I have spent days with the artifact now. Or has it been weeks? Months? I can no longer be certain...The others come from time to time – offering food or distraction. They say I should separate myself from these studies... Malik has even suggested I abandon them entirely. But I am not yet ready to turn away. This Apple of Eden will be understood. It must be...Is it a weapon? Is it a catalogue? Is it somehow both? "He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow..." The philosophy of such a statement I can understand... But for it to be truth – literally true? A society that waged wars with ideas and information in place of steel and swords...Its function is simple. Elementary, even. Dominion. Control. But the process... the methods and means it employs... THESE are fascinating. Those subjected to its glow are promised all that they desire. It asks only one thing in return: complete and total obedience. And who can truly refuse? It is temptation incarnate. I remember my own moment of weakness when confronted by Al Mualim, my confidence shaken by his words. He, who had been like a father, was now revealed to be my greatest enemy. Just the briefest flicker of doubt was all he needed to creep into my mind. But I vanquished his phantoms – restored my self confidence – and sent him from this world. I freed myself. But now I wonder... Did I really? For here I sit – desperate to understand that which I swore to destroy. This is why: The Apple has a tale to tell. I sense the flickers of something – great and dangerous... We are all at risk. It is my duty to do something about it. I must not – cannot – turn away until I've found the truth.