The Secrets of Tyrrus

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After a moment's hesitation, the woman did indeed tell him about the magical object in her pocket. It was a watch, and just as expected it was instilled with time magic. Dylan smiled at the aptness of the object, and when the subject of the clockwork arm was brought up he merely shrugged noncommittally. Abruptly he turned around and began walking into his building "Come on then" He said over his shoulder as he strolled along the narrow corridor and up the stairs. Entering his office, the small amount of daylight that filtered in through the tiny window illuminated a cramped and untidy room. Nevertheless, it was furnished with visitors in mind, having a small sofa on one side of the room. The far end of the room was occupied by a desk covered with various items; newspapers, bottles, letters, and even a revolver. Next to the desk, a slightly ajar door lead into what looked like a tiny bedroom. The wall opposite the desk was filled with a board that would usually be covered with pictures, newspaper clippings, and bits of string that tied them together. It was almost empty at the moment, since Dylan didn't have any cases active. Dylan sat down heavily at his desk, which had a chair on both sides, and gestured for Mira to sit where she liked. "I'll be honest, my agency hasn't had the best luck recently. Our only claim to fame is stopping that serial killer who could breathe underwater" Dylan stated "That was a month ago, and I haven't been able to do anything since. Constabulary get their meddling hands over everything. That's why I'm hiring" He eyed her up and down again in a scrutinising manner "Tell me a bit about yourself"

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Lynda scowled at Lucian's retort, then turned as Ulrich arrived, having heard the panic evidently "I don't need your whole team, I just need one. Lucky for you, constable, you're the only one in the building right now" She said with a smile. Ulrich was a good man, if a little trigger-happy at times. If he would just get on top of his reports then he'd be a perfect credit to the special operations division. "There's an emergency at the ministry" she told him, the smile suddenly turning into a serious look, conveying the gravity of the situation. Constable Johnson had found the keys to the motorcar and was standing by the door, ready to go. As Lucian emerged again, Lynda turned to face him with a frown. "With all due respect constable, I would rather let a monkey drive than you" She abruptly turned about and head outside the building, waving for Ulrich and Lucian to follow. Johnson had run ahead and with the rumbling sound of an engine running, pulled the car out of the garage and in front of Lynda. The motorcar was an older model, but only the richest in the city could afford the newer ones. It was coloured a dark blue, and had a set of electric lights on the roof. There was also a large speaker on the front which, when activated, would emit a loud distinctive noise. Lynda went to get into the front passenger seat leaving the back two for the other constables.

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Mortimer Gallahowe strolled along the road, drawing glances from all nearby locals. A nobleman travelling alone through this part of the city was unheard of, it was like he was asking to be robbed. And yet, his distinctive mechanical augments would make potential muggers think twice. As it happened, he was uninterrupted on his journey as he strode through the district, metal feet clicking against the cobblestones. Soon he came across what he was looking for. A small shop with the sign "Mirela's Miraculous Machines (And repairs)". A small mechanical device flew out of the shop carrying a piece of paper. In a superhumanly swift movement, Mortimer snatched it out of the air, and had a closer look. In his hand the birdlike construct was twitching, trying to continue its mission. Mortimer analysed it for a few seconds, and as he let it go it carried on flying as if nothing had happened. Turning back to the shop, Mortimer smiled and strode inside.

 

The Investigator seemed to smile when she explained the nature of her watch, but deigned not to ask any more about it. Similarly, he had nothing to say about her arm. That was fine by her. It would have been weird if he'd had a problem anyway. Without warning, the New Havenite swept into the building and beckoned her inside. Mira looked inside the building. It was hardly inviting inside, with the dim lighting and the narrowness of the corridor ahead of her. Nevertheless, this was where she was looking to change Eredan from and the agency was new in town. Not everything had great beginnings. The Saviour Ayla Vanderstone was hardly of great standing before she went out to save the world.

