Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Play-by-Post => Topic started by: BrickyardBabe on <12-27-15/1913:25>
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London, Dante's Inferno
April 18th, 2075,
2300 Local Time
It was a Vory v Zakone party.
Anguish both loved and hated Syndicate parties. There was glitz and glamour aplenty, novahot fashions and glitterati and the assorted biffs, blades and breetvas that came with them. They were lively as hell, always entertaining, and if she kept an ear open there was always good information to be had. She got to dress up, go out, and play the role that Melissa had trained her for for her entire life.
Unfortunately, that selfsame role sometimes left her in precarious positions. Syndicate parties could go from boisterous to blood-soaked in the time it took to blink twice, and Melissa's commands and training often left Anguish doing things she'd rather not remember. As a bought and kept joytoy she was subject to a lot of abuse- some physical, some not- and if she stepped out of line, she would pay the price to Melissa later. The thought of failing her mistress-after-god, and the blood and screams and withdrawal from her drugs that such a failure would entail were more terrifying than anything a Shestiorka could do to her. Privately, in her more clearheaded-moments, Anguish would have to admit that if the choice came between failing Melissa and having to admit it or being flatlined by some gillette who crossed a line, she'd have to think long and hard about it.
Which is why, despite being highly competent, well-trained, and powerful despite her young age, Anguish was kneeling on a low table in an alcove on the second floor of Dante's Inferno London. She wore a short white synthsilk dress that hugged her tiny waist and lush curves and exposed the length of her back, her arms, a goodly portion of her chest, and most of her legs to anyone who cared to look. Her dark hair was pulled forward over her right shoulder, carefully styled in to long, spiraling curls, and her knee-high strappy boots were white with fifteen centimeter golden heels. She wore vivid purple lipstick on her full, pouting lips, and her heavy makeup highlighted her aqualine nose and high-cheekbones and added some much-needed color to her cheeks. Her eyeshadow and eyeliner were opulent, heavy shades of gold and amethyst and black. Even her eyes matched, her polychromatic contacts turning them the same color as her lipstick and her nanotats were all in grey, black, purple, and deep, deep red, set to be stylized Russian prison tattoos for the event. She was gorgeous, a pin-up vision, a living monument to metahuman sexuality and indulgence, and her services had cost a year's salary for a wageslave.
And here she was, stuck kneeling on a table in an empty alcove, available for the use, abuse, enjoyment, and ogling of anyone who want to stop in.
She had been kneeling there for over an hour, and would stay there all night if necessary. Melissa Shirai had been paid a handsome sum for a dozen Valerian adepts to work the party. Six were kneeling on tables, three were hanging in cages, and the last three were back-to-back-to-back in the center of the room, like some sort of living sculpture, frozen in place by paralytics and subject to whatever passerby wished to inflict.
Vanya Kurzhnev liked his decorations breathing.
The party was for Vanya, a mid-rank member of the Vory v Zakone here in London. He was Red Vory, old guard, and deserving of every whispered slur and story about the Vory's excesses. A huge, thuggish, brutal ork in a thousand-nuyen suit, he was celebrating his promotion and his thirty-third birthday together, and in a staggering flurry of spending, he had thrown himself a party. Everyone was here, stringers, ballerinas, shestiorkas, friends, sufficiently moneyed or pretty or talented guests, a few minor simsense stars...anyone who could tread on reputation, cash, looks, or connections with the Vory was invited. In addition to the Valerian adepts- who had not come cheap- he had rented out the "Lust" circle of Dante's inferno, paid for the best drugs and food and booze, and brought a pile of security, both Vory and neutral. It would be an affair to remember.
And Anguish would certainly remember it. That was, of course, her job.
So she knelt, watching the partygoers in the mirror along the back of the alcove and listening, her sound filters cutting out the music and the ambient noise even as her contacts and earbuds recorded everything for later use. Waiting, thrilled despite herself, with novacoke and eros roaring through her system to keep her primed for the party, she waited and watched.
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London, Dante's Inferno
April 18, 2075
2300
Robyn loved syndicate parties. It was a chance to rub shoulders with the social elite and widen her circle of acquaintances. Sometimes these parties were held onboard one of the floating palaces or giant airships the syndicate or corporate bosses used to host parties. This one is in London and was being hosted in the Lust circle of Dante's Inferno, THE hottest club in London. Or anywhere else for that matter. Robyn was both a guest and part of the entertainment for the birthday party for Vanya Kurzhnev, a mid-level boss of the Vory v Zakone. She had even dressed up for the part, eschewing her normal steampunk outfits for one of the special gowns in her closet. There is no doubt that she can clean up well and she is noticed.
Her pale skin offsets the large, colorful tattoo on the left side of her face. Starting at her lower cheek, it curls up over her eye and marks her as warded and protected by the Earl's House of London Below, although nearly no one at this party would know that. Her makeup is minimal; a touch of rouge and a hint of gloss on her lips. Her eyes are concealed by darkened glasses that seem to consist of at least three nested lenses on each side. Several sets of cogs and wheels decorate the outer edges of the rims. Her gown is perfectly tailored to her form, emphasizing but not revealing her pleasant curves. Her long, chestnut hair is caught in a pony tail that hangs to just below the curve of her butt except for several hairs that have been left loose to frame her face. She wears no jewelry except for a Orthodox cross that hangs from her neck on a silver chain. Her clearly Elven ears are fully exposed.
She has been hired for the night as part of a string quartet playing chamber music in one of the rooms. She has no lack of offers to escort her around on her breaks and is happy to make the rounds on someone's arm. She may even decide to take one of them home with her when the evening is done. The quartet is very good, consisting of four members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and the audience is quick to show its appreciation for their music. Vanya wanders in during the third set and stays to the break, whereupon he comes forward to personally greet the performers. Vanya moves to Robyn's side and embraces her on both cheeks, speaking to her as an old friend. And he would be wise to. She has been Vory for longer than the Ork has been alive and a close associate of his late father and several ranking members still living. She will never be a ranking member herself, but she is considered an extremely valued asset. She introduces him to her companions and the Ork actually shows a slight knowledge of classical music in his conversation with them. When the introductions are done, he offers his arm to Robyn and escorts her from the room.
The pair move out past the shimmer that keeps the more strident rock music from interfering with the quartet's music and mingle with the other guests. Soon enough, Vanya's attention is drawn to some other piece of eye candy and he excuses himself before heading off in her direction. Robyn shakes her head gently, not disappointed. Vanya has a reputation for excesses in all his appetites, including sex and the stories she has heard leave her glad that he has found different prey. She finds refreshments on a long table and selects some for the small plate handed her by the caterer. Looking about, she sees several small curtained alcoves placed at intervals around the room, each alcove holding a small table with a person kneeling on it. She has been to the Inferno several times but not to this particular level before and is curious about the alcoves. Noticing the curtain open on one she takes her plate and walks to it. Stepping inside, she pulls the curtain closed and stands in the dim light. Her heightened olfactory senses are picking up odors associated with sweat and sex as she places the small plate on the table. She tilts her head a bit to one side and asks, "Would you like something to eat?"
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The demure smile that is rising to the trim, curvy dryad's lips dies stillborn as she sees the elven woman's face. Earl's House, also known as the Shimmering Plain and the Courts of the Holy. The tattoo is immediately recognizable, though Anguish doubts there is anyone at the party not amongst the Valerian contingent that could spot it for what it is. Anguish's eyes narrow fractionally as she calculates distance, speed, noise levels for a brief moment. Then she thinks of Melissa and what her mistress would do to her if she was found to be on anything less than her best behavior at this party, and any thoughts of resistance or flight- even from an agent of the first house- vanish against the very real memories of knives and magic and cold, laughing eyes.
Anguish takes a deep breath, rolling her hips slightly and putting a little extra curve into her back, rising up slightly. The motions press her breasts against the thin silk and draw the eye to the tight curve of her backside, as well as showing that the lines of her dress are uninterrupted by underwear. She smiles pleasantly, and her voice is a throaty, musical sound that is low and perfectly on-pitch.
"No, thank you." Anguish responds pleasantly. She tilts her head back slightly to look up at the elf, appraising her. She takes in the touches of steampunk couture, the strong features, the tattoo that marks her as not just a visitor to Earl's House but [i[protected[/i], the long musician's hands and the relatively impressive- for an elf- curves. As she is watching, her long neck bared, she knows that the elf can see the slender leather collar and the tag that bears the lash-and-knife sigil of Valerian house. As soon as she is done look the elf over, she drops her gaze to the table, the picture of demure submissiveness.
Catching one generous lip between her front teeth and making a low noise in her throat somewhere between a moan and a purr, Anguish asks, "Is there aught I can do for you, dear lady? I have some of white and some of blue," she indicates a small satchet of white powder, one of bliss, and a third of small yellow pills with a stylized X on them, "As well as party drugs. I am, of course, also available for anything you could desire of me. At this function madamé, nothing is off limits to Mr. Kurzhnev's honored guests."
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Robyn smiles, her head not moving as she senses the other woman's movements. The rustle of material against skin is captivating, as she imagines it is supposed to be, but to someone with her sensory enhancements is it particularly effective. The seductive noise from her throat and the sensed movements verify what her purpose here is. Curious, Robyn reaches for the plate and pulls two grapes from their stems. Her English is slightly accented by her native Russian, something far from odd at this party. "No thank you. I am quite particular about my recreational drug. I much prefer something else........such as these grapes. They are quite good. Are you sure that you do not want some"
Robin pops the grapes into her mouth, savoring the delicate flavor before adding. "May I touch you?"
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Hearing the Russian in the other woman's voice, Anguish switches languages. Her Russian is soft, lacking the harsh edges of a native speaker, but her elocution and diction are textbook perfect. "No thank you,dear lady. I am susceptible to a great many food allergies, and I am here to be part of the entertainment. To be partaken of, not to partake myself." She says softly. She looks back up at the other woman as a few things click into place; the glasses, the careful way she listens, the lack of a reaction at her movements but her attentiveness to the sound of her dress and the tag on her collar.
Understanding now, Anguish rises up slightly and reaches out to take the other woman's hands in her own. Anguish's skin is rose-petal soft and warm- she has fed recently- and her manicured nails barely graze her patron of the moment's skin. She lifts one of the chestnut-haired elf's hands to her face, kissing the pad of her thumb with warm, soft lips. The other she lets graze the front of dress, letting the woman's fingers run over the silky material covering the swell of her breast and revealing the bar piercing beneath before coming to rest on one nanotattooed shoulder. In a voice just above a whisper, Anguish says, "I am yours to enjoy as you wish, lady. May this unworthy have the honor of your...name?"
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The woman takes her hands in hers and begins speaking in Russian. One hand is taken to the face where her soft lips play across the thumb, arousing a slight desire, much as Robyn suspects it is supposed to. More effective and harder to deny is the effect of having her other hand brush across the thin layer of silk covering the left breast. The feel of the taut nipple and...........yes, a bar piercing it, sends small tremors through the Elf. The moment is brief as the other girl continues the motion, finally bringing Robyn's hand to her shoulder. The Keeb decker is far from new to sex with another woman and recognizes the growing desire within herself. She lifts her hand from its resting place on the shoulder and puts it to the face, caressing it as she places the touch vision into her memory.
Soft fingers gently touch every feature of the face of the kneeling woman. At the same time soft moans let the pleasure girl know that her kisses to the other hand are having the desired effect. Her own breasts are growing taut under her gown and she can feel urges for the girl. Her hand reaches the collar and tag at the same time she answers the girl's question. "I am Robyn Lysander. And you are........"
Robyn goes silent as she considers the implications of the mark she had just identified on the tag fastened to the collar around the girl's neck. "Are you here for me? I am not aware of anything I have done to offend the masters of your House."
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Anguish turns her head to kiss Robyn's wrist, the small motion and display of affection as automatic as breathing now. Her mind races as she tries to recall where she's heard the name before. She was...a musician? Yes, that was it. A classical musician. She hadn't realized the woman was connected with the Vory, but she could hardly cast shade on someone for being more than they appear. She'd heard Robyn play before, she realizes with delight. "Ah, the famous musician." Anguish purrs softly, ignoring the questions for a moment. "Truly, I am in esteemed company tonight." She shifts her shoulders and gently moves her head from side to side, dragging her skin across Robyn's before she says anything else and lets her hands fall to the tabletop, splaying her fingers so that her nails click against the glass, letting the woman see that she is not a threat at the moment and remains empty-handed.
After a dozen heartbeats, Anguish says, "I am called Anguish amongst the other members of my house." She smiles against Robyn's hand. "I am only here in my capacity as a servant and a bought girl." She assures the taller elf. "And a watcher, of course, as my mistress has trained me, though that is secondary tonight." She makes a small noise softly through her nose as Robyn's fingers find the tip of one pointed ear. "I am here for you, of course, but not as anything more than I appear this evening."
Lifting her chin, she raises a hand to guide Robyn's finger along the line of her jaw and throat before continuing, "And yourself, lady Lysander? Are you here as a guest or a performer?" She breathes deeply and sighs, her glamours making even such a simple sound as an exhalation into something sensual. "I would dearly love to hear one such as you play."
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The tiniest motions the pleasure girl makes against Robyn's skin send small shocks through her body, almost certainly calculated to do just that. Her body reacts, pushing hardening nipples against soft cloth in a manner that only increases the sensations. Grasping at something that might delay what is happening to her, Robyn says, "Hardly famous. Well known but hardly famous."
In her aroused state, it takes a minute to process what the girl had said. "Anguish? That is a name known to me." She laughs softly. "To just about anyone Below. Your mistress is also well known. As is your........rumored.........condition." Robyn sighs as her delicate fingers find the tips of the ears. "Dryad, hmmmm? It is I who am honored, lady Anguish. And I am both guest and performer. I am on break between sets; a break that I must give up in about five minutes to return to do the fourth set of five."
She pauses to try to get her mind in order and laughs at the near futility. "I am sure that you have no need of me to tell you how well your technique is working on me. Are you allowed to leave this alcove if I require it of you? I would take you to the room where I am playing. I would like that."
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Now it is Anguish's turn to laugh, a smooth, velvety sound. "Ah, my reputation precedes me, I see." She says with mock sadness. "I am certain that most of the rumors are exaggerations or base falsehoods, madame." The tall elf's implication was clear, and if she was protected and warded by the first house, then she was bound by their custom and law, and could no more reveal Anguish's secret than Anguish herself could say no to Robyn.
She raises up on her knees until she is as close to of a height with Robyn as she can be and puts a hand on the back of the other woman's neck, pulling her down slightly. She kisses the smooth line of Robyn's throat, then lets her lips drift apart enough to reveal a centimeter of icy-white fang. She grazes Robyn's earlobe with one delicate needle point and whispers, "Most, but not all."
Then, sinking back and releasing Robyn's neck she continues in a conversational tone, "I am not supposed to leave this spot, but I am also supposed to entertain the guests, and you are most certainly an honored one of those. Besides," she gestures at the mirror backing the alcove, "I have eyes, and I saw how he greeted you. For you, I doubt Mr. Kurzhnev would balk." She raises her hands to stroke Robyn's forearms. "It is nice to hear that my skills are appreciated, and I will go wherever you would like to take me this evening.
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Robyn's heart hammers at her chest as the Dryad reaches behind her neck and a soft moan escapes her lips at the touch of Anguish's velvet lips to her throat. The gentle kiss lingers a moment and Robyn is enough caught off balance that her hand reaches for and cups one of the woman's breasts, fondling it through the silken gown that barely conceals it. She feels the short bar that pierces the nipple and idly strokes it as Anguish's lips move to nip her ear. The ever so slight burst of pain brings a sensuous gasp from Robyn and her hand momentarily tightens on the breast, bringing a slight moan in response. The passion rising in Robyn's body is only slightly reduced when the Dryad lowers her mouth and returns to a kneeling position. Only Robyn's sense of responsibility keep her from pursuing a second kiss.
