The Adventures of Will Irving: Automaton Trouble

Chapter 34

Just over two weeks had passed since Will had been reunited with Emily. Will and Claire had taken Emily to the hospital for a check-up, and she had received a clean bill of health. Hank had not been quite as lucky – he had received a moderate concussion and had been told by the doctor to rest for two weeks. Fortunately, Jennifer had done an excellent job of helping her uncle recover, and Hank was now back on his feet.

When not spending time with Emily, Will and Claire worked diligently on repairing Max. They even included Emily at times, teaching her a few basic skills. Will had also been able to get his friend, Sam, to help by providing a variety of parts and materials. The repairs were progressing a bit slower than Will had anticipated, but that was due, in part, to Claire's recommendation that they upgrade Max using Atticus' schematic. Claire had also proposed that they add a radio transceiver that would enable Will to communicate with Max over far distances via a paired watch-like transceiver that Will could wear. Needless to say, they had their work cut out for them, but they were more than up to the task.

As they worked, Will would often pause to watch Claire work her magic. He admired her greatly, and with each passing day, he felt his love for her grow. Emily, too, had grown quite fond of Claire. Will had caught them at various times having secret conversations, giggling about something, or even just cuddling quietly on the sofa.

But in spite of how well things were going, one question continued to weigh heavily on Will's mind: what had become of Jim Wesson, Atticus, and the gigantic automaton? A few days after Will had returned home with Emily, he had enlisted the help of Officers Anne and Alastair, filling them in on the recent events and asking them to try and locate Jim and Atticus. After nearly a week of searching, they had come up empty-handed.

At some point during each day, Will would wonder to himself if he would ever see Arthur's phase two monstrosity come to life. And then he would begin to worry about what he would do if he ever did. But these thoughts never stayed for very long because, inevitably, either Claire or Emily – unbeknownst to them – would succeed in chasing away the shadows and warming Will's heart.