Even with this thought in mind, the office was not exactly comfortable compared to what she was used to. A small window let only a minuscule shred of daylight inside the office where a small sofa occupied the opposite end of the room from where she entered. To her left was an empty board, and to the right of her the desk which Dylan promptly sat behind. Mira sat down on the chair opposite. She could see an open door leading into a thoroughly untidy bedroom. The bed was an utter mess with no attempt to make it having been made. On a bedside table there was a stack of books and notably, a bottle of whiskey. Drinking was hardly a rarity in this day and age and she could hardly judge him for it considering the amount of the finest Velvinor that she had drank during her lifetime. With her curiosity satisfied, she listened to Dylan as he explained the situation that his agency was in.
"I heard about that. It was partly that which influenced me to come join you when I saw the advertisement." Mira said, demonstrating some of her awareness of the situation of the agency. She could add little to his summary of the situation. No work in a month? No wonder the place had fallen into such a state. It was clear that he needed help. She might be able to use her family to get some leads. Investigations into areas within her House fell in her lap. If she could convince her father to pass the issues to the organisation rather than the Constabulary... Her musings were interrupted by a question about herself. "Me? Very well." She placed her hands in her lap and considered what Mr Haytham would want to know about her.
"Well, I am the heiress to my family. I have grown up in a pleasant environment, not wanting for much in truth." She admitted. It was better, she thought, to concede that she was not as well versed in the ways of the lower classes of the city. Her life had given her no cause to be particularly familiar with it. Apart from certain elements. "I suppose you should want to know what really inspired me to join you. It was an incident some time ago. My home was set alight some time ago by forces unknown to me. I do not believe they were caught. But as a child, in the fire my arm was burned irreparably. I have lived with a Clockwork arm for years. It is a constant reminder that there are threats in this city. Ones that are not answered by the police. They failed me. So I resolved to meet the challenge myself. And here we are now." Her expression was solemn as she explained the path that led her to Dylan's door. Perhaps he sought more, but this seemed like a good place to start.





These elite guards seemed to be handling the situation adeptly. The Grand Minister seemed to be quite safe between their ranks. Aspire scanned the crowd. He wanted more information about the proceedings. What happened in the Ministry, the centre of power in Eredan was most curious. As he watched the group led the Grand Minister away, he spotted one purple and gold-clad man with different armour. Intuition suggested that the way this man stood out of line indicated that he was a ranking officer of some kind. The clockwork golem stirred and shifted his way through the crowd towards the man. He nudged people out the way as gently as he could. These people were not as strong or hard as him. He had to modulate his strength, as not to cause harm and annoy the police. Run-ins with the law were not ideal. Eventually, the golem stood before the officer.
"Greetings officer." Aspire spoke formally, with a deep, metallic tone. "May I ask what has happened to the Grand Minister? She seems to be injured." He stared into the officer's eyes as he spoke, maintaining eye contact as was apparently custom when dealing with humans. ​

 

Jebediah took the fastest way back to the station he knew, he was annoyed with himself that he let someone get away, it wasn't the first time and he knew it wouldn't be the last, doesn't mean that it didn't sting a little when he lost her, it was about midday when he finally got back to the station and he found himself sat at his cubicle, clean and we'll maintained people would think but he knew it was just never used, he sat at his desk with a type writer in front of him and began to tap away creating a report on this morning's encounter, he had it finished in minutes and was ready to file it away likely to never be looked again. Jebediah was bored already, He knew with the imperial guard presence he wouldn't be needed in the plaza, He filed away his report and found himself staring gormlessly at a wall of filing cabinets, Frustrated he opens the drawer for cold cases and grabs a file close to him and slides the draw shut, he opens it, Arson, Of course he did reach in section "A" after all, He glanced over at Penelope to see if she was looking his way, she wasn't, He took the file back to his cubical and began to read... The File was poorly written, sloppy notes and brief details, He was able to deduce a few things however, It was deemed arson as the fire seemed to start from outside the property, a woman named Calliope aged 48 perished in the flames, Her niece Kara Webb, age 18 was staying with her when the fire happened, despite escaping the blaze she was badly burned and her left hand was scorched, despite the seriousness the case was dropped after no evidence turned up after a week of investigating so the case was left open waiting for someone to be arrested who fitted the bill. None of this however is why Jebediah took this file to heart, it was 3 letters attached in the file that talked about frequent station visits by Kara asking what was being done about her aunties death, "Poor girl..." He thought, Jebediah leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling for a moment before glancing out the window, he saw 3 children run by playing, in this moment he thought about what this must of done to this girl at a young tender age and the idea of her being ignored time and time again mean't she couldn't be in a good state now, He rolled the file and slid it into his belt and walked to the front desk "Hey Penelope" He exclaimed "Can you find me details on a Kara Webb?"
Penelope looked up to Jebediah about to give one of her scripted responses to him but paused "Looking for a girl?" she enquired,
Jebediah was quick to respond "It's for a case I'm looking into"
Penelope got up and moved to the wall of filing cabinets and opened a draw and pulled out an employment form with the name Webb, Kara "Is this her?" She asks passing the file
"I'm not sure, but it's worth chasing up; Haythem investigations? Dylan's lot?" Jebediah questioned as he thought back to previous cases that a teal haired man would snoop around his crime scenes
"Indeed" Penelope replied "I believe you will find them near saviour square, just under the train tracks"
Jebediah thanks her as he walks out the door of the constabulary.

