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“You’re about to enter a world of uncertainty and superstition. What you see every day might be more than meet the eye, something mysterious, something dark. City, town, municipality, or settlement, they all have their stories, a myth, or a legend, which makes them remarkable, drawing the attention of the curious.” Started the host of the TV program, the man in question was in his seventies and in relatively good physical health, still maintaining some of his original hair color and body posture.
Everyone, families, friends and even individuals on their own (Both human and machine), tuned in their TVs across the country were watching the series’ Hallow’s Eve special that Friday night.
“My name is Bob Shoal, and this is Myths and Legends of the United States.” He finished as the screen then transitioned to the show’s intro.
The intro in question was ominous, having a theme song that evoked the feelings of dread, yet enticing the viewer to watch in intrigue; photos of places, people and what were considered paranormal entities faded in and out as the intro went through, finally culminating with the show title at the end.
Once the intro ended, the screen transitioned, then showing the TV host walking on an empty street that evening, located somewhere in the uptown of Beacon City, before starting with his speech.
*
Beacon City, one of the four major technological hubs of the United States of America, often considered a symbol of progress, innovation and even hope by immigrants, and early settlers in during the colonization of the US.
Day and night, the city always shines brightly thanks to people and robots fulfilling their duties at any day, at any hour, from doing work such as handling company logistics to the humble management of a corner store, daily chores like being a houseparent or nanny taking care of the home front and family members, or well, ha-ha, a visitor that is either passing through the city, having some business here, or even a tourist wanting to sightsee.
Sounding good so far? Not quite, Beacon might be considered one of the brightest cities in the country, but for every light, there is a shadow. In its nearly four hundred years of history, this city has been a witness and host of multiple unexplained events, some might even call them paranormal in nature,
Join me in today’s special, and I’ll show you the myths and legends of this city.
*
The Lost Colony of Hawthorn
The TV host began walking towards the camera, walking on a paved park road.
Some of our audience might be familiar with the Lost Colony of Roanoke, which disappeared under mysterious circumstances, or a lesser example such as Fort Caroline, which was destroyed in a Spanish invasion, but there’s another more obscure example.
Now, I’m standing over Hawthorn Park, located within the borough of Kingston in Beacon City, considered the wealthiest and safest neighborhoods in the city. A perfect place for a family, wouldn’t you say? Well, it wasn’t always that case, as before the suburbs were constructed, they were a wild area, but even before that, this was the place of one of the many colonies that settled during the 17th century and would later form the boroughs that would come together to form the City of Beacon, later known as Beacon City, the Hawthorn Colony.
From what can be gathered from few surviving documents, The Hawthorn Colony was founded approximately in the late 1630s by an expedition lead by Sir Bertram Hawthorn, a British expeditioner who want to the New World to see what riches awaited. The number of its inhabitants is unknown, but from what could be pieced together from the records of the neighboring colonies, the Hawthorn Colony had a population of around fifty people. Hawthorn was a popular middle point between the Kingston and Hamilton colonies, caravans often stayed there overnight before they continued their trip to their destination, it was considered a prosperous trading outpost.
The colony was prosperous and stable for a couple years until 1641, when one of the coldest winters recorded in history happened, the Great Freeze of 1641, known for causing most of the Northeastern US’s coasts to become frozen from the extremely low temperatures. Once one of the worst blizzards within it passed, the usual activities between the colonies resumed, but once travelers passed through where Hawthorn stood, they found the place completely abandoned, with the buildings having no soul inhabiting.
People from the neighboring colonies came to visit the now abandoned Hawthorn Colony, they couldn’t find any evidence of how and why the settlers left, only discovering that the buildings were left with their door open and the fireplaces burnt out from the lack of firewood. The investigations yielded no results, the inhabitants left most of their belongings at their homes or workplaces, meaning they all left the colony in a hurry, and no bodies were found on site or nearby outside the some livestock that either died of starvation or cold, the only settlers accounted for were staying on neighboring settlements at the time of the blizzard, and even they couldn’t explain why their families and neighbors would suddenly leave the place in the middle of a storm, but refused to come back as when they went there, they couldn’t help but to feel uncomfortable, as what some surviving journals tell, the place gave a dense air and the grim reminder of the event gave them bad thoughts and nightmares.
People just refused to move in, and those few daring souls that did couldn’t live there for long, due to similar reasons as the remaining colonists. After many superstitions and rumors, the surrounding settlements agreed to dismantle and burn what remains of the colony, erasing it from public record, explaining why there’s very few documents that survive to this day and age that mention it.
The screen then transitioned to a brass memorial plaque, where the host stood at its side.
Here I am standing next to a plaque dedicated to this lost colony, it was erected in the 1960s as part of the Hawthorn Renovation Project, which included the parks of this are of the city. They didn’t have plans to have this added at first, as by that time, the colony just faded to myth or family stories passed from generation to generation, so it was mostly shrugged off as fiction, which was until people were going through public records and stumbled upon documents gave solid proof the colony existed.
The camera then zoomed to the plaque, which read:
This plaque is dedicated to The Lost Colony of Hawthorn, one of the founding colonies of the state of Newburgh, whose most of its inhabitants disappeared without a notice or trace during the winter of 1641.
Gone, missing, but not forgotten.
Then the camera zoomed out, showing the host still learning on the plaque’s pedestal.
The mystery is, what happened to the settlers?
