09-12-2014, 02:53 AM
"I'd be delighted to show you the schematics. Perhaps a fresh set of eyes is all it needs. I've often found that to be the case when something mechanical goes awry." Crispin smiled brightly and set down his translucent porcelain cup. "As I said before, I seldom have anyone to show her off to... although I am terribly embarrassed that you have to be a captive audience, as it were."
He rose from his chair and went to activate one of the ubiquitous clockwork robots. This one looked like an oblong box about the right size to store a pair of boots in, but a few twisted knobs and a metallic 'ping' were followed by the device rising up onto four spindly legs and delicately picking its way out of the room. The evenly-spaced knobs on its side and its curiously awkward grace made it look rather like a fawn testing its legs. Crispin watched it go with a faintly paternal manner, and then turned back to his guest. "We'll clear off the table and look at them in here-- the light's best. Unless you'd like more tea first? I'd be happy to make more."
Before his offer could be accepted or declined, the fawn-bot returned with a handsome leather satchel hanging off its nose. The slender inventor removed the bag eagerly and the fawn tiptoed across to where it had originally rested. It folded itself down to the floor again and seemed to look directly at Spade before it tucked its head along its side. From this angle it was obvious that it had carried the satchel by means of a coathook placed on its head like a strangely ornate unicorn's horn. The soft purring of its gears went silent, making the visitor's comment about Oxford seem especially loud.
"Ah, Oxford. Some things never change." Crispin leaned toward the window with a wistful smile. His eyes sought familiar shapes among the buildings of the university, and his wistful expression turned faintly disapproving at the sight of the cars hurrying along the busy streets like gaudy beads necklacing the town. "Well, they don't change as much as they could, at any rate. Are you an Oxford man?"
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