 

​

Kara's walk back to the agency was unremarkable, for the most part. She avoided the main roads and took as many back ways as she could afford, ignoring the homeless and poor. Not so long ago, she had been among them, though she was slightly more successful then that poor fellow by the sidewalk. Taking pity for a moment, Kara stopped and set a can beside him. Corn, or something. She wasn't a fan of vegetables, and she didn't know or really care what Dylan was into. If he wanted food that badly he could come and watch her back next time she went out on a five finger discount. Kara stared at the man as he took the can, both of them unsure of what to say. With a shrug and a smile, Kara continued on her way, pulling her hood low over her face. While she didn't mind helping someone out, it also wasn't that much of a stretch to think the man could turn around and rat her out. Money talked a lot more than a simple act of kindness.

Walking on an invisible line, Kara wobbled slightly, biting her lip as she made an effort to win this imaginary game before she made it to the steps of Haytham's Investigations. With one last glance around, Kara turned and opened the door, walking inside and shutting it behind her. She could hear the sound of voices from..somewhere. If she was lucky, Dylan was getting his rocks off and would be slightly less crabby. Or he would have a job. Either way, Kara didn't care enough to interrupt. Dropping her bag of groceries on the table, she dug through them before finding her prize, a single red apple. Taking a bite, Kara wandered towards her own room, one of the guest bedrooms that came with the place. Flopping onto her bed, she let her hood fall off her purple hair. Tangling a lock around one of her still human fingers, holding the apple in her mechanical hand, Kara considered the pros and cons of dying her hair a different color, at least for a while, as she waited to see what else this day had brought. Haytham would want to know about the market square, when he was done.

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Rigel was caught off guard by this kid. Asking him random questions, then continuing to tell him his name. Rigel made a point of it to not interact with as many people as he could manage, while still coexisting with them. Zephyr, as he called himself, was throwing it all off balance. Rigel couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, slightly stumped as to how to proceed. If he asked Zephyr if this continued interaction was normal, he would give away that he didn't do it this often. That this was an uncomfortable area for him, a weakness. He couldn't very well ask any random passerby if that was the case, either. That would hardly go over any better. No, Rigel had to make a decision here, and it had to be made soon.

"You can call me Rigel." He didn't extend his hand, but simply nodded towards Zephyr in what he hoped was a friendly manner. Without attaching his last name, it was unlikely that this one would have heard any stories about him. There had to be other Rigels in any case, right? And even if somehow the rumors of a small village made it to a large city, years upon years later, Rigel could always wave them off as myths, superstition, and overzealous stories. It had worked before. "But why would you tell me?" He asked, somewhat confused by the statement Zephyr made. Was he somehow special? Marked as a friendly person? Rigel was fairly certain that this wasn't so, but it didn't seem like a harmful question to ask. And Zephyr had still offered up no evidence as to why he had decided to make conversation with him. Maybe he was just a friendly person? It still struck Rigel as odd. "I um...I have an errand I need to run." he paused, uncomfortable, and unsure. He didn't know if this guy should be invited along, or if it wasn't normal to do that. Aldin's sack, why did it have to be this difficult to act normal?

Instead of saying anything else to make the situation better, Rigel turned and walked away, leaving Zephyr to follow or go as he wished. He needed to replace several of his clothing items, and the marketplace was as good as any to start looking.

 

Lynda explained to him that she would only need one of their team and that he was lucky to be the only one in the building.
He knew why she said that had others of his team been available she would have asked them to come along so Ulrich could go and work on his paperwork, had Ulrich been religious he would probably have thanked his God for this blessing, a way out of the paperwork, he knew it would still be there when he got back, but he didn't have to deal with it just yet. "Understood, ma'am." Ulrich replied as he was informed there was an emergency at the Ministry.
This worried Ulrich slightly, something happened at the seat of Eredan's power and they were asked to look into it. Lynda didn't give any details, but he doubted she knew what exactly was going on, but there was no harm in asking about it. Before he could do Lucian asked whether he could drive and Ulrich couldn't keep a straight face when Lynda responded with the monkey remark.

