Twas The Night Before A New Babbage Christmas

by Mr Salazar Jack

Adapted from “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore.

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the city
Not a creature was stirring, not even a kitty.
The stockings were hung by each stovepipe with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The urchins were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads.
And the Clockwinder, resting from Underby’s trap,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the cobbles there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my cot to see what was the matter.
To the Steamworks’ first floor I flew with fleet feet,
Out through the front door and into the street.

The wind blowing briskly did little to muffle
What the street lamp revealed as the source of the scuffle.
When, what to my wondering eyes did it show,
But a wayward green trolley, wheels deep in the snow.

With her little old boiler, belching smoke pea soup thick,
I knew in a moment I had to be quick!
The coals from her fire in danger of dousing,
Could be saved if the trolley succumbed to some rousing.

“Now Trolley!,” I said as I ran up the street,
Knee deep in the snow to this car I would meet,
“You must get back in line with your rails on the track
Put this stumble behind you, and never look back.”

“New Babbage is counting on you to keep steaming,
Keep your coal fire burning, keep your beaming light beaming!”
But now with her wheels axle-deep in the snow,
Though she wanted to move, she just couldn’t go.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard in the street
The stepping and clomping of many-sized feet.
The citizens of Babbage had heard the loud din,
And donned jackets and scarves as the sound drew them in.

Each gentleman, lady, urchin and beast,
From north and from south, from west and from east,
Slowly walked toward the trolley still stuck in the snow,
How to right the stuck trolley? They didn’t quite know.

Mr Underby chanted, incanted and spelled
But results for his mystic charms never quite gelled.
Lady Breezy, her skirt twirling mad in the gale,
Tapped her bumpershoot’s tip on the car’s snowy wale.

Loki and Myrtil and Skyler and Jimmy,
Tried to wedge a small board ’neath the axle so primmy.
They huffed, and they puffed, then they started to pout,
When they realized the trolley might never get out.

That’s when Clockwinder Tenk, a right thoughtful old gnome,
Thought he’d figured a way for the car to head home.
With a wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
He reached down with his hammer, then his pipewrench instead.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
Feeling deep for the valve, which he turned with a jerk.
And with nary a stain nor a spot on his clothes,
The steam from the sewer pipe rose! Yes! It rose!

With the snow melting quickly from her wheels, I could tell
That our trolley was free! And she rang her strong bell.
Then we said, to each other, as we set things all right,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!”

An Account of the Cavorite Cup Races

By Riven Homewood
Photos by Garth Goode


As readers of this publication may already know, Baron Wulfenbach and his associate Mr. Verne have recently assumed stewardship of the Cavorite Mines and are holding them in trust for the people of Caledon. A number of fund-raising events are being planned in order to help defray the considerable expense they have assumed in doing this. The second of these was The Cavorite Cup speeder race, which was held November 20 and 21 at the Iron Cloud Airstation in Caledon Middlesea.


The race was run in three heats. In the first heat, Darlingmonster Ember defeated Searra Weatherwax and Roy Smashcan in Race one. Tehanu Marenwolf was victorious against Lucien Brentano and RockAndRoll Michigan in race 2. Rachire Andel made short work of Vivito Volare and Autopilotpatty Poppy in Race three. Miss Ember, Miss Marenwolf and Capt. Andel competed in the Heat 1 Semifinals, with Capt. Andel winning and going on to the Finals.In the second heat there were more racers. Aevalle Galicia, Fogwoman Gray, and Zsophia Innovia battled in the first race, and Miss Galacia triumphed. Garth Goode was victorious against myself and Elenabeth Portal in race 2. Vorwoda Hawksby and Drake Coalcliff were beaten by Tiziana Corleone in Race 3. Race 4 was only Jayleden Miles and Sir Wrath Constantine, as we had run out of racers. Sir Wrath beat Mr. Miles, just barely. The second heat semifinals pitted Miss Galacia against Mr. Goode, Sir Wrath against Miss Corleone.

The deciding race of the Heat 2 Semifinals was between Mr. Goode and Sir Wrath. As they are both expert racers it was an extremely fast race. Mr. Goode was in the lead when he suddenly lost control and crashed into the large fuel tanks in the center of the track, sending up a huge fireball. Fortunately he was able to extricate himself and rejoin the race, but by that time Sir Wrath had assumed the lead, and he went on to win the heat.

