The Cicada Project

ARCHER RESEARCH
FILE NUMBER 001: THE CICADA PROJECT
CLEARANCE LEVEL 4
The Cicada Project was a series of unethical experiments in Okinawa, Japan conducted by the Japanese government that occurred from January 7th 1945 to August 6th 1945.
The purpose of these experiments were to see how long it would take for a human to go insane after listening to a cicada's mating call non-stop for three days. These experiments were mostly conducted on prisoners of war. They ended after the American bombing of Hiroshima.
Although the true purpose of this project is currently unknown, it is widely believed to have been a form of torture.
The following are transcripts of interviews conducted on the staff involved in this project on June 16th 1963.
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Interviewed: Doctor Masaki Nobuo
Interviewer: James Trevelyan
James Trevelyan: Doctor Nobuo. I understand that you were one of the key figures of this project, were you not?
Masaki Nobuo: Yes I was. Albeit regrettably.
James Trevelyan: May you tell me what happened during these experiments?
Masaki Nobuo: Gladly. On January 7th, we were given our first thirteen crates of cicadas. Seventeen in each crate. We were ordered to carry the crates into the chambers, one by one. Once that was done, the Prisoners Of War arrived. Once one of them entered the chambers, we released the cicadas. I was ordered to monitor him for the three days. I wish I hadn't. As I was sitting behind the glass, I watched the bastard suffer. His sanity diminished. I could hear him screaming something in Chinese. "Qǐng shàngdì bāngzhù wǒ!" or something. As the first day passed I saw him trying to remove his ears. Security was called in and he was executed by firing squad. Shortly after Matsuo wrote down "Day 1, Test 1. Subject lasted one day. Questioning purpose of this project." He disappeared after that. I don't know if he was executed or transferred to another site. The next subject was a young Vietnamese man. As the cicadas chirped, he sat there in silence. Days one and two passed with no result. When day three came around, he ripped his ears, nose and eyes off and stuck his head into the crate. I could see the insects crawling into the holes. He kept repeating that he wanted to see his mother. He was shot dead inside of his chamber by security shortly after. The last subject I saw was an American man. After just two minutes of testing, he bashed his head on the wall until his head split open. He then shoved cicadas into his wound until he died of shock. I-I couldn't handle it any more. I resigned and allowed myself to be arrested in a federal prison. I was released the day the experiments ended.
James Trevelyan: Thank you Doctor. You're free to go.
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NOTICE: This has been translated from Japanese
Interviewed: Security Guard Miyamoto Shuji
Interviewer: Vincent Hastings
Vincent Hastings: Hello Mister Shuji.
Miyamoto Shuji: Hello, Researcher Hastings
Vincent Hastings: Can you tell me of your involvement in the Cicada Projects?
Miyamoto Shuji: I didn't experience it much. I was called in to kill a Vietnamese man, but that's pretty much all I saw. I mean, I heard that this was some pretty fucked up shit. I saw the subjects as they entered. I saw their bodies. I saw the cicadas. However, I did see things over video. I saw one guy who ripped his jaw off. I saw one guy who ripped his {REDACTED} off. And that's pretty all that I did except for bringing some cicadas in in the winter of 1945.
Vincent Hastings: Is that all?
Miyamoto Shuji: Yes
Vincent Hastings: Thank you, Mister Shuji. You're free to go.
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Interviewed: Forced Laborer Jackson Lee
Interviewer: Jonathan Archer
Jonathan Archer: Mister Lee.
Jackson Lee: Mister Archer.
Jonathan Archer: What was your involvement in The Cicada Project?
Jackson Lee: Observing. Just staring. For three fucking months. With this asshole, Shuji. I saw everything. Insanity. Murder. I even saw a guy run down the hall waving his junk in the air. A woman eating her own feces.
Jonathan Archer: Mister Lee, what was the purpose of these experiments.
Jackson Lee: Torture. Plain and simple. Torture
Jonathan Archer: I see.
Jackson Lee: I-I can't. I want to leave.
Jonathan Archer: Okay, you can go. Thank you Mister Lee.
Category:History
Category:Science
Category:Animals
Category:Mental Illness