#7.5 - Prisoner's Logbooks

13 Apr, 2025

This page is just a dumping ground for the 60(!!) logbooks you find over the course of Prisoner. They're split between Crew, Captain, and Chief logbooks. They're all transcribed here as they're found in-game although I very slightly adjusted the punctuation on some.

These are all presented in numerical order (some can be found out of order, but the actual correct numbering remains the same), as it also corresponds to the chronology of the events. These can't be viewed in-game after you pick them up the first time, so I wanted to record them for fun.

The Golden Dawn Crew's logbooks:

Voyage goes smoothly, arrival scheduled for next week. Is it possible to settle? Everyone looks forward to it.
Oxygen level problems found. Settling impossible. General dismay. Only two planets left… anxiety spreads.
New Year party held. Captain's pessimism bothers us all.
Arrived at target planet, exploration confirms indigenous life. Colonization cancelled due to this. General dismay… Captain's pessimism increases…
Captain suggests cancelling expedition… General unrest. What is the Captain thinking?
Staff meeting approves the Captain's removal from command. But Captain seeks to exercise his enforcement power… Group is divided into supporters and opposers… Captain supporters are mostly members of the Science Cult. I will remain neutral.
Split inevitable. Captain loyalists use force to crush opposition. We were friends…
Conflict becomes increasingly fierece. In the meantime, autopilot navigation to the final planet continues. Nobody seems to care about that. We lost sight of our original purpose.
Captain's faction uses armed guards, opposition uses animals… Both deployed as troops… This is currently a battlefield.
Hellish times continue… Conflict has led to betrayals and general mutual distrust… Days of a journey full of hope are gone now.
Agricultural Engineers and Security Crew turn to Captain's faction. Opposition are called rebels. Loyalists likely to prevail… I will remain neutral to the end.
Core opposition, scientists and navigation engineers, have died fighting. Golden Dawn will be prevented from maintaining most functions.
Opposition retreated to secondary living quarters… Captain's faction declared victory. The blood feud has ended for now…
Engineer shortage worsens… I'm appointed Chief Technical Advisor on Captain's order. Hence I was able to maintain life support systems, but… Much of the area will become inuninhabitable.
Opposition defeated, but they want to deactivate their life support. Huge stretch between areas, intermediate floors inactive. We will probably never meet again.
Captain renamed Security to Gunners, organized mop-up unit against opposition… But total wipe out is unlikely. New organizational chart announced as well. I was assigned to technical staff now known as Scholars… First concern is securing living space on our current floor.
The Science Cult gets more power… Suggest primitive regression to Captain. Our lives about to change dramatically…
I'm getting used to my new life. Agricultural Engineers now called Terraners, develop sustainable farms. But misery dwells outside of our area. Abandoned lab animals and berserk guard systems abound in other floors… A lot of uncertainty floats around.
It's been six months since my last report… Keeping records seems more and more futile each passing day… I'm starting to conform to this life.
It's been 10 years since my last report… Too long. Primitive life is painful. There's no room for doubts or progress… No further needs to write reports from now on.

The Golden Dawn's Captain's logbooks. Note that this isn't the captain you meet during the story--the current captain of Golden Dawn is actually a descendant of the captain who wrote these logbooks. Yes, in game it's canon that due to the current way Golden Dawn's society is structured, Captain is a hereditary title.

