I Am Fine

I am fine.
Why must I keep repeating all the time?
  I’m fine, look, I’m running, running wild!
  Running, just like every other child - watch me smile.
Look, there’s nothing wrong, so stop this incessant nagging and asking me why.
There’s nothing wrong, and I don’t have to cry.
  It’s not like I don’t care.
  I loved him every second he was there.
It was great when I could run around and play with him when I was 6 years old,
It was great when I could cuddle up to his fur in winter when I was feeling cold,
  It’s not like I don’t know,
  That we played all day, and he would follow me wherever I would go.
But I don’t need to cry just like you,
I know that he was my dog too.

I am fine. I’m a big girl now.
I’ve lost pets before. My bird flew away and my fish drowned, but I don’t know how...
  Look, it’s not like it was some kind of surprise,
  I saw him die before my very eyes,
You don’t have to tell me, I was there,
I saw his body limply flying through the air,
  I watch the car that wasn’t looking, and hit him at full speed,
  I heard the tyres screech as they stopped. I saw him bleed.
I watched my father, angry; scream and curse,
I heard the driver, who was only making it worse,
  I held him as he took his final breath.
  I felt it as he passed from life to death.

I am fine. Look I’m smiling, Look at me.
I smile on the outside where you can see.
  There’s nothing wrong, and I don’t have to cry.
  There’s nothing wrong, except my puppy died.
I may have lost my one and only friend;
I may feel a hole inside that will not mend.
  But stop it, just stop it now! Look we’ve bought a new dog, look see?
  A new dog that looks like him, to keep reminding me
  There’s nothing wrong, I just don’t want to play with dogs all the time
    I know that I’m not eating,
    and I’m having trouble sleeping,
      and the new dog feels rejected,
      I don’t act how the doc expected,
  ...but if you keep asking me how I feel I’ll just keep saying: I am fine

Lost Chapter - Eʀʀᴏʀ.606: F̺̩̩il̄̚e͖͙̳͍̒̏͘ ̠̼̤̲̐̄̌̄̈̇ͫN͕̹͚̦̜̠̄͗͑ͬ̇̋͠ö̤͈̺̆̈́ͅt̨ͩ͗̂ ͥ̈ͥF̯̭͕̹̱͈͔͞o̻ͬ̾ͬu̫̫ͣ̄n̰̹̲̰͈̅ͣͧ̿̚͝d̪̖͉̾

[b]012.0 | Archive Ref #: b12.-216-X(L)-m01 | [b]13.0 

  After the last two occasions of having my documents, pilfered, mistreated or destroyed, I decided to begin digitizing some of my more precious documents. I believed that it would make my information more secure, since I have a password protected laptop, and I kept the files within an encrypted file.
  However, just three days ago I was scanning several more images to add to the file, when I realized that I couldn’t add the new files. It said there was an unknown file error. I opened the file, and the computer froze. My laptop was infected with an insidious virus. It took me half a day, but I managed to clear up some of the malware with several free virus-cleaning programs I found online and run the computer in safe mode so I could save some of the files to a USB, but then I had to format the laptop. I lost all of those files, But this contains all the data that I could resurrect from that USB of corrupted files.

