Inmate 003

Welcome back, darlings! In this week's installment of The Agency, we're introduced to the entity behind the Tunguska Event and a character created by my wonderful fiancé, Myrrh. They've truly been so helpful and inspirational when it comes to this project--and many of my other ones--and created the character Ellis to fit into the world of The Agency around the same time they wrote "Artifact 0535C." I fell in love with Ellis' mysterious nature and decided to keep them around.

Inmate 003

Inmate Description & History

Inmate 003, known colloquially as Tunguska due to the location of where it was acquired, is a powerful entity to be sure and it is a testament to the collectors’ determination and skill that they were able to apprehend such a creature. It is also impressive that the wardens are able to contain it and have been able to for over a hundred years. Inmate 003 does not look as though it could have caused as much destruction as it did. It stands at an average height of five-nine and appears disturbingly humanoid. Its skin is the color of iron, though mottled with rust streaks running through it. It has no hair. Its eyes are an unnatural golden yellow with veins of black and no pupil or iris. Its eyes also glow, lit from within by an unearthly light.

            Inmate 003 was apprehended in the late afternoon of June thirtieth, 1908, in the Podkamennaya Tunguska River region of Yeniseysk Governorate (now Krasnoyarsk Krai), Russia. The area where it was found was a 830 square mile zone of flattened forest—approximately 80 million trees—and resembled a gigantic spread-eagled butterfly with a wingspan of forty-three miles and a body length of thirty-four miles. Three people were killed in the initial event and another seven were killed when collectors arrived on the scene to apprehend Inmate 003.

            It is entirely possible that Inmate 003 was involved in the creation of Lake Cheko, though this has been disputed since its discovery. Inmate 003 has not communicated any answer one way or another regarding this. Studies are still being conducted on Lake Cheko and the Tunguska Nature Reserve in the hopes of uncovering the answers to Lake Cheko’s origins and monitoring any potential side effects of Inmate 003’s presence on the surrounding plant and animal life.

Testimony 1908-06-30-A

Arch. Fox: Statement of Demyan Krupin regarding the incident that occurred on the morning of June thirtieth. Statement is recorded direct from subject, translated by Iota support team member Archival Assistant Logan Ellison by Archivist Charles Fox.

Arch. Asst. Ellison: The sky split in two and fire appeared high and wide over the forest. The split grew wider and spread and the northern side was engulfed in fire. It was so hot, I wanted to rip my clothes off, but then the sky shut and there was a powerful thump sounded, from somewhere in the forest far off. I was thrown several meters and lost my senses for a bit, then my brother helped me into the house. Then came the sound of rocks following or cannons firing and the Earth shook and we were on the ground. The sky opened and hot wind raced between houses and left traces in the ground like pathways, crops were destroyed. It was terrifying and we hid in the house, waiting for it to be over. Once we felt it safe, we went outside and saw that many windows were shattered and part of the iron lock in the barn was snapped. We also found three of our neighbors dead. My brother and I have decided we’ll keep them because they need someone to look out for them now.

Arch. Fox: Statement ends. Mr. Krupin returned home and resumed his life farming with his brother, adopting the two orphaned children. As of Mr. Krupin’s report, there are three casualties, though these have not been confirmed by anyone in an official capacity in Russia. Many other statements have come in regarding this celestial event and collectors have been sent out to retrieve anything that may have appeared after the event, meteorite or entity.

Testimony 1908-06-30-B

Arch. Fox: Statement of Collector James Booth regarding the capture of Inmate 003 who caused the incident over the Tunguska River region earlier this morning. Statement is recorded direct from subject by Archivist Charles Fox.

Coltr. Booth: That was such a shitshow. God…seven. Seven. It took down seven of us before we managed to corral it. And it wasn’t just collectors. Four of them were support team Alpha. The rest of us…God. That was a good call on Superior Read’s part, sending two groups of collectors and an Alpha squad. Still, it took out four of them. Four soldiers with military training who have been trained how to handle many of the things we do. And this thing just…annihilated them. It was effortless. The thing…God. I mean, you’ve seen it. Or at least, the photos of it in the file. You saw the photos of the destruction from the…what are we calling it? An airburst? A meteorite that exploded?

