, Entry 2



Yes! They have found some organisms embedded in the walls that give off light!! I’m taking a small team down to collect some samples. This is it!! I am going to get my Doctorate and graduate earlier than expected!! My time has come.



Travel Log

Illeana Moore

Project Blink

Day 15, Entry 1



This species seem to be some sort of round flat worm that feeds on the nutrients in the moss on the walls it has attached itself to. The darker the tunnels gets the brighter the worms glow due to the richer nutrients contained in the soil and moss as we go deeper. Fascinating!! Studying these could lead to breakthroughs in new light sources for places electronics cannot go. Doctorate here I come!!!



As we moved further down the tunnels and the doors closed a breeze pushed passed us pushing the scent of the worms passed my nose. I can also smell undertones of something sweet, but I can’t put my finger on it. No one else seems to notice.



Oh I see a different color glow down this tunnel, I’m going to check it out.



Travel Log

Illeana Moore

Project Blink

Day 15, Entry 2



I’ve examined the orange glow worms I found in the off shoot tunnel. Fascinating!! The nutrients here are slightly different than the ones in the other tunnel, so one of the minerals its eating must affect the color of their glow.



I’ve been in here awhile cause it just got darker, so the tunnel doors must’ve shut again. Wait… theres that smell again. The worms… and that sweet familiar sce--- wait that’s Lt. Andrews cologne I smell but he’s at least 3 tunnels over according to their last status update. That means… Oh no… These aren’t doors, These are networks of ventilation tunnels, these are--- AAAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhhhhhh





Travel Log

Ileana Moore

Project Blink

Day Unknown



I dont know how long I’ve been down here in this room but I finally appear to be alone again. Oh my god. I can’t believe this is happening to me. I’m going to die in some freak way just like my parents did. I’m going to die alone in this stink hole surrounded by these creatures. Oh god, Is anyone looking for me? Who am I kidding? Everyone else probably got caught and is dead too. I tried to warn the Captain. And its on record.



OK, OK, Breathe…. Take a deep breath…. I need to calm down and record what has happened in case anyone finds me, or this recorder. When was my last log? I was in the tunnel when I caught scent of Lt. Andrews cologne although he was at least 3 tunnels away and thats when I realized that the tunnels were not tunnels. They are vents, the closing of the vents forces air through the network of tunnels alerting these creatures to the scent of everything that enters. We walked into a lair of these bug creatures and announced ourselves without ever saying a word. I got snatched before I could alert anyone. The creature stung me with something that paralyzed my legs and it drug me through more halls than I can count. After awhile I realized I needed to leave a trail and grabbed a handful of swabs I found in my pocket and began dropping them along the way. I know I was too deep inside the tunnels for anyone to pick up the trail but it gave me something to focus on.



The real trouble began when I got brought to this room. The worms glow a bright green down here, granting enough light to see but not enough to see much detail and I was thankful for that, for I could see more than I wanted to as it was. The creature dropped me in the middle of the room and stood staring at me. There was what I think was a body of another alien species laying on the floor nearby. Well, a shell of a body as it had a gaping hole where its belly may have once been. I must’ve started thrashing around too much because the creature injected me again, sprawled me out and began tearing away most of my clothes. At least it is warm in here.



Sometime later another creature came into the room. After what seemed like an examination, much like a female wasp, this creature pierced me with an ovipositor, a tubual that injected venom and an egg into some fleshy parts of my body. My stomach, and my thighs. This paralyzed me more and would alter my tissue to dampen my immune system so my body would not attack the egg. If I was really lucky it would eat away slowly at the surrounding tissue to help feed it but I couldn’t feel much to tell. If I wasn’t lucky, the act of emerging from my body would kill me slowly as it probably did the poor fellow next to me.



I passed out for awhile and awoke some time later to another creature stuffing a mass of wriggling maggot like bugs into my mouth. I spit them out choking on them, feeling the critters crawling upon my lips. I was still partially paralyzed and too weak to resist. The creature force fed me until I finally had to comply. I could feel the maggots crawling over my tongue and sliding down my throat, I had to swallow them so as not to choke. I would not die with maggots in my throat. I knew I would die, but I refused to die like that.



When the feeding was done, creature gave me a liquid to drink, it was actually refreshing. It stared at me again with its black eyes. I tried to speak but could not. I wondered if it had any emotions at all. None of the ones that “cared” for me seem to reflect any emotion in their cold eyes. I closed mine and began thinking of my mom and dad. They at least died a quick death. Me? I would die a slow death when the grandchildren my mother always wanted would hatch from my body.