There hasn’t been any conclusive of their final fate, but experts say that it might’ve been related to a supply shortage, such as food, that caused all of the present to suddenly decide to leave in group, but that doesn’t explain the lack of bodies, which they further explain that the inhabitants would’ve dispersed to other colonies beyond Kingston and Hamilton, thinking they would probably also had similar problems, or they could’ve suffered a more grim fate, as some of those experts further elaborated that if some tried to leave other colonies, some of them would’ve gone south, and try pass over Beacon Bay, which would’ve been frozen due that harsh winter, to reach the one of the Olburgh colonies, which if they were successful, they would’ve been absorbed into them, or if they weren’t, they would’ve been headed to a frozen demise in the waters of the bay, explaining the lack of bodies.
Another factor to consider is the poor record keeping at the time, as some of the surviving documents, such as personal journals, mention a lot of superstitious beliefs that further corroborate on the poor preservation of the colony’s information, meaning that we’ll never know what really happened right there and then.
Then, there’s popular theories by the people, some of them having some common sense, others that delve into the paranormal.
Starting with the most plausible, the colony was raided by a Native American tribe, which has several points against its favor from what remaining records tell, because the settlement was found intact with no signs of a battle, most tribes wouldn’t risk doing a raid on those conditions, and it wouldn’t make sense for them to raid a settlement deep in colonizer territory with the risk of retaliation from the settlers.
Second most popular theory is the population suffered from intoxication-induced mania by consuming crops contaminated with ergot fungi, similarly like how it happened in France over a century earlier, but this theory also has some points against it, as the other colonies would’ve been affected as some shared the same grain source from either growing it themselves or obtained from trade, and survivors didn’t show any signs of ergot poisoning, and if that were the case, bodies would’ve been found as the condition was usually fatal at the time.
And finally, the most outlandish theories, some blaming the disappearance of the colonists on witchcraft or…
The host paused then chuckled before continuing.
Perhaps maybe even alien abduction?
The host turned his other way around, where a different camera began then filming him from a distinct perspective and continued.
We may never know…
Do you think you have what it takes to solve this?
The screen faded into black then faded out to a commercial bumper.
*
Meanwhile, at some apartment in the uptown suburbs of Beacon City…
“Was that it?” Said a man with a stubble beard in disappointment, as he was drinking a cold beer on the couch he was sat on while watching the show. “All that hype for weeks and a week of ten-hour shifts only to be welcomed by this?”
“Don’t worry dad, it’s just the first segment. Usually, the show gets better afterwards.” Replied a pre-teen girl, who sat on the opposite side of the couch and was also watching the show.
“Oh, please don’t be like that Mr... I mean, Mark.” Said a third voice, who sounded near human yet somewhat robotic, that stumbled at the end before correcting herself. “This show is very popular, do give it a chance especially if you want to spend some time with Nora.”
The person behind the voice, who turned out to be a Nandroid with red hair, but instead of wearing her uniform she was wearing casual human clothes, then approached her family in the living room and sat on the couch with her family to watch TV.
The commercials ended, then followed by a bumper announcing that the program would resume, as the bumper faded and the screen transitioned into said program.
*
The Gray Businessman
The camera was pointing to the host, Bob Shoal, sitting on a bench in front of a large building with his hands crossed, still in the evening.
I’m standing at the front of the headquarters of General Robotics, one of the oldest, if not the oldest robotics manufacturer in the world that is still active to this day. Founded in the early 20th century by engineer Thomas Holt, General Robotics was originally based in Dupont, Olburgh, starting as company that manufactured basic automatons for military use and manual labor, quickly becoming a staple of American industry.
The screen then transitioned to a series of old photos and movie reels of Thomas Holt and General Robotics, with some voiceover from the show’s host.
Now, Thomas Holt was known for many of his contributions to the field of robotics, such as setting industry standards, some that are still in use to this day, such as allowing the easy diagnosis and repair of robots, and his most known achievement, leading GR to be the first manufacturer in the world to achieve a sustainable and reliable way to produce self-aware androids en masse for industrial and commercial use by the 1930s. By the end of that decade, Holt’s health declined drastically, and stepped down from his company, appointing his son, Thomas “Tommy” Holt Jr., as his successor, who would be later be recognized for further improving the company’s manufacturing allowing to build more with less without drastically compromising quality during World War II, and expanding to the domestic market with the development and production of the Jane and Joe lines of multi-purpose robots.
Thomas Holt lived the rest of his days in his penthouse in Beacon City, occasionally visiting the GR Headquarters to check in the business he created, before passing away in the late 1940s at the day of the inauguration of Newburgh’s GR regional offices in Beacon City, which many people believe it was built in defiance against the fast-growing newcomer at the time, Sterling Robotics, who had finished constructing its impressive skyscraper headquarters months before on that same year.
He was expected to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony, but he never arrived, not even at the party that was hosted at the company’s building later that day, it later turned out that Thomas Holt died that morning on his way out, his body was found lying down at the entrance of his penthouse dressed in a gray tuxedo and a fedora that had the lettering of General Robotics printed on it. Autopsy revealed the cause of death being a stroke, believed to have been caused due to him being an occasional smoker through most of his life.
While the company suffered from a period of recession thanks to the low morale after the death of its founder, General Robotics managed to recover for a time, but then lost its footing again due to foreign companies, such as Sterling, Volkman and Tokuyama, offering high quality robots and other products outside robotics for a relative decent prices, then there was the series of scandals in the late 50s and 60s with Holt Jr., that in order to combat the harsh competition, he made the company cut corners, such as decreasing quality standards to increase production, causing the majority of the robots produced during that period to suffer from severe defects and did some shady deals behind the scenes by quietly laying off workers and replacing them with robots and other automated processes to do them instead, going against laws that protected laborers, making General Robotics lose millions to the point General Robotics wasn’t considered part of the “big three” manufacturers anymore, and to add insult to injury, the Anti-Robot Riots in Olburgh made them closed down their original headquarters and all their manufacturing plants in the state, making the Beacon City offices their new headquarters and moving most of their manufacturing overseas, soon after the restructure, Holt Jr. stepped down from his role as the company president in disgrace after pressure from the board of directors.