+

The Duke held his hands up to his face, but as his hands moved, the leather sleeves of his coat shuffled and whipped as though underwater.  “No . . .”
The Duke threw his hands down to stop the ship, but it was as though he was swimming through treacle. He grabbed the handbrake and twisted it sharply, then reached up for the ignition lever, but it was like he was pushing through mud. Then sand. Then stone . . . slowing slowing, the grinding was so slow, it sounded like a low growl. Then, stopped.
The Duke tried to look left and right, but time was almost entirely frozen; the attempt made his eyes hurt as though he was in a wind tunnel, the air was like a solid. He tried to blink, but it took a minute just for them to close.
“How is this possible? My body has slowed, but my mind is still as swift as ever,” thought the Duke. “I’ve never encountered something like this before.”
As his eyes finally managed to open, there was a ding. The Duke wanted to turn around, but couldn’t. He was frozen in increasingly slowed time. All he could see was a bright rectangle of white light that shone from the door as someone entered the console room, with the sound of slow, determined footsteps.
That’s impossible. Nothing survives within the vortex, let alone something with two legs.
There was a soft scrape as the feet came to a stop, a few metres behind the Duke. There was a light click, a creak of leather, then the person spoke.
  “.͠ .͞ ͟. ̶Duk̷e,͝ ̷is̨ i̸t̀? ̨O͏r is̢ ͟i͜t́ '̛T͏h͜e̶'̷ Dukę?̡” asked the man, his voice sounded hoarse and dry, and his cadence was slow, as though he hesitated for a slight moment before each word. “I ne͜v̨er̀ c͢an͝ ̛qui̶t͞e ̸t́e̕ll.̡"Ỳo͜ur͠ ̶file ̛says͠ 'R͢h́o to̢ th͝e Fir̶s̴t,̴ T̛he͜t̴a-Eta ͝to the̴ Zero̧t͠h͘', ͢bu͠t ̵also Rat́h'ḩe; Doog͏h; Second;͝ Èǹd͜e̷r a̶n͢d̴ .͟ ͡.͞ ͝. ͞Mo͏r̢p̕h̡eús.́”
The Duke couldn’t respond. Any reply would take a week for him to speak, so he didn’t even try.
  “I͟ do ͞apólog̢ìze ̸f̴or̵ t͜h͞e ͏i̡ǹc͞o͠nven̨ienćé, but w̛e hąve app͜lie͝d ̡a͢ chr͏o͞n̸o͢l̷ogi̸ca̡l̸ ͟s͠u͜spensi̡on͜ o̴n͝ thi͠s tran̷s͠p̕ort̴ ͟and̷ its͜ ̡o̴ccưp͘a̶n͏t͞s.̷ ͜I͞t͞ ͡is ne̸c̢e͜ss͘ary̕ ̕foŕ ̀me̶ t͞o͟ s̵p̀èa̸ḱ ͜w̵it͜h yo͞u͝, ̶but͞ ͞ẁe have̶ ̴c̡a̵l̷cul̀at͘ed that,̵ w͡ere ͘yo̵u͟ t̵o̕ t͢a̧l̴k͝ ͘dùrįng ̧th̵is̡ ͏pre͜l͢imi̷nar̛y c͠o̡nve̛r̡sàt̡i͞o͡n͏ it͡ wou͝l̡d͜ mąk̡ȩ ͝oúr ͟m͡e̡s̷sag̡e͝ ̷m̢u͠ch ́le̸ss ̀eff̶ici͟e͠n͠t.͞”
There were further footsteps as the man walked around the console, the Duke looked to the left, waiting for the nerve endings to send the signal to his eyes, as the man moved around him. As the man entered the periphery of his vision, he saw that he was a white man wearing a grey business suit and had silver hair that was cropped short, and wore glasses, but he only saw the side of his face, but in his left hand the Duke saw a shiny metal briefcase.
  “I ͘r̕e̢pr̴e͜s̛e͏n͝t a ͠.̷ .̕ ̴.͢ ̷d̶épartmęnt ͏o͠f͟ ͟įnd̷i͝vidu͡al̕s̨ thàt, ͞on ̀occa̸s̛i͘o̵ǹ, ov͏erl͝o͝o͠k ̢wha͞t ͢goes͘ ́o̡n͢ ̧i̶ǹ ̀t̡ḩi͠s ͟p͏art̛ o͢f͢ the ͡c͡ont͝inu̶um.̵ ̸W͞e ̕do͟ ̴ơc̕ca͞s͢i͞on͘a̡lly ̀i̸n̨terac̢t, but ̸our͠ ͟du̢t͢ies ͞t̸end̛ to͝war̶d ̶a͢ mǫr̨e m̛án̶ager͞ial rơle,̶ ̶le̶ss ̸haǹd́s-́on̢. H͘owevęr͟,̴ w̛e h̛a͡ve͟ som͝e co̕mpe͞t̸i͘t̢ors̸ ͡in ̧t̵h̕is ͘re͜al̡i̛t̀y w̡hich͝ w̕e ͞h̶av̧e sou̶g̷ht tơ ov͘erp̕òwe͠r̴. Un̛f͟ortu͝na̷tely fo̢r ̕ųs, th̵e͡y ͢t̡e̡n̨d͢ t͡o͘ ͟plày͠ d͏irt͟y̴, of́ten ḑo͠n’t̶ fo͟llow ͜th͘e͞ . ̛. .̡ rules̡.͏ ̀W̶e͠ ̧beli̶e̸v̧e ͝yoų hàve͏ ̶m͘et ͢s͞ǫme ͏of ̸th͢eiŗ ͘r̴e̷prȩsen̵ta͠t̷i͘v̸es̸.̨ Ļ̷̶̸̵a̴̵͢͢͜C̕͞ŕ̵̷̢͠ớ͝͏̸i͘͟x̸̴͜ and K̕͢͜r͏͡͠i̡҉͡͠m̸̡i̕͜͝n͏̛҉̕e̶̵̡̢l̨͟.̀ You͡ ͢m̴ay kn̕ow̛ ́th͢em̨ ̧as L̶akwa, Gra͘n͏ ̸Gŗo͜k͢o or ̴Bo̵s̵s C͞r̨os͏s͞;̢ ͜a͟nḑ, ̕B̵aw̴on Cr̀ook̕,̛ ͝Cr̶im͜in͞al ͏or ͜thé ͞Ba͟ron̢,͟ ̨rèspeçtiv͠el͠y̴.̛”
“The Baron?” thought the Duke, “That name . . . the man who tortured Sylvia D’ath called himself the Baron, the man who made her regenerate . . .”
  “T͏hese͜ ͡ìńdivid͏u̕als are m͟embe̴ŕş of ͝a̶ ́larger͡ ͟am̶al͡g̶am͡a̢te͠d gro͠úp ͠wh͝i͏c͢h ͘t͘hre͡atens ̴not only ͡our̛ inte̸r͠e̢s̕tś, bu̵t ͢al̡s͘o ͡the li͞b͢e̷r̶ty͞ of͠ ̡a͢ļl t͠he̕ s͏ta͟ke͘hol͏d̢e͡rs o̸f̢ ͘this̛ r̨eali͞ţy.”
The businessman turned to look at the Duke across the console, and for the first time, the Duke saw his eyes. The businessman looked human for the most part, although he wore a dour face. But his eyes, despite resting behind a trendy pair of frameless, rectangular glasses, were a piercing, bright yellow. “Yo̢ur in̵te͜rfe͢r͠ence in̛ thi͏s̢ ma̷t͟t̀er ͟has͜ n͠o̕t̀ ̵go̵ne ͞unnot͝ićed,̶ ànd ̶w͞e͝ ̡w̸ȩre͜ at́ firśt̷ u͘n͞s̡e͞t͠tle̢d̴ ̢b̢y ͢yo̵ųr activìtie̛s ̷w͝he̴n̷ ͠y̨ou̕r ̵p͡át̵h̴ś ͘cr̵óssed ̀with ͘th̸o͢s̴e̶ of ̸o̧u͞r͟ com͏pe͝tito͝rs ͡.̸ ̷. ̵.̶ ͡bu͝t ͜a͞f̸ter ćar̵e͡ful͟ ́r̶ev͘i̡ȩw, we̴ ́h̨a͝ve decla̶réd y͡oúr̷ resu̶l̷ts t̛o͞ ́b̡e ̷.̧ . . im̵pre͠s͢śi̴ve. Y̧o͞u̧ ̀h͞a̧ve ̢prov̢e͟n̶ ͠your͜se͏l̵f̛ ͝to̡ ́be ̕a ͏val̸ùabĺe̛ as̢set̀,̛ D̢̀̀u̢͟͏̴k̵̸̡̕e̷̸̡҉̸.͝”
The businessman then walked forward, through the console, but not intangibly. As he stepped forward his legs seemed to stretch to the side. To the Duke, it looked as though he were a holographic projection whose lower half was clipping and glitching along the texture of the console, the image of his legs wrapping like a coloured shadow as it was emitted from the corner of the room, but from the look in the businessman’s eyes, the Duke knew he was not a hologram, he was a living creature that was manipulating his body to walk through a solid object.
  “The͡ i̸nd̨i̛vi͝dua͏l̀s ̢th̢a̕t ͝I͟ re̡ṕr͜e̶s̵e͡nt ̸l̴ikę t ̨offìćiate̴ ̧a͠ll͞ o̴f̸ our fore͟i̴g͠n͢ ͢ćont̨r̷a̕c̷to̵r̀s ̕by̛ ̨the̛ ͜boòk͞, ͘a̕s͟ you ̷sa̕y̡. So, I ̵am he͜ŗe ͏t͝o̕ ̧s͠u͝gǵe̕st͘ a͡ m̡e͝r̡ge͡r̕.̶ You̶ŗ ̶s͠ķi̧ļl̴s͞ ̨an̛d ̀abi̧l̛it̨íe̴s͟ c͜ouplȩd ́with͘ ͟oùr ̵r͞e͝s͏o͠ur̀c̢es̢ sh͡oul̴d̵ r͜es̀ol̕ve t̷his ̵p̷r̢oje̸c͘t̶ mo̷śt͠ effi͢ci̵ent̡ly̵. O̵ùr͝ ̡facilit̨y̡ ̧ca͝n offer͜ ̧ýo̧u ͜t͏he̡ ̵c̶apa͏c͡ity to bȩ án͢y̷wh͝ere,̷ ̸ḑo̢ an͏y͟ţh͜ing,̵ ̕b͜e ͢àn̷yon͟e .̵ ̀. .̶ as lon̢g as we͢ f͜i̧l͘e̡ ́the ̧appro̧p̴r̛ia̶te̕ ̛paper͝wor̶k͏. So̕,͢ are̴ ̨ýo͠ų interest̀e̶d i͡n͏ ou̴r̸ b͞us̡i̷n͢èss̵ p̢ro͢posal?”
The businessman held out his hand, and as he did, the Duke felt the time around him return to normal. He took a deep breath, and looked at the businessman’s outstretched hand.
  “What are you?” asked the Duke.
  “An ͞em̧pl͢oy̕e͝e ̵of my̧ ̵dȩp͜art͝men͜t,” said the man. “M͡y̛ r̛ole ͠i̴s͠ ̨signif̨i̢e̡d̨ by̢ p͘ersònn̴e͜l ̡nu̷m̵b̸er ͜two-͢on͢è-se̡ven̷-̡se̴v̛én͠-ńi͟n͡e͠,͠ how͢e̵v́e͠r, f͘or t͏he sa̧ke ͜of i͡nter͜p̧er̨s̸onal se̸rv̶i͟ce̴ ýo͢u ̶m̵ay̨ ͏addrȩs͜s̀ ̕m̷e͘ as ‘̀Hu̴m̷an,̡ D̵.’͜,̀ ̧or ‘̢D-̡m̕ąn'.”
  “You are a human?”
  “P̶̸̷r̷̢͠o̵v̧͞i̛͘s͡i͜͟͡o͘͝n̸̡a̢͟l͏l̷̡y͘.”
  “So, you enter my ship, freeze my friends and I, and expect me to co-operate?”
  “No̴ thr̕e̢a͏t w̸as ̕i͞mp̛li͏ed,” said the man, lowering his offered handshake. “And ͞co͟ns̸i͏de͏r͞in͢g ho̧w͢ h͏i̡ghl͢y w͢e̡ ͘h̸ave ͡d̀eem͡ed ̢you̷r in͡t̸e͜l̵l͟i͏g͢e̡n̷ce͞,͡ n͞o th͘r͝eat͜ w̧as͝ ̕i̸ǹfe͠ŗr̷ed́. We͏ have̵ ͡the mea̡ns ͡to ha̕r̨m yoù, yet ̛ỳou rema̷i͝n ̛p̶er͢f͟e͠ctl̵y įņt̶ac͝t.”
  “And that’s my point,” said the Duke. “You have deemed me an asset, if I were not an asset, would that deem me ‘disposable’?”
  “Our gǫal ͏is n͝ot͞ des͘truc̴ti͡ve. W͟e ͡ca̸tal͟ogue̸, òrg̨an̵iz͏e an͠d͞ m̸ain̕tai̸n. I m̶er̷e͜l͢y̨ se̵ek͝ t̡o̧ ͢e̵l͝iminat̛e o̧ur̨ c̢omp̨eti͘t͝or͢s͢ b͡eçause̷ ͡th͘ey ̢rep̕res̷en͡t ́a͢ ͢chao͜tìc͢ elem͜e͝n͢t whích i̸s gai̵n͝ing̷ ̕p͏ow̡e͠r͘.̷ ͟M͟y͢ dęp̀a̴r̀tm̕en̴t ͟f͞oŕese͝ȩs̷ ͢thei͞r inevita̢b̶le d͠em̨i͟şe̶,̴ ̀h͠ow̧ev̨er͘ ́y̧our i̷n̵v͟o̶lvem͘ent ̷a͟nd co-̛opeŗa̢t̡ion̵ ͠wou̷ld͘ ex͠p̡e̴d̛i̡t̀e̵ tḩis pr͞oje̕ct̡ ͟co͠ns͡idęra͟bĺy.̢”
  “I don’t like being the soldier in another man’s army.”
  “We arę a̕ll a̛ge̛n̷ts ͠of ̵a gr͡e̸ater ̛p̷ow͠er̨,͞” said the businessman. “I̕ ̧m̛er̶e̕ly off͡er ͏y͡ou th͢e op̧por͘tuńi͘t͘y ͠tó ͝c̶hoo͟se an͠ ̀all̢ianc̶e ͝w͠ith a͝ c̀o̡m̸pa͡ny̴ ̨w̢h̵os̨e ͘g̸o̢als͠ ͟coinc̵ide͏ ͡w̕it͠h ̸yǫu̷rs.”
The businessman offered his hand once more, but the Duke glanced at his two friends, still frozen in time, unaware of this entire interaction.
nbsp;nbsp;“I must decline,” said the Duke.
  “I̢f ͝you͟ w̸i͠s͟h̢,” said the businessman. “H̀o̷w̸e͜v̸e̛r͡, I̷ mu̡s̴t͠ warn yo̸u.̧ ͟W̡e͘ ̧c̨hòs̨ę th͟i̷s ḿo̶ment͡ to ͟sp̸e͘a̸ķ wi͢t̀h̡ you͏, b̢eçaus͡e̛ yo͞ur ͟next ͘d͜e̡s̷tín̨ati̢o͠n͏ ̴w̷i̧ll ̡bri̶n͏g͏ you̸ ̴fa͡c͢e ̕t̶o̵ ̷f̢a̷c̶ę,̛ ̧o͢n̕c̷e͢ ̕more, wit̷h̶ our͟ c̴om͠pe̴t͞i̴t̡o͢rs̷ . .̕ . ͠if̛ ̡you ̡al̵l̀y wit̷h them̧, we wil͡l͠ r͞e͏turn,̶ w̛ith̢ a mućh l̸e͞ss̷ fr͞iendly p̡r͜o̧p̶o͝sa̷l̷.”
  “You see, that’s the reason I had to decline,” said the Duke, frowning. “You offer me your open hand, but hide your closed fist. I don’t measure my friends by contracts, but by conduct. You certainly don’t act like a friend.”
  “W͟e do͘n’t ̨see͘k ̛fr̡ie͏nd͏s̴h͏ip,͢ ̛m̷er͏élý ͠bu͟s̡ines͢s.”

