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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[Slowly, Shoichi stops messing with the controls and looks up at Spanner.]

...Why do you need ten?

I don't, exactly. [Spanner shrugs.] But I keep on coming up with new ideas, so I keep making new Moscas to try them in.

Besides, they might be necessary if anyone comes after me in here. Some of the people who want me to make weapons for them are really insistent about it. [Spanner's matter-of-fact tone doesn't betray any particular alarm or urgency in this, but if he thinks he might need ten or more Mosca units to defend him if these people come after him...one can infer the seriousness of what he's talking about from that.]

[It feels like the longer he sits here and talks to Spanner, the more reasons he finds to be Extremely Concerned. For a second, Shoichi can't even speak, just stare. Eventually, he presses his palms together and then to his mouth as he exhales.]

[He has stumbled onto something much bigger than a haunted house, half by accident, half because he's stubborn and curious.]

What stage do you have your latest model at then?

I can show you, after you're finished checking things out in here. My workshop's in another room. [Spanner jerks a thumb over his shoulder, indicating a door behind him.]

He's my biggest yet. I'm calling it the King Mosca.

[Going back to fiddling with the controls, Shoichi keeps talking idly as he takes in the screens.]

Should you be going for size in such enclosed spaces? I think if you're go any larger, you're going to start a demolition in the building.

Oh, yeah, I'm not planning on using him for the haunted house. [Spanner waves away that idea.] He's definitely not an enclosed space unit, unless you're talking about somewhere the size of a ballroom. Most of my Moscas don't actually get used in the house. The one you met was specifically designed to be part of the show, but the others are all legitimate weapons.

King Mosca's more like my ultimate weapon, until I design something better.

Then where do you store them?

[Don't mind him as he tries to flick through the screens to find out for himself at the same time.]

In the workshop. It and the weapons range are actually beneath the house, so I could make them big. That door behind us leads to an elevator.

[Spanner, the extent of the operation you're running here is rigoddamndiculous.]

...I want to ask what's backing this, but I'm also fairly certain that if I was told, I'd have to die.

[Seriously what the fuck]

[That gets a chuckle out of Spanner, and he doesn't laugh very often.] It's not that bad. I keep up some online correspondence with some companies I don't mind making weapon designs for. I send them blueprints and they pay me.

[Spanner must do good work, and get paid very well. Of course, Shoichi's seen some of his work by now, and it's obvious why Spanner weaponry would command a high market price.]

I don't mind making weapons for people, generally, but there's some guys I just don't really want to deal with. Usually people who want me to make weapons exclusively for them.

[The more he hears, the harder it is to keep focused on the monitors. What a life to lead- doing such valuable engineering work for a variety of companies, being so wanted that you needed to make your own security, creating things like those Moscas...]

[Even with the obvious and clear dangers, Shoichi can't help but be a little envious.]

[Well, that's deciding it, then. Pushing himself up to his feet, he glances over to Spanner.]

If it's really alright if I take a look at the Mosca you're working on, then I think I'd like to right now.

[This isn't anything too unusual anyway, he thinks- a simple monitoring system with a lot of fancy tricks. The Moscas are where his real fascination lies.]

[Spanner beckons to him before he walks over to the door, tapping in a code with the speed of long practice; he's not particularly trying to hide it from Shoichi, but Shoichi still might not catch it. Then the door slides open to reveal a small elevator, which Spanner steps into.]

I wouldn't have offered if I minded. I've never gotten to give someone the tour before.

[With how adjusted Spanner seems in this place along with the surely quick fingers that must have been needed for all his work over the monitors, Shoichi doesn’t even try to catch the numbers. He just slips into the elevator as well, trying to keep from crowding Spanner.]

But you probably weren’t expecting to give one today, huh?

Not really. But I can't say I mind. [Spanner offers Shoichi a sidelong smile.] You're pretty interesting. And you seem like you might actually understand the things I've been working on, which is more than I can say for most of the people I've tried to scare off. [He pauses, pulling the lollipop out of his mouth thoughtfully.] ...although I guess you're the only one I've tried to scare off. With everyone else, I succeeded at it.

Like I said… stubborn and too smart for my own good.

[Popping the lolipop out of his mouth and spinning it around between his fingers, Shoichi sends a similar sidelong smile over to Spanner. With the gun left behind at the monitors, he feels a little more relaxed.]

