The Secrets of Tyrrus

"Indeed." Mira agreed, falling in step with Dylan. They had a plan together. Thankfully her new boss was willing to work with the Sergeant. Although, that last line more or less confirmed that she was not in fact a Tower agent. Maybe the Sergeant would assume that Dylan was playing the part still, but she had to resign herself to her little ploy probably being over. While obviating the need for secrecy was always a good thing, she still felt slightly disappointed. It was fun to play different parts sometimes, if only to make a change from being the demure young lady that she usually was. As they fell out of earshot of the palace and Sergeant Crowne, she looked over at Dylan and smiled, satisfied. "A good morning's work I should say. I wonder where the other two got to though?"



"I do not study statues, nor anatomy, though finding treasure would be exciting. I hope that I am able to experience this at some point." The Golem was familiar with the concept of finding treasure from human stories. He suspected that it would be enjoyable, but he lacked the opportunities to do so. And in some ways, the idea felt antiquated. According to his records, Aspire could remember no modern treasure-hunting stories. The human looked at the statue in an odd way after he mentioned the treasure. Perhaps he was there for treasure. He did seem to be eyeing the precious materials. Then, surprisingly, the man turned back and introduced himself with an unusual bow. Aspire saw no point in the motion, so did not return it. "Greetings Rigel Northam. I call myself Aspire. I do not live in this city. I was exploring. Currently I am waiting until I can meet a friend from my travels in Izir. She will not be available until approximately 7pm. Are you able to tell me anything interesting about this city in the meantime? I am somewhat lacking in guidance." He rattled off his responses then watched Rigel expectantly for an answer. ​

 

​

Once out of sight of the sergeant, Dylan took a swig of his whisky flask. "How should I know?" Dylan responded to Mira "I live life with the expectation that people will never act as expected" He walked casually across the bridge that lead out of the ministry, and threw the butt of his cigarette into the moat. The Royal guards glared at him, but Dylan barely seemed to notice. "Let's get back to the base and hope that it hasn't fallen apart in our absence"

Time passes.
As the hours go by, the sun retreats to the horizon, sending golden rays through pillars of smoke spewed from the factories. An orange hue is cast across the city as the day begins to surrender to the night. The canals glitter with reflected sunlight, and several trains pass by over this time, lazily making their way across the tracks that span over the city. The hustle and bustle of the afternoon is replaced by the ponderous ambiance of early evening. The night life has not quite begun, yet restaurants and taverns are open and flowing with customers. Yet behind this tranquil facade, in the alleyways and back streets sinister figures shuffle and talk in hushed tones. Intimidating thugs brandish weapons brazenly, greedy crime lords count their illegal goods, and clandestine silhouettes prowl across the rooftops.

Electric lighting blares out of every window at Gallahowe manor, and gentle ambiance can be heard within. Guests arrive, none of them particularly notable, but most of them sporting augments of some kind. A clockwork golem steward stands by the door, ensuring that everybody coming in is expressly invited to this exclusive event. Situated within the industrial district of the city, the elegant mansion is quite a juxtaposition when compared to the large imposing factories behind it.

The Harbrook Manor is quite different. Subdued and almost empty-seeming, the residents within anxiously await information regarding their lady. The manor and its well-groomed gardens sits by the riverside on the western part of the city, along with many other wealthy mansions. Its archaic architecture presents a fairytale image, yet today everything seems on edge.

But before we get to those places, we'll have to visit somewhere much less resplendent. As always, sitting forlorn by the riverside, Haytham's Investigations suicidally contemplates its own existence, as each creak of the ancient building foreshadows its inevitable collapse.

6 PM​

With an exhausted sigh, Dylan pushed open the creaky door of his agency building, with Zephyr in tow. Chucking his hat at the hat-stand, he moved on to the kitchen. "Kara? Are you here?" he shouted out to the building in general. "If you're not here, you're gonna miss out on visiting my super secret information contacts" as he yelled, he grabbed a chocolate bar from the shelf and began to eat it. Dinner was served.

7 PM​

Gallahowe Manor - Mirela
Standing outside, or on her way to, Gallahowe's manor house, Mirela found herself meeting someone new. "Oh, you must be Mirela" a smooth and accented voice called out. The stranger was a dark-skinned woman with pure white hair, wearing quite elegant noblewoman's clothes in colours of deep maroon and black. Her most startling features were the beautifully intricate white tattoos that snaked across her bare arms, and the cybernetic mechanism around one of her eyes which clearly indicated her improved vision. "Mortimer told me about you, and I hoped you'd come along, you see there are very rarely any other women at these events. Oh forgive me my manners, I am Lady Lunaji Gallahowe. Mortimer's wife" the woman's exotic voice sounded like chocolate lathered over caramel, and she moved with the poise and grace of a bred noblewoman, despite her foreign nature.