He turned and walked towards the door of the ship. The Duke turned towards the open door, and outside he did not see the vortex, but instead a bright, white light. The D-man stepped into it and was enveloped by a blinding light, then the door closed. There was a soft groaning as time began to speed up, and a loud screeching sound. The Duke looked as his friends began to slowly move, but the screeching became louder and louder.

+

  I have cleaned up this document as best I could, but there is still a great amount of corruption in both the text and the images. I don't know all that much about computers, software and viruses, so for your own safety I recommend that you don't copy any of the text, imagery or html on this page, unless you are willing to have your computer infected.
  I don't know who the D-man is, or where he came from, but what disturbs me the most is that some of the information he is referencing sounds like stuff I compiled for some of the other Lost Chapters. Perhaps it is just a coincidence, but it is a truly disturbing implication if I am to believe that there is some "order" behind the chapters which are being targeted, destroyed and mutilated. Tonight, I will go through all of the documents I have, so that if this happens again I will have a greater chance of remembering which of the files have been tampered with.
  Finally, it truly unsettles me that there exists a creature which can control the Duke within the Lift; he is the master of that domain, but he was frozen stiff like a deer in the headlights. What kind of thing could possibly have that kind of power . . . ?

Lost Chapter - filename: “Strife of Tau”

[b]09.0 | Archive Ref #: b09.5-216-L(X)-m01 | [b]10.0

   I am so sorry. I cannot quite explain it, but it seems as though one of my work folders was pilfered from my collection. I searched my room top to bottom, and could find no trace of it. However, when I later went into the back garden to clean up around the lemon tree, I discovered my folder, spilled out over the lawn. It looked as though the family dog had gotten into my files, as there were teeth-marks and muddy paw-prints over the pages, many of which had been torn and chewed up.
  But I honestly have no idea how this could have happened, because not only do we lock the back door regularly, but my family does not own a dog. We've had a few over the years, but we gave away Ana and Jo when we moved to the city a few years ago and Winston died after being hit by a truck on the road outside my grandmother's house. The neighbours' dogs can't sneak into our yard, as the back fence is part of a retaining wall and very secure, so I don't know how I can possibly explain this . . .
  I collected everything I could from the mutilated documents, but I retained less than half of the information in any kind of usable condition. However, thankfully, I salvaged all of the details of a few of the pivotal scenes in this story, including one I believe to be the beginning, so I can recreate them for you in exact detail. But much of the ending is missing, so I hope you can manage to enjoy what remains of this story.

 +

The palm trees swayed with the ocean breeze, heaving to and fro slowly, creaking blissfully. A small group of cormorants were fishing in the water, and by the edge of the island's tree-line, there were one or two lizards warming themselves in the sun. Several dozen long-tailed macaque monkeys were by the trees, picking leaves and eating them when they were heard the sound of a heaving, wheezing groan echoing through reality. They skitter away from the sound and watch from a safe distance away, screeching with alarm, as a bamboo hut appeared on the sand. It looked like a gazebo, three metres wide with six even sides and a peaked grass roof that was capped with a cupola. It had flyscreen windows on the four of the walls, as well as a full-length, bamboo gate on the front.¹
After a few minutes, the gate opened and the Duke slowly walked out. He looked tired as he walked, as though his feet were sore, but he smiled as he walked down the beach. Inspector Chester Franklin Edison stood in the doorway leaning against the doorframe heavily and smiling weakly² as he watched the Duke walk to the shore.
The sound of the wash as it wafted onto the sand then slipped away was mesmerising, the Duke's desert shoes squelched through the moist sand and splashed as he stepped into the water. The Duke began to smile as the next waves washed up, surrounding his feet. He walked just a few feet further, until his trousers were wet up to his shins, then he fell to his knees, his trousers and the lower portion of his leather coat soaking as he collapsed. Then, grinning brilliantly, to show off his white teeth, he dipped both of his cupped hands into the ocean and brought them up, holding a small amount of water. Then he opened his fingers and it spilled through, trickling down his arms and the Duke laughed out loud. Not out of madness or hysteria, but pure joy, a chuckled deeply and gladly as he plunged his hands into the water again and splashed it around. The policeman limped over and stood further up the beach, watching.
  “I've never seen you so happy before in my life,” said Edison.
The Duke turned to him, smiling brightly.
  “Come and see, Inspector. There's so much water!”
  “It's the ocean, Duke, of course there's water.”
  “I can't believe there's so much,” said the Duke, as he struggled to stand up, leaning on an arm to get back to his feet. “On Rathea, almost everywhere is sand and rock; dry and barren. We scrounge our water from harvesting the Great Cold or juicing desert plants.”
Edison coughed and held up his hand to shield his bloodshot eyes from the sun.
  “You know, we have to wake her up eventually,” said Edison.
  “I know,” said the Duke, “We just need more