Breathing hard, Robyn takes a few moments to recover. When she does, it is with a smile. "Then by all means, let us take advantage of that loophole. I want you to come with me. And I rather doubt that Vanya will have much to say. I am an old friend of the family and knew his father quite well. Yes, quite well indeed."
Robyn gathers herself together and slides the curtain open, holding out her hand to lead the Dryad back to join her companions for the next musical set. The Keeb musician obviously ignores any looks cast her way and intentionally ignores all of the softly and not so softly whispered comments from the other guests. The room is almost empty when the two women pass through the silence barrier, with only four guests present. Robyn lets Anguish's hand drop as they enter so that the Dryad can find a seat while she makes her way to the front of the room. Sheila, one of her best friends and the lead violinist for this quartet, leans over as Robyn sits down and chides her that they were almost going to send someone to find her. Robyn laughs. "I was distracted. Sorry." Robyn picks up her cello and runs a few practice chords then nods to the others in the small group, indicating that she is ready. And ready she is. Distracted or not, Robyn is a consummate professional when it comes to the cello and her playing really is concert-level, as is that of the rest of the quartet. A number of people wander into the room, nearly filling it to capacity, and many find the thirty minute set to be too short. Several times during the performance, Robyn lifts her sightless eyes to where Anguish had taken a seat and smiles in her direction. When the set is complete, Robyn carefully places her instrument in a stand and rises to accept handshakes and compliments from the small crowd. Sheila looks at the other three performers and says. "Alright. Twenty minute break then back here for the last set. Twenty minutes."
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Anguish is on her feet as soon as the set ends. Her chest is heaving and her eyes are bright. The polychromatic lenses had faded to clear, leaving her with eyes the dead color of a weimareiner dog's, but they are bright with the elemental joy that comes with emotion and experience, and her lush lips are curled up in a huge smile. She is at the front of the room only a few seconds after the set breaks. Robyn can't see her, but her excitement is still palpable by scent, by sound, and a few seconds later, from the huge, unselfconscious hug that Anguish gives to Robyn.
"That was lovely, lady Lysander." Anguish says a moment later as she lets Robyn go and steps back. "Truly, you are even better than your reputation would convey." She glances at the other musicians, then at Robyn's cello. "May I...may I stay, for your next performance?" She asks, almost tentatively. "I'd like to hear you play again."
Anguish looks around, seeing guests going to refill drinks, find party favors or party girls, and mingle outside the small performance space. The other musicians are casing their instruments and taking a break themselves, and Anguish looks back at her companion, smiling. She touches Robyn on the wrist. "What are you doing for the next twenty minutes?"
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Robyn is a bit surprised by the response she gets from Anguish, but welcomes the hug, her body responding on its own to the stimulus provided by the closeness of the Dryad. After the other woman steps back, Robyn catches her breath and nods her acknowledgment of Sheila's words. The room quickly empties as the small audience and her fellow performers leave for the break. Robyn steps forward to within a few inches of Anguish and softly says, "What I would LIKE to do would take far more than twenty minutes. Must you return Below tonight or could you come home with me after the party?"
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The dryad mmmm's under her breath and laughs a soft, breathy laugh. She likes the other elf, likes the way she talks and the way she plays her cello and the smell of her shampoo and the feeling of her musician's calluses when she was memorizing Anguish's face earlier. It is unusual for Anguish to be so completely charmed so quickly, but she doesn't ruin it with self-reflection. "I may be Melissa Shirae's kept slitch, but even she will not expect me back right after a Vory party." Anguish says dryly. "Nor will she expect me back during the day. I am yours all night, lady Lysander." She takes Robyn's hand in her own and places two fingers against her lips so that the other elf can feel her smile, trace its wicked lines, and purrs, "I wouldn't be so sure that twenty minutes is insufficient, however. A decade of training Below has its benefits."
Anguish kisses the fingers of the hand at her mouth, then its palm, then its wrist, letting the tips of her fangs graze the delicate skin. Its not a bite, not even a scratch really, but it is enough to let Robyn know that the fangs are very much there. Letting the arm go, Anguish straightens and looks around, finding the two of them alone for the moment. Her lips twitch into another small smile and she steps into Robyn. From her new position, she looks up at Robyn and kisses the bottom of her jaw before asking, "Am I the first person with my...condition...for you?" Then she blushes and runs a hand through her curls in a nervous gesture that Robyn can hear if not see and murmurs, "Sorry. That was more than a little impertinent. You just don't seem...ah...well..." she shrugs helplessly, blushing fiercely and looking embarrassed, "Scared."
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Robyn shivers slightly as the Dryad takes her hand. She is clearly attracted to the pleasure girl and her body knows it. Her breath catches as her fingers are placed at Anguish's lips and she whispers, "Then I am fortunate that Vanya hired you and I would like to take you home." Shaking her head slightly, she adds, "And I am sure that we both can think of something that we could do in twenty minutes, but I want much more than just twenty minutes."
Robyn almost melts when Anguish begins kissing her hand and arm and moans somewhat loudly at the faint touch of the vampire's fangs and she is thrilled when the other woman kisses her neck. Her heightened senses indicate that the Dryad is perhaps a bit confused as well and wonders if perhaps her reaction to Robyn is not entirely scripted. She hears the woman run a hand through her hair and answers the question with a low laugh. "You are indeed the first woman of your kind I have ever met, much less talked to. And it is alright to be impertinent. Yes, I am a bit afraid right now, but more of myself than of you. My reaction to you is not..........normal.........for me. And I find that I would rather kiss you than try to explain myself."
Robyn suits her actions to her words and bends her head to kiss Anguish. Tentative at first, her kisses become more impassioned as the Dryad does not resist. She pushes her tongue into the other woman's mouth, letting her enhanced senses of taste and touch paint a picture for her. She runs her tongue across the small fangs and shivers in delight at the touch. If she had eyes, they would be burning with desire; as it is she lets her body get that across to the vampire.
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Anguish melts into the kiss. She tastes lip gloss, tart grapes, and the warm, pleasant taste of a woman genuinely interested in her. She may just be a passing curiosity to Robyn, attractive because of her glamours and her reputation and her condition, but nonetheless she throws herself into the moment, relishing the rare feeling of contact without fear or pain or motive beyond simple pleasure. Her hands come up, one placed at the small of the taller woman's back, crushing Robyn's body to hers so that they can feel the warmth of one another's skin through the dresses and so Robyn can feel the small movements of Anguish's hips and waist. The other glides along Robyn's hair until it rests at the nape of her neck again. The kiss draws on, tongues trading back and forth and small mewls whispering from one throat to the other, and Anguish's pale eyes flutter closed as she drinks it all in.
Anguish purrs in the back of her throat as Robyn teases her fangs and shivers. She catches Robyn's lip between her teeth and bites down, digging her fangs into the tender flesh. Not hard, of course, but enough to sting before she draws her head back and breaks off the kiss, breathing heavily. "We should...stop for now." Anguish pants, her chest heaving. "You know my secret, but there are many here who do not, and I am afraid that if I lose myself entirely in the moment in public, someone may find me out." Despite her words, Anguish's first action is not to back away, but to kiss the point of Robyn's shoulder. Then, reluctantly, she steps back a pace and says, "As to your reaction, the exotic always has a draw and the new a touch of fear." She's speaking Russian again. "Your reputation goes back a long way, lady Lysander, enough so that I know you must have had enough experiences that the purely mundane might seem boring now." Anguish shrugs, then remembers that Robyn can't see the motion. "I represent something new, perhaps for the first time in years. There is no shame in acting a bit out of sorts with anticipation." She chuckles softly and adds, "That I am a dryad and a trained courtesan, amongst other things probably does not hurt."
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Robyn's breathing is almost ragged as Anguish breaks contact. Her body wants more of this woman and it is quite difficult to keep her actions in check. Panting, she nods, "Yes. Alright. Maybe. There is wisdom in your words." Her mind races; this is the first person she has seriously contemplated taking home that she has not paid for in a very long time. The entire dating process has not interested her in years and while she enjoys being someone's eye candy, she really dislikes the expectations that go along with that, especially if the date turns out to be less than satisfactory, not to mention the possibility of the person wanting to complicate things. No, it is much easier to call up an escort service and have a perfect lover delivered to her door. The thought wanders into her mind that Anguish might be acting on orders from her mistress, but the sensory readings she is picking up indicate that the Dryad is actually into the decker. She realizes that the feeling is mutual and is not sure how to handle that. **Frag it. Who cares? For once just quit analyzing everything and go with it. Who knows? You might just enjoy it this time. Take a chance.**
Robyn nods again. "I was blinded more than forty years ago and have come to live with that. For the first time in many years I wish that I could see again. You are indeed exotic to my touch and I am sure equally so to look upon. I want.........I need.........to experience you, and not because others are mundane and boring. There is something else.........something I cannot quite explain, even to myself. I am sure that part of my reaction is due to your skill, but................"
Robyn stops as three people enter the room and take seats. She laughs softly and says, "It appears that break time is over. The set lasts thirty minutes and I can leave here soon after. I will need to pay my respects to Vanya."
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Anguish nods, managing to keep- barely- from kissing Robyn again. Wouldn't want the casual observer to get the wrong idea. Anguish doesn't know how insular some of these people are, or what damage she might do to Robyn's reputation if she were to be seen being intimate with a pleasure girl. Instead she curtsies perfunctorily and half-whispers, "I will be waiting, cherié." Slightly more loudly, she adds, "Alas, I must miss this next set. I should go check on the other adepts and pay my own respects if I am to be vanishing soon." With a last caress of the back of Robyn's hand, Anguish withdraws.
Despite her words, Anguish lingers in the doorway, watching the musicians start to play again before tearing herself away from the spectacle that is beautiful music played very skillfully. Returning to the main club floor, she makes the rounds of the party, checking in with Miele, Alexis, Julia, and Holly, the youngest of the adepts and out on their first or second assignations. Of them, two are well and one is extremely occupied, judging from Julia's small whimpers and the low grunts of at least two male voices. Only Holly is distraught. Anguish finds her kneeling just as she herself had been, but her makeup is tear-streaked and wide red welts mar her back.
Sighing mentally, Anguish draws close and enfolds Holly in an embrace, then spends the next twenty minutes talking to her quietly in French. She gets the whole story, carefully noting the names of the three Vory soldiers who thought she'd be more fun if she was weeping and what they did. Yes, it was an adept's mission to provide an outlet for the aggression of others, but she gave her signalé, her safeword and they did not quit. Briefly, Anguish considers exacting retribution herself, but she dismisses the idea just as quickly. bad to start a turf war with the Vory at their own party. She would tell Melissa, and Melissa would make her displeasure with the situation extremely clear to Kurzhnev. Anguish gives Holly a tablet of bliss, not liking that she is feeding the girl's addiction but also not wanting her to fall apart or be punished for breaking her assignation by going home. Once the girl tabs it and Anguish sees that it's taken effect, she leaves Holly to her high. A quick check of her 'link shows that Robyn's set is just about finished, and she goes back toward the performance space to wait for her new friend.
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Robyn immediately feels the loss of the Dryad as she leaves the room and is a bit surprised at the unfamiliar emotion. She tries to shake it off as her companions return to the room, removing her cello from its stand and running through a bit of practice. She wonders at what she is feeling and where it might go.
Sheila calls the group to order and signals the beginning of the set. The two violins, the viola, and the cello are magnificent instruments and those playing them are very talented indeed. The audience is spellbound for the entire set, even requiring a ten minute extension. Vanya pokes his head in on his rounds and is so enthralled that he stays for the rest of the set. The beautiful girl on his arm expresses a bit of annoyance that they are not listening to something more lively but shuts up at Vanya's sharp glance. At the conclusion of the set, he is the first to approach the quartet and congratulate them on a great performance. He spends a few extra moments with Robyn, speaking in a soft voice so that the others do not hear, before moving on and then leaves the room. It takes several minutes for the room to clear and get the instruments packed away in their cases. All four women hug and congratulate each other before leaving. Sheila tells the others that she will text them later when something comes up.
Robyn is the last to leave, almost afraid to see that Anguish is not waiting for her. Her heart leaps when she catches the Dryad's scent and she smiles broadly. "Vanya was at the set so I do not need to track him down. Are you able to leave now or do you have other responsibilities as part of the contract here?"
-
Anguish shakes her head, then mentally kicks herself and says, "My responsibilities begin and end at being a party favor for which ever guest decides to enjoy me." Her melodious voice carries no trace of resentment, no hint of bitterness despite the harsh statement. Either she is a master actress, or she has accepted this as her lot in life. Or both, as her reputation would suggest. "As you have taken that mantle upon yourself, I am at your complete disposal. Making the rounds was just a courtesy to make sure that I missed nothing and that the other girls from Valerian are doing alright." Stepping close, Anguish runs a hand along Robyn's arm and her breath is hot on Robyn's ear as she whispers, "Claim your prize, lady Lysander." Then she nips Robyn's earlobe, pressing against her and shifting waist, hips, and breasts in a slither of silk-shrouded flesh before stepping back and tapping the cello case with one hand. to indicate it by sound. "May I take that for you? Your arm must be tired from playing and I am rather stronger than I appear."
-
Robyn frowns for a moment at the words Anguish uses but does not have an adequate response just now. The nipping of the earlobe and the closeness of the Dryad send these and other thoughts racing into the void as her attention is focused on the reactions of her body. **Oh my god. I have got to get home and get this woman out of her clothes or I will just explode.**
When Anguish taps the cello case and offers to carry it, she hesitates for only a second, handing the expensive instrument over with a smile. "Thank you. Yes, my arm is a bit tired just now. That is the purpose of the breaks, but five sets is a bit much. But Vanya wanted it and what Vanya wants............"
Robyn leaves the rest of the sentence unspoken as she bends down to remove a narrow red and white striped cane from an outside pocket of the case. Unfolding the cane, Robyn leads the way out to the coat check area to pick up her shawl and order a cab to pick two up at the front. After tipping the cute girl behind the counter, she takes the elevator to the upper floor exit and leaves the building. Robyn pauses to say good evening to the two bouncers at the outer door, then walks carefully along the circular pathway to where the cab will pick them up. She stands close to Anguish, feeling the desire emanate from her new friend and the resonating reactions within her own body. Once in the cab, she cannot resist turning her head to the Dryad and kissing her with more passion than she has felt in years. Fortunately, the ride in the taxi is mercifully short. Mercifully because if it was to last any longer, Robyn would not be able to control herself.
Robyn slots a credstick into the pay slot when they arrive at their destination and the side doors pop open, allowing the women to leave the cab. Anguish finds herself standing outside a fancy shopfront with the sign ROBYN'S in ornate lettering above the wide door. The lighted windows are dressed with shelves that advertise books. Real books, with pages and bindings. Robyn instructs the cab to wait and turns to her companion. "Anguish. I want you more than I have wanted another person in almost forever, certainly many years. But I need to make something clear before we enter my home. First, you have to know by now how my body is reacting to you. Second, and most important, I want you here only if you want to be here. No mistress and prize unless you like roleplay. No servant. And certainly not because you have to be here. If you wish to go now, I will tell your mistress that you performed exquisitely and are to be commended. So tell me, do you wish to come upstairs and share my bed of your own free will?"