​

Lynda had parked the police car by the roadside, so she, Ulrich and Aspire had to walk along the long driveway that meandered through the grounds to Harbrook mansion. It was a beautiful house that definitely evoked the style of the age of legends, but Lynda had little time to appreciate architecture today
Jebediah's report from the Ministry was certainly worrying, and further confirmed their theories that a forbidden magic Hirokiri plot was to blame for all this. But Mortimer Gallahowe at the head of it? Lynda had always found the man a little suspicious; she didn't like the ridiculous amount of metal he willingly placed into his body, and the way he showed up out of nowhere after his parents death and inherited their business seemed a little convenient. But she couldn't fault his effectiveness; under his rule, the power company had granted a huge percentage of the city access to electricity, whereas before him only the wealthy had been able to power their homes. He was already one of the wealthiest people in the city, she simply couldn't imagine him risking everything on such an audacious power play. And what did their argument hinge on, the fact that he had visited Harbrook and had Hirokiri working for him? It seemed like weak evidence. Nevertheless, hopefully they'd discover more here.
Knock knock knock knock. Lynda rapped out a rhythm quickly against the door to Harbrook Manor when they arrived. A moment later a servant answered.
"...yes?"
"Lynda Rochester of the Eredan Constabulary" she quickly explained, holding up her badge "These are my colleagues; Ulrich Haltzenor and Aspire. we're here to talk about the events at the ministry earlier today"
"...well I..."
"We have a permit"
"...very well" the three of them were reluctantly let into the mansion.

 

​

Jebediah wasted no time in making his way back to the constabulary HQ, his metal soles chiming against the cobbled streets as he marched through the city. Before long he found his way heading up the steps of the imposing brick structure of the constabulary into the reception, Penelope was sat at her desk still sliding paperwork across as Jebediah asked her where Lynda was, she gestured towards the archives and he followed it to his boss, briefly he explained everything he had found at the investigations and explained where he would be heading tonight however decidedly left out any details about Haythem investigations helping out; it would be better in his mind to reveal that when he had results rather than trusting Lynda to agree it was a good idea.
With little else to do Jebediah made his way around the station, making note to stop by the cell block he checked for his 3 captives from earlier today and sure enough they had been collected though unlike their shouting and brutish neighbors the 3 seemed oddly quiet, almost patient, only one looked up to acknowledge Jebediah watching from the doorway and just had a private smile to himself before looking away. Before giving this any thought Jebediah felt a tab on his shoulder from a small delicate hand, he turned to see penelope holding up a letter for him "Delivery sergeant." she said as she slid the letter into his hand before retreating back to the front desk, the letter was new and only had his name on it, no address so a courier would have had to deliver it, Odd? Sure, flattering? Maybe... Jebediah found his way to his desk and opened the letter.

​

"Huh." Jebediah huffed as he leant back in his chair, he understood the idea of not marching in wearing a constabulary uniform but he didn't really attend formal occasions either the closest thing he had to a suit would be his formal Honor uniform but that would defeat the point somewhat... Despite this he knew somewhere he could get one...

