bakerstreet | Gothic Romance Meme

Gothic Romance Meme

Gothic Romance Meme

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again…

The story goes like this: There is a house. It may be haunted. The house has a resident, or two, who has some secrets. They may be charming, or brooding, often both. Someone may have been murdered. A newcomer arrives, either as bride, governess, or journalist, and they begin to unravel all the secrets and lies lurking within the house ~~of Usher~~.

Locations may be in any country, in any era, but there must be a gloomy and opulent old mansion, and some sort of dark and terrible secret to be uncovered (or just ghosts. ghosts are always an option.)

The Newcomer
1. The new bride or groom. Your new spouse is charming and attractive, but do you really know all their secrets?
2. Tutor or governess to the estate children. They seem like such innocent children.
3. Companion—perhaps as a chaperone, perhaps merely as company, but you’ve been hired to come to some remote old house to keep an unknown stranger company. Probably just reading to them, or listening to them chatter on whenever travel is required.
4. Hired hand. You’ve been hired up from the local village—or perhaps the city—as a footman or a maid. Just an ordinary job. Nice house, though.
5. Distant relation. Thanks to your circumstances, you’re reduced to accepting hospitality from some remote relations of yours. They may never turn up to family gatherings, and you’ve never heard much about them, but they’re probably just reclusive.
6. Journalist. You’ve heard some interesting rumours about this old mansion in the middle of nowhere.
7. The neighbour. You know that things are not quite right in that old house on the hill. Perhaps you feel it’s your duty to interfere. Perhaps you’re just curious. Perhaps you are childhood friends with the house’s resident.

The Resident
1. Past transgressions. Perhaps a mad wife in the attic? Someone buried in the cellar?
2. The unquiet dead. Look, you just live here. You’re not responsible for the ghosts. Even if they do all seem to be related to you.
3. The monster. You are the thing in the house to be feared. Actual monsters or monster AUs totally an option here! Vampires, werewolves, beasts and horrors all possible. Perhaps put an ordinary face on when you receive your new guest.
4. Wildcard. Choose your own deep dark secret: maybe your character naturally comes with one.

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[So he's wandered past a haunted house into a secret lab. Shoichi's free hand comes up, fingers nudging beneath his glasses so he can pinch the bridge of his nose.]

Well, I'm a journalist, for one thing. I'd just be back in here even if I did run from- Gola Mosca? And anyway.... Nothing was adding up.

You apparently have a lab. Don't you want to know how things work if they don't make sense?

Yeah. That's why I came out here to meet you instead of having one of my Moscas throw you out. [Spanner smiles slightly.]

You can come inside, but I can't let you write about this. [The smile fades.] I keep people away for a reason, you know.

I'm pretty sure if I tried to write about the truth about this place, I'd just look like a conspiracy theorist.

[This place has that much of a reputation.]

So you don't have to worry.

[Sure, Shoichi'll have a lot to worry about on what he is going to write about, but that's a stomachache for another time. For now, a bit of curiosity manages to fight its way through his tired exasperation.]

...Everything else I'm sure I could figure out just by looking at any fake haunted house that opens up on Halloween, but your Mosca seems a lot more complex than anything like that, even with all the mist in the way.

Yeah, I won't pretend the smoke machine is my work. And I was the one who hooked up the sound system, but I can only take credit for the wiring. But the Moscas are mine. [Spanner doesn't quite sound proud, but there is an air of quiet satisfaction.

He turns and heads back the way he came; Shoichi's clearly expected to follow.] They're mobile armor units running AI programs I wrote myself.

[Is it really wise to follow some stranger who runs a secret robot lab? Shoichi is going to say 'no', but he still follows anyway, hooked in by the conversation.]

Completely armored? Then the propulsion system has to have some serious power behind it for it to have moved forward like that so quickly, and I don't think I heard anything. Then again, was all the noise meant to mask that?

Completely armored. [Spanner nods, pausing to let Shoichi catch up once he actually follows after him. (Once Shoichi gets closer, he's going to see the gun in Spanner's belt.)] The sounds do mask a lot of the mechanical noises of the house, but that's not really their purpose. They're mostly just to be scary. With the right baffles and amplifiers, most of the sounds my systems make aren't identifiable or traceable to their sources, and they actually add to the atmosphere. So I don't really need to hide them.

As for my Moscas, they don't exactly run silent, but they're not as loud as you'd think. And that one's on wheels. [He shrugs.] Rocket propulsion's usually not a good idea inside a wooden house.