   

The Final Heat was held on Saturday. Capt. Andel and Sir Wrath raced three ten-lap races. Capt. Andel won the first, Sir Wrath the second. After a very close race, Capt. Andel won the third lap, taking home the Cavorite cup.

Later that evening, I asked Sir Wrath what had led him to build such a fine facility and host a major racing event. He replied:

"Originally I just set out to build a fun speeder vehicle, then Jayleden Miles approached me with the idea of having a racing event to raise funds for the Mines. I liked the idea, and created a trophy that Jay liked very much.

"As the speeders got closer to being finished, we were testing them in the streets of Caledon. That turned out to be a disaster, since the speeders could travel faster than the sims could rez, so the idea formed to contain the race to a single sim. Middlesea was the obvious choice since the Iron Cloud had enough deck area to build the track. And of course, being in Middlesea, it had to have the "bewm." It's become somewhat of a trademark for us. [Those not familiar with a Middlesea accent may wish to read "bewm" as "boom."]

"I wanted the track to be challenging, but not impossible. However, the speeders were so quick that no matter how open and easy I made the turns, it was still a challenge to keep the speeder on-course without losing time.  Coming around a turn to find oneself nose-to-nose with a fireball was an 'OhSnap!' moment. You had to think quickly, choose your line, and thrust through. Sometimes you could actually knock the fireball into someone else, effectively scraping them off your tail. And the fuel tanks! Gah, I learned to despise those things, as much as I wanted them there. They were entertaining, but if you hit one, well, you know how that ends.

"Once I was satisfied that the track was sufficient and the speeders were ready, it occurred to me that an event would need spectators. I pondered how to accommodate them, since Middlesea could only hold 20 avatars. I had worked with off-sim islands before, and I decided to build stadium ships that would overhang the track, but be rooted from adjacent sims. Using these, we would be able to accommodate over 100 avatars in a 20-avatar sim. And of course, these 'StadiumShips' as they came to be called, needed to look the part, with Vernian-inspired texturing, cavorite-supported mechanism and a distinct Caledon flavor in their design.

"I've actually had a few inquiries for these ships now, and they will be made available for other events since they worked so well.  Also, I've had so much fun on this track that what was once just a temporary setup is now going to stay. I'll just phantom it and make it transparent when not in use."

At this point, several other people who had been standing nearby began telling me about their race experiences. Duchess Aevalle Galicia spoke up: "It was so entertaining to watch the final heats from the stands! Fogwoman Gray makes a gorgeous hood ornament, in case anyone wondered."

Mr. Lucien Brentano tapped me on the shoulder. "Let me just say... I am 1318 days old. The Cavorite Cup was the most fun I've had in SL, ever."

Miss Darlingmonster Ember smiled and looked as if she were savoring sweet memories. "I am (mumble) days old and have traveled many dimensions...The Cavorite Cup race was the most fun I've ever had in SecondLife in a vehicle."

She continued: "I must admit that while I design airships and love them dearly for many reasons (not the least of which is the symbol of freedom), I am not a good pilot. I may not be the most feeble pilot in the Steamlands, but I am really not good.

"So when the Cavorite Cup races were announced, I nodded, I cheered, I lined up to pay for a Speeder, but I did not expect to race. It was a charity, it was a good cause, what more did I need to do but step up and contribute? In Caledon, we are blessed by community creative energy.

"But once I saw the track!  Once I wrapped my thoughts around the effort and fun involved in those textures and stands and scripts.

"I had to try it. Even if I was laughed right off the course, I would race.  For certain, I knew that the course designers would be flying. They probably had spent many sleepless night already flying and honing that course.  The number of hours involved boggles.

"So I signed up, very late and got a place.

"Testing the track.. a bit before the race... was  a disaster. The turns were so tight, the speeder leaped forward like a predator. Bouncing off the walls was nerve wracking. And then you burst into flames.

"Yes! These speeders were scripted to spark while dragging along the walls... and once banged about too much, would burst into flames. Flames that spread and whooshed around you from the rear of the vehicle.  My camera was back there...so during practice (thankfully) I discovered that once on fire...I was driving blind.

