Anno entered his new office. It was clinically dry and colorless, as he expected. Though the containment facilities varied in size, structure, and material, the offices may as well have came straight off the assembly line. The walls were a muted grey, the desks a shit colored brown, the cabinets a bluish grey. Anno liked it. A visually noisy room is distracting and does nothing for him.

He laid his box of office materials on the desk. The first thing he pulled out was his green nameplate with off-white text; “Dr. Anno E. Ansbro, Site Director”. It was a bit worn and he could’ve gotten a new one years ago. Yet, there was something to the sentimental value this old nameplate still had.

His reminiscing was cut off by a knock at his door.

“It’s open.” Anno called out over his shoulder. The door slowly opened and a young woman’s head poked out from behind it. Greasy, stringy black hair hung over the right side of her face, leaving here left eye with a significant bag under it.

“Uh, Mr-Dr. Ansbro!” The woman quickly corrected. “Dr. Ansbro, could I-“

“If you could step into the room completely please.” He turned and sat on the edge of the desk. “I’m a Site Director, not a predator.”

“O-oh, okay?” She was caught off guard by the frankness but powered through. The woman pried herself from behind the door and stood before Anno. “I was just wondering if you had a minute to talk?”

“Mhm.” Anno noted the hunch she held, the inability to maintain eye contact, and the frankly unprofessional level of musk radiating off her. Anno had a bad feeling about the woman.

“So?” Anno asked expectingly. The woman cleared her throat. Suddenly, she shot up right and stiffened like a pencil.

“My name is Floretta Boyd and I am-er, was Acting Site Director of Site-101! I am pleased to make your acquaintance!” She bowed her head, assumingely in a Japanese formal greeting.

Anno audibly sighed. “You? You were acting Site Director?”

“Yes.” Floretta paused. “Well, only for 3 months. I’m normally the Assistant Director of Research.”

That’s still too much responsibility, Anno thought. “Okay, Ms. Boyd. What happened to the previous Site Director?”

Anno braced for the answer. It wasn’t often that Site Director’s get happy endings. The vast majority are given amnestics and demoted, usually because they’ve interfaced with particularly horrific anomalies or events. Those who get to keep their memory, often die with it, via containment breach, suicide, homicide, or the disturbingly common “freak accident”. Anno held his breath.

“Oh, Dr. Smith? He retired.”

Anno raised an eyebrow. “Retired.”

“Yeah. Just…walked away from it.”

Anno was skeptical. This wasn’t an occupation you simply “retired” from. He silently reasoned that a false story was disseminated among the lower clearances. He was going to have to pry into this later.

“He had been Site Director for about 40 years, so it made sense.” Floretta continued. “In any case, I don’t think it’s that concerning. This site doesn’t contain too many high threat level Objects. I guess you’ll see that when you go through the database though.”

“Guess I will.” Anno got up from the desk and began to unpack. “Are introductions over now?”

“Uh, just one more thing…” Floretta’s voice trailed. “Before I was acting Site Director, I was working on an Object we received about 4 years ago. I know you have a lot of Objects to review, most a lot more pressing than this but-“

“You want me to look at something?”

“Not just look.” Floretta corrected. “I want to revise its containment procedures. Currently, we have it stored away, inactive. I think-“ She pauses. “Well, you should probably read it first.”

Anno placed an unplugged monitor on the desk. “I’m not exactly set up here, Ms. Boyd.”

“Oh, I got it right here!” Floretta excitedly pulled out a manilla envelope and presented it to Anno. Anno took it, opened it, and slid the documents within out into his hands. When he saw the black bars over some text, he pulled from his pocket a special instrument that could reveal the marked out text below. It was a relic from before the digital age, where physical docs were more commonplace. The fact that this site still hadn’t gone fully digital didn’t escape him and would be another thing he would inquire about later.

He placed the instrument to the page and read the following:

Object #: 503

Threat Level: Safe

Containment Level: Safe

Containment Status: Contained

Procedure Protocol: OBJ-503 is to be kept in Site-101’s High Value Item Storage Facility. It is to have its own storage closet with no access to an electrical outlet. A blackout curtain is also to be draped over it. To remove or interact with OBJ-503, a Form-808 must be filled and approved by the Site Director. OBJ-503 is to be transported to Cell M-1215 for testing.

Description: OBJ-503 is a Sony XBR-HX900 series television set. It was first obtained by field operatives on December 25, 2019 in Washington, DC, Maryland. The previous owner, [Letitia James], had called local law enforcement and inquired about the nature of her child’s disappearance, which alerted the Department.

When turned on, the television set operates as normally expected, even without a cable subscription or internet access. On channel 222, a television cable network known as “The Hub” airs one singular television program, “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.” Upon the first activation of the television set and first viewing of channel 222, “The Hub” network is introduced and the opening title sequence for a kids program titled “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” plays. This is shown to happen under these circumstances with a consistency of 100%.

Note: Neither “The Hub” or “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” exist within any known media distribution company nor is there any information about the network and show beyond this television set.

From its opening, “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” appears to be a show about a cast of six colorful ponies in a fantasy world. Their names are not given but a visual and description are present. We have labeled these entities Object #503A-F.

In order of appearance:

OBJ-503A-1 and OBJ-503A-2 - A purple unicorn with a magenta streak in her mane. She features prominently in the intro and is the lead singer, indicating a protagonist‘s role. She is accompanied by a purple and green dragon of small stature, who will be given the designation OBJ-503A-2 . She expresses curiosity towards the concept of friendship before meeting the other subjects.