Quickly regaining his posture, he asked her "Do we know what sort of an emergency it is, Ma'am?" Ulrich asked as he did a quick check-up of his augment, as he followed Lynda to the car, he took the seat in the back on the right hand side of the car sitting there with Lucian, not a word was spoken as both of them had a pretty good idea of what the other thought of them. Ulrich prefered sitting on the right hand side, so that in an emergency the window could be opened and he could bring his augment to bear, he had taken some munitions with him, eventhough he doubted having to make use of it. Sitting in the back wasn't the most comfortable thing as it wasn't extremely roomy, but Ulrich kept quiet as he just watched through the window to the people just going about their lives in the streets.​

 

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Dylan clasped his hands in front of him and listened intently to everything Mirabelle told him, mentally noting it down. As she finished her story Dylan nodded, another tale of the failures of the constabulary "I see. For sake of fairness I suppose I'd better tell you a little about myself too" Dylan sat back in the chair, and was silent for a moment, staring at the ceiling. He suddenly opened a drawer and pulled out a medallion, placing it on the desk. The medallion depicted a dragon claw with a blue rune inscribed onto it. Anyone who knew anything about New Haven would recognise it as the mark of the Dominion's army, the rune signified the rank of Sentinel within the City Guard, a rank equivalent to an Inspector in the Constabulary. "I was a guard in New Haven. I killed a traitor during the war against Whytehold, and apparently I was supposed to arrest him instead. A prison wouldn't have held him though, and he would made the war continue for many more years if he'd been left alive. Was it the right decision? It doesn't matter, it was the decision I made at the time. Either way, I got simultaneously punished and honoured for the act, but in the end I was exiled" There were other reasons for the exile, but Mira didn't need to know those. Dylan thought back pensively, staring into the middle distance as he recalled those memories from barely two years ago. It felt like so much longer. He turned back to Mirabelle and was about to continue when suddenly he heard movement from downstairs, along with noticing even more blue lines than before appearing in the air. These shimmered slightly, wavering and distorting. The unmistakable aura of Kara. He sincerely hoped she'd brought food this time instead of just more pens.

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Lynda made sure that Lucian was behaving before getting into the car herself. "We're not sure what kind of emergency, but the Royal Guard are all over Dragoncrest Plaza. Now as much as I trust our colleagues in the Guard, they are meant for protecting people, not necessarily catching criminals" She informed Ulrich as the car, with a judder, began to drive off. Johnson began to accelerate, and soon they were hurtling along the streets, alarming nearby citizens. Although many of the constables found the experience nauseating, Lynda never minded. Back in the Izir desert she'd had to drive at dangerous speeds over the sand dunes pursuing bandits, this was nothing in comparison. She continued her explanation "Royal guard enforcers are already present, so in situations like this the standard procedure is to have two constables, an operative or an inspector, and an officer with authority" The car sped across Sylgar's Bridge and onto the main part of the city, where houses were more clustered together and had more storeys. Johnson began to slow down now, it wasn't a good idea to drive recklessly when crossing the intricate waterways of the central city. After a few more minutes the car finally arrived at Dragoncrest Plaza, but they found the road blocked by a pair of men wearing a purple and gold uniform. As Johnson slowed to a halt, the Royal Guard murmured to one another about the vehicle. Beyond them, the Plaza was almost entirely evacuated of civilians, the Guard were clustered around the area closest to the Ministry building. "What is going on..." Lynda muttered to herself, and exited the car.

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Mortimer smiled as the woman approached and let her ramble... wow she really was rambling. Every so often Mortimer would open his mouth to get a word in, but she'd just keep talking. So he just stood there quietly until she was finished. Finally, after she'd been silent for a full second, Mortimer held out his hand to shake "It's lovely to meet you Miss Mirela. Now I would be impressed if you could make augments better than my own, and I will say that I make sure all my mechanical parts are fully functional every day. Much like yourself I have constructed my own augments, though I have had the privilege to study among the best engineers in the world and I have significantly greater experience. So no, I am not looking to purchase any of your services today" Mortimer began to walk around the shop, casting an appraising and critical eye over the various machines and mechanisms on display "I am not saying that your work is poor, not quite the opposite. For a woman of your age your contraptions are quite remarkable. Which is why..." Mortimer turned on a heel and smiled at her in a friendly way "...I would like to have a little chat. Do you have a moment? I will not take up too much of your time"


Dragoncrest Plaza - Royal Guard Captain - Aspire
The Royal Guard captain was not having a good day. This morning he'd spilled his coffee all over the newspaper, and then he'd accidentally torn his favourite shirt, and now there was some disaster going on in the Ministry building. He looked out across the bridge towards the building. He couldn't hear the sounds of gunfire, which was a good thing he supposed. He knew that no matter who the killer was, the Commander would demand answers as to how a killer got into one of the most secure buildings in the city, and he knew that the question would be aimed at him. He sighed, this day couldn't get any worse. He turned around and found himself facing a monstrosity of steel and brass. The captain put his hand on his gun, just in case, as he looked up slightly into the golem's piercing eyes. The creature then asked him about the Grand Minister. For a moment, he held the Golem's gaze, and then his brow furrowed in anger "Look buddy, I don't care how big you are, this is a crime scene, and you need to get out of here before I start filling you with even more lead than you already have. Got it?" He scowled at the golem, meeting its gaze, before being distracted by noise from behind him.