​

Alice, clipboard in hand held the door open for Ludwick as she presented him with his refurbished office! Plant pot back where it belonged, every curtain not burned and desk polished to a shine! "Fantastic." He announced proudly as if he had actually put any effort into fixing the damages caused this morning, he strided in and Alice followed heel as he sat behind his mahogany desk and rested a large brown suitcase on the desk and spun his chair so he could see down the small window in his floor down to the typing hall "They've earned this" he said tapping his fingers across the suitcase "Truly the work my employees have put in they have earned this bonus to their paychecks with the move." he spun back to his desk popping in the combination and revealing neatly piled envelopes each addressed to a single member of staff, alice peered over his shoulder but before she could find her name he closed the case and looked up at her expectantly "Oh- yes!" she sputtered "I think this will really keep spirits high round here sir." Ludwick smiled, he already knew he was being pretty amazing but it was nice to have it confirmed for him "So is there anything that needs my attention tonight?" Alice quickly nodded as she pulled the clipboard away from her chest and glanced it over "Well your cousin has just come in and is waiting in my office for you for when you're ready?" Ludwicks eyes quickly widened "NO! I need to hide the money!" Ludwick grabbed the case and held it over his head as if to throw it into the fireplace! Alices whole body jerked as she cried out "It's not Osmund!" Ludwick paused and glared at her through the corner of his eye "Who then?" He asked confused "Mr. Crowne sir." Ludwick raised an eyebrow "Jebediah?" Ludwick pouted and slowly shook his head from side to side "Arthur hosted his Promotion party to sergeant a few years ago? You got him a pen." "Ah!" Ludwick remarked as he stood up from his chair banging his head on the suitcase he still held over him "Ah..." He said slowly lowering it down onto his desk "Send him in." Alice skipped over to the door of the office and headed down the hall, in the few seconds he had Ludwick ran his fingers through his hair to align it, sat upright and grabbed a vaguely important looking piece of paper to read, barely half a second later Alice walked in leading behind her the man himself; Jebediah Crowne.
"Ah! Jebediah my boy how nice of you to pop in!" Ludwick announced as he leant over his desk out stretching his arm for a handshake "Not here to arrest me I hope?" Jebediah reached forward and shook the man's hand as he walked closer to his desk to ease the man's stretching, "Not today Mr. Gallows, I'm actually here to ask a small favour." Ludwick chuckled at the novelty of this "Please Jebediah call me Ludwick, we are family afterall! What is it you need?" Jebediah smiled back at him as best he could pulling out a seat for himself and sitting "I need to get a suit for tonight, I was hoping you could help me out?" Alice frowned a little at that rather rude request, how dare he so soon into the conversation... before she could interject Ludwick spoke up "I see; what's it for?" "I'm meeting someone tonight and I don't really do formal occasions, I know you gallows always do though?" Jebediah replied passing the letter from Mirabelle over to Ludwick who accepted it and methodically unfolded it. Alice seeing a brief pause took the moment "Would you like some fresh coffee sirs?" She asked as she exhaled softly letting her rage from earlier trickle out, Ludwick grinned "We'll be fine." he said passing the letter back to Jebediah "I have a light grey suit in my dresser across the hall, it may be a tight squeeze but it'll do." Jebediah nodded thankfully and looked up to Alice who by this point had managed to paint her face with a fake smile, she led the man out of the office and down the Corridor.
A short while later Alice knocked on Ludwicks door "Come in!" A voice from inside announced allowing Alice to open the door, Ludwick was sat reading a pair of A4 sheets of paper that had been stapled together, she slumped down on the guest seet her suit jacket sliding up her back causing her head to half disappear down the neck hole "That man ruined that suit." She sighed looking up to Ludwick who briefly glanced away from his papers to acknowledge her "He ripped the bottom of the suit pocket to fit his gun in... for a party! and he was just... so rude to you sir." Ludwick paused as he placed the papers down and removed his reading glasses "Alice." He said calmly "Yes he was rude, but logical! I remember doing the same thing to my father when a woman asked me for a date in my younger years." He smiled at Alice before looking out the window as if looking for something before turning back to her "It's ****." Alice suddenly sat up right "What is sir?" "The first draft." he responded simply "A fantastic front page story about the Ministry having a shooting and it's ****, these are the fact sheets from the reporters, I'm going to write the article tonight." Alice tilted her head slightly as she flicked through her clipboard "But sir, we have a booking downtown for-" "Cancel it." he said simply as he lifted a typewriter from under his desk and placed it upon the surface "I much prefer the little Shavan-y place just round the corner" he popped a thick brown wallet on the desk and slid it over to Alice "Spiced pork noodles please; and spring rolls! Don't forget to get a little something for yourself, you've proven invaluable today Alice I don't want to be stuck here without you." Alice let a warm smile turn into a grin as she took the wallet off the desk "Thank's sir. I'll be back as soon as possible." She got up and headed to the door out the office but paused once she had it open before a thought came to her "How did your date go sir..? With that woman?" Ludwick raised his head slightly "Terribly." He said "She didn't laugh at my jokes." Alice let out a small snicker as Ludwick chuckled; a brief moment passed before she nodded and stepped out the doorway, as she closed the door the sudden clatter of type writing filled the room, triple the speed of anything she had heard from the writing hall! Some things about the Gallows would never change, certainly not there commitment to the printed word.

Jebediah stood at a junction slightly uncomfortably, he raised his hand to his top button but resisted the urge to undo it. It wasn't an ill fitting suit as it showed his muscles but you could tell it wasn't made for him. A glance to his watch confirmed the time to be 6:55pm; he straightened his tie and gained composure before checking his equipment. He had a loaded gun in his suit pocket, Diam rested it at his hip, unlike his pistol it wasn't police issued so it could be passed as decoration, handcuffs nestled in his back pocket... it would have to do, he couldn't afford anything else to squeeze in the suit along with himself, he stood at the junction and waited for his partner to arrive.

​

 

Ulrich's bargain with himself to get as much done as he possibly could to try and catch up with all the paperwork, was a lot easier said than done. It was a lot more of a mental battle to stay focused on the task at hand. He tried several things, like closing his door to reduce the noise from the hallways and the rest of the building, taking short breaks and a breath of fresh air to regain his focus, stopping with all the coffee and just switching to cool water. In the end the constable had finished a decent number of files, not nearly as many as someone else who had less of a dislike for the paperwork. At the end Ulrich however was pleased with the progress he had made, one of the stacks was now completely gone and he had made a start at another one, clearing some room on his oaken desk. Nearing the end of the afternoon he delivered the completed files to the superiors that he was deployed under during the specific cases, most of them were just regular reports while atleast two of them were Special Operations reports.

Before they left for the Harbrook manor, Lynda had informed him of Jebediah's findings, it seemed they had a suspect even if the evidence linking him to the crime seemed flimsy, it was a start and it seemed to fit the narrative. It was a good start to have a suspect now, Ulrich wondered how Lucian had fared this afternoon as Jebediah and presumably him had acquired this information. The same golem from the Plaza had joined them on the way to the Harbrook Manor, he didn't question Lynda's judgement in letting the Golem go along on this investigation and it might prove usefull too. During the drive in the police car Ulrich indulged in some conversation with the construct to distract himself from the nauseating car ride, giving the construct the front seat to sit in and putting himself in the rear had been a mistake, his train of thought had been that because the construct had been bigger than him it might be more comfortable in the front seat as it had a little more room, completely forgetting that as an artificial construct it might not necessarily understand the concept of comfort.

