Marcus smiled as he made sure the doll would sit up perfectly fine, she was heavy, but it was to be expected because of all the gears inside of her. The young man looked at Theta. "Not the average Guardian you're used to?" he questioned her softly before he smiled and carefully took the hand of the thing in front of them.
"She used to be my own guardian when I was little. But she turned out to be a better help in household than a real guardian." he smiled.
"When I got older, she didn't stop following me around, when I hit my sixteenth birthday, she called me her father. Mainly because I fixed her every time she was broken." he sighed. "She's become my little baby ever since. At first I didn't want to bring her with me to England, but she looked so lonely..." the blonde gently stroked the dirty and messy hair of the artificial human in front of him. "Her name is Anna."

She nodded quietly, and watching Marcus with the doll only reinforced it. It wouldn't do to leave her like this, and it -definitely- wouldn't do to experiment on her. "If...you'd work on mending the skin... We don't use such coverings in England, I wouldn't know where to begin..." She considered the doll for several moments, then froze.

"She...called you her father?" Theta's mind ran at a million miles an hour as she tried to catch up with the ramifications of that. So Anna could -talk-? But...that was precisely what he'd asked -her- here to handle, wasn't it? Coggy was the only speaking clockwork in existence in the entire British Empire, and here he had a guardian doll that could speak and referred to him with such affectionate terms that could -only- signify the existence of a soul?

"........I don't.....know if I could possibly improve on such a craft....it seems you already know all you need to...."

The man smiled as he seemed to reassure the little girl on the table. When Theta suggested that Marcus blinked. "Oh this? this is bleached brown leather actually." He chuckled. "I'm sure I could get it anywhere or bleach and paint it myself. " he stated before he smiled. "But I would be honoured if you want to take a look at her gears. " he nodded.

When Theta seemed so surprised Marcus blinked. "Well...Called...not in voice. But in writing and drawing, she is trying to make noises and tries to speak sometimes simple words such as up and things like that." he said with a small smile. "I don't really know how she can do that." he sighed. "If I only knew I could give her a proper voice."
The blonde man looked at the girl beside him before chuckling. "I didn't make her, my grandfather did. But he wouldn't let me see her blueprints or anything like that. Maybe in his will, but he's not dead, or atleast when I left Germany he was still alive. Sick and old, but alive."

She writes. She draws. She tries to speak... "All that...is so close to the full part...likely someone has already been hurt in her construction..."

Theta sighed and looked down at Coggy for a moment, then back up to Marcus. ".....I will help you give her a voice. But...it will hurt you. It's...why making speaking assistants will never be a possibility for mass production." She sighed and reached down to pick up the little pocket watch that hung off of her belts. "When...my father made Coggy for me, he put his soul into it. Literally. And that little bit of Coggy that can speak and think and chide me and let his head inflate and get arrogant... Is a little piece of my father's soul that got caught in him and torn off. It wasn't a pleasant process."

But she did want to help him. She wanted to help this man that had...realistically, done very little. But...he'd given her a -chance-. That was more than many had done, more than she'd ever really expected from the world. She focused more on Anna than on Marcus, though, and for the first time in her life she felt the Uncanny Valley opening up beneath her; not in revulsion but...

She wasn't sure she could work on this little girl for the clockwork she was...she looked far too real...

Marcus smiled as he gently kept on stroking the blonde horse hair that he had given her for real hair. It was the hardest part to get, a wig. Other things like her eyes could be easily bought from a doll shop or anything like that.

Theta just revealed the biggest secret. A real human soul lived in that little clock of hers. Her fathers soul that was. Blinking slightly he looked at the clock before he nodded. "I wouldn't mind the pain." he said. "I'm probably not getting married any time soon and I am a bit of a family guy...She'll be the closest to a daughter that I will get. At least, for now that is." he sighed. Then he looked at Theta. "But you don't hear me complain." he laughed softly. He really appreciated her help or at least the fact that she wanted to help him with fixing his little Anna.
Then something came to mind. Marcus put the clockwork child in a lying position and opened up her chest carefully. "There is one part, I do not understand. Perhaps you can tell me what it is." he stated as he removed some pistols and gears. Only to reveal a container that was a bit shaped like a heart. It contained a red glowing liquid, however it was strongly protected by a case so it couldn't get damaged so easily. Marcus had figured that this was the girls 'heart'. But how it worked, he didn't know.

