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Future/Perfect: Part 3 – A Little History
The Elberton Granite Museum & Exhibit sat in the center of town – a nine room, two story stone structure, fronted by a small park with a statue of Hunt in its center beckoning to the west.
The museum's industrial building was home to a collection of quarry equipment, funky sculptures, examples of etched gravestones, and an older woman at the desk. The placard introduced her as Mary Jarrard.
"Hello gentlemen," she chirped, clearly pleased to have some company. "Interested in a tour?"
"That'd be great," said Jim-Bean with a smile.
Pleased to have some company, Mary fired up the educational video that the agents watched while strolling the exhibits.
"It all began with Arthur Hunt. Hunt was a local legend in Elberton," a deep, pleasant voice narrated. "He was the “success-story” of the town, almost the inversion of Douglas Yale, the Georgia River Killer. "
"Hunt rose from poverty and a life of debauchery in Elberton to forge an electronics empire that has stood the test of time – surviving even after his unexpected death in 1952. But at first, no one in town thought much of him. In fact, he was considered a local ne’er do well – someone more prone to theft, violence and lying than any productive endeavor."
Photos flashed on the screen. Each showed Hunt in various states of intoxication; including one during the celebration of the end of the Great War where Hunt climbed a light pole with his pants down.
"On May 3, 1922, Hunt was discovered at the Elberton Mound, drunk, carrying a pickaxe and shouting drunkenly about Shawnee gold. Hunt was incarcerated, but it was known in town he still visited the mound."
"Yep," whispered Archive. "Psychic vortex."
"For nearly a year Hunt rarely appeared in town. That all changed on April 9, 1923. Hunt returned to town and settled into the newly finished Elberton Public Library, and began to read for eight hours straight, reading books on nearly every subject. He remained mute, refusing to engage with onlookers. His pace increased until he was reading each page with a glance of only a second or two. He repeated this process for three weeks."
"By week three, Hunt began speaking with the locals, and it was if his entire personality had changed. His voice was quiet – monotone – without any humor in it. His English was precise and ordered. His interactions were brief, and to the point. Hunt ordered a list of 200+ items from the local five and dime, including drafting tools, a table, various metals, torches and workbenches, as well as various radios sets. He paid in gold; which was odd, but not totally unheard of."
More photos flashed, showing Hunt in Elberton, Georgia after 1923. In all of them, his expression was identical; a look of bored detachment. His eyes were passive and strange. He was well kept and clean, though his posture is odd. When standing, he seemed to stoop his head forward in a way that was unnatural for a young man.
"Hunt hired a local man named Allan Mestemacher to run errands for him in town, and Mestemacher became the local conduit for Hunt gossip. The man was working ten hours a day on drawings of complex electrical devices, and building bizarre electronic contraptions. This continued for several years, until it was assumed it would continue this way indefinitely, then, as suddenly as he had first arrived at the library, Hunt arrived in town again, filing papers to incorporate “Hunt Electrodynamics”.
"Hunt’s biggest hit, the Hunt Mark I Resistor, debuted on August 5, 1930, and rocketed the one-man company into the stratosphere. When Hunt realized he could make far more money producing the Resistor, he opened a local Hunt Electrodynamics plant. Soon, the plant was the largest employer in town."
"Speaking through Mestemacher, Hunt ordered the construction of the Guidestones atop the Elberton Mound. The structure he had in mind would serve as a compass, calendar, and clock. It would also need to be engraved with a set of guides written in eight of the world's major languages. And it had to be capable of withstanding the most catastrophic events, so that the shattered remnants of humanity would be able to use those guides to reestablish a better civilization than the one that was about to destroy itself."
"Construction of the Guidestones got under way later that summer. With the purchase of the land, the Guidestones' future was set. Hunt said good-bye to Mestemacher at the company office, adding, "You'll never see me again." Hunt then turned and walked out the door—without so much as a handshake."
"The Guidestones were completed on March 22, 1980. Its engraved edicts inspired some, distressed others. Within a few months, the New Star Crusade cult adopted the Guidestones as their home away from home, making weekend pilgrimages to Elberton to stage various pagan rites and at least one warlock-witch marriage ceremony. No humans were sacrificed on the altar of the stones, but there were rumors that several kittens were beheaded."
"Visitors kept coming but eventually the media lost interest. Curiosity flared again briefly in 1993, when Brianne Lochnar of God's Lost Children contributed a track called 'Georgia Stone' to a tribute album for avant-garde composer John Cage, with Brianne chanting the 10th and final guide nearly verbatim: 'Be not a cancer on Earth—leave room for nature—leave room for nature.'"
"It was later discovered that Hunt had been constructing a town in Death Valley, California – one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. Announcements were made that the Elberton plant would remain in operation, but Hunt would leave for California. By 1940, Hunt was living in Hellbend, California permanently. With Hunt’s mysterious death in the Hellbend explosion of 1952, the Hunt Museum was constructed in Elberton to celebrate its most famous, and successful son."
More pictures flashed of Hunt Electrodynamics promotional shots, showing an impassive Hunt standing before various constructions around the U.S., including a facility in Hellbend at its opening.
"Notice anything unusual about that photo?" asked Jim-Bean.
The last photo, taken three days before the Hellbend explosion in August 1952, showed Hunt to be smirking.
"That's not all that's weird," said Archive. "I don't think he aged a single day in thirty years."
"We need to stake out the Guidestones," said Hammer. He turned to Archive and Jim-Bean. "Go back to Mullinex's place and set up a surveillance point. I'm going to buy some supplies."
"Supplies for what?" asked Archive.