[He leads Shoichi through another door, and it's extremely obvious they've entered Spanner's control center for his haunted house. There are screens showing numerous camera feeds and a whole panel of controls, with a rolling chair in front of it that looks like it was recently vacated. Near it, a miniature Mosca stands, recognizable to Shoichi by the similarities of its silhouette to the big one. When it sees Shoichi, its arms immediately snap up, pointing those over-long fingers at him - which, in the light, it's now clear are gun barrels.

Spanner holds up a placating hand.] It's okay, he's with me.

[The mini Mosca lowers its arms, though the slowness of the action makes it seem grudging.]

I was actually thinking-

[What Shoichi was actually thinking gets lost in the noise of panic that leaps out of his throat as they enter Spanner's little control center and that sure is weaponry being pointed at him.]

[Spanner almost doesn't even need to say anything. The way Shoichi tries to duck behind him makes it clear he's trying to make the "I'm with this asshole" gesture all on his own.]

There are too many guns around me right now.

[He's including the one you're wearing, buddy.]

Don't worry, Mini Mosca doesn't have functional weaponry. The worst he'd do is shoot popcorn at you.

[Shoichi is free to spend time pondering over someone who would make a miniature armor unit that shoots popcorn while Spanner heads over to his chair, pulling the gun out of his belt and setting it down on the desk nearby before he starts tapping at the controls. The bookcase swings shut behind them - Shoichi may or may not notice - and, judging by the video screens, the shutters on the house open again.

It looks like the fog has already cleared from the halls; Spanner may have turned that off before he even went out to fetch Shoichi.]

[Thank you, that's exactly what he's going to be doing- his mouth opening to probably ask what and one hand raising partially as if to formally request all the weirdness to be dialed down before he just... stops, sighs, and pinches the bridge of his nose again.]

You're running a secret robotics lab inside an overzealous haunted house. A popcorn making armored robot almost seems normal here.

[Now for the more serious question. It's an inescapable one, with the secret door closed behind them and the way the screen's light glints off of the gun.]

Are you going to keep me here?

[The pause in Spanner's work at the question makes it clear that he hadn't really considered the question until Shoichi asked it, but also that he's turning the matter over in his mind.

Then he shrugs.] Nah.

[Then he goes back to messing with the controls. He appears to have reconsidered opening the shutters, as they slam shut again. This is so Gola Mosca can go collect Shoichi's things from near the entrance, with a surprising amount of care; Shoichi can observe this over the camera. Remote shutter control was one of the very first things Spanner installed; it ensures no one is looking in the windows while he works, or while his Moscas are moving around in light good enough to make out what they are.] I'll have your stuff brought here.

It'd be nice if you could act panicked when you leave, though.

[Mini Mosca moves over to Shoichi while Spanner's working. Unlike the larger version, this one appears to actually walk. There's a whirring noise, and then it lifts one finger to point at Shoichi's face.

And out of the end of it pops a pink lollipop.]

Want one? [Spanner asks this without even turning around to look at what Mini Mosca's doing. Either he knows Mini Mosca's AI intimately, he recognizes the sound of Mini Mosca's inner workings, or both. Given that he undoubtedly made both, 'both' seems like the smart guess.] I make my own lollipops.

Ah... Sure.

[It's the least he can do, in exchange for not getting shot at. If nothing else, he guesses his crippling stomachaches will act as enough of a veil for what's really going on. It seems to fit in with the haunted reputation, after all.]

[Mini Mosca's movements draw his attention away from the interesting things happening on the screen. Even with what Spanner has told him, he's still a bit wary until pop! That's sure a lollipop. Half out of bemusement, he accepts it.]

Thanks. How do you eat down here, anyway? Is there an alternate exit so that you aren't seen living the house and can get groceries?

[The lollipop is strawberry, and fairly tasty. Rather different from storebought candies, but if it's homemade that's hardly surprising.]

You got it. I've got a run-down mechanic shop not too far from here, and a tunnel that connects it to here. I'm supposedly living on the top floor of the shop, so nobody thinks it's weird if I don't emerge from the shop for days. Plus it's easy to order parts to my shop and then move them down here through the tunnel.

And because I've got a place in town and am technically a resident, nobody looks twice at me shopping for groceries or anything. All my angles are covered.

[Spanner evidently has a lot of fucking money. And time on his hands.]

Let me guess- connections to the company that apparently owns this place too, right?

