You had a number of new weapons from your efforts at least, weapons and ammunition for all situations. You didn't like the fact that you had created these things though, it didn't sit well with you know that you could potentially have pushed the world a mile forward in the progression of modern warfare instead of a few steps.
You'd have to leave the guildmaster a note, asking him not to unleash all that you had made on the world at once. Or at all, for that matter if it was avoidable. You didn't want to be the father of modern war, the man who gave people the means to kill more efficiently than ever.
Turning your back on the books that you had been working on, you turned to the schematics beside you. A simple puzzle that worked by dropping a ball in the top, pressing buttons to retract and extend small bars of metal. It was something of a maze that required you to guess the combinations that would get you through it, though various buttons were linked to more than one bar.
It was a first draft, but it made you feel good to be conceptualising a puzzle for a child.
A thought caught your attention. You could scribble that note on your preliminary designs, have them delivered to the guild master. It'd save you waiting until morning to see him at least, morning, when the freaks went to bed and the city awoke.
Maybe it was time to deal with the freaks directly, pay them a visit and diplomatically get them to leave Anne alone. With Anne no longer endangered you'd no longer have to remain here, if you didn't have to remain here, you wouldn't be expected to invent.
No invention, no guilt.
You scrawled a note to the guild master beside the diagrams that you had designed as your preliminary idea, stating your feelings on this matter, before passing it to the on duty librarian with it detailed without a doubt, that the guild master was to get this.
The man nodded slightly, indifferent towards you and the note. Protocol was protocol at least so if something was to reach the guild master, it would reach him. Turning, you made your way towards the dorms, figuring that you'd let Anne know of your plans.
Your feet felt heavy as you made your way there, passing the various departments, passing the many people experimenting with alchemically derived substances, with their flashy toys and overly complicated devices.
It was a wonder that the guild kept afloat with how impractical most of the things they invented themselves were, though you felt that it was likely the forges and the Clockworkers requiring some form of partnership to produce their mechnical men that brought in the real money.
Breathing deeply, you made your way down the stairs towards your room, figuring that you'd take the knife with you, that you'd ask Anne what the substance that had coated its blade was.
The journey felt longer than ever, with doubt gnawing at your mind over what you were going to do. You were afraid. You wanted to run from that fear, to hide away until you felt brave again. You knew that this fear was what told you that you were still alive, that you were still human, yet it was unwelcome, it was out of place. It was making you falter, filling you with anxiety.
The irony wasn't lost on you that you were having an anxiety attack, while planning an attack for Anxiety. It was a stretch to put it in those terms, but you had the feeling that diplomacy would revolve around beating your point into Brother Pride's skull. You really hoped that it wouldn't.
As you opened the door to your room you sighed, Anne was asleep.
During the time you two had spent together it had become clear that her conditioning, that her devotion to the enlightened was waning. Without constant reminders of her place and nature she had started to act diferent, almost normal. She had chatted with you, distracted you and played with you to pass time, she had watched all the flashy experiments that she was permitted to, she had played games with the guild members.
She had seemed to find herself, showing the firey yet kind woman she had been before she became what she was.
She wasn't as able to grasp some of the concepts as the guild members or as well versed in their games, yet they all seemed to welcome her. It was likely because she was one of the few women in this male dominated guild, because she was bored and looking for intellectual stimulation. It was likely many other factors too, yet at the end of the day you could see the jealousy in their eyes as she would always run over to you whenever you turned up.
You didn't feel that way towards her though, you didn't feel that desire that her form invoked in other men. What you did feel was a bizzare sense of kinship, knowing that she was an immortal like yourself, even if her immortality was granted by other means than fate. She was the closest anyone here was to someone you could associate with, to relate to.
She never had given you your machete back though.
Moving over to your side of the room, you started to sift through your weapons rack. Taking a number of weapons would ensure that you looked like you meant business, as well as being able to back such a claim up. First you reached for your revolver, though you faltered as you knew that you had a newer one, made for you to your specifications.