"Blind. Flames and no sign of the track. My camera awash in glow and fire. It was very scary. And the most important part, the very core of excitement and emotion is this: the spirit of Caledon came through. It was through other Steamland drivers present that I was given a few pointers about driving the Speeder in mouselook and keeping a sense of the track through these many thresholds of challenge.

"And I won my heat.  And then got to test my modest skills with Capt. Rachire Andel, the very pilot fated to win the Cup this year. I shall remember the entire wonderful experience for a long time."

I bid farewell to the racers and went home to write up my notes. As I sat at my desk working, there was a tapping at my window. I opened it, and was astonished to find an aetherial presence there, one with a definite blue glow. I realized I was being visited by the Late Fogwoman Gray-Volare. She began to speak: 

"I signed up to race in the Cavorite cup with no hope of winning. I am a notorious menace to pedestrians everywhere, as well as those in the air and the water. But this was for a great cause, and potential for havok and mayhem was so tempting I could not refuse.

"Sure enough, after bouncing around the track, menacing the other racers, the spectators and innocent bystanders in nearby sims, I managed to die in a blaze of glory, taking out a fuel tank and igniting the speeder to boot.
   
"Just in time too, as the spinning about was making me a bit queasy :) It was a wonderful time, and supported our wonderful Cavorite Mines! Next time I shall just bring my wallet and some incendiaries."

She departed, and I closed the window. This had definitely been a race to remember.

The organizers of the Cavorite Cup have asked me to thank all the donors who graciously give their lindens to support the Cavorite Mines. The Caledon Moors would be less mysterious without them. We are grateful to Nicolas Verne and KlausWulfenbach Outlander for stewarding the mines so steadfastly and readily and to Jayleden Miles for organizing and maintaining the mine events. We are also very grateful to Kamilah Hauptmann for scripting, testing, scripting, testing, and rescripting the checkpoint system, and to the courageous test pilots who braved these racers to test their flight capabilities: Liandra Gothly, Tiziana Corleone, Ceidru Gothly, Aevalle Galicia, Rachire Andel, Magdalena Kamenev, Fogwoman Gray, and Vivito Volare.
   
Additional thanks go to Governor Desmond Shang for having the vision to make Caledon into what it is and giving permission to lag up the country of Caledon during the races, Professors Horg Neurocam and Davan Camus for creating the Cavorite Mines, the Caledon Research Institute headed by Valentine Janus for their efforts in preserving the Caledon Mines and keeping a part of the Caledon History alive and pixeled.

Particular thanks are due to Sir Wrath Constantine for hosting the 2009 Cavorite Cup; planning, plotting and structuring the races; building, testing, and donating the racers; creating the trophy and donating the grand prize of a top speed racer.

Repeal Day Building Contest

We Celebrate the Freedom to Celebrate. On 5 December 1933, the United States repealed the Eighteenth Amendment and gave Americans the constitutional ability to consume alcohol. We thought it was a grand excuse for a pub to host a building contest.

The winner of the contest will gain bragging rights, their drink will be served in the pub, and there could be a piece of the action in it for you, if you catch my drift.

Judging will start 5 December 2009 at 5:00 SLT, and the drinks need to be given to Annechen Lowey before 5:00 pm SLT on 4 December 2009.

There are some rules:

1) The serving mechanism (keg, pitcher, tap, chicken, what-have-you) should be less than 10 prims. Single digits, no more than nine.

2) The name of the drink and serving mechanism, the look of the drink and serving mechanism, and the chat of drink and serving mechanism need to comply with TOS.

3) Just in case you do not read the TOS: Do not use obscene or offensive language in the description, chat or name of the drink and serving mechanism. Be clever, not tacky.

4) A Transfer-only copy of the build should be sent to Annechen Lowey at least 24 hours before judging begins on 5 December. The winner will be asked to provide a copy/mod version for the bar installation.

Caledon's Holiday "Little Season"

As winter skies darken and snow covers the land, Caledon shines in the light of holiday candles and burning Yule logs. Ladies wrap themeselves in their winter cloaks while making sure their gentlemen are wrapped in woolen scarves for outdoor events. Families and friends will gather for informal skating parties, snowball fights and sleigh rides. Many social gatherings are planned for Caledon's "Little Season".