Finally the car had stopped and Ulrich admired the orange glow in the sky from between the columns of smoke and the reflection of it in the river. It was a lovely evening and Ulrich just took it in for a moment before following Lynda up the meandering Harbrook driveway. The grounds were gorgeous in the even light and very well maintained. The whole grounds had an air of tranquility about them away from the business of the city. As they neared the door, Ulrich stopped with the admiration of the surroundings and started to focus on the task at hand. As Lynda introduced him he silently nodded and he couldn't surpress a smile when the staff reluctantly opened the door to let them in after the permit was waved around. "Alright Ma'am, where shall we start?" Ulrich asked Lynda.​

 

The rest of Mirabelle's day after the Ministry Investigation was noticeably quieter than the morning. A sense of anticipation haunted her the whole time, and she would find herself glancing towards her destination tonight as she walked the streets. She excused herself from the office for lunch - Dylan was a very relaxed boss compared to what she expected. She took her time at a small café in one of the nicer quarters of the city, sipping tea elegantly from an equally elegant teacup with a plate of scones before her. The food, delicious as it was, was set aside for a while in favour of a piece of paper, an envelope and her pen. Often, she took time to write things down and in case things went wrong tonight, she wanted a small record of what had happened today so that someone could conduct some investigations under her family's direction. Besides, a murder at the Ministry was always good gossip, and Mira loved nothing more than to feed that cycle, if only for her own entertainment.

Eventually, she posted her letter off to her family. She would have handed it to her family herself, but she was not fond of the idea of staying away from Dylan's office too long. Lax as he was, she felt it only appropriate that she remain on hand, especially with such an intense case before them. When her lunch was concluded, her scones a mere memory of savoury goodness on her palate, she walked back to Dylan's office. The day dragged on, and despite her best efforts, she felt a little bit bored just waiting there. Eventually, her mind turned to planning for the night, and a couple of ideas came to mind. First and foremost though, she had to sort out her partner. She put together a quick note, and sent that off to the Constabulary for the interest of one Jebediah Crowne. They were going to need to dress nicely tonight. Well, he would need to. Mira always dressed nicely.

Eventually, the appointed time came and she caught a cab over to the manor. On her way, much to her annoyance, little stood out to her about it other than the spectacle. She had hoped to spot something, but no such luck. She would have to employ the investigatory skills of Mr Crowne, who she could see awaiting her on the street corner. Something felt off about this party. Nobody she knew was attending to her knowledge. Gallahowe was stingy with his invitations. As she stepped out of the cab, she spotted two people on the road outside. A little lady, wearing something a far cry from the elaborate affair of the average noblewoman. Even from here she could tell that it was covered in grease. However, her companion was a far different story. Radiating with dignity and refined elegance, with a practically cut dress that showed off the stark white tattoos across her arms. It seemed that this lady would not sacrifice prudence for aesthetics, and perhaps that was wise for immediately her suspicions were raised. Hirokiri. With the cybernetic eye mechanism, that could only be the Lord of the manor's wife. Lunaji if she recalled. She was on the avoid list. Mira made a mental note that her watch was in her top left pocket inside her suit jacket.

Mira crossed over to her partner for the evening, and gave him a quick scan. She sighed internally. It fitted him ill, and not only because it clearly was not his suit. He looked awkward in it. The aesthetically concerned Mira would have told him not to have bothered if he was going to look like that, but they were here for a mission. And of course he wore his sword. At least it looked a little fashionable.
"Mister Crowne, good evening." She said with a pleased smile, placing the tip of her cane on the paving as she stopped in front of him. "You have acquitted yourself well in the dressing department." She noted some discomfort, hoping that a small compliment would serve to relax him a little.
"Tonight will be interesting..." Mira's mouth morphed into a flat line, and she dropped her volume to explain the next part so as not to attract the attention of those across the road. "Nobody I know has an invitation, and I was not given one either. This is a very specific, closed party. I imagine we will have to show our invitations at the door. We do not have said invitations, so I suspect that we will have to find another way around. Gallahowe is not likely to have a stupid Clockwork Butler who will let us past." She tapped the head of her cane with her right hand.
"So, if your profession happens to have lent you any skills in the infiltration department, I suggest we make use of them. We cannot be seen by that white haired lady. She is the lady of the house, Lunaji Gallahowe, and will likely know that we are not on the guest list."






The Golem stepped out of Lynda's car with a resounding thunk as they arrived at their destination. He had been considering the situation while speaking to Constable Ulrich Haltezor, who had given him the front seat for some reason, possibly to allow his mechanisms to experience less stress due to having to maintain an uncomfortable posture. A murder in the humans' government agency must be disturbing business for them. He had been mulling over the facts as given, and it all seemed difficult. He uttered a low, bass prayer to the Walking God as they ventured towards the manor in search of the secrets of the one puppeted by the suspected Hirokiri mage. The magic seemed eminently disturbing to Aspire, and he felt a surge of relief through his circuits when he realised that as he was a machine, he was immune to the manipulations. At least, he believed so. Such was the advantage of being beyond human.