Theta frowned when she saw it, and reached out to take the 'heart' from him. She considered it carefully. "It can't be coolant, since it isn't meant to circulate... It...would have to be a stabiliser of some sort, but the question is...what for?" She wondered if the case would open up, or if it was somehow hiding something safe within. "How does it interact with her other working parts?"

Now that she was -open-, Theta could focus on the clockworks within, taking stock of how they went together and how the whole thing was put together. She could see the work of the clumsy customs officials, and it made her a bit angry to see such a fine clockwork treated in such a manner. That she could fix easily enough, but no doubt so could Marcus as well...

There had to be something -more-...

Marcus looked at Theta. "I wondered that too, but see these tubes? They are attached to the 'heart'." he said before he looked back at the heart. "I can't get it out. No matter how many many times I try, it just won't come out." Slowly he moved a few gears again only to show her the many bolts and other things there were attached to it. "It really looks like a heart, it has four chambers as you can see...But I don't know what liquid it is or what it is for. Maybe it's a sort of fuel to keep her limbs moving." he stated rubbing his head, smearing grease over his hair and cheeks.

She shook her head immediately. "It would have run out by now if it was fuel. Whatever it is, it's not being -used-, so it just needs to =be= there. A coolant of some sort, but...I'm not sure what causes the glow... Maybe if we just repair her first and then work on modifications -after- we see what it does and how it interacts with her body..." She paused for a moment, then smiled sheepishly. "Does she have anything against having her gearworks exposed while she's awake?"

Marcus gave a bit of a nodded shrug as she talked. "Good idea. Let's get her up and running and see what does what exactly. " he smiling slightly he got tools and the gears he knew that had to be replaced. Marcus knew this girl well, or at least the common gears like the joints and the 'muscles'.
When Theta asked if she had anything against that Marcus rubbed his head again. "Well. I know she doesn't mind me or other women, so, you're safe." he said. Then he gently poked the clock that hung down her waist. "Perhaps Coggy wants to see what we're going to do? I want to show him not all Germans are barbarians."

Theta shook her head quietly. "When she's fixed up, maybe. Right now he'll just make a pain of himself, I'm sure. He's even set his alarm off while I was doing something delicate just to startle me into breaking it because he didn't approve of my endeavour once."

She focused more on paying attention to what Marcus was doing than on actively helping him--she would learn just as much from paying close attention to this as she would poking around in Anna herself, and would hurt the girl much less for doing it this way. "Once she's fixed up...then I'll wake Coggy up to introduce him to her."

Marcus was soon working on getting the torn leather of the girl, so she would be fully exposed. He kept a small piece so he could get the right kind of leather again. And her hair as well, he could fix that, with washing and brushing. At least he hoped so. That wig had been so darn expensive!
When she spoke of Coggy's attitude Marcus shuddered. "Now that is something we don't want to happen." he agreed before he got the last piece of skin off the humanoid before tossing it out. "Haha, maybe we can fool him, telling him that she's my daughter." he laughed.

Some of her frame had been bent, some gears broke and so on, but it was minor damage. Marcus got up only to get a set of dark brown leather work gloves and some more tools to get everything out neatly. "Theta, do you know if there is a leather shop near here?" he asked her as he glanced at her as he picked out one of the gears that was easy to reach.

"I don't....know how he'd take to that, honestly. I don't know if he'd be able to tell or not. Certainly not if he got -close- to her, but..." She shrugged idly, still far more focused on paying attention to what was going on with her gearworks. "The leather shop...is at the far end of town, actually. I think I'd pay for a taxi if we needed to go there and back today. Do you think this will be one day's work? Or shall we work on what's here for today and get the leather before beginning tomorrow?"