-
To a normal person, the cello might have been heavy. To an ensorcelled banshee, however, it is barely an inconvenience. She follows Robyn to the cab, resisting the urge to scoop her up too just to get there a few seconds faster. Robyn is perfectly capable, and doing anything like carrying or leading her could make her think that Anguish views her disability as just that, and Anguish desperately wants Robyn to like her. So she follows, and once in the autocab she wastes no time climbing atop Robyn's lap, luxuriating in the feeling of the other elf.
When the cab ride ends and the pair find themselves on the street in front of the shop that bears Robyn's name, Anguish feels her delicately sculpted eyebrows climbing. When she sees what the shop is selling, they rise higher still and a delighted laugh escapes her lips. She smothers it as Robyn speaks, and her delight vanishes on a wave of uncertainty and surprise. She opens her mouth to give a flippant answer, as she always does when wrong-footed, but shuts it again with a click. I want to be here. Not because of the drugs, or fear of Melisande, or because I need to feed, but for her. She examines the thought with near-total surprise. She doesn't know Robyn, and in the living sculptures of Valerian house even the beautiful elf would hardly warrant another look. She has no magic, no touch of eldritch. She's a lovely musician and a beautiful woman, but otherwise...why? Why her?
Because she knows what you are, and who you are, and where you come from, and she doesn't care. That is more a prize than money or power or beauty by far. Even if its only for a night, she could make me happy...
Anguish is stunned by the brief self-examination and she blinks back sudden hot tears. Then she smiles, a slower, more tentative thing than her rehearsed joygirl's expressions. "Robyn...I would be delighted." She catches sight of their reflections in the glass of the window and touches Robyn on the shoulder as she has an idea. Her wanton sexuality has retreated somewhat in the face of her sudden emotion, but it never abates wholly and Robyn seems to enjoy it, so the touch turns into a caress as her hand travels lower, and then a teasing squeeze before she asks, "Earlier, you said you wished that you could see me. Do you...would you like that? I can make it possible, for a moment."
-
Robyn has silently been dreading the answer to her question and the relief at the actual answer is palpable. She silently sends a message to the cab and its doors close before the auto-driven machine heads off to its next fare. The hand on her shoulder is a caress of something she has not felt in years and cannot be completely duplicated by the paid lovers she has been seeing for some time. She leans in to Anguish and her body reacts appropriately as the hand travels down her back to squeeze her ass. The question surprises her and she turns her unseeing eyes to the Dryad. "You have absolutely no idea how much I would like that. Even if only for a moment. Is it something you want to do out here or inside?"
-
Anguish shrugs without stepping away. "That is a choice for you to make. You would be seeing through my eyes. Even I cannot restore sight to the sightless." Her lips twitch. "Yet. I don't know if a blind woman has any use for a mirror, so if that is a convenience your home lacks, then we can use the plate glass window of your lovely shop here. Which," Anguish muses, "You probably also haven't seen. But if you think the shock of sight will cause you to stumble, or you want to wait until all of my clothes are off, then inside may be best." She turns and kisses Robyn fully, now accepting of the direction of the night and no longer inclined to examine it under the microscope of old hurts and new fears. Her teeth drag across Robyn's lip again and she feels for the same shiver she elicited at the party. Teasing, she murmurs almost into Robyn's mouth, "The teeth do it for you, don't they?"
-
Robyn laughs. No, my home is apportioned much like others. There are several mirrors, even though I have no real need for them." Turning her face to the Dryad, she adds, "If it can happen once, I would like to see you naked and in my arms and smiling at me. I have had the shop front described sufficiently that I would rather see you."
Robyn bends her head to the kiss and shivers as the vampire runs her teeth across her lips. Considering the question when asked, she answers honestly. "No. Yes. Sort of. YOU do it for me. I have not felt so.........so like this in forty some years. The teeth are something new and certainly add to you, but it is you that turns me on. And we had better go inside before we are both naked on the sidewalk."
She lashes Anguish's teeth one more time then straightens, moving to the door. She sends a mental command and a piece of the fronting slides open, revealing a sophisticated maglock. She softly speaks a phrase into the device while placing a hand on a touch screen and her eye to a scanner. When all is verified the panel slides back up and the door gives a soft click. Robyn opens the door and steps inside, holding the door for Anguish to enter behind her. Soft lights wink on as she shuts the door and moves into the room. Soft and expensive carpet covers the floor and her guest can see a large number of wooden shelf units filled with books along the walls and rising from the floor in several areas. Comfortable leather couches and chairs are scattered about the large room and there is an odor of old leather throughout. Robyn gives a sharp whistle and a large dog rises from where it was probably asleep and comes to her, stopping short to give a low growl, but not baring its teeth. Robyn steps forward and rubs the dog's head before kneeling to scratch its ears and curve an arm around its neck.
She looks over to Anguish and says, "Anguish, this is Pytor, my constant companion. Or mostly constant. It was just too inconvenient to take him tonight. He is my set of eyes when I go out and keeps me from stepping into the street in front of some bloody lorry. Come here and let him get your scent. He won't bite, will you, good boy?"
Anguish moves forward and reaches out to let the dog sniff at her and realizes that it is not real and must be some version of the newer realistic-looking drones. It certainly acts like a dog, even to sniffing her hand and wagging its tail at being scratched and petted. Robyn stands and smiles at the dog, which turns to walk beside her as she makes her way to the rear of the shop. Anguish sees a section of the shop that is glassed in and has another of the sophisticated maglocks at the door. Through the windows, the Dryad can see three shelves with books and some actual scrolls on them. The shelves are not as full as those in the main room. Three leather chairs are arranged around a small wooden table.
Robyn walks past this room to a winding spiral staircase leading up and down. She holds onto the railing and walks to the upper level, which opens to a short hallway ending in a door. No fancy maglock here, but a real lock that requires a ley Robyn takes from her handbag. She unlocks the door and opens it to usher Anguish into her private suite. Again, lights come on as the three enter the room. Robyn waits for the door to close behind her, but not one second longer. Already almost to the breaking point, she releases her passion on Anguish, catching her around and placing her lips on the Dryad's willing and ready ones and allowing her hands to roam across her companion's body, feeling every curve.
-
The dryad grins around the kiss before surrendering to it, raising her arms to the back of Robyn's gown, searching for, finding, and undoing the zipper she finds there. She breaks the kiss just long enough to peel Robyn's dress off and cast it aside, breathing, "Calista...my name is Calista." Her own dress follows a moment later, revealing the trim expanse of her stomach and the delicate points of her hips. Her nanotattoos, an abstract black rose inside the point of her left hip and a winding floral pattern that runs from thigh to ribs on her right side glimmer in the light, bespeaking the colloidal silver alloy suspended in them to keep her regeneration from simply absorbing the designs. Her body is as lush as it seemed in the dress, her form a masterpiece of hard lines and soft curves won through endless effort.
Now nude save for her boots and accessories, Anguish grabs for Robyn again, spinning around to press the blind elf against the door. She kisses Robyn's lips, cheek, and jaw, before dropping her mouth to Robyn's throat and pricking her skin with razor fangs, hard enough to hurt slightly. Robyn's reaction draws another smile from Anguish and the banshee puts her hands on Robyn's hips. "Bedroom?" She gasps out as her hands move up to capture Robyn's wrists and press them to the door above her head. "I don't think we can wait much longer."
-
Robyn presses the kiss, pushing her tongue into Anguish's mouth as the Dryad feels for and finds the zipper holding her evening frock up. The release of the two gowns means that she can feel her lover's skin against hers and she is immensely turned on. She murmurs the woman's name several times, as if to lock it in place somewhere, although that is not the case. She cries out in ecstasy when Anguish turns her against the door, narrowly missing the cello case on the floor. The feel of the sharp teeth against her skin, followed by the slight sting of the bite brings a loud moan. When asked about the bedroom, she gasps, "First door on the right past the living room."
Robyn feels Anguish's arms go around her and lift her up, carrying her through a large but barely noticed living room to the master bedroom. When the Dryad swings her to her feet, she places a soft hand on one breast and presses away, saying in an almost breathless voice, "Wait. Calista. Please. I want to see you as I can, with my senses. And once there it will never go away because I remember everything. Lay down on the bed, face up." When Calista is on her back, Robyn begins exploring her body, letting her hands and tongue do the work better than her eyes ever could have. Every perfection and every small flaw is permanently engraved into her mutated memory. She joyfully touches every part of Anguish's body, reveling in every scent, taste, and touch. When done she looks sightlessly at the woman under her and moves to cover her body so she can begin kissing her again from her lips back down to her thighs, where she settles in happily until Calista explodes. Robyn is not professionally trained, but she has decades of experience to draw on and is no slouch at giving pleasure.
-
Calista, too, is remembering everything. Her adept's mind is capable of processing scents, sounds, and feelings as easily as sight, storing them perfectly. She knows that she will be able to recall this perfectly, for the rest of her life, and the knowledge makes her glad. She does as Robyn asks, and what starts as small mewls and moans and breathy gasps turn into shameless and full-throated cries, shrieks and screams and pleas without words. It has been so long since she was treated as a lover rather than an object that she'd forgotten what it felt like. By the time Robyn finishes with her, Calista is little more than a quivering, happy mess, and only the desire to return the favor a thousandfold keeps her from drifting off in a post-coital haze.
As Robyn climbs back onto the bed, Calista rolls over and takes Robyn's hand, placing it on her lips as she had before, so that the other woman can feel her wicked grin. She says nothing, but continues where she had left off before, kissing her way down to where she might mimic Robyn's actions. The elven woman has experience, and knowledge, and a raw desire that the young dryad cannot match, but Calista has...well, she has Calista on her side. As a mage, an adept, a trained courtesan, and with a richness of experience that belies her years, Calista throws all her desire and many skills into play. She manages to refrain from biting Robyn fully, but the run-up to Robyn's own quaking, shuddering climax is marked by a great many teasing nibbles.
It takes a long time. Calista has all night, and she wants to give Robyn a night to remember.
When at last, many minutes later they are finished, Calista slithers back up the bed to lie with one arm across Robyn's stomach and her head on Robyn's shoulder. Her leg is draped across the other woman's thigh, her small, manicured toes rubbing Idly at Robyn's calf. "Thank you, Robyn. That was..." she sighs happily, "wonderful." Calista wears a big, happy smile and delights in feeling Robyn's chest heaving with the aftermath. Licking her lips, she asks, "I believe this is what you wanted to see, is it not?"
Calista doesn't wait for a reply. The words were more an indication of intent than a real question, and her hand comes up to rest on Robyn's cheek. Whispering in a torrent of Sperethiel, Calista crafts a spell, one of the first she'd ever learned. The magic flows from her, and even a mundane like Robyn can feel the monstrous power in the spell as it brushes against her mind.
Just how powerful is Calista?
There is a moment of disorientation, even pain as Robyn's mind is forced to accept a sense that had been lost to it for decades, but the spell bridges her to Calista's own mind and Calista copes handily. After a few seconds, there is a blur, a sharpening, and a moment of vertigo as Robyn is suddenly seeing for the first time in a long time. The view is wrong, offset from the rest of her senses, but it only takes a moment to realize and accept that she is seeing through Calista's eyes. The world is vibrant, sharp, even more than it would be for someone who hadn't seen it for years, as Calista's banshee senses are uncommonly well-honed.
Calista grins, looking at Robyn carefully so that the other woman can see how pristine and lovely her form has weathered the decades of darkness, then props herself up on one arm to look at the mirrored doors to the closet, the reflection showing Calista laying atop Robyn, smiling and obviously very pleased with herself and her lover.
-
The series of shuddering explosions of pleasure rock Robyn to her core. She has never in her life experienced so much raw joy and satisfaction. Like Calists before, her voice cries out in animalistic sounds that have no words. The teeth cutting into her leave more than marks; they act as a connection between two lives that have long suffered. Time is of no matter and seems to stand still even though it passes for the outside world. Robyn's climax is massive, her body writhes on the bed until spent and she can barely whisper her pleasure because her throat is raw.
In her weakened state, she is incapable of resisting the magic Calista pours into her, even if there had been the slightest chance she would ever resist. The spell forces her to react to stimuli she had long been unable to rely on and the effect is almost painful at first, as she cannot recognize the point of reference. Then Calista calms her and explains that she is seeing through the Dryad's eyes. In wonder, she gazes at herself through her lover's eyes, taking everything in. "Oh my God. Look at me! Almost all of my ink was added after I was shot. This is the first time I have seen myself. Hmmmm. I guess I have aged rather well, all things considered. It looks like my exercise has kept me trim. Now let me look at you."
She looks at Calista in admiration. "You.....you are so beautiful. What can you see in an old wreck like me?" Robyn lets her eyes wander down the length of Calista's body, even pushing her leg aside to gaze at her thighs. With a grin, she slides down the bed and lowers her head to begin licking at the Dryad again. This time she can see herself doing it, which adds to the flame of desire rising in her. She lets up for a moment to whisper, "You were not expecting to sleep just yet, were you?"
-
Calista gasps. Then a wicked idea strikes her and she reaches down to entwine her fingers in Robyn's hair. Anither whisper, another pulse of magic, and suddenly sensation joins sight. Now Robyn can feel everything Calista feels, from the cool sheets on her back and the hair between her fingers on down. The effect is immediate, and Calista spurs Robyn on with her throaty, magical voice, a chorus of liquid sounds that convey far more than words. The build up is even faster this time, Calista's spell firing Ribyn's efforts and their mingled pleasure pushingbthem both over the brink in only a few minutes.
When its over, Calista laughs. "My gods, that was amazing." She breathes dreamily. She turns to look at Robyn, snuggling close. "Thank you." She strokes Robyn's hip and asks, "So...a book shop?"
-
Robyn does not feel the pain of the magic this time, but the effect is dramatic. She is already hyped on her own highly developed senses of touch, taste, and smell that she almost drowns in sensory input when the power settle in. The combined effect is massive and she feels herself reacting to what she is doing to Calista. Not able to resist, she snakes a hand down to touch herself and her own cries mingle with those of the Dryad. The shared climax is enough to leave Robyn limp as a wet noodle and some part of her brain is thanking whatever contractor had built this place with soundproof walls. She manages to weakly crawl up to where Calista can look her in the face and she can see herself smiling at the other woman. She manages a faint response, "Amazing.......yes. Never better. Bookshop. What bookshop? Oh. This bookshop. Yes. Remind me to tell you about it sometime. Maybe over breakfast." Robyn lifts her head. "You will be here in the morning for breakfast, right?"
-
Calista actually has the grace to blush and look nervous. "If...if you want me to." She stammers softly. "I...that is...I'll stay, but I can't eat normal food." She looks sad. "Its one of the things I miss the most. I can't eat, I can't get drunk unless I feed off of someone who's already plastered, and if a drug isn't injection vector, I have to open up some biff's vein to be able to take it in." She shrugs slightly, shifting pleasantly against Robyn. "Its the price I pay, I suppose. Melissa tells me the pleasures of the flesh aren't worth the power I gained by being...what I am, but this is all still new to me."
She looks around the room, taking in the furnishings and decor. There's no art, of course, not on canvas, but sculpture and a sound system are present that would fetch a corpexec's ransom. The entire apartment suite is lovely, devoted to tactile and aural stimulation rather than visual. it makes sense, of course, but Calista hadn't considered the differences in decor that Robyn's condition would bring.
