STEAM LONDON: Realms of Aether Game Thread

[Nigel Wetherby]

Cain scratched his chin, eying the blueprints for the craft to find what might explode and what might not. He had survived a great many explosions but he hated worrying Angel so.
"How safe is it? I would very much like to return to solid ground with all my limbs in tact, thank you."

Sigmund experimentally tugged a strand of his hair, wondering what about it the bright one found "Pretty." He remembered seeing her side by side with this with Commodore Emma, she seemed to be the only member of the staff who treated him like something remotely human. Sigmund returned Angel's friendly smile with a warm smirk that seemed to contain but a fraction of the raw, unadulterated sweetness.
He turned to Dreyfuss and gave him a sturdy handshake, the likes of which he had been trained to do so one might be sure the man they fraturnized with held no dagger nor gun beneath their spear.
"And yes, it is true...i am half cold one. But not in the way you think....it is complicated to say the least."

[Stella Gaslight]

"It should be no more dangerous than most ships. I would imagine it might get quite turbulent but that is nothing you cant handle."  Cain was an excellent pilot and one of the only ones Emma would ask for by name.

"Can you make your hair do tricks like Sweets can?"  Angel asked, she was fascinated by the newcomer Patrick sent. "i bet you have pretty eyes like Sweets too." She said trying to peek behind his glasses.

[MWBailey]

Oho! So he CAN read thoughts, Dreyfuss thought. That should come in handy if we're to go on a mission together. oh, and touche', young sir, mentally saluting the apparently-young fellow.

[Nigel Wetherby]

"Well ten, I suppose that means i've only a 60 percent chance of exploding." He said jokingly, knowing full well he could trust her. "Very well. Let's see this screaming metal deathtrap, shall we?"

Sigmund placed his hand over both his hair and the straps of his glasses. "I haven't really made it do tricks really, I can just sort of...slick it back." He pulled his hair away and shook his head wildly, letting his hair muss. A concentrated look crossed his face as his hair righted itself into an upstanding gentleman's haircut.
"And I can shorten and lengthen it, but it takes a bit of time and concentration. As for my eyes." He slid away his goggles, revealing the honey-gold eyes that appeared to be sans-pupils.

[MWBailey]

Dreyfuss' watch thumped repeatedly in his waistcoat pocket; removing it, he saw that the proximity alert bulb on the face was lit, indicating that the St. Elmo was nearby; the the white bulb also began to glow, meaning that a "Master to the bridge" alert was in effect, at his convenience; it woud slowly turn from softly-glowing white, to orange, to yellow, and then to a very bright red when it became urgent. Dreyfuss decided to wait until after he saw the device to go aqnd see about the information. Maybe someday they'll make one that I can call the ship on to see whats the matter, he thought...

[Stella Gaslight]

Angel clapped at the transformation.  "I like that.  Your eyes are the same color as the necklace Mama gave me. But she gave you something even better didn't she?  Where did you come from?" His song was unlike any she had ever heard. It was like there was some small change in the underlying rhythm that did not sync with the rest of the world.

Emma took them all to the roof where a ship just slightly smaller than the Jam and Cookies was waiting.  "This is the D Hopper, I made sure to adjust the controls just the way you like them and it has a pre-plotted course that should get you in and out before the locals notice anything out of the ordinary. The aetherphones should work just as well as they do here and if you have any trouble hit the big red button and you should come right back."

[MWBailey]

Dreyfuss surreptitiously thumbed the stud on the side of the watch that sent little morse bleeps over the aether to the St. Elmo, sending "Testing new device(stop)get engines started and ready for interdiction(stop) should device be chased back by unfriendlies who need driving off(stop). It never hurt to be prepared; if the D Hopper managed to make it back, but with cold ones or whatever following, they would need to deal with the problem immediately. He saw Emma give him a questioning look, and he smled and nodded, patting the watch pocket  as he did so.

[T.Taylor the Third]

Trip happened to be working in the cramped undeerbelly of the Interdemenstional Aetherical matter moving machine.....well that was his name for it..but emma called it the D hopper and it stuck.........

Cain was all set up above, "shall i give it a go?" he asked

"yes go for it"

The machine let out a deep pulsing sound *whherrreeewhheeeerrreeee*
and a swirl of colors stated to surround the machine. it shimmered and fadded out of this plan.

[MWBailey]

That's odd, Dreyfuss thought, I've heard that sond someplace before... Yeah, twenty years ago, on the maiden voyage of the Mad Anthony, we were over Galveston Bay, and that noise came warblin' through one side of the ship and out the other, like to scared us all to death...

