Just For the Record...

Journal Entry #1

It is a sad state of affairs when an archaeologist neglects to keep proper records. This was the first and foremost lesson I learned in college, and it must have made even more of an impression than I thought. It is, however, entirely true.

What is the use of discovering a treasure trove of artifacts if you remove them from the ground with so little care as to not know which was found with which once you get them back to the lab for analysis? How do you know what relates to what if you haven't carefully noted it all down as each piece is meticulously and painstakingly unearthed?

It is with this in mind that I find myself inclined to keep a record of my own life in the potentially arrogant or selfish hopes that someone may someday wish to read it. I don't cling to any fantasies that my life is that amazing, but I've had my own little adventures since arriving here in Nachton and if nothing else, when I am old and time-worn perhaps these entries will be a comfort to read.

I have long since ceased to ask myself about the philosophical 'whys' and 'wherefores' of my existence. Those questions are dead-ends, at least for me, as I have committed myself to a course of action already. Trying to discover the answers to such abstracts would only prove my current course futile, should I arrive at a conclusion counter to my present aspirations. Therefore, I have settled for simply asking myself, "How can I better myself,"Â? and find the answers there to be vastly more satisfying.

Most importantly, I've expanded my horizons in directions I never actually thought to pursue. I've accepted a position with the Chief of Security at Meridian, Christian Bern. His offer to turn me into a team member was unexpected but welcomed, and he has assured me he'll show me the ropes and teach me everything I need to know to get along in a world very different from what I'm used to; that of an archaeologist. I haven't known him for long, but my instincts tell me to trust him and I do. He was with me during my indoctrination to a more unsavory side of life that I'm sure I will grow to be more familiar with as I work with him. In retrospect I was fortunate to have him along, and I will do my best to be a credit to him and to his training in the future.

Lastly, I think it should be mentioned that through all the changes I've experienced... and all the changes I have yet to experience, I couldn't be happier with my situation in life. There is only one thing missing now, and I believe it to finally be within reach. Everyone has a driving force; everyone stumbles across that one thing in life with the power to move mountains and shake the ground. I've been lucky to find it so early in my life, so if ever you read this 'Isu-mery, you should know without doubt that you are that to me. Without you I might have been content to remain a wallflower indefinitely, and to never awaken to the ties and bonds that can move a person from being the sort who holds up a wall to trying to be the sort to simply build a new wall altogether.

There can be no blame, no guilt, no assigning of fault for my leaving what I had behind. In fact, I feel as though I have left nothing behind. Instead I am moving forward, onward with the things I want and the goals I have set myself to achieve. In the process I have found new friends, a new family to love and cherish, and when the dust settles from all of the earth-shaking, perhaps we will have each other as well.

-Aishe