The Strange Case of the Writer of New Babbage

I was happy to be a part of the cure the Steelhead epidemic, even if indirectly. Future-Mindy had the antibodies in her blood with which to devise a vaccine to that particular strain. After that mishap, I was eager to return to my research in the comparatively quiet environs of the Wulfenbach Consulate in New Babbage (and possibly escape the wrath of Tensai and her explosives).

However, when I reached the smog-clouded port of New Babbage, I soon that there was some sort of emergency. There were a fraction of the usual revelers at the local tavern. And for revelers, they were quite dour and heavily armed. I was ready to quietly pass by when I over heard them complaining about time-travelers. That certainly got my attention.

They told me that a construct appeared in the Town Hall, whom they called The Writer. It immediately began scribing a tale, last page first. In that tale, the local heroes...Mayor Tenk, Chief Urchin Loki, and in this case I stretch the term to its limit by including Dr. Obolensky, as well as the fellows in that tavern were fighting an unearthly force called the Dark Aether. Even with the full might of Dr. O's mecha, Lord Smashington III, New Babbage fell, with the sole hope being a time machine sent back to warn us.



Already elements of the story have come to pass. Hordes of one-eyed crustaceans with claws that can rip through timbers have assaulted the townsfolk. The clergy of the local Church of the Builder have designed energy "blunderbusses" to stop them, apparently without the knowledge that their inventions were already described by the Writer's pages. According to the Writer, the next wave to attack Babbage will include kraken-like creatures from the deep, and a gloating, barely humanoid arch-nemesis.

I summoned Nova Sakigake and her companion, now known as Doctor Six. I showed them the Writer and its works, and asked them what conclusions they could draw from both their chronometric experience and depth of knowledge of the Mythos.



While there was insufficient information to pin the Dark Aether behind a previously known threat, Nova was able to suggest some weapon blueprints for dealing with the monsters. Examining the Writer and his prose, I have drawn the following conclusions:

The Writer appears to be made by a local Spark from locally abundant resources, possibly from the Clockwinder himself. I daresay it appears to be hastily made. It does not respond to stimuli except to rewrite its tale, adding more to the beginning until, it is assumed, our timeline and its own point of origin intersect. The story is...not edited well. There are misspellings and incorrect punctuation, as if the tale was dictated and hastily written. I noted the word "colour", we can assume the author is not American.

There was no mention of either the Masons or the Wulfenbachs, somewhat out of character for both of our organizations to be absent in a crisis of this magnitude. Could the Writer be from the same timeline as Future-Mindy, where the Masons were relegated to jailers of "Necropolis!Steelhead"?

Perhaps it's time to dive the Bloodwing's Revenge into the ocean depths and intercept the inhuman mastermind behind the Dark Aether before it reaches the city.