Jack Francis

[Challenger]

Planet Manhattan, NY System
Polar Research Outpost Alpha: 85°N 130°W
1100 Hours Local Time
VOICE ONLY

- - > "I shared my suspicions with Monica today, and we decided to examine the cells' reactions to human cells. I drew a cc of blood from my own arm, and we introduced a small fraction of it in to a fresh vacuum slide. The cells went crazy. Just as with the stem cells, it only took a few minutes for all of the blood cells to be unrecognizable. I am starting to have misgivings about this discovery of ours."

- - > "Monica and I both agreed that the cells are dangerous, so we set about looking for a way to destroy them if a leak should occur. They were discouragingly resilient. Most poisons were ineffective. Alcohol was capable of killing them by desiccation, but it was too impractical. Even shaking the sample seemed to have little effect. Eventually, though, we found two methods."

- - > "Firstly, radiation was highly effective. The creatures seemed to be vastly more vulnerable to alpha radiation than any human cells. In fact, just a minute of exposure was sufficient to kill 90% of the sample. Additionally, they are vulnerable to heat. Raising the temperature of the sample above 30C causes immediate fatality for the cells, due to reasons unknown. This was the first good news. If a problem arose, we could probably crank the thermostat up to 32C to purge a quarantined area of the cells."

- - > "In addition, the cells seem to be photosensitive. We have thus far been analyzing them under the weak light of a high power microscope, so there wasn't any reason for us to notice. However, when we used an infrared laser to heat the sample during our mortality tests, the vacuum slide shattered. It seems that the influx of infrared energy caused the cells to replicate at an astounding rate. Perhaps if they were not living in such a cold area, they would already be a well known presence on planet Manhattan . . . I shudder to think of how long they must have been under the ice to achieve such numbers."

- - > "So far we have discovered nothing more than this. The more we find, however, the more worried I grow. From all perspectives, these cells appear to be incredibly dangerous. If released in a high population area, they could cause untold destruction. I will propose that we report this matter to HQ tomorrow."