1 day before arrival in New Babbage:
We arrive in port tomorrow, apparently, and start our new lives. Or at least that’s what she says. Starting a new life would imply I ever had a life to begin with. She bought me a new outfit to wear, one which she insists will make me look professional. I just nodded along.
She says everything will be all right from now on and that she’ll be able to take care of everything. If I had believed that for a single moment, I wouldn’t even be here.
Still the professor sent her here and I got the impression he set everything up in advance for her. She keeps assuring me that the only thing that I have to be is ‘nice’. She made me promise that I would be nice and I assured her that I would be a ”niceness master”.
Every time I say that she rolls her eyes, because she knows what I really mean when I say that. Fortunately, no one else will.
Day 1: We are doomed, the musical that is my life.
10 pm New Babbage time: After an uneventful trip we arrived in port late at night and happened upon a fisherman named Yang who gave us a very halfhearted welcome. He said he was busy and we were forced to explore the deserted streets on our own.
11:21pm: Miss Maddox expressed an interest in the automatons that were displayed in a poster near the port. I implied she was trying to replace me already and she said she would never do that. I was actually and deeply touched, though she had to ruin it by pointing out that it would be much harder to make fun of anyone else with as many neuroses as me.
11:54pm: I noted that it was far too late at night to meet anyone reputable, and she told me that just made exploring that much more interesting. The conversation that followed speaks for itself and I’m trying to record it in it’s entirety so I may throw it in her face in a week.
Arnold: So are we searching for the worst parts of town to ensure this now or do you have a better idea? Like where will we stay now that we’re getting jobs here?
Maddox Sinclaire: I don’t know. We’ll just have to come back tomorrow morning and see who has work for us. I never said we’d have it all together all at once.
Arnold: What?!
Maddox Sinclaire: You heard me
Arnold: I heard you, but that, wait!
Mistress Maddox ran down the street, back the way we came towards the port. I gave chase and when I caught up to her near the wharf I confronted her.
Arnold: You never said ANYTHING about not having a plan!
Arnold: You said everything would work…out…
Arnold: …when we got here is what you left out, didn’t you?
Maddox Sinclaire: And it will. Once we find work.
Maddox Sinclaire: As for right now, can’t you just enjoy the night air?
No. No I can’t. If I had been told ahead of time that’s what we’d be doing I wouldn’t have minded because I’ve done as much on countless ocassions. I was homeless when I first met Miss Maddox, but I had known at that time I was going to do that. This was a rather sudden and unwanted surprise.
We have no plan, no money, and we’re in a strange place with no friends whatsoever. Wonderful. I certaintly love all the incredibly brilliant choices that I’ve made that have gotten me to this point in my life.
Day 2: Wandering Town.
I woke up far away from where I went to sleep, stranded in the worst part of town from the look of it. I really hope they find a cure to being a somnambulus some day but I doubt it. If anyone but her asks I guess I’ll tell them I was drugged in my sleep and woke up in a pile of catnip or something.
As I wandered town alone, I had to ask myself again…what am I doing here? I didn’t have to follow her to perdition and back. I could have just let her wander off and get killed in some strange land and…
No I couldn’t, and that’s why I’m stuck here.
I took the time throughout the day to take whatever meal I could get. It hadn’t been so long since I had eaten out of the trash after all.
I eventually remembered that Yang had mentioned owning a sushi shop and I decided to see if she would show up there looking for me. We did near the end of the day. She hadn’t eaten all day without me there to remind her. *Sighs*
We met a young man by the name of Caspian at the shop. He seemed pretty intelligent, even going so far as to ask why we were ”reaaaaally” here. We didn’t tell him the truth of course. It may be a long time till miss Maddox is ready to talk about that.
I missed most of that conversation, but apparently we are searching for a Dr. Lionheart and Dr. Sonnerstein now.
Day 3: A happy day.
Today we explored several differnt locations outside of New Babbage and even had a little fun learning how to fence. They taught me the etiquette, and I find I truly do love acting like a good sportsman should. Who would have guessed?
We went to a school as well, which reminded me of the days I used to sleep in one overnight, which was when I met Miss Maddox when her professor and his class woke me up after they found me sleeping on his desk.
The most important thing we did today was we met a young child by the name of Scald. He showed us around town, fenced with us, and even brought us to an uncompleted shop. He couldn’t talk, so I asked if he could write. We were able to communicate fairly well after that and he told us he was the son of the doctor we were searching for.
I also learned of the Great Fire of New Babbage, and about some sort of outbreak caused by some scientist that caused havoc till the cure was found, and some other things which finally cemented that there is a job and purpose for this profession here. You can’t have natural disasters, a poor side of town called the Gut, and scientists that are refered to as mad and then think there’s no one around who couldn’t use some professional help.
For the first time I think there may be a point to all this.
We also met a young man by the name of Tepic Harlequien who has introduced me to a lovely treat named Voles.
Yes, today was a good day.
Day 4: Setbacks
After last night’s revelations I had started to have ideas about what we could do here. Seminars for the criminally insane, classes for people with anger problems, and other ideas began to stir in my head, but they always ended with me getting beaten up by a fourteen foot bulldog by the name of Bobo.
I fenced some more today, and have actually gotten the hang of it fairly quickly. I even joined a fencing group outside of New Babbage. Now THAT was a surprise even to me! And I had only picked up the sport a day or two ago!
Sadly that’s the only thing that went right. While hunting down Scald we actually ran into Mayor Tenk. To avoid causing a situation I stayed away and read some posters nearby while Miss Maddox spoke with him.
When I finally joined them for the end of the conversation Miss Maddox was unaware that she was accidentally insulting the people of this town by suggesting they might need her services, which of course is implying that they’re crazy.
We discussed the event for awhile, and a young girl who had witnessed the event consistently mocked miss Maddox for her mistakes. I could have easily jumped up to her defense, but I was being ”nice.”
After the event in question, I got Miss Maddox to agree that I didn’t have to be ”nice” anymore.
Day 5: Today we recieved a letter from one of the doctors, I’m not sure who since Miss Maddox didn’t make a lot of sense as she rushed out the door. I guess I’d better go catch her.
Or maybe it was an invitation to a party. I can never tell.
Be First to Comment