Caledon Rothesay Skating Garden

Outdoor Displays
This coming December finds Caledon Rothesay the site of a garden skating pond. Rothesay's Skating Party will take place in the early days of December. Date and time will be centered around a special grand opening of an art exhibit: Iason Hassanov's Steampunk Dickensian Exhibit 2009. Mr. Hassananov's talents as a "stacker of prims", as he says, showcases the steampunk characters based on Charles Dickens The Christmas Carol. Guests to the exhibit will find an original tale by Mr. Hassanov based on the classic story. Do stop by in December to meet Tinny Tim and Bob Ratchet as well as Christmas Ghosts in their steampunk splendor.

Sneak peek of Iason Hassanov's Steampunk Dickensian Exhibit 2009

Sir J.J. Drinkwater, esteemed director of the Caledon Libraries, is hostessing the Yule Bonfire at his estate Book Ends on Caledon Highlands, December 19th from 7 pm SLT to 10 pn SLT. Friends will gather for toasting the season with mulled wine and watching the sparks of the Yule logs fly into the winter night skies. All are invited to attend to enjoy the conversations among old and new friends.

Holiday Fundraisers
Caledon's Cavorite Mines became endangered so the community has stepped up to shore up the mine walls with fundraisers this holiday season. For those who are not aware, cavorite has properties that defy physics which makes it a sought after element for Caledon's craftsmen and engineers. Mr. Jayleden Miles is leading the efforts to protect the mines. On December 11, join in the merriment of the Cavorite Mines Burlesque Show taking place at the Den of Sin and Iniquity. The first show begins at 12 pm SLT and the second show begins at 7 pm SLT. Mr. Lucian Brentano and Mr. Jayleden Miles are the hosts. Enjoy the burlesque dance entertainment provided by leading citizens of Caledon.

In conjunction with the Burlesque Show on December 11th, Miss Kaye Robbiani, well know Caledonian, is aiding the cause by sponsoring a Christmas Tree Build Contest. Prims will be limited for each Christmas Tree Build. There will be an entry fee of 25L to participate in this event. All entry fees will be donated to the Cavorite Mines. Builders will be given the opportunity if they wish to sell their trees at their own profit after the Contest. Voting will be done in the form of donations to the Cavorite Mines fund. First place winners will receive a Cavorite Trophy for display. Contest will be held on Ville de Giverny. Contacts for the event are Miss Robbiani and Mr. Jayleden Miles.

Dancing the Night Away at Holiday Balls
Caledon gentlefolk will be pulling out their dancing slippers for this holiday's "Little Season". Caledon's Oxbridge University Gateway will be holding the Winter's Night Ball hosted by the university deans. Miss Martini Discovolante and Miss Fogwoman Gray are hosting the event. Two Holiday Balls will be held on December 19th at noon for the euro session and 6 pm SLT for the western session on a skybound ballroom above the University ice rink. All are welcome and formal attire is optional. Landmark: Caledon Oxbridge. There will be music, dancing, and special surprises at the balls. Make sure you stop by for free Victorian ice skates designed by Miss Discovolante in the warming hut in the Rose Garden. Skating by the towering evergreen Christmas tree in the university quad offers a special feeling for the holiday season. The Caledon official tree was designed by the talented Miss Uni Ninetails, of Forest Floor.

On December 26th, the Boxing Day Formal Ball will give the gentlemen a chance to sign their ladies' dance cards. Waltzing to traditional music while dressed in their holiday best will be the theme for the evening. Their Graces, Miss Fogwoman Gray & Mr. Vivito Volare will be hostessing the Boxing Day event.

The "Little Season" will end on Twelfth Night, January 5th, with the Snow Queen Masque. Fantasy rules the night with frosty queens, Russian princes, trolls, and fairy princesses dancing in swirls of snowflakes and ice crystals. Costumes are encouraged. Contests for costume categories such as Best Snow Queen, Royal Prince, and more will be voted on by popular voting during the evening. Music will be provided by Her Grace Gabrielle Riel of Radio Riel. Her Grace Eleanor Anderton will host the masquerade ball at Caledon Rothesay from 6 pm SLT to 8 pm SLT high above Caledon Rothesay in a snow palace ballroom.