[Stella Gaslight]

Emma's eyes were riveted to the small display in her hands, all lights and gauges were in the green.  "It is working wonderfully. It looks like those engine refinements did the trick." She gave Trip a kiss.  "I wonder if this is like your first trip through time.  I wish I could be with them.  What do you think they are seeing?" 

[T.Taylor the Third]

(ooc:okay i can deal but this being the second time a post has been partialy or totaly ignored please read more carefuly, trip WAS in fact onbourd the machine when it vanished.)

"I dont know....I wish i was on board....."

[Stella Gaslight]

(ooc I am sorry but I couldn't tell if he had gotten out or not.)

"Well as soon as we are sure all our bits and pieces will come back with us it will be our turn."  She looked at the display.  "Still green. It looks like they should be back quite soon."  Emma watched the empty bit of sky holding her breath and hoping everything turned out all right.

[Nigel Wetherby]

Cain smirked in the O'Landry fashion  and slipped the phones on. "She's a beauty, I'll take good care of her, Miss Emma."
And with that, he hopped into the cockpit. With the winding of a few gears and the twisting of a few cranks, the D hopper hummed to life. The typical rush of excitement pounded Cain's nerves like a collective drumset as the machine rose off the ground, taking off like a shot from a cannon.

"I would rather not say." He said, pulling his gaze from the magnetic look of the bright one's construct. She still held within her that indomitable spirit and admirable innocence from his plane. He thought it best not to think about it and not to let her know he was not thinking about it.

[Stella Gaslight]

"Here I think you will like this.  Is is strawberry lemonade flavor." Angel said giving Sigmund one of her famous dual flavored lollipops and then popping one in her own mouth.  The ship came back with a large crack thoom.  Energy crackled along the outside of the ship making those gathered around it's hair stand on end.  Cain popped out of the cockpit in one piece and that made Angel very happy. 

Emma gave him a quick look over and he seemed fine.  "So what did you see?"

"It wasn't too different then here but everything looked grayer and there were signs of a battle everywhere and the streets were empty."  The quiet had been very unnerving and felt fake like people were just out of site holding their breath as he passed them.

Emma grinned.  "All right then now we can install the full scale model."  She was excited partially to be finding George but also partially to get a chance to explore a world beyond her own. 

[Nigel Wetherby]

Sigmund eyed the pink and yellowed colored confection as if it were some alien device before licking it curiously. An un-known tingling sensation danced across his tounge as a veritable palatable ode to joy played across his tounge. He quickly wrapped his lips around the flat-headed lollipop, giving a rather messy (and somewhat embarassing) slurp.
He wiped his mouth after quickly pulling the lollipop from his mouth, feeling rather embarassed.
"Er...It's delicious."

Cain wondered what grim reality he had visited. The version of london he had seen was lifeless and barren compared to this. The idea of such realities existing in which the queen became triumphant was horrendously disturbing.

[Stella Gaslight]

"I am glad you like it. Jen lady and Mama 'rachne taught me how to cook.  Emma lady wanted to help too but things kind of exploded."  She liked Sigmund, he reminded her of herself before Cain taught her all about the world.  He looked kind of sad maybe she could teach him like Cain. 

"Miss Lighton." Helena said tapping her on the shoulder.  "I have conformation from the dock crew that the preliminary work on the ship is done."

Emma nodded.  "Alright then have them bring it in so we can do the final install."  Things were working well, it all most felt like it was meant to be.

[Nigel Wetherby]

"Thank you very much miss..."
"Angel" She replied with a trilling chirp in her voice.
"Angel." The name seemed much nicer than what the other Emma had named her. He turned to Helena, a bit of a blush crossing his pink cheeks. "And er, who is she?" He whispered.

Cain shuddered, still remembering the scent of rubble and burnt flesh that had been left from the dead city. "Do we...have to return to that place?"

[Stella Gaslight]

"That is Helena. She makes sure Emma doesn't blow herself up too much."  Angel liked Helena too because she would bring her back sweets from around the world whenever she traveled.  Helena smiled and waved back at Angel.

"If that is where George is that is where I am going.  I guess this rules out Sigmund's theory about a portal to heaven.  I think we better brake out the old heat cannons and microwave guns just in case he has gotten himself in to trouble."  Emma didn't like the idea of battling the cold ones again but she wasn't going to leave George suffering in their hands.   

[MWBailey]

Miss Emma, Miss Irene, the St. Elmo has also landed at the dock, and Cap'n Ishmael apparently wants to consult about something-or-other," Dreyfuss said, "So I had better get over there and see what it is." HE exited through the corridor to the steering room, and out the side hatch-door of teh steering room, and stepped briskly down along the boards of the dock; He looked around himself then, suddenly noticing, and wondering why Helena, several dock personnel, and he were all walking toward the Elmo. He glanced back, and saw that Trip was also stepping off of the Boheme...

