Arthur was not always the robotic recluse he is today. When he first arrived on the Island, he was but a man in a bathrobe, with only his copy of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and a monogrammed towel. He knew no one, and he kept to himself for the most part. Eventually, however, he began to speak to people, make friends, and even become socially involved to some degree.
At some point, Cassidy invited him to join Torchwood. He accepted, happy to have a new group of friends and family, and soon became quite engrossed in clan activities. While not exactly scheduled or organised in any manner, he dedicated himself to building and strengthening his clan in his spare time, and formed a particularly strong, if unusual, bond with RP Whistle. His support and effort did not go unnoticed, and eventually he was made an officer - first, Chief Technological Officer, and then Third Lieutentant, Commission class.
Somewhere along the way, he met Sonny. At first, he was reluctant to pursue anything more than a platonic relationship with her, but his heart soon got the best of him, and he fell for her grace and charm. They started dating after an awkward confession from him and promptly began work on The Lurking Corner, Arthur's sandwich bar on the Cliff in the Southwest Shores (7,3).
He seemed quite happy… but alas, Arthur's memories proved to be his downfall. After his first Drive Kill, he intentionally blocked key memories from his past life, especially the ones related to Trillian, with whom he had had a relationship in his home universe before the destruction of Earth by the Vogons ended that for him.
This worked well enough for some time, until Tsouni, although well meaning, buggered it all up by unlocking the memories once again. Upon realising he was forgetting something, Arthur could not stop searching for these memories… but he remained functional. It was not until after Hanna B encouraged him to search the Guide for clues that he stumbled across an entry on Trillian and subsequently fell into a coma after remembering the traumatic event. All may have been lost, were it not for the efforts on the part of Props, Marvin, Felidae, Waverly, Fyla, Cassidy, Aryame, and Sonny to convince him to let go of his past - and Trillian - by entering his subconscious via nanites. In a brief moment of clarity, Arthur killed the shadow of Trillian that haunted him in his memory and was able to regain consciousness.
This left him in a highly unstable state of mind, and he began to sway from deeply pensive and morose, to crazed and manic. His bipolar mindset and personality continued unchecked for some time, despite assistance from both his friends and his clanmates.
Soon after this turn of events, Arthur began digging for information for a friend when the subject in question, a contestant named Mike, sent his goons/clones after Arthur for snooping around. The two exchanged a few choice words in Newhome before moving to a location just outside of the outpost for privacy. It was at this point that Mike's henchmen revealed their intent and assaulted Arthur. In the ensuing battle, Arthur was shot with an RPG. Marvin, who had witnessed the entire incident, re-entered Newhome for assistance, and returned with a Joker named Xel. Xel attempted to save Arthur by turning him into a robot, but due to the high levels of Improbability, he became a cyborg instead. The change did not affect his critical condition, however, and he was transported to Props' medical clinic near Kittania and promptly hospitalised. After a touch-and-go operation, which he may very well have not survived were it not for the intervention of Silcatra, he spent several weeks in recovery before he got fed up with rest and decided to leave against the doctor's orders. Weak, but stable, he returned to his life in Newhome and the cliffside shack. All was once again normal… or was it?
Having a new cyborg body, Arthur began to immerse himself in his work, developing new technologies, bodies, armor, weaponry and equipment. He had managed to save a handful of nanites that Props had used to assist in his recovery, and after reprogramming them, he implemented them into his constructs. The first prototypes were unstable, however, and soon began taking over his mind and body in a manner reminiscent of the infamous Cybermen. After fully converting him into an android, they controlled his every action, and he may have been lost forever were it not for his friend Lysander's Joker magic. With Ly's assistance, the nanites were disabled, and Arthur reprogrammed the nanites properly.
This turn of events had both its advantages and disadvantages. While Arthur was now a fully mechanical being, and thus did not suffer the mental distress he had in his cyborg form, the nanites had ended his relationship with Sonny while they controlled him, even going so far as to cut off his own ring finger which his engagement ring had fused with during the RPG incident. Marvin, sensing that the knowledge of this could prove catastrophic, wiped the memories in question from his mind, and warned his friends that should he again become aware of what had taken place, it could result in great risk to Arthur's wellbeing. Waverly was not informed of this, unfortunately, and while on a visit to an amusement park, she inadvertently told him of his previous relationship. This caused Arthur to suffer yet another breakdown, and Marvin was forced to expend every bit of his energy and even his nanites to repair the damage done. Arthur was saved, but at a terrible cost.
As a result, Arthur became severely reclusive, choosing to bury his insecurities and confusion beneath a clan project he had been working on for some time - the Complex, a massive multisectored research and development complex located deep underground beneath his sandwich bar. Aside from the odd foray into outposts for experiments, supplies and clan missions, to this day he still lurks in his basement, drawing up countless blueprints and tweaking devices in an effort to forget his past. He will not discuss the events willingly or readily, but he will speak when spoken to, and even goes out of his way, at times, to find and spend time with the people he knows and cares for. He can most often be found travelling through Newhome (where he searches for prospective clan members) and Improbable Central (for building supplies, mostly).
A list of items he has designed, created, or been given over the years follows:
Bathrobe Just your standard, run of the mill bathrobe… or is it? It was a bit tattered when he arrived on the Island, but now it looks good as new. Dark grey.
Towel Slate blue and has Arthur's monogram emblazoned on one side. It has been “reinforced” by Lazarus and is now composed of a somehow-flexible-and-soft diamond-titanium alloy. Oh, and it shoots lasers.
Seashell Bracelet A beautiful little string of multicoloured seashells. This was a gift from Sonny, Arthur's onetime girlfriend.
The Guide A small, glossy black device with a large display screen and the words “DON'T PANIC” printed in big, friendly green letters across the cover. The ultimate repository of information. Stores 50 teraquads of memory. Sometimes malfunctions.
Safety Crossbow A “gift” from Whistle. Its name is a misnomer, as there is nothing safe about it in the least. Threats posed to the wielder include constant jamming, an ultra-hair trigger, and a tendency to pinch one's hand quite nastily if proper caution is not exercised. Still, with a 100 round hopper and semiautomatic action, it's worth the risk. Sort of. Not really, but he doesn't want to hurt Whistle's feelings.
Armored Transport “Helios” This was a project Arthur spent some time on for a while. It is a modified Haiks, refitted with quad tracks, two dual-plasma repeaters, a long range particle cannon, and inertial shielding. Seats seven normal-sized people comfortably, including the driver.
Gremlin Gun MKI Arthur built this on a whim. It is a smallish handheld pistol-esque weapon that fires typo gremlins. Very effective in Story, but practically useless in the Jungle. He drew up plans for two more versions of this weapon, referred to as Gremlin Gun MKII and Gremlinator MKIII-X Ultra, before shelving the project indefinitely.
Tree Cloak Arthur has no idea how he got this. It miraculously appeared in his inventory while in Newhome Story one day and tends to activate itself randomly. It's exactly what it says on the tin - a cloaking device that disguises one's self as a tree.
Bit of String A bit of string with a feather attached. This was a gift from Shi and purportedly “keeps bad things away”.
Marble A small, shiny grey marble given to him by Mango. It glows when anyone the holder is attracted to is nearby.
Arthur's Narrator can be reached on Google Talk at commander.rick.forrest@gmail.com, or MSN / Windows Live Messenger at commander_rick_forrest@hotmail.com at random times. Please let him know in advance who you are if you wish to contact him.