Watching the gathering winter storms

Winter Storms Coming to Caledon
The Independent State of Caledon invites one and all to join in the spirit of the winter holidays. Bundle yourself in your warmest wools and furs for what is promised by Governor Desmond Shang as one of the coldest Caledon winters on record. Join the gatherings at the local pubs and taverns while awaiting the ice and storms. Settle outside by a burning Yule log to watch the weather changes. This reporter understands that certain folk in the outlying estates are foreseeing frozen storms approaching the Firth of Caledon. Enjoy Caledon's "Little Season" in all of its winter beauty!

Call for entries for 2nd Annual Flash Fiction Contest at the R.F. Burton!

I am sharing this news on behalf of Miss Canolli Capalini.

Get your typing fingers in shape, sharpen that imaginative mind of yours, and prepare to enter the 2nd Annual R.F. Burton Library Flash Fiction Contest. We had such a blast with that last year and I was personally WOW'd by all the entrants, I thought we'd do it again!

Theme: Victorian robotics/automatons/automatic men(or women(or children))/steampowered mechas/etcetera
Length: 600 words or less
Deadline: December 20, 2009
Details: Put your story on a notecard, check for spelling errors, and include your name and the word count. Drop your ORIGINAL story notecard in a box in the library. Entries will be featured in a book that will be available at the library in January. All entrants retain copyright, but grant permission to have their submissions used, without compensation, in the commemorative book.
Prize: Grand prize of 2500 lindens and every participant gets included in the commemorative book.

Now last year, there were some questions and I'll go ahead and address those here. This *IS* a contest, with a prize of 2500 lindens. The winner is chosen BY me, at my discretion. It will be the first story in the book. Now, last year, we let the title of the grand prize winner select the title of the book.. but I'll be honest. I'm rather fond of the title "Dialogues" and find it very fitting. So the title will remain Dialogues, vol. 2.
Original Illustrations and artwork are welcomed and will be included in the volume. *IF* your first language is NOT english, the story may be submitted in your primary language; Just please submit it early enough for us to obtain a translation or submit an english version as well.
If your entry does not include the title of the piece, your name, word count.. it will be dismissed and "the angels will weep for you".

Bear in mind, this is flash fiction (600 words or less). You're not telling an epic, but rather giving us a moment in time.. that can imply something epic, or it can just be that.. a moment in time. This can be one of the easiest and one of the hardest genres to fill.

This time, ladies and gentlemen, the deadline is absolute. Mrs. Capalini's typist has the week prior to Christmas off from her RL job and will be taking that time to compile all the stories into the glorious book to match the first volume. So, get those ideas crackin' and help add to the uniqueness of the New Babbage Public Library's stacks.

This contest is not open JUST for New Babbagers. If you are an aspiring writer or just.. inspired and frequent ANY of the steamlands and/or Caledon, this contest is open to you as well.

Fleet Week Results - from New Babbage

All Photographs in this article by Mr PJ Trenton

An exciting week of Fleet and Naval events culminated in the Fleet Formal Ball, hostessed by Miss Breezy Carver and DJ'd by Bats Enoch. As part of the event, Mr Aeolus Cleanslate, Maceholder and Admiral, announced the results of the various competitions that had been held:

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE?

On behalf of New Babbage, I'd like to officially thank you all for your contributions to Fleet Week!

In the great days of the 19th Century Navies, Fleet Reviews were used to display the ships and personnel at their absolute finest. They were not held at regular intervals, but occurred when the fleet was mobilised for war, or for a 'show of strength' to discourage potential enemies. However, in the 19th century they were often held for coronations or for special jubilees. As we all know, the pursuit of 19th century naval affairs has accelerated greatly in SecondLife recently - and that seemed as good a reason as any to have our first.

Fleet Week has been an idea waiting to happen for some time. I'm extremely pleased and humbled at its success.

As with the Fleet Reviews of old, the presence of foreign friendly navies was considered an honor for the hosts - so to all of you from other Steamlands, Babbage bids you Welcome and Thanks!