Arch. Fox: I think we’re going with that one.

Coltr. Booth: Right. You saw the photo. The moth pattern. We don’t know how that connects to it, but I assume that the Omega eggheads will get to figuring that out. Anyway, we had very little trouble finding the area where it…landed, I guess. The trees were flattened, so much land was destroyed. It was standing in the middle of all that devastation, just looking at all the trees it knocked down. The Alpha squad moved in first and we began forming a perimeter. One of the Alphas stepped on a twig and God…that thing’s head snapped around so fast. It raised its arm and just…it made a flinging gesture. Like a ‘shoo’ gesture. The Alpha was flung into a tree at the edge of the impact zone with such force that I heard his bones crack. The other Alphas moved and…God, it was a bloodbath. One collector—Alfie Jackson—went over to the Alpha that hit the tree, trying to see if he was going to live long enough for extraction. Meanwhile, the rest of us were backing up the Alphas as best we could, but it was just so powerful. It killed three of us then three more of the Alphas. We finally got it subdued—those new Tasers seem to work, but I don’t know. I think it just…it just stopped and let us capture it. I think it just got tired of killing us and let us capture it. I don’t think the Taser really did anything to it. It didn’t exhibit any of the signs that the Zeta test subjects did, but that could be because it isn’t human. It just seemed…bored, I suppose. It didn’t seem to understand why we were trying to capture it, but it let us bring it in…after it killed seven of us.

Arch. Fox: Statement ends. The Tasers will need to be tested more to see if they are indeed a viable option when it comes to apprehending entities, but for now, Inmate 003 has been captured and will remain locked in a secure location. It doesn’t appear to have any malice to its actions or seem particularly interested in doing much more than observing those watching it.

Testimony 1912-04-15

Arch. Fox: Statement of Warden Malachi Vance regarding an incident that involved Inmate 003. Statement is recorded direct from subject by Archivist Charles Fox.

Ward. Vance: It was a normal day. I was making my rounds as usual when the radio that Superior Read gave us—he called them…walkie-talkies? Strange name. Don’t think it’s going to catch on though I have to say that they are useful—crackled and one of the Sigma officers—Officer Jonathan Henderson—asked me to come to A-Block. Knowing how dangerous entities in A-Block can be, I rushed over there and…well, A-Block was gone, B- and C-Blocks were barely standing, and D-Block had substantial damage. This wasn’t surprising given how Inmate 003 arrived four years ago, but seeing the full extent…I mean, the Tunguska area where the trees were destroyed was a fraction of a size of the containment facility and certainly nowhere near as durable. Currently, Inmate 003 is being housed in a temporary containment area while the facility is rebuilt. It is also semi-sedated, thanks to the efforts of the Omega scientists. I asked a nearby Zeta, badly wounded but he was alive, what happened—I believe his name is Ethan Black—and was informed that another Sigma officer—he didn’t mention a name, but I have reason to believe based on roll call and his personality it was Officer Patrick Carter—had been insulting and taunting Inmate 003. Inmate 003 has never shown any recognition of insults before, but whatever was said was apparently enough to earn its ire. Though, I don’t think it was angry as much as annoyed. Black mentioned that Inmate 003 didn’t seem to react until after Officer Carter made a derogatory sexual comment about Black. That was when Inmate 003’s eyes began glowing and the streaks of rust running through its body began to glow as though heated. According to Black, soon Inmate 003 appeared as though it was composed of molten iron and…well, Black isn’t sure what happened next because there was a burst of light and a shockwave that knocked him unconscious.

Arch. Fox: Statement ends. It would seem that Inmate 003 is more powerful than we ever expected. If it is capable of causing this amount of destruction when it seems it was mildly annoyed, it is very likely possible it could be an A-Class entity if it were angry enough. I now understand why Superior Read insisted that Inmate 003 be placed there. I will need to discuss the containment protocol regarding Inmate 003 with Superior Read and see if perhaps we can make arrangements to keep Inmate 003 content and harness Inmate 003’s abilities for the agency’s purposes, whatever they might be.

