A Collision of Anachronisms Part 2

Subject: A Collision of Anachronisms Part 2 Sat Jun 30, 2012 1:08 pm

Victoria Ashmore:A girl out of time.

By the time her consciousness came back, she'd be sitting a chair, sitting at the end of a long table in a Victorian style dining room.

Spoiler:

"Good evening Ms. Ashmore... I apologize for the nasty bruise on your head. It was the only way I could get you to come willingly.

A man stepped out. Steampunk. His makeshift copper mask glistened a bit.

Of course... the first thing she would think of would be escape.

"I wouldn't attempt to leave. I'm allowing you the freedom of movement. After all... I could never restrain a lady in such a barbaric fashion."

He pointed to her neck, where a strange collar was attached.

Spoiler:

"However... if you attempt to escape... this collar will inject you with a narcotic putting you right back to sleep."

Subject: Re: A Collision of Anachronisms Part 2 Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:24 pm

Victoria let out a soft groan as she came to, a hand reaching up to a throbbing ache in her head. She began trying to piece together what had happened when a familiar voice broke the silence. Her gaze lifted to a rather elaborately decorated room and the same copper-masked man that had approached her in her store. Her heart pounded as she stood up from the table, but he seemed prepared for that and warned her against leaving.

Her hand slipped down from her aching head to her neck, fingers brushing against leather and metal and a vial. A sedation collar...she visibly trembled as she blindly reached back for the arm of the chair, returning to her seat slowly. There were so many questions on her mind. Who was this person? How did he know her birth name? Where was she? Why did it seem like this place was made for someone like her?

She finally settled on one. "...what are your intentions with me, sir?" She asked quietly, her voice shaking.

Subject: Re: A Collision of Anachronisms Part 2 Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:29 pm

"A proposition my dear. I am very curious about your... peculiar case Ms. Ashmore. Just how does one go missing for almost 2 centuries, and then re-appear, only completely without color?"

Steampunk took the seat on the opposite end of the table.

"You see... your fiance was... a family friend of sorts.I owe his spirit that much to know what became of his beloved."

Subject: Re: A Collision of Anachronisms Part 2 Sat Jun 30, 2012 6:38 pm

Victoria listened to him...so he wanted to know about her. She glanced away momentarily. "Mr. Grennan, I presume..." Her clasped hands rested on the table as she mulled it over. Wesley's spirit...was he at peace? Had he found a new life after her? She always wondered...did this man have the answers to the questions that haunted her?

"I...I stumbled through the looking glass," she answered him, gaze distant as the memories resurfaced. "I know not how. I tried, but it would not allow me exit. I could do naught but watch the world pass around me...it was lonesome and maddening, the days melting together into a long string of history I could not fully understand or appreciate. I would awake from my lengthy naps to find myself in a new place almost every time...by others' accounts, I haunted the mirror as a spirit. They saw what I could not, the gradual transformation I underwent within my prison. I had not even considered attempting escape after the first few days; I was fully resigned to my fate." She took a break to catch her breath and calm her nerves. She hadn't recounted the story to anyone...it was still somewhat traumatic to think about.

"One day, while the mirror was in storage, I went to rest a hand on my window to the world...and found it but a curtain. I was shocked, believing it an illusion until I fully passed through. I was free at last...but I also looked like this. I shattered the mirror, lest it entrap anyone else...and I left." She finished, looking to him and hoping his curiosity sated. If that was all he wanted, she could return to her business. The door was unlocked, to her knowledge, and she did need to continue on her commissions in the morning.

Subject: Re: A Collision of Anachronisms Part 2 Sat Jun 30, 2012 6:44 pm

"Very interesting... you fell into a mirror.. which kept you in a conscious state of suspended animation, which somehow drained your color. Fascinating."

Steampunk stood up and began pacing a bit.

"How would you like it if things went back to the way they were? What if I told you I could make the world as you remember it. My fascination... is rooted in your time." He said motioning around the room.

"And I can bring it back... if you join me."