Marcus nodded slowly as he worked fast. He usually hated it if people would glance over his shoulder, but she didn't give off the annoying aura at all. She was learning, wasn't she? Oh, it didn't matter. He worked like any other worker. Perhaps a bit faster than the British, he had noticed. He had given off a watch for a maker to repair, it took 3 full weeks and Marcus doubted that he was last in line.
When she suggested that Marcus took a short break. "well. Her gears are replaced in no time. The leather however takes some time, since I have to paint it still and sew it right and invisible." he said and looked at her. "I think it's better if we bought the leather tomorrow before we start."

She nodded quietly, still a bit engrossed with memorising how she'd been put together, trying to commit it all to memory before she lost track of what had happened. And it was with that absent, preoccupied demeanour that she bid him farewell for the evening.

Morning came and brought her to his office quite early, ready to head out and show him where the leather shop was and finish fixing Anna. This was going to be amazing...and if they could give voice to the little clockwork girl... Her thoughts moved at a million miles an hour, trying to imagine what sort of reception Anna would get. Would she be hailed as an innovation? Would investors then bang down Marcus' door to get at the man that created such a masterpiece?

Or would the Uncanny Valley open up and swallow them whole... Would Anna be reviled for her near-human appearance... Would she even appreciate being saddled with the burden of consciousness? Would she and Marcus become outcasts for having worked on something so undoubtedly controversial? So many things to worry about, so many things to wonder about, and she stared off into space after having knocked on his door, waiting for him to open it like that would somehow make her thoughts stop whirling.

Marcus had allowed her to leave as she wasn't really helping anyway. He himself however pulled an all nighter again. He didn't seem to mind, except now that she was here again, he was totally exhausted. He had been sleeping on the small couch that he had in his office.
Groaning and grumbling he opened the door. "Come in..." he offered her before he shuffled back and got to tidying things, mainly just folding the thin quilt into a neat pile again and hanging it away before he sat down in the couch again, yawning.

The little doll girl however was up and working properly. She moved a bit as she still sat on the work table. Her head tilted to the side. Obviously she was interested in the woman that just walked in.

Theta smiled gently at Marcus as she slipped into the room, and smiled a bit more when she saw him tidying a quilt. The worried thoughts of a moment ago all faded into nothingness when she realised that she was indeed right in her guess... She'd brought along what she'd need to stay there for several days--a case that held a teapot, a box of tea, a cloth for her glasses, and, of course and most importantly, her tools.

She headed over to Anna and smiled gently for her as well, reaching out to tuck a bit of hair behind her ear. "So lovely...it looks like we should get straight back to work. Where to begin? Or should I make tea?" She leaned down to the case she'd just set down by the worktable and flipped the catches, reaching in for her teapot. "I brought my teapot...I thought you might appreciate seeing it...?"

Marcus was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes when she was hopping all over his office. Well, she seemed to be more energetic than Marcus at that point.
The young man just sat still for a moment grumbling slightly to himself as he began to wake a bit better.

Anna followed the woman with her eyes carefully. When she was touched she slightly shuddered, Marcus had been the only one touching her for years and she was slightly scared of her new surroundings. However when she noticed that Theta didn't mean any harm she started to sway and kick her legs a bit off the edge, watching the woman with great curiosity.

When Marcus heard the suggestion he rolled his head back. "I'd like some tea first, if you don't mind...I just woke up, you know." he said in a soft slightly hoarse morning voice. When he realized she said her teapot he blinked and sat up straight. "the one that gets annoyed when people are taking too long?!" Suddenly the man seemed to burst with energy.

"Yes, that one. I only have the one." Theta smiled back at Marcus, then pulled out her teapot and set it down. She also pulled out from her pocket another watch, though this one not on a chain. She slipped a key into the back of it--by law clockworks could not wind themselves, so anything with hands had to be wound by a key that a human would keep a hold of. After giving it a good wind, she opened it up. Arms and legs folded out of it, and disproportionately large hands and feet inflated on the ends of its limbs. She set it down, then picked up the teapot to give it a wind as well.

