July 4th, 1956, 2:30 P.M. pacific central time.

This is my first journal. I am not very skilled in this art, but I feel that I need to keep an accurate account of this. I geuss I should begin by telling how I got to this mine shaft. About 3 weeks ago a colleague of mine, Jorgen Scheisskopf, proposed an idea to me. "Imagine, Samuel, a world beneath our feet. An entire ecosystem inside a bubble of air suspended in an ocean of magma." Of course, I thought he was crazy, I still do; on account of the fact that we are still wandering through some old mine shafts. But, he contracted me to do a job, so I hired 20 experienced Spelunkers to join in the expedition. I will know more soon.