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Wyrmskyld
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#26
Old 02-07-2014, 04:01 AM

"Err... well, I thought I'd repaired her. She shouldn't be able to malfunction like this. But sometimes she... decides I need to go somewhere. That's how it seems, at least. I suppose I'll have to take the autopilot apart again and try to find the problem. Perhaps you can help... but we can't do it until we stop." Crispin smiled apologetically, and winced at Ethan's understandable anger. "I... think the destination this time is somewhere in the Atlantic."

He had just finished cutting Ethan free when the airship picked up speed. He took the jolt with the grace of one long-accustomed to the airship's foibles, and led the way up a compact but elegantly constructed spiral stair to the ship's neat galley. We must be out of London... "I've not heard of Whittards... I got this in Ceylon. It's quite good, though."

Winters busied himself in the tiny kitchen as he spoke, putting a kettle over the fire and assembling a tray with all the trappings of a Victorian high tea. The last plate of thin sandwiches was placed on the tray just as the kettle began to sing, and Ethan's host poured the hot water into the waiting teapot. "The dining room is to the left. I'll bring the tray if you don't mind opening the door."

The dining room was filled with light from the banks of windows on three sides, giving a spectacular view of the landscape slipping by below. Aside from the windows it was a rather bare room. The room could have seated a dozen or more people comfortably, but the table-- while certainly as elegant and well-made as the rest of the ship's furnishings-- was barely large enough for four, and only if they were friends. Three of the chairs sat against the windowless wall, while the one at the table seemed to speak eloquently of its owner's loneliness.

Crispin seemed oblivious to any furnishing strangeness, setting the tray on the table with a flourish. He put one of the chairs in place for Ethan, and went to his own to pour tea into the delicate porcelain cups. "Come, sit. Best not to stand on formality-- I always add too much cream and sugar when I pour for others, anyway."

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#27
Old 03-10-2014, 04:28 AM

Ethan gawked at the man. Surely he couldn't mean the Atlantic Ocean! Stating his disbelief on the comment was laboring to get beyond his own shock and even when his voice finally catch up with the man it was completely drowned out by the gathering din of worries flooding into his mind. "I can't just... go to the ATLANTIC! I've got work! You're stopping this airs--" Spade choked at the sight of the green fields below them. "We're... going too fast..."

It was simply impossible. Airships weren't designed to be speedy by any means but this one had already made it's way outside of the clutter of London's sprawl. The stunned man hung near the dinning room windows once more stunned into silence for several long moments. Only when Crispin requested him to sit did his eyes leave the glass, though it was as if his eyes had taken on their quality as he sank into the chair. As he had watched the window a number of villages and even a town or two had flown past beneath them. It was clear they were traveling at an incredible speed and would be crossing over into the Atlantic within the hour. As if a puppet he fixed his tea and took a shaky sip to calm his nerves.

"How...?"

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#28
Old 03-10-2014, 05:41 AM

"I'm afraid she has a mind of her own. As I said, the autopilot keeps setting its own destinations, and I can't find where the error lies." Crispin sighed and gave an affectionate pat to a section of polished bronze tubing. "She's faster than most airplanes, though. I'm certain I can get you home by morning, and the berths are far superior to a plane so you'll even be well rested."

He added cream and sugar to his tea and sipped thoughtfully from the delicate gold-rimmed cup. His warm brown eyes grew far away, and he continued speaking half to himself. "Beatrice is not a standard airship. I'd never seen an airship when I built her... I just wanted to be able to get somewhere quickly..." His voice trailed off and he gazed into his cup. Spade had to strain to hear his next words. "I didn't make it in time..."

Silence reigned for several long seconds before Crispin shook off his mood with a visible effort. He tossed back the rest of his tea in one swallow and selected a sandwich from the tray. His bright smile seemed slightly unnatural after the hint of remembered tragedy only a moment before, but the enthusiasm in his next words sounded genuine. "I'll be happy to show you the schematics after tea, if they would interest you. I don't often meet people who'd appreciate them."

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#29
Old 09-02-2014, 10:39 PM

It was no surprise that Ethan failed to hear Crispin's quiet memory beyond the rattling china in the larger man's hand. He needed that tea now more than ever because the unmistakable red bricks of Reading was starting to materialize outside the window. "Yeah..." he said at a loss, "Maybe I can figure out it's self navigation... issues."

