Arturo Herrera

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— Artie offering his view on life.

**Arturo "Artie" Herrera** is a character in Arches. He is a friend of Dev's from college who arrives to join Dev and Cam after the two become stranded in Echo.

## Appearance

Artie is a tall, lithe jaguarundi with dark brown fur that is spiked up on top of his head. He wears a blue dress shirt and khakis, and has yellow eyes. In his driver's license photo, Artie wears an orange crew-neck shirt.

In summer 2021, Artie is shown wearing black shorts and a red t-shirt reading "I HAVE NEEDS" with a rainbow pyramid listing out out various physical, social, and emotional needs with each tier.

## Personality

Artie is upbeat and relaxed. He likes to live in the moment, and is casual about the potential consequences that could befall him because of his actions. He can also be somewhat insensitive, at least while high, and speaks very frankly. Despite these qualities, Artie is a kind person who goes out of his way to help others in various ways, such as coming to pick up Dev and Cam or helping Dev through his first breakup, and he is very dedicated to his girlfriend Maria. Artie's levelheaded outlook also makes him reliable in stressful situations, and he is described as having remarkable mental fortitude.

Artie enjoys using drugs recreationally, mostly marijuana, but draws the line at anything hallucinogenic.

## Story

### Early Life and College

Artie was born on February 12, 1996. During his childhood, Artie and his family emigrated from the in-universe equivalent of Guatemala. He mentions having an aunt and several siblings, including an older brother who died suddenly from a pulmonary embolism, which left Artie devastated.

Artie attended Pueblo University with Devon and Cameron, but had to drop out of his original major (presumably engineering like Dev), and switched to psychology. He takes credit for introducing Devon and Cam in order to help Dev get over a breakup, although in actuality he mentioned Devon to a mutual friend who also knew Cameron and then she set them up. While in college, he met a jaguar named Maria and the two began dating. Upon her diagnosis with bipolar disorder, Artie took on an active role in helping Maria regulate her symptoms and helps her prepare for dealing with any potential episodes together.

Artie has gone ghost hunting with Devon before and seems to share an interest in the paranormal. He currently lives in Mesa with Maria, and works as a behavioral technician for children with low-functioning autism at a specialized school called Spectrum Solutions Academy.

### Arches

#### Act 1

After Dev's Jeep gets stuck in a ditch, he uses the limited cell phone signal in Echo to contact Arturo and let him know that he and Cam are stranded. Artie agrees to come pick them up, and finds Cam and Dev in the town roughly five hours later. Dev assumes Artie still has the large truck that he last saw him driving, and is dismayed when Artie arrives in a small sedan that cannot help dislodge the Jeep.

Artie is cheerful, and treats seeing the two again more like a college reunion than a rescue, which frustrates Devon. Artie asks to see the town and join the ghost hunt before leaving, a request supported by Cam and resisted by Devon. This causes Artie to remark that Cam and Dev seem like they've switched places, and he quickly picks up on the tension between them.

Artie takes a hit of marijuana from his vape and offers some to Cam and Dev. Dev automatically declines for the both of them but Cam opts to uncharacteristically partake, and Artie tries to smooth over the friction that arises between the two as a result. Artie coaches Cameron through his high, and even feels jealous of the outpouring of cathartic emotion that Cam experiences. When Cam divulges that he is psychic Artie is thrilled for him, but it is unclear whether he takes the news seriously.

The group begins walking in the direction of Echo, and Artie remains nonchalant about their safety even after Dev warns that there may be a gun-toting local on the lookout for them. At the motel, Artie remarks that it is amazing that Cam and Dev are still together because they are, in his opinion, such opposites. He reminisces about their shared college days, to Cam's amusement and Dev's embarrassment.

When Cam senses something supernatural and wants a moment alone to experience it, Artie brokers a compromise that satisfies Dev's protectiveness: he and Dev will wait nearby and keep an eye on Cameron while he ventures into the motel alone. While they wait, Artie catches a haggard weasel pulling things out from under the hood of his car and rushes over to confront him, only for the weasel to knock him and Dev to the ground and pull a gun on them before escaping.

Once he confirms that the car is non-functional, Artie goes back to the motel just in time to see a frantic Cam run off into the desert. Dev takes off after him and Artie follows.

#### Act 2

As they walk, Artie mentions the antipsychotic drugs that Cam used to take in college, which Dev is shocked to learn about. Artie reassures Dev that Cam is probably just panicked, and apologizes for giving him weed.

Once Cam and Dev find each other, Artie wanders off into a nearby forest to pee. Cam and Dev find him, but just as the three are preparing to leave Artie and Dev see a shadowy creature high in the tree branches. It lunges at Cameron and seemingly melds with him, knocking him unconscious. Before they have time to recover, Brian confronts them. Dev explains what happened to Cam, and he and Artie reluctantly agree to Brian's offer to give them a ride to a nearby spot with cell phone reception. Once they reach his van, however, Brian pulls a gun on them. Dev later recalls the way Artie crumpled to the ground after Brian fired the gun at him for attempting to flee, and feels certain that Artie is dead.

