Good news and bad news

You may have noticed I haven't posted in a while. That's because I got a job. So did Leo, for that matter.

You only get one guess as to where.

We'd discussed the possibility before. Neither of us had never really liked the idea of joining ARC, as you may have guessed. That changed when the KRAKEN agents explained just what they're planning on doing with the Newborn and the books. Evidently, they're trying to summon the Newborn's true form.

I know that sounds both evil and ill-advised, and it is, but that's why we joined ARC and not them. From the sounds of it, KRAKEN essentially believe that there was once a golden age where the Fears ruled over humanity as gods, and we worshiped them as such. They believe that the only way to return us to that state is to thrust us into it by forcing us to confront our inability to deal with the Fears, and that we'll accept our new masters with open arms. They think they can force us to return to some sort of imaginary Eden, but I've got news for them. The only difference between before and after Eve ate that apple was that she realized how naked she was.

More good news? I'm getting suspicious now

ARC has hired Robin as a full-time agent, courtesy of the same person who got them to pay attention to the Newborn watch. I've already given her my congratulations in person, but congrats, Robin!

Good news

Yes, you read that right, good news. What a welcome change of pace.

ARC has finally made some headway. From the sounds of it, a member of ARC named Jenn Pittman has gotten ARC to finally pay attention to KRAKEN and the Newborn, so they sent some people to find KRAKEN. They found and captured the two KRAKEN agents we had encountered earlier. Apparently, they're a Nest named Wiliam Paine and a Willing Doll named Adrian Sarkos. The Nest is capable of summoning birds with lightning powers, while the other is a voluntary servant of the Wooden Girl, a living puppet that can control people with invisible strings. She lives in a place called the Screaming Tower, where Adrian took the Newborn.

Apparently, after that, KRAKEN hid in a church, where they were under attack by what ARC thinks was the Archive, and more specifically, AMU. KRAKEN had transferred ownership of the Newborn to another branch, but were entrusted with two of the books they'd stolen. This particular branch was in possession of both volumes of Translations of Ancient Sumerian Tablets, which were stolen from AMU. ARC has those now, and they're keeping the KRAKEN agents they captured in custody.

The only thing that went wrong is that they didn't get the Newborn. Which means it's still out there.

Positive thoughts, though, right?

O, tempora! O, mores!

I wish I could be more help in dealing with what's happening right now, but I'm just a college student, and ARC has made it clear that they want me out of their hair. As far as they're concerned, I'm just a casualty waiting to happen, and in the event they need to ask about something for one reason or another, they can always just email or text me. I check pretty often; it's a good habit, and it's not like I've got much else to do.

So, instead, I took a visit to my childhood home, back in Michigan. My parents still live there, even though it's honestly a little too big for two people who don't have guests over a lot. It was my dad's childhood home, too, though, so I guess it makes sense. Nostalgia is a powerful thing.

And that takes me to my next point. See, while I was there, near the end of my trip, Dad gave me something I kind of wish he hadn't. It was my great-grandpa's journal. He apologized for telling me the watch was the only thing he'd left behind, but that it was time for me to know the truth. See, I'd told Mom and Dad I sold the watch because I wanted to get it over with instead of telling them whenever they came over next, and they didn't want me to feel bad about getting rid of the watch. So despite my growing suspicion about what Dad was saying, I opened up the journal and read it.

When I said I never knew my great-grandpa, I was more right than I ever realized. He wasn't a good man. He was very deeply hateful, actually. I'm sure you can imagine who he hated, given when he lived. I guess I don't know what I expected.

I thanked Dad for telling me the truth and gave him back the journal. I'm back in Washington now.

I still feel sick from seeing what he wrote in that journal. I didn't know you could be betrayed by someone who died before you were born until now, but I guess you learn something new every day.

Know the enemy of thy enemy

Leo and I have been texting a bit lately. He said I could publish the results for posterity.

- Me: So, I've been wondering about ARC...

- Leo: Okay

- Me: So, first of all, why didn't they pay more attention when they thought I had one of those monsters in my watch?

- Leo: You mean the Manufactured Newborn? Newborn larvae usually leave for the Towering Realm after they absorb some materials

- Me: What does that even mean?

- Leo: What that means is, the hive mind that controls your watch usually has its larvae leave for the home dimension, where its true form is

Basically, if ARC thinks you might possibly have one of them in its larval form, and you don't give it to them right away, they can just consider it a messy situation in the making

- Me: "A messy situation?" Isn't this "Newborn" supposed to be really brutal?

- Leo: Ordinarily yes, although for some reason your watch didn't seem to get the memo

- Me: But they didn't care about the possibility that it really would be part of the Newborn?

- Leo: They were busy, and like I said it would usually just suck some stuff up and return to its own world

That's why I don't really like ARC

They *prioritize.*

- Me: So you're saying they were willing to have an unknown amount of my neighborhood get totally demolished by a monster because they were busy?

- Leo: Pretty much

Here's the real kicker, you know what they were busy with?

- Me: Do I want to?

- Leo: I can tell you if you do

- Me: Okay, I'll bite... what is it?

- Leo: They think AMU is a front for another cult

The Archive, they're called

They obsessively collect materials related to the Fears

- Me: The Fears? That sounds... ominous.

- Leo: I keep forgetting how little I've told you yet >_>

Those are monsters, like the Manufactured Newborn, that some people think are embodiments of fear itself

- Me: …

- Leo: The Newborn is the Fear of the Future

- Me: That makes a lot of sense, actually...

So wait, why did you say ARC was trustworthy if they'd let me die because they were busy investigating some cult?

- Leo: Well, once you're in with them, you're in, right?