Subject: Re: A Collision of Anachronisms Part 2 Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:07 pm

Victoria looked around the room as he gestured, remembering her slight discomfort in a room seemingly made for her. It appeared it was just this man's obsession, re-creating the past. With embellishment, of course, if the collar was any indication. Creative license in anachronism. She would have been lying if she said she had no desire to go home, but to bring the past here?

"With all due respect, sir...time only moves in one direction," Victoria answered quietly. "I am uncertain of how you even intend to bring the past back into the modern era, or how I could possibly assist in your exorbitantly ambitious designs." It was a rather polite way of going about things...in her mind, his desire seemed an impossible dream, his interest in her time almost delusional. Still, it would be rude to not give him a chance to explain himself...and it was not as though she could leave of her own free will. The collar made sure of that. Would he even accept her potential refusal of his invitation?

That thought shook her heart. He could keep her here, even if she said no. After all, she was alone in this era. Who would bother searching for her? The store would close when payments fell behind, her landlord would reclaim the apartment and sell everything inside...she'd just vanish again, unnoticed.

Subject: Re: A Collision of Anachronisms Part 2 Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:16 pm

"Ms... I feel that I know your pain. You feel alone in this era. However... there are those of us who believe in the restoration of your age. You have a gift. Why use that gift to make a small profit... when you could use it to rule?"

As he said the last sentence, he curled his hand into a fist.

"I have a dream... and the resources to back it up. Things will be back to as normal for you as they will ever get."

The girl looked... sad... quite forgotten really.

Steampunk recognized that look... and decided to exploit it.

"I know that look. It's the look of one who feels helpless... without a friend in the world. I used to be that way. I can bet you feel that no one will remember you. I was shunned for my ideas... called a freak. I swore they would pay. You can make them pay too... pay for forgetting you... pay for forgetting to care."

Subject: Re: A Collision of Anachronisms Part 2 Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:43 pm

Victoria watched her less-than-benevolent host as he explained it. Very vaguely. By his words, there were others who believed in his vision...at the same time, there was an undertone of bitterness and anger. He wanted to rule. He wanted revenge. He apparently wanted to believe she wished the same. And yet...there was a glimmer of kindness, a return to something comfortable and familiar.

"...you are correct," she said at last, meeting his eyes with her own greys. "I do feel alone...and I do feel helpless. This era is bewildering and rather isolative; there are people and things here who terrify me. However, Mr. Grennan, I do not desire revenge against those long dead, and what use have I to rule what I cannot hope to fully understand?" She lowered her head, wondering if he understood her at all, or if he just hoped she was precisely like him.

Still, regardless of his delusions, the offer had its appeal. She felt strangely at home here, in spite of her forced attendance, and being able to live in comfort without starving herself on occasion was always appealing. It felt so easy to pretend here...to hold the illusion of home in her mind. But it wasn't...she could never truly return, and that question nagged at her again. Why?

Subject: Re: A Collision of Anachronisms Part 2 Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:58 pm

Steampunk saw hesitation in the girls face. She had no wish for revenge...then what did she want? Steampunk saw they were not exactly the same. That was fine... their desires didn't need to match... they just had to be close enough that she would join him.

"You will never be alone again! We will find others... those who share our ideals. What you will rule will not be what you cannot understand. When I am done... you shall rule what you can!"

He looked at the girl.

"So... what is this strange skill you have?"

Subject: Re: A Collision of Anachronisms Part 2 Sat Jun 30, 2012 8:47 pm

"..." Victoria, honestly, had no desire to be queen of anything. The companionship, however, was a main draw. Other ladies and gentlemen that felt like home...but it was fake, and she knew it. A beautiful lie. The conversation quickly turned to her skill, and she looked around the room, eyes settling on the metal chandelier above the table.

"I can do this," she answered, concentrating on it for a moment before a branch began to bend and twist. Another joined it, her eyes narrowing before she settled the two back into their original positions and lowered her gaze to him. "It is how I create my jewelry. I can commune with metal, shape it with my will. I am certain you were already aware, thanks to your brutish goon and his broken pistol. Needless to say, your choice in fashion is dangerous in my presence, were I prone to violence."

