[Flashback] Mad Science (Minerva)

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„‘With you‘, not ‚witchoo‘“, Valerius lectured her. „If you don’t speak proper Common, nobody will believe that you are smart, even if you are the most intelligent woman in the world.“ As she pointed out that he had ordered her, he furrowed his brow. „Would you have been more inclined to accept the clothes and take a bath, if I had said, ‚Please, Miss Tock, take a relaxing bath. You look exhausted.‘?“ He said those words in an overly polite tone. „And I was doing you a favour“, he insisted. „Despite the fact that you are making something for me. Do you know how many people in Ravok would die to get a chance to see my personal quarters? I could have hidden you in the basement where none of the members of my household would ever see you.“ „But people outside of Ravok know my name“, he informed her. „I studied at the University of Zeltiva, and even if you likely won’t believe it, I was an excellent student. Besides, who claimed I wasn’t smart?“ He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her. He continued to watch her work, even though he was no closer to figuring out what she was making than he had been at the beginning. As she accepted his offer of a bath after all, he almost breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t sure if he would have been able to stand the sight of such a dirty, sweaty woman any longer. As soon as she had left his quarters, he sent for his slaves and ordered them to clean everything. The next morning Tock would find herself in a room that looked as good as new and smelled pleasantly. There was a small meal waiting for her in case she wanted to eat before she started working. Valerius was sitting in his chair, the giant dog next to him, and waited for her to do her ‚magic‘.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Ignoring his correction of her grammar, because she just didn't give a damn, Tock wiped her hands off on her clothes. At his question of the polite way to make a request, however, she nodded and said, "Aye, 'at's proper courtesy, Guv. Show a little consideration fer yer guests. Maybe if'n ya done makes people feel welcome, ye'll done 'as 'appier guests what ain't gonna grumble 'bout'cha behind yer back." Of course, Tock would just say it to his face, but she wasn't one to practice the politeness she preached. She planted her hands on her fists then and looked around the room, not seeing what 'people would die to see.' It wasn't that impressive, at least not to a woman like Tock who didn't care about the trappings of wealth. All the fancy silk carpets and paintings on the walls probably would have impressed a normal person, but Tock was hardly... normal. But she declined to comment on all that and instead said, "If'n yer so smart, Guv, why don'tcha prove it? I's showin' ya my smarts," she patted her creation, "but ya ain't shown me nothin' but the size o' the stick up yer arse." Maybe he was smart. She didn't know. But so far, he'd demonstrated nothing but an obsession with status, pickiness about her grammar, and a general disdain for everything she said or did. He'd have to demonstrate something more than that for her to acknowledge his smarts. When she returned the next morning, she looked around, and assumed this had to be a different room. The house was so big that she'd gotten turned around and wound up someplace else. It has to be, because she'd made a rather impressive mess of the place, and she didn't get how anyone could have gotten the mess cleaned up so quickly. Of course, she'd never had an army of servants and slaves at her beck and call. She ate quickly, not really taking the time to taste the food. Eating, to her, was an annoying necessity that she would have just as soon done without. She finished the meal just so she would have her energy, then started moving furniture. She needed a wide, open section of the floor. The silk carpets wouldn't do either; a flat, wooden surface worked best for drawing the Animation circles. So she also proceeded to pull them up, rolling them up and shoving them off to the side. Since Valerius would no doubt protest, she would simply say, "I's bloody sure ya don't want me gettin' chalk an' blood on yer fine imports, aye? Bein' as yer so worried 'bout messes, I's sure ya done rather me do 'er on the wood. S'easier ta clean, aye?" Of course, she didn't care about the cleanliness. She just needed a flat, smooth surface to work on. She then proceeded to sketch a pair of circles in chalk, linked by a straight line. In one, she placed her invention, after making some final adjustments to be sure it was in proper working order. She sat herself in the other, and used one of her carving picks to prick her palm, adding the drops of blood needed to fuel the magic. Then she sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, and waited. At first nothing happened. She sat