The screen then transitioned back to Bob Shoal, still on the front of the GR HQ.
With that brief history lesson over, let’s get to something more grim, unusual, maybe even beyond the grave.
Workers and people present around the premises have reported a series of strange events all over the property for decades, such as objects moving on their own without someone nearby, disembodied whispers and echoes with no specific point of origin, spots of unusually low temperature despite the building’s ventilation working fine, the walking sounds of someone walking with hard sole shoes on empty hallways, the appearance of shadowy or vague figures on camera, and even the employed robots within the building acting erratically, like performing tasks outside the ones they were assigned to or speaking with a voice different to the one they’ve been programmed with, with no recollection of said events after, and when they were sent to be checked up, Bot Docs couldn’t find any malfunction outside a period of lost time in the systems logs, as if they were shut down at that time yet witnessing employees and security recordings say otherwise.
The screen changed yet again, from the camera recording to a series of photos and security camera footage, showing some examples of these paranormal events the show’s host described.
A common consensus among General Robotics staff, is that these haunts might be caused by the ghost of the late Thomas Holt, who many believe he passed away with some unfinished business, anchoring his restless spirit to the mortal plane, specifically, the headquarters of the company.
The earliest, unofficial record of these occurrences were months after his passing, a submanager, Amanda Felix, who originally worked at the original headquarters in Dupont, was on her own on a meeting room until she heard a faint whisper of “Good job, Amanda.”, being said by a faded, yet recognizable voice, something that she gossiped around as some grim joke but people didn’t think much of it, though some of the old staff that knew Holt and had transferred there have sworn also hearing his voice on rare occasions.
Then there’s the most famous paranormal sighting in the company grounds.
The screen changed to an old recording with the date showing it was from the late 1950s. It was taken around 7:27 PM, what seemed an old man in a gray business suit sluggishly made his way onto one of the benches that was beneath a tree in the small green area on the front of the GR HQ, the way how he moved was unsettling, walking yet it seemed he didn’t make contact with the concrete floor as he stepped, as if he was hovering, he had his fedora tipped to the front in a way that obscured most of his face, as if he tried to purposely hide it. Some of the people that appeared in the recording and looked where he was either acting as if they didn’t see someone there or ignored him, thinking nothing was wrong with him.
After nearly three minutes of him sitting on the bench, the man got up and headed to the direction of the building, but when it seemed he was going to go inside, the entrance cameras caught nothing, looking like that man had suddenly disappeared, as if he suddenly dispersed into the air.
This figure caught on camera is believed to be the apparition of the late founder and president, as from what can be seen, his physical characteristics are a close match to Holt’s before his death, wearing the same gray apparel he was found with, earning his nickname, The Gray Businessman.
There have been many alleged sightings of the Gray Businessman on the company grounds over the years, coincidentally or not, it’s been noted they are more recurring during difficult times for General Robotics like if he manifested to look out for what he created long after death, all the mentioned paranormal events being attributed to him, the recurring places of manifestation being on the bench of his first recorded apparition, the meeting room and the CEO office, curiously, most of these being during work hours and when the places are empty.
Though there have been some reports of him manifesting on other places, such as his old penthouse, owners of that place have experienced similar unusual activity, and sometimes spot see-through gray figure at the entrance, fading soon after at the entrance of the place, then there’s been reports of a rather pale senior citizen sporting said gray apparel within the local metro installations and vehicles, these sightings being exclusive to the stations that are near Holt’s former home and the General Robotics Headquarters, and the line between them.
The screen went back to the show’s host.
Pretty chilling, don’t you think?
If these stories are true, what’s Thomas Holt’s unfinished business that tethers him to the physical world? Is he still taking care of the legacy he began beyond physical death? We might never know…
The camera then zoomed out as it faded to black, then showing another commercial bumper.
*
Somewhere at a home on the “modest” living area of Hawthorn Grove…
Two young adults in their twenties sat in armchairs, watching TV.
“Was that it?” Growled the eldest brother. “It was a decent historical segment… Before they stuffed in the paranormal shit!”
“Don’t overthink about it, Ray, it’s just a show meant to entertain people.” The younger brother replied before he started to cackle after seeing a familiar ad promoting a rather popular model of robot. “Besides, if you didn’t watch this with me, you would miss seeing your future mechanical girlfriend on TV.”
The elder brother replied by throwing a cushion at his brother, aiming directly to his face.
“Don’t ever bring that again, Jules, which isn’t funny.” He yelled as he stood up, pointing his finger threateningly.
“Quiet down, boys!” A woman in her late fifties raised her voice to get bickering son’s attention and make them stop as she approached the living room. “Ya father is out in a tonight and the first thing you two do is fight like children. Shame on you both, shame!”
The two brothers regain their composure as the eldest sat back on the armchair, while the youngest throws the cushion that was intended to throw back to the former back into the sofa.
“That’s better.” She asserted. “What happened between ya two?”
“Well, I was ranting about that ghost crap from that TV show Jules got me to watch tonight.” The eldest brother said. “Then after, he teased me with that nanny robot commercial.”
