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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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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?

[Something a little breathless sweeps through him at the look in Spanner’s eyes, a little excited, a little eager. It’s been ages since he’s really gotten to talk with anyone about his projects, his workaholic nature making him focus more on work than sharing it. Plus with his current career, well… It doesn’t leave a lot of room for meeting other engineers.]
[Going back around Mosca, Shoichi tries to talk as he moves with his hands fluttering around in gestures.]

I wouldn’t have offered if I minded. [A flicker of a smile.] Lately I’ve been focusing more on architectural technology than pure robotics, because I got this one idea, but I can probably scrounge up old schematics I’ve done in the past, since that seems like it’s more relevant. I keep what I can on me, since I travel around so much.

[Spanner trails after him, looking genuinely and distinctly interested. It's been a long time since he's seen another engineer's work aside from stuff online; he certainly hasn't had the chance to really talk shop with a fellow mechanic and programmer in ages. He's already resolved that if Shoichi's not on his level, he'll try to help elevate him - if only so Spanner can have someone to discuss things like this with.

Weird, how he never realized how much he missed having human companionship until another person showed up. Someone interesting enough to get his attention, rather than a boot from the house.

In any case, though, Spanner isn't automatically assuming he's the better engineer. Shoichi could be as good as he is, or even better - though he doubts the last, or Byakuran wouldn't be still skulking around trying to get Spanner if a better option were available and largely unguarded. Not to mention Spanner would have heard about someone on that level. Engineers around - or at - Spanner's level tend to catch people's attention, whether they want to or not.]

What kind of schematics? Robots? Weapons?

Robotics. I’ve never had particular reason before to go into weapons in depth, so I mostly focused on AI programming and fine motor control. Sometimes I think about delving into robotic limb replacement, but I’m still focusing on other things, so-

[He steps into the elevator, still talking animatedly and seeming to liven up more with each word.]

Admittedly, I’ve been able to do a lot more work when it comes to programming just because, uh- [A small snort and dry but playful grin.] -I haven’t found a billionaire to fund me to make robots, so I stick with what tech I do have.

[Spanner steps into the elevator with him, just listening to Shoichi talk with genuine pleasure as he presses the button to take them back up to his control room. He grins at the billionaire comment, however.]

I don't have a billionaire funding me, I have corporations funding me. There's a difference. [He pauses.] And just so you know, most of the money I make goes right back into supplies for the lab and the projects, and even if there's two of us working twice as fast I don't know how fast we're going to be getting rich off this. But I'm fine with splitting the proceeds 50/50, if you're contributing twice the speed and work I'm able to manage on my own. Even if you only do the programming stuff, that'd let me focus on the mechanics. [He pauses for a moment.] But I don't mind us splitting the work in both areas, either, if you can jump into that right away.

[Shoichi's apparently made the jump from tourist to full partner in this enterprise all in one go. Although, to be fair, Spanner does seem to be offering a split based on the work Shoichi can do - so presumably, if Shoichi's programming doesn't impress him, the split may be more in Spanner's favor until Shoichi catches up.

Personally, though, Spanner doesn't think someone who'd looked at his lab and his Moscas the way Shoichi did, who'd asked the questions Shoichi had, is too far below his own level - and, if he is, it may be more due to a lack of time and resources than a lack of skill or potential. His offer reflects his confidence in that clearly enough.]

[With all the surprises that have been hitting him in the space of- what? An hour? God, this can’t have been happening for long- Shoichi is amazed that he has any breath left in him. The haunted house reveal, the opportunity to just look at the insides of the Moscas, being allowed to work with him, and now this? A chance at a full partnership?]

[It shouldn’t be any surprise that Shoichi sounds a little breathless as he responds.]

Yeah, of course- no I understand completely. I won’t ask for any more than what I’m actually doing, and I know it’ll probably just go back into all of this too-

[Before he knows it, the elevator is opening back up again, and Shoichi tries to hold himself back from looking too eager as he goes to get his things. It fails, probably, but at least he tried. Going through all the things in his pack is going to take a while, so he settles on the ground as he does so.]

Sorry- hold on. I can show you some of the less extensive stuff I’ve done first, it’s going to take a little bit for me to get through all my stuff…

[But his laptop is always within reach, once he gets through the clothing and other junk he’s used as buffering. As he tugs it out, Spanner will be able to see that it’s a custom one and not something just anyone could buy at a store. Even before Shoichi opens it, it’s clearly been designed to handle whatever bumps and disasters he regularly gets into as a journalist. He balances it on his knees with a well practiced ease, briefly losing himself as he sets things up.]

