Arc II, Chapter 42: Medical History

Arc II, Chapter 42: Medical History

You asked about Simon Halle, he said. He was in bad shape. Not dead, but it was clear that the fall had injured him severely. How do you know that name?

I had asked Off-Screen. He had not answered me at the time. I suspected that the script had been the reason. Now, both of us Written Off in a dark tunnel, the script didnt appear to be stopping him.

I met him a few months ago, I said. At Halle Castle.

Dr. Halle leaned his head back. I despair on his face. He didnt speak for a moment as he took it in.

They brought that damn castle too. How could they resist?

I didnt know what to say. I was afraid that one wrong utterance might make Halle less likely to talk to me or, worse, he might decide to attack.

He looked me in the eyes. I could see him breathing deeply through his nose.

Is he like me?

Yes, I answered. Hes a scientist.

They brought him to Carousel. How could I have missed it?

I thought for a moment. I remembered looking at the map Grace had set out to show how Carousel grew over the years.

The castle he lives in, I said. It got brought here in 1999. But you would call it Carousel 1999 because thats something different, right?

I had noticed that when the Paragons spoke of dates, they often put the word Carousel in front of it as if they were not just talking about a year.

Halle nodded. This story takes place in Carousel 1995, but I expect the real year is something different.

2022, I said.

Amazing, he said. He thought for a moment. Carousel 1999. Ive never been cast there. They kill me off in Carousel 1995, as youve just seen. But Simon, is he well?

I didnt know what to say.

Come out with it, boy, Halle said.

Hes still trying to bring back his dead wife. He can disconnect his soul from his body. I dont know what to tell you.

Halle nodded. Astral science. When he was young, he showed much interest in the subject. I had hoped he would grow out of it. A waste of a brilliant mind. If only I had not gotten stripped from my family, he might have fared better.

He tried to keep an even tone in his voice, but I could hear him struggling to remain composed.

You were taken from your family? I said.

Halle nodded, strangely ashamed. When my experiments were prematurely uncovered, they tried accusing me of all manner of malfeasance. They could never understand how important my work was. Most of my patients rallied to my side at the trial; they testified on my behalf. They knew that once my methodology was perfected, I could correct previous mistakes.

He swallowed hard. Of course, that was never to be.

Did you get an offer to come here? I asked after he paused.

By correspondence in my jail cell. An offer of amnesty. A job offer to work for a rich and influential family and all of the finances and subjects to continue my research. Given what I was facing, I hurriedly wrote back, accepting. A mistake, perhaps. I dont even remember arriving.

There were a million things I wanted to ask. I tried to sort through them, to find the ones he would answer, the ones he would know about, but the more I thought, the more I feared ruining the conversation. All I could do was keep him talking.

So you didnt know anything about how things would be once you got here?

I got everything I was promised, but not in the way I expected.

That doesnt sound fair, I said.

Dont pretend to be concerned about my treatment, he said. I know you would have killed me had you the opportunity or ability.

No, nothing of the sort, he said. Youll learn soon enough that Carousel has restrictions, seams in its construction; as much as they try to hide them, they cannot. The storylines are set in the past. They are the only way to find out what happened at the center of it all.

The center of the story, I said. The birth of Carousel.

That too.

Time was layered in Carousel. It was not linear.

I had so much I wanted to know, but there was one question that I needed answers to above all others.

You say they a lot, I said. Sometimes you talk about Silas Dyrkon; other times you talk about someone else. Who are you talking about when you say they?

I had heard people talk about Carousel as an evil entity and a town, Bartholomew Geist as its founder, and Silas Dyrkon as both a partner of Geist and something else altogether. I also heard a they being referenced by both Halle and the Paragons.

He spoke of Dyrkon with reverence. He spoke of they with disdain. They must have been different people.

They dont like to be brought into the story, Halle said.

Its Geist's partners from the founders tale, right? It says he needed help building the town, so he brought in partners.

Halle shook his head. Geist's partners in the Throughline are characters like yours truly, founder of the hospital. Though I suspect there may be some symbolic overlap. I dont remember.

Oh, I said.

They, he began, Helped build the game at Carousel. They are insidious enemies. They recruited many of the current residents and ever so playfully defiled my backstory. To top it off, they brought my son here against my wishes. Tell me, he said, changing his tone, Does my son succeed at bringing back the dead?

No, I said. Not in the way he hoped.

He nodded his head.

He toils and is ultimately unable to take the final step, Halle said. I did the same, you know. My treatment worked the first time. They took it from me. They locked it away. I dont remember it. I suspect they did the same to my son. Surely, he succeeded in his obsession.

That made some sense. The senior Halle said that NPCs only remember things that make them better for their roles. I wasnt sure. I had seen NPCs trembling at the memory of their fate. But it did make sense in general.

Cant really be a mad scientist if you have the cure, I said.

Halle chuckled, then coughed.

Mad science and obsession, he said wistfully, The Hahlbeck family curse. And Carousel does love families.

I heard something stirring in the water behind me. I panicked. One of the frogs must have been back despite the heavy flowing stream.

I did my best to scuttle against the wall next to Halle.

Fear not, Halle said. I believe I have spoken out of turn. Carousel always gets upset when I talk about them. Its not even against the rules explicitly.

What? I asked as something crawled up onto the concrete from the stream.

I could barely see it in the glow of Halles lighter.

But I heard it growling.

It moved closer.

Not a frog, no.

It was a crocodile.

I will see you again, perhaps in Carousel 1946, Halle said. I would advise you, though. If I ever offer you a drink, you might want to accidentally drop it before imbibing.

The crocodile snapped up Halle's right leg and drug easily down into the water.

I was left alone.