I don't know if I can handle this heavy responsibility… But I must carry out my mission as best I can… Because it's the mission that was given to me.
The crew is anxious… This is already the third exploration… Only two targets left… We need hope…
The Beta-9 exploration had the best chances of success, but failed… Only Sigma-1892 left… but it has the worst likelihood of the three planets.
I can't manage the crew's anxiety anymore… Saving humankind is important, but I bear the fate of 300 crew members. I must decide…
I'll announce mission cancellation today. Some crew are upset, but a reckless journey ends in disaster.
My removal petition will be submitted by Beirak, Chief of Pilots. Beirak and I have had several conflicts in the past. I need to react.. Luckily, the Science Cult still supports me. The crew will inevitably split into two factions.
Today, Beirak's faction… No, the rebels barricaded in the Drive Room. I'll command a security team and end it. Some might see this as violent oppression, but order must be maintained…
The rebels seem to want to fight to the bitter end… This is an unforgivable act. Don't cross me!! Just obey!!
We upgraded the guard systems on all floors to suppress the rebels, since they are now using their research animals to fight us. They'll regret it.
Today, several deserters from the rebels surrendered to me. But I had them executed… It's only natural… A rebellion like this must never happen again! I don't care if people think I'm inhumane!
The Agricultural Engineers and Security finally asked to join us today. Clearly, I didn't refuse. With food and military power, victory is ours!
The rebels still resist… I can't understand them. Persuaded by Beirak or not, they are fools.
The rebels retreated to the secondary living quarters… We have won! Their aim is probably to secure the bridge… By rights, we should wipe out the place, but I need to appease things now.
The shortage of technical staff is a problem. But there are plenty of options… People don't need advanced technology to live in the first place.
Today I will be bestowed upon by the Science Cult… They take me as symbol of their faith… Curious.
Today I'll announce a new staff hierarcy. It was the foolish structure we had so far which produced this conflict. From now on, we'll apply a clear class system.
We'll maintain the minimum technology necessary and return to a simple life. That creates stability. There's lots of resources here, luckily. They are only enough to maintain our technology, for some decades, but… if we scale back, projections show that they may last over 1000 years.
They still call me the Captain… But that means something different today. Now I am a preacher of great wise teachings. The leader I once was is dead.
The rebels settled in the secondary living quarters. But that area has very little arable land… They'll die in no time at all.
How many years have passed since it all began? I don't have much time… My heir will become the new Captain and pass on my teachings to everyone. May Syuhns' light shine!

The Chief of Pilot's logbooks. These entries confirm the Chief of Pilots is Beirak, as in, the namesake of the rebel hideout of Beirak.

I am trying to do my best as Chief of Pilots, but… The relationship between me and the Captain isn't the best. I wonder if he dislikes me personally…
The exploration mission fialed. This isn't our haven… Anxiety spreads among the pilot crew…
New Year's party. I'm clashing with the Captain over policy issues. That guy has too many mood swings.
Latest mission failed too… We can't colonize planets with higher lifeforms, but there's still a ray of hope. Sigma-1892… our last target.
The Captain made a shocking announncement. He wants to abort the mission… and we can't even return to Earth… The crew members all seem very worried. Something must be done.
I submitted today a removal petition for the Captain, supported by all pilots. I'll never forget the way he looked at me during the staff meeting. There was murder in his eyes…
Removal rejected due to Captain's intimidation. This is unacceptable! I gathered supporters in the Drive Room. How will the other faction respond?
The Captain's faction is suppressing us with violence. I believe our cause to be just… We will fight until the end.
We are vulnerbale, so we deployed research animals. Many of the animals can be used as weapons against other human beings, but the loyalists are directing the Guard System against us. This place will become a battlefield… Save for a few areas, no place is safe now.
The Captain is to be blamed for this conflict. Our objective was to explore a possibly habitable planet. The mission had to be carried out, even at the risk of our lives. But the Captain decided to abort it. Soon we'll find out which side is right.
The Agricultural Engineers and Security Team are on the Captain's side now. I, Beirak, have only 50 comrades with me. We are overpowered.
We are exhausted from continuous fighting… However, we are the only ones who are capable of fully operating Golden Dawn's systems. That is the base of our whole resistance.
We retreated to secondary living quarters.. The loyalists are strong. But resistance continues. We must not abandon our mission to expand humanity's horizons. Luckily, this area connects directly to the bridge. We must at least manage to protect the data bank.
Secondary living quarters are for emergencies. They're not big, but with our numbers we can manage… The bridge's data bank is now safe.
The two living quarters… It's been half a year since the crew split between these two places. Between them, there's the berserk Guard System and wild research animals, safe passage is impossible. Although I doubt many people want to move between them…
Life in the secondary area is quite pleasant. However, all of the ship's records have been destroyed by the Captain's side. Luckily, the data on the bridge is safe.
My comrades proposed to attack the other faction with an exploration pod. But I rejected the plan… That pod is for exploring Sigma-1892 once we reach the planet. If we modify it, we won't be able to explore. I won't allow that.
There's nothing we can do. The captain's side is living a new life with a new rank system. They reverted to primitive times.
We can't fight the Captain's side, so we are forced to change our lifestyle. It is inevitable… But there are important things we must preserve.
We discovered that the bridge's records are still in perfect condiiton. That data must not fall in the hands of the Captain's side! Because the whole truth is in that data!