Gouk-Gouk

N.128.4 DATA INPUT 364876

The cuckoo clock registered within the Bureau is kept in a soundproof room in Section-19. The sole decipherable record on the recording device found in the clock has been transcribed and documented. Relevant personnel must take precautions according to the guidelines of Document-4 [REDACTED] before interacting with the clock.

<RECORD START>

[A bird’s cuckoo call is heard.]

I am recording this entry in the language of humans to support my previous logs.

It has been four million since the destruction of the planet Gouk-Gouk, and approximately two million since our arrival on the planet Earth. We do not have enough time or fuel to set out again on deep-space travel. We are waiting for the two-legged primates to complete their evolution. They are progressing more slowly than we thought. The different evolutionary process of our cousins on Earth make things…

[mechanical static]

…led the hairy primate ancestors of the species in whose shelters I dwell to call me “cuckoo” because of the sound I made. As they acquired primitive languages, they gave my ship the name “clock.” Seeing that this served my mission, I did not intervene. [rhythmic cuckoo calls are heard]

I continue to fulfill my assigned duty faithfully. Even though my communication with the comrades who came to this planet with me has been cut off, I leave my ship every hour and deliver my warnings. I am not sure they understand me. Because of their slow development, I observe that they cannot grasp the communication of our species. The human species, although different from us, shows strong evidence that it can perceive the concept of time. For this reason, I believe that Tiather the Time-Eater will destroy this strange planet just as it destroyed our home. We must reach an understanding with humans as soon as possible and work together against this ancient evil. I feel that time is running short.

[Unintelligible sounds at two different wavelengths in the recording were analyzed.]

My faithful operatives, the hour hand and the minute hand, are warning me. They say that time has entered the twelfth cycle again. I will step out of my ship twelve times to warn the humans. I will continue to speak of the terror of the darkness.

[Rhythmic cuckoo calls similar to the previous recordings are heard.]

<RECORD END>