there for some minutes, her mind seeking focus. It wasn't always easy to find. She turned her senses inwards, in search of that place within her that housed her soul. Finding it meant separating herself from this place she was in. Valerius's home was a place she didn't belong. Thus it was hard to bring her soul forth here. Instead, she sought a place she did belong: her memories of her Granddad's workshop. Standing at his side, working with him on projects, and that warmth of pride she felt over a job well done. That was her, who she was at the core of her being. That was her soul. Her eyes snapped open, suffused with a blue glow that soon spread across her whole body. She no longer saw he room around her. Instead, she was viewing the astral plane where her soul and her body connected. Everything outside the circles was cut off to her now. She felt her soul swell, and she pushed, sending out a surge of life force that floated across the connection between the two circles before splashing into the wooden box like a rain drop. A drop of her own soul, added to the physical structure to make it come to life. And this was just the beginning.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„So you are going to talk about me behind my back?“ Valerius asked. He wasn’t entirely sure if he should be mad at her or laugh at her. There was something slightly amusing about her behaviour and her threats, but at the same time she infuriated him beyond measure. Of course what he said was grammatically correct, as always. „You were just talking about courtesy and consideration. You can’t expect me to be polite if you aren’t. If you behave, Miss Tock, I’ll try harder to make you feel welcome. Do we have a deal?“ „I’ll be sure to prove just how smart I am“, he promised her. „As for the stick that I supposedly have up my arse, you should get your own stick and try to stand a little straighter as well. It’s good for your back.“ Having said that, he let her leave and went to do whatever jobs he did for House Nitrozian. ~~~ He didn’t protest as she rolled the carpets up. On the contrary, he smiled a little and nodded at her. She seemed to finally care about his possessions. But blood? „Do you need to cut yourself in order to active your magic?“ he asked. He looked just a little uncomfortable. The chalk circles were likewise studied with a bit of discomfort. Part of him expected some tiny demon to jump out and try to bite him. When nothing of that sort happened, he relaxed slightly. He was just about to prove his intelligence – by talking to her in Nader-canoch and Arumenic – only an intelligent person could speak such complicated languages with any manners of fluency – when it happened. He wasn’t sure what exactly it was, but it was definitely supernatural. For once he didn’t say anything, he didn’t insult her, he just stared.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock remained quiet during the transfer process. It wasn't necessarily that she couldn't talk while Animating, but it wasn't a good idea. Everything her mind focused on was being transferred into the Automaton, and she needed to focus her mind only on the things she wanted to transfer. It was hard to do that while talking about something else. So if she let her mind wander onto another subject, such as by explaining to Valerius the use of blood in Animation, then she would end up imbuing thoughts of blood, perhaps even a need for blood, into the Automaton. So she ignored the question, and kept her mind focused. She focused on giving the creation its Directives. Since it was such a simple device, she gave it only two. One was obedience, first to her, and then to Valerius. She would thus be able to circumvent his control over it, should she so choose. The second Directive was for Authentication, through use of touch. A hand pressed down on the top, fingers splayed in just a certain way, would tell the device that the user was authorized. This would need to be combined with the correct verbal commands as well, which Valerius could choose to teach anyone he wished. Anyone who didn't know them wouldn't be allowed access. She sat in the circles for several hours, imbuing the creation with the knowledge it would need. All it needed to know were a few basic command words, like, 'lock, unlock, open,' and 'close.' She added a few other 'special' commands as well, just to teach Valerius some manners. She imbued the devise with the most rudimentary understanding of what to do when given those commands. It wouldn't comprehend the language itself, but it would be able to obey the commands as a dog could when performing tricks. With the simple command set programmed in, she moved on to movement. Sitting in the circle, her body and the Automaton still aglow, she began moving her hands in the forms of the movement the Automaton needed to know. It would have only four basic motions. She flipped her hands up, and in the circle