Testimony 2019-03-26

Arch. Montgomery: Statement of support team Delta medic…erm…Ellis regarding the recruitment of Inmate 003 to support team Mu. Statement is recorded direct from subject by Archivist Angel Montgomery.

Med. Ellis: Callum—I mean, Superior Read—asked me to recruit Tunguska—that’s what he likes to be called—to support team Mu and I did. It wasn’t hard, you know. Just had to talk to him for a minute and he was willing to join. He’s sorry about the trees, by the way. Thought that was why he’d been locked up, destroying the trees. Anyway, he’s a sweetheart and can’t wait to start working with us. He sees it as an apology for the trees.

Arch. Montgomery: It was that easy?

Med. Ellis: Yes. Things go swimmingly when you talk to people. They’re usually willing to talk back, you know. Some of them even like talking to people, like Adam Evans and the shapeshifter currently known as Jack Lowe. Others need to be coaxed into talking with people due to the abuse they’ve suffered, like Brady Simmons. Poor thing. He really did get treated horribly before and conditions haven’t improved.

Arch. Montgomery: While that is off-topic and hardly my place, I agree with you on that front. But, returning to the main topic, I’m pleased to hear it was so easy to get Inmate 003—er, Tunguska—to join support team Mu. Any ideas what will happen now?

Med. Ellis: He’ll likely be assigned a room and possibly go through some training to learn how the Agency operates, then get assigned to a team to go on missions with. More than that, I don’t know. Hard telling what Callum’s got up his sleeve.

Arch. Montgomery: Statement ends. Ellis should be able to rein in Inmate 003’s destructive nature and harness it for the benefit of the Agency. Having an entity like Inmate 003 working for the Agency will be greatly beneficial and given that Ellis has a rapport with it, I believe with reasonable certainty that Superior Read will assign Inmate 003 to work with Ellis.

That concludes "Inmate 003." I hope you all have enjoyed getting to read either full entries or partial ones from The Agency for the past four months. I've certainly enjoyed sharing them. If anyone has any questions or comments about The Agency or writing in general, feel free to comment on this post and I'll be sure to reply. 

Intersection of Inspiration, World-Building, & Break Time Hobbies

 In my post about taking a break, I mentioned creating a character for Dungeons & Dragons and the project that became. Well, I'm still working on him and his story. He grew from a simple character to a fleshed-out character and his history has continued to grow. The world he lives in is being created around him as more of the history gets written and what was supposed to be a simple history involving his family has expanded to encompass the lore of the world.

The project has grown.

This all started as just something for me to do to take a break from other projects, but has developed into it's own project. It isn't yet clear what I'm doing with this, but it is certainly fun and a welcome change of pace from working on The Agency and building an entire science fiction world. At any rate, I'm still working on writing out the histories of the character, his zombie, and the tyrant that opposes them as well as the lore surrounding certain magical items. 

This is what happens when different facets of the writing process intersect.

When taking a break and letting your mind wander to other things or focus on a hobby rather than something you're working on, your creativity gets refreshed which allows you to find inspiration, even if you're not looking for it, and sometimes that inspiration leads you asking questions and daydreaming 'what if's which is how world-building at it's very core begins. 

World-building is a bit like a seed, a tiny 'what if' seed that grows when questions are asked and answered about the potential world. Inspiration is like water. Too little and the almost-world dries up and stagnates. Too much and the world-plant drowns. That is why taking a break is important. Taking a break allows the world to develop a little on its own without constant attention while you recharge. Then, when you come back to it, you can approach it with more inspiration and maybe a few new questions. Sometimes, you'll find that a bit that you planned for your world no longer fits with the story you want to tell, in which case it's perfectly fine to break out the pruning shears. 

