JAMES BLUEINGHAM – Observations of Amphibia's Star System

1st Log: Amphibians Moons

"Hello again, lads!" James said, smiling at the camera of his phone. It was late into the night, as the stars-filled sky just above him was any indication. The boy was standing on a small platform just above the Plantar's farm, a large telescope made of wood and with several unknown gears and other contraptions visible behind him. "It's me again: James Blueingham, your friendly correspondent from Amphibia. It has been some time since my last video, but thanks to some help from my friends and a little…convincing help from Hop Pop, Loggle finally delivered the last remaining pieces I needed to assemble the telescope using Marcy's blueprints. Thus, tonight I am going to start my reports on Amphibia's night sky. So, here are a few notes I managed to collect in the meanwhile, mostly about this planet."

"A week ago, and heavily based on Eratosthenes's work, Marcy and I did a small experiment measuring the shadows cast in Wartwood and in other locations all over the Valley, to calculate their angle relative to the Sun and use that to get an estimate of the planet's overall circumference. While Marcy's calculations couldn't give us a proper length, we estimate the planet's meridional circumference to be around 24,500 mi, making the planet a bit smaller than Earth. Yet, its gravitational acceleration is roughly the same as Earth's, explaining why we, as in us humans, didn't see much difference compared to living Earth." He stopped for a second, "No super strength like John Carter, I guess. At least our bones and muscles won't weaken like those of astronauts in space."

"One positive fact about Amphibia's night, besides having the same duration as Earth's, is that due to Amphibia's technology being like Earth's Middle Ages, early Renaissance at best, the level of light pollution is non-existent, making it optimal for people who want to explore its surrounding celestial area."

The boy took out some notes, showing it to the camera, as they detailed every star and space body that he had sighted so far, with some arrows pointing at what the paper hinted as 'possible planets.'

"At this moment, I have managed to locate at least three stellar bodies whose orbital movement and eccentricity suggest they may be planets of this same star system beside Amphibia. I'll need more time and some cross-examinations from different points of observation before being sure of these results, but so far this was quite a promising start."

"The only celestial bodies in this star system that I was able to confirm the existence of so far, are Amphibia's moons. Yes, moons, plural: while most of the time only one of them is visible from ground level, multiple observations of Amphibia's night sky and comparing the result of each night reinforce the idea that Amphibia itself possesses at least four moons: the smaller one, who I have christened with the provisional name of "Polyna" until I can give it a more proper name, is barely visible with the current means of observations: due to having a very small inclination to Amphibia's equator, it cannot be seen unless during very short and specific period on its monthly rotation. Its extremely large orbit and small dimension suggest its origins being of an asteroid captured either by Amphibia's own gravity or one of the other two moons.

"The third moon of Amphibia, what the native usually refers to as the 'Blue Moon' and that I have enthusiastically christened with the name of Saphire, is also the one that, at least according to my observations, has the most interesting rotational movement! Thanks to the interference of the other two satellites, its movement resembles an ellipsoid, with Amphibia and the other two sat as its axis of symmetry. Due to this, and while it can be located with the help of sky-observations items," he pointed at his telescope, "it can't be seen by the naked eye from the ground except during one specific night of the year when the Blue Moon passes close enough to Amphibia to occupy a large chunk of the sky and appear like is going to fall onto the planet. While this doesn't happen, people are used to hiding in their homes during the night, as the associated legend says that anyone who will watch the Blue Moon under its light, will turn into a hideous beast until the sun rises again. While no one knows if these are just groundless rumors or if there is some truth behind it, the Blue Moon and its rumored properties eventually lead Amphibians to turn the traditional shut-in during its passage into a tradition well ingrained into their culture."

"The second most important moon of Amphibia, at least on first observations, is quite like Earth's moon, except for its smaller dimensions and its' orbit, passing over both Amphibia's North and South geographic poles. Luna, as I called it, due to its 'particular' rotation period, appears clear at night once every month for a period ranging from two-three days to a whole week on specific conditions. Yet, the fact it can be seen moving in a certain path suggests the hypothesis that it can be seen in other areas of the continent or the planet in the same setting."

