Transcript of this chapter:

barlow: I... I can't believe it. It just can't be!...
barlow: ....Why now? I was so close... so close to leaving this dump forever...
barlow: My intellectual career nipped in the bud... why?... why?... why?...
sheriff: Barlow, you've been going on like this for twenty minutes now. How much longer are you going to mope around?
barlow: ....Why?...now... twenty minutes... yes...
sheriff: Barlow! Wake up!
barlow: What? What is it?
sheriff: It's all good to be upset, we fully expect that... but we can't let these things get us down, can we?
sheriff: Why don't you find a better outlet for your angst?
barlow: You don't understand!... No one understands! Nobody. No one...
sheriff: ....no one understands why you whine so much, Barlow.
barlow: You want me to do something productive? Oh, pardon my skepticism.
sheriff: What do you mean?
barlow: Is this the same sheriff who believes in complete inaction? In the balance of the cosmos through total acceptance and acquiescence to the Tao?
sheriff: You're using some big words there, Barlow, and some small words that I'm not sure of either. I agree that I don't like to tip the balance.
sheriff: I just know that you're not too happy about the situation, and I thought you might cope better if you focus your anger elsewhere.
sheriff: After all, it could be a long time for the bridge to get put back up. Last time it fell, it was out for five years... and it was only put back up by accident.
barlow: This... this is a conspiracy to keep me here, isn't it?
sheriff: I wouldn't call it a conspiracy, and I don't think it's directed towards you.
sheriff: Then again, you might be the only person in town to be concerned about the bridge. None of us really had anything invested in it either way.
sheriff: Now that we know you're staying a while, maybe things can get back to normal...
sheriff: For example, now that we know our demon-hunter is staying, he can help clean up all of those elaborate demon-detection things that frankly are not aesthetically pleasing.
sheriff: I think for now, you should accept things as they are and put your natural talents to use.
barlow: Do what? I'm not qualified to do anything.
sheriff: You have extensive demon-hunting training, which in this town goes a lot way.
barlow: There is no such thing as demons! That training was completely unnecessary.
sheriff: Why, you have a move that can kill a demon using only your elbow and pinky finger!
barlow: Yeah, the Reverse-Crunching-Elbow-Press...
sheriff: Exactly! I'm sure there are other uses for a skill like that.
barlow: You know, I really don't think so.
barlow: So those demon detectors are annoying you, too?
sheriff: I try not to pass judgment, especially when others are trying to make the town more secure...
barlow: But of course you realize that they don't do anything, except make a lot of noise.
sheriff: Precisely. I don't really mind the racket, but they scare the mammals away from my traps.
barlow: Ah, so the truth comes out! You want me to clean up so you don't have to.
sheriff: I don't want to tip the balance.
sheriff: Well, I really must go check up on my mammal traps. I had a map to the location of all of my traps, but I seem to have mislaid it.
barlow: There was something strange about that conversation.
barlow: Staying here by the precipice is going to depress me. Maybe the sheriff is right about my needing to focus my anger.
barlow: There's one of those annoying little things. Alex has all of those old coffee cans wired to some central location.
barlow: Every time those things set off their alarm, Alex is going to come running for me.
barlow: I bet if I follow the wire, I could disable all of those things at the source.
barlow: I'll just follow the wire and take out the triggering mechanism. With luck, Alex won't even notice.
barlow: Well, this is where all of the wires converge...
barlow: Alex said that there's a small amount of pure evil in here that acts as a trigger.
barlow: Hehe. It's just a little marble.... a marble of pure evil.