"We're going to visit this New Star Crusade."
The Elberton Granite Museum & Exhibit sat in the center of town – a nine room, two story stone structure, fronted by a small park with a statue of Hunt in its center beckoning to the west.
The museum's industrial building was home to a collection of quarry equipment, funky sculptures, examples of etched gravestones, and an older woman at the desk. The placard introduced her as Mary Jarrard.
"Hello gentlemen," she chirped, clearly pleased to have some company. "Interested in a tour?"
"That'd be great," said Jim-Bean with a smile.
Pleased to have some company, Mary fired up the educational video that the agents watched while strolling the exhibits.
"It all began with Arthur Hunt. Hunt was a local legend in Elberton," a deep, pleasant voice narrated. "He was the “success-story” of the town, almost the inversion of Douglas Yale, the Georgia River Killer. "
"Hunt rose from poverty and a life of debauchery in Elberton to forge an electronics empire that has stood the test of time – surviving even after his unexpected death in 1952. But at first, no one in town thought much of him. In fact, he was considered a local ne’er do well – someone more prone to theft, violence and lying than any productive endeavor."
Photos flashed on the screen. Each showed Hunt in various states of intoxication; including one during the celebration of the end of the Great War where Hunt climbed a light pole with his pants down.
"On May 3, 1922, Hunt was discovered at the Elberton Mound, drunk, carrying a pickaxe and shouting drunkenly about Shawnee gold. Hunt was incarcerated, but it was known in town he still visited the mound."
"Yep," whispered Archive. "Psychic vortex."
"For nearly a year Hunt rarely appeared in town. That all changed on April 9, 1923. Hunt returned to town and settled into the newly finished Elberton Public Library, and began to read for eight hours straight, reading books on nearly every subject. He remained mute, refusing to engage with onlookers. His pace increased until he was reading each page with a glance of only a second or two. He repeated this process for three weeks."
"By week three, Hunt began speaking with the locals, and it was if his entire personality had changed. His voice was quiet – monotone – without any humor in it. His English was precise and ordered. His interactions were brief, and to the point. Hunt ordered a list of 200+ items from the local five and dime, including drafting tools, a table, various metals, torches and workbenches, as well as various radios sets. He paid in gold; which was odd, but not totally unheard of."
More photos flashed, showing Hunt in Elberton, Georgia after 1923. In all of them, his expression was identical; a look of bored detachment. His eyes were passive and strange. He was well kept and clean, though his posture is odd. When standing, he seemed to stoop his head forward in a way that was unnatural for a young man.
"Hunt hired a local man named Allan Mestemacher to run errands for him in town, and Mestemacher became the local conduit for Hunt gossip. The man was working ten hours a day on drawings of complex electrical devices, and building bizarre electronic contraptions. This continued for several years, until it was assumed it would continue this way indefinitely, then, as suddenly as he had first arrived at the library, Hunt arrived in town again, filing papers to incorporate “Hunt Electrodynamics”.
"Hunt’s biggest hit, the Hunt Mark I Resistor, debuted on August 5, 1930, and rocketed the one-man company into the stratosphere. When Hunt realized he could make far more money producing the Resistor, he opened a local Hunt Electrodynamics plant. Soon, the plant was the largest employer in town."
"Speaking through Mestemacher, Hunt ordered the construction of the Guidestones atop the Elberton Mound. The structure he had in mind would serve as a compass, calendar, and clock. It would also need to be engraved with a set of guides written in eight of the world's major languages. And it had to be capable of withstanding the most catastrophic events, so that the shattered remnants of humanity would be able to use those guides to reestablish a better civilization than the one that was about to destroy itself."
"Construction of the Guidestones got under way later that summer. With the purchase of the land, the Guidestones' future was set. Hunt said good-bye to Mestemacher at the company office, adding, "You'll never see me again." Hunt then turned and walked out the door—without so much as a handshake."
"The Guidestones were completed on March 22, 1980. Its engraved edicts inspired some, distressed others. Within a few months, the New Star Crusade cult adopted the Guidestones as their home away from home, making weekend pilgrimages to Elberton to stage various pagan rites and at least one warlock-witch marriage ceremony. No humans were sacrificed on the altar of the stones, but there were rumors that several kittens were beheaded."
"Visitors kept coming but eventually the media lost interest. Curiosity flared again briefly in 1993, when Brianne Lochnar of God's Lost Children contributed a track called 'Georgia Stone' to a tribute album for avant-garde composer John Cage, with Brianne chanting the 10th and final guide nearly verbatim: 'Be not a cancer on Earth—leave room for nature—leave room for nature.'"
"It was later discovered that Hunt had been constructing a town in Death Valley, California – one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. Announcements were made that the Elberton plant would remain in operation, but Hunt would leave for California. By 1940, Hunt was living in Hellbend, California permanently. With Hunt’s mysterious death in the Hellbend explosion of 1952, the Hunt Museum was constructed in Elberton to celebrate its most famous, and successful son."
More pictures flashed of Hunt Electrodynamics promotional shots, showing an impassive Hunt standing before various constructions around the U.S., including a facility in Hellbend at its opening.
"Notice anything unusual about that photo?" asked Jim-Bean.
The last photo, taken three days before the Hellbend explosion in August 1952, showed Hunt to be smirking.
"That's not all that's weird," said Archive. "I don't think he aged a single day in thirty years."
"We need to stake out the Guidestones," said Hammer. He turned to Archive and Jim-Bean. "Go back to Mullinex's place and set up a surveillance point. I'm going to buy some supplies."
"Supplies for what?" asked Archive.
"We're going to visit this New Star Crusade."