Dragoncrest Plaza - Aspire, Lynda, Lucian, Ulrich
The ministry building's doors opened. Striding forward, the special armed and armoured forces of the Royal Guard exited, carrying forth a woman with them. The woman was dressed in a bedraggled suit and looked like a minister. She had long blonde hair, and her hands were handcuffed. She had her head bowed, and generally looked shaken. The worst part was her hands and clothes, which were covered in blood.

 

Zephyr didn't really have any reason behind his decision to reveal his name other than he figured that it would be the polite thing to do in this situation. This was coming from the guy who had not only been shunned growing up, but on any other day would've kept on walking back to his destination. To say that he was out of practice with this sort of things would be an understatement.

Despite this he had managed to get a name in response, Rigel. He made sure to make a note of said name as he shrugged. "Seemed like the polite thing to do." Once again, he was out of practice. In fact after that very impromptu introduction of his, he had no idea just what to say next to him. In fact his leaving was probably one of the better things that could've happened. Once he had sufficiently gone off, Zephyr sighed and headed back on his way towards Haytham's Investigations.

This time he didn't any stops along the way until he was at the steps of Haytham's Investigations, in which case the only stop was to open the door and walk inside. First he saw the groceries on the table. A pleasant sight, one that he had no need to dig through right now. Then came the voices. One he identified as Dylan, the other on the other hand he had no clue as to who it could be. Perhaps it was someone with a job for them or just someone he did know. The latter was probably true regardless of how he looked at it. Zephyr then headed back to the room that he had claimed as his own so hat he could put his book back and perhaps find another one to read.

 

Jebediah had a fair walk ahead of him but was in no rush, after-all he was just filling in his day at this point rather then for-filling any particular duties however the job never ended for him, keeping his eyes peeled for the walk, reliably 12 minutes into this stroll he saw it, A man wearing a black bandanna across his mouth slid past a wealthy looking woman removing her bag from her shoulder and bolting behind an Ally, Before the woman could call for her Jebediah already crossed the street and ran down the ally in pursuit, after a few turns he came to a T junction unsure what direction the criminal too, two young men couldn't be older then 20 stood talking at the end of the alleyway "What way did he go?!" Jebediah demanded
"Depends" came a reply from the more confident looking man as he checked his nails "How much is it worth too you?"
Jebediah rolled his eyes, Grabbed the man by his collar lifting him an inch off the ground an slammed him against the wall before dropping him and moving onto the second one "I assume you wan't money too?" Asked Jebediah his eyes stern enough to pierce through him
"He looked like a Black Dragon Brotherhood member!" He exclaimed in panic as a tears welled in his eyes "They have a hideout to down that way on the left behind the red door!"
Jebediah leaned back in shock at how much this man knew and nodded him thanks as he walked past him leaving his welling up. Just as the boy had stated Jebediah found himself at a red door the hinges were old and the door rotten, a swift kick from his clockwork legs knocked the door from its hinges as 2 men and a women adorned in black looking in shock towards the man who now filled the doorway, he clicked his knuckled "So, are we going to do this the easy way? or the hard way...".
5 minutes later Jebediah walked back out the ally he entered at first and saw the woman at a phone box frantically describing details, Jebediah passed the woman her bag and gestured to take the phone "Thank you so much!" She exclaimed as she passed the phone Jebediah Smiled back as he took the phone "Sargent Crowne of the Eredan Constabulary, at 4 Roseberry street there are 3 Black Dragon Brotherhood members handcuffed to a radiator in the corner, send a squad to collect them" Jebediah hung up the phone and turned to see the woman holding out a five crown note for him "Please take it, it's the least I can do" Jebediah just smiled and held up his hand "Don't worry ma'am, we don't take tips.".

 

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Kara was in the middle of another apple bite when she heard the door open and close. A small frown on her lips, she bit into the apple, holding it in her mouth as she pushed herself off the bed and opened the door to her own room. "I hope you weren't planning on going through those groceries. Those aren't for you yet, Blondie." Kara raised an eyebrow, a challenge in her voice. She didn't mind Zephyr, truly, but on the other hand she didn't really know him yet. Or how he would react if he knew she hadn't exactly paid for those. Leaning against her door-frame, peering into his room, Kara wondered if he happened to have any decent pens available. Perhaps he would like some. Or she could just replace his better ones with her worse ones. After all, if anyone was getting out, it would be her. Maybe Dylan. She wasn't sure yet. Stardust wasn't the worst type of person, and he had nice eyes. But Kara didn't quite feel safe around him, not yet anyway. Perhaps if that constable ever came looking for her, he would be able to prove himself as dependable.