Alright… Here. These are old schematics from a few years ago, not too long before I entered college. They’re obviously nothing like your Moscas, but…. They should give a decent idea of my skill level until I get you some more recent things I’ve been tinkering with. Don’t mind some of the more experimental designs…

[He likes to think they’re decent if nothing else- his professors had certainly been impressed with the care he had given to thinking out in improving movement and how they would interact with delicate movements or objects. But… Spanner is different from some old college professor. He wants to be acknowledged by him for entirely different reasons.]

[But until then, he has usb sticks to ferret out.]

[Spanner sits down across from him, taking the laptop from Shoichi once he's got the schematics up so he can get a proper look at them. And, to his satisfaction, he find that his faith's been rewarded.

It's good stuff. Not up to par with Spanner's own current work but, after all, this isn't Shoichi's current work, either. Spanner has to compare these concepts to his work from a few years back to be able to make a fair comparison - and, true, maybe they're not quite so advanced as him. Spanner was, after all, making functional Moscas several years ago. But he'd had the benefit of funding, and a lab, and the luxury of working full-time on his mechanics and programming. For someone working on the purely theoretical level, not being able to test their designs in real life, and part-time at that...with those restrictions, at that time of Spanner's life, he doesn't think he'd have done much better.

Shoichi may play catch-up for a little while, but someone with talent like this should be able to make up that ground quickly.

He flips through the various schematics, pausing on one that catches his eye.] ...why a cube?

[Even as he tries to stay focused on looking for the sticks, Shoichi can’t help but watch Spanner from the corner of his eyes with a pounding heart. It’s been ages since he’s been able to show anyone his work seriously. Having this chance, with someone so skilled… He can’t tell if embarrassment or eagerness that will win out in his stomach.]

[The question has him pause, stumbling for a second before his thoughts sort out what schematic Spanner must be looking at.]

Oh, that. Well… [He folds his hands together.] In my opinion…. When it comes to robotics or technology, in the pursuit of making something that excels, we often limit it at the same time. A Mosca for combat, various specialized robots for building particular things, automatons that focus on simply mimicking movement- it’s not an incorrect move to take with what limits we already have but it had me wondering something. If a machine could be made to be most versatile, what would it look like?

When I thought about that… To me, a cube is the perfect fit. I mean- [He laughs quietly.] Even in everyday conversation, people say things like “the building blocks of life”, or whatever, right? So, that’s the idea I decided to pursue, even if it’s a long stretch.

That’s not something I’ve touched in a while, but… [Finally, he digs through and pulls out one usb stick in particular.] It’s definitely one of the inspirations I had for my latest project. For now, I’ve called it Merone. [He holds it out.] Let me know what you think.

Merone? [Spanner cocks an eyebrow as he takes the USB stick from Shoichi, plugging it into his laptop. The theory about a versatile robot that could do any kind of job...it's interesting. His mind is already ticking over his possible objections to the idea, and how one would address them.

Programming limitations comes to mind, first. No amount of processing power could possibly handle a robot that could do anything. However, multiple programs that could be loaded in, swapped out at will...that, in contrast, might work. Then, of course, physical limitations - one couldn't make a robot that's capable of performing any possible task all at once, not without it being unbelievably costly and also too restricted by its sheer bulk and complexity from doing a number of things...which would violate the principle. However, just as the problem is similar, so is the solution - modular parts, able to be swapped in and out as needed. So not a robot capable of doing anything at all times, but a robot that could be infinitely customized and specialized for any task...it's an interesting idea. Spanner finds himself intrigued.

Shoichi's old design doesn't seem to have addressed those issues, Spanner notes. It has multiple functionalities, but it only has one ability built into each side of the cube and highly adaptive programming in applying them. Still restricted in form, in other words. The only reason Spanner doesn't mention his own thoughts immediately is because Shoichi's just handed him something more recent; those things might be addressed there.

And he brings up the plans.

There's a few long moments as Spanner's eyes go over the plans, as he starts to parse it. But Shoichi will see the moment where Spanner's lips part, the stick of his lollipop dangling loosely from his slack mouth.

The sheer scale of this...]

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