[...And besides, getting inside those metal monsters is something he can’t deny has his interest.]

I hope you realize I’ll probably have at least a dozen questions to ask.

I was kind of expecting it. [Spanner shrugs one shoulder good-naturedly as the elevator - which runs remarkably smoothly, Shoichi will note, not to mention almost silent - slows to a stop, and the door slides open.

What it opens into is an engineer's paradise.

Spanner's workshop is quite large, although it doesn't really look it considering how much there is in it. Several fully assembled Moscas, clearly deactivated, stand inert by one wall. Tools and parts are resting on every available surface. Toolboxes, toolbelts, and no less than two full-sized tool chests are loaded down with tools of the trade and scattered around the workshop. There's a table against one wall that's clearly set up for heavy work, including several metal arms hanging down from the ceiling with various tools attached to the end. One looks like a welder, another a riveter, a large drill bit, a saw, and there's definitely one that looks like it might be a laser. Judging by the length and number of joints in the arms, they can probably reach all the way to the center of the workshop.

This is clearly a necessity, since all these other details take a backseat to the center of the room. On a broad metal worktable lies the massive King Mosca, nearly a third bigger than the Gola Mosca Shoichi's already seen. It appears to have its outer chassis completed, although panels all over its body are lying open, exposing inner wires and workings that Spanner's no doubt been installing or tweaking. The entire chest is gaping open, blocking Shoichi's view to the interior of it from this angle.

Into this semi-structured mechanical chaos Spanner saunters, moving to sit on a round, wheeled stool near the King Mosca.] I've got a pretty nice set-up down here. [He doesn't exactly sound proud, merely satisfied with his arrangements. Shoichi will probably find 'satisfaction' a rather restrained emotion in the face of this.]

[Shoichi is reevaluating all of his prior thoughts up to this moment. Clearly, possible when the first Mosca made a dash for him, he died at that point- possibly from heart attack. He is dead, and this is some variant of heaven.]

[For a moment, he's so blown away that he can only follow after Spanner automatically without much thought. To say that his mind is a bit overloaded would be a massive understatement. He's trying to take everything in, head twisting as he looks over at the mechanical arms and then the line of Moscas and, of course, the King Mosca itself. This isn't the first time Shoichi has been in an engineering workshop. He had his classes in college, and he's done the occasional journalistic piece on some things...]

[But, really, it's been too long. And none of them have been like this.]

It's fantastic. [Finally snapping out of it, Shoichi starts searching for an extra pair of gloves that could be laying around. He doesn't want to start messing around with something that complex and large. Hell, while he's at it- he starts to shed off his jacket to put on another stool.] How long have you been working on King Mosca?

[Luckily, there's several pairs of gloves lying around that Shoichi can snag. And while he's in the process of doing so, he may miss the grin on Spanner's face. But Spanner's seen the look in Shoichi's eyes as he looks around the shop, and it's both flattering and pleasing from a more general standpoint. This is someone who thinks like he does.

The compliment doesn't hurt, either.]

It's been about six months. Some of that's been waiting for parts to get shipped here, though. [Spanner says this almost like he has to explain the long development time, except that getting this far on a mobile armor unit of this size in six months, working alone, is already insane. Spanner must do almost nothing else with his time, and his experience making all the other Moscas must have helped a lot.

And, of course, he must be a mechanic of ridiculous skill, but Shoichi's already gathered that.]

Only six months?!

[His voice cracks as he says that, but Shoichi is too excited to care about that at the moment. Instead, he’s going over to where King Mosca is, careful of where he places his hands as he tries to get a look into its insides.]

And you’ve already got the skeleton, armor, and everything else in place… So there’s just the engineering work to get it moving and- how far have you gotten with the programming? Do all the Moscas run on a similar code, or are you working on something different for King Mosca?

The one in the haunted house has specialized programming, since it runs on treads and the others use rocket propulsion or legs. And Mini Mosca has AI that's almost totally unique; only some really basic motor functions are the same. Mini Mosca's actually the only one with smart AI. Actual weapons that can self-determine can get kind of dangerous.

[Spanner wheels himself over on his stool to peer into the chest cavity of King Mosca; the table is set rather low, presumably so he can see in while seated. Given how much Spanner must work on these, that's understandable. Shoichi will note that there's a small but significant area in King Mosca's chest that's hollow, with control panels and joysticks on the inside; this is intended to be - or is at least capable of being - a manned mech.] Most of the Moscas have the same AI program uploaded into them, although I keep two blank and manual command only in case of AI corruption. If something goes catastrophically wrong with all the others, some virus or something, I'll still have two suits that only take direct commands I give them.

