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Airstrip One Revisited: An Archaeological-Anthropological Study of England's Oceanic Period |
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Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
; Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No." Abe say, "What?"
; God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run"
; Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
God says, "Out on Highway 61." |
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-Bob Dylan |
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Allow me to begin by thanking the Miskatonic University Board of Trustees for giving me the oppurtunity to perform this study. Without their support I would still be digging up remains in Glendale in Queens, New York. I had always wanted to launch an expedition into the ruins of London as it was after the Great Steamer Attack of 1986. A great deal of research and study has been accrued on the American Oceanic period; however, by the nature of the English Socialist party [Ingsoc, in its Oceanic form] the information available is completely fraudulent. The ruins of London provide a fleeting glimpse, or a snapshot of time from the Oceanic period. In this snapshot, it would be possible to discover information on the period that was, at the time, completely up to date. Even if the past it presented was as skewed, it would provide a past point with which to compare records from the American Oceanic period. Now that the university's six week expedition has been completed, I'm very excited to share with you a small piece of the team's findings. |
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Our Guide, archaeologist Etheline Tenenbaum, hard at work at her home in New York. |
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One of the expedition's primary dig sites was the Airstrip One Ministry of Truth. (Minitrue in the Oceanic) The Ministry buildings are one of the largest and most constant reminders of the Oceanic Period. Three hundred meters tall and plastered with the slogans of English Socialism, the were the monoliths of the Oceanic Empire. Every province had a set of Ministries and generally the architecture was the same from province to province. This fact was essential during the excavation stage, as the dig team was relying on architectural drawings of the Washington ministries. The dig was undertaken in three steps: Step one aimed to unearth the Records Department, which would house massive archives of Airstrip One's periodicals, novels, telescreen programs, and so on. The second step aimed itself at the inner party offices in the center of the building, where they would have been certain hard copies of rare truthful documents. Last but not least, the third step of the excavation was also the deepest, targetting the giant incinerators in the bowels of the ministires, where every piece of waste was carefully examined before being destroyed. |
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Here we have an artist's conception of the Airstrip One Minitrue in 1986, prior to the Steamer Attack. |
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Here we have that same artists's conception of the Great Steamer Attack of 1986. |
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The Steamer Attack of 1986 leveled the four ministries of Airstrip One into mounds of broken steal and masonry. It seems that as the attack continued, the rubble of the upper levels of the ministries began to act as a shield to the lower levels. As our excavation discovered, this resulted in those floors generally below the first sub-level were left remarkably intact after having been evacuated. The lowest level of the Ministry of Truth, the incinerator room, was near-completely undamaged. We found in the incinerator room genuine documentation of the activities of the Ministry of Truth by the bucketful; the Mother Lode, you could say. Sorted by degree we found the simple scraps of paper which would have been tossed down memory holes. A step up in bulk we found obsoleted books, periodicals, and so forth. Next were government record set to be destroyed in keeping with the English Socialist party doctorine. But the jewel of the find were the Thought Police records awaiting incineration. |
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A different artist's conception of the Incinerator Room. |
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Tales of the archaic Though Police (ThinkPol in the Oceanic) are the first thing that come to mind when one remembers stories of the Oceanic period. And not without good reason: the ThinkPol were the most thorough and effective intelligence agency seen to date in the western world. They hunted down every particle of dissent and unorthodoxy in the party in the style of an immune system dealing with the common cold.
In the ThinkPol offices of the Incinerator Room in the Airstrip One Minitrue a truly unique find was made: A Journal. While not uncommon among some members of the old Upper party, this journal appeared to have belonged to a member of the Lower party. The author of the journal is unnamed by the ThinkPol, probably having been vaporized some time before. The journal is dated, however, which provides a useful timestamp effect. With the permission of the Board of Trustees, it is my pleasure to present you with selected pages of this journal, and a view into the life of an English Socialist Lower Party member. |
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The amount of paper burned in two days at a Ministry of Truth could have filled the ruins of the Library of Congress. |
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-Dr. Etheline Tenenbaum, Archer Avenue, NY |
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Page One |
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Page Two |
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Page Three |
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Page Four |
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The text and images included within this interweb locale are the sole property of the Arkham University archaeology department. Electric theft of these items will be reported to the authorities. January 9th, MMLXXVIII |
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