"So are any of those pornography? Or is everything you read about swordfights and magic?" Kara asked, realizing at this point the apple was still in her mouth. Taking it out with her clockwork arm, holding it next to her face, she chewed slowly, wondering if she should repeat what she had said. Better safe than sorry, right? "Groceries. Not yours." Pointing at the books with her apple, she raised an eyebrow and swallowed her mouthful of food before grinning. "Porn? Or Magical sword fights?" The latter could be considered a category of porn, but she wasn't going to tell him that. It would ruin the surprise of finding the magazine under his pillow.

​

The kid didn't decide to follow him, and that was okay. Rigel had no idea what to do with that sudden interaction anyway. He was too worried about hurting someone else to be prepared for any type of interaction that he didn't plan in his head. That would have to change, and it would change, just....maybe not today. Walking along the road, Rigel kept his head on a swivel and his hands resting on the pommel of his sword. It was his relaxed stance, even though it could be taken as aggressive. He just never knew what else to do with the two limbs when they weren't holding onto something or being used.

Entering the market square could be done by using one of the bridges. While there seemed to be commotion, Rigel wasn't sure if this was every day occurrence or something unusual, but it mattered not. He was a man who needed a new shirt, for the new beginning. He would have to find a job, and in order to do so he needed to look clean. Walking across the bridge, Rigel glanced at the lapping of the waves to the side. It sounded nice, peaceful even. Calmed him a little, cleared his mind. Squaring his shoulders, Rigel paused at the edge of the crowd. He could just barely see the color of blood, and figures walking through a parted sea of people. This was definitely not a normal every day occurrence.

 

Zephyr had just gotten to put his book back on his shelf when someone had started speaking to him. The voice belonging to Kara and to her telling him to not go snooping around through the groceries on the table, he simply nodded and responded with a "Noted". His eyes scanned his bookshelf for anything that he either hasn't read before or felt like reading again. He did this for a few moments before deciding that it was better if he paid attention to Kara while they were speaking.

"I heard you the first time and yes, they pretty much are magic and swordfights." There was also the occasional legend thrown in there to spice things up but overall most of his selection consisted of those two aforementioned things. He had already turned to face her before giving his answer. "Anything else you'd like to know?"

 

Fortunately, she needed not elaborate more as she had feared. Investigator Haytham seemed quite satisfied with her answer. And then, much to her surprise he began to lay his own cards out on the table. Before her was placed a medallion, one which from her studies revealed him as a member of the New Haven military. Though she did not know the exact name of the rank, it was nonetheless clear through his story what role he played. A man of principles, who would do what it took to protect the people. Mira found herself feeling a sense of respect for Dylan and his determination to end the war. And to be exiled and continue to fight for what he believed even though his deeds were thrown back in his face?
"For what it is worth, Mister Haytham, I think you made the right call." While the man hardly needed to justify herself, she felt compelled to offer an opinion. There was a noise from behind her and Dylan seemed distracted. Movement? "You never mentioned it, but are there other members of your agency?" Surprise was not an expression she read on his face, so he obviously expected whoever it was.






The guard did not appear to appreciate this enquiry. Perhaps he should not have been so direct about the state of the Grand Minister. It seemed that asking direct questions was somewhat of a faux-pas in the city. But how did one ask indirect questions? This was not something that he had been taught.
"I seem to have offended you. I apologise. Good day." Aspire turned away from the officer and began walking in another direction, watching the procession as he went. Perhaps there would be answers elsewhere. Perhaps that human was an anomalous case. Tests had to be run. As he surveyed the scene, the Ministry doors open and a new figure emerged escorted by yet more guards. She, like the Grand Minister, was covered in blood but unlike the minister, she was handcuffed. This must be a suspect. He could not investigate further. They were secured by the guard. The Golem considered what he should do. He noticed that the number of civilians in the area had dropped significantly. Although Aspire was no expert, he determined that this was not a place that he should be. He began to stomp his way out of the plaza.

As he made his way across the bridge, he noticed a car had pulled up. The woman who exited looked very important. And a member of the police. There were two other officers with her, but she seemed to be the more important. Aspire strode over to her. Testing of direct questioning would commence.
"Greetings officers. What has happened to the Grand Minister? She appears to be injured." Asked Aspire in a deep, metallic rumble. He would measure their response to the first question. Then he would follow up. Points for research: Nature and identity of handcuffed individual; Status of Grand Minister Draycaster; What he should do with this information.