That a musician and bookstore owner couldn't afford it goes without saying. She looks back at Robyn and lets her perception slide over to the astral. Robyn can see herself through Calista's mage's eyes, see the flows off essence in the blind woman and all the holes where living force had been replaced with cold metal and solid circuits and fiber optic lines. Mab's tits, she's got more chrome under the hood than a booster's car. Calista thinks to herself. She considers for a moment. Lots of 'ware, expensive apartment, but no combat augmentations and already has a day job. The pieces click into place and Calista nods to herself. Decker. Gotta be. Maybe a rigger or a data-miner, but I'm betting decker. Calista considers asking, forgetting that right now Robyn can hear her thoughts and decides against it. Time enough in the morning, if Robyn is really serious about sharing her bed with a bloodsucking nightmare.
-
Even in her dazed state, Robyn can tell the differences in people's emotions by their speech as well as the change in breathing patterns, smells, and movements, all of which she can "see" well enough. She detects something different in Calista as she talks. She levers herself up on one arm and stretches the other to first turn the Dryad's face to hers than move to cup a warm, alive, and responsive breast. The slight moan from Calista is all she needs to hear. Robyn lowers her face to Calista's and kisses her deeply. There is nothing of the frenetic movements that would lead to another romp, but just pure, raw passion. The sort of emotion she puts into playing her cello over a particularly difficult piece. Solid and full of desire. She should not be able to kiss like this after such sex as she has experienced, but something fuels it. She moves both arms up and wraps them tightly about the other girl as she keeps the kiss going.
When time regains its bearings, Robyn lays her head on Calista's chest and idly moves a finger in decreasing circles about a still erect nipple and softly says, "I do want you to stay. Very much. The choice is completely up to you." She pauses and then adds, "I am feeling so many things right now. I feel closer to you than I ever did to my fiancé before he was killed. I want to make love to you more than I have ever wanted anyone. I want to hear your story and share mine. I want to experience you feeding off of me."
-
Calista's huge eyes widen at Robyn's pronouncement. She had never fed from someone who offered themselves willingly. Other adepts, targets, marks, people who had incurred Melissa's wrath, sure. But another person making the choice voluntarily?
Calista begins to cry.
She doesn't sob, she doesn't shake or whine. Her control slips and her spells collapse, leaving her feeling empty and alone after the glorious sharing of self that she and Robyn had experienced. Without moving or making a sound, Calista cries. Her tears are huge and silvery. Contrary to popular belief, vampires don't really cry blood, and the twin lines down her face are nothing more than human tears. She holds Robyn tightly as she cries, trying not to give away what's happening, though she knows that just the change in her breathing might tip the other woman off.
Stupid. Worthless. Parasite. Would she even like you if not for your magic making you more desirable? Without your power, would you be anything more than a pretty face?
Melissa's voice rises unbidden in Calista's head and she squeezes her eyes shut, telling herself its only memory and hurt, not real. Melissa isn't there. She's not going to come and take Robyn away. Its okay, its going to be okay...she shudders, finally. In a whisper, because its all she can manage without sounding choked, Calista tells Robyn, "That is the sweetest thing any has ever said to me in my entire life." She wants to say more, to break down and explain that she's not a monster or a stupid little girl or...something. But she's at a loss for words. The silence stretches on for a few seconds until Calista rolls over to face the ceiling and takes a deep breath. Trust your voice. You've always been able to rely on that. She likes you, likes music. Give her something.
Taking a deep breath, Calista begins to sing.
The music spills out, first one note, long and low and utterly inhuman. Then another, and another, moving swiftly into the triple movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor. Calista's well-tuned voice and magical talent for mimicry perfectly replicates the piano she'd first learned the song on, and Moonlight Sonata spills into the room. It was the song she'd learned from her first girlfriend, [i[their[/i] song, and she hasn't thought about it in years. Now, though, it seems appropriate, and Calista's throat gives voice to the piano piece with nary a hitch or flat.
-
Robyn feels the spells drop, but is only momentarily affected. She knows that such things cannot be sustained and she has been prepared for the change. After all, she can "see" better with her other senses than she ever could with her eyes. Still, it had been a tremendous gift to have been given to her. As she snuggles close, she feels the slightest tremors, hears the least sounds, smells the slightly salty odor and knows her lover is crying. Without saying a word, Robyn lifts her head up a bit and lowers it down to gently kiss the tears away. Her lips are soft and barely touch the skin, but she catches the liquid coming from Calista's eyes. Then, unexpectedly, her own emotions get the better of her and she starts crying, too. She has never been happier and her tears of joy softly drop to the other woman's skin and mix with the Dryad's tears. Robyn kisses them all away, punctuating each kiss with a murmured "Thank you."
Robyn lowers her head back down to the side of Calista's face when the tears stop and the woman rolls over onto her back and begins to sing. She immediately recognizes the Moonlight Sonata and smiles. She knows the piece by heart and Calista is pitch perfect, almost as if she was the piano. Music is a passion for Robyn and this is a greater gift than even her temporary eyesight had been. The piece brings peace to Robyn's mind and lulls her to sleep, her body entwined about the Dryad vampire.
Waking, Robyn is almost afraid that everything the previous evening had been a dream, but the feel of the woman in her arms convinces her that it was real. And the need to pee convinces her it is time to get up. She unwinds herself from Calista and hurries to the bathroom, quickly taking care of business and turning the shower on. One of the best perks of living at the Regency Arms was the unlimited hot water ration the suite comes with. Eschewing a robe she wanders out to the bedroom and sits on the bed. She knows that Calista is awake by the change in her breathing and she reaches out a hand to touch the woman. "Thank you for staying. Every bit of bad karma and bad luck I ever had has been wiped away in one night by one person. I cannot tell you how much I........."
Robyn breaks her sentence off, then continues, "How much I enjoyed you. Enjoyed us. I fell asleep during your singing so did not get to tell you how amazing it was. So; it was amazing. Come on, my shower is huge and it has two heads. My very sensitive nose is telling me that we could both use a shower."
Robyn climbs off the bed and drags her poor friend with her. She steps into the shower and Calista uses the toilet before joining her. The hot water feels good as it sluices away most of the reminders of the early morning. Robyn does feel a bit over-used and says so, even as she puts her arms around Calista and holds her tight, kissing her under the water. "I have never felt this good after sex. Or this sore, either. It is a good sore and I hope to repeat it many, many times with you. If you want to, that is."
Stepping out of the shower, the two dry off and Robyn leads her friend back to the bed. She sits cross-legged and turns her head to Calista. "I do not know what happens next and I am a bit scared. But I need to do this." Licking her lips, she continues, "What do I do and where do you need to bite me?"
-
Calista awakens to softness and warmth, as she had twice during the night. As before, there is the momentary stab of panic of unfamiliar surroundings and the quaking of half-remembered nightmares before reality sets in. This time, though, a hand on her wrist keeps her from sinking back into oblivion and Calista's eyes flutter open, her lips curling up into a gentle smile as she sees Robyn and memory comes flooding back. It had been an emotional night, highs and lows both taking their toll, but for the life of her, Calista can't remember the last time she woke up so pleased to see someone. The smile turns into a grimace as Robyn drags her out of bed. She's right about the reek of sex and sweat and criminal party, and she heads off to the shower with good grace.
The water feels amazing, the warmth suffusing her skin and sluicing away the remnants of the night before and she listens with half an ear as she cleans her hair and she and Robyn was each other's backs. Calista pulls Robyn into an embrace under the water and kisses the side of her neck. "I'd like that, too." She murmurs in response to Robyn's professed desire. Her tongue traces the pointed outline of Robyn's ear as she adds, "You're right, it was amazing. Thank you for taking a chance on me."
Once they're dry and back on the bed, Calista mirrors Robyn's position, looking at the blind elf quizzically. Her expression changes from one of gentle inquiry to stark surprise and no small fear as Robyn asks her about feeding, and she reaches out to touch Robyn's face with one hand that is trembling slightly. "Robyn, dear, you don't have to..." She breaks off as Robyn's head starts to turn in the beginnings of a shake, and she puts her thumb over Robyn's lips to forestall any reply. "No, I mean, you don't have to feed me. Metahuman blood is not an every day requirement. And while I can feed from you, and would savor the taste for the rest of my hopefully-lengthy days, with your cyberware I will have to be very careful indeed." Calista's voice is kind, soft, a pretty and tremulous thing as she continues, "It would be good for me, and probably for you in the moment, but I do not want you to put yourself through something you fear to fulfill a need that is not critical right now."
Calista removes her hand from Robyn's face and leans forward to kiss her softly on the lips. She is surprised to find that she is shaking. Why is she shaking? This isn't her first feeding, her first lover. What is there to be scared of? She pushes the thoughts away. She can go to pieces later. Still leaning forward, she whispers, "If you're absolutely certain about this, your throat, your wrist, or the inside of your thigh. Just lean back and tell me where."
-
Robyn gathers her breath. "If I don't do it, I may never know if I could have done it. I need to do it. For both of us. I did not realize my implants would be an issue, so I want you to take as much time and be as careful as you can. It will not do either of us any good if my blood hurts you." She lifts a hand to her hair and pulls it away from her neck. "Take what you need, and more if you want it. I want to be a part of you."
-
It isn't Calista that it would hurt, but Calli knows better than to say so and frighten Robyn. There shouldn't be any danger. She can't drink of Robyn's vitality, her essence, but that necessity is still weeks away after her last feeding. Calista drinks stolen life to survive, but she drinks blood to live, and after the night before experiencing as much living with Robyn as she can is all she has on her mind.
Nodding, Calista breathes, "I understand." Uncrossing her legs, Calista rises up on her knees and leans forward, pressing Robyn back and down so that her head and shoulders are propped up on the pillows, her freshly-scrubbed body stretched out and her soft hair splayed around her like a chestnut halo. The lean muscles of Calista's stomach and thighs ripple, her slim shoulders bunching as she eases Robyn down without collapsing atop her. Moving up slightly, Calista slides one leg over Robyn, straddling her hips with her calves pressed against Robyn's thighs. She finds the blind elf's hands and laces her fingers together with the cellists, breathing, "Relax, my songbird. It will be alright..."
Calista drops forward until she is chest to chest with Robyn. Kissing the taller woman's shoulder, she works her way up to the side of Robyn's throat, lavishing it in kisses and love bites and teasing licks. "Relax..." she breathes again, giving Robyn's hands a reassuring squeeze. Then Calista shifts her head, tossing her hair out of the way and brings her mouth to Robyn's neck. The bite is precise, slow enough to not comes as a shock but fast enough that Robyn won't have to linger over the pain as Calista slides her fangs home in Robyn's throat.
Blood spurts, then simply pours. Calista knows that her bite hurts, but that the novelty of the icy chill of her fangs will dim that somewhat. She lets the blood fill her mouth, savoring the taste. She drinks of her new paramour, the hot, sweet life of her coating Calista's tongue. There is a spice there, a heady blend of notes that only a vampire could appreciate, a richness that comes with a life much-lived. It is different than the sweetness of a lamb to the slaughter, those young morsels that are pure and unsullied, but it is in no way less enjoyable. Robyn tastes of experiences and years and complexities, and Calista revels in the taste. She swallows, the thick liquid pouring down her throat in a rush and shivers, then takes another mouthful, and another, going slowly and relishing every drop, letting Robyn ride out her reactions as she would.
It is several minutes and a handful of sanguine draughts before Calista pulls her fangs free of Robyn's neck and licks her lips, planting a single kiss on each of the bloody pinpricks and whispering in Sperethiel, calling her magics to seal the wounds and replace some of what Robyn has lost.
-
Robyn pretends to be braver than she really is and is sure that Calista knows. The vampire takes a number of steps to ensure Robyn that this will be alright. She starts getting excited when Calista sits on top of her, straddling her thighs. The preparatory kisses on the shoulder and neck serve to reassure Robyn and she whispers words she had never thought to say again just before the vampire sinks her teeth home. "I love you. You know.......just in case."
The bite is sharper than she had thought it would be, and actually comes as a surprise, even though she had anticipated it. Robyn feels the blood flow from her body and into the mouth of her lover. Her olfactory enhancements pick up the aroma and she can feel her heart try to keep up with the loss, redirecting blood to minimize the danger. She can tell from small noises that Calisa is enjoying the sensation of tasting her blood. The vampire is going slowly on purpose and Robyn supposes that it would be quite possible to drain a person much faster and that it would also be more painful. Time passes and she wishes that the sight spell was active again so that she could look at Calista's eyes during the process.
Robyn is a bit surprised when it is over. When Cailsta finishes her kisses on the neck, Robyn tilts her head to the side and pulls the Dryad's mouth to hers. She has remained quite the entire time, but now asks, "Do you have enough? And I think I will stay here for a bit. Will you watch over me?"
-
Calista leans into the blood-tinged kiss, Robyn's last words before the feeding ringing in her ears now that she is sated and past the nerves. She loves me? She...loves...me?! Calista begins to shake as the thought bounces around her skull, temporarily alone in there. She hasn't heard those three words from anyone in a long time, not from anyone who wasn't paying her or torturing her anyway, and she's never heard them in earnest from a non-relative. To find them hear, now, and apparently spoken in a moment of honesty- sleepy, anemic, post-sexual haze makes it hard to lie, Calli knows- is frightening.
Frightening, and glorious.
But the moment is past and Robyn has asked her a question. It would be strange to just blurt it out now, wouldn't it? With a start, Calista realizes she is actually nervous, and she slips down to kiss Robyn's shoulder and squeeze her hands again to buy herself a second to put her mind in order before she says, "Of course I will. Sleep again. I will be here when you awaken, lovely songbird." She rolls off of Robyn enough to pull the blankets up over the nude elf. "You have done more for me in a single night than most have in a year. Do not fear my leaving, not today. It would take much to force me to quit this place, but..." She kisses Robyn's forehead and the lids of her blind eyes, "I love you too...just in case."
-
Robyn wakes and checks her internal clock to see it is well past any sort of breakfast time. Lunch will have to do. She sits up............and collapses back onto her back as the blood drain shows its effect. **Wait a fragging minute. Blood drain? Wha............ Oh yeah, blood drain.** She shifts her head to the side and suddenly has the odd vertigo-type reaction to seeing herself in bed from across the room. Closing her eyes, she runs through an internal diagnostic and comes up with the only rational choice: Calista must have used the sight spell on her again. The Dryad is at her side on the bed by the time she comes to this realization, placing a cooling hand to Robyn's forehead and uttering soothing words. Robyn opens her eyes and smiles. Her first words to the beautiful Dryad above her are probably silly, but they are uttered direct from the heart and convey so much more than mere words. "You stayed."
At this time and place, there are no better words to have said.
-
Calista is singing softly when Robyn stirs, a Slipshadow Sara lament. She's not singing the words but rather practicing her aural mimicry by reproducing the guitar line using nothing but her throat and her memory. She's dressed now, having sent out for clothes more appropriate to the day than a slutty synthsilk microdress. Delivery is all-pervasive when in such a ritzy doss as Robyn's, and it was a simple matter to have a pair of Spinrad Bodyline hip-hugger jeans, a wine-colored Vashon Island t-shirt, and a black boyshorts and bra set delivered, along with black heels and accessories by DressCode. She'd ordered, showered again, applied lip gloss and make-up, going for the shimmering look to make her outer glow match her afterglow.
Then she mostly watched Robyn sleep, singing or availing herself of Robyn's SOTA music system as the mood took her. Lunchtime and Robyn's awakening find her sitting in a chair by the window, watching the foot traffic go by outside. The view isn't particularly interesting but Calista delights in it anyway, because for the first time in a year she's sitting in the naked light of day, wan and overcast though it is. A new spell she'd learned and quickened to herself held her sunlight allergy at bay, and her smile is large indeed as she turns to look at the blind elf as Robyn awakes.