With the character I've been creating, I didn't have a story in mind for him. He was intended to just be a character I could drop in, an NPC in a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. As I began creating him, however, I began asking questions--Does he know his parents? Are they in his life? If not, why? What about siblings? How many and how do they get along? What's his place in the family? How about friends?--on and on with the questions until I realized that I needed more than just a Notepad file for him. With questions in mind and ideas blooming for answers to these questions, I opened a Word file and got to work. 

Soon enough, I had the story of how his parents met and their occupations at the time figured out as well as how they came to live in his hometown and relevant people in their histories that are unlikely to be relevant to his specific story. From there, I soon had information about his older siblings and their different interests and personalities. Threaded throughout all of this were plot hooks, elements of foreshadowing, and references to a deeper story that was beginning to develop. For example, his mother--a researcher apprenticing to a necromancy wizard--discovered a journal from a lost civilization that, much like the legendary city of Atlantis, vanished in one day due to some type of cataclysm. This civilization is known and, if people are willing to brave the treacherous area the civilization was found, ruins are present, but for the most part, the average person views this lost civilization as nothing more than a work of fiction. Her goal was to go down in history as the person who discovered the truth of what happened to this civilization while her mentor--remember that wizard?--had some idea about what happened, being a life-long academic dedicated to the pursuit of immortality, and wanted to use her research to find the artifact that led to the destruction of the civilization. Where does his father come in? Well, that journal his mother found was bound in leather and she needed it examined by a professional leather-worker to determine the age, quality, and type of leather--after all, it needed to be authentic. His father was a leather-worker of some fame at the time so she went to his shop and the rest is history. 

That was a very brief and vague summary of his parents' meeting and doesn't even touch on his father's connection to the rebellion or what causes the two of them to leave their city and move to a small town at the very edges of an entirely different country. That is also covered and involves the tyrant I've mentioned as well as another member of the rebels opposing him.

Now, I've mentioned the tyrant a fair bit, which makes sense as he's the primary antagonist. But, just having him be a tyrant wanting to conquer the world doesn't make for a very interesting plot or an interesting character. So, I started asking questions: Why does he want to conquer the world? What is his ultimate goal? How far had he come in pursuit of that goal? What is he prepared to do to achieve it? How did he get started on this path? This is how what I'm calling the "prologue" section of the history got started. The prologue section covers not just the tyrant's origins, but also the lost civilization and how it became lost as well as the artifacts involved. 

So far, there was a lot written down about the history before the character I'd initially started with was even born, but that's okay. That's how history is. Every book that has ever been written (with very few exceptions) has a long history before the main character ever draws breath. Life works the same way and, much like in life where knowing history can help you see patterns and avoid repeating history's mistakes (hopefully), knowing the history of the world your character resides in is important. It helps when figuring out some of the whys of the world and is useful in figuring out what your character knows versus what is actually true. Now, the character I'd set out to create is the son of a researcher so he grew up around books about a wide array of topics, including history, but also spent time with his father who kept up the trade of leather-work and he took an interest in that due to how versatile leather could be. Of course, he's not in a vacuum. He has siblings and friends, all of whom have their own lives that don't revolve around him. One of these friends is an elf and becomes relevant to the story later on to the point where he gets his own section, which I've taken to calling the "interlude" section.

This is a lot of detail and information regarding one character. 

Yes, all of this is what sprung up and evolved from the creation of one single character who was supposed to be an NPC. 

This isn't even all of it, to be honest. This is just a glimpse at part of what's been created so far.

Yes, so far. I'm still adding to it. 

This is an example of inspiration and world-building intersecting as well as why it is important to keep the world in mind when creating a character. Every character that is created has their own family and their own history, and all of this is affected by and can affect the world they're in. 

This probably won't be the last time I share bits of this particular side project. As I said, I'm still adding to it and it's a fun project, not to mention a good example of how inspiration, world-building, and character creating intersect and allow for ideas to grow organically. For now, though, that's all the information I'm willing to share so until next time, keep reading, keep writing, and remember to take breaks.