"Finally, we have Amphibia's main moon, the Red Moon." James moved his phone to show it, clear in the sky in its crescent phase. "The ONLY moon of Amphibia that can be easily seen every night, except during the Blue Moon night or its 'New Moon' phase. I did try to come up with a good name for it as well, but I couldn't come up with something good enough, so until further notice, I'll keep referring to it as 'the Red Moon' like everyone in Amphibia usually does. Mass and overall rotation period are very close to our Moon, yet somehow its orbit is the most…enigmatic of all. There seem to be no constants on how it will move: in some periods, it seems to be tied to the planet's own movement, in others it moves freely like it is unaffected by it. Not only that, but it also appears to follow no scheme in its own rotation! While in our world, the Moon being tied to Earth's gravity means it always shows us the same face, the Red Moon showed us different faces on many occasions, yet on other times, it appears to always show the same one. Moreover, in two different instances, its color went from red to green for short periods, with no apparent explanation! Somehow, this moon had managed to break every logic of astronomical bodies at once!"

He took a step back, taking deep breaths as he struggled to calm himself down, "Anyway, I am quite confident that new observations and analysis will soon clear up the mystery and reveal new wonders of this unexplored, virgin space. And then, my name will forever be remembered, as the boy who first mapped Amphibia's night sky. James Blueingham…The Stargazer!"

2nd Log: Starting Analysis

"This is James Blueingham, reporting from Amphibia!" The boy spoke in a calm, yet somewhat worried voice. Far from the farm's roof during nighttime, the boy was now recording himself in the room that was once Gertrude Plantar's, and that the boy had by now reconverted in his study and workshop since he had found it. Attached to the wall at his left, there was now a large map depicting all the main stars he had sighted in the long, restless night he spent in observations, as well as his proposal for constellations. "So, after two more weeks of sky-watching nights and taking notes of all major events visible with the help of my telescope, I think I may have some concrete hypotheses on what other planets may exist in this star system besides Amphibia."

"The first supposed planet that I've managed to localize and classify seems to be…somewhat resembling Mars, at least in some respects. I couldn't replicate Galilei's success as my telescope, while indubitably revolutionary to Amphibia's standards, couldn't give me a proper image of its terrain features: the most I could do was confirm that it's even further away than Amphibia's moons, after seeing it being occulted by Luna and Polyna in two different occasions. I guess this means I need to ask Loggle for a new more advanced telescope for in-deep analysis."

"Another astronomical body that so far I heavily suspect of being a planet is…this!" He pointed out at one point on his sky map, with some round-shaped arrows indicating its movements. "Bright enough to be visible at night by the naked eye, with phases akin to the ones of the moons. Not enough data to guess what kind of planet it might be, or even if it's a planet, but I hypothesize so far of it being something comparable to Venus."

"And…" James lowered his head, looking around with a nervous look before continuing, "Talking about the Moons, I made additional observations of…the Red One." He said, almost shuttering as he pronounced that name, "I swear, the more I try to understand it, the less I feel like it makes any sense. Its rotation keeps making no sense at all, I feel like in some periods it just stops rotating and instead settles in geostationary orbit over some specific area for a few days before resuming its movement. Not only that: I have observed that its altitude is irregular as well, sometimes getting closer to Amphibia's surface yet showing no signs of precipitating. I mean, the Blue Moon's movement was strange enough, but at least, once you start to analyze it, you can understand it. But this?!"

He stopped, looking around. "I…I suppose it's time to look around the house and see if Hop Pop has some books that could help me understand what's going on. Maybe I should also ask for Mrs. Croaker's help, even if I doubt she ever got into these things before…"

5th Log: Moon Anomaly

"It makes no sense! It makes no sense!" James repeated, looking more disheveled and nervous than in his last recording, the whole room now COVERED with papers and notes with a large drawing of the red moon and a bulletin boardto its right."This whole Moon…it's not scientifically possible! It can change its own altitude, yet somehow it doesn't seem to affect the climate and the biology of Amphibia itself! It can change direction on its own, it can accelerate but it can also slow down or stop for indefinite periods before resuming its orbital movement! That's something no astronomical body should be supposed to be able to do!"

He stopped, his left eye twitching as more and more papers were scattered around the room.

"M-maybe I just made some mistake in the calculus. Yes, that must be the correct answer! I made some mistakes, and that moon looks completely illogical because of that! I'll just have to redo it all over again, and once I'm done, everything will make sense once again!"

"Hey, James!" Anne opened the door and leaned inside. "Dinner's ready, so you should-"

The girl stopped, as she noticed the huge mess that had become of the room by now, her eyes widening and her jaw dropped, before noticing James, his hair messy and disheveled, his clothes untidy, his eyes blinking with a mad, almost psychotic expression.