​

 

Ulrich sat in the back of the car going over the explanation that Lynda had given.
It had been a rather rough ride through the city and it had been a rather nauseating experience that Ulrich had gone through quite a few times before.
Enough times to not throw up anymore, but it still made him feel nauseous. He was fairly happy when they stopped the car near the magnificent Dragoncrest Plaza. The plaza had been mainly cleared by the royal guards who were now nearly the sole occupants of it. He followed Lynda and Lucian's example and got out of the car, surveying the scene, he saw that at the ministry building the doors opened and Royal guard where escorting someone out, hands cuffed, she was covered in blood, presumably not hers or she wouldn't be walking like that. It seemed the emergency involved a murder at the ministry, though that was just an educated guess. This must have been a very serious incident given the heavy presence of the Royal guard even going as far as clearing Dragoncrest Plaza.

He then heard a clockwork golem stride over who in a rather deep metalic rumbling voice asked them what had happened to the Grand Minister, as they only had just arrived. It was quite litterally too early in the investigation to be able to say anything conclusive about this so Ulrich turned his attention to the machine who had undoubtedly seen them arrive. "Greetings construct, it is too early in the investigation to draw any conclusions, when we know more and are able to say anything we'll make it known through the proper channels." He said in a rather friendly tone, knowing full well that it sounded like a very run of the mill hell answer from the constabulary, but it would be wrong to just bring assumptions to the public when they hadn't had time to even look at the evidence present at the crime scene. Especially with the already marred reputation of the constabulary, because accusations of murder could destroy a politician's carreer in this particular case and they had to be sure they had looked at all the pieces of the puzzle.​

 

​

"If only you were there at the trial..." Dylan muttered sarcastically under his breath in response to Mira's statement. He arose from his chair, picked up and holstered his pistol, and threw the newspaper in the overflowing wastepaper basket in the corner "Yes. Two others. Recent recruits" Dylan replied. In the air, orange lines had appeared along with the already present signs of arcane magic. These new lines flickered and wavered, shifting between yellow and red. "They've just arrived, I'll introduce you to them. That is, if you're still certain you want to be a part of my agency?" As he spoke he strolled past where Mira sat, walking towards the exit. He stopped at the door, and looked over his shoulder towards her, an eyebrow raised but a generally deadpan expression on his face.

​

Lynda watched carefully as the two women were escorted from the building. She recognised the Grand Minister and... was that Lilian Harbrook? The Grand Minister's main rival was being lead from the scene in handcuffs and covered in blood. The guards around her were acting wary, despite being well armed and armoured. If she had to guess, there'd been a murder at the ministry, fortunately she didn't have to since she could simply get the Royal Guard captain to answer that question for her. A clockwork golem approached, and Lynda gave it a glance. At first she was going to leave it to Ulrich to deal with the golem, since he seemed to be doing it well. Then she took another look.
"Aspire? Is that you?" She asked incredulously. The golem hadn't changed much since the time they'd met back in Izir, and his unique design was unmistakable "What a coincidence! It's me, Sheriff Lynda!" She was smiling with wonder at reuniting with the philosophical robot. The last time she'd seen him they had been taking down a dragonkin bandit who was terrorising her town. Regaining her composure she turned to her fellow constables "This is Aspire, a golem I am familiar with from a while ago" she turned back to him "What happened here, Aspire?"

​

Mortimer stood back, hands on his cane, as she tinkered with some machinery and rearranged her workstation. He nodded in appreciation as the table rearranged itself to become a suitable table, and when a chair folded up from below. He opened his mouth to speak, but found himself once again interrupted by the excitable young woman. He smiled insincerely while the spoke. She said "take a seat" twice. As per her insistence, he did take a seat. "Tea would be lovely thank you" He replied "My name is Mortimer Gallahowe. You may have heard of me, I am the owner of Gallahowe Electricity Co, and a member of the Ministry. What is less known is that I am an active advocate of technological progression, and I run a small society dedicated to improving our city's capabilities through the use of augmentations. I would like for you to join us, we could use such an innovative mind, we'd be able to learn from one another I'm sure"

 

Dylan muttered something she did not quite hear after her comment about his actions in New Haven. That was not the reaction she wanted, but it was at the very least, not obviously negative towards her. And, he had not corrected her for saying Mister Haytham. This suggested to her that despite his various informailities he did appreciate having respect shown. That was fine. As she was thinking, the Investigator strode past her to the door, giving a brief explanation of the size of his agency. There were two others present already it seemed. And then he asked the all important question. Did she still want to be part of this agency?
"Of course." Mira answered, standing up and walking towards him. "I think you have the potential to change things for the better here in Eredan Mister Haytham. I plan to be part of that." Mira stopped in front of him, placed the cane in front of her and both of her hands on it. She smiled enthusiastically at Dylan.
"Now, i should like to meet my colleagues if you would?"