We'd also like to single out a few individuals for their contributions -

... Ghilayne Andrew for her build assistance on the wonderful viewing platforms

... Gabrielle Riel for the STELLAR soundtrack for the weekend on Radio Riel

... PJ Trenton of the Primgraph staff for some phenomenal photos (http://picasaweb.google.com/pj.trentonsl/BabbageFleetWeek - from whence the photographs illustrating this article are taken)

... Commodore Jedburgh30 Dagger for conducting the Iron Melee

... Cannoli Capalini for desiging fantastic awards for our contest/race winners

... and Mosseveno Tenk for graciously providing us with primcount and support

I'd also like to especially thank my beautiful and hardworking collaborator Miss Breezy Carver, without which none of this would have been accomplished.

As you know, we had several contests during the week, and I'm pleased to announce the winners, who will each received one of the awesome trophies on the table to my right, designed by Miss Cannolli Capalini. So without further ado -

The winners of the Windjammer Race, held this morning for Tall Ships -
(see a thrilling account of the races by Mr Wildstar Beaumont below ... )

Second Place: Wildstar Beaumont

... and First place: Admiral Jennings

I'd also like to offer a special thanks to Tinus Koskinen and blakopal Galicia for their participation - the event was breathtaking

The winners of the Submarine Races, held this afternoon - ANOTHER STIRRING EVENT -

Third place to Loki Eliot and the Urchins

Second place to Sir Edward Pearse

... and first place to the VERY RAPID Miss Mimika Ying

As many of you know, Doctor Obolensky was disqualified on a technicality, but the race committee has decided not to ban him from future events.

The winners of the Shipbuilding Contest -

As you'll all agree, the range and quantity of ships on display this week was awe-inspiring, and I'd like to offer my applause to ALL the participants. The judges reviewed the ships and it was an extremely difficult decision.

Third place goes to The Plank With A Nail(built by Sidney Arctor)

Second Place to the Collingwood (built by Kandace Commons)

First place (well deserved) goes to TSS theBrigg/Wildstar Beaumont (designed by Martina Lewsey)

... and the Peoples Choice Winner, by popular decision, goes to Untervoshboot (built by Vash Crimson)

And now for Best Uniforms -

Third place: Jimmy Branagh & Jedburgh30 Dagger

Second place: Rafael Fabre and Roswenthe Aluveaux

... and First place: Moses Mureaux & Sir Edward Pearse

Your trophies are on their way, folks! Thanks again to everyone - it was a thrilling week!

(Okay NOW we're done! Someone get me a case of those lozenges*. I'm going to bed.)

(* Miss Ceejay Writer was offering powerful throat lozenges for for afflicted with seasonal ailments.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Windjammers Race
by Captain Wildstar Beaumont


The Tall Ships Race was, together with the submarine race and the Uniform Ball, one of the Saturday Events of the Fleet Week in New Babbage.
The race was fun, with 3 races: two semifinals and a final.

There were just 4 entrants, but that did not make the event less interesting: Mr. Tinus Koskinen, Miss BlackOpal Galicia, Admiral Bridget Jennings, and yours truly, Captain Wildstar Beaumont. There was a good diversity in the ships that entered the race: a Schooner from the Black Spot Shipyard, a Trudeau, a ship from the the Southern Cross Shipyard, and my TSS Brigg.

The sail field was challenging. A loop around several sims, with some tricky crossings that let you out of control for several seconds, a narrow path with many gates to go through which made it difficult to pass once one was behind, and a very tricky area where one had to sail into the wind with the danger of getting stuck.

In the first race I faced Miss BlackOpal. It was a strange race: I believe her ship is not SL-wind propelled, which gave her an advantage at start, and I had to trail for a while. However, once my ship was up to speed it looked clear to me that the physical vehicle was sailing smoother and faster than the non-physical one. It is a pity that Black Spot ships do not work with SL wind. They are probably the most beautiful sailships in SL.

The second race saw Admiral Jennings with her SCS Battle Schooner to prevail over Mr.Tinus Koskinen. I missed the details of the race because I crashed right after my my stage.

In the final I had to face Admiral Jennings. There was little to tell. After the start, when we were head to head, she took the lead and I was not able to close the gap. On the side opposite the start line I had hoped for a while to be able to catch her, but after a while she sailed away again and I was able to see her just from a distance.

Congratulations to Admiral Jennings for a perfect race.