But yeah, King Mosca's going to be different. His capabilities are the most different from the others, so a lot of the programming has to be adjusted anyway, but also I want him to be the closest to smart AI while not actually being an intelligent weapon. He'll manage pattern recognition and combat strategy on the fly, without human input, and determine between lethal and non-lethal responses based on threat assessment levels. He's getting the same programming I used in Mini Mosca when it comes to audio cues and word recognition, too, where he'll be able to listen to and interpret what's being said. Of course, just like Mini Mosca, he'll only take orders from me or people I approve. I just finished programming in a special code, given in my voice, that'll grant the authorization for me to approve a third party as friendly and authorized to give orders to him in turn - that's a level of security I don't have on Mini Mosca.

I've been working on programming a voice analysis module, so King Mosca can recognize the difference between, say, a recording or computerized simulation of my voice and my actually speaking the words. Rule one of making weapons is installing multiple safeguards against anyone trying to turn them on you.

[The whole time, Shoichi is listening in clear and rapt attention as Spanner talks with the occasional nod of his head to show that he understands and agrees. It all makes sense to him, especially considering the risk Spanner has talked about that he’s under and the destructive capabilities of the Moscas themselves.]

How is it coming along? Recognition software like that can be tricky.

It's been slow. [Spanner sighs.] I'm a mechanic, not an audio technician. And I write my code from scratch, because I don't like putting other people's code into my Moscas, so I've been having to go through audio recordings of my voice myself and isolate all the little tells that it's not a live voice - things a human ear can pick up on pretty easily - and then work them into coding that flags them. I've been working on nothing else for a couple weeks now, but I want to get back to the mechanical aspects. Or at least writing code that interests me. This has been the most boring kind of work.

Well, maybe I-

[But as soon as he’s started to respond, Shoichi stops himself, shaking his head.]

No, nevermind, sorry about that.

[Jeez… He’d almost been about to offer his help on it, too. Sure, the software part of engineering is something he’s good at; Shoichi knows his own strengths. Loves hardware, but better at software. Just one of those things.]

[But who’s he to offer that out of nowhere? He’s just some journalist who refused to get scared away and thus got someone interested in him because of that. Having even this chance to look over some of the work is more than he was expecting or probably deserves.]

[Anyway, Spanner said it himself: he doesn’t like putting other people’s code into his creations. Understandable with everything he’s said.]

[...And, even though it’s shitty and gives him stomach aches a quarter of the time, he does still have a job. He can’t just forget about it or anything.]

[Trying to forget about what he’d almost said, Shoichi starts to move around to the other side to get a different perspective.]

Do you pilot these things? Considering the cockpit inside.

[Spanner gives Shoichi a curious - no, downright thoughtful - look at that aborted sentence. He wonders if Shoichi was going to say what he half thinks he was going to. If he was, he seems to have thought better of it at the last second, which...Spanner finds actually disappoints him a little.

Spanner's almost disturbingly easygoing, and he already likes Shoichi and finds he's quite enjoying sharing his work with him. Actually getting to work with him would be even better. Spanner wants to know what this guy can do. But he can't really force him, so he doesn't push the issue.]

I can, and I've done it to test out the functionality of it before, but there's never actually been a need for it yet so the most I've done is put them through their paces. I set up all my Moscas so they can be remote piloted or manned - except for Mini Mosca, obviously. There's some benefits to manned piloting, but mostly it's in case I ever get cornered by unpleasant people and have to get out of here. I can jump in any of my Moscas and escape, and if I've got them all going at once it'll be hard to figure out which one I'm in.

Also, in my experience, having several inches of reinforced steel in between you and an attacker is always a good idea.

[Spanner's clearly lived an interesting life. But then, anyone who refuses Byakuran's offer to work for him is bound to.]

[He won’t lie, he really wants to see what the long distance controls look like and what has been put into place to keep any interference from disrupting the signals, but that probably is too much considering… everything Spanner keeps saying about what kind of things happen in his life. To satisfy his curiosity another way, Shoichi carefully hefts himself up to take a better look in the Mosca’s insides. As in, half inside the goliath.]

So you can control all of them while piloting one?

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