The mother glared at her elder son before she turned her gaze at her younger son after the former finished.
“Hey, you know how serious Ray gets, mom, I just tried to make the mood better.” The younger brother responded rather frantically.
“Julian, you know you can’t make fun of Raymond like that considering what he’s been through, especially after that bad break from that crazy woman that was his girlfriend.” The mom explained as she held her nose bridge with her thumb and index finger on her right hand.
The eldest brother tried to evade eye contact with his mother.
“And you, young man.” She continued. “You need to be more open-minded, my boy, it’s true some things that canna be explained by mere logic.”
“Like how you’ve kept telling us how our grand uncle’s hair turned gray at a young age because he saw a banshee on the Irish Highlands when we were little?” He replied in a deadpan tone.
“Precisely, if ya aren’t willing to accept the world is more than meets the eye, at least open your mind enough to be accepting of others.” She acknowledged with worry for her eldest son.
The eldest brother clenched his teeth.
“I know you had a hard lot during the war and have seeking, but maybe changing your status quo might help further.” The mother assured. “Have you spoken with other veterans your age? There’s this Marcus boy I’ve met at the supermarket, who’ve also participated…”
“Which Marcus, Webb, or King? Because I don’t know them well outside meetings, we didn’t even serve on the same platoon or even armed forces, they were marines, I was in the army. Besides, we don’t really share the same thought bubble, they work with robots, I work on education.” He interrupted with some awkwardness. “Maybe I should look for Harrison and Chu this weekend...”
“That-at-it, my boy, talking with them more would surely help.” She avowed, hoping her eldest son would keep her advice.
“Hey, outside me joking about those nanny robots, I’ve been considering that mom and dad might eventually need some help...” The younger brother interrupted in a seemingly apologetic tone.
“Hah, even with our combined salaries, fat chance we would afford one anytime soon.” The elder brother exclaimed. “Even if we both gave an arm and a leg, that wouldn’t be enough still.”
The mother had a sense of satisfaction seeing both her sons calmed down, having a more casual chit-chat.
“Mind if I join ya, boys? I’m done with the dishes, and I have the rest of the night.” She asked as she sat on the couch.
Her sons just nodded to her that they didn’t mind for her to sit and watch.
Yet again, once the commercials ended then followed by a bumper announcing that the program would resume.
*
The Bay Tunnel
The camera was recording on what seemed like a tunnel, Bob Shoal had a safety jumpsuit and work helmet with a high lumen lamp. The place was barely lit, with a few lamps were hung around the area and there were some city workers in similar gear looking around.
Now, this place is very dangerous, we’re several feet underground, it’s extremely humid, there are exposed wires, deep holes on the ground, some of which are hidden within puddles, so the city only gave us permission to remain here for a couple of minutes under their supervision considering the place’s condition, so we’ll apologize to our viewers for keeping this segment short.
The host paused for a moment.
We’re at the mouth of the Bay Tunnel, an unfinished project that the governments of Newburgh and Olburgh collaborated. This tunnel was to connect the metro systems of Beacon City and Dupont by underground, going underneath Beacon Bay. The Bay Tunnel Project has existed for decades, dating back to the thirties, and it’s been put on and off over the years due to economic, legal, political and even safety factors.
The original idea for this tunnel was to make it easy for people to travel between the cities, as logisticians predicted that there would be some issues in the future due to the limited, slow methods of transportation, such as the ferry services, and only nearby bridge was between the neighboring cities Knightsbridge and Filmore. Due to the difficult conditions and the technology at the time, the excavation and construction were very slow, not helping that certain accidents, that often lead to death of workers, paused the project for days, even weeks. This original iteration of the project came into full stop by late 1941, as the US government issued the mandatory rationing of resources due to them declaring war on the Axis Powers, leading to the US officially enter WWII, meaning they couldn’t invest more on the project.
The screen then transitioned from the camera to a series of photo reels and old recordings, showing the construction of the Bay Tunnel through the years
The project laid dormant until 1946, when it piqued the interest of several robot manufacturers, as most of their employees had to travel between the cities just to get from home to work and vice versa. General Robotics, Murdoc-Ray, Stratton and newcomer, Sterling Robotics, offered the government some assistance by loaning robots to their work force, and granting funds to the project. Thanks to that, plus newer and new construction methods and technologies, there were little to no accidents, work only stopped on mandatory holidays, and the few hiatuses that happened every couple of months were mostly caused by bureaucratic between the two governments, the project went smoothly for nearly two decades until it came nearly to a halt by the late 60s due the anti-robotics uproar all over the country, the Olburgh side of the project suffering the most of it.
Despite most of the workers on both sides having a healthy work relationship with their robotic co-workers at first, that didn’t stop some shady parties from work unions and anti-robot groups to convince to turn them against them, resulting in protests where human workers voiced their opinion of refusing to work with robots and even spreading false rumors that they were going to completely replace the human workforce with robots, despite the government assuring that wasn’t the case and John Sterling, having a major stake in the project due being a major funder through his company, encouraged balanced workplace between both parties. Then there were some sabotages during the work hours, such as the tampering or disappearing of equipment and even the robots themselves, even some workers who purposely caused accidents by making cave-ins or doing the job so poorly that they didn’t even fulfil the daily quota as an extreme way to voice their discontent.