[section missing]

- - -

The Duke & Edison continue their conversation. Edison is still worried, but the Duke insists that everything will work out fine. The Duke insists that Edison join him, since the water is so cool.³ Edison declines at first, but after some goading by the Duke, he returns to the ship to fetch some water-friendly clothing. After he leaves, the Duke sees something in the water.⁴
Edison returns to the ship. Inside the console room Anise is still unconscious on the couch.⁵ He heads down the doorway to the right, and heads for the crew quarters⁶ where he finds his luggage and changes into a pair of shorts. He then heads outside and joins the Duke on the beach. Edison wades deep into the water and the Duke says that he doesn't know how to swim.⁷ They swim for an hour, talking.⁸

The Duke and Edison discuss the Eighty-Eight⁹ and how exactly Anise was infected with the Gemohane Leech.

[page missing]¹⁰

- - -

 [section missing]

is side, the Duke guiding her towards the beach with a hand on her

back. He stopped in his tracks when he looked up to see Edison standing next to T'au.¹¹
  “Edison?” calls out the Duke, cautiously.
  “It's alright,” said Edison, walking towards the Duke. “Don't worry, she's harmless.”
  “She?” asked the Duke.
Edison walked up to the pair of them, Anise smiled, but looked tired.
  “Are you okay?” Edison.
  “Anise is fine. Who is that?” asked the Duke impatiently, nodding towards their guest.
  “That's T'au,” said Edison. “Apparently, she lives here.”
  “Are we on Earth?” asked Anise.
  “Yeah,” said Edison.
  “Edison,” said the Duke, frowning, “what is 'Tau' doing here?”
  “I dunno, T'au just said that she lives here, but she's not easy to talk to.”
  “What do you mean?” asked the Duke.
  “She's off with the fairies, that one.”
The Duke frowned.¹²
“Look, go see for yourself,” said Edison.
  “Alright,” said the Duke. “You look after Anise.”
  “I'm fine, really,” said Anise, yawning.
The Duke gave Edison a warning glance, then walked to the shore, where T'au was tying her raft to a tree with a rope.¹³
  “You're T'au?” he asked
  “I am, in every way,” she said, in broken English.
  “My friend says that you live here,” said the Duke.
  “Your friend is right.”
  “I haven't seen your kind before,” said the Duke. “And you don't look like you're from this planet.”
  “You do,” said T'au. “Yet, you are not. It seems that looks can be deceiving.”
  “Are you saying that you do come from this planet?”
  “Not at all,” said T'au.
  “Then where did you come from?”
  “The water,” said T'au, pointing beyond the shore. “The fishing is good; but today, no fish.”
  “I don't mean today. How did you get here originally? And, what are you doing on this planet?”
  “Those are two very different questions,” said T'au, as she finished tying up her boat and walked towards the Duke.
  “On my planet, generally, people answer questions when queried.”
  “You do not understand. The answer to those questions will require more time than I have to offer right now. It is time to feed. After, then I can answer your question. Then you will understand.”
Then, T'au walked past the Duke and headed deeper into the island, disappearing from sight. Edison walked over to the Duke, who looked dumbstruck.
  “Do you see what I mean?” asked Edison.
  “I get the distinct feeling that she enjoys testing my patience,” said the Duke. “Did she tell you why she's here?”
  “Oh, yeah . . .” said Edison, with a smirk. “She said that she was following God's Will¹⁴.”

[page missing]¹⁵

- - -

T'au returns to the island, and Anise questions as to why she went fishing (twice) and returned without any fish. T'au explained that she is not hungry, so she had no need to catch fish, and she waded out because of "God's Will".
The Duke becomes very frustrated, explaining that he doesn't care about any of that, and is merely curious as to how she came to the island, so she explains how her ship crashed along with the sea monster “God's Will”¹⁶ and she became stranded in our universe.¹⁷
The Duke is intrigued by the monster, and so he leaves to analyze the creature with the ship's scanner.

[section missing]¹⁸

T'au is missing¹⁹ but the others don't worry, instead Anise and Edison talk around the campfire,²⁰ the main topic of conversation is religion, Edison says that he doesn't believe, whilst Anise says that she grew up Catholic, but now considers herself agnostic.²¹ They also jokingly try to guess what the Duke believes, Anise is unsure, since he's an alien, but Edison suggests that he “believes only in himself”, but the conversation ends when the Duke appears again.
The topic of conversation then turns to the Duke's fascination with Earth. Despite first appearances, he says that Earth is heavily populated with aliens and extra-terrestrial influence, and he's unsure as to why “an outwardly unremarkable world could be such a bustling hub of intergalactic activity”.
Anise and Edison return to the ship to sleep, but the Duke remains outside, and watches the stars above.²² As he does, T'au approaches him to say goodnight. They chat briefly, then T'au once again leaves.²³

- - -

The Duke was lying on his back on the beach, listening to the waves as they washed up onto the shore. It was a clear night, and the moon was crescent, barely bright enough to light up the sand on the beach. But the Duke didn't look at the sand, or the water; he looked up at the stars. On such a clear night, he could see the constellations of Orion, Aries, Perseus and Taurus, but he gazed beyond them, at the small speck of a galaxy, deep in the darkness.²⁴As he watched the sky, the door to the hut-shaped timeship opened, peeling a sliver of light across the sand before Anise stepped out and closed the door behind her. She peered around before she saw the Duke on the sand and walked over to him.²⁵  "There you are," said Anise, as she walked beside him and knelt down. "I thought you went wanderin' off."
  "Not at all. I was just watching the universe. When we were in the city, I could barely see beyond your atmosphere. But here, the air is much clearer."
Anise looked up at the sky, and the Duke glanced at her.
"Shouldn't you be in bed?" he asked. "You've been through a lot, you should rest."
  "I don't feel tired. I slept for a long time after the crash." Anise scooted closer and laid down on the sand next to him. "What are you lookin' at?"
  "Rathea," said the Duke, needing only to whisper, since Anise was so close. He pointed up at the sky, angling his arm slightly to right. Anise shuffled even closer, so her head was close to his, and she could look up as he did. She squinted and frowned.
  "How the hell can you see it from here?" she asked.
  "The planet is too distant to see, but the whorl of the galaxy is there. Can you see it?"
  "I don't think so," said Anise. "You must have very good eyes."
  "I'm a time lord,"²⁶ said the Duke. "It's part of our nature to see so far."
  "A 'time lord'? What does that mean?" asked Anise.
  "It means that I am a citizen of time and space. It is part of my nature to see the stars and planets and feel the way they move, so that I can navigate the vast distances between them."
  "You can feel them?" asked Anise. "But they're so far away."
  "I cannot literally feel them," said the Duke, he took her hand in his and brought up their clasped hands, so they both could see. "Not a physical connection, like this. It's more like . . . empathy, or intuition. I can even see them moving."
  "They're not moving," said Anise.
  "They are," said the Duke. "The whole sky is spinning."
  "It must be moving really slowly then," said Anise.
  "On the contrary," said the Duke, with a chuckle. "It's all moving hundreds and thousands of kilometres a second. But at such vast size, and alien distances, even time seems to grow smaller. To you, perhaps, the universe is at a standstill. But to me? . . . the sky is dancing."
They both just stare off for a moment, at the distant wonders above.
  "Duke . . . ? If you're so far-sighted, then what about stuff nearby?" asked Anise, turning to look at the Duke. He heard the sand shifting under her head and turned to look at her. Their faces were less than an inch apart. "How well can you see stuff up close?"
  "Well, I've been looking up at the stars, so it can take a moment to focus," said the Duke. "But yes . . . I can see you, clearly."
  "Everything must feel so small," said Anise, her voice barely a whisper as she looked into his eyes.
  "It's just a matter of perspective," said the Duke. "You don't look small to me."²⁷ Anise smiled, and turned back

