The Journal of Arnold: The final entries.

Week 9 Day 55 Sunday:  I run into a few of the towns villains.

During my morning ”exercises” I ran into Doctor Obolensky.  Despite the fact he had tried to shoot everyone to space last night, he didn’t seem at all put off by his failures.  I find I actually respect him, and told him that if he was injured I’d happily carry him to the hospital.

I was also aware that one of the people he had tried to shoot to space was Miss Maddox unless she was late as usual, but if he had really wanted her dead or any of the others he could have just gotten a lot of guns and started to shoot everyone. 

Today there was a rather unusual beast in town at the port with a rather large mouth.  I stayed in the area in case someone got hurt, and when they didn’t I left.  Just what the town needed, another monster.  Wonderful.

I ran into Lionheart again today and this time he insisted on a trip to Ruby’s pub.  We talked for a short time, though I didn’t get anything to eat or drink.  *This area was ripped out and doesn’t continue till the next day*

Monday Day 56:  Exploring town

I spent the day exploring town and discovering new things about the city.  One of these things is that you could sit at the top of the air cart ramp till you’re blue in the face at the Gut, but you will never see one.

Well, almost never.

Teusday Day  57:  I speak with a few more ”upstanding” citizens.

On my early morning run, I ran into Victor.  We had a short chat about his little sewer adventure and how he thinks the fact that I age at twice the rate of a human is better than having to watch all my friends die.  I guess it’s safe to assume he’s also a lot older than he looks.

He warned me against meddling with time during our conversation, which was hardly necessary considering the fact that I’m already bad luck enough and I don’t need to add screwing up time portals that would have remained stable if I wasn’t in the area to the list of things that would break or ruin around me.  As it is I should probably never go into the Strife house, the Bucket, the power station, the hospital, or…well I probably shouldn’t be allowed near anyone ever really.

Still, that didn’t stop me from continueing my run around town and I stopped to speak to Emerson Lighthouse as he was inspecting a new clock.  I stopped for several reasons, including to tell him about the chemicals in the snake bite and he revealed something I had already suspected at the time.  All I’ll say about the rest of that encounter is that he is without a doubt the worst liar I have ever met.

I spoke with Stargirl today as well, about the Mayor, and it turns out he’s still showing signs of being healthy for the moment.  I also spoke with Caspian and asked him a few questions about the town and a few of it’s inhabitants but I didn’t get any real answers.

Later I ran into Stargirl again at the Gangplank with Doc Miggins and a few of the others citizens in the area who had been playing a new game.  There Tesla was being teased as the ”Emperess of Babbage”.  It was obvious they were having harmless fun between friends and I did nothing to cause a scene, though I did say, much later when it wouldn’t cause an end to their merriment, that the Emperor had stood up for Gil’s life the other day and was a good man for it.  Actually I may have said that because Doc Miggins had suggested the body of the man he was going find might be the Emperor’s.  He assured us it wasn’t…but it turns out he was more prophetic than he might have imagined.

Later that night, as I found Gilhooly walking around without his crutches, we found the Emperor fine and well…till he demanded to see some identification from a mer who was on land.

During that time he fell backwards into the water in his own stupor.  He was swept out to see, and not even the mer, who no one but me apparently wanted to talk to, could say where he had gone.  She had dived in after him, but had come back almost immediately and there had not been enough time for her to take him away.  That didn’t stop some of the people, even the witnesses who had been there, from blaming the mer anyways.

Since this hadn’t been the first time I’d seen someone carried out to sea rapidly, and because Mr. Underby and many others in the  area were making a search party, I did not feel compeled to join the search at the moment.  I could hardly help the Emperor so I took Gilhooly back to the hospital and tended to his leg.

The wounds had reopened and I was forced to clean them and restitch them.  This time I was much more satisfied with my job performance.

Wednsday Day 58: Tours

Today was mostly wasted, though I did happen to mention to the mayor that the Emperor had gone missing the other day, and he acted like he hadn’t heard yet and he ran off screaming about a national emergency.

After that I gave Nathaniel a tour of the Vernian tunnels and the hospital, since he hadn’t seen them completely.  Other than that, it was a day of study.

Thursday Day 59 (May 26):  The page that was never written.

***There was nothing written on this day, though there would have been.  About how Arnold had run into Nathaniel again though this time he had wanted to go to the Bucket.  About what he had overheard that night when Phaedra had come to speak to her husband.  About the many secrets he learned, both inside and outside, related and unrelated to things he knew beforehand.

It would have contained a lot of things, but this journal would never contain them.  This journal was now covered in a bloody kind of mud and it was completely illegible where it hadn’t managed to become burnt.  This journal had been completely ruined, as well as his clothes, his hat, and everything else that he had in his possession, all because he had challenged the New Babbage fates once they had finally sent him ”Worse”, to ”do their worst!”

Most people might have stopped at that, especially when the worst didn’t happen immediately after saying that, but there was something wrong with Arnold, which is why he is still (as of June 3rd) in the hospital recovering…

In one of Maddox’s dresses.***