Ambrose Manor Terminal Entries

A transcription of **terminal entries** from Ambrose Manor.

# Personal Terminal - Dr. Olivia Ambrose

Along that wilderness of glass-
No swelling tell that winds may be
Upon some far-off happier sea-
No heavings hint that winds have been
On seas less hideously serene
-E. A. P

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## Login

[Ambrose, O.]
[Ambrose, W.]

Welcome, user Ambrose, O.
Logs

#### February 1, 2324

This morning I gave birth to a healthy child. Perhaps that's a strange distinction, to call her healthy, but after all I've endured to finally meet her, it matters. That she exists at all, against the odds, \*matters.\*
I will call her Wilhelmina, after my late brother, Wilhelm. I hope the Law is kinder to her than it was to him.
I hope for many things, truthfully. That she be smart and shrewd. That she be strong. Relentless. Undeniable. Most of all, I hope for her a steel spine - that she does not bend when halcyon would break her.
That she should be stronger than I.

#### March 17, 2324

I must find Minnie a wet nurse. She demands to be fed throughout the day and night, and I simply cannot get a single thing done.
The nurse will need to be exceptional - smart, educated, of means. Minnie must have the best start if she's going to survive the pit of vipers that is the Byzantium elite.
Then there is the matter of a governess. I can't watch the child constantly - not if I'm to do my work. How soon must I begin looking? Naturally, \*she'll\* have to be exceptional as well, and exceptional Byzantines don't exactly grow on trees.
Will persuade Harvey to investigate this for me. The man has little else to do.

#### November 22, 2329

I don't understand how anyone of ambition has time to keep a journal. I certainly don't. Yest here I am, indulging myself. Minnie's influence, no doubt.
Her behavior concerns me. She's clingy, emotional. At five, she should be starting to show some personality, not crying for her mother when I leave for another stint on Gorgon.
This must be the fault of Marie, her governess, as Minnie certainly didn't learn this behavior from me. I'll have to fire the woman - it's clear she's not capable of instilling in Minnie a correct understanding of how to behave.
Harvey despairs of ever finding a governess who meets my "preposterous" standards. He and I went in circles on the issue for hours, but he came around to my thinking eventually.
Why shouldn't I want what's best for my daughter? Maybe I'll fire him, too.

#### June 5, 2337

I'm at my wits' end with Minnie.
At thirteen, she should've already mastered basic chemistry, physics, and mathematics, but she can barely handle long division. She struggles to remember the simplest equations and formulas, no matter how many times her governess raps her knuckles. By the time I was her age, I'd already made dynamite in my grandfather's laboratory. The only thing Minnie's making explode is my head.
Her father asked me why we don't just send her to boarding school, but I abhor the thought of her surrounded by those coddled idiots.
More alarming still, she begun to show an interest in romance serials and painting. She may have a strong grasp of color theory, and she shows some promise with watercolors, but surely that's the result of her education in spectroscopy, not any innate skill. What value has art, anyway?
She gave me a truly dreadful painting of Francis this morning, and I haven't a clue what to do with it. Perhaps I'll stuff it in my desk - we'll have a good laugh over it when she's grown and finally come to her senses.

#### April 28, 2348

Lucien appeared at the manor this morning. I thought him here for me, to finally wring my neck after our latest tiff. But no, it was much worse than that - he'd come to speak to Minnie.
No need to guess why. She's taken it upon herself to manage the household these last few years, since neither her father nor I have the time (or, frankly, inclination). Under her watch, the staff's productivity has increased 35%, while reducing our costs an astonishing 67%. We've saved tens of thousands of bits.
Harvey tipped Lucien off, I expect. Now he wants to bring her on to manage the Gorgon facilities, which I refused over Minnie's vociferous protestations. She cried after he'd left.
I only wish that I could tell her why.

#### Deleted Logs

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##### Date: October 14, 2348

How did I raise such a willful daughter?

She's no longer requesting to join the project, but \*demanding.\* "I'm ready!" "I can help you!" "It's what I want!"

She doesn't know what she's asking. Gorgon is not safe. Compound X is in the air. It's infected the water and the food. It's no longer just the test subjects and the laboratory techs in danger now - even the general staff are beginning to feel its effects. Even I feel it.

I'm tied up in knots. I know what I must do, the only way I can persuade her away, but it'll kill me to do it. "Minnie," I'll say, "you just don't have what it takes. You're too shallow, too simple, too weak."

She'll hate me for it. I'm sure it will destroy her. But it will work. She'll be safe.

That's all I care about now.

##### Date: January 3, 2350

Harvey is gone. His body's still alive, but the man I married is dead.

He broke into my office and stole the last of my release candidate ampules. Busted the door to splinters in his withdrawal fury.

I'd chartered a shuttle to bring him to the facility for medical care. Even convinced Priyantha to oversee the transfer - he didn't want to, was worried it wasn't safe, but I begged him.

Harvey killed the shuttle crew. Priyantha, too. But the shuttle wouldn't take off without its pilot, and I couldn't stop his raging, so I left the ship on the landing pad for days. Watched him tear it to pieces with his bare hands.

He lost a lot of blood. I brought him inside once he'd finally passed out and shoved him into a stasis solution tube. My work did this to him. Mine. Me. I did this.

I'll tell Lucien. Surely now he'll delay the release. Surely after this.

## Ambrose, W.

Welcome user - Ambrose W.
The search continues.

### The search continues.

I take from these entries that Mother was severe with her editorial pen. This is but one version of her, carefully-curated, and not the one I wanted to find. Where is her unvarnished stream of consciousness, where is her spontaneous brilliance?
The search continues. My efforts will inevitably steer me to Gorgon. What then Minnie? What then?

## Kitchen Terminal

**Location:** Next to the door to the kitchen, on the first floor.

#### Recent Activity

[Event ID # 37727] User WAMBROSE attempted to log into system. Final attempt failed, locking terminal for [5] days.

[Event ID # 37726] User WAMBROSE attempted to log into system. 1 try remaining.

[Event ID # 37725] User WAMBROSE attempted to log into system. 2 tries remaining.

Routine Maintenance Logs omitted.

[Event ID # 3148] User OAMBROSE activated Dinnertime protocol. Meal was Woolyloaf.

[Event ID # 3147] User HAMBROSE activated Dinnertime protocol. Meal was Tripicale Salad.

[Event ID # 3146] User OAMBROSE activated Dinnertime protocol. Meal was Boarstroast.

Corruption detected in earlier logs, omitting corrupted entries.

#### Pantry List

Pantry Stock

Last automated check was ERROR:NullDateDefine

Saltuna Fillets - STOCK IS SPOILED, PLEASE REPLENISH
Wooly Cow Steak - STOCK IS SPOILED, PLEASE REPLENISH
Mockapples - STOCK IS SPOILED, PLEASE REPLENISH
Boarst and Beans - 13 cans remaining
Mock Apple Shake - 9 bottles remaining