Arthur Ford

A concepting render from Nate Ebbings.

David (Theorized)

Possibly deceased (inside Duck Season, only theorized.)

***Note: this page is about the main character. For the ingame being, see Ford.***

> "*What up, son?*"
> ― Arthur Ford
>
>

**Arthur Ford** is a wanderer and the main protagonist of BONEWORKS, and he appears in numerous cameo roles in BONELAB. He served as a virtual security director for Monogon Industries but functioned as a double agent for competing firm Gammon. During the scenarios of BONEWORKS, he initiates a virus into the simulated reality of MythOS, triggering a rupture into the Voidway. Ford battled his way through MythOS and eventually arrived at the rupture, where he managed to detach his consciousness from his corporeal body and attain immortality in the Voidway. He is depicted by Brett Driver.

Ford A. is the main protagonist of BONEWORKS. Ford worked as the security director of Monogon, but is actually a double agent working for Gammon. Ford is likely the one responsible for causing the simulation lockdown inside MythOS. Another cause of the lockdown was that the Null bodies went rogue due to being exposed to the “Melon Belly” Beverage that is dispensed from vending machines. When the Null-Men consumed it, they could gain sentience, which caused the Nulls to become hostile.

During his mission to sabotage Monogon, however, Arthur manages to become immortal inside the void. The expense? His life. His brain’s neural connection would be cut, but in turn, he would be able to live forever inside of MythOS.

## History

### Early History

Arthur Ford's childhood is unknown, but he was in his thirties during the rise of Monogon Industries and MythOS, their simulated universe. He presumably pursued an education in cybersecurity due to his later profession, and he was hired by Monogon Industries to direct security efforts regarding their top secret virtual framework, BONEWORKS. At his time at Monogon, he befriended a security engineer called Hayes, and became acquainted with an encryption specialist named Alora B.

Ford worked on the Museum of Technical Demonstration, approving several slides and infographics found in *BONELAB.*

At some point during his time at Monogon, Ford became a double agent for a rival company known as Gammon. The extent of Ford's work for Gammon is unknown, but he committed corporate espionage and sabotage in their name. Ford was also privy to the development of BONEWORKS and learedt about the connection between MythOS and the mysterious dimension known as the Voidway. He assisted at least partially in the development of BONEWORKS, which later led him to realize that immortality could be possible by accessing the Voidway through VR and severing consciousness from the body, allowing the mind to exist in the Voidway for eternity.

### *BONEWORKS*

Just before the events of *BONEWORKS*, Arthur Ford was tasked by Gammon to insert a virus into MythOS that causes a crash of the servers and leakage of void particles, the mysterious energy that keeps the simulation running. Ford barricades himself in a small panic room with a hacked headset and a Gammon USB. Inserting the USB, Ford enters MythOS with the intention of finally putting his own plans into action.

Appearing in his offices, Ford performs his daily tasks of anomalous object disposal before uploading the virus to BONEWORKS. This causes a massive blast that freezes simulated time and boots everyone from MythOS, except him. He sneaks out of his office and into the adjacent Museum of Technical Demonstration, a virtual tutorial for the upcoming MythOS City. Eventually leaving the museum via a garbage chute, Ford explores the business district of MythOS City. Here he discovers that the nullmen or nullbodies, who are AI-generated workers, have become sentient and hostile. Fighting them off, he escapes into a factory district, where he is contacted by Hayes remotely. Hayes informs Ford that MythOS has been placed in a quarantine state due to void-particle leaks caused by the virus. The nature of the virus is a mystery to Monogon, and they believe that it was a simple error caused by the System Clock, the heart of the simulation. Hayes requests that Ford go to the Time Tower and manually reset the clock, unaware that Ford is the cause of the virus.

Ford slips into the runoff trenches and fights his way through the Cleanup Crew, a group of holographic soldiers dedicated to eradicating any anomalies from the MythOS simulation. They fire upon the sentient null bodies and even the harmless nullrats. They classify Ford as an anomalous object (because every other user is locked out) and become hostile to him as well. After an arduous battle, Ford falls into the sewers of MythOS City. Here, he is contacted by Alora, who has realized the truth. She admits to planning to do so herself, and commends him on his initiative. She also requests that he leave the gateway to the Void open so that all of humanity can use it to become immortal. It is unknown if Alora was also a double agent, though it is unlikely. He also espies a void figure watching his progress.

Later in the sewers, Ford encounters zombified versions of himself, who seem intent on stopping him from reaching the tower. He also discovers the source of the nullbodies' sentience: a strange drink called Melon Belly, which is grown from virtual watermelons. Ford escapes the sewers via a warehouse drain and escapesthe Cleanup Crew onto a train headed to the tower. The line is interrupted by quarantine while at Central Station, and Ford sneaks past onto another train.

Arriving at the base of the massive Tower, Ford battles his way up through several floors to the Time Tower. Here, he finds nullbodies worshipping the System Clock. Ford destroys the clock while being swarmed by nullbodies as MythOS begins to crumble around him. At the last second, he overloads the system clock, and everything disappears as Ford falls into the Voidway.