By the seventies, things have changed for the worst, most of their workers were human, with very few robots remaining due to new work laws and union agreements that limited the number of robots in workplaces, while the Olburgh side had completely barred them from their workplace. The safety standards where through the floor, accidents were a common occurrence yet again, often resulting in fatalities that caused further delays, and the project’s pace was at a slug’s pace compared to the previous status quo. All companies that supported the project pulled out, either because they had troubles on their own and couldn’t keep funding the project, such as Murdoc and Stratton that went bankrupt some years later, or found the project redundant, as General and Sterling found it to be a waste of money, taking in consideration they had ceased all activities on Olburgh and such method of transportation was no longer necessary.
The project came to a complete halt by the end of the decade, as the government decided to put the project on hold until further notice due the accumulation of legal issues due the aforementioned accidents and the ever increasing costs, as they didn’t have the extra funding from companies anymore, furthermore, they also took into consideration the vocal opinion of several Beacon City citizens, who were now against the idea of the tunnel, because after Dupont lost all of its industry after anti-robot riots, it became one of the most crime-ridden cities in the country, adding up the city also had a rampant outmode problem, they feared these would spread to Beacon City if the tunnel was ever finished.
The screen returned to the host, as he then began showing up the place in the remaining little time they had there.
This is the most we can get into the tunnel, the authorities have warned us that beyond this point, things could get dangerous as you see, it’s very humid down here to the point there’s a mist that makes our vision poor.
He then pointed at something deep in the tunnel.
Do you see? That’s some of the digging equipment, even the borer is still there. The authorities won’t remove some of the heavy equipment from here, citing it would be too dangerous and expensive to do so.
The cameraman then whispered something to the host.
What’s that? Oh, right!
My team just told me that the work staff announced to them that it’s our time is up and that we need to leave, so the rest of the segment is going to be filmed back on the surface.
The screen then changed to a scenery of Beacon Bay at night, with a few lit buildings in Dupont that could be seen from the distance at the opposite end of the bay, then the camera turned to Bob Shoal.
The Bay Tunnel would’ve been a symbol of unification of two important cities, but due to a series of unfortunate events, that dream isn’t even close to being fulfilled.
Superstitious folk comment that it might be related to the tragedies earlier during its construction, others say the ground was cursed from the start and it should’ve left alone to begin with.
This is one of the few odd places of interest I’ve encountered that doesn’t have any paranormal story or feeling, its misfortune is just a result of human hubris, and in my opinion, it should remain a monument for such.
The host then took a deep breath.
Again, we cannot apologize enough for our earlier inconveniences, we planned to film more underground but local authorities limited our time down there due the safety concerns, and we even had plans to film the Dupont portion of the tunnel, but due that side being in worse condition and difficulties contacting the local government there, we didn’t end up doing it. We hope you’ll enjoy the rest of the program.
The host walked away on the sidewalk as the screen faded to black, then the commercial bumper appeared once more.
*
While the commercials were airing, a group of outmoded robots that were staying in an abandoned building at the outskirts of a city in Olburgh were having difficulties getting a clear signal on an old TV.
“Steady there.” Said the oldest robot of the group that was sitting hunched over due to the damage in his endoskeleton’s spine. “Don’t mess it up as I want to see how the program ends, you big klutz.”
“I’m trying, I’m trying.” The large green boxy robot exclaimed, as he used himself as an impromptu antenna for the old TV, as the one it had was missing it’s rods, having one hand over the broken antenna’s base, while he lifted his free arm into the air, moving, retracting, and extending his flat fingers to adjust the signal so the show would be viewable.
“You know, despite all the advancements in science ‘humies’ have achieved, they still believe on that superstitious paranormal crap when there’s no solid proof of that existing!” The old robot ranted as he shook his fist into the air. “My old workplace was supposed to be haunted, yet in all my years of service there, I didn’t even witness anything, even at night when I sometimes powered up and roamed around the place.”
“Maybe it was you who did all that ‘paranormal’ activity, old bot.” Said a third, female voice, which sounded near human yet tinny sometimes as she spoke.
The two robots quickly turned their attention to where the voice came from, seeing a Nandroid leaning against the wall, she sported a dirty and damaged uniform, her dark hair was dyed with a light purple hue and had drippy black skull sticker on her left cheek.
“Jesus, Zoey! How long have you been there?” The old robot yelped in surprise. “I thought you were going to stand guard tonight as you said earlier you didn’t like these kinds of shows.”
“Been here long enough, I was bored, and Gisèle offered herself to take my place. I know she has some glitches here and there, but I believe she can handle herself as we’re pretty much in a ghost town with no major human presence within miles.” She explained, as she then smirked at the old robot. “Besides, for someone who says they didn’t believe in ‘hummie superstition,’ you surely like to mention their god’s name in vain often, and let’s not forget you’ve shown to be an avid alien believer.”
“One, it’s a figure of speech that rubbed into me from hearing humans often mentioning it at work and it’s hard to get rid of. And two, aliens are scientifically explainable instead of just make believe, after all, the universe is infinitely vast that there’s bound to be life on another planet.” The old robot retorted, seemingly offended at the Nandroid’s jeer.
“Whatever you say, old bot.” She replied, then she turned her attention to the large robot near the TV. “So, Mills, still having difficulties setting the signal? Let me help.”
The Nandroid approached him and the TV, she then asked him to move away. After looking at the setup for a moment, she tore the broken antenna’s cable from the coaxial port of the TV, upsetting the old robot for a bit, and pulled out a paper clip from her apron pocket, which she then straightened and bent it back to an L shape, placing it on the coaxial port, restoring the TV’s signal, while not perfect, what it showed and played was enough for someone to watch the show comfortably.
“Of course, the old paper clip antenna trick, why I didn’t think of that earlier?” The old bot mumbled to himself in realization.