OBJ-503B - A blue pegasus with a rainbow mane. She flies off camera, singing “big adventure”. It is assumed she has a tomboyish personality, seeking thrills.

OBJ-503C - A pink pony with a puffy mane. She blows a balloon, exclaiming “tons of fun”. It is assumed she is a bubbly, eccentric personality, in pursuit of enjoyment and pleasure.

OBJ-503D - A white unicorn with a purple mane. She flicks her hair, intoning “a beautiful heart”. She exhibits an heir of grace in the show, looking to present herself in a favorable manner at all times.

OBJ-503E - A orange pony with a yellow mane. She kicks a tree with her back legs, projecting “faithful and strong”. Apples rain across the camera. It is assumed she is the most physically capable of the group.

OBJ-503F - A yellow pegasus with a pink mane. She feeds a bunny with an apple, whispering “sharing kindness” before being cut off by #503A1 saying “is an easy feat”. It is assumed she is a timid character, perhaps a bit of a doormat.

Note: Personally, I think she is my favorite of the cast.

The intro ends with OBJ-503A-1 returning to the cast in center stage, proclaiming they are all her very best friends. Notably, the final scene in which an unknown entity yet to be considered a POI (Person of Interest) receives a photograph, the scan lines of the television set distort the image, rendering it illegible. Work is currently being done to render the image. After the title drop, in lieu of a directing credit, the following text is displayed in the show’s font: “Developed for [Aaron James]”

Note: Aaron James is the missing son of Letitia James.

After the opening credits, the rest of the program is a black screen, depicting vague forms cast in shadows. The current hypothesis is that it is a live feed of a storage room. The hypothesis is supported by OBJ-503 Incident Report-1, seen below.

OBJ-503 Incident Report-1: During a test of the operation of OBJ-503, the usual image of a black screen was replaced with a slightly less black screen, with a sliver of light flooding through a crack in a doorway. The previously thought vague shadows were revealed to be typical objects of storage such as boxes, vases, a broom, and a mirror. After approximately 3 hrs, the door closed and the image of a black screen returned. This incident has not since occurred.

After Anno was finished reading, he looked back up toward Floretta. For the first time since they started talking, there was an heir of confidence about her.

“I wrote that myself.” She said, rubbing her shoulder with a blush.

“It says that you need an 808 to do anything with this thing.” Anno sifted through the 2 documents. He looked at Floretta with an intense seriousness. “I don’t see an 808, Ms. Boyd.”

The blush in Floretta’s face drained. She hunched down even more. “I-I-I forgot. Yes, Dr. Ansbro, I will get you an 808 on the double! I assure you, I don’t usually make mistakes like-“

“Relax, I’m fucking with you.” Anno casually interrupted and resumed with his unpacking. “Word of advice, don’t take this shit too seriously.”

Floretta tilted her head. “And what is ‘this shit’?”

“All of it.” Anno sighed. “The Department of Anomalies is made out to be this great bastion of human safety. It’s not. It’s a filing cabinet for shit that’s either too difficult to explain or something we don’t want to. Once you stop thinking you’re holding back human extinction everyday, you get a little better at your job.”

“O-oh.” Floretta shifted the weight between her legs, unsure of how to take that advice. “Okay, I guess.”

“Now, what do you plan for its new containment?”

“Well, I think the TV should remain on. Indefinitely. If it is a live feed, eventually something will happen, right? And if we can monitor that feed, catch something else we didn’t see before, perhaps we can discover more about the nature of this anomaly.”

“You’re thinking about-“

“Aaron.” Floretta interjected. Her demeanor shifted again, this time to that of an almost concerned parent. “Yes, I saw when I was briefly Director. The disappearance could be related.”

“Not our job. Remember: Filing cabinet.”

“Doesn’t mean we can’t at least try. Since when did this job have to be so heartless…”

“Since it started getting people killed.”

“So we leave him to die?”

The room sat in silence. Anno closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Your test has been authorized. Containment procedure will be revised.”

Floretta smiles brightly. “Thank-“

“Don’t thank me.” Anno put an index finger up. “We are running a few more tests for the sake of information gathering. As it stands, you’ve given me a reason this Object could be more unsafe than previously thought. Nothing more, alright?”

Floretta nods. “Yessir.”

“Alright then.” Anno turned back to the box, still half filled with supplies. “It was a pleasure meeting you.”

“Uh, likewise.” Floretta said, then stood awkwardly for a few moments before leaving the way she came.

An hour later, Anno got the database up and running. It was an archaic piece of shit system that ran about as well AOL did on its best days, but Anno grew a strange sense of comfort with it over the years. He checked to see how many Objects were located at Site-101. According to the database, about 128 different Objects. He searched the database until he found Object #503’s digital file. For old time’s sake, he did the revision himself.

Procedure Protocol: OBJ-503 is to be kept in Cell M-1215. A camera is to be focused on the display, monitoring the object 24/7. Footage is to be reviewed on a daily basis for anomalous activity. If anomalous activity is detected, report to the Assistant Director of Research, Ms. Floretta Boyd.

Testing of this Object is ongoing.

Author's Note

Author’s Commentary: I liked the idea of adding in chapters, implying that the actual story is just beginning 4 years later. Also, if the names of the humans in this seems familiar, discard the thought. It’s all coincidental.

Also, I wanted to work in the time gap this fic has had so it really has been 4 years since those initial entries and the Department of Anomalies just kinda didn’t pursue it all that much. Speaking of, you’re probably asking “Are we getting more of the diary entries?” The answer is yes. I’m playing around with how this story is told, partly so I can keep my own interest in it. I’m currently working on those entries now but expect one more chapter of DoA setup.