Subject: Re: A Collision of Anachronisms Part 2 Sat Jun 30, 2012 8:54 pm

"Fascinating..." Steampunk said, feeling his mask.

Hotwire stepped over to her.

Well... how about it? Will you join...

Steampunk motioned to the table, revealing the logo on it. A large V.

"The Society of Victorian Rogues!!!"

Subject: Re: A Collision of Anachronisms Part 2 Sat Jun 30, 2012 9:16 pm

"I figured this to be the case, though how it knows what qualifies as escape eludes me," she commented before he moved to her side, revealing the V on the table in a sweeping gesture. The Society of Victorian Rogues...was he serious?

"Do you believe me to be a rogue?" Victoria asked, expression flat. If only he had known this was her second invitation. The first was from that towering insectoid Tiberius, for the mercenary group Symbiote. And now there was this man. He was much more dramatic, but there was something about the kidnapping and coercion that suddenly made being for hire sound promising. "I am uncertain that you would garner support for your cause referring to yourself as a rogue. I also hold concerns for the feasibility of your desires..." She wanted to make a comment on his sanity, but she was afraid of what that would provoke. She had not yet provided a solid answer to him, either, because she didn't know what would happen should she refuse. He claimed to be a gentleman, but he was also obsessed with her era and now in possession of an authentic woman of that very time he held so dear. Did she really have a choice here, or was it, like recreating the past, an illusion?

Subject: Re: A Collision of Anachronisms Part 2 Sat Jun 30, 2012 9:25 pm

"Plenty shall join this cause... just you wait and see. I already have a list of potential recruits lined. up. As for the feasibility of my plans... they may sound strange at working alone, but with my plans, your control over metal, and the skills of whomever else joins our cause. it will come to reality."

Steampunk saw the disbelief on her face.

"I assure you... when all is over... you will feel as though you never left Britain. The room you see before you-"

Steampunk motioned to the rest of the room.

"-shall reflect the rest of this pitiful city once we are done."

Subject: Re: A Collision of Anachronisms Part 2 Sat Jun 30, 2012 10:03 pm

Victoria looked up past her shoulder at him. She fidgeted, composing herself for what would likely be an unpleasant answer to her host. "I would happily feel at home in an environment such as this...but the entire city, Mr. Grennan? Forcing everyone out of their home to live in a version of yours? One may see it as cruelty...madness, even. I would not wish my plight on anyone, much less a whole city, and certainly not simply to feel at home again."

She looked away from him, not wanting to view his reaction, her breath unsteady as she debated reaching out to his copper mask or standing up. Would that be escape? Would he activate it regardless? He already proved ungentlemanly in kidnapping her like this, even with apologies. Could he simply return her home, or would he want her to reconsider, see his point of view after a chance to sleep on it?

Subject: Re: A Collision of Anachronisms Part 2 Sat Jun 30, 2012 10:13 pm

"Well... I trust this discussion has enlightened you... my men will be watching. Do not speak of our meeting to anyone. Or else even worse things will happen than a simple knock out drug. If you feel you would like to re-consider your choice. Show up, on any Thursday, at this address."

He handed her a piece of paper.

"It is rather... out of the way. But that is to make sure you don't show up if you are not ready. I would hate to put you through unnecessary trauma. Thank you for the discussion Ms Ashmore."

A panel on his gauntlet flipped, revealing a button.

"And I apologize again."

The small vial of liquid on the ladies neck emptied, as it quickly drugged her.

By the time she would wake again... she would be lying on the floor of her store... the men at least had the decency to lock the door behind them so no-one would discover her prematurely and question her on who attacked her. That and to make sure no one robbed the store of one of the people the Society had their eye on.

» A Collision of Anachronisms
» Training Day (Part 2): The Obstacle Course
» For the Swarm! (Part 1)
» Seth's Plan: Part I
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