The Nandroid then sat on a different chair while the large robot sat on the floor, as no object in the place could withstand his weight, as the show was about to resume.
The commercials ended and the program bumper appeared right before the show continued.
*
The Brunswick Ripper
The screen faded out to Bob Shoal, who was walking on an empty street towards the camera.
America was quite familiar with serial killers throughout its rich history, some examples being the Harpe Brothers, Jolly Jane, Puppeteer Johnson, The Steel Hand Strangler and recent ones such as Bundy and Dahmer, who have committed so despicable against their fellow man, that the only place they deserve to be are the deepest, fieriest pits of hell.
Beacon City is not exempt from being home to some, with the most infamous amongst them being The Brunswick Ripper, a prolific serial killer that did a series of murders all over the city.
The screen then showed an old photo of the aforementioned serial killer, his appearance didn’t quite reflect his actions, as he looked like a physically active young man with an intoxicating smile of trust that hid his true motives.
The Brunswick Ripper, real name Fabio Farina, was an Italian immigrant that came to the United States either in the late 19th or early 20th century, information about his arrival is incomplete at best with only the only thing for sure is that he arrived as a minor to the country on his own and settled in the borough of Brunswick as an apprentice for a leatherworker. Farina was considered an inspiring staple of the community, an upstart for the American Dream, a hard-working young man that gave his best in the New World that was friends with everyone, it seemed like he had some bright future ahead yet deep in his mind, there were a darkness, some unforeseen devils.
The host pauses before making a statement.
We’re about to show some photos that are considered graphic in nature, so viewer’s discretion is advised.
An old photo of a crime scene of one of the Brunswick Ripper’s victims, police officers were around a body that was covered with a cloth sheet.
Fabio Farina wasn’t too forthcoming with his life back in Italy, historians and psychologist theorize he suffered some abuse back there that led to his broken psyche, and his friends, co-workers and acquaintances didn’t even ask him about it considering they always saw him happy, or at least content to some degree. One night in August of 1909, the body of a woman was found on an alley in Brunswick, her cause of death was blood loss due to her belly being slit open, letting her innards come out from the gap.
What baffled the coroners and morticians was how clean the cut was, believing it was caused by someone who had some knowledge in human anatomy, meaning the fatal injury was intentional and was done by someone who had previous practice. So initially they concluded that whoever perpetrated the crime worked in the medical field, or as a butcher, they couldn’t be more wrong.
The murders continued all over Beacon, for the following months, his modus operandi being that he preferred killing his victims through a slit on the abdomen after sneaking behind them and that his victims were always people that were in isolated areas on their own, such as alleyways, abandoned buildings or parks at night, didn’t have a preferable gender, ethnicity or even age group to target.
By January of 1910, the Brunswick Ripper already had seven kills to his name, and the general public were starting to become aware of him, refusing to go out at night. A would-be victim, a textile worker by the name of Ben Bullock, was on his way home from his workplace on Beverly, things seemed the usual for him that evening until someone came from behind, placed one hand on his mouth and threatened him with some sort of knife on his back telling him not to panic, the killer then went quiet for a moment before putting the hand with the knife at the front and tried to slit his abdomen, the victim fell to the floor while the Ripper fled the scene thinking his job was done. Thankfully, the injury wasn’t fatal, as Ben had worn multiple layers of clothing that day due to the freezing weather, he received a half-foot long gash across his abdomen but was treatable, yet he wasn’t able to completely take a glimpse of his attacker.
When he gave his statement to the police, they didn’t think anything about it at first, believing it was just the typical knife-wielding lunatic they got reports of every now and then. That was until another body was found some weeks later, a detective on the Brunswick Ripper case decided to look at the report Ben Bullock did after hearing some officers talk about it, and after reading some of the details of the report, he realized the man was attacked by the Ripper, and immediately got into contact with him, Ben gave them some details, some of them were of no help or they already knew, until he told the detective about the weapon of choice in question, the knife the Ripper wielded had a knife with a circular blade, something uncommon among general use knives, the detective then showed the man a series of drawings of multiple knives, until the latter pointed out to a picture of a knife that resembled the one the Ripper had, a leather knife.
That had narrowed their search parameters even further, the killer was a leatherworker or at least had access to one’s equipment and had knowledge of human anatomy. Even with that information at hand, it still took them months until they made progress on the case, the police even questioned most if not all the leatherworkers across the city, even Farina, the Brunswick Ripper himself, but didn’t find anything suspicious about him, even people who knew him vouched for him, saying that he was an exemplary citizen, helping those in need and always attended Sunday school at closest catholic church, and when they asked his alibi at the times of the murders, he just told them he was at the workshop working late, which the people, being none the wiser, blindly confirmed this, as they usually saw him there at those hours.
It all seemed to lead to a cold trail, and the Ripper was going to continue his reign of terror indefinitely, That was until 1913, when the Beacon City Police Department received an unlikely helping hand, that being the newly founded General Robotics, as the young Thomas Holt approached the police chief to ask him if the BCPD could trial some of his company’s multi-purpose automatons, and wanted to see how they performed in the field of security, which they reluctantly agreed but were skeptic, as they doubted they could be effective as a human. Due to these being crude, early robots that weren’t self-aware, they could only be programmed with limited tasks, so they were given a series of simple directives such as patrol certain areas in a set path, be on the lookout for criminal activity, detain the perpetrators and wait until an officer came to take them away.
