Summary

Arthur begins his work at the museum, but people do not believe that Arthur will be able to continue at this thankless work for more than a few days because of the massive number of tablets, but he does. Arthur is able to understand some of the patterns in the cuneiform, and he thinks of the people who touched these tablets centuries ago. Arthur is still an outsider at the museum, but there are few people in the field, leaving it open for people without traditional academic pedigrees. Arthur, himself, becomes more eccentric, but the museum is becoming a more serious place of study, and history is being rewritten there just as much as it is protected.

Dr. Birch comes in to tell Arthur that the museum will not employ him anymore, in part because of his ragged...