The one that answered him did not give him much information. Aspire determined that this was likely common practice for police officers who did not know what was really happening. 'Proper channels' told him nothing. What were 'proper channels'? It occurred to him that this may have been the point of the statement. However, despite one officer being unhelpful, there were two more. The important female spoke, and memories returned. The voice was familiar. He searched his memories. Her voice matched the Sheriff, and the face did upon further inspection. Her clothes were more Tyrranean and her hair had changed, but this was within standard deviation of human change. He felt pleased to see her again. They had been on a short adventure to catch a Dragonkin criminal while he was out on the dunes, as he had seen the individual before and was able to help guide the Sheriff to its location. He considered her a friend.
"Sheriff Lynda! An unlikely occurrence indeed. It is most pleasant to meet you here." She turned away to explain his identity to her colleagues. One of them walked away. They must not be interested in Clockwork Golems. "To answer your question, I am not sure. It would appear that Grand Minister Draycaster may have been injured and was led out of the Ministry covered in blood. Another woman similarly covered in blood and handcuffed was escorted out approximately a minute and a half later. Her identity is not known to me. I am attempting to gather information. The other guards have not been co-operative. The one I spoke to previously threatened me with gunfire when I asked the same question I asked you." The Golem appraised her of the situation. Sheriff Lynda would undoubtedly assist him. Together, they could investigate the day's proceedings. The lure of a mystery compelled him to do so. Aspire needed to know more.
​

 

​

Kara tossed the half eaten apple up and down in her hand, frowning at the lack of response. Any kind of response, really. A blush, a shudder, even a sneer would have been preferable to the simple words he offered her. Maybe Robot would be a better nickname. "Anything else you'd like to know?" Yeah, how Stardust hired someone with the emotional capacity of a teaspoon. Maybe she was just having an off day. With a sigh, Kara took another bite from the apple before turning away. "I hope you're hiding a better sense of humor underneath that pillow with the lube. Otherwise this could be a rough freaking ride." Her hair sliding over her shoulder like a purple waterfall, she walked to the kitchen with all the swagger of a female who was attractive and knew it; more for show than actual pride. Maybe that would get a response.

Shoving the apple back into her mouth, Kara freed up her hand in order to dig through the bags and begin sorting through the food. Humming a tune as she worked, she could just barely hear the voices of Stardust and his guest. If she had tried hard enough, she might have been able to hear their conversation, but frankly Kara couldn't care about anything that wasn't dirty talk, pen related, or drizzled in chocolate. For some reason, this conjured the image of Dylan leaning against the door-frame, half naked and smearing chocolate over himself, perfect gold fountain pen in his mouth like a rose. Her immediate response was to laugh, but with food in her mouth it turned to a choking gasp as she grabbed the apple from her mouth and set it on the counter, coughing out the chunk that had gotten lodged in her windpipe before bracing herself against the same counter, staring at the apple as she tried to wipe the image, and the grin, off her face. Taking a few deep breaths, she continued with her task of going through the groceries, her humming punctuated by odd chuckles.

​

Rigel easily peered over the heads of the crowd, being taller than most of the people there. Even though he felt curiosity at finding out what had happened, it was mitigated with shame. He was no better then the people here, a vulture feeding off the pain and misery off of others. No, he needed to be better than them. Aldin hadn't helped him survival hell only to lead him here, to a dead end. No, there had to be a reason this was happening, that Rigel was here at this moment to witness. Looking around, Rigel spotted someone else much taller than the rest of the rabble; a clockwork golem. Ordinarily, Rigel would have approached such a creature, preferring their unbiased existence to that of a person. It seemed to be occupied, however, with that of multiple officers of the law.

Rigel had wanted to be an officer, as a young boy. Something seemed honorable about the charge; protecting the weak and being their shield against evil and corruption. Rigel hadn't heard the nicest of things about the constabulary, and it kept him from approaching them now. There had to be a source of good in this city, hadn't there? The errand for fresh shirts forgotten, Rigel contemplated exactly what he should do.

 

It would appear that the answer that he had wasn't quite what Kara was hoping for, which confused him at first given that he had been honest. The mentioning of a sense of humor had done more than enough to tip him off as to what he had missed. Zephyr wasn't quite emotionless or 'lacked the ability to react', but what he was however was out of touch when it came to interacting with people. It was a problem that he was aware of and wanted to remedy at some point, but that would be no easy task. That didn't make him oblivious to things he could physically see, hence his muttering of the word "impressive" as Kara walked off and leaving him to his books. Oddly enough reading didn't seem all that appealing anymore.