The Ripper was familiar with police patrol routes, attributing to why he wasn’t caught for nearly four years, but didn’t expect to encounter an automated member of the force that night, much to his dismay. The robot detained Farina under suspicions of stalking, as he was trailing a woman that night at Perger & Vinke Plaza in uptown Beacon, when he was brought in for questioning to the station, the officers thought the robot was acting too trigger-happy and Farina just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, they were about to release him until one of them noticed he was carrying a leather knife in his pocket, making the officers reconsider the action and keep him detained.
When questioned about it, Farina just said that he carried it for self-defense just in case the Ripper attacked, which the officers just looked at him with suspicion. The knife was then confiscated and tested in the police station’s forensic lab, and it was found it contained traces of blood despite Farina’s attempt to clean it. At last, they finally caught the Brunswick Ripper.
Word quickly spread across the city about the Ripper’s capture and his identity; the people were divided. Some believed that he was innocent, such as the community of Brunswick and its surrounding areas, still believing the kind man facade he wore over the years, while others, especially the families of the victims, believed he should be punished to the full extent of the law.
His trial lasted for months, with the judge and jury having difficulties coming with a definitive verdict taking lots of factors into consideration, not helping the assassination attempts towards Farina sent him to the hospital multiple times, leading to the trial being held for weeks. It all came crashing down one day in October, Farina was on the witness stand and then grinned maliciously, something that startled everyone present there.
Nobody knows what went through his head at that moment, but he confessed to all his crimes right there and then, giving excruciating details on how he enjoyed every moment of his kills from beginning to end. Everyone there was shaken and shocked, it was so bad that some members of the public and jury rushed out of the courtroom while the trial was in session without asking permission, and even the judge couldn’t help but to gag and vomit. When Farina was coaxed to say his motive of his kills, he said: “Humans are sinful animals by nature that needed to be sent to the slaughter, and be denied heaven.”, and that heaven should be reserved for “righteous” people such as himself that had the conviction to cull the sinners, also confessed on the reason why he preferred that method of murder, having worked as a carcass processer for a butcher as a second job at some point, he learned how to make precise incisions, finding this skill appropriate, considering his views on fellow men.
Once regaining their composure, the judge and jury came with the mutual verdict of guilty, with the former sentencing him to execution through electric chair, wanting to push the Brunswick Ripper’s execution to be done as soon as possible, believing that such evil person should not be allowed to live anymore with other city authorities wholeheartedly agreeing, Fabio Farina was set to be executed by electric chair in the following days, his execution was public, being hosted in the front of the Beacon City courthouse for those who were interested.
The day of the execution came, Farina didn’t share an ounce of regret during his final hours, still believing his actions to be righteous and a favor to God. When he was asked for his last meal, he simply asked for a fistful of pan-cooked minced meat seasoned with only a pinch of salt, and a cup of black coffee to drink. When the hour of the execution came, he was strapped to the chair that was over a wooden platform that was set the previous night in the front of the courthouse, after the present Father, who was in fact a priest of the church Farina attended, told him his last rites and asked him if he had any regrets, Farina responded by looking him dead in the eyes, telling him “No, I did what had to be done.”, before turning his hollow gaze to the people attending the execution, they looked at him back with fear, disgust, anger or disappointment, and in return he just smiled, then the district attorney asked him if he had any last words, the Ripper said: “Guarderò dal cielo, vedendo tutti voi bruciare all'inferno.”, followed by the electric chair being turned on, but instead of quick and clean execution, something went wrong, as someone had tampered with the equipment at some time between last night and the execution. Farina screamed in pain, his bound body squirming as he tried but failed to release himself from his restraints, the equipment handlers tried their best to cut off the power, but it was too late, by the time they managed to shut it down, Farina was dead, having died from electrical burns, as the malfunctioning chair caused part of his upper body to be charred beyond recognition. While the audience was horrified from this, some of them were satisfied with Farina’s painful death, calling it an appropriate show of justice.
The Brunswick Ripper was no more, his body being buried in an unmarked common grave, ending a dark page in the city’s history. He was attributed to the deaths of twenty-six people, and the disappearance of nine others. But there is some good that came from this, safety concerns led to the police’s budget to be considerably increased, and due the fact one of those robots they trialed caught the killer, they decided to order more. By 1914 public safety had improved drastically, crime rate was at its historically lowest, making Beacon City one of the safest cities in America, a title it still keeps to this day.
The screen went back to Bob Shoal.
Nowadays, outside being a blood stain in the city’s history, the Brunswick Ripper is a staple of popular culture, from parents using him as a tale to scare their children to come back home before sundown, to the real story being twisted into urban legend for entertainment, as shown in some movie adaptations and documentary shows of these events. The Brunswick Ripper is long gone but never forgotten, with people hearing his name commonly at this time of the year, with even fewer swearing that his specter still haunts Beacon City to this day.
The screen then showed a recording of the host from a different angle.
Now, it seems my time is up, we’re at the point where I need to say goodbye. Glad you could’ve joined in tonight’s special.
Do you know any city, town, municipality, or settlement with some dark and mysterious history? Let us know. There’s still much to talk about this great country with a seemingly unsettling side.
This has been Bob Shoal, signing out.
The host walked to the distance as the credits scrolled up, the screen slowly faded black as the credits advanced until it finally ended, then the channel went into a small commercial break before starting with the next show.
*
A girl and two boys, still dressed in their Halloween costumes, were watching the show end before they changed the channel to a horror movie, the girl was dressed in a pink princess dress with a blonde wig that had a small crown attached at the top, she seemed unsettled and jumpy from watching the show, while the boys, apparently twins, were dressed in matching apparel, being only differentiated by the colors of their cap and a shirt, one sported red while the other green, but both had the same blue overalls and the same fake mustache over their upper lip, they were both unfazed and jaded.
