Alterna Log

The Alterna Logs are unlockable logs available in Return of the Mammalians. They were created by O.R.C.A. as a means of documenting key information on Alternan history from its creation onward. O.R.C.A states that the Logs are something citizens are granted access to as they prove their capabilities, which it follows up with a threat, saying that Agent 3 should not attempt to share the contents of the Logs without permission.

Every time the player reaches a new site, a new Log is made available, totaling at six. A secret seventh log can be found by clearing After Alterna, a level only made available after completing the main story mode.

Appearance
The icon for the Alterna Logs features Alterna's logo against a backdrop of statistics, with O.R.C.A.'s symbol prominently displayed. The icon features a pixelated style, while the Alterna logo has a chromatic aberration effect applied to it, implying it is being viewed through a (possibly damaged) screen.

Logs appear in a corrupted state until they are fully unlocked, wherein their contents are unreadable; the images appear heavily corrupted, and the text appears encrypted. A heading that reads "red" appears at the top of each incomplete log's title. Every time a mission is cleared for the first time, one line of the site's corresponding Log is decrypted. If the newly decrypted line of text is directly above an image, the image is decrypted as well. After being fully decrypted, each Log is fully restored, though the images in each file may still contain glitch effects.

Trivia

 * O.R.C.A.'s threat towards Agent 3 suggests the content of the Logs is considered sensitive, and likely was not available to all Alternan citizens during their time in the shelter.
 * Consequently, Agent 3 is the only member of the New Squidbeak Splatoon with access to the Alterna Logs. Agent 2 is interested in reading them, but decides against attempting to do so.
 * Alternatively, this threat may serve as a meta joke deterring players from posting story spoilers online.
 * The "corrupted" text in logs with incomplete processing bears a resemblance to mojibake, a type of textual "corruption" that occurs due to a mis-match between textual encoding and decoding.
 * The final log being titled "Log.exe" in contrast to the other logs' numbered titles suggests that its content is hidden within the Log program's executable file.

Etymology
Log refers to a type of archive, typically a recording of events as they are on-going, which are used for historical or other documentation.