A warrant was presented, a thing that he remembered from his time in Izir when he first met Lynda. She always seemed to be needing those warrants to do things. He wondered whether she needed a warrant to leave her office, or enter it. Law enforcement seemed to be mostly paperwork. They soon stepped inside, distracting him from thinking uselessly about the intricacies of Constabulary work. Ulrich asked Lynda where they were to begin, but Aspire felt no requirement to do the same. He stepped inside, scanning the lobby that they had entered into.

A grand, curved stairway dominated the room. He could see the artistic value, but he felt that it was space inefficient although he conceded that the curve of the stair was pleasing. One door on each side of the room led to other areas of the manor. Aspire could only conclude that it led to living rooms and kitchens. Unlike Vincent, the Harbrooks likely did not have a laboratory and workshop at home. A glance to the upstairs suggested that there was a corridor, likely containing bedrooms and restrooms based on his understanding of architecture.
"I conclude that we begin with an investigation of Lilian Harbrook's bedroom." He suggested in a mechanical grumble, after considering their options. He looked to the one who let them in. "May you please lead us to this bedroom? Thank you." He made sure to be polite, and respectful. Humans seemed to do what you ask if you asked them nicely.

​

 

​

Kara shrugged when Lucian pulled his shirt off, though she didn't mind the eyeful she got. Wasted, definitely not. Her laughter echoed slightly, and she made a mental note to quiet down. "Well, I won't complain about that." Though it would put a dent in my plans if you forgot about this little interaction.

~~~~~~~~

Kara was playing with the fabric of Lucian's coat, her mind wandering slowly as her fingers ran over the cloth. "It might be, that I could be bribed into getting you a drink. But I'd want something out of the deal." She smirked, sitting up and kneeling on her knees on the bed. At the sound of the door, she raised an eyebrow, but left the smirk where it was as Lucian commented. "So if it was my dad, or my brother, you would want to fight them? For coming home?" She chuckled, running her fingers through her purple hair before slipping off the mattress and moving towards the door. "Thankfully, it is neither. Your issues can stay just underneath the surface for now, Master Lucian. Although this does sound like it requires my attention." Walking towards the door, she smacked the back of her right heel against a desk drawer. "I'll collect that favor when I return. Don't destroy the room, don't steal my underwear, and if you drink it all, you owe me another favor." Winking, she stepped out the door and wandered towards the sound of the havoc wreaking noise that was Dylan.

"Do you talk to yourself often? Or is it because you really wanted me to be home?" She yelled back, swinging into the kitchen and wandering over to where the green haired man stood, eyeing up the chocolate. Listening to her impulse, she made a grab for it, deciding that it looked appetizing enough to share. Too bad if Dylan didn't feel the same way. "So what's the secret? I'll share mine if you share yours."

 

​

The walls of the Haytham's investigations building were not particularly soundproof. There was definitely more than one voice coming from Kara's room. One of them was Kara, the other one... who knew? Hopefully nobody dangerous, but that was probably an issue for later. It wasn't Dylan's business if she had a man over, he didn't own the building he just paid the rent. Something about "responsibility" floated by in Dylan's head, but he ignored it.
"Do you talk to yourself often? Or is it because you really wanted me to be home?" Kara announced her presence with a yell.
"I'm a detective, I can tell when someone is in my own home" he responded, mouth full of chocolate. "And yes, I do talk to myself often, because as far as I can tell, I'm the only one who listens to me". Dylan noticed Kara eyeing up the chocolate, and swiftly held it above his head in an outstretched arm as she reached for it, using his height as an advantage. Still holding the chocolate, Dylan moved on
"So one of my rules is that you should never bother to find out what someone else already knows. We need to look for a single person in this whole city, and all we know about them is their race, and the fact that they may or may not have something to do with Lord Gallahowe. You know, the guy who makes the lightbulbs run" Dylan explained "Luckily I know some people who know many things, but they're located in the worst part of the city, so try not to look too... murderable"

Gallahowe Manor - Mirela
"A pleasure to meet you too Ms McLain, and don't call it a meeting, dear, that makes it sound so dreafully boring" Lunaji walked to the side of Mirela and gestured for them both to walk together towards the manor "No, no, think of it like a party, of like-minded individuals. And don't worry too much about your clothes or manners, this is gathering of people who care about machines and industry, not aristocratic grace" Lunaji spotted nearby two people in suits, though she couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, they did look a little suspicious. Nevertheless she carried on, and didn't at all pause in her conversing with the younger woman "Mortimer told me about your little bird, marvelous device I must say. Flight is always a tricky thing to achieve, especially on such a small scale. I look forward to the day somebody creates a way for humans to fly, without the use of planes or airships"

​

"A search of the bedroom could prove useful" Lynda noted, in response to Ulrich and Aspire "But I am curious about this meeting she had with Lord Gallahowe. If there was any foul play, it's likely to have happened during that interaction" Lynda turned to the servant once again "Lady Harbrook is not married, but she has a brother, correct? Where is he?"
"Lord Harbrook is currently working in Santropico" The servant explained "He has been there three weeks, and was away during the meeting"