“Man, this special sucked.” The twin in red said.
“Yeah, mom’s soap opera is scarier than this.” The twin in green added.
“That last segment was scary, how does your mother allow them to watch it?” The girl exclaimed before setting her thoughts on something else. “I wonder when Emmy and Franny will be done with the pizza…”
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, two Nandroids, one had a French bob cut with dirty blonde wavy hair while the other sported a short ponytail and long front bang with honey blonde hair, were working hard on making dinner for the children.
The first Nandroid looked with concern at the electric oven, which was making a loud buzzing sound as it baked a deep-dish pizza.
“I’m glad Mrs. Flagg allowed me and Madeline to stay here after trick-or-treating while Mr. and Mrs. Delaire attend a party this evening. It’s a shame she and the others had to leave for Luke’s game, then again, it is important” She said before looking at the oven with slight worry. “Doesn’t it concern you the oven is making this loud and odd noise?”
“Mr. Flagg told me to don’t worry, and if things go wrong, he could always get a repairman or purchase a replacement.” The second Nandroid responded, as she enthusiastically held a pizza cutter on her right hand
Soon after finished her sentence, the oven’s sounds got louder and louder, followed after by some clanking sounds, then house’s power began to brownout as some electricity arcing into the pizza, making it bulge, finally culminating in with the pizza exploding, the expansion wave being strong enough to the force open the oven’s door, releasing a cloud of smoke and splashing pizza’s tomato sauce all over the place, including the Nandroids, and what’s worse, the house now suffered from a power outage.
Franny sighed, as she and the other Nandroid dimly lit the now dark kitchen with their optics.
“I’ll check the breaker box, then look after the children. Emmy, can you do me a favor and clean the kitchen while it was.” She told her sister before leaving kitchen.
Emmy nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile in the living room, the girl yelped when the lights went down, while the twins, barely able to look at each other in the darkness, grinned deviously as they seemingly had the same idea.
“Oooooh…” One of them bellowed, trying to sound scary.
“This might’ve been caused by the Brunswick Ripper!” The other twin exclaimed dramatically, trying to contain his laughter.
“It’s not funny!” Madeline yelped. “I’m sure this is just a simple blackout, that’s all.”
“You really think so?” One of the twins inquired, as he then pointed at the window, the neighboring houses still had power. “Remember that movie about that killer that wore a mask of a character from that old space show, who then shut down the power of his victims’ house before moving in for the kill?
The girl’s blood ran cold at the realization, while the boys weren’t too surprised, as apparently, they were used to their house having electrical issues. She then took a series of breathing exercises to calm down and thought rationally.
“It’s a minor problem; it will be eventually solved. It’s just us five: me, Nathan Ryan, Franny, and Emmy.” Madeline told herself before telling the twins her plan. “Maybe we should regroup with our Nandroids, just in case.”
The twins nodded in agreement as they then left the living room at a snail’s pace for safety, while the twin in green carried flashlight that barely illuminated the place due its batteries running nearly dry.
While in the basement, Franny had difficulties trying to flip the switch to restore power, she tried and tried but with no avail, until she finally managed to flip the master switch, restoring power to the house, but not without a cost, a jolt of electricity struck her, causing her to enter safe mode, which made her friendly blue eyes turn into a menacing red color.
“Fiddlesticks! I’ll have to get this checked with a Bot Doc tomorrow if this doesn’t go away with a system restart later…” She worryingly thought before leaving the basement.
The trio were walking slowly in the long hallway of the house, then the lights suddenly turned on, startling them at first which then turned into a sense of relief. When they were near the kitchen, they couldn’t help but hear someone walk from the opposite side of the hallway, they all stopped to wait, until they saw the figure of Franny, looking all menacingly and horrifying with her red optics, the tomato sauce all over her made her look she was covered in blood, and for some reason, she still held the pizza cutter from earlier.
The twins’ faces turned pale as corpses at the mere sight of her.
“It’s th-th-th-th-” Nathan stammered from fear, unable to finish his sentence.
“It’s the Brunswick Ripper!” Ryan screamed in terror, finishing the sentence his brother was unable to finish.
They both ran out to the hallway, climbing up the stairs to their rooms fast as if their lives depended on it, and locked themselves in their room.
Madeline, however, kept herself composed through the whole ordeal, saw everything with amusement, while Franny couldn’t process what just happened.
“Madeline, care to explain why Nathan and Ryan just acted like that?” She asked, still confused.
“Oh, you know, they watched the Halloween special of that ‘horror’ show they like to watch.” Madeline replied, acting nonchalantly as if she had the situation under control.
“Well, thanks for telling me, Madeline, I’ll make sure they won’t watch that show until further notice and even tell Mrs. Flagg about it, so she won’t allow them to watch it when I’m not at home.” Franny noted, as she then took a serious stance by crossing her arms.
“Wait, why are your eyes red, Franny?” Madeline questioned Franny, with a bit of worry, just realizing her eyes weren’t the usual color.
Franny laughed in embarrassment.
“Just some minor technical difficulties, nothing a Bot Doc can’t fix.” She explained trying to assure Madeline that she was fine.
Emmy then poked her head out from the kitchen, wondering what that noise was about, only to see Franny and Madeline in the hallway, as she then sighed in relief. That was until Franny turned her towards her, surprising Emmy with her red eyes, causing him to scream from the scare.
The End