[section missing]²⁸

- - -

The Duke and Anise are interrupted by the sound of the sea monster, crying out.²⁹ They look out to the ocean, to see the creature, several kilometres out, breach the surface of the water³⁰ Anise is scared, and asks if the creature is angry, but the Duke insists they're safe, explaining that the creature isn't angry, it's just bored and restless.³¹
T'au runs into the water and yells at the creature in an alien language.³² After a tense few seconds, the beast returns below the water. T'au explains that the creature wants to go fishing. The Duke says the three of them are fully rested and they are planning on leaving. He also offers to let T'au join them.³³ T'au refuses.³⁴
The Duke understands, and so he, Edison and Anise head towards the Lift. Before entering the Lift, Anise rubs her hand across her neck, only to discover a long, thin scab from a healing cut on her collarbone.³⁵ Although concerned, she enters the ship and says nothing of it.
The timeship vanishes.

+

  Many pieces of this chapter are missing, but I assure you that I have included everything that I could salvage from my ravaged notes. Although not much happens, this was a very slow and contemplative moment, so not much happens because they didn't do all that much to be honest. But nonetheless, I felt compelled to include the chapter.
  Especially with the sea monster. Because so many of the details are missing concerning the creature, I sometimes found myself forgetting that God's Will was a monster. In fact, the way T'au talks about following it, taking care of it and believing in it, I started wondering if, perhaps, it meant something more. The timeship travels through space and time, with seemingly no limits. If any kinds of gods or demons existed in such a galaxy, then surely they would find one. Or, perhaps more worryingly, they wouldn't. Maybe that's what the Duke believes.
  I don't know, I don't have all the answers. All that I can offer is what you've read so far in this lost chapter, and I hope you've found what you were looking for.

---

¹The Lift has been, like, three different kinds of elevator; a carriage; a caboose and now a grass hut. I'm still wondering exactly how many different forms it's capable of.
²They're still weak, and Edison seems hung over, so this has to happen pretty soon after the last chapter, within four hours at least. It was never established exactly, but I assume that this whole journey is just so the Lift crew can rest after Chapter 9's stress.
³The Duke is so adorable in the water, it's like he's a little kid.
⁴I swear, I looked through all my notes, and even taped together some of the torn up pieces, but I can't find the fucking description of the sea monster. I'm so sorry.
⁵By the end of this story Anise is wearing a totally different outfit.^5a So, either she changes after sitting out on the beach or - and I hope this isn't the case - either Edison or the Duke changed her clothing for her. Gay or not, that's weird for Edison, and as for the Duke, it would seem very inappropriate, especially after that kiss . . .
     ^5aAfter changing from her bloody clothes, Anise wears a close-fitting black & white striped shirt with a wide collar & sleeves that ended half-way along her forearms. blue jeans & brown boots.
⁶Gah! The first mention of crew quarters on the ship, and it's eaten by a dog?! I've lost so much good stuff from this chapter!
⁷I guess that makes sense, but he does wade pretty deep in the water. I think this means to say that he was never taught to swim and he's certainly not afraid of the water.
⁸It feels weird that the Duke doesn't check on Anise. I have to assume that he knows when she's going to wake up, as he only enters the ship a few minutes before she wakes.
⁹I don't have the full conversation, just snippets. But it must have taken a while, or there must be a gap in the records, because by the time the next scene starts, it's nearly sunset.
¹⁰Okay, I have to work from memory on this one, but the pair talk more about the 88 for a while, especially the Traveller (Edison thinks she's an alien). Then, the Duke goes inside to find Anise as she wakes up⁸ but in that time, a boat washes ashore. Inside the boat is a humanoid alien called 'Tau'.¹¹ She talks to Edison briefly, and there was also a reference about speaking in an unusual accent.
¹¹T'au is bald, with blue, leathery skin, no nose, a Y-shaped mark on her face, four digits on both hands and hooves instead of feet. Apparently, her full name is Holy T'au the Lonely World according to my notes, but everyone calls her T'au (pronounced like the first syllable of 'tower').
¹²I guess there's no such thing as fairies on Rathea.
¹³Apparently T'au made her own raft from resources on the island, but details are lacking.
¹⁴“God's Will” is what T'au calls the sea monster.
¹⁵Not 'missing', technically. To be more accurate, this is one of the pages that were torn into little pieces. But from what I can gather, I have a basic idea of what happens next, although it's difficult since most of the pieces are too shredded to read. Firstly, the Lift crew spend time on the beach.^15a Then, T'au returns holding a dead animal^15b which she had retrieved from a trap on the island. Without a word, she unties her raft and wades out to sea.^15c The Lift crew continue talking for a few hours, unwinding and talking.^15d Eventually, T'au returns, and the Lift crew are confused, as they believed that she was returning with food.
     ^15aUnfortunately, no, I can't decipher what they're doing during that time.
     ^15bT'au is described as 'dragging it by the arm', so I assume it's a monkey, but I might be wrong.
     ^15cT'au is just feeding the sea monster, which sounds sinister, but it's not really.
     ^15dTalk? TALK! That's all it says in these notes is that they talk! I have no idea what about, but since Anise doesn't freak out, all I can guess is that Edison is tight-lipped about the kiss. Also, it seems like the story they're telling Anise is that she was knocked unconscious when the ship crashed, as that's all they say when they talk about it.
¹⁶Thankfully, this conversation is intact, although extraneous details are missing:

DUKE: I don't understand at all.
T'AU: I said that would be the case.
DUKE: You also said that you would answer me after feeding, so answer me.
T'AU: Yes, that is right . . . but I also said that you asked two different questions, believing their answers to be similar, when they are not. You want to know how I came here? Then so would I. Where I am from, this kind of peace is unheard of. It's completely alien to me, because I am completely alien to it. I've never stepped foot on this world before, but the stories are of death and war, skulls piled miles thick, yet I see no such discord. I do not understand how, but I am a place that both is and is not my universe.
DUKE: Are you saying that you're from another dimension?
T'AU: I am saying that I do not know.
DUKE: How did you get here?
T'AU: I came here with several of my people, following God's Will, in the hope that I might stop it.
EDISON: Wait, what the hell is “God's Will”? If it's God, why try to stop it?
T'AU: God's Will is the enemy. At least, it was, during the war. A fierce beast with no soul, whose only goal was to consume and spread, like cancer.
DUKE: If it's the enemy, then why do you call it "God's Will"?
T'AU: It is a foolish joke. Because of its way of devouring, I once called the beast 'Hunger'. But it managed to survive with me. It is like a miracle, so I tell myself that it is the Will of God that it be with me now.
EDISON: The beast is here?
T'AU: No, the beast is there. (pause) We were fighting God's Will, when it fled into the place of blindness. We followed too closely and were swallowed by chaos. We could not see, and the starship was not made for such travel, the beast attacked and so we fell, together, out of chaos and into this place.
DUKE: What happened to your starship?
T'AU: It did not survive. We survived with God's Will^16a into the atmosphere, where it fell into the water.
DUKE: What happened to your crew?
T'AU: God's Will consumed them. It would have consumed me as well, but I learned how tame it. I soon learned that it was as scared and lost as me, it could no longer hear the thoughts of its people, so I taught it instead to listen to me. Now I take care of it, and it takes care of me. It's just a wild beast, and some days it thinks of me as nothing more than something to be consumed. But so long as it lives, I will not leave God's Will alone.
DUKE: That's quite a story. But such a large beast must be hard to manage. If it truly is your enemy and one day wishes it could eat you, then why do you keep it alive?
  (pause)
T'AU: Because otherwise, I would be alone.