Tome 015S

 Welcome back to another entry from The Agency. This week's entry involves a book that is fairly normal as far as artifacts collected by the Agency goes aside, even with its tendency to wander and appear at suicides. It's a normal book and not hard to handle, right up until it begins screaming. The Agency hasn't figured out why it screams yet, but maybe eagle-eyed readers can. 

Trigger Warning: Frequent mention of suicide. 

Tome 015S

Description

Previously known as Artifact 0015SB, Tome 015S displayed a unique trait that necessitated the creation of the Library and the hiring of librarians. Tome 015S began to scream, loudly and constantly, starting on November 21, 1994. Construction began on a new building to house it and other books January 1995. The new building, dubbed the Library, was completed in December of 1998. During this time, the screaming had been constant, except for a brief moment on October 3, 1998, where it ceased screaming, only to resume it later that day. We are not sure what caused it to start or stop screaming, though Omicron researchers and Omega scientists are attempting to uncover the reasons. Once Tome 015S was moved to the Library, it ceased screaming entirely.

            Tome 015S is a strange book, perhaps because it seems so normal when not in the Museum. What drew the Agency’s attention to Tome 015S was its habit of showing up at suicides and seeming to have recorded intimate details about said deaths as well as the lives of the deceased up to that point and the secrets they had. This on its own was unusual enough that the Agency opted to take possession of it for further study. After acquiring it, Tome 015S would sometimes vanish only to later be discovered at the scene of a suicide. Interestingly, not every suicide drew Tome 015S out of the Museum. No connection or pattern has been discovered regarding why only these specific suicides are the ones it goes to. Prior to the discovery of Artifact 0037LH, Tome 015S was the only known artifact that frequented suicide locations.

            The discovery of Tome 015S and the properties it displayed prior to the screaming are noted in Testimony 1991-06-11. In this testimony and Testimony 1994-11-21, Tome 015S is referred to as Artifact 0015SB as that was the designation given at the time. After it was decided to create the Library, Artifact 0015SB was given its new designation as Tome 015S and is referred to as that in Testimony 1998-10-03 and any other time it is referenced beyond this date.

Testimony 1991-06-11

Arch. Burgess: Statement of Nicholas Grant regarding Artifact 0015SB recorded direct from subject by Archivist Raylee Burgess.

Grant: I found the book when I arrived at my—er—friend’s house. Isaac Barrett. It was just sitting there on the coffee table, like it was the most normal thing in the world. Like it belonged there. I didn’t think much of it. I mean, Isaac liked to collect books and would go to thrift stores to get them. He never went to libraries, though. I ignored it and went to the bedroom, looking for him. He hadn’t called me or answered when I called. If I hadn’t had a key, I wouldn’t have been able to get in.

I…He was back there in the bed, dead. I spent a bit of time in shock, then I called the police. I sat down in the living room to wait. I…I couldn’t just leave him. I looked at the book again and decided, “What the hell.” So I picked it up and started flipping through it. It certainly seemed weirder than what he’d normally read. It seemed like obituaries and some more information about the deceased. It was strange, but sometimes he’d pick up weird things.

That’s when I noticed the last entry. It had his name. His date of birth. Today’s date. A little bit about his early life, family, etc. You know, the boring stuff. Then it listed something I didn’t expect. His cause of death. It listed it in detail. Suicide, specifically by overdose of pain pills. It listed the specific type of pill, too.

Arch. Burgess: Was that all that was in the book regarding Mr. Barrett?

Grant: Yes.

Arch. Burgess: Mr. Grant, I would suggest you not lie to me. Our researchers will be reviewing the artifact in question and will know if you are being less than truthful.

Grant: It also included what he experienced as he was dying. The physical sensations. The thoughts he had as he died. Why he chose to end his life.

Arch. Burgess: And why was that?

Grant: Frederick fucking Carter. Because despite everything that he had done, despite regularly attending the parole hearing and speaking against it, despite what that bastard did to him, the prison system decided to release the bastard and somehow the fucker got Isaac’s number and address. Isaac couldn’t handle the idea of him knowing where he lived. Apparently, the bastard called Isaac earlier that morning and said he couldn’t wait to see him again since he’d be moving back to town.