The crowd filled the viewing area and seemed to have a lot of fun, greatly enjoying the event.

(Editor's note: We did indeed have fun, Captain!)

Shambling Through New Babbage

New Babbage has certainly seen its share of unusual, even downright terrifying events over the past several months. Yet somehow, whether it’s a Martian invasion or a coup d’etat, the city and its inhabitants have always weathered the events and carried on. Early October was no exception.

It started on the 4th of October, with reports of zombie-like creatures in the newly-opened Academy of Industry area of the city. At first, though, the problem seemed to stay confined to that area. By the 9th, however, at least one person, the young Skyler Gant, had been bitten and infected by one of these zombies. In an interview, he talked of his experience early on in his illness—of vomiting blood, and attempting to attack Mr. Victor Mornington. “'E was bloody terrified. I 'member 'e locked th' front door, an' seemed glad th' door I was at was already locked.” Though young Gant was temporarily trapped in a safe by Mr. Mornington and Mr. Sixpence that same evening, he was able to escape that confinement.



But there was another element to the horrors to come that was starting at the same time. Mr. Grendel Footman, owner of Footman Industries in Babbage Square, had scheduled on the evening of the 8th, an unveiling of what he called a “reanimated man.” This reanimated person behaved remarkably like the zombies of the Academy area, though it was, at first, controlled by a collar of electronic nature. However, during the demonstration, the collar malfunctioned, and the thing attacked the onlookers. During the confusion, Mr. Phineas Frakture was injured and infected, and so began spreading the zombie plague throughout New Babbage, including to Miss Elleon Bergamasco and Dr. John Watson. Events culminated on the 11th with the discovery of a cure by Dr. Augustus Dayafter, and with attempts to administer it to all infected. (Events in which this correspondent played a small role.)



But what connection is there between the Academy infection and that caused by Mr. Footman’s “reanimated man?” Nothing beyond coincidence, apparently. Mr. Footman, in his interview, was quite open about his demonstration and the work leading to it. “The zombie, and the three or four...dozen...before him, are just semi-successes. Apparently, most of my test subjects end up brain damaged, if they don't explode. The plague was an unforeseen side effect…The serum I used, in certain bloodstreams, mutates into a virus.” It was this virus that was spread first to Mr. Phineas Frakture, then to others. The Academy zombies, however, appeared to have been there for some time, and had only been discovered during the new construction that was occurring in the area at the time. So though the effects were the same, the causes seem to be different—a chilling prospect for those wishing to avoid creating, or being infected by, such zombies.

The victims also appear to have very different memories of, and reactions to, their infections. Miss Elleon Bergamasco, the landlady of the Mechanix Arms, only vaguely remembers being attacked and infected, and the subsequent events. It was “much as one would remember a nightmare really; none of it makes very much sense.” Skyler Gant, when asked about it, replied, “Tha' was bl---y awful. No' something I wanna go through again, no ma'am.”



Mr. Phineas Frakture, however, viewed, and continues to view, his actions during that time as having been completely normal. In speaking of those days, he said, “I recall trying to get Skyler Gant to safety, but he kept running from me...I didn't think anything of it...Then Doctor Watson was talking to me...trying to take my
pulse...acting weird...think I bit or scratched his hand...seemed like the sensible thing to do at the time...I couldn't figure out why people were acting so strangely.” Even pictures taken of him during that time do not seem to shake his perceptions. When asked if he had seen any of those images, he replied, “I have seen a few....I think someone was tampering with the film.”

Dr. Dayafter, when asked about this phenomenon, related it to the different reactions people have to illnesses or medications. “Some, a cold would lay quite low, while others feel the need to get fresh air or even exercise. I think it is the same with what happened in those horrible events recently.”

As for prevention of any recurrence, it seems only the immediate issues have been resolved. Mr. Footman has shipped his zombies back to Antarctica, though he will “probably keep a couple for study.” As for the type of event that happened at the Academy, Dr. Dayafter’s advice is “to make sure, via extensive investigation, that the ground you are breaking is "safe" to be broken.”

Given that the motto of New Babbage is “What could possibly go wrong,” however, such precautions are not likely to be followed for long.

(First picture courtesy of Skyler Gant.)