Recovered documents from the Before Times. These files were found on a water-damaged laptop recovered from the Craig Ranger District office during the first salvage expedition (Day 47). The laptop’s battery was dead, but Greg managed to pull the hard drive and read it using solar power and a truly heroic amount of cursing.
These documents represent research and observations about Heceta Island compiled before The Correction. They are preserved here because the knowledge they contain — about the land, the water, the creatures, the people who came before — is more valuable now than it ever was when it was just someone’s thesis project.
The Council has designated these files as essential reference material. Dr. Tanaka calls them “the instruction manual we didn’t know we needed.” Dale calls them “the kind of thing you only read when you’re about to starve,” which is also true.
Document Index
The following documents were recovered intact or partially intact. They cover geology, ecology, history, and Indigenous knowledge of Heceta Island and the surrounding Alexander Archipelago. Some files were corrupted; we’ve preserved what we could.
Navigate to the Blog archive to read the recovered documents in full.
Classification System
Priority A — Immediate survival value: Documents covering food sources, water systems, plant identification, animal behavior, seasonal patterns, and Indigenous land use practices. These are required reading for all settlement members during the 14-day orientation period.
Priority B — Long-term planning value: Documents covering geology, watershed analysis, historical land use, and ecological surveys. Essential for the Council’s land management decisions.
Priority C — Cultural and historical context: Documents about the people, place names, and deep history of human habitation on Heceta Island. Not immediately necessary for survival, but Dr. Tanaka argues — correctly — that understanding where you are requires understanding who was here first.
A Note from the Archivist
I have been given the title “Settlement Archivist,” which means I am the person who keeps these files dry. My qualifications for this role are that I suggested we keep the files dry. This is how jobs are assigned now.
Some of these documents reference scientific studies, government surveys, and academic research that we can no longer access because the internet doesn’t exist anymore and also most universities are closed. If you find errors in these documents, please bring them to me so I can shrug, because verification is no longer something we do. We read what we have and hope it’s accurate. Welcome to the new epistemology.
— Marcus Cole, Settlement Archivist (and Latrine Coordinator, and Council Recorder, and whatever else nobody else wants to do)