Journal XX

In 1883, Pope Leo XII  opened up the archives from 1815 and earlier, giving access to material such as Henry VIII's request for his marriage to be annulled and some of the letters from the artist Michelangelo.  One of the documents released was a mysterious letter written by Pope Leo X to Leonardo Da Vinci close to the end of the prolific inventor, artist, naturalist and engineer's life in the April of 1519.  In the letter the Pope demands that "thine writings come unto the Emissaries of the Second Coming... that ye might not be consumed by hell-fire in the last days."

Whether or not the papacy was able to find this notebook, known by Da Vinci scholars as Journal XX is unknown.  However, in the 1890's, art historian Bernard Berenson discovered fragments of what had been originally a work of massive scope.  Within was found designs for the:

• The Vitruvian Man, a 16th century idea for a superhuman fueled by mysterious "telluric waves".  A few have cited this as the inspiration for the Teletubbies, but this thesis was refuted by John Nicholas Butchko in 1966.

• An Automaton, easily manufactured and able to be delivered in large quantities.  Swiss Army has produced a prototype which failed, but they are are on their way to create an ominous Mark II to be unleashed on December 21st, 2012.

• A Tank, which although primitive by today's standards has been seen as the inspiration for several new creations by a joint Swiss Army/ NASA venture.  The picture above is secret footage taken at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

• The Three Tier Machine Gun, a project abandoned by White Star Line in 1917.

In 1904, however, through a series of shadowy events, a succession of secret societies, organizations and individuals  at one point or another possessed the notebook and tried to capitalize on the designs inclusive within the manuscript.  In 1968, the Freemasons donated the notebook to the Alliance, which now is attempting to implement the technological powers which Da Vinci envisioned.  Although not a large concern compared to other plots, Notebook XX is dangerous in the wrong hands.