Now, what is all this? he wondered to himself. Did they install one of those dimensional whatzits on the Elmo too?!"HE stopped walking and waited for Trip.

"OK, Trip, I promise I wont rip out whatever's been done to the St. Elmo." Dreyfuss said, suddenly more than a little worried about his little jewel of a zeppelin, "Just go ahead and tell me what it is, so it won't hit me like a ton of mackerel when I see it."

[Nigel Wetherby]

Sigmund examined Helena carefully, her outfit and dark skin implied she was a skywoman, and the way she held her hands implied that she was no stranger to weaponry. It was good to see another person who wanted to use their skill for combat to protect rather than destroy.
He began to wonder if he would find someone or something to protect. He sucked on his lollipop thoughtfully, and counted his blessings that he had brought his standard issue queen's army polearm and rifle with him, hoping though that he would not need to use either.

Cain extended both his deus blades, "I wont let them touch a hair on Angel or abnyone else's head!" Cain's voice blased with determination.

[ShredsnPatches]

Jen frowned and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her work on the smallpox treatment was progressing slowly, and her tiredness had caused her to make a mistake on the latest batch of samples. She tucked a stray strand of white hair behind her ear and turned the gas burner up high to boil off the last of the spoiled medicine.

She couldn't concentrate for excitement - George had been found? Maybe the whole crew would be put back together again.... it had been too long since they had met. Jen extinguished the gas burner and picked up her notes. Where had she gone wrong this time?

[Nigel Wetherby]

Patrick appeared like an apparation behind Jen, a familiar grin crossing his pale face.
"How's tha medicine been' goin' love?" He asked as he looked over her shoulder, tilting his head curiously and quickly recouling from the stench.
"AH! Hell! It smells like that pile of old fruit we found in tha forest last june!" Jen's icy glare reminded him not to point out the smell. "Er...But I'm sure ye'll get the formula next time." He planted a kiss on her cheek.
"Hey Jen, what say ye take a little rest eh? Ye've been workin nonstop fer three days now! Ye need ta sleep!"

[Stella Gaslight]

The lab had an excellent dock and soon both ships were covered with people in overalls like Helena attaching Trip's amazing device to the ships.  "This is going to take some time.  We might as well try and figure out some strategy and just catch up while we wait."  Emma took them up to a glass observation port that was well stocked with refreshments.  Sigmund watched as people swarmed around Helena like bumble bees as she calmly handed out orders and handled the little problems that always seemed to come with getting a group of that size to do anything.

[MWBailey]

Captain Ishmael was nervous; Sir Jaisen might be willing to let people other than himself and Ishmael and Jock (the fireman/engineer) mess about on the ship, but all the hammering, and drilling noises set his teeth on edge; it's was like it were my house and the landlord kept tinkering with the chimney and the plumbing, he thought; surely sooner or later somewhat'll get stopped up, and we and the commodore'll have to figure it all out all by ourselfs.

Then , in came himself, asking what kind of information he had. Ishmael told him about the recent smallpox epidemic in america, and how Rosita and her daughter had Esmeralda had moved to London to escape it; apparently she had also wanted to enroll Esmeralda in Patrick O'Landry's School of Technomancy, Esme, as teh called her for short, being unusually gifted with the blacksmith's "fire and ire," as Sir Jaisen would have quoted his Uncle caractacus as calling it. Apparently, they had an audience with Patrick tomorrow, and Rosita had managed to find and get hold of Ishmael in order to ask Jaisen to put in a good word for his Niece. The commodore wondered aloud why Rosita hadn't contacted him directly, and Ishamael explained that she had tried to through HMSS at whitehall, and how they could take weeks just to pass a note. Sir Jaisen then left, thanking Ishmael for the information, and said he had some work to do "in that case." Ishmael went back to working ove rthe ledger, wincing everytime a BANG! of a hammer, or a ruummmble of a drill sounded.

[Nigel Wetherby]

Sigmund approached Helena rather nervously his polearm slung over his shoulder, long strips of white cloth hung from the laquered black wood handle shimmering in the sparse sunlight.
"You must be Helena, good to see another dab hand at the air ship controlls. I know mostly basic mechanics, but I'm the best with their cannons. Do you need any help with anything?"

Cain watched the conversation that was very weakly taking off and motioned for the rest of the inquiring group to approach him for instructions, leaving the two to converse.