Crossing the room, seeing Robyn smile, and hearing the wonder in Robyn's voice cause Calista's smile to threaten to crack her face, and she leans down to kiss Robyn's forehead softly. "Of course I stayed, songbird." She murmurs from only centimeters away. "After last night you would need an entire firewatch team and a howitzer to get rid of me." She helps Robyn sit up, glancing at her neck and nodding as she sees that her healing spell has done away with the bite marks. Robyn still looks a little anemic, but courtesy of a washcloth as she slept and a little magic, only her slight pallor and fatigue exist as evidence of their bloody tryst. "Did you sleep well, cherié?"
-
Robyn smiles back as Caliusta helps her sit. "Yes. I think I slept a lot and probably needed it." She is still looking at her face, which is terribly disconcerting. Closing her eyes is just unthinkable because that would lessen the opportunity by a bit and she wants to see everything she can, even if only through someone else's eyes. Robyn places a hand to her neck, feeling for the bite marks but not finding any. Frowning, she says, I am certain I was bit. Is it only legend that a vampire's bite leaves obvious scars?"
-
Calista giggles girlishly. "No, I'm pretty sure that having a couple of spikes driven into your neck always leaves a mark." The flippant tone covers Calista's deepening respect and gratitude. Even thinking that there would be obvious, permanent scars Robyn still offered herself up, and on the throat no less! Calista exhaled softly through her nose and looked at the mirror so that Robyn could see her again as she said, "I just cleaned you up while you slept. Got rid of the blood, performed a minor healing magic on your throat, that sort of thing." She smiles insousciantly at the mirror. "Why, were you hoping for a souvenir?" She chuckles again, throatily. "So, if I bring you breakfast in bed will you tell me about the book shop?"
-
Robyn smiles and drops her hand. "No. Thank you very much. I do not require a souvenir other than you. I was trying to think of what scarfs I might have that would go well with my frocks."
She nods at the image in the mirror. "You really are very beautiful. But where did you get those clothes. I am pretty sure that I do not have anything like that here." She nods in understanding when Calsita explains having ordered them delivered while Robyn slept. She puts her hands on Calista's face and touches it with her slender fingers. "I love seeing you, but do not use yourself up maintaining a spell. My brain is mutated. Something called Hyperthymesia. The short story is that I do not forget. Anything. Your image is with me forever. And even without the magic, my senses besides sight have been augmented to be very good. Your gift of sight is amazing and I would not trade having your visual image in my mind for anything. But the real truth is that I do not need my eyes to see. Pyotor and the cane are more for other people than for any real help I get from them."
Robyn smiles when Calista offer breakfast in bed. "You would do that? But no, you might come in contact with something you cannot eat. I can cook but rarely do. One of the perks of living here is the restaurant on the ground floor. The serve marvelous food and it is all covered. After over forty years here, they even know what I want and I have the menu memorized. They were even sweet enough to get one done in Braille for me. Let me send an order for food and have it delivered.:
Once everything is taken care of, Robyn carefully gets out of bed to get dressed. Calista, looking over the musician's shoulder at the contents of the huge walk-in closet, sees a large number of outfits all in the steampunk style. In comparison, there are only four fancy frocks hanging at the far end, as if in some sort of exile. Robyn runs her fingers across tags placed on the hangers and selects one of the outfits. As she gets dressed, she laughs and says, "Two of my friends thought it would be funny to play a joke on me once and swapped a couple of the tags. I was wearing a completely wrong outfit. It was all in fun and they were very sorry later. I did not have the heart to tell them that I had known straight off that the frocks were wrong, but I wore them anyway."
Lunch arrives and Robyn signs for it before walking with the tray to the living room and putting down on a table in front of a very comfortable couch and chair. She motions to the curtained window and says, "Before we get started, do you want me to pull the blinds? I noticed when I woke up that you were sitting in the sunlight. I have always thought that vampires cannot stand the sun so there must be lots I do not understand."
With a push of a button from a console in the arm of the couch, the curtains slide open, letting in some of the early afternoon sunshine. Another button and the music system comes on. Robyn sets the playlist to classical music and lets it play softly in the background. "OK. The story is a bit long, but I will try to hit just the high points. In September of 2033, I was to be married. We liked most of the same things, but not everything. I think it is important that there be something different in a couple's likes and we had some differences of opinion. Mostly about music. My future father-in-law was the Vladivostok Vory boss. There was no secret in this. I had known Anton since we met at university my first year. And I had lived with a Vory bodyguard almost since I was born. So no surprises there. It was all arranged and I had long been accepted into the family. What was a surprise was the Yakuza assassination team sent after Anton, his parents, me, and almost every other ranking member. One bloody night. I was riding with my parents and guards to a dinner with Anton's parents. He was at his bachelor party. Gunmen caught us all. My car was riddled with bullets and I lost my parents and two guards that had been with us so long that they were considered part of my family."
Anton's parents were at the restaurant and the assassins bungled their job, never making it past the door before being cut down. Anton was not so lucky. He survived the initial attack and was taken to a street clinic to be treated. I found this out from my godfather and went to the clinic to help. I found out that Anton would live and offered my medical skills to help with the flood of victims. The Yak underboss who was the lead assassin decided to make things more permanent and led an attack on the clinic. He shot all the wounded Vory soldiers there, including Anton, who he killed in front of me. Then he took his silenced gun and put it to my forehead just here." At this, Robyn moves her hair aside, exposing a small puckered scar. "You may have wondered about this last night if you saw it. He told me that I should have stayed with the car and my parents and shot me. His face was the last thing I saw with my eyes. The bullet tore my eye nerves completely apart, but did not kill me, although I certainly gave that impression as I collapsed on top of Anton's body. Fortunately, the Yaks had failed more than they succeeded. Anton's father called on outside Vory assistance and it poured in. Most of the Yaks were rounded up and very painfully executed. Only the leader and three of his soldiers got away. Of course I did not know this for several months while I was in a coma."
"It was touch and go for a bit whether or not I would live, but I had tremendous resources helping me. EVO Corp, my Vory family, and the rather huge amount of money my father left me all helped pay for as much surgery as it took to save my life. To shorten things up a bit, I was implanted with a lot of very specialized cyber, bio, and gene ware, in addition to a very good cyberdeck and commlink.. Nothing could restore my eyesight, so we compensated with the other senses. I begged for the chance to use my new ware and my skills to look for the remaining assassins and was grudgingly given permission to do so. I found two of the soldiers in a dive in Bangkok and the third in Seattle, UCAS. It took me almost seven years to find the leader. I came to London in 2040 to narrow the search and needed a place to stay; a place to have a good cover identity. I became Robyn Lysander and bought this flat and the shop below it. I made a life here and became Robyn. I found the bastard in London Below. The idiot lived there for years and was not smart enough to get warded. I became a ward of Earl's House and used myself as bait to draw him to the surface, where my Vory contacts here picked him up. I was told it took him seven months to die."
"Done here, I began to pack up and even had the shop and flat on the market. But here I was Robyn Lysander. Back in Vladivostok, I was a dead girl. I could have worked my Vory and EVO contacts there, but I was never going to be a ranking member of either organization. So I just stayed here. Now I am really Robyn Lysander and my life is real, not just a cover. I love books and the staff I have really seems to like the rather eccentric blind Keeb that they work for. I have my cello and my associations with the Mechanica and London Below. So, that is the short story. Do you have one?"
-
Calista stares, stunned and open-mouthed as Robyn relates her story. It is a tale of woe and tragedy and rising above all odds, of loss and heartbreak and revenge, and something in it stirs Calista's poet's soul. It is awful, but beautiful, like all good stories, and she commits the image of Robyn sitting and telling her tale to memory, focussing on each sound and sight and scent and vision until she is certain that it is indelibly burned into her mind. As Robyn talks, Calista lets the spell lapse, not wanting to distract. It is quickened now, a permanent expression of mana, and Robyn can borrow Calista's eyes whenever they are nearby, but Calista releases her grip on the spell so that Robyn may call and dismiss it as she chooses.
When Robyn is finished, Calista blinks and shivers, coming out of the reverie that Robyn's skillful tale-telling had induced. "Robyn...I..." Mutely she stands, walking over to stand behind the older woman and leaning down, her breasts pressing into Robyn's shoulders as she wraps her arms around her lover and kisses the top of her head gently, then the small scar on her temple. "Thank you for trusting me." She offers simply, still at something of a loss for words. "I don't know how I could possibly follow that," Calista admits after a moment, "But if you want to hear my story, I'll tell it."
Calista sits again in the sunlight, the overcast sky lightening her features and bringing out the nightshade-purple in her otherwise black hair. She glances out the window, then looks at Robyn's confused expression and explains, "I have a working that holds my allergy to sunlight at bay. Were I to lose it, I would burst into flames just as the legends say, but right now I am perfectly safe." She pauses for a moment, then adds, "The spell is still there. You may borrow my eyes at your leisure with an effort of will. Just concentrate on how it felt when I first essayed the working upon you, and it should come. It is no trouble, and is in fact semi-permanent. As long as we are within ninety meters of one another, you may jump into my head as you please."
Calista sighs, and her eyes take on a faraway look. "I was born in New Monaco in twenty fifty-three." She starts. "My mother was a Vicomtesse from Nantes and my father was one of the Auvergne research scientists working for Saeder-Krupp. Both elves, both good people, both devoted from what I can find about them." Her voice takes on a dreamy quality. "I was their first child. They had been trying for over a year. They'd seen every clinic, mage, houngan, witch, research facility, and shaman in France by then. Everyone said the same thing: my mother would never have a child. A side effect of The Mist in Bretagne, or so I understand. They could have tubed the child, I suppose, but my mother wanted to carry me herself. So they came here, to The House of Flowers seeking a miracle." She gestures at herself. "Clearly, the house obliged them."
Calista settles back, steepling her fingers and Robyn can tell she's no longer entirely there. "The House somehow managed to overcome whatever was keeping my mother barren, but in doing so, they meddled a bit themselves. My genetics are like a jigsaw puzzle. I was born healthy, but my immune system was shot to hell, I had all manner of problems within six months of being born, and because of my unique construction none of the normal clinics could help me. So back to London they came, and the House turned them away. I was too high maintenance, they said. I could be helped, I had to be cared for on a constant basis by the people who created me in the first place, or I would die." She laughs bitterly. "My parents loved me too much for that, so they handed me over to the House. I'm sure promises were made that I would be returned or that they could come and see me or something to that effect, but I don't know."
Calista's dreamy tone gives way to one of bitter misery. "For the first few years of my life, I was a science experiment, tweaked and altered and poked and prodded, a test bed for the flesh shapers as they put something in and took others out. They crafted how I would grow, what I would sound like, how I would look. Then, when they had the perfect little dryad all queued up, they took me to market and sold me, like investing in futures." She shudders violently. "I was seven when Melissa bought me. By the time I was nine, I could throw a lightning bolt or summon a Mari-Morgan. By thirteen, I could speak seven languages and remember everything said across a crowded room. Melissa's methods were effective."
Calista's fingers curl, her nails digging into the arms of the chair and she stares out the window at the sun, as if willing it to burn the memories away. "Melissa went very much for the negative reinforcement. She would cut me with a filleting knife, burn me with a hot iron, beat me with a thin steel rod or scourge me with barbed wire. And that's if she was merciful. When she wasn't she would rape my mind with her magics or else bind my power and throw me to the torturers and sadists of Valerian House. I've been physically hurt, abused, and used every way a person can be, Robyn. If not for Melissa's incredible magics, I would be nothing but scars and twisted bones." Calista shakes her head. "But I learned. Pain is a powerful motivator, and when I succeeded, there was pleasure. Pain, too, but muted by physical delights or drugs."
"At sixteen, Melissa began whoring me out. I'd been trained as a courtesan by then, but also as an observer, a sorceress, and a spy. I can sell ice to an elemental, so using me as a social cat's-paw made perfect sense. I've been doing it ever since." Calista shrugs. "Melissa is scarier than anything else I've ever faced, and she is relentless and ruthless. I'm only alive because I am still useful, so no matter what she does and what she asks of me, I'll do it. She's that bad. No matter the contract or the client, I go. I can find a way to survive any assignation she can send me on, but I don't know if I can survive her, even as a Banshee."
Calista considers for a moment, then continues, "I was infected with HMHVV a year ago. See, Valerian House has some two hundred adepts, mostly children and young people like me. I was Melissa's, so I had almost no freedom at all, but other adepts are not as restricted. One of them, a boy named Marko and I became friends. He was sixteen and blind, like you. I used to read to him. That's how I learned to mimic other sounds, so I could do the voices and sound effects in books for him." She smiles, remembering reading Le Morte D'Arthur to him for the first time, and how much he enjoyed her rendition of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight. Then the smile dies as she says, "He disappeared, taken off the street. Its London Below, these things happen, but he and I were close, brother and sister almost. I begged and begged for Melissa to let me look for him. She...tested my resolve with a silver spike, and I took it because I knew there was no other way to find him."
Calista's voice is sad now, heavy and quiet, and her eyes are sparkling with tears. "I found him alright. He'd been attacked by some thugs in Knight's Bridge and left to die. He'd crawled for help to the only place he could reach, to House Laesal, the House of Flowers." Her eyes narrow. "They gave it. A dying subject, willing to pay any price and renounce his house and the ward of protection that came with it? They couldn't have been more pleased. They took him and they twisted him into an abomination, a misshapen and awful thing with nothing but lust and rage and hunger that should have been dead but wasn't because it was infected with HMHVV and it could regenerate. I tried to get through to him and he...he..." Calista starts to cry, giving voice to a single wracking sob and then a number of smaller, silent heaves. "When he was done...with me...he drained the life out of me and the House sent my body back to Melissa. I guess they didn't expect me to wake up again."
She looks up at Robyn. "So there you have it." She says, her voice curiously flat. "The whole sad story of how I went from a tiny child to a strung out, fearful vampire whore." Her lips twitch into a bitter half-smile. "Still want me around?"
-
By the time Calista finishes her story, Robyn is in tears. She has not moved during the story but now gets up and glides to where Calista is sitting and kneels beside her, placing her arms around the waist of the woman. "I cannot imagine living that sort of nightmare. We are both like the wind-up toys I used to play with as a child, only broken. At least someone tried to put me back together and I have had forty years to move past what was done, but for you it is all so recent."
She pauses, because she does not know how what she says next will come out and fears that Calista will walk out the door and not come back. But it has to be said. "I can only imagine what inner strength you must posses. First to survive what they have done, and now to tell it to me. I would guess that few people know what you have said. That gives me hope that you want to stay here. With me. I am feeling emotions that I have never felt before, even with Anton. And after only knowing you for a few hours. I believe that I am in love with you and ask if you can accept that, whether or not you feel the same."
Robyn raises her tear-streaked face to Calista's. "I hope that I have not just scared you away from the crazy blind woman, but I feel that I have to tell you what I am feeling. To answer your question as bluntly as possible; hell bloody yes I want you around. Do you want to stay?"
-
Calista stares at Robyn for a long moment. Love...home...life...the simple words, elemental concepts that are nonetheless foreign to Calista reverberate in her head and in her heart. She is at an utter loss for how to cope, and a moment stretches into a minute as she shakes her head slowly, trying desperately to cope with the emotional onslaught and the offer of a world she had given up on when she was still somewhere between training wheels and training bra. She's crying again, the same soundless trickle as before without even a catching breath to mark her tears, but she knows that Robyn knows because she's dripping all over the top of Robyn's head. Her fingers clutch almost painfully at Robyn's shoulders and her hands are trembling violently.