            The cops showed up, along with some suit I’m guessing actually works for your agency. The suit—

Arch. Burgess: That would be Collector Sloan.

Grant: Collector Sloan took the book from me and passed it to some weedy-looking guy who looked like he should be in somebody’s basement and told me I needed to come with him to give a statement. I don’t see why. You have the book. Your agents are likely cutting open Isaac right now and running all sorts of tests on him. What do you need me for?

Arch. Burgess: To answer questions regarding the book.

Grant: Can’t you or your scientists answer them?

Arch. Burgess: We need to know how the book came to be in Mr. Barrett’s possession. Had he mentioned anything to you about finding it in a thrift store or anywhere?

Grant: No. He never mentioned it to me. It was just there on his table, waiting for me.

Arch. Burgess: Why do you phrase it like that?

Grant: That’s what it felt like. It felt like the book wanted me to find it. Like it wanted me to know that he didn’t suffer as he was dying, that he thought of me and wanted me to be happy, wanted me to know why he did it. It wanted to comfort me.

Arch. Burgess: You sound very sure of that.

Grant: That’s just how it felt. But no, he never mentioned finding the book or anything. It’s like it just showed up.

Arch. Burgess: Statement ends. Grant returned to his apartment to grieve the death of his—ahem—friend. Omicron researchers have begun studying Artifact 0015SB, though for all intents and purposes there doesn’t appear to be anything unusual about it aside from the fact that it has been present at no less than eight suicides to date.

Arch. Burgess: Addendum—As of June thirteenth of this year, Nicholas Grant has been arrested for the murder of Frederick Carter. Grant was found sitting inside Carter’s apartment after he called the police to report and confess to the murder. The murder weapon, a knife, was on the coffee table and Grant was sitting on the couch. He directed the police to Carter’s bedroom where they found Carter’s body, tied to the bed, and sans genitals. Grant’s file is ear-marked as a potential Zeta candidate, but we will need to wait to see.

Testimony 1994-11-21

Arch. Burgess: Statement of Omicron researcher Rhett Durham regarding Artifact 0015SB recorded direct from subject by Archivist Raylee Burgess.

Res. Durham: Holy…I can’t believe that happened. I mean, given everything else that happens around here and considering some of the stranger things that we’ve got in there and the things we’ve seen, you’d think that this wouldn’t have bothered me, but damn. I didn’t expect it. We’ve been studying that thing for three years and, aside from it occasionally leaving, it’s been dull as dirt. It just kind of sits there on the shelf unless it vanishes or one of us takes it down to study it or it’s moved for dusting.

            I had it down to make sure it hadn’t been damaged from the last time it vanished. Damn thing turned up in a car that was pulled out of the lake. I was checking for water damage and had just opened it when it started screaming. God…it was unearthly. I know that’s what they always say about things like this, but this was like nothing I’ve heard before. It was as though hundreds of voices were all screaming at once. It was definitely more than one voice because it sounded like a woman wailing and a man being tortured. Then there was the sobbing. It just sounded so inconsolable, like all the happiness had been sucked out of the world and they were just realizing it. The sobbing, wailing, and screaming intermingled and magnified and just…it was so much. I shut it, but the screaming kept going. The others came to look, but it still didn’t stop.

            We put it back on the shelf. I apologized to it. Nothing. It wouldn’t stop screaming. It was still screaming when I clocked out for lunch and was still screaming when I came back. It was still screaming when Curator Harris said for me to come here and give a statement. It’s probably still screaming. I don’t know why it’s doing this or how to make it stop. It sounds like it’s sad, pained, and scared. I don’t know how to help it or why it started screaming, but I want it to stop.