     ^16aOn several occasions, T'au references people 'on' the sea monster. At first I thought they rode atop it, but T'au calls it Y'he Shas'ka'ar, which my notes here translate to "The Weak Hunger's Sun Boat". I don't want to make any assumptions, but I think the 'sea monster' might actually be some kind of living starship.
¹⁷I believe that T'au has come from an another dimension, one which is consumed by war. I thought, at first, that she was from the future, but that conflicts with my other files involving travel to the far future. Unless she's from an alternate timeline. Is that even possible?
¹⁸I can't find any shred of the data regarding the sea monster. It's stuff like this that will make me paranoid, I'm telling you . . .
¹⁹Presumably, T'au has gone to bed, although she goes fishing an awful lot, perhaps she went again. To be honest, I can't predict what she would do, she is an alien, after all.
²⁰I assume the campfire was lit after nightfall, but the time exactly is lost in the missing segment.
²¹Damn it. I love these Anise & Edison heart-to-heart talks, but I know none of the details.
²²I don't think the Duke requires sleep at all. I've only seen him rest once and that was only because he was hit by a bus (See Ref#: b01.0-211-L(X)-m01).
²³Before going to bed, T'au says to the Duke: "Some days, an odd man comes to this island, wishing to know how I stay hidden from his mind. He also wants to control God's Will; because he's fighting a war over what people believe. I refuse every time and he simply leaves, but I do not believe I am the only one he is recruiting. If he comes for you, I only ask that you consider carefully before making your decision."
²⁴I have to admit, I've been reading further ahead in the files, so I hope this isn't a spoiler, but the Duke's homeworld of Rathea is within the Andromeda Galaxy. I don't know what he's thinking here, but I believe he's a little homesick.
²⁵Oh, thank goodness . . . not all of the cute little one-on-one scenes were lost. I can't tell you how happy I am that this scene survived. It's so adorable!
²⁶This is one of the few times that he refers to himself as a Time Lord, and to me this makes it clear that he is genuinely a Gallifreyan and must have been raised there. So, I have yet to learn why he keeps referring to 'Rathea' as his homeworld.
²⁷I can't tell whether the Duke is being literal, poetic or (dare I say) romantic.
²⁸I like to think that Anise fell asleep snuggled next to the Duke, but a large piece of the page is ripped off. In the next scene, it's sunrise and they're both awake, standing up and talking on the beach, so I can't tell. Also, Edison is standing a short distance away, watching the sunrise.
²⁹The datafile describes the creature's cry as sounding like a guttural foghorn.
³⁰Details are seriously lacking, but at the very least I can tell you this thing is really big. Like, several-magnitudes-bigger-than-a-whale big.
³¹I don't know if he's interpretting the scream, or if he can hear it psychicly.
³²There's no explanation as to why the translator doesn't work.
³³I think he's just offering to take her home. I'm not sure how, since she’s not from this reality, but it doesn't make sense that he'd invite her to join, as a companion, since he seems to dislike her so much.
³⁴It doesn't say why, but my guess is that she doesn't want to leave God’s Will alone.
³⁵The results of her fight with Countess Erszebet Báthory (See Ref#: b09.0-216-L(X)-m01).

Lost Chapter - DUKE:v.01.07.5+Gravity_Falls

[b]07.0 | Archive Ref #: b07.5-216-G(L)-m03 | [b]08.0

  On Saturday, the 16th of May, 2014, I came home to find that the data for the latest chapter of Duke Forever was missing from my in-tray. I searched the house, and happened to discover the printed pages in the kitchen bin. Burnt.
  Perhaps I was careless and allowed the papers to be mixed up with the junk mail, when we threw it away. I don’t know how something like this could happen, but I'm not trying to suggest that someone threw it away deliberately. However I'm also not suggesting that someone wouldn't do that either . . .
  I was going to skip the chapter, but since the last chapter involved leaving Earth and the one after this involves returning to Earth, I couldn't justify leaving out this portion of the record. However, a great deal of the information I had has been lost. So, my only recourse is to compile what raw data I have to recreate the story for you, although perhaps without the bells and whistles of narrative that I've been adding to give some life to these stories. I apologize for the lack of artistic flair, but I want to retain the tenacity of this record, as best I can.

+

The Duke’s timeship is sitting just beyond a stargate, which is inside of some kind of art gallery. Within, the Duke is looking over the console.¹

    [¹The data reveals this planet to have a mass slightly greater than Earth; breathable air although with a slightly high oxygen content and fertile soil.]

He takes note of a large number of life-forms living in a settlement several hundred kilometres away, closer to the equator of the planet.²

    [²Data is lacking as to the name but several people identify the planet’s inhabitants as Gravitens, so it will be referred to as “Gravitas”.]

There’s also a large planet on the sensor, which is orbiting like a moon. The Duke exits the timeship and observes it for himself. The moon is revealed to be larger than any moon, and in fact larger than the planet Earth. The Duke explains this to Anise & Edison.³

    [³Gravitas is a part of a double planet system (See Fig.1) with a primary planet more than three times the size of Earth, referred to as “Temeritas”. Due to the sheer size of Temeritas, there is a gravitational anomaly upon the planet-facing side of Gravitas which makes the relative gravity approximately 0.12 g at the equator (or 1/8th Earth Gravity).]

The low gravity allows the timeship crew to “moon-jump” several metres high in the air. The Duke vainly attempts to explain the science while his companions test to see how high they can jump [approx. 5 metres.], before he observes the stargate itself and is mildly intrigued by the alien design.⁴

    [⁴The stargate is a standard 39-symbol Milky Way Stargate; the Point of Origin symbol has a design similar to two capital ‘i’s (See Fig.2). This stargate’s dialling computer is absent, for unknown reasons.]

The Duke then insists they seek to find the denizens of this world, . They leave the art gallery enter the outskirts of the town [town name unknown.] and find it deserted. The Duke discovers a wheel-less, dark-silver tram trolley, hovering a foot off the ground.⁵

    [⁵The maglev trolley works via low-energy, repelling electromagnet on the base of the trolley, over a track of magnets placed in a Halbrach array.]

After commenting on the design, the Duke boards the tram, with Anise and Edison right behind him. The Duke activates the trolley with his laser spanner and it automatically takes them to the centre of town, where the Gravitan base station for the space elevator is located. The trio see several Temeritans patrolling the area.⁶

    [⁶No visual data is available, however Temeritans are mentioned as tall, with thick, grey skin (like an elephant), a split plate of armour-like bone on their foreheads, four digits on each hand and three toes on each foot.]

The Duke believes them to be natives, so they enter the elevator dock and the Duke approaches one of the creatures, kindly asking for help. Edison attempts to explain to the Duke that the creatures do not look like the portraits in the art gallery, when the creature roars to alert its compatriots. It then advances on the three, aggressively asking them what they are doing in the facility. Edison tells the creature they’re not looking for trouble, but two more Temeritans join the first, looking ready to fight.
Edison takes the baton out of his belt [a police-issue Monadnock® AutoLock Expandable Baton.] and prepares to defend himself. With one blow, Edison is sent flying across the room, and while Anise races over to tend to him, the Duke holds the other three at bay, punching and dodging under the creature’s relatively slow attacks. Edison regains his feet and helps the Duke, utilizing the low gravity to jump, kick and evade the creatures.⁷

    [⁷Due to the fact that the Inspector was legally on duty during the assault and the degree of battery, aggression and non-standard arrest-and-control techniques Edison utilized to defend himself, the Inspector’s actions technically constitute police brutality.]

