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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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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?

I can control one Mosca at a time, in terms of full manual piloting - and it doesn't necessarily have to be the one I'm in. I just need to switch to that Mosca's frequency and the controls either at my workstation or in the Mosca I'm piloting will control the specified Mosca. But I can issue group orders - switching them between assault and defensive modes, prioritizing targets, things like that. But full control of more than one Mosca at a time isn't reasonable for just one person to manage. Their AI's good enough that they can handle themselves for the most part anyway.

[Spanner's watching Shoichi very closely now. He wants to see what Shoichi does, how he handles himself poking around his Mosca. He's not suspicious; in fact, his thoughts are running more in the opposite direction now that he half suspects Shoichi almost offered to help him. He wants to see how good Shoichi is with machines.]

[His laugh echoes a little in the insides of the Mosca’s body.]

Yeah, you’d have to have a computer installed in your brain, and we’re not at that level of technology or medicine yet.

[But one day… Dismissing his fantasies for another time, he wets his lips and carefully starts going through what parts of the Mosca are still exposed and clearly being worked on before Spanner got caught up in the voice recognition system. Unsurprisingly, this is all excellent work. He can’t complain about it at all. No wonder people are pushy about getting some of Spanner’s work. Wobbling in his attempts to not fall in, he tries to take a look at the joins.]

How’s the reaction time on them?

[Spanner gets to his feet and walks around the table to Shoichi's side of it, reaching out a hand to hold onto the back of his shirt and steady him while he looks in. He figures he might as well make sure Shoichi can get as thorough a look as he wants, and make sure he doesn't fall face-first into King Mosca's control panels at the same time.]

In terms of received signals, as close to instantaneous as the technology can make it. In terms of acting on the signals, a little slow still. Mostly due to the armor weight, though, so there's not a whole lot to be done about that. There's some experimental light-weight alloys that could really push the Mosca performance to its limits, but they're just not feasible for large-scale projects yet. Not until they can be made more reliably and cheaply.

The guy who wants me to work for him so badly promised me tons of the stuff, but... [Spanner shrugs.] Going into full-time weapon manufacturing exclusively for one person, who's got impossible funds and resources...it's enough to make a smart man kind of nervous.

Yeah, the weight is usually what does it for large heavy duty robots like this…

[And while heavy obviously the selling point for the Moscas, allowing them to take more damage while carting around stronger firepower not to mention the intimidation factor for the haunted house thing Spanner is going for… Shoichi still can’t help but start putting together a blueprint for a more speed-based model in his head.]

There’s really no one else you could get help from for a project of this scale?

[He shifts a bit, trying to make the strain from his shirt not as much of an issue.]

[Spanner notes that this method of bracing Shoichi really isn't working out, so after a moment he shifts, opting to wrap an arm around Shoichi's waist instead. Probably a more secure hold, and one that won't strangle Shoichi on the collar of his own shirt.]

I don't know a lot of other engineers in the field. I mostly kept to myself in college, and as soon as I graduated I started getting pestered by that guy, so as I started avoiding him I kind of lost my chance to advertise. I don't know anybody else who's trustworthy, or who has the technical knowledge necessary to be useful to me.

Mini Mosca's helpful in his own ways, at least. [Spanner's eyeing Shoichi sidelong again. Will he offer? Should Spanner come out and ask? He's surprised that he's tempted to. Maybe loneliness, and getting to talk to another engineer after all this time, is clouding his judgment.]

Well, it seems more like he's been designed for, uh, domestic stuff? Although feel free to correct me if I'm wrong there.

[After all, he's going by what he can see and, while he's pretty sure he's right, you never know. It's not like he knows the schematics and has gotten to look into Mini Mosca like he's doing with the King here.]

[Satisfied with what he's looked at, he reaches back to pat Spanner on the arm so he knows he's fine and starts to push himself upright as well.]

Sorry you had to do that.

Nope, that's accurate. He doesn't even have any weapons built in. I've got plenty of Moscas for that kind of thing. Mini Mosca's kind of a cross between an assistant and a leisure project. He might look like one of the big Moscas shrunk down on the outside, but he's almost entirely different from the ground up internally. I let myself try a lot of experimental stuff with him, too - especially with the AI programming. It sounds strange to say, but he's probably the most unique and advanced piece of work in the place.

[Spanner recognizes what the pat means, and he uses the grip around Shoichi's waist to lower him back down to his feet. There's only one, entirely unexpected problem - what had been purely a gesture of considerate convenience, helping to steady Shoichi as he leaned into King Mosca, becomes something very different when Shoichi is standing on the ground again, with their bodies pressed together and Spanner's arm still around his waist.

Spanner's so bemused by the accidental physical intimacy that all he can do is blink down at Shoichi for a moment as he processes just how unintentionally awkward this is. Then he's releasing Shoichi and stepping away, actually turning the faintest bit red.

Well. That wasn't supposed to happen.]

...no problem. No point showing you around if I'm not going to let you get a good look.

[As Shoichi’s feet hit the ground, it’s only as he starts to turn around that he actually realizes just how close they are to each other. Much like Spanner, his mind stutters and short circuits for a second.]

[His job hasn’t meant a lot of people contact, besides talking to people about whatever supposedly haunted place he has to investigate at the time. He types his articles, he sends them to his editor, and that’s that. Sure, there’s going to the grocery, and stuff like that, but…]

[Right against one another, nearly enough to hear heartbeats, with his only free side taken up by a giant robot on a slab-]

[Shoichi is a little red himself as Spanner quickly steps away, something that’s highlighted a bit by his hair, and he coughs into his hand. His mind trips over itself, trying to come up with something to distract from the situation-]

So what would someone have to do to collaborate with you?

[...Wait no shit, he was supposed to keep that in his head]

Edited 2016-10-20 02:31 (UTC)

[All awkwardness is forgotten as Spanner looks back at Shoichi in surprise for a moment. Then he smiles, a surprisingly soft expression, resting a hand on his hip.]

Aside from being able to work on my level...? Ask.

[He's already stumbling through the words in his head, ignoring the churning in his stomach as he tries to figure out how to gracefully excuse himself. Such a whirlpool, it takes him a second before Spanner's voice penetrates. There's another second as he stares blankly, blinking.]

Wh- really?

Yeah. You're good company, you seem like you're pretty close to my level as an engineer - although I can't really get a proper read on that until I see you in action - you're interested in my work, and it's been nice having someone else around. [Spanner's thoughts turn briefly to that moment of holding Shoichi against him, and then he shakes it off.] Provided you're willing to keep my secrets, of course, but honestly that'll be in your best interests too if we work together. Byakuran will come after you too if he finds out.

That’s- trust me, me keeping secrets wouldn’t be a problem.

[Friends? Ha ha what friends. Still, it takes him a second to get through the shellshock, his brain tripping over itself as he rakes his fingers through his hair. This is such a sudden big leap but is it a bad one? Sure, it seems like he’s going to get in over his head, but at the same time… This is what he actually wants to do with his life, the kind of work he wants to do instead of just scrounging for page views of an online article.]

[He takes a deep breath, trying to center himself.]

Actually- in my laptop, it’s not concrete, but I’ve been working on some programs of my own in my spare time, so, I mean, if you need to see anything, just, right off the bat-

[Spanner's eyes gleam. It's the most excited he's looked this entire time. Nothing turns his crank like new tech or new programming. He's sure that Shoichi's work will have his engineering fingerprints all over it, too; he'll be able to judge what level he's on much more accurately seeing his work than watching Shoichi inspect his own.]

I don't need to, but - can I?

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