across from her the lid opened. She flipped them down, and the lid closed, moving as if she were touching it despite being out of reach in the other circle. She worked through these movements continuously for about ten minutes, until she was sure the creation had the movements well programmed. Luckily it was such a simple motion that it was quick and easy to teach. The lid kept opening and closing under its own power, learning the motions through the Djed being transferred to it. The next set of motions would have been complicated and taken days to teach, if not for Tock's ingenious design. There were dozens of gears and moving parts inside, each of which would have had to be controlled and programmed separately. Instead, Tock had connected them all to the large central gear, and she just taught the device to move that. She held her hands up, fingers making a circle, and she repeatedly turned it, first one way, then the other. The large gear under the lid turned back and forth, and the motion transferred through the simple clockwork mechanics, rotating the other gears around it. They in turn retracted and extended the metal strips on all sides, which fit snugly into the slots she'd carved into the interior. With a command to unlock, the large gear would turn and retract the strips, freeing the lid to open. With a command to lock, it would turn the other way, sliding the strips into the holes on all sides. It was a lock that couldn't be picked. Rather than having a single latch, it locked into place on all sides. Rather than having a keyhole, or a tumbler that could be manipulated with lockpicks, it required commands from someone who had been specifically instructed how to get the box to obey. The programming of the box was ingrained into it, and it couldn't be circumvented, except by another Animator. Short of destroying the entire thing, there was simply no way to open the box without proper Authentication. Long hours had passed, even for a simple creation. Late into the afternoon, approaching evening, Tock finished. She gave the device a name, deciding on one that would require Valerius to treat her with respect. She spoke the name aloud, "M'lady," and snapped her fingers, sending the final spark of Djed into the device to awaken it. She rose, and stretched her sore muscles. She carried the creation over to Valerius's desk, and set it down. She dug out a vial of ink from the drawer, and placed it in the round holder in the upper right corner. She then placed a sheet of paper on the angled top. It served as a portable writing desk, small enough to be carried under the arm, or in a fair sized backpack. She wrote on the paper, 'These are your fancy encrypted notes.' She then placed her hand just so on the top, and leaned in to whisper the proper commands into the leather ear so Valerius couldn't hear. The gears could be heard turning inside, and then the lid popped open under its own power. Tock held the paper up so Valerius could see, then slipped it inside, and the top snapped shut, the gears turning to lock the lid once more. Valerius would are that the inside was big enough to hold a thick stack of papers, books, and ledgers. Leaning smugly against the desk, Tock patted her new baby. "'Er name's 'M'lady'," she said. "Stick yer fancy secret code stuff in 'ere, an' ain't nobody what done gonna get 'em out, if'n 'ey don't knows 'ow. Go on," she nodded to the box, "try it. An' remember," she held a finger up and looked him in the eye, "she's a person..."

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Valerius kept completely quiet as she worked her magic even though she hadn’t answered any of his questions. What he was seeing was very impressive even though he wasn’t sure what exactly it was that he was seeing. He sat there for hours, same as her, because he was worried that something would explode or somebody would accidentially get killed if he interrupted her. The dog, seeing that his master was otherwise occupied, eventually walked off though, intent on bothering the servants and persuading them to feed him. When she started moving her hands around and manipulating the creation, Valerius came a little closer. As she said ‚M’lady‘ he looked at her questioningly. He didn’t see a lady here. Tock definitely wasn’t one, and the thing she had built was just that – a thing. Frowning, he followed her to the desk and watched as she put some stuff into her creation. „These are not my fancy encrypted notes“, he remarked. „It’s just a paper that you wrote a single sentence on.“ Still, he grabbed a piece of paper of his own, touched the device and adressed her politely, even though he was still frowning slightly. „M’lady, would you please open?“ It irritated him that he had to adress her like that, but he wasn’t in the mood to find out what would happen if he insulted her. At least it would definitely be a bad idea to insult the thing in front of Tock. To his surprise the device did exactly what he had asked of her (although he had the feeling that she was a little slower this time – or was he only imagining it?). „Well, well“, he said as he turned to Tock again. „I’m surprised. It’s working. Maybe you are smart after all. You definitely seem to have some skill as a mage which makes me wonder, have you ever tried making money with this here? I know a few people in Ravok that would pay a fair amount of money for such a device.“