"I'll come to ask later." She spoke again, quickly closing the door and leaving the boy once again alone to his ramblings.

"I must find out where I made a mistake and fix it! I must!"

9th Log: Error! Error!

"Where is it? Where is the error I made in my calculations?!" James yelled the psychotic expression he had gotten in the last few days having by now seriously worsened, his face being pale, blood shots visible in his eyes, its emaciated skin telling he had been far from the sunlight for too much time. "I'll have to redo everything for the thirteenth time now! I must have made at least some kind of mistake, I must!"

He resumed his scribbling, working silently for at least one good minute, before jerking up once again, suddenly shouting, like to answer to some voice only he could hear.

"Of course, I must have made an error, otherwise my calculations wouldn't be this illogical! I mean, how otherwise could this Red Moon be able to move on its own, to stop, to accelerate, to slow down, to get closer or further from Amphibia without interfering with its own gravity?! No celestial body could do this, no matter how much magic you could factor into this! I mean, the only option that would explain it would be if that moon was no moon at all, but rather, if it was a…a-"

The British boy stopped scribbling, the pen he was holding a few seconds ago dropping to the ground, his eyes widening in shock, his mouth wide open, as he looked forward, beyond his still-recording phone, his gaze moving to a thousand years away, the stars-obsessed teenager now looking like the lone survivor of a soldier squad, who had just witnessed the massacre of all his comrades.

Emotionally, he felt worse, as his insanity had now awoken him, and the terrible truth he couldn't even grasp before was laid bare in front of him.

"…an artificial body." He said with a mellow voice, standing motionless for a full minute, before starting to check his notes once again. "This…this would explain why it seems to follow no regular pattern, and how it could slow down and accelerate. Why sometimes it seems to be able to stop moving, before resuming its course? It can choose its orbital path if it has a way to influence its movement! It can influence its movement, which means it can negate the gravitational pull that Amphibia gives to it to settle itself on geostationary orbit, and then start up its engines once again once it decides to move! Frog, if these engines are powerful enough to allow it to move of its own will with apparent no issues, that implies they must run on a self-refueling, self-fixing kind of power source that would put shame to any kind of removable energy of Earth! Like nuclear cold fusion, or something like that! But if that moon is artificial-"

His returned enthusiasm disappeared once again, the cold horror spreading all over his face as the untold implications of such revelations came to his realization.

"-who built it?!"

11th Log: Possible Alien Proof?

"Hello, to everyone who may be watching this video," James said, on a somber note. All the notes over the walls were gone, the room having now returned to its previous order and cleanliness. Even James, who had looked so disheveled and crazy a few days before, now had somehow regained a semblance of mental calmness. "My name is James Tyler Blueingham from Worcester, and I wish to forget what I have learned."

"For the past few weeks," the boy continued, "I have been working on what I believed should have been a simple task as I tried to map out the stars visible in Amphibia's sky and the astronomical bodies of its star system, from its moons to what could be hints of other planets. To document my progress and catalog my findings, I wrote the defined result of my research, as well as all the notes of my observations in a small journal that I'm finishing binding and editing these days. I started doing this because I believed this had a huge potential to benefit everyone in Amphibia from now on, as well as mark my name as one of the first explorers to turn his focus to the stars and night sky of this strange, mysterious frog-populated world, but something…went wrong. As I kept studying the moons of Amphibia, especially the main one that the locals call the Red Moon, I came to realize that it can't be a natural body, like I assumed at first. But rather, an artificial one." He moved his phone and showed an image he had taken with his telescope, the red moon looking bigger and the details of his surface now more visible than before. "There it is! it doesn't seem so different from a natural moon, right? Yet, nothing else that I've managed to study and note in the last month, could explain the strange anomalies in its movement and changes of altitude."

"A part of me is scared, for while I may have solved a mystery, countless more had opened to me: if this moon is artificial, who built it? What kind of technology and resources did they invest to build it? And what's its purpose? So far, I can only make a hypothesis: it's an alien structure? It was built a long time ago, and forgotten? Or is it still active, for some kind of purpose? The fact that it is able to move and control its own altitude suggests the latter, even if that's not proof. Maybe it is controlled by some sort of AI, still obeying the orders left behind by some other race? They set it up a long time ago, to monitor the evolution of life on this planet, but by the time life blossomed on Amphibia, they already went extinct. Or maybe, they're still out there, still watching over us? Or maybe it wasn't built by aliens after all?!"