So, if you're just going to go over and give them this watch, they don't mind, they may as well take it and see what they can do to get rid of it

But if you don't give them the watch, no point in trying to pry it from you, right?

- Me: ...Oh.

- Leo: Anyway it's not like the government is funding ARC very much, like that agent guy said
They already have STAB, after all
- Me: STAB?
- Leo: Yeah, the Supernatural Threat Analysis Bureau
Anyways, this is also the deal with my relationship with Robin
We used to be dating until she joined ARC a few years ago
- Me: Oh, she's that Robin? Huh... that makes a lot of sense, actually.
- Leo: Yeah, I never told you why we broke up because it's so Fear-related
- Me: Yeah... hm.
What do you think KRAKEN want with the watch, anyways?
- Leo: I don't know
And that's what scares me.

I need sleep

So at this point, I've gone back to my apartment. I'm currently trying to figure out what KRAKEN might have wanted the watch for, since ARC wasn't informed enough on them to be very useful when I asked them. As near as we can tell, the most likely scenario is that they want to use the watch as a sort of icon of worship, since they worship monsters like it. Still, I'm worried they might also have other goals, like using it to attack people, or that there's some sort of deeper plan to it all.

...I need sleep. Maybe I'll take some melatonin and read what I can of my Shelley collection before I fall asleep, or something.

KRAKEN

The other night, I asked Leo for more information regarding ARC before we met up with them. He'd already told me a bit more than I've posted on here, but I'll just summarize all of it right here. Essentially, ARC is a group which deals with the paranormal (or the "anomalous," as they call it). They generally do so through being very secretive, while simultaneously trying to help people with supernatural problems by telling them what's going on and dealing with threats as directly as they can. I imagine it's a tricky balancing act, and one that explains why they were willing to contact me (albeit under a pseudonym, of which they apparently have many) rather than just leaving me be.

According to Leo, ARC is basically trustworthy, and will dispose of the watch as safely and completely as possible. I am going to take Leo's word for it, given how much more experience with them he's had than I have.

After that, we went to the meeting spot we'd arranged with Robin, taking the box with us. It was hefty, but I didn't mind, since we were taking it there to rid ourselves of that watch, and Leo helped carry it. 

"Hey, Leo," Robin said. She was short and chubby, with red hair in a messy ponytail and three black huggie earrings in each ear, and dressed in a Duran Duran T-shirt, jean shorts, and sneakers. She turned to me. "So. You're Addie, then, yeah?"

I nodded.

"Sick."

With that, she took us to ARC headquarters and showed us to the meeting room.

"There aren't as many higher-ups as advertised, unfortunately," Robin said when we got there. "Sorry about that. We're really busy investigating something right now, and this is more of a side project, really..."
The agent, a very tall, somewhat broadly built woman in a suit, with long, dark brown hair tied back into a high ponytail, cleared her throat and turned to me. "Hey, kid. I'm Daisy Krenson. I wish I could pay you for the box, but I can't confirm that it contains what you say it does. That said, if you don't mind, we could always take it off your hands for free." 

Leo and I handed it over. I would have paid her to take the thing that impersonated my great-grandpa's watch, if I were more certain ARC could deal with it properly.

Then Daisy heard a knock at the door. She went over and asked who it was, but rather than answering, the person at the door just opened it with a crowbar.

There were two intruders. One of them was a large, scarred man who wore a dirty brown coat, while the other, much skinnier than his partner, wore glasses and a tan jacket.
 
The man in the coat drew a knife and made a cut on his arm. A bird crawled out, which I... definitely wouldn't have expected before the past few months, and flew towards Robin. She threw a knife at it, piercing it and knocking it out of the air.

"Who the hell are you, anyways?" the big guy demanded.
Robin laughed. "I'm an intern."

Meanwhile, the skinny guy was wrestling unsuccessfully with Daisy, but the big guy shoved the skinny guy away to personally slam Daisy's head into the wall. Daisy retaliated by kicking his legs out from under him.

I glanced at Leo. His eyes were wide, and he was still.

Seeing how overwhelmed Leo was, I finally asked, "What's going on here?"
"Well," Daisy said before punching the skinny guy, "We're under attack."
I looked around frantically. I had no idea what to do. I did, however, notice that the intruders had been moving towards the box, or at least trying to. At about that same time, the skinny guy recovered and dove towards the box. I tried to stop him, but once he had gotten his hands on it, he opened some sort of portal and walked through, taking the box with him. His muscular friend scrambled away from the commotion and went in behind him, adding, "KRAKEN is victorious!"

The four of us were now in varying stages of recuperation from what had just happened. Sourly, Robin said, "For once, he's right."
"...KRAKEN?" I asked.
"Yeah, they're this group of nobodies. They're basically demon-worshiping fascists with superpowers."
"Officially speaking, they're a group of servants to various anomalies who share an unknown goal and work together to accomplish it. But, uh, Robin's explanation works just as well," Daisy said. "I'm surprised they were able to either evade or incapacitate our security well enough to get in. Though we do suffer from a lack of funding, more than our Midwest pals..."
"Well," Leo said, "either way, we got totally screwed over by KRAKEN, they took the box and headed off for the Screaming Tower... what the hell just happened?"
Robin replied, "We don't know much about KRAKEN, but we know they're very bad at their job. Not anymore, it would seem."
"And now we're trying to stop them?" Leo asked.
"And they're trying to stop us."

I still have no idea what's happening, but suffice it to say that I'm as confused and horrified as you might expect from an ordinary person after that series of events. Worst of all, I have no idea what KRAKEN could possibly want with that watch.