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"Ain'tcha done never 'eard o' a metaphor, Guv?" she asked him, indicating the papers. For someone so full of himself, he could be pretty dense at times. Tock then smirked as Valerius correctly guessed at the commands needed to get M'lady to open. She was programmed to never open unless someone said 'please.' Yet there was another aspect she had programmed in as well. Three seconds after the lid opened, it snapped shut again, the gears inside turning to lock the lid into place. Tock leaned back on the desk and patted M'lady lovingly, a smug look on her face. "Ya done fergot ta say, 'Thank ya,' Guv," she told him. That was another little trick she'd programmed in, which doubled as a security feature. Even if someone managed to figure out how to open the box, if she wasn't thanked within three seconds, M'lady was programmed to lock down again. She then paused to consider his offer. She could use the money... but Ravok wasn't seeming much like her kind of place. This creation had taken her quite a few days, and she wasn't keen on the idea of spending more such time around stuffed shirts like Valerius. She wasn't sure she wanted to stay in the city at all, much less around people who treated her so rudely and acted like they were better than her. "I think 'bout it," she said noncommittally. "Maybe 'long as ya done knows some folks what ain't so rude an' stuffy as ya are, Guv." Tock wasn't the sort to keep her thoughts to herself, and preferred to speak her mind.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„I don’t care about metaphors“, Valerius retorted. „They are useless.“ With that he turned to face M’lady again. He was just about to put his hand into the device when it suddenly snapped shut again. He frowned. „Thank you“, he murmurred somewhat sarcastically as he tried again. He didn’t like it that he had to thank a thing, but still … „Think about it, Miss Tock. I know a lot of people in this city, and they aren’t all like me.“ He ignored the comment about him being rude and stuffy. He was just as rude and stuffy as she was smart, and her intelligence was something he had doubted until a few seconds earlier. If everything worked out as he thought it would, he would benefit if he introduced a woman with her talents to the society of Ravok, so he decided that it would be best to be a little more polite to her. With that thought in mind he smiled at her and said, „I’m sure you want to rest now though. You are free to return to my house any time if you want to discuss further business arrangements with me – or if you suddenly realize how much you have missed me.“

[Persona]

Thread Award! Valerius Nitrozian: Skills: Observation +3 Cryptography +1 Interrogation +3 Rhetoric +3 Persuasion +3 Negotiation +1 Investigation +1 Intimidation +1 Lores: Tock: Probably Insane Tock Hates Skirts Unaffected By Common Underwear Tock: Ungrateful Commoner Metalsmithing: The Purpose of Wax Molds Tock’s Colloquialisms Oops: Inviting Strange Women to your House Letting a Dirty Woman Walk All Over Your Carpet. Persuasion Technique: Polite Request Works Better than Direct Order Tock the Hypocrite Magic: Probably Requires Blood Treating a Box With Respect Extras: Gain: M’lady, an animated lockbox who's picky about manners You seemed to be sitting back and watching (or getting bored) for most of the tread, so it was a bit tricky finding skills to award you, but I certainly hope you enjoy your lores! Also, I noticed none of your summer threads have been added to your thread list. Please keep your thread list up-to-date. Minerva Agatha Zipporah (Tock): Skills: Investigation +2 Drawing +2 Interrogation +2 Impersonation +2 Intimidation +2 Negotiation +2 Architecture +2 Persuasion +5 Mathematics +2 Gadgeteering +4 Philosophy +1 Carpentry +1 Carving +2 Metalsmithing +1 Meditation +1 Animation +3 Lores: Does Ravok Really Float? Advice: Don’t Badmouth Ravok’s Government Ravok: A Racist City Valerius Nitrozian: Smug, Arrogant, Useless Bludger Resisting Violent Urges Who Needs Modesty? No Reason to Clean What’s Just Gonna get Dirty Names Ain’t Important The Hospitality Was Better in Mura Too Many Stuffed Shirts in Ravok You may notice in your lores that I’ve picked up your way of speaking a bit. Congrats! Notes: Tock, if anyone can teach Val to be nice to people it’s you. It’s always interesting to see two people with different philosophies utterly fail to communicate. ^_^