#### Act 3

Contrary to Dev's expectations, Artie survives, but just barely. He awakens some time later with brain damage and a fractured skull from the gunshot wound to his head. His motor and language skills are badly degraded and his memory is hazy. He flashes back to a second-grade book report he gave while still learning English, and then experiences moments from throughout his life as he reconstructs his sense of who he is. He hears Cameron calling for help from a nearby trailer, followed by thuds and yelps, and realizes that Brian must be holding Cam hostage inside.

Artie can see no sign of Dev and so, despite his paralysis and the looming sensation that he is dying, he begins walking through the desert towards the highway in the hopes that he can locate help before succumbing to his injuries. As he walks, he remembers helping Maria manage her bipolar disorder, and he worries that even if he makes it back to her, he won't be able to take care of her in his current state.

After a seizure stops his progress, Artie notices a charred figure observing him and wonders if it is an embodiment of death coming to take him. He then suddenly notices headlights out of the corner of his eye and resumes his progress towards the highway. The figure is gone when he looks back, and he assumes it was a product of his delirium.

Just as Artie is reaching the limit of what his body can do, he hears Cam's voice, even though the coyote is nowhere nearby. Artie then sees headlights and a car stops in front of him. The driver, who initially shouts at Artie for standing in the middle of the road, turns out to be the weasel from hours previously, and when he sees Artie's condition he decides to help him into the vehicle and drive him to the closest hospital. As they depart, Artie prays for Dev and Cam, for Maria, and for his own recovery.

Artie survives and quickly begins to heal, although he develops a stutter and a limp, as well as memory problems and motor issues on the right side of his body. He resumes his job in order to reassert some normalcy, and seems to greatly enjoy being able to return to working with children. He keeps in touch with Dev but gradually grows apart from Cam.

#### Epilogue

Cam and Dev visit Artie in the summer of 2021 and, suspicious about the distance he suspects is developing between them, Cam microdoses on psilocybin beforehand in order to read Artie's emotions. Artie's mindset during their interaction is therefore filtered through Cam's heightened perception, and so it is unclear whether Cam's observations are accurate or simply projections of his own self-doubt.

Cam senses that Artie is still damaged but at peace, and is surprised to find that he is more mentally guarded than anyone else he has met. He comes to believe that Artie not only truly understands that Cam is psychic but fears him because of it, since it may mean Cam is somehow still connected to Echo. Artie remains on edge around Cam but by opening up about their respective recoveries the two seem to find common ground, and Artie even asks Maria to share her similar experiences with antipsychotic medication for Cam's benefit. The undercurrent of fear and resentment that Cam believes he can detect while interacting with Artie and Maria persists, however, and he resolves to distance himself from them in the future so that his presence will not act as a reminder of Artie's ordeal. Despite this, Cam is relieved to sense that Artie is truly on a good path and foresees a happy future for him.

## Relationships

### Devon

Artie and Dev are old college friends, but seem to be at odds when they reunite. Artie remarks that Dev is different from how he remembers, and considers him a buzzkill for discouraging Cam from smoking weed. Artie possibly resents engineers like Dev because he himself failed out of the engineering program at Pueblo. Despite this, Artie retains a degree of companionship with Devon and comforts him when he is worried about Cam's physical and mental well-being. He is also willing to put his own life on hold to pick Dev and Cam up from Echo, indicating that he still considers Dev a close friend despite their tense reunion.

A year after they survive Echo together, Cam concludes that Artie and Dev are destined to maintain a lifelong friendship.

### Cameron

Artie knows Cam through Devon, but the two seem to be good friends in their own right. According to Devon, however, Artie knows very little about Cam's difficult past. Artie and Cam seem to hit it off easily in Echo, and bond while they get high together. Artie is somewhat surprised that Cam and Dev have stayed together for as long as they, given their differing personalities and the fact that Cam was a "rebound" relationship for Dev, though he supports the couple's happiness. After hearing what appears to be Cam in danger, Artie attempts to go for help first and foremost despite his own condition being dire.

After their ordeal in Echo, Artie grows apart from Cam. Once they reunite, Cam begins to believe that Artie fears him because of some perceived lingering connection to Echo, and decides the distance between them may be for the best.

### Maria

Maria is Artie's girlfriend who he lives with in Mesa. Maria struggles with her mental health as a result of bipolar disorder, and Artie often helps her through her rough patches. This may be one factor for Artie's decision to pursue a psychology degree. The two appear very devoted to one another and have been in a relationship for a number of years. After being injured, Artie worries that he will no longer be able to help Maria as a result of his condition, should he survive at all.

Maria stays by his side, however, and the relationship between the two remains solid despite Artie's long road to recovery.

## Trivia

* Artie is the only major Arches character who did not first appear in Echo.
* According to Artie's driver's license, he was born February 12, 1996. This makes him the only Arches character with a confirmed birth date, as well as the only one with a definite age.
* Shortly after arriving in Echo, Artie cavalierly states that he does not care much about the concept of being shot and that if his life should end that way then it is simply the way things go. This likely foreshadows his later fate at the hands of Brian.