Finally, Calista speaks, just to break the awful, pregnant silence. "Its not strength. Strength is what you have when you've got a choice. I am a creature of endurance and malicious good cheer, but not strength." Her tone is irreverent, but the effect is ruined when her voice breaks on the last word. "No one knows. Not up here. Below, its something of an open secret. There are whispers about me, most of them uncomplimentary, but my story is out in bits and pieces all over Earl's Court." Then she is silent again, thinking and feeling and fearing.
Calista shudders again and in a tiny voice confesses, "I'm scared. Scared of...you, of me...of this." She leans down to kiss Robyn's hair lightly. "Its been a single night, two conversations, and one mindlink. How are we..." she gestures at them, "...how did we get here? We've share d a lot, heard each other's stories and been in each other's heads, but..." She laughs helplessly. "I'm terrified, Robyn. I'm terrified of taking this chance and even more frightened of throwing it away. Bringing you into my world is dangerous. Melissa is insane and she owns me, you know how Below is, and I'm still a young vampire with all that being a bloodsucking nightmare entails." Again, she goes quiet, her hands shaking and her tears pattering down, and it is perhaps thirty seconds before she finally says, "But you're three times my age. I know you're a shadowrunner, because this place is not on a concert cellist and bookstore owner's salary. You've earned the right to make your own choices, probably more than I have. If you're willing to risk being with me..." She leans back and bridges their minds again so Robyn can see herself, "then I would love to stay and call you mine."
-
Robyn remains kneeling as Calista talks. She can sense raw the emotion pouring from the woman almost as a hammer blow to her psyche. She cannot stop the tears, but she does place her hands on Calista's and puts her head on her thigh. As the Dryad finishes talking, Robyn again feels the slight vertigo that she recognizes as presaging the visual link then is looking at her own tear-streaked face. She has waited for minutes, fearful at every long pause that Calista would tell her that she was not interested in what the older Keeb could offer and was leaving. Her relief at hearing just the opposite is immense. "I, too, am terrified. Terrified of loving you and losing you to something stupid that I say or do. Terrified that you will not want me because I am old and less experienced. Terrified that, oh bloody hell, that for any other number of reasons you will want to go away. But I am even more terrified of not taking the chance and wondering for the rest of my life what might have been. And I do not want to be so afraid of losing you that I do not try."
Robyn does not bother to try to wipe her tears away as she continues, "I can make my choices and choose you until such time as you tire of me and leave. Do I need to be clearer? Or say it again? Because I do not know how to make it clearer, but I will say it as often as I need to. So, what do we do now?"
-
Calista giggles, an incredibly happy sound. Its finally starting to sink in what she's just done, and with acceptance comes relief and a soaring of her heart. Suddenly she's all smiles and little touches and warmth and light. "I think...I think I need to go shopping." She muses, and her smile turns into an urchin's grin. "If I'm going to stay over, I'll need to have something to wear, and a toothbrush, and oh, a hundred other things!" She giggles again, then her expression turns serious as a realization hits her. "I'll have to tell Melissa. If she thinks I'm courting another power rather than simply living my life she'll kill you. And me." She squeezes her eyes shut as her mind paints a vivid picture of what Melissa would do to the sweet elven woman, fighting down the image, and Robyn knows that she speaks from experience rather than supposition.
After a few seconds, Calista shakes her head and opens her eyes again, calming down. Her smile returns, smaller but no less sure and she opines, "But that can all wait until later. I can't move in full time, of course. My work and my...needs mean I have to keep my other doss, but I'd like to spend as much time with you as I can." Calista purses her lips, thinking. "For now, though, I'd like to give you something. Its not much, but..." she blushes, her cheeks turning peony-pink, "Would you like to go to the West End and take in a show with me? I suspect its been a long time since you've been to the theatre, and now that you can borrow my eyes I thought maybe you'd like to take advantage of it?" She runs her hand along Robyn's cheek, wiping away her tears. "Then I can bring you back here and thank you properly." Her voice drops on the last word, becoming throaty and full of promise.
-
Robyn nods when Calista brings up the Below government. "Yes. The Earl may have something to say to me about that, I suppose. I am more afraid for you, knowing what Melissa's reputation is. Even more after hearing you talk of her. Would she sell you?"
And yes, you will need things here. Would you want me to have things at your place as well? I would like to visit your place."
Robyn actually laughs at the mention of the theater. "You are right. I have not been to the theater in decades, vid or live. I could go for the dialogue and the music, but I can get that here as well. My acquaintances stopped asking me long ago. Most did not even try. You may spoil me for my own talents and skills. Some of what I can do is because I am blind and have had to focus on other senses. Even without my implanted enhancements, I would be able to sense things better. But which show did you have in mind? And do I need to put a posh frock on or can I go as I am?"
-
Calista smiles easily. "You can go as you are. I have a box at several theatres, perks of the job. Melissa may treat me like a subhuman slitch, but there are fringe benefits." She consults a small, expensive commlink and says, "Wicked and Les Mis are in the middle of their revival runs if you're interested." Calista shakes her head slowly and says, "I don't think Melissa would sell me, even if she's angry. She's more like to break my arms and legs and keep me in a cage so she can use my blood to charge her own magic. I regenerate, so she could use me as a battery indefinitely."
Calista glances at Robyn's closet and asks, "Do you want to send some things over, or are you going shopping with me? I'd love to have you come see me, either up here or Below. I have a skyraker apartment downtown up here, and a much small apartment in Knight's Bridge down Below."
-
Robyn feels that talking about such mundane things as clothes and shopping means that the deal is set........or as set as it can be, given what each of them does for a living. "Your pick for the show. I know all the songs but have never seen them acted. When I was a child, I was only allowed to leave the compound to attend church............." She breaks off and jerks her head around in the direction of Calista. "Is it a problem that I am Russian Orthodox?"
-
Calista shakes her head. "Not unless its a problem that I'm a Dianic Wiccan with Irish Pagan tendencies. My magic is rooted in celtic traditions." She grins. "Religious symbols won't bother me, love, and I support you doing whatever brings you peace, though if that cross is silver it'll burn me like a brand." She shrugs. "Minor concern, though. I'm usually careful and even if we slip up, I'll heal." She thinks for a moment. "Wicked, then. Its a little more lighthearted." She nods to the bathroom. "Do you need to go get ready? For that matter, do you need someone to do your makeup?"
-
Over the next month, Robyn and Calista settled into a sort of routine. They mostly lived in Robyn's flat, but spent some of their time in Calista's. She called it her doss, but it is actually better appointed than Robyn's in some ways. The sex remained volatile and great for both women, stretching the bounds of what Robyn knows and even though there is little technique that Calista can learn from her lover, she does experience a wave of love, which is new, a bit scary, and desperately needed in her life. Secrets are whispered and Robyn is exposed to a different lifestyle than she has experienced in the past. Even though her short forays into alternate sex are quite new to her and take a bit of getting used to, she knows that Calista is just showing her the tip of what she lives with.
The pair learned a lot about each other and about the pitfalls that can occur in even the best of relationships. Still, at the end of the day, there was more reason to stay together than to split up and both of them knew it. And the sex after making up was great.
At times, Calista had to respond to the demands of her mistress and disappeared for a day or a night. The first bad one happened two weeks after they had started living together. Robyn had gone to Calista's flat to wait her return from one of her required activities and had been awake when the Dryad had come in. The young woman was weak and almost stumbled when she came through the door. Robyn was at her side and helping her when Calista removed her coat and exposed what had been done to her. The posh frock she had worn had been shredded on her body and Robyn could feel cuts and tears to her friend's skin through the gaps. Catching her breath, Robyn helped Calista out of her clothes and laid her down on the floor and went for the first aid supplies she knew were in the flat. Parts of the frock were so encrusted in blood that they had to be cut away. Robyn's tender touch was not quite tender enough in places and Calista cried out, despite saying that it was all nothing. Robyn understood that the vampire would regenerate the damage, but there was just so much of it. Robyn was mixing her tears with Calista's blood on her skin as she wondered, not for the first or last time, to herself why her friend lived like this.
Then came the day she continuously dreaded but had hoped beyond hope to never have to face; Calsita did not come home after one of her appointments for Melissa. That in itself was not so uncommon, but this time there was no call and no text message to let Robyn know that her lover was alright and on the way home to her waiting arms. Calista never talked much of these jobs, and Robyn had come to accept that, and this time had been no different. They had been out shopping when the call had come to Calista's private commlink; the one she kept for Melissa's calls. Calista had had to leave right away and had disappeared. Now it was two day later and still no Calista.
-
The Monster strains and howls, railing against its confinement as it had a hundred times before. The knife in its stomach burns with an unnatural chill, and The Monster struggles to get away from the awful, killing cold.
As a hundred times before, it fails. Even the strength of the desperate damned cannot free wrists and ankles nailed to an ebony table with iron spikes nearly the size of tent stakes, and it howls a piteous, feminine cry of anguish as the sable-skinned woman above her slowly buries the athamé to the hilt in her trim, silky flesh. She felt her stolen life leaking away, taken to fuel the Dark Lady's power, and tears carve through the filth and blood on her face as she struggles. Bones grind, muscles tear, and the back of her head beats a rapid tattoo on the old, scarred wood as she thrashes.
But she cannot break free.
Two days she has spent like this, confined and tortured for some dark and terrible purpose. The Dark Lady laughs often, and loudest when The Monster's screams fade away to the broken sobs of a terrified girl calling out for her friend. In those moments, when the pain recedes enough for fear to take its share and The Monster retreats, Calista wishes for Robyn. Lying in pools of her own dried blood, hearing the screams echoing throughout the House of Pain and fearing that maybe this time would be the last time, maybe this time Melissa would pass even her incredible limits, Calista calls out into the dark for her friend and lover, then curses her weakness and prays Robyn will not come.
Then the pain starts again, and the virus keeps her alive despite the endless torment and as the cycle begins anew Calista's mind frays and warps and snaps, leaving the awful instinct-driven hunter of men in its wake. She struggles with the terrible strength of a vampire, but Melissa knows her craft well, and the bindings mystical and physical are too much for the badly-depleted girl to overcome. If she had fed, perhaps then things would be different. Then she could quicken her muscles and empower her magic and shatter her bindings with borrowed power.
But Calista is starving. Melissa has stolen her blood with her ritual blade, taking its power for use in whatever grand working she was attempting just out of Calista's sight, and without it Calista's magic and muscles were too, too weak. Three times Melissa has brought in a victim for her to feed upon, giving her enough blood and power to keep the virus strong, to keep her body intact, but never enough to muster the power to break free.
The bodies of her three victims, two nameless teenagers and Holly, Valerian house's youngest adept, lay in the corner where Melissa had casually tossed them. They lay naked and broken, staring with horrified dead eyes at the vampiress who had killed them.
The knife comes out again, and Melissa whispers, "Soon, pet, soon it will all be over and you can go back to playing at being more than just a pet." She stroked Calista's hair, eliciting a low whine and a full-body shudder as her ensorcelled touch sends sparks of pleasure to dance amongst the threads of agony permeating the bound girl's mind, further weakening her resolve and warping her thoughts. "You're being very good, pet-" Calista howls again, cutting Melissa off as she finds some deeper reserve to try her bindings once more. Melissa drives the knife in again, higher this time, cutting off Calista's shriek in a welter of blood and snarls, "Be silent! If not for you then a dozen more children would be dead to realize my work! Is that what you want?"
Calista quiets, trembling violently and shakes her head. Blood runs from the corner of her mouth and Melissa stares down at her with hard, pale eyes until she chokes out, "No, mistress."
Melissa nods, satisfied. "Good. Now say you're sorry."
"I'm...sorry...I'll be...good..." the words are heavy and wet-sounding, the blood in her throat and lungs choking her voice and the pain and pleasure and fatigue and horror dulling her mind. She continues shaking, but her struggles have ceased, and she lies slack on the table, crying softly as the athamé comes down again.
"Robyn...help..."
-
At the end of the second day, Robyn knew that something was wrong. She gathered her drones and took a cab over to Calista's flat, letting herself in. She walked quietly through the luxurious suite, half afraid that she would find the Dryad passed out and injured beyond the ability to call for help, and half afraid that she would not find her there. All in all, she was just afraid. And the vampire was not at home, stirring all sorts of new fears. She stretched out with all of her senses to see if there was anything that might help and immediately came across a blinking ARO from the bedroom that was abnormal just for its presence. Robyn walked into the room and found a small commlink blinking. Looking at the device carefully, Alyce noticed that a message was being repeated. It was for her. She commanded the device to play back the message and listened to her lover as she left the message. "Robyn, my love. This message is set to begin broadcasting two days after I leave for my job today. You know that sixth sense I keep telling you about? Well, it is going off like crazy and I am worried for the first time ever. I know that you will find the 'link and want to come looking for me. I know that it would do absolutely no good to tell you to stay away from this. So here it is: go to the LCZ and look for 127 Parker Street. I do not know what is waiting for me there but I feel it is bad. I love you.......just in case."
Robyn tossed the device away as she turned and ran from the room and the suite, calling for Pyotr. She took a cab to as close to the LCZ as it would go and walked the rest of the way. Just before entering the Zone, she sent a text to Arch, the leader of the Mechanicas and someone she knew she could trust. Six of the Mechanica met her as she walked into the near ruins of London that are commonly referred to as the LCZ. Although she knows it very well and has some status here, there are unfriendly gangs that roam parts of the Zone. One of the men doffs his odd steampunk hat and says, "Evenin' Miss Ripple, not a good time to be gettin' over to Parker Street. Mighty unfriendly place, that."
"I know, Master Sixer, but my friend is in trouble."
"The Valerian? I doubt anythin' could be a trouble to her."
"No. She sent me a message. Something bad has happened."
"Then let us be on our way, Miss Ripple. We'll get you there safe as roses."
The seven people and one drone hound make their way across what looked like a warzone of ruined buildings and burn barrels. The terrain grows progressively rougher as Robyn and her escort go ever deeper into the Ork Lands, a name reserved for where the toughest of the Ork gangs hold sway. Master Sixer stops and confers with the two men he had sent ahead as scouts before turning to Robyn. "Somethin' got the Orks riled, Miss Ripple. Might have trouble at the border. Just sayin'."
The small group forges ahead but is brought to a stop at a barricade across the street. Burn barrels illuminate several large Orks and three huge Trolls patrolling the barricade. One Ork comes away from the barricade as Robyn and the others approach. He peers through heavily browed eyes and says, "What the Mechas doin this far from the cathedral? Not a good nite to be about. You should go."
Robyn steps forward. "I know that voice. Gron. You know me. My friend is in trouble. I have to get to 127 Parker Street."
The mention of the address seems to rile the Orks and Trolls and several call out unpleasant things in Or-Zet. The Ork Robyn had addressed as Gron snarls and says, "And what ye be knowin of Parker Street?"
"Something happened, didn't it. Tell me."
The trog looks angry then shrugs. "Nothin ta hide. You can come, but leave the Mechas here. Don't be needin em running free in the Lands."
The leader of the escort bristles and look about to respond angrily when Robyn puts an arm on his. "It is good, Master Sixer. You have taken me as far as you can. I am safe with Gron. Please tell Arch that I appreciate the help."
The oddly dressed man looks to disagree but backs down, nodding. "Reckon they got no beef with ye, alright. I be leavin a few men here to watch, just in case. Night to ye, Miss Ripple. I hope you find her."
Robyn watches the escort fade into the darkness before turning to the Ork, who says. "Not sure what ye see in them Mechas. Yer coin be good here for past things ye done. I will get ye to Parker Street. Place not be pretty ta look at. Yer friend, she were hired for some rough stuff, if ye know what I be sayin. Anyway, some horrible screamin got started, but the boys near thought it were just normal like. But it did not stop and some went to look. Others went when the screamin carried on and then stopped. What they found be worse than any nightmare. Orks just ripped apart and pieces just tossed about all over the house. And no sign of yer girl. I knows ye cannot see, but you can smell what happened. The Masters be there and they be mad. Might take poorly to ye bein there and bein her friend."