"I see" Lynda stated, with narrowed eyes. Lynda suspected that the lord was on vacation with work as an excuse, Santropico was lovely this time of year. The sun, the sand, the clear air. Internally Lynda sighed and wished that she too was on a tropical island somewhere, but the thought was only fleeting and she quickly returned to business. "Aspire, Haltzenor, if you wish to investigate, do so at your leisure. I'm going to see what I can find out about this meeting, you can join if you wish" Lynda was then guided into a sitting room, where she promptly took a seat and took out a notepad and pen. A cluster of nervous servants were gathered for her to talk to.
"Right then..."

 

Ulrich had stretched his legs enough to get the effects of the poor decision on his part to let the construct sit in the front seat out of his system. He thought for a moment he himself had never really had too much of a problem with tiring his clockwork arm. When he first got it it took a bit of getting used to the weight being carried by the shoulder itself instead of the muscles in the arm helping with it. But that complaint had been resolved relatively soon after he got used to having the mechanical arm. Something that never truly went away was the phantom itch even if it occured less these days. Either way he hadn't had any complaints of the arm requiring room like his legs and assumed the construct probably didn't need to either, it hadn't been too far a drive luckily and with the walk up the driveway it was no problem other than making Ulrich feel a little stupid, perhaps his struggle with the paperwork had dulled his senses a little for the day.

The construct came to the conclusion that they were going to investigate Miss Harbrook's bedroom, it was a decent enough place to start. Lynda seemed to agree and then threw a big question in the open. It was the one they were here to really answer to test the theory Sergeant Crowne had provided. Well that and to find leads to other parts of the story like the Hirokiri mage. The answer to Lynda's question regarding the brother of Miss Harbrook didn't rule out their involvement even if they had been away for three weeks already. This could have all been planned with the trip being a diversion to give an alibi, the problem with it was it would make an even wilder theory and proving it would be hard. With Lynda going to question the staff and the construct going for the investigation of the bedroom that left him with the option to accompany either.

Ulrich contemplated the decision for a moment. Lynda would be fine on her own and while Ulrich wasn't too certain regarding the construct, Lynda's assurances were enough for him, he wasn't going to question her in that regard, the two had known each other in the past, it was a good thing the construct was there allowing them to cover more of the mansion between the three of them. With Lynda questioning the servants and Aspire going for Miss Harbrook's bedroom, Ulrich figured he'd go elsewhere and turned to a servant. "Could you please show me Lady Harbrook's office or workplace at home if such a place exists within this building?" Ulrich asked politely. It might be that there are notes there or a diary over the last few days which might help. Either way it was worth a shot to check the place, if it yielded nothing then he would check with Aspire to see if the construct could use a hand with things.​

 

​

"Well A, your home security sucks and when we do eventually get robbed I'll be dead for four days before you notice the smell, and B, that's because no one finds you worth listening to, Stardust." He held the chocolate out of reach, earning a pout from Kara as she stretched for a moment on her tiptoes, debating the punishment of kicking him between the legs before giving up and dropping back to the ground, wandering into the kitchen to get an apple. "So you've basically narrowed the population from one million to a half million, good job." She took a bite of the fruit before turning back to face Dylan, her eyebrow raised as she chewed. As he went on however, his plan became a little more interesting. The question was what to do with Lucian. Have him come back...or have him come with? She didn't know if she liked him that much. But she didn't like Dylan that much either.

"You can't cover up being murderable. I'm simply too adorable for some people to stand." Still, she would have to do something. Cover up her hair...gross. but doable. Maybe alter her makeup a bit, put on some less showy clothing. She sighed, and ran a finger through the purple strands before taking another bite and swallowing. "So did you get the rest of your friends killed? Because I could bring along a spare. He can hit people." That's it, make Dylan make the decision. One less responsibility for her to worry about.

 

Zephyr stalked into the building shortly behind Dylan, his mind being elsewhere for the most part. Mainly regarding that strange guy he briefly spoke to back at the plaza. Everything about that guy brought up more questions that there was weren't really any answers that he could come up with to any of them. If the guy actually did how up here then maybe he could get some answer, maybe. But did he really want the guy show up though?

Finally giving up on trying to think through that with the limited information that he had, he focused back onto reality right in the middle conversation between Kara and Dylan. Even half paying attention he managed to catch the gist of what was going on between the two of them. Dylan had a secret friend, they were going to see him, which could very well get them killed. He can hit people? That sounded like it would get them killed faster if anything.

 

Mirabelle scanned the building for any entrances from their position at the front of the house. Between the glare of the street lamps and the darkness, no such alternate route presented itself. She tapped the head of her cane irritably. That was not what she was hoping to see. The plan that she was trying to put together somewhat relied on one.
"Do you have a plan to get inside?" Mira asked, considering the building ahead of her.

Jebediah pondered how to get past the front door, it didn’t take long before he came up with a plan “We should get out hands on some invites or blag our way past the doorman.” He was clearly not thinking of the bigger picture and hoped that his companion had a better idea.

Mira considered that idea, though a couple of issues became immediately apparent to her.