"Make tea for us, Fetch-It." The pocket watch bowed awkwardly to Theta at her command, taking the teapot when it was handed it, then reached down to the case to get out tea, and moved to go find a water source to fill the teapot. Theta, meanwhile, turned her attention back to Marcus and Anna. "There...tea will be ready soon. In the mean while... Let's have a look at you, Anna... How are you today?" She knew the clockwork girl couldn't answer her vocally, but she had a fully functional body, and hand gestures and posture could tell a lot.

Marcus just watched the scene unfold before his very own eyes. He had never seen a thing like this in his entire life and he had seen a lot! The clock really 'grew' limbs that were fully functioning! This really got to him and he really wanted to know how she had done it. His eyes searched for the secret of the clock, but couldn't find any, of course.
His eyes couldn't be averted from the little clock working together with the tea pot to make tea. How lovely!

When he heard that Theta turned to Anna he turned to look at the girls. Anna seemed to be confused. Which was logic, since the thing didn't understand English. Marcus smiled. "Wie gehts es dir, Anna?" he asked the girl, getting into the role of translator.

The doll then looked at her owner before back at Theta, she understood that that had been the question, so the answer had to be directed to the one who originally asked it. She nodded and put her thumb up. She was feeling and doing well, despite the fact her skin was torn and tattered. She swung her legs a bit before she pointed to Theta and tilted her head, her hands then made a questioning gesture, she wanted to know who Theta was and how she was doing.

Theta smiled brightly when Anna answered her. That was to the girl's advantage, she supposed--being unable to speak meant what she would be inherently able to speak with just about everyone--fluid hand gestures and suchlike were independent of language. "I'm doing well, thank you. My name is Elizabeθ Buckley. You can call me..." She paused. Giving her her nickname was rather pointless, now wasn't it? But she needed a way to refer to her, now didn't she?

Theta held out her hand and made an o shape with her thumb and index finger, then curled her other fingers tighter so they appeared to bisect the little circle her fingers made--a serviceable θ shape, as per her nickname. "Theta. That's the symbol my name is written with. Can your fingers make that shape?" She didn't want to give her something too difficult to copy, but she could imagine that she had quite a few hand gestures assigned to different meanings.

The Fetch-It returned with the teapot, and reached up to set it down on the table. Once there, the teapot began to pace around, though it shied away from Marcus and Theta--tea wasn't ready yet. Fetch-It started looking for teacups.

The girl listened to the other woman she tried hard to understand her. She was just learning English, but somehow she did understand the woman perfectly. When Theta made the gesture of the sign for her name the girl copied it easily. Her joints were working well and it was hard to tell that she was a machine by her movement.
Marcus noticed that Anna was trying to move her jaw, but seemed to be a bit stuck. He got up and moved to Anna only to get a bit of oil and forced her jaw open. Carefully he oiled the joints of her jaw and made her move her mouth like a fish. "There all smooth again." he smiled.

The girl just smiled and hugged Marcus tightly. Then she looked back at Theta, let go of Marcus and held her arms out to her too.
She was such a child.

Then Marcus' attention went back to the teapot and clock running around. Marcus opened a cabinet and got the things Fetch-it would need. He handed the items to the clock to be put on the table.

Theta nodded when Anna copied it. That had been a good test of her dexterity as well actually, and Theta continued to marvel at her. "Very good..." She watched Marcus attend to her jaw and smiled at the tenderness she saw there. Or was she imagining it? Of all the times to start acting like a woman again, now couldn't possibly have been worse.

She widened her eyes in surprise when those arms were offered out to her, and she tapped her cane quietly to draw attention to it before getting closer to Anna again. "Well...all right... Just be gentle with me, all right? I'm a bit fragile..." Clockworks could be freakishly strong; she knew that Fetch-It alone had sprained her hand by holding it too tightly. Technically a clockwork that hurt a human even accidentally was to be destroyed. But she'd told no one, and spent quite a long time teaching it to moderate its grip. She didn't really want to have arms go around her waist even when they were used to hugging a man. Times like these, the limitations and indeed the very nature of her body were brought back to the forefront of her mind.