The boy stopped, looking around nervously, almost fearful that someone was listening to him, before continuing. "I have…heard some rumors while we were here. Some of them are stories that Mrs. Croaker told me during the day I went to help her. Other just some rumors that Wally or other people keep repeating as gossip. But all of them talked about some kind of unknown structures and buildings abandoned, hidden in the depths of the forest or in other places. This is a theory I should have talked about with Marcy, but… what if Amphibia's civilization is way older than we assume? What if they were much more technologically advanced in the past, only to regress after some unknown disaster?"

"I know how it sounds, but…it was often theorized, back on Earth, that in the event of some catastrophic calamity, society would regress to a prehistoric, or at least pre-industrial tech level. Maybe something like that happened here, and that moon is a relic of that past, having survived the dramatic event by virtue of being, literally, another world in the same star system? It would be a harsh truth, but still…better than the alternative."

13th Log: Developing Theories

"This is James Blueingham, reporting once again." The boy spoke with a somber voice. "After some pondering, I took the extreme decision to destroy all my notes and proofs I had about the Red Moon, after making a digital copy of each of them and saving them on a hidden folder on my phone, as well as replacing them with innocent fake notes that says the Red Moon is a common, basic moon very like Earth's one. I am sorry for keeping this a secret from Anne and the others, Jacob and Marcy especially, but ever since I started to dwell in the cold, harsh truth that it was hidden from me until recently, I am feeling worse."

"I feel like there are eyes watching me from behind every corner, that someone is listening to my every word. Yesterday, Sprig asked me if I could pass him the butterflies' salad, and I almost jumped out of the chair since I didn't notice him until he was next to me! I know I shouldn't be this paranoid; my friends can be trusted and Hop Pop and his family too, but… I feel like if I would tell him what I know, I would expose them to untold danger and menaces. Maybe what I'm doing is wrong, but for the moment, I took every precaution to allow them to remain in blissful ignorance."

"Anyway, I took some more observations of our "Red Moon". As usual, it keeps moving with an irregular movement and shows to not be influenced by the gravity of Amphibia or any other moon. Not only that, a couple of days ago I videotaped what looked like an asteroid that was on collision course with it: not only the asteroid fails to hit it, somehow it managed to send it back from where it was coming!"

James disappeared, as now the video showed a small footage, the one and same that the British teen had personally recorded during that night. It depicted a smaller point (the asteroid) moving toward the moon, before suddenly getting repelled by something invisible, the giant space rock being sent back to the depths of the cosmos where it had arrived from as the moon 'swatted' it away.

"This short video confirms my worst fear: the ability to repel incoming asteroids or other large objects implies a tech level that it's still decades away to be achieved on Earth, let alone on this middle age-level world of frogs were just walking out of range of your town means end up facing large bugs that will eat you alive. If that's lost technology from an era long forgotten of the past, the people of Wartwood and the rest of Amphibia would have nothing to fear, but…what if it's not? What if that moon is the product of another race, who is currently monitoring this world, waiting for the right moment to strike?"

He took a deep breath, before continuing, trying to confine the terror he was feeling in the smallest, most remote parts of his brain. "Jacob had some movies about alien invasions on his phone, and he ended up showing them to me. And in every sci-fi movie where the aliens survey another world, they always do it for one reason only: to collect as much information as they can, before launching an invasion. Maybe this is what's happening to Amphibia right now? Unbeknownst to all, an alien force is keeping watch over the planet, studying its population, its defenses, looking after the resources of the planet, waiting for the right time to call for a fleet and start an invasion?"

"There is, however, a positive note. If the aliens are waiting, there must be a reason, otherwise why would they postpone an invasion when the most dangerous enemies they would end up facing are mere farmers and low-level soldiers armed with insufficiently advanced weapons? Maybe they want Amphibia to reach a grade of industrialization and technological advancement before attacking for some reason. Or maybe, the resources they're after can't be reached at this moment. In any case, at least it means that for now, Amphibia is not under risk of being invaded."

"I should be happy and yet, my mind can't stop dwelling on what I have found. At night, I lay awake on my bed, unable to sleep as these thoughts dig into me, like woodworms in old dry wood. There is a saying in our world: if you gaze into the Abyss, the Abyss will gaze into you, and this is exactly how I am feeling right now. I don't want to tell this to the others, otherwise they will end up experiencing the same dread that I'm barely living through every day. And yet I can't keep this secret from them. I want…I want to go to bed and have a good sleep and wake up the next morning and be back to my old ignorant self. I want to not know about the Damocles' sword that's currently hanging over our heads, over the life of everyone in Amphibia. I want-I want to forget!" He yelled, tears falling down his cheeks, before looking again at the camera.