[Shoichi hadn't really paid much mind to what that company does, or at least he hadn't at the time his boss had shoved the key into his hands, but he's wondering if maybe he should take another look himself.]

[Spanner seems to have finished whatever he was doing at the console, as he swivels in his chair to grin at Shoichi.] Puppet company set up under an alias. You've got a good head for this kind of thing.

[Some mechanical sounds herald the arrival of Gola Mosca, which looks...decidedly more intimidating than Mini Mosca, even in the light. But it's holding Shoichi's things, and it offers them to him without any evident animosity or, indeed, vestiges of personality. Mini Mosca appears to have a more developed individual AI, even judging based on nothing more than Shoichi's limited interaction with it thus far.]

Well, there's a reason I get sent out on these kind of assignments. I'm...

[His words trail off as Gola Mosca soldiers into the room, a mass of armor and horrific power. In Shoichi's opinion, it's actually more terrifying in the light. During the haunted house gimmick, the sensible part of his mind had been willing to dismiss it on some level. Spooky mist, creepy eyes, all of it being shoved to the side as just nonsense meant to scare him. In this case, the trope of "nothing is scarier" had backfired.]

[But like this... Gola Mosca is very real. It doesn't help that Shoichi knows his engineering. Even just glancing over the hulking creation, he can tell how easily he wouldn't stand a chance. Carefully, he accepts his backpack and can't help but keep an eye on the thing even though he knows that Spanner has no interest in doing anything to him.]

...Like I was saying, I'm a bit of a workaholic and like to know how things work. My boss knows I do a thorough job.

Or hates me. I haven't discounted that yet.

[Spanner chuckles at that, even as Gola Mosca rolls back out of the room. It settles itself in the room beyond, seemingly going inactive as it waits for more orders to come. It really is a monster, and it highlights just how advanced Spanner's work must be.

No wonder a haunted house setup was easy for him to create.] Well, whatever story you give your boss, they're probably not going to like it. [A thought occurs to him.] Will they still pay you, if all you come back with is a ghost story?

[Dropping his things to the ground, Shoichi uses it as an impromptu seat and tugs the plastic wrapping off of the lollipop.]

Oh, he'll pay me for the work, but it's almost definitely not going to be the usual amount. It'll be fine- I can probably make up enough and fill space with interviews around town for it to not look too suspicious.

[Sticking the lollipop in his mouth, he frowns around it.]

I should really find a different job at this rate... Journalism sort of happened by accident.

I can pay you the difference, if you want. A little extra incentive for your keeping things quiet. I know most people wouldn't believe you, but the ones who would are probably the ones I'd most like not knowing I'm here. [Spanner props his head on his hand as he watches Shoichi.]

What's your name, anyway? We haven't really been properly introduced. [And, after a pause - ] And what were you going to do instead of journalism?

[Shoichi blinks in surprise. That, he hadn't been expecting. Really, one would assume that the threat of giant robot shooting would be enough.]

If you really don't mind- [Oh, wait, right- he leans forward a bit to offer his hand.] I'm Shoichi Irie. Engineering major.

[Spanner looks quite pleased about the engineering thing, and shakes Shoichi's hand.] Yeah, I don't mind. Besides, it's nice to meet another engineer.

I feel like that's got a lot to do with you not running. [Spanner wouldn't have run, either. He'd be too curious, and would have seen through a few things - much like Shoichi did.

That's why he pushes himself away from his control panels slightly, waving a hand.] Want to take a look at the systems?

Maybe more than little.

[He grins back, because it's true. The second something strange happened, his mind was working overtime to answer the question how could this work? and, unlike other people, his knew enough to supply suggestions and take the edge off any fear.]

[At the offer, he jerks up from his seat.]

I'd love to- but it's alright? I mean... Isn't this supposed to be a secret?

[Spanner nods.] Yeah, it's fine. I don't think you're going to tell anyone.

Besides, I've never gotten to show off my setup before, and another engineer will actually be able to appreciate it.

Then I'd love to look at it, especially when it's not pitch black and I'm not being chased around.

[Once is enough for him today.]

Help yourself. [Spanner beckons to the controls.] You can look at Gola Mosca too, if you want. Mini Mosca doesn't really like anyone but me messing with him.

[Don't mind if he does... Shoichi goes to settle in the seat, looking over the wide array of controls before him.]

Anything I should avoid touching? I don't know if you've personalized your controls for certain things.

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