Recovered Document 1-A
Classification: Level 0 - Restricted Access
Source: Fragmented Diary (Unverified Author)
Codename: A Certain Lost Diary Chapter
Recovery Site: Ruins of NTFF Headquarters, Viasea
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[Transcript]
The project is complete. In a matter of days, it will go online. The date is set: next Sunday, just after Christmas.
I ask myself why I am writing this. Perhaps it is guilt. Perhaps I hope these words will bear witness to the weight I carry. I have knowingly condemned billions of lives in the name of humanity's survival. Even now, regret gnaws at me.
And yet there is no turning back. The spear has already been launched. I can only follow its trajectory to the end.
I know what the future will call me. Insane. Mad. Arrogant. The Enemy of Mankind. Perhaps they will say I am the epitome of hubris, the proof that man's pride leads only to ruin.
But I have seen what awaits us if we do nothing. That future would be worse than hell. Against such a fate, I believed it a mercy to grant humanity the honour of death, rather than the chains of despair. Someone had to make this choice. And so I did.
I recall the speech Mr. August gave at the founding of Atlas. His words still burn in my memory:
"The foundation of humanity rests upon knowledge. Yet it is not knowledge alone that defines us, for a machine may calculate, and a machine may remember. What sets us apart is the gift of empathy, the strength of compassion, and the fire of emotion within the human heart.
We do not pursue knowledge for its own sake, nor for the vanity of mastery. We pursue it so that humanity may endure, so that the future may be prepared. Brick by brick, stone by stone, we lay the road ahead—not for ourselves alone, but for our descendants, and for all who will inherit the world we shape.
This is the worth of knowledge to humankind. This is the duty we accept. This is the creed of Atlas."
He was a man who knew how to inspire. He gave us not just words, but a banner:
"Knowledge with Compassion, Legacy with Purpose."
I ensured that Atlas would endure as the guardian of humanity in the coming storms. Perhaps that is the only kindness I ever allowed myself. For everything else, I am drenched in blood. The weight of billions is mine alone to bear.
I am sorry, my dear. [The rest of this passage is blurred and illegible.]
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Archivist's Note
This diary fragment was recovered from the ruins of NTFF Headquarters in Viasae. The document's origin remains uncertain, with the author unidentified and the date indeterminate. Cross-referencing suggests it may have been written in the earliest days of the 50-Year War, though no definitive evidence exists.
Intelligence reports indicate that the author may have been a high-ranking member of NTFF and maintained close contact with the Atlas Foundation. However, all records about Atlas personnel, associates, and directives were systematically destroyed during the war. As such, retracing the author's identity may prove impossible.