"But how?!"

Final Log: And After Fear, Oblivion

"Greeting, James." The boy greeted himself, sitting on Gertrude's chair, a glass full of water to his right, the journal with all the (edited) notes of his research on his lap, "If you're seeing this last video and hearing these words, it means that by now you have comprehended the terrible truth that I have uncovered, following my- our dream to map all of Amphibia's stars. Everything you've heard is true: the Red Moon is an artificial object, whose origin and goal are still unknown to me, and whose existence either proves that spacefaring sentient species are a reality, or that Amphibia had a more developed and evolved technological past before some unknown catastrophes destroyed it all. I know what you're thinking: if we did all of this, why do you have no memory of anything about it? Well, the answer is very simple."

The boy stopped, his hand moving to grab something small he had placed near the armchair and showing it to the phone's camera: a small transparent container, with several white berries contained in it. Small fruits that none of his friends knew, but he did.

"Do you recognize these?" The boy spoke with a bitter voice, "These are the Blank Berries that Mrs. Croaker taught us: just one of them is enough to make everyone forget what had happened in the last 24 hours. I already patched up things with Jacob and the girls, so no one will suspect anything even if they notice my amnesia. After this video will be finished, I'll make three copies of it, as well of every note and record I have collected about my search, and I'll send them with one email each: one to myself, so I can recover it even in the event that something happens to my phone screen and I can't properly use it anymore; and the other two to my parents. Hi mom and dad, in case you are watching this: yes, your son is fine, he was just…trapped in some kind of alternate world populated by frogs and giant bugs, and now misses you more than anything else!"

He stopped for a second, struggling to contain his emotions, before continuing, "Anyway, I know that even after I've finished preparing every mail and enclosing my notes to every one of them, they won't be sent. There is no Wi-fi in Amphibia! But that's not a problem: me and my friends are working on getting back to our home, so when we will be able to get back to Earth, it should be sent instantly. I guess this is how you're seeing this video now, huh James? Yes, to reiterate, you deleted your own memory, because you couldn't handle the truth anymore, and you didn't believe you would be able to keep hiding the truth from your friends. I know that this is quite an extreme solution, but they would be in more danger if they got to know what I do. Frog, from what I may know by your time, the memory wiping I am going to give us may be the only reason why we are still alive."

He moved forward, almost to give a pep talk to his own future self. "So, whatever you decide to do now, no babbling. When I promised to protect my friends no matter what, I didn't know that I would have to lie or hide the truth to protect them, but now I can't walk out anymore. They may judge you for your decisions, should they find out, but…that's fine. As Mrs. Croaker taught us, there are many secrets most of the people are not ready for, and the one and only reason why everyone is able to keep going with their lives is because they don't know them!"

"This," he added, patting the Journal, "is our cover. I took the liberty to rework as little parts as possible and give some convincing cover-ups for the whole Red Moon, both to prevent me from uncover my own secret or for some of my friends to find out the truth too early. I already hid all the notes and videos in a secret folder that's not visible at first sight, and that you can't access without a password. The password, if you're wondering, is the date of your own birthday. If you must look that up, shame on you!"

"Ok, I still have a couple of minutes, so before I stop this video and take the Blank Berries to forget what I did in secret from the others, I want to say just a couple more of things, not to my future myself, but…to my parents, should you be watching this." He assumed a tearful expression, as he imagined his parents in front of him, "Hello mom and dad. So, if you're watching this video, it means that you probably have heard the whole story by now, even if I'm not with you anymore. Either I am still stranded in Amphibia without my friends, or…" he shook his head. "Anyway, I need to make this quick, but I wanted to tell you…I'm sorry. I know we had our ups and downs, like the time you got angry after I dyed my hair silver, but I never disliked you. Maybe I disliked the fact that you were a little overbearing, but I didn't decide to leave England to run away from you. I did it because I wanted to see the world with my own eyes, to experience new things and meet new people, because I wanted to treasure the day as much as the night. And if I had told you, instead of simply leaving, maybe I wouldn't feel this bad now for how I acted in the past. You taught me the path, you made me face my fears, you showed me how to get back up after you fall. Thank you for having taught me all of this. And now…cheers!" He said one last time, grabbing the Blank Berries from the small container and swallowing all at once, his hand already bringing to glass full of water as the video abruptly stopped.