You sighed as you reached for the newer revolver, setting it down atop your bed. Next you took your custom built shotgun, knowing that the thirty six round capacity it bore would come in useful if things got ugly. It joined your revolver atop the bed before you took several cylinders that were ready loaded and placed them beside the revolver.
You strapped the shotgun to your back, loaded the two belts you now wore with ammo and attached the spare revolver cylinders to your belt.
A quick note explaining that you had gone to negotiate with the Enlightened was written out and placed beside Anne's bed. You lingered though, sighing as you leaned down to brush her hair aside, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.
This could be goodbye.
If something went wrong, you might never see her again.
You wouldn't fail her though, you couldn't afford to. If something happened to you and she was tracked down and killed in the mean time you'd never forgive yourself. You had given her your word, promised her that you would make everything right and you planned to do so.
Turning from her, you started on your way towards the entrance hall of the guild.
The walk felt longer than ever as you almost dragged your feet, feeling deep down that you were walking to war, that you were planning to walk into the home of the enlightened and the only way to make them listen would be to subdue them. You knew that they couldn't die from your weapons, yet that didn't make it feel right.
It must've been the guilt you felt over making these weapons speaking.
As you strode from the guild house you followed your heart, wandering where you felt it directing you, as you knew that without knowing where to look that it was all you could rely upon. Anne had never spoken about the location that the Enlightened hid in, that you knew was out of fear that you would do exactly what you were doing right now.
The howl of dogs filled the chilly streets as you wandered onwards.
Onward, from the richer districts towards the common mans part of town. From the commoners quarters to the run down parts of town that no man in their right mind dared to come to. This was the type of place that made the area that you had originally stayed in look like a paradise, the kind of area where you would find all manner of evil in man before you even witnessed an abomination.
That evil didn't dissapoint.
Six men stepped out of run down buildings as you strode onwards, makeshift weapons and knives in their hands as they sneered, fanning out before you. "What do we 'ave 'ere. A lost girly-boy in the bad parts o'town. I suggest ye give us yer goods lassy-lad, before things get ugly." The biggest of the men sneered, while you stared impassively at them.
"Out of my way, mortals!" You boomed, standing proud, your very presence radiant as you exuded raw terror. The men froze in their tracks, stammering and faltering as they looked at each other. One of them however, wasn't as afraid as the others.
The one charged at you,
a ferocious cry from him rousing his companions as he lunged for you with a knife. The entire thing was over quickly, as you grabbed his wrist, twisting his arm behind his back, lifting him from his feet by his trapped arm. His screams echoed as your continued to twist, until the sound of his shoulder popping out of its socket prompted you to stop. Gurgling sobs escaped the mans lips as you cast him aside, as the other men faltered once more.
"Next to oppose me shall die!" Your voice echoed through the silent streets, while the men turned to run. You were pleased deep down, you hadn't had to get their blood on your hands so to speak, by being forced to kill them.
While you felt eyes on you from time to time as you strode down the streets, no other dared accost you as you made your way ever onward. The sign you were looking for that you had found the Enlightened didn't materialise as you had hoped though. It did however, catch your attention as the moon peeked out from behind the clouds daubed on the cover of a manhole.
You had located the Enlightened, yet you knew from what Anne had told you that they would not take kindly to your presence. You had hope still, that diplomacy would win the day. If diplomacy took a few rounds to get your point across, so be it. Just what was your message to the Enlightened going to be, however?Single Action, Fixed Cylinder Revolver. (Six Capacity, Slow Loading)
Holster, Ammo Belt, Revolver Ammo x42
Machete
Double Action, Swing out Cylinder Revolver. (Six Capacity, Fast Loading)
Holster, Ammo Belt, Revolver Ammo x120
Preloaded Cylinder x2
Double Revolving Shotgun. (Thirty Six Capacity)
Ammo Belt, Shotgun Ammo x72
Poisoned Knife
Plain Jacket (Brown)
Waistcoat (Tan, Brass Buttons)
Plain Shirt (White)
Heavy Duty Trousers (Deep Grey-Brown)
Leather Boots (Deep Tan)
Author
Topic: They told me I could be anything... (Read 79040 times)