Programming. Did he really just suggest he knew how to program a navigation system? "I don't have much confidence that I'd make a difference." Spade winced and quaffed his tea. This was what he got for sticking his nose into other people's business. He wondered how on Earth some of his ex's managed to be so good at it without the repercussions he was now suffering, but, with a grimace into his cup, ultimately chalked that up to experience. His teacup was soon drained well before the steamy liquid could calm his shaken nerves. In a futile effort to extend it's general effects Ethan held the teacup up to his mouth, willing more tea to materialize and spare him the rest of his spontaneous air-cruise to the Atlantic.

When the tea refused to regenerate itself within the fine, yet perfectly ordinary teacup the matter was settled. He was determined to sit out the rest of this bizarre ride, get back to his job and never consider fighting crime again. Madness must have compelled him, that was it. Temporary, glorious madness... just like the sight just beyond the glass that separated them from the landscape flying along below them. "That can't be Oxford already..."

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#30
Old 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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#31
Old 02-01-2015, 06:42 AM

"Captive, yeah..." Spade sputtered, gazing down at the Cotswolds drifting along below them. His host was moving around now, something made a pinging noise, it all seemed so much further away than the sight in front of him. The offer to go over the schematics was taken away in the foggy distance created by the hypnotizing scene.

A near imperceptible tapping sound arrived, something larger that threw a strange shadow into the very corner of Spade's sight- another clockwork. This one considerably larger with four spindly legs that looked all but impossible as a means of locomotion, though the form was very clearly imitating that of a small deer. The young man found himself gawking at it and only with great effort was he finally able to close his mouth with a soft pop.

Yet another question from his host nearly escaped him but finally the words resonated as ones aimed for him. With a stiff, reluctant turn Spade laid his eyes back on Crispin "No, I'm a Londoner. I've never really been this far out of the city before..." he hesitated a moment before conceding that sitting in silence would actually be even more awkward not. "Are you?"

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#32
Old 02-01-2015, 07:33 PM

"Yes... though I doubt anyone remembers me. I've rather fallen out of the old boy network since I left." Crispin sounded rather wistful, but shook off the melancholy and began briskly removing papers from the satchel and spreading them across the parquet floor. In methodical order, the inlaid wood was replaced with antique-looking rag paper covered in neat drawings and notes written in a peculiar faded ink. Truly written, too. The author obviously didn't hold with print, but his cursive was easily legible and complemented the outdated appearance of the schematics.

In only moments, the two men were looking down at a half circle of meticulous drawings, and Crispin was taking a childlike pleasure in sharing his vessel's secrets. "The ones on the left are just the layout of the ship. In the middle are the schema of the engines, and to the right are the plans of the automatic piloting system." He smiled at the diagrams with the fatuous expression of a proud father, then looked back at Spade with a tinge of concern. "You will tell me if you can see why she's being so stubborn, won't you?"

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#33
Old 02-01-2015, 09:05 PM

What a question. Spade's face contorted, taking in the strange schematics, fighting memory to recall the form various letters took in script... it had been ages since last he read cursive hand- what was it, middle school?- his eyes jumped finally to the drawings to the right. "I'd have to look these over for a while to figure out what's going on... I haven't seen this set up before."

Slowly Spade lowered himself down to sit cross legged in front of the various designs, his finger would occasionally drift in sinuous paths just over the antiquated ink lines. As the minutes passed his attention returned time and time again to a few pieces in particular. "This machine here... and these two-" He pointed out some problematic pieces "-what did you pull them from? I can probably figure out if there's a bug in those if I could get a look at the electronics."

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#34
Old 02-01-2015, 10:51 PM

"Ah... I designed them myself. And... I'm afraid I'm terribly lost when it comes to electronics. They're clockwork, instead." Winters looked embarrassed. "I don't think electronics care for me, either. I had a digital watch that stopped working within a few hours... but that doesn't help us now. I could show you the devices in situ?"

Crispin hovered anxiously between Spade and the door, only to snap to immediate attention when an alarm wailed from somewhere nearby. He sprinted out into the corridor, guest and indecision both forgotten.

 



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