Arch. Burgess: Statement ends. Well, it would appear that there is indeed something more unusual about Artifact 0015SB than its habit of vanishing from the Museum, only to turn up at the site of a suicide. Aside from this being a bit inconvenient for collectors, Artifact 0015SB’s tendency to wander doesn’t cause any problems as it always returns and provides vital insight into the deaths of the victims. Indeed, it has even solved a few cold cases that our support team Beta detectives were investigating. This new development is unusual and doesn’t seem to fit with anything else Artifact 0015SB has done before.

Arch. Burgess: Addendum—As of January first, 1995, construction has begun on a library to house Artifact 0015SB and all other books acquired by the Agency. Given how many books the collectors return with annually, this is likely going to be beneficial. Hopefully, the construction of a library will appease Artifact 0015SB enough that it will stop screaming. 

Testimony 1998-10-03

Arch. Burgess: Statement of Omicron researcher Chaya Maxwell regarding Tome 015S formerly known as Artifact 0015SB recorded direct from subject by Archivist Raylee Burgess.

Res. Maxwell: It stopped screaming. I don’t know why, but when I went into the Museum to start researching today, it was quiet. At first, I didn’t think anything of it, but then I realized what was missing. It wasn’t screaming. I went to check Artifact—er, Tome 015S—because it was quiet. I thought that maybe it had vanished again, though it hasn’t done that for a while now. It was still there, it was just…quiet. It looked like a normal book. Well, as normal as it gets anyway. It was just sitting there on the shelf like always, like it hadn’t been screaming for four years straight. I examined it, the other researchers checked it out. Everything seemed fine.

            That evening, when I came back from dinner, it was screaming again. One of the curators, I didn’t get his name, was there, introducing the book to one of the future librarians. “This is one of the more docile books you’ll be dealing with,” he told him. “Sometimes it vanishes, but it’s usually here and it screams. It’s been screaming for four years, but stopped for a bit today. We still don’t know why.” The poor new guy looked a bit unnerved. I mean, I don’t blame him. I was overwhelmed at first when I started working here, but all in all, it isn’t so bad. Then again, I’m a researcher. But anyway, I went about my standard duties: examining Tome 015S, looking for damage from any of its misadventures, looking for any defects, studying the pages for any detail that might have been overlooked, and reading the pages to see if any are connected. Then, I was told to come here and tell you about when it stopped screaming.

Arch. Burgess: Statement ends. The screaming ceased at approximately five-oh-three in the morning then resumed at six-thirty-two in the evening. Omicron researchers are still not sure why the screaming stopped or why it started again, but they are looking into it. Interestingly, another artifact vanished from the Museum during this brief respite. Artifact 0037LH is another artifact that appears to wander, though this is first time it has done so since it was acquired. At any rate, Tome 015S has once again begun screaming, but will hopefully stop once the Library has been completed.

Arch. Burgess: Addendum—As of December ninth, 1998, the Library has been completed and Tome 015S ceased screaming as soon as it was removed from the Museum. It would appear as though we have appeased it for the time being. Hopefully, it will not start screaming again and we can uncover the reason it began screaming in the first place.

That's all for "Tome 015S." The next entry from The Agency will feature the entity responsible for the Tunguska Event as well as a character of Myrrh's creation that has grown on me (that they gave me permission to use).

Favorite Characters from The Agency

 I thought now would be a good time to take a break and talk about some of my favorite characters from The Agency. I have a lot of favorites so it was hard to pick just a few, but I finally settled on a handful of them. I'll give their names, the entry they premiered in, and a little about them and why I enjoy writing them. 