Robyn nods and takes a deep breath before asking the Ork to take her there.
-
The low-rent doss looks exactly like what it is, a fragging firetrap flophouse. Its a mess, scarred with bullet holes and graffiti. Robyn has to step over a passed-out wino in the hallway, and she can hear the sounds of a woman being beaten by her husband, a counterpoint to the crunch of of fallen drywall and peeled paint under her practical boots. The carpet is old and matted with god-knows what and half the lights are burned out. The only thing the building has to recommend it is anonymity. As long as it didn't leave a body, one could get away with anything in a place like this and even if it did leave a body, it would be only the most perfunctory of investigations.
When Robyn gets to Calista's apartment, the door is hanging open. Well, what's left of the door is hanging open. Only a third of the cheap synthplast door remains. The rest is gone, blown away by some titanic force. The pieces are scattered all over the front room. Robyn looks around and sees burn marks, bullet holes, and blood, blood, blood. Whatever happened here, Calista didn't go quietly.
In addition to the usual detritus of a struggle, Robyn can smell burned blood, ash, and the scent of wild roses and nightshade. They're smells she associates with Calista; the banshee has perfumes and oils that smell of both flowers, but its much stronger this time. Looking around, Robyn doesn't find any notes or covert clues, no clever hints as to where she went. Instead, there is a message, written in what smells like Calista's blood. Robyn has to read it by touch, running her fingers over the tacky lettering on the bathroom more that says, "I have her. If you want her, she will be at the House of Pain in Earl's Court. If you value your life, don't come find her."
-
Gron takes Robyn to the address. Outside are several Orks and Trolls, several of which try to block Robyn from entering. After some discussion, she is allowed into the building and taken to the flop room. Robyn needs not guide to explain that something horrible has happened her. She runs her fingers over the bullet holes and fragments of what must have been cheap furniture. Gron tells her that all of the dead Orks have been moved to a place where they can be studied, but that it takes no mystic to see that sorcery was used here. Gron takes her arm and leads her to the bathroom and tells her, "We know who has friend. Feel here."
Robyn's blood runs cold as her sensitive fingers trace out the letters. Standing, she turns her head to the Ork. "I need to get to your gate."
"Friend already dead. Why go............."
Gron's words are choked off by the dead expression on Robyn's face. He mutters something in Or'Zet then nods. "Ye be warded there. Even she would not dare ta make the First House angry. But ya should be goin ta the Earl first. Gron take to gate."
As they leave the building, Robyn takes the arm of the Ork and whistles her drone hound to her side. It does not take long for them to reach the doorway to the old bunker that is the entrance to one of the passages that lead to London Below. Robyn thanks Gron and asks him to make sure her Mechanica friends know where she went before she slips into the bunker. Her mind is working overtime; she feels that the Earl will not interfere in something that is internal to another House. And as long as Melissa does not overstep her bounds Below, she can do almost anything she wants to overworlders and her own people. No there is little chance for any help in that area. Robyn might go to The Old One, but that could take precious time she does not have, and she may still be turned down. She will have to make the first approach on her own.
The trek through the passages is uneventful, due entirely to the tattoo on Robyn's right cheek. The warding of the First House is enough that only a fool would want to interfere with her. She eventually reaches the Knightsbridge area. She knows that she is close when she begins to hear the noise that is part and parcel of life Below. She breaks into a large open area and stops to send her senses out. to get a feel for what is ahead of her. Orienting herself, she turns to the Bridge and heads in that direction. People are moving back and forth along the Bridge and a line has formed at the Tollkeepers. These six soldiers are the guardians of the Bridge and collect tolls from those that are not warded. The truth is that although many people live Below, few are actually warded and give the protection of one of the Great Houses. The whole political tangle that keeps the Houses in power is beyond Robyn, but she knows how to take advantage of it. Robyn had first walked these rods more than thirty years earlier, looking for the Yak assassin that had killed her fiancé and left her for dead. He had taken refuge here but had been denied the protection of any House. Robyn never learned what the reason was, but she used it against him by working her way into the favor of the Earl's House and getting tight with the Old One.
Shaking her head at old memories, Robyn walks down the side of the line that is waiting to pay a toll and cross the Bridge. Her facial marking means that she does not need to pay the tolls to cross and she walks straight past the men in their brass armor. Only a handful of the people in line even say anything and those that do are quickly hushed. The Bridge itself is a marvel. At nearly 100 feet wide from edge to edge, the actual portion that is walkable is barely 40 feel wide at its best. The remainder of the span consists of two levels of buildings, shops on the lower level and living areas on the upper. Almost a small town in itself, the Bridge is neutral ground and no House holds sway here. It is actually the absolute province of the Tolltaker Knighthood. The tolls collected are used to maintain the span, with the remainder split evenly among the Great Houses. No one questions the shares passed out by the knights, not even the First House. The Tolltaker Knighthood has existed longer than any of the Houses and is immune to any oif the petty bickering between them.
Robyn barely considers any of this as she crosses over to Earl's Court and sets her way to Valerian House. She does not pause as she climbs the torturous metal stairs that lead to the castle made of iron and steel that is Melissa's home. Reaching the landing, Robyn is sure of two things: first, Calista is here and, second, that she will get the vampire out somehow. If the Bridge is an example of lost craft, the Iron Castle is an example of sorcery gone wrong. Robyn stands before a set of immense metal doors engraved with all manner of depraved scenes of excess. An iron ring of at least two feet in diameter is attached to the end of a chain that descends from a turret above the landing. Robyn pulls on the ring and can hear the somber tones of a bell from somewhere inside the massive structure. The door opens, apparently unaided by any hands and a House acolyte stands several feet inside. The young woman speaks in a deep. almost sepulchral voice. "What business doe the First House have with the Second?"
"I am not representing the First House this night. I am here on my own."
"Then enter, Robyn Lysander. Enter and meet your fate. You should have stayed away."
Robyn steadies her nerves but does not hesitate as she steps across the threshold and into the room beyond. The doors close silently behind her.
-
The inside of the castle is much as the outside, all iron and fire and blood and pain. Scantily-clad adepts and well-dressed patrons populated its halls, the adepts giving Robyn a wide berth and the patrons sneering at her for not being the picture of a demure slave or a bloodthirsty dominatrix. The guards, however, watched Robyn's progress closely. Many qualified as living art, sculpted by cyber and bioware and magic within an inch of their lives, breathing monuments to the depravity of Valerian House, but Calista had briefed Robyn well and the blind elf knew that all that constructed beauty hid blades and poisons and savagery aplenty.
A young adept with red hair and bright, earnest blue eyes met Robyn only fifty meters inside the house. She was of a height with the blind elf, and her voice was high and sweet as she said, "Lady Lysander! Welcome to House Valerian. Duchess Shirai has left explicit orders concerning you. Please follow me." The young lady, who by the sounds of it was clad in heels and little else except a collar with a bell on it led Robyn through a complicated series of twists and turns, climbing through the medieval-but-ultramodern castle. There was wireless, and electric lights, and modern security side by side with torches and iron gates and torture chambers.
Finally, they climbed the south tower, all the way up to its highest level, and the girl- who had said her name was Holly- stopped at a large ebony door, bound with iron. Holly wore a look of fear, and Robyn's enhanced senses caught the scent of fresh blood, metal, burned flesh, and ozone. Holly stepped aside but before Robyn could raise her hand to knock, the drifted open revealing a woman with sable skin and silver hair and sapphire eyes. A nocturna, but lacking the characteristic body hair. She wore a cream-colored gown of real silk and carried a long, slender knife in one hand. Her gown and hands were stained with blood and she wore a look of mild irritation as she asked, "What do you want?"
-
Robyn enters the building with all of her senses on high and lets the young man lead her about fifty meters inside before he stops, instructing her to wait before walking away, bare feet padding against the metal floor. She senses several people in the large room but they avoid coming too close to her as she is neither a pleasure acolyte nor another patron of the macabre forms of pleasure and so is someone to avoid. The guards, on the other hand, were someone for Robyn to avoid. The perfect map of the near vicinity provided by her ultrasound sensors has picked out two of the perfectly bio-sculpted near-statues and she remembers the warnings that Calista had given her about them. She momentarily turns on the sight link she shares with her vampire lover but gets nothing so she must still be more than ninety meters distant. Robyn refuses to even consider the alternate reason, fully believing that Calista is still alive. Pyotr has been programmed to walk on her outside leg to help keep her from walking into the street, or in cases of open rooms, to remain on her left side, where he is now. The two miniature drones are running silent and are concealed in one of the many pockets of her steampunk frock.
She sound of approaching high heels on the floor causes her to turn in that direction. The woman is either wearing an extremely close-fitting body suit or nothing at all except the heels and a small collar at the neck, to which is attached a small bell that tinkles softly as she moves. Robyn cares little for the appearance of the woman, but is glad that someone has come for her. The acolyte is, indeed, her escort and leads her on a journey through the halls of the castle. The path leads her past rooms from which echo cries of passion and whimpers of pain, sometimes from the same throat. Although Calista has taken pains to describe some aspects of what goes on here, Robyn still cannot suppress a shudder at some of what she smells and hears. Sadly, she feels that her greatest asset will be her biggest problem because she knows that what she senses here tonight will forever be trapped in her mind to be replayed over and over. She has traveled the world for many clients and been in some of the harshest places on Earth, but Robyn is mortally afraid for the first time in her life.
As she walks, she takes advantage of a gap in the guards to remove Ivan and Sasha from her pocket and gives the mosquito-sized drones mental commands to fly to the ceiling and follow her. She alternates her ultrasound with her radar and frequently tries to open the link to Calista's eyes so she could perhaps know when she was close. The guide has not said a word since the initial greeting, which suits Robyn well, as she suspects that anything she had said would only make things worse. Robyn gets a sight link for the first time as she is ascending a stairway up into one of the several high towers of the castle. Her sense of joy at the knowledge she is getting closer is tempered by what she sees; a cut and bloody arm with a spike driven through the wrist to secure it to some sort of table. Beyond the hand is another, probably similar, table with a young woman on it. She, too, seems cut and bleeding, marked in some fashion but still alive, if only barely. Robyn has little thought for the other girl other than passing horror for her condition, but her gut clenches in fear, anger, and love for her friend. Bile rises in her throat, but she resists the urge to let it out. She considers closing the link to avoid further sight of the arm, but the damage is done and she would see it without the link, so she keeps it active.
The escort stops in front of a large door and for the first time seems tentative, even fearful. Despite the strong smells coming from beyond the door, Robyn picks up the telltale odor of fear from the acolyte. The escort does nothing but stand in a corner of the hall and tremble, so Robyn's unasked question seems completely unnecessary; this is the destination. Before she can raise her hand to knock, the door seems to open of its own volition, revealing a tall woman beyond. Without hesitation, and hoping to keep any tremble from her voice, Robyn answers the woman's question. " I am sure that you know why I am here, Your Grace. You have my friend and I will have her back. May I enter?"
Melissa has to have known she was coming but still the words seemed to surprise her. She wavers at the doorway, finally letting her cruelty win, and steps aside to allow Robyn to enter the room. After all, what could be more precious than showing the absolute pain and misery she was subjecting Calista to? And indeed it was as bad as Robyn had imagined, probably even worse. The digital views form the drones provided her with enough detail to fill several of the graphic novels that young goths were always asking about at the shop. What detail the drones missed was picked up by the ultrasound map created of the room. Robyn stands at the door and does not take her face from the Mistress of the Second House. The words she wants to say are momentarily drowned out by every facet of self-preservation she has, but love wins out. "Your Grace, we are both women of our worlds and understand the meaning of useless gestures. I am not here to threaten or plead, but to bargain. Take me. Use me as you want. I offer myself freely in exchange for Anguish. My body is not completely contaminated by implants and I know that you can make use of what I have. I am sure that you can sense the terror in me at what you might do, but I would willingly accept your knife in exchange for letting her go. I know that it might take longer to get at what you desire because you would have to continuously heal me rather than rely on Anguish's regeneration, but my body and blood, my fear and horror, would be given freely. Plus, you get the immense satisfaction of commanding Anguish to watch as you torture me, knowing how it affects her and knowing that she cannot break her emotional bond to you to save me. Part of our bargain would be that you keep me alive and eventually let us leave together, although the process may take days or even weeks. You have the satisfaction of hurting what she cares most about in the world, and I will hold myself available to return to you at a later time for additional loving caresses from your knife. Does that not make up for the trouble you would be put to? It is a fair offer and I urge you to accept it."
-
Melissa watches Robyn with considering eyes as the elf makes her case. Her athamé still drips with blood, and the only sound in the room is the chorus of pained whines from Calista and the other captive, a girl on the cusp of womanhood, bound to another table opposite Calista, the crowns of their heads almost touching. The girl covered in cuts and marks that look disturbingly like sigils is clearly in worse shape than Robyn's lover with no regeneration to sustain her, and she doesn't have the energy to do much more than shake as Melissa absently strokes her sweat-slicked skin and tangled blonde hair as she thinks.
Finally, Melissa says, "I think you misunderstand my motives here, darling." Her voice is a sickly-sweet, too-rich sound, a corrupt sound and it sets Robyn's teeth on edge. "I am no shadow spirit, to feed on terror and pain. This," she gestures at Calista and the other girl, "has purpose." Her smile is smug. "What, didn't you know that your little phage subjects herself to this willingly? Blood magic is hard on the captives, I'm afraid, and your sweet little banshee slitch seems to have a terrible time knowing that if she doesn't submit to me then I will simply kill a handful or a dozen captives to provide the fuel for my work." Melissa laughs in her too-sweet voice and shakes her head. "No no no, little musician. I love little Anguish here more completely than you ever will, and she loves me too. That's why she comes back every time." She turns to look at Calista. "Isn't it, pet?"
Calista whines but doesn't dare shake her head. If Melissa got it into her twisted mind that she loved Robyn more than her, she would gut Robyn and festoon the room with her entrails. She'd done it before. In her head though, Calista pushes her mind up against Robyn's and thinks, *Please, baby, don't do this! She can't kill me, she needs me too much! Please don't make me watch her hurt you just to save me a little pain!*
Melissa smiles, satisfied when Calista doesn't argue and turns back to Robyn. "Your concern for your friend is touching, but you'll always take second place to me. Still, if you want to come in and spirit away the crumbs from my table, I suppose that is your right. After all, she'll come back to me if I need her. She always does." She looks appraisingly at Robyn and then nods once. "Your offer is sound, little elf. Anguish here has been developing far too much of an independent streak lately, and she needs to be guided back to the right way of thinking. Seeing what happens when she so callously inflicts her life upon someone else seems to be an excellent way of accomplishing that, and as it happens I have need of a touch more power. Poor Anguish is just about tapped out, and my ritual is nearly complete." Melissa glances behind Robyn, looking at Holly and snaps, "Take her. Put her next to the vampire."
Holly surges forward, and Calista can see that her pretty blue eyes have gone a hard, glowing yellow-green. A scent of foxglove and nightshade, wild roses and black lotus rises off her skin as she moves, betraying her as a spirit bound into human form, and Calista's eyes widen in surprise as the mask drops away and her astral sight sees the inhabiting toxic plant spirit for what it is,poisonous and deadly and enormously strong. "Holly" grabs Robyn with a grip like steel tongs and lifts her bodily from the floor by the throat, then slams her back down onto the tabletop beside Calista, who screams and pulls and thrashes at her bindings until Melissa snaps a word and Calista freezes in place as the spell paralyzes her.