"Well Sergeant, in most situations that is the approach that I would adopt. This is not however, one of those situations." She stated that first, trying to assure him that the idea was not in itself, bad. "The doorman will only accept the names of people that he recognises, and we do not know anyone who has attended. Getting invites would be a problem because we do not know whether there are invitations that need to be presented at all, and there are no guests to acquire them from. Apart from the mistress of the house and her guest in the door presently. Not to mention that we will need to be mostly out of sight inside because Lord and Lady Gallahowe will most certainly recognise anyone on the guest list." It could work potentially, but she thought little of their chances. So, they had to find another way around.
"I cannot see one, but I recommend a service entrance. There has to be somewhere that they allow food and such to be taken in through. If we can distract the person on watch outside, with some assistance from my magic we should be able to get through the door unseen." Mira explained. "Follow me, we shall take a look around. If nothing else appears, we will try to do this your way." Mira led the pair of them away from the house and followed the roads around it.
"Try to make it appear as if we are just walking. We are just very, very finely dressed passers-by." They skirted around the building, checking to see if like many houses, including her own, there was an entrance for goods to come in through. She tried her best to look casual, glancing over at the house while making small talk with Sergeant Crowne. Hopefully, the deception would hold up.


​

 

​

"You're probably right" Dylan said with a shrug, eating some more of the chocolate bar "But nobody would rob this place, it's so disorganised that they'd have trouble finding anything of value" Dylan stated, gesturing to a cupboard which contained; tinned tomatoes, an old newspaper, some butter, and a loaded pistol. As Kara walked away, trying to be snide, Dylan rolled his eyes "There are 7,200,000 people in this city actually, and we're only looking for someone from Hirokir. There are only about 20,000 Hirokiri immigrants here" Dylan stated "I stole some records from the census office last month, if you're wondering how I know this". Dylan did not comment on her adorableness, but raised an eyebrow.
"So did you get the rest of your friends killed?"
"Ha" Dylan stated, humorlessly "Keep up this sass and I'll get you killed too. Your spare friend may be useful, as long as he only hits the people we tell him to"

Gallahowe Manor - Mirela
Lunaji gave Mirela a sideways glance, an amused smile on her face "If you say so dear, but I've always preferred to see things in action than to talk about them" The lady then listened to Mirela's babbling, nodding with interest. The two women were let past the clockwork steward without hesitation, and found themselves in the lobby of Gallahowe manor.
An exquisitely modern home, the mansion was built of large rooms with floors of treated wood, and lightbulbs inset into the ceiling in a patterned manner. The house was incredibly efficiently designed, yet also incredibly asymmetrical. In the lobby, several corridors lead off to other rooms, and some guests were already gathering. Notably, a member of the ministry, in an elegant suit, was speaking with a grease-stained middle-class mechanic, wearing workman's clothes an assortment of different tools in his mess of pockets. An off-duty member of the constabulary gratefully took a glass of sparkling wine from one of the many clockwork butlers that weaved their way through the house. In a workshop-looking room, two thin men in glasses were excitedly discussing a set of blueprints. In the corner of the lobby a dark-skinned man in a long black trench coat was idly tinkering with his steel hands, and had a complicated looking weapon at his hip, which occasionally sparked with electricity.
"As you can see, the lure of science attracts individuals from all walks of life, and Mortimer is hospitable to all of them. If you wish to speak to the man himself, he'll be upstairs"

Gallahowe Manor - Jebediah and Mira
Searching around the house, you head down a set of steps leading into the alley by the side of the manor. This leads you to a servant entrance that looks like it leads into a basement.

 

​

Kara rolled her eyes at Dylan's tirade. She could see herself getting tired of his inability to be wrong, but for now it was tolerable. Folding her arms across her chest, she waited it out. "Oh, so you actually did something bad? My my, you should have just let me think you actually cared about this city. It might have been an admirable quality for a delinquent like me." Her tone was joking, but her eyes didn't match. At his threat to kill her, Kara only raised an eyebrow, dropping her arms and debating whether it was worth it to punch him in the face. Probably not, but the entertaining imagery was nice. "You act like I'm afraid of death, Stardust. And here I thought you were able to see things." At the mention of Lucian, Kara wondered if he had gone through her underwear drawers yet. "You could always ask him nicely. Maybe if you ask him out to dinner, you might be able to get him to punch you in all the right places, if you catch my drift."

 

​

Kara was a refreshing conversationalist, at the least. He still wasn't sure what to think about her. Dylan found himself drawn towards people who broke the mould, people who didn't follow the herd. For this reason, although Mira was a very nice, polite woman... Dylan would probably prefer to spend time with Kara. Even when she was being difficult. Especially then.
"I don't have many admirable qualities" Dylan stated with a smirk "And I wasn't threatening you by the way, I was being honest. Bad things tend to happen to people around me. Probably should have mentioned that in the job description" Dylan shrugged. Not afraid of death, eh? Dylan noted that, but hoped it wouldn't be proven. After Kara's next statement, Dylan let out a sincere laugh, rarely seen from him "Ha! That is a distressing, though intriguing, image" Dylan looked towards the stairs and decided he couldn't be bothered to go up. Instead he just tilted his head upwards "Whoever's up there, come down" Dylan shouted.

Ulrich - Harbrook Manor