Fetch-It took the tea cups and set them out, and the teapot went over to them and 'looked' at them. It didn't have a face, but by its very mannerisms it seemed to treat its lid as a hat, though the spout could move about a bit, made of some unusual flexible metal, and it moved around like eyes to 'look' at things. Generally it stayed facing forwards, but it was turned down just a little bit to 'look' down at the cups without pouring any tea. Then it went over to where Fetch-It was standing by the table, and kicked one of Fetch-It's hands.

The small watch jumped a bit, and turned to face the teapot directly, holding its hands out in a questioning gesture. The teapot stomped one of its feet three times. Fetch-It dutifully pointed to Theta, Marcus, and Anna, and slowly it dawned on it what the teapot was on about. It went over to Marcus to hold its hands out for another cup. It seemed that neither of them even realised Anna was a clockwork, despite her torn skin and tattered state.

The girl was smiling so sweetly to Theta. She was a real sweet girl. In the beginning though she had injured Marcus, she had broken a few ribs and even his foot, but he had taught her to be careful when dealing with human beings that way. Whenever she had hurt her owner, Marcus scolded her and treated her like a four year old with punishments. She learned fast.

And this was the result of hard labour of the both of them: Anna carefully draped her arms around Theta's neck and hugged her gently, as soft as a child would. However Anna didn't want to let go so soon. She sensed that Theta was just like her: a woman and it pleased the clockwork to feel someone more...soft and curvy in her arms.
After a moment though she let go and smiled at Theta. "Teta." she chuckled. The name was more a combination of clicks and whirs from the clockwork inside her body than an actual voice.

Marcus smiled and stroked the girls hair. "Gud! Anna, das ist sehr gut!" he praised her. It was also then that he noticed the clock holding out his hands. Marcus turned to the clock and rubbed his head. "You want another cup? but, there are just two of us who drink tea." he said. "Anna, she's not human, she's all gears and cogs just like you." he smiled. "Don't worry about her." The man then looked at the teapot and smiled. "Thank you for worrying though."

Theta hugged her with one arm, keeping her other hand firmly on her cane to keep her stable. The little girl was precious, and it was hard to imagine that she was anything other than a child that Marcus cared very deeply for. She pulled back and gasped when Anna managed to say something that...close enough...might as well have been her name. It was heartwarming, and even with a whirring and clicking and ticking voice...it suited her so well.

The Fetch-It returned to the teapot and held its hands out in a gesture of defeat. The teapot tapped one of its feet insistently, and when Fetch-It reached out to it, the teapot gave its hand a good kick. Fetch-It began to explain, moving its hands to mime holding something and giving it a wind from a clockwork key. The teapot looked over at Anna, then back at Fetch-It. The spout nodded forwards a couple of times, and Fetch-It obediently picked up the teapot to bring it over to see Anna.

Theta looked at the two of them and started laughing a little bit. "What are you two doing?" She got no answer, however.

Anna smiled and and just looked at the woman and her 'father'. Marcus gently took Anna's hand and rubbed it with his thumb. Obviously, she was more than just an invention or gizmo. She was his baby. She was always the one who Marcus could turn to in desperate times.
Sweetly Marcus helped the little girl off the table and allowed her to do as she pleased.

She looked at the little scene and when the two headed over to her she went down on her knees, sitting down and tilting her head. She knew well they were the same as she was. Smiling she held out a hand, to say hello to them. In their language there was no spoken word, but every clockwork understood their body language and gestures. Carefully Anna gave the teapot a stroke over the lid, as if to say that it needed to cool down. Her long blonde hair touched the floor as she went even more to their height.

Marcus in the meanwhile moved over to an old doctor bag and flipped it open to get out a dress for the little girl. However his eyes barely went away from watching the scene.