• Ewan Marsh - "Location 014Q" - The youngest son of a cult leader who created a religion around a quarry that grants wishes in the worst way possible. Ewan is fiercely protective of those he cares about, especially his older brother Vincent who was harmed by the quarry's powers. He joined the Agency to protect Vincent. He's a little spitfire and ready to fight anyone who bad-mouths his brother, even though he's going to come out on the losing side of that fight. 
• Dominic Gallagher - "Inmate 099" - A young member of the Gallagher crime family. He's street-smart and has an attitude with anyone in authority, especially Catherine Meyer, a cop who was recruited by the Agency at the same time as him. He's fun to write because it's always so hard to tell whether he's lying or not, and whether he can be trusted. He's cagy with his answers and standoffish. He doesn't play well with others, but has to work in a team in situations where not trusting your teammates could be fatal or possibly apocalyptic, depending on the mission you're sent on.
• Luca Shaw - "Location 059MV" - I can't actually go into much detail with him, but during his story I got to show a lot of growth with his character because it spanned many years. He went from a terrified and timid preteen to a cocky teen to a self-confident and quick-witted adult. There's just so much with him that I can't go into without revealing things from his entry, but I can say that it was a joy to write him and I'm sad that it's unlikely he'll make another appearance.
• Imogen Hart - "Specimen 024SB" - A researcher working for the Agency in their greenhouse, and the only one that you've all met so far. Even though she's just a minor character, she's so bubbly and likeable that it's easy to forget that she'd sell your soul for a corn chip--or at least have you strapped down and implanted with burrowing, bone-mimicking mushrooms. She's just so interested in science and experimenting, and eager to ask how and why the specimens do this or that, that she doesn't even recognize the danger in things. 

So, these are my four favorites. I do have another favorite that was created by my fiancé Myrrh but I'm not going to share anything about them yet. Which characters from the entries have been your favorites and why? Which entries have you enjoyed the most? What would you like to know more about? Comment below.

Take a Break

One thing that gets overlooked a lot by authors (and people in general) is the idea of taking a break. Many people, myself included, are constantly doing something. I forget that sometimes it's okay to just sit and be. Just exist in space without needing to be constantly doing something or writing something. This isn't my strong suit and even when I am not actively writing, I'm world-building or plotting or fretting about not doing anything. I fret a lot when I'm not doing something. I feel like if I'm not writing, world-building, or planning, then I'm not doing anything but taking up space and wasting my life.

I am doing my best to overcome that belief. 

Everyone needs a break sometimes and even though I love writing and feel wrong when I don't, sometimes, it's nice to just not do anything. Sometimes, it's nice to just write for me with no intention of sharing it. And sometimes, it's nice to take a break from writing and create characters. 

I've mentioned before that I love tabletop role-playing games. Monster of the Week, World of Darkness, and Dungeons & Dragons are my favorites. I'm currently running a campaign for Monster of the Week and, during a break from the game, decided to create a Dungeons & Dragons character. I usually act as the Dungeon Master so this character would just be one that could be tossed in as an NPC (non-player character) if I need one in a pinch. 

Well, I don't know when to quit and, even though the concept for the character was to have him be a reference to a character from the novel Mo Dao Zu Shi which I've mentioned on here before, soon enough he was a fully-fleshed out character ready to be played. I even had some of his family figured out. That led to me writing out his whole history as well as the history for the tyrant mentioned in his background. It was a long, long process and rather fun.

Will I ever use this character or the campaign that sprang up around him? Maybe. That isn't the point. The point was, I took a break from working on any writing project and let my brain wander and focus on what it wanted. 

I didn't just sit and do nothing, but it was a restful break from focusing on writing projects. 

So, the point of today's post is to remember to take breaks. Yes, there are authors and professors who advise that you write something every day even if you delete it, but that isn't sound advice for everyone. Some people get burned out writing all the time. 

Remember to take breaks. Read a book. Watch a movie, especially one that you've seen a hundred times and wouldn't mind watching a hundred more. Find a new show to start watching. Listen to music. Go for a walk. Just let your mind wander and rest. 

When your mind wanders, you might find that you get another idea in your head, just a scene for something different from what you're working on. That's fine. Even though this goes against what I said before about not writing, write it down and chase the idea like a dog chasing a ball. If this is on your mind, write it to get it out. Follow the idea to see where it leads. Then, when you're done with your break, you'll be more energized to return to your project.

It is okay to just exist. You don't have to keep writing constantly, especially if you're starting to feel sick of it. At that point, take a break. If a break for you means writing to a different idea or creating characters for a role-playing game like Dungeons & Dragons, then do that and give your brain a rest.