A servant reluctantly guided the augmented constable to the office of Lilian Harbrook. The room was large, with a wide window that faced out over the gardens and the city of Erradan. Many pantings and ornaments adorned the room, and a pair of cats were basking in the fading sunlight. A writing desk had a few documents neatly piled up on one side, mostly boring legislative texts. Most notably, in the centre of the desk was an unsent letter.

- Grand Minister Elizabeth Draycaster
I am irritated by your consistent objections, all I want is to cease the unorganised chaos in the immigration records. I know you are considering my suggestion of enforcing background checks on immigrants coming in from certain areas, but I wish to go deeper than that. I want a complete census taken of all Hirokiri immigrants currently working in the city, for all we know there could be criminals, or worse, hiding among us!
Did you know that the latest graduate from the Steiner Institute was a Hirokiri man? And they know nothing about him! I am not comfortable with such an unknown individual working among the nation's doctors! He was sponsored in by the Gallahowes, and I have since had a meeting with Lord Gallahowe and this protege of his. This doctor unsettled me deeply, there was something very disturbing in his eyes.
Gallahowe's fondness for his foreign wife makes him blind to this issue, but hopefully you will see sense. We need to order in records from Aram'Kai and Varawyn, I want ALL the Hirokiri immigrants in sensitive positions to be thoroughly checked for illicit activity. Including Lunaji Gallahowe!
-Lilian Harbrook

​

The servants were not particularly helpful. Most of them were quite clueless on the political language used during Lilian and Mortimer's meeting, but they at least could describe the people who had attended.
"Lord Gallahowe brought along this... stranger. A doctor, by the looks. But he was... well he was Hirokiri I think"
"You think?" Lynda raised an eyebrow
"He had tanned skin, but blonde hair. And his eyes were bright red. It was right strange" A young maidservant explained
"I don't suppose you caught his name?" Lynda asked curiously. The servants looked at each other, thinking desperately
"Var... something?"
"No, it started with a Z, I'm sure"
"Confusing name, I remember that much"
Lynda sighed, this wasn't turning out to be promising.
"He was a good doctor though, cleaned up Miss Harbrook's head wound very tidily" a butler said. Lynda, startled, sat up and looked at them inquisitively
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, yes we should have said. After the meeting Miss Harbrook slipped and hit her head on the sideboard over there" she pointed to the sharp wooden corner of a chest of drawers, which still bore a faint few flecks of blood.
"Was it a bad injury?"
"Well she seemed to be thinking straight, but there was just a lot of blood" a maid said, looking distressed at the memory "Right mess to clean up"
"And this... doctor... he helped out?"
"Well yes, he had to. Steiner's Vow. He stitched up the cut and cleaned away the blood, and by the end of it she looked fine. Lord Gallahowe stayed behind to make sure she was safe, he's so gallant" the maid explained, looking wistful during the last part. Lynda frowned but didn't comment. She continued the questioning for a while, but didn't discover anything else that was much use. Still, there was some useful information here.

 

​

Kara raised an eyebrow at Dylan, questioning his self pitying bluntness. "Self pity doesn't become you. Come now, have to keep up those rugged good looks to keep the ladies coming in. I can't be the only eye candy around here, it won't get us far. Keep up that damaged routine though, that'll ensare Miribelle rather quickly. Then I won't have to deal with either of you hanging over my shoulder every time I decide to bring back the shopping." She turned her head to the stairs in response to movement, wondering if it was time to actually introduce Lucian to her employer. Stardust beat her to the point by yelling up the stairs, startling her and causing her to jump. "My bleeding ears." she muttered, rubbing one of them in a dramatic show before crossing the room to rummage through the cupboards again to hide her un-ease. If violence broke out, she had no particular allegiance to either man, and yet she would still be forced to choose. Let it hope that it wouldn't come to that, then.

 

He had been right in assuming there was an office in her house, although the servant seemed rather reluctant to show him the way but he couldn't pinpoint whether it was simply because they had a warrant and were trudging around the house with nigh on impunity when they had hoped to stop that or whether it was simply the fact that he had a gun grafted to his arm, sure the safety was on, but that didn't make it any less unpleasant to have someone like that walk through your home, constabulary or not. But they were here rightfully under the law so he personally expected cooperation, perhaps a little less reluctant but atleast they were willing to help. Walking into the office Ulrich was greeted by a rather beautiful sight, he hadn't really expected this sort of grandeur although he really should have given the manor. He studied each of the paintings before circling back to the desk itself where he looked through the papers, taking the stack from the side of he desk and quickly going over the legislations before he neatly put it back and looked at the letter reading it.

So Miss Harbrooke was frustrated with the way the Grand Minister handle her request for looking into the Hirokiri migrants with especially the people in top positions requiring another look. He understood the sentiment and while it was a finger pointed at Miss Harbrooke a simple concern and frustration with the way the system worked weren't enough to murder for as it wouldn't resolve anything or help make progress on the issue, furthermore the letter was still here on the desk and not sent. He turned to the servant. "Do you know by any chance why this hasn't been sent and when it was written?" This letter was important and he'd keep it with him as evidence to present to Lynda, see what she'd make of it. Ulrich checked the drawers of the desk next, taking everything out and placing it on the desk before neatly putting everything back where it had laid, after checking the drawers for false bottoms by knocking.​