And now here I am alone again, able to at least speak. I feel a bit stronger, the venom doesn’t seem to paralyze me completely for long but my sense of time is off. At least I am alone, I can move but only a little. I see the bulges and can feel the eggs press up against my skin, so they had grown a bit. If they worked like wasps, I had about a week from injection before the eggs would hatch. I wonder how long it had been. My mind raced through all of my biological experience with insects and insect like aliens. I’d only come in contact with one other insect alien species, and it was pretty mindless and boring. They also weren’t so humanoid like making it easier to grasp their existence and simpler for me to take them and put them on my own examination table to see what would happen. These creatures seem to have more intelligence and purpose. And now I was their project under a microscope. The new perspective was sobering.



I can see the holes in my roommate, and according to the size of those exit wounds I still had a ways to go. Ahh! I just felt a breeze. The vents!! I know the vents open and close every hour so I can keep an accurate growth log if I stay awake long enough.



Travel log

Ileana Moore

Project Blink

Day 4, approx.



Thanks to the vents I have been able to keep a nice time table. According to the growth rate of the eggs, I believe I have been down here for a total of 4 days. If they continue this growth rate I have approximately 3 more days until hatch day. The eggs have begun releasing an enzyme that is acting as a natural pain killer and may possibly be beginning to break down my tissue in preparation for feeding. The creatures continue to feed me the maggots 4 times a day and I do not fight them as they give me more strength. I realize they are helping the eggs grow as well but I have an idea I hope to execute soon. I just hope Ill have the strength to do it. The creature next to me had sharp claws and I wanted to borrow them.



Travel log

Ileana Moore

Project Blink

Day 5, Entry 4



My last feeding of the day has not come. Something is going on. I can hear something going on in the distance. There’s never been any noise to reach me here in this room before. It sounds like...fighting? Oh my god, what creature could make it into these tunnels far enough for me to be able to hear them? They would've had to be undetectable and probably caught them by surprise. But what will happen when this new creature makes it down here? If it survives will it help me?



Argh, Im famished, the eggs are consuming more and more energy. I wish I had bowl of those maggots right now. Did I just say that out loud? Yes, yes I did, I need some strength. I need to try and execute my plan!! I hear the fighting getting closer. I’m going silent.













Personal Log

Lt Patrick Andrews

Project Blink Rescue

Day 6



Today, we successfully rescued Illeana Moore from the hive. This rescue mission is officially on top of my list of weirdest shit I have ever done and seen. If it weren’t for the will and smarts of that girl, we never would’ve been able to defeat these creatures and bring her back. And she doesn’t even realize that yet, but once she recovers she has a lot of folks eager to talk to her about her experience in the nest.



After Illeanas communicator went black, the team extracted all non essential field members back to the ship. My team attempted a short survey of the area around where she disappeared to attempt to find her but after two members of my team were snatched we all returned to the extraction point for further planning.



None of us knew what we were dealing with and had no idea how to go about a rescue mission. After a full scan we all met in the board room a few days ago to check our options. Most felt the 3 were lost and we should just leave. I admit I too was ready to pack up and leave. We couldn’t penetrate the tunnels with our scanners, there was simply no way to be able to traverse those tunnels with no idea of what we were dealing with and where or how to reach them.



Then communications began receiving occasional signals from Illeana Moores Travel logs. She had one of the newest models of logging chips implanted so that she didnt have to carry around a physical recorder. She could just talk and record data as needed. We didnt know she was a tester of the new device or we might’ve found the signal quicker. These logs used online capabilities to store information so that no matter where anyone was full reports could be uploaded to the mainframe servers and then shared immediately across our networks.



Thanks to her love of record keeping and quick thinking, we were able to learn how the creatures detected us and nullify our own scents to enter back into the tunnels. After a day we were able to find the trail she left for us and follow it towards her location. We then lured them out from the chamber with some noise and blind-sided them incapacitating them so they wouldn’t bring more creatures our way. I entered the chamber and couldn’t believe my eyes. There were at least 20 bodies laid out in this room that looked like they exploded from the inside out. But near the entrance lay Illeana, practically naked with her legs and stomach bulging.



I ran towards her and she began to frantically try and communicate something to me. I calmed her down and as soon as I figured out what she was saying I froze. She was begging me to cut her open and pull what she said were eggs from the creatures out of her body before they hatched. I didn’t want to do it but I followed her directions. I unsheathed my favorite knife and began cutting at her skin. She screamed but told me not to stop.



I pulled 3 eggs from her body and stomped them. She lay there bleeding and thanking me and then passed out. I picked her up and carried her to the extraction point. I have never met anyone so strong as this young girl. She has not yet woken up, we are letting her rest as we review her logs. But when she does awake, she will receive her Doctorate as she’d hoped along with recommendations for plenty of work though I hope she’s interested in Field Work still because I could use someone like her on Project Kepler.