However, he is only there briefly before being pulled into another simulation using the BONEWORKS engine. This game, *Fantasy Land,* was under early development by in-universe Stress Level Zero before the lockdown. Here, Ford discovers that interacting with the Voidway has created a time loop, and dozens of himself from earlier iterations who also destroyed the System Clock and were dragged here, to have been suddenly circumcised at this point. The exact nature of how is unknown, but the Void is known to bend space and time. Ford progresssntonan arena, where King Ford deems that he must prove himself worthy to earn an audience. Our Ford battles his way through progressively harder and harder stages until King Ford decides to "meet him in the throne room for a 1v1".

In the throne room, our Ford wrestles the King in melee combat and claims the crown. With an army of clones, Ford exploits Fantasy Land’s unfinished state to open a gateway to the Void. Here, he engages in combat with a horde of zombified Fords, accompanied by his army of clones. After the battle ends, Ford rises to the Voidway, proceeding to a large chamber marked “Chamber 02”. Here, he accesses the room in which the player watched the other cutscenes throughout the story mode. In this cutscene room, Ford watches his real body through the screen right as his saferoom is being penetrated by Sabrelake agents and an executive (whose facial attributes remain obscure as his face is blurred out by static.) Retrieves an Eder22 and shoots Ford in the head while void figures begin to emerge. However, since Ford’s consciousness is watching from the Voidway, Ford remains unharmed, thus achieving his ultimate goal. He proceeds to watch the credits roll as void figures begin to encompass the room.

### *BONELAB*

Arthur remains invisible during the story mode but is mentioned in BONELAB. He appeared in the simulation of Street Puncher at some point before the Avatar arrived. His Monogon ID is located in the back of Jimmy’s cab, attached to the window with a “Lost ID?” sign. He also marked the side of the menu machine in Void G114 with “Arthur was here”. In Sandbox mode, he can be generated by default.

## Description

Ford's face is a 3D scan of Brett Driver, an actor and a stuntman for Corridor Digital. He is of a medium but muscular Caucasian build, with swept-back brown hair and a cleanshaven face. He wears a grey, Monogon-branded mocap suit with a dark triangular pattern. This suit also has alternating orange and blue seams, and black highlights at joint areas. These highlights slightly illuminate in dark areas. For whatever reason, this detail is missing in BONELAB’s Ford model. Two underam holsters and two shoulder holsters are also present.

## Quotes

### Writing

* *Dying in MythOS just resurrects you over and over*
* *This can't be good for our psyche*
* *Dying over and over with no repercussions*
* *How many times have we done this*
* *If you die in MythOS, you come back*
* *If you die in the Voidway, do you die in real life?*
* *Everyone is too afraid to try*
* *We had to code resurrection for Myth, but that doesn't connect to the Void.*
* *Theoretically, if we can somehow stop the system clock, we could disconnect the resurrection field outside MythOS chambers.*
* *We could resurrect in the Void.*
* *If I disconnect the servers, I could probably buy a couple hours...*
* *If you die in real life, do you die in the Void?*
* *Our minds are directly connected to the Void.*
* *BONEWORKS backend is the only thing preventing true death. What if immortality is possible?*
* *The Voidway could allow for immortality. If the Monogon Heads knew even remotely how valuable this is...*
* *We have to patch out any way for security breaches.*
* *Even with BONEWORKS access, getting out of MythOS might be hard...*
* *Let's go find out!*

### Greeting

* *"What up, son?"*
* *"Oh, what up son?"*
* *"Why hello!"*
* *"Ha, ha, yeah!"*
* *"Hey!"*
* *"Hello!"*
* *"Everyday."*
* *"Hey there!"*
* *"How's it going?"*
* *"Eyy, friendship!"*

### Death

* *"Augh, I'm dying!"*
* *"Ow, dying!"*
* *"I... I think I'm dying..."*
* *"Augh... think I'm dying..."*
* *"Game over."*
* *“Ow… you got me…”*
* ”*What up son?” (if the player revives before dying)*

### Dungeons

* *"Hey, what up son? Remember me when you ascend."*
* *"Hey, it's you again?"*
* *"Oh, it's you."*
* *"Hey, I've been lookin' for you."*
* *"Hey, you walk real good. I hope I can walk like that someday."*

### King Ford

* *"Welcome! Prove yourself to earn an audience with the king!"*
* *"You just got monkeybunked."*
* *"Mon-key-bunked!"*
* *"Hey, you're toying with 'em!"*
* *"Go harder!"*
* *"(laughter) What up, son!?"*
* *"What! Up! Son!"*
* *"Very strong."*
* *"Oh! More!"*
* *"Hey, we've seen enough! Join me in the throne room for a 1v1."*
* *"All of this will be yours when you beat me. Come now!"*
* *"You've come all this way... Dukes up!"*
* *"Don the crown."*
* *"New king!"*
* *"Hey, he didn't have a chance."*
* *"It was written."*
* *"Lead us into the Void."*
* ”*Monkey Bunked!”*

## Ignored

* *“Okay.*
* “*Alright”*
* ”Ok.”

## Trivia

* It's possible that Ford's name is a reference to *Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,* as Arthur and Ford are the two main characters of the series.
* In the ending of BONELAB, it is possible to find Ford's badge alongside a note saying, "Lost ID?" implying that Ford may have also taken the Void Taxi at some point.
* Ford's accent and dialect may hint at an origin to the southeast United States.

## Gallery

Arthur Ford's security badgeFord's avatar shown on Authentication screen at the beginning of the game.Early promotional art showing Brett Driver portraying Ford.Ford as a playable avatar in BONELAB.