After almost a minute, the pair manage to incapacitate one of the creatures, but the others roar for more backup and they are both exhausted so Anise, Duke & Edison decide to retreat. The Duke runs towards the hovering tram, however there are two Graviten soldiers waiting for them.⁸

    [⁸Gravitens look human, but for their generally thin physique. It is unknown at this stage whether or not they are an evolutionary coincidence or exo-migrated humans. The soldiers are wearing a reinforced, plasticized suit of grey armour.]

The Duke decides to follow them, and so the five of them run deeper into the buildings into a Phandibhan-style restaurant [cuisine native to the nearby continent of Phandibh, known for using subtle spices and offal.], where several Graviten soldiers [approx. 30.] are holding up in the underground stockroom. When they discover who the Duke is, the two soldiers that helped them, named Sir Ghedda Musth & Sir Javaji Hastin, explain the situation:

• Six days ago, a group of Temeritan terrorists came through the space elevator. They declared Graviten citizens inferior and began attacking everyone on site [23 were killed and more than 80 were injured.] with their brute strength as well as weapons stolen from the base station security.
• The group kidnapped several hostages, numbers unknown, [many of them students on a field trip, from the Mabhoudat Mathematics School for Girls.] Then contacted local media, identified themselves as Groko Falem [a group of xenophobic terrorists, whose name translates to 'Fallen Moon'.] they declared war on all Gravitan citizens, in the name of "Lakwa", demanding servitude or death.
• Five days ago, Gravitas representatives sent a deep-space communiqué to Temeritas, asking for help.
• The group, using explosives, destroyed over 3000 G-HAC suits [Gravitas(?) - Heavy Atmosphere Containment suits allow for Gravitens to survive Termeritas surface-gravity for extended periods of time.] held within the space elevator base station.
• The government of Mabhoudan continent moved in their defense forces, but ceased fire when the Temeritans began killing hostages. They were held at a standstill, as the Temeritans have threatened to destroy the space elevator if the army intervened, as a result the army retreated to a perimeter beyond the city limits.
• Three days ago, Gravitas recieved the Temeritans' reply, which stated that they were preparing to launch a series of interplanetary rockets to help, however it could take seven days before the first rocket could land on Gravitan soil.
• Ever since, the Gravitan army have been providing negotations for the hostages, and those trapped in the city limits, as well as covert guerrilla operations.

The Duke agrees that the situation is dire, and suggests that the army to evacuate as many trapped citizens as they can through the stargate. But Sir Ghedda doesn't know what a stargate is, and insists that the Duke can help them to stop this Temeritan threat "like he did last time". The trio are confused, and the Duke insists that he doesn't fight such battles, but the soldiers insist that many years ago, the Duke of Rathea stood before the Temeritans and brokered a peace that lead to the building of the space elevator in the first place.
The Duke is confused, but he tells the Graviten soldiers that he will do what he can to help them, as he once did.

Anise & Edison are confused, but the Duke explains that the that he will most likely travel to the past and help these people, some day later in his lifetime, which makes him somewhat uncomfortable.⁹

    [⁹I am still attempting to recover the information relevant to the date of this "earlier" arrival, but many of the references in this data seem to imply that it will occur after the encounter with the 88.]

Edison asks how he could help them, and the Duke explains that the only way to deal with terrorists such as these is with force, and since he's not a warrior anymore it would be unwise to enter the fight. However, he does have the timeship, and with Sir Javaji's help devises a plan to materialize within the base station, via the timeship, to rescue the kidnapped citizens and schoolgirls. The Duke, Anise, Edison and a fireteam [a group of four soldiers, with a junior officer in command.] sneak out of the restaurant and travel on foot to the art gallery, where the Duke's timeship is waiting for them.
  Scene Missing¹⁰

    [¹⁰(Much of the data in the second half of this record was destroyed with the burnt notes) -- When the group arrives at the Art Gallery, two of the soldiers are absent. It is assumed that the group encountered some Temeritans en route and lost some members in the ensuing crossfire; however, the details of this encounter cannot be recovered.]

The group are within the console room, and the Duke is spending a few minutes adjusting the co-ordinates, to aim for the location where the kidnapped citizens are said to be held [Within The space elevator unit itself, is a vessel the size of a skyscraper, with a mixture of Temeritan and Gravitan architecture (See Fig.3), which is capable of travelling between the planets in just a few hours.]. With several minute adjustments, the Duke pulls the ignition lever and the ship dematerializes. After an unsteady flight, the ship rematerializes and the soldiers shake themselves off. Then, standing at the ready by the exit, the Duke opens the doors and the soldiers all take point. They discover that the ship has missed its target, and is sitting on the roof of the base station. The Duke apologizes for miscalculating the co-ordinates, but not wanting to risk another trip, the soldiers enter the building from the roof, and head deeper into the facility. The base station is uncommonly empty and the group attempt to board the space elevator, but the air lock is sealed. The Duke manages to get through with his laser spanner, however the elevator begins to move. The six of them quickly climb aboard as the elevator accelerates into the air, leaving the timeship behind. The Duke struggles to get the air lock closed again, before they enter the stratosphere.
  Scene Missing¹¹

    [¹¹It is assumed that the soldiers went ahead, while Anise & Edison separated from the Duke (either to find safety, or for some other strategic advantage). It is also assumed that access to the motor coils of the space elevator is either dangerous or precarious, as the Duke is next seen in the engine room, alone.]

The soldiers are seen moving up through the facility, slowly incapacitating or killing Groko Falem terrorists as they encounter them in each room [the interior of the space elevator is like a cruise ship or a hotel, with open space and different activity centres to entertain passengers.], however a firefight breaks out in the drinking lounge, with many terrorists joining the fight, leading to a standoff.
Anise and Edison are slowly heading up the facility through crew access corridors [The relative gravity aboard the elevator is approximately 0.9 g, to best facilitate all species of passenger.], and the pair enter the top level of the Gravitas-oriented portion of the space elevator.¹²

    [¹²At the mid-way level of the space elevator, the artificial gravity plating (as well as architecture, furniture arrangements and design) is inverted, to allow passengers to stand upright when they leave the elevator on either planet. To accommodate the transition between upright and upside-down, passengers can use either the gravity walk or a re-orienting cabinet - which my notes label a "regravitator" - (See Fig.4).]

A lot of the terrorists have congregated within the mid-section of the ship, so Anise and Edison retreat to one of the "crew access only" areas of the ship, using their pilfered master key [Which must have been acquired during the missing scene.] and enter a large, unusually oriented generator room. Within the mess of generators and computer monitors, Anise recognizes a gravity engine [This device is identical to the gravity engine from Warehouse 88 (See Ref#: b02.0-216-L(X)-m01), it is as yet uncertain if it is the same device.].

The Duke is within the engine room, working on the motor coils with his laser spanner, [it is implied that he was attempting to repolarize the coils to reverse the elevator and return it to Gravitan soil.] when a Temeritan assaults the Duke, drags him off his feet and slams him into a wall and interrogates him about his intention.
  Scene Missing*

    [*EDIT: Although the visual data of this scene has been compromised, a portion of the dialogue from this exchange was recorded in a separate file, for reference purposes:

DUKE: (indecipherable murmuring)
THUG: (snarls) Looks like there's a spanner in these works.
  (yelling and grunting from both parties follows by a loud thud)
DUKE: If your desire is to kill me, then I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed.
THUG: I don't desire any harm to come to you, Duke. My desires are less forthcoming.
DUKE: Your manner implies otherwise (grunt). How do you know who I am?
THUG: I merely want a moment of your time (pause) to talk.
DUKE: You have enforced my captivated and undivided attention.
THUG: I wish to understand your choice.
DUKE: (grunt) What choice?
THUG: What you're doin' now.
DUKE: I'm going to reverse the elevator.
THUG: (inhales sharply) that's a poor choice.
DUKE: Why?
THUG: Because it would undoubtedly destroy everything on that planet. The Temeritans are planning on overclockin' the gravity engine of this ship, destroyin' the space elevator.
DUKE: (pause) Why would you tell me this? (grunt) I don't understand, don't you want the Graviten people dead?
THUG: The Groko Falem want that. My desire is much simpler.
DUKE: You're not a member of the Groko Falem?
THUG: No.
DUKE: (pause) Then what are you?
THUG: Bawon Lakwa.
DUKE: I don't understand. What does that mean?
THUG: It means I'm someone that wants you to make the right choice.
DUKE: And what is that?
THUG: I am merely a signpost on this crossroad. You must choose what path you take.
DUKE: (pause) You don't sound very much like a Temeritan.
THUG: You don't sound like a time lord. A time lord would know how to bide their (pause) time.
DUKE: What for?
THUG: (pause) Good things come to those who wait.
DUKE: But we're heading for Temeritas. How does that benefit us?
THUG: (pause) Invaders! (snarls)
  (there's grunting, groaning and a series of blows before a heavy thump)
DUKE: That was a poor choice . . .

]

The Duke is next seen quickly vacating the engine room, to head further up the space elevator vessel. After his encounter with the Temeritan, the Duke has come to learn that the ultimate goal of the Groko Falem is to overload the gravity engine, destroy the space elevator, and ultimately pull each planet out of their dual orbit, such that they will collide with one another, and it is his goal to stop that from happening.

Within the gravity generator room, Anise manages to convince Edison that she not only knows how to turn off the gravity engine, but also that it would be beneficial to do so, since Gravitens are used to low gravity, and Temeritans are not. Edison uses his radio to contact the remaining fireteam, who are still in the drinking lounge, and warns them that they are going to attempt to disengage the gravity engine. The soldier thanks them for the information, and tells his men to hold steady. Anise then approaches the gravity engine, and climbs up [The circuit connecting the gravity engine to the gravity plating results in a feedback loop which creates an outward force around the device; such that, when activated, the gravity engine is relatively "up" within the two-metre area around the device.] to adjust it, via a form of gear shift on the device. Anise's first attempt accidentally reverses the gravity across the entire ship.¹³

    [¹³The Temeritans all fall heavily to the roof, and many are dazzled and confused; although Edison braced himself against a support beam, he was flipped over and landed on his knees, but he was unharmed; The Graviten soldiers fell, but their helmets protected their heads, but they were ready for the event, so they recovered quickly, and took advantage of the Temeritan terrorist's confusion; several Graviten hostages, particularly older women, suffered bruises from the fall, but they were otherwise safe & the Duke himself was running at the time of the gravity event, and the adrenaline allowed him to react quickly and covered his head as he fell onto his back.]

Anise tries again, with another lever, but but only manages to make the strength of the reversed gravity fluctuate. Finally, Edison joins her and attempts to cancel the engine himself.

The Duke, unharmed but very cranky, accesses the communications section of the elevator, and first uses the intercom to contact Edison [through his police radio.]. The Duke asks, rather bluntly, for an explanation as to why the gravity is such a mess. The pair explain themselves, and although the Duke warns them that their actions were very dangerous, he talks them through how to deactivate a gravity engine.¹⁴

    [¹⁴The method used to annul the gravity engine was explained in detail in the conversation which was recorded by the space elevator's communications systems, and is included below, the relevant details are underlined:

EDISON: I can't find a way to disconnect it.
DUKE: Don't disconnect, disable. To detach it would take time we don't have, but it's a precise and delicate mechanism, Inspector. You need only overload the power mechanism or engage the transmission with a misaligned gravitational matrix and it will stall.
ANISE: We already tried messin' with it Duke, we tried to adjust it and all it did was reverse.
DUKE: You were the one that inverted the gravity?
EDISON: Yeah, sorry about that.
  (pause)
DUKE: It must be automatic . . . leave the constant in reverse, then boost the power, there should be a regulator for the power flow nearby.
EDISON: (pause) This looks like power. It's got a lightning bolt on it.
DUKE: That sounds about right.
EDISON: Can't I just shut off the power?
DUKE: No. the focal point of a gravity engine is self-sustaining, you won't cancel it. I need to you boost the power to maximum.
  (pause)
DUKE: That's enough. Now, shift the gravitational constant of nine metres per second per second, and reduce power at the same time, nice and quickly.
  (pause)
EDISON: (laughter)
ANISE: This is amazing!
DUKE: Very well done, both of you.

]

The Duke then hails the Temeritan vessel and relays to them the details of their encounter thus far. They organize to rendevous in twenty minutes.
  Scene Missing¹⁵

    [¹⁵During the missing fifteen minutes, it is known that Anise and Edison joined up with the fireteam and the hostages. in the gymnasium of the vessel, the Duke returned to the boarding centre & several members of Groko Falem, upon discovering that the "Duke of Rathea" was on board, decided to hunt him down, destroying much as they threw their weight around in zero gravity.]

The Duke stands at the control console of the boarding centre, behind the greeting desk, and quickly realizes that the boarding chamber is not fitted with an airlock. Several of the Temeritan terrorists enter the room, looking furious [due to the low gravity, the Temeritans would be suffering from higher blood-pressure in their skulls. However, it is assumed that their aggression mostly stems from the Duke, himself.]
One of the leading terrorists [Whose name is recoded as, Brohl Musth.] monologues about the Duke's weakness, and they attack, the Duke dodges them easily [It is unknown at this time whether or not time lords are naturally adept at manoeuvring in zero gravity, or if the Duke has learned to master the feat himself.], and tells the Groko Falem that they're nothing more than a group of thugs, no better or worse than any pathetic mutineer he has come across in his time. The Temeritan leader insults the Duke's status, the Duke then refutes his claim, closes the bulkhead door behind him & opens the outer hull door. The Duke holds on tight as the vacuum of space vacates the room of air, and the Temeritans are blown out into space.¹⁶

    [¹⁶Although many believe that a vacuum "sucks", it is the rapid dispersal of air in the presence of a vacuum which causes the force; and thus it is this displaced air which pushed the contents into space, rather than the vacuum "pulling".]

Duke holds his breath as the Temeritan military ship intercepts the vessel [time lords can survive for extended periods in the cold vacuum of space due to their physiological tenacity and a respiratory bypass system.]. The Temeritan soldiers repressurize the boarding centre and flooded the space elevator with their squads. They swiftly took control [the Groko Falem refused to harm fellow Temeritans, allowing the soldiers to arrest them.], began treating the hostages and reversed the vessel to return to Gravitas.
  Scene Missing¹⁷

    [¹⁷The Temeritan soldiers manage to turn over the gravity engine again and the ship returns to Gravitan soil. The majority of the records about the return trip have been lost. However, it is assumed that Edison received some form of medical treatment, as his nose is no longer broken, as it was after his encounter with the Traveller (See Ref#: b07.0-216-L(X)-m01).]

Back on Gravitan soil, there was a lot of commotion with the returning hostages, celebration and incarceration of the remaining Groko Falem and the news reporters declare it a miraculous resolution to the conflict.  However, without much fuss, the Duke, Anise & Edison slip away to the timeship, and together they quietly vanish.

+

  The preceding information is everything that I could present (or extrapolate) from the remains of the burnt document and my ancillary notes on this subject. I apologize for this incomplete record, but I will endeavour to take greater care of such precious information in the future. I wouldn't want something like this to happen again.

  There was some amazing information lost in this piece. It is, after all, the first time I've seen the Duke deliberately kill someone, but I've got more data on the nature of vacuums than I do that act of murder. I don’t know if it was in the heat of the moment, or if he’d planned for them to die before he entered that room. It makes me question his motivations, and wonder whether this is hinting at the truth behind what would cause such a powerful leader to fall from grace.
  However, as I said, this is all that I can offer of this lost chapter, and I hope you've found what you were looking for.