Barely able to breathe, her eyes frozen open, Calista has a perfect, unbroken view of Robyn as Melissa takes the slender silver nails from her work table and hammers them with slow deliberate motions through Robyn's palms, Holly holding her down until its done.
Robyn screams in pain, and she sees herself through Calista's eyes as blood pours from her hands, her dead eyes wide and horrified and her jaw open far enough that she fears it might dislocate. Melissa laughs gaily at Robyn's shrieks and chirps, "No more cello for you, little girl!" She moves down and repeats the process through the small bones of Robyn's ankles, and the blind elf knows that without magical assistance or reconstructive surgery she'll be crippled for the rest of her life.
Melissa whispers soothingly, and a wave of healing magic washes over Robyn, stopping the flow of blood but leaving the pain. Melissa comes into Robyn's borrowed line of sight and looks quizzically at at her, then at Calista and grins as she understands what the quickened link is doing. "My, that's a novel use of your gifts!" She opines with sadistic good cheer. Then she raises the athamé and and her voice turns low. "Sadly, I've no more time to talk. My work must be completed by dusk tomorrow, and there is so much to be done..."
The curved ritual blade comes down, and the metal is almost obscenely hot against the chill of the room. Melissa takes her time, cutting away the Vashon Island steampunk couture that Robyn wears, each slice leaving a hair fine line of blood in its wake. They hurt, and Robyn can feel a horrible tugging against her self, as though something is being pulled away from her with each slice. It hurts and chills and burns all at once, and Robyn knows that these are only grace notes. The real agony is still to come.
Above her, smiling that horrible smile, the blood mage brings the blade toward Robyn's face, and the screaming begins in earnest.
-
Robyn turns her head to Calista when Melissa claims that Calista loves her more than she can love the musician. A small part of her believes that. After all, what can one month mean compared to the conditioning that Calista had had to go through for years. But the larger part of her knows, KNOWS, that the vampire loves her. Then comes the voice in her mind. Robyn gives a small mental shake, **You may be magical and can regenerate, but I am the physician and you are nearly spent. She can let you rest and start again, but it might be too much. I will do this if it will spare you even a minute of pain.**
Robyn turns back to the torturer. "It matters not what your reasons are. I am willing and ready to take her place. Consider the bargain set." Robyn knows that such a bargain is protected by magic and that Melissa will not abrogate its constraints or risk a backlash from the rest of the Court. The odor of Nightshade and Foxglove permeates the air as the acolyte picks her up. Robyn is a bit startled and says, "It was you. In the Zone. All that blood."
She groans as she is slammed to the table. The sight link she has with Calista lets her see Melissa take a silver spike and mallet from a tray and she shivers in fear as the woman places one of the nails against her right palm and lifts the mallet. She watches as the hammer falls, almost in slow motion, and all the preparation in the world is not enough for the pain that shoots through her body. It is not just the pain of the strike, for that would not be terribly worse than some of the injuries she has suffered in a life of trekking the wild jungles of the world. No, there is something else attached to the spike, something that increases the pain. Robyn's body jerks and she arches her back as a shriek more animal than person rends the air. The acolyte needs to be as strong as she is to prevent Robyn's body from contorting away from the second strike. Melissa grins and laughs as she hammers the second spike into her left hand and moves down the table. Calista's head is frozen in place so she cannot see Melissa slam the spikes into Robyn's ankles, which means Robyn does not see the blows coming. Some small part of her surgeon mind temporarily remains cogent and tells her that she will be crippled forever without immediate care.......care that is not forthcoming.
Melissa's sorcery stops the bleeding, but the pain continues, wave after wave. She knows that she should have gone unconscious long ago, but some magic keeps her from passing out, She is meant to feel the pain......all of it. She does see the odd knife lower and feels it cut her clothing away, each stroke leaving a mark of red behind. The pain is excruciating and soon the shrieks overpower the throat. Her mouth still open in agony, but only whimpers come forth from a throat that is too abused to utter more than that. Robyn watches through Calista's eyes as her blood flows from the tip of the knife and she wonders how much blood she has to lose. Melissa pauses for a few moments after stripping the Elf naked to admire her handiwork. She grins without humor as she raises the knife and moves to Robyn's face. She does not like the silence; perhaps the screaming is needed for part of the magic, and she sends a flow of healing directed at the throat, allowing Robyn to scream again. The noises are not even recognizable as Robyn's, but are animalistic and primal. And the screams go on and on and on and........
-
...on!
Calista tries to clench her eyes shut, but the full-body manabind has frozen her eyes open, so she can't even spare Robyn the horror of watching as her lean, trim form and lovely face are methodically desecrated. Calista is crying openly again, her tears dripping from her face as Melissa tortures her girlfriend. Above her, Holly is leaning forward to watch as Melissa destroys her new captive, and Robyn's animal sounds of pain echo through the room in a hellish chorus of horrified agony.
Melissa's knife rises and falls, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. She stabs and cuts and skins and flays. She starts with Robyn's hands, slowly reducing them to a bleeding ruin with bones broken and nails torn away, smiling merrily all the while, bantering even. Every few minutes she addresses Calista, telling her that its all her fault, that Robyn wouldn't be here if she had just stayed Melissa's devoted creature. She takes great delight in describing the damage to Robyn as well, every cut and stab and crushing blow, and how utterly crippled her hands will be.
Calista tries to be there for her friend. Even as blasted and burned-out as she, Calista tries to be there in Robyn's head. First its actual speech, pleas and reassurances and comforting words. But Melissa's cruelty pushes Robyn beyond rational thought quickly, and Calista's words are wasted on a mind that can barely even comprehend them. She shrieks and tries to thrash and weeps, every movement accompanied by new flashes of pain and the squelching sound of her own blood from where it pools in the low places on the table.
Melissa spends an hour on Robyn's hands. When she finally stops for a minute, Robyn's throat is so swollen despite the healing magic that she can only make the barest little whimpers and rasping sounds. Melissa leaves her to her agonies, stepping out of Calista's sight. She can't see it, but Calista can feel the surge of dark magic and hear the sibilant chanting as Melissa turns Robyn's blood and pain into power before returning, her athamé once more ready to absorb the harvest of blood and dark emotion.
Thirteen more times Melissa repeats the process. She works on Robyn's feet, on her inner thighs, on her face. She cuts little pieces from her fingers and toes, the tips of her ears, her eyelids. She stabs and slashes, she peels long strips of skin away with the athamé's curved edge. And then she heals Robyn and start again, and again, and again. The healing is never enough to put Robyn back together, and little pieces of her are missing after each round.
All Calista could do was stay in Robyn's head, sharing the pain. When words failed, Calista used her eidetic sense memory to push the memory of a bliss high into Robyn's head, slowly ramping up the intensity until it was almost at BTL levels, but even that could only mask the pain for so long. So Calista, hating herself for what she is doing, what she had done and what she was going to do still, reaches for her badly depleted magic and throws a spell. Its a pleasure spell, usually called "Opium" or "Opium Den," and while its a horrible invasion and a crime to use it on an unwilling target, Calista doesn't think twice, hitting Robyn with it as hard as she can.
-
Robyn is so agonized that she has no indication of time. Even the sane, methodical part of her that is the physician has disappeared into the pain. For a while, she thought that she could hear Calista in her mind, but now even her lover seems to have abandoned her to this pain that never ends. She retreats behind every wall her clinical mind can put up, only to have each wall shattered by the next blow or the next cut of the enchanted blade. She feels several waves of healing, but does not know what is being healed; the pain just goes on so why the frag do the healing?
Suddenly, Robyn finds herself freed from the physical constraints of her body, her mind moving to a welcoming abyss. The closer she gets the more she hurts, but she cannot go back. But each step nearer to the edge brings a whisper of...........something. **I can make the pain stop. little songbird. I can teach you to enjoy it, to revel in it, then use it on others. I need another acolyte. Most of those I see are too weak, too foolish, and without a lifetime of experience. I can make you like Anguish. I can love you as I do her. I am almost done here, but could continue to work on you. When you reach the abyss, take the last step and embrace pain. Embrace me, little songbird. I will heal you and hurt you, again and again and you will learn to enjoy it. Take the step.**
Robyn reaches the precipice and looks over the edge into the abyss. It rises like a sphere of darkness before her, beckoning her forward. It all seems so enticing, so real. The pain will stop and she will be whole again. The entity that is no longer Robyn lifts a foot to take the step and....................................no................................No..............................NO! As she stands poised at the edge of the cliff, she feels something rushing toward her from the darkness behind her. She does not need sightless eyes to see the faint trail of sparks arrowing in her direction. The Not Robyn carefully places her raised foot back on the ground and whispers out to the abyss, then calls out to the abyss, then shouts out to the abyss. **I will not go. I am a vessel you cannot control. I will survive this because you cannot kill me and I will survive all of my future visits to you. I reject your offer.**
Robyn's defiance is short-lived as Melissa redoubles her efforts, bitter and angry and almost careless. In her anger she thrusts the knife into Robyn's chest and the enchanted blade is millimeters from ending Robyn's life before she remembers that she needs to finish the binding rite and it is now too late to use another body. She remembers that she is bound by magic to not kill the Elf or suffer magic penalties that could destroy her House. And she remembers that the woman is protected by the First House and she can get away with this torture of one of its denizens because of the bargain, but killing her would have serious political repercussions, She gets her anger in check and finishes the task at hand, although a bit less conscientious about using the healing magics. This upstart girl MUST suffer. The pain she is receiving is nothing compared to what she will visit upon her in the future. Melissa is so entranced by her own hate and the need to complete the ritual that she misses the spark of magic that finally finds Robyn.
Robyn herself is still dangerously close to the precipice to the abyss after her refusal of the offer from Melissa. The small spark she had seen is tantalizing, drawing her away from the crumbling edge. Suddenly, the spark finds an opening in the swirling mass of pain that surrounds Robyn and darts in, driving straight home and burning out as it explodes in one of the gaping wounds left by the tender mercies of the torturer. Robyn's body is taken by the spell that draws her fractured mind into the bliss of an opium den. The body still suffers and the screams still come, but the mind is no longer Melissa's to warp.
-
After fourteen hours, Calista is certain that Robyn isn't going to survive Melissa's affections. Melissa is cutting her lover to pieces a bit at a time, and after each healing she just isn't quite as whole as she was before. Calista can't even get into Robyn's head anymore. Its just...too much. Pain, fear, and magically induced pleasure have been assaulting her for far too long, and Calista is afraid that even if by some miracle Robyn lives and can be returned to health, her friend and lover's mind will have completely snapped. She wants to drop the opium spell, wants to take some of the pressure off of Robyn's mind and body, but the only time she's tried in the last few hours Robyn's screams reached new heights of horror. She might be hopelessly addicted and warped by the overexposure to Calista's magic, but Calli just can't bring herself to worsen Robyn's suffering.
But even this must end.
Finally, the last drops of blood are taken from Robyn, the last cuts inflicted. Robyn is a crippled, bloodied mess, her mind as broken as her body. Her ears are missing the last two centimeters of of their tips, her white eyes are permanently open, and she's missing the tips of all of her fingers. Her internal cyberware is flashing warning after warning about broken bones, lacerations, and a dozen other things. Large patches of skin are missing, her hands and feet are ruined, and blood stipples her lips from her torn larynx, and if she could marshal her thoughts long enough to see through Calista's eyes, just the sight of her would be enough to tell her that she is dying. But between the spell and the mental and physical trauma, Robyn isn't entirely there.
Calista knows death when she's staring it in the face, though.
So wrapped up in holding the spell for Robyn and trying to keep from withdrawing into herself is Calista that she actually misses the final culmination of the ritual until the magical backwash tears through the room. The power is hot and vital and alive and horrid, blood magic, the stuff of horror trids, and whatever it is that Melissa has created is truly titanic. Robyn's drones can see the supine form of the girl, the subject of the ritual as the blood daubing her form disappears, absorbed into the skin. The body shifts and contorts, and the pale flesh is suddenly crawling and rippling, rearranging itself into a more pleasing and voluptuous form, flushing with new life. The body's blonde hair darkens and changes, becoming a bloody red. Her eyes open, and they glow the color of rubies, When she smiles, she shows teeth sharpened to points. She sits up with easy grace, stepping off the ritual table and out of the circle, caressing Holly as she passes.
Melissa finally puts down the athamé and nods at Holly, who withdraws. Melissa leans over so that Calista and Robyn can see her and coos, "Goooood pet." She pats Calista on the cheek, seemingly ignoring Robyn entirely. "See? No innocents had to die. Just one blind cellist. You've saved lives again and made your mistress very happy." Her voice is the sort one uses to speak to a favored pet. "I think you deserve a reward, don't you?"
Calista shrieks wordlessly, snarling and spitting and snapping at the hand near her face- so fearful that now the ritual is over, Mellisa will finally kill Robyn that she doesn't notice she can move again- and Melissa snatches her hand back, then backhands Calista across the face hard enough to crack her cheekbone. "Fine then. I'll leave you here to say your goodbyes and think on what spurning my favors might mean for you." Her smile is cold as she finishes, "It won't be long. Your friend has minutes at best." Then she is gone, taking Holly and her inhabited Blood Spirit with her and leaving the pair still nailed to the table.
-
Most of Robyn is incapable of any thought at all, much less rational thought, as the pain and horror at what has been done to her has shattered her consciousness. Yet, even in the midst of the pain and the euphoria, a small part of her realizes that she is about to die. That same part of her wonders why. She had been so sure that Melissa would not kill her that she had not counted on the arrogance of the woman to defy the magic laws of the bargain she had agreed to. The knowledge itself does not bring any additional sadness for herself; after all, what more can be done to her? But it does bring sadness for failing Calista. Robyn's sacrifice had not really saved her friend much, perhaps even made it worse. Then the small remnant of her mind rebels at that idea, telling her that what she did was out of love and that can never be wasted Love is powerful. It is a form magic that has eluded mages for centuries, from charlatans with love potions, to sorceresses casting spells to simulate it. But Love is far beyond reason and even the most puissant of mages cannot truly factor the components of it and bring it to heel.
Several sparks of love have survived in Robyn's tortured body. Love for medicine. :Love for books. Love for music. But strongest of all is the love for Calista. That spark has weathered all the pain and all the damage the body has been subjected to. It brings her to consciousness even now, near the end of her life. Her love tells her that her time is night and that she has one last act remaining in a life that has spanned sixty-four years. Her muscles are so badly torn that they refuse to obey her commands. The effort required to force them to do her bidding will certainly lessen her life span, but she has to do this. Even already numbed by pain, Robyn shrieks anew as she pulls her left hand from the silver spike driven through it. The right hand is worse and the cries and screams of agony echo about the chamber again. Melissa would appreciate it if she could hear her, but Robyn does not care. Her love fuels her now, the only thing left to her. She grabs a leg with two shattered hands and pulls, the very act sheer pain itself, adding to what she is doing to her leg. If the ankle was not already fractured in so many places she might not have had the strength to pull it free. As it is, the last of the bones break and release what is left of the leg. The other leg is freed in the same manner. Robyn feels what little blood remains in her broken body slipping out through the new wounds she has caused, but she cares not. She is dead anyway and a few moments will not matter; she has something to do.
Robyn rolls over to face her vampiric lover and stares at her with misshapen and blind eyes. She carefully reaches out to touch Calista's face, somehow disappointed that she cannot feel anything in her hands, but still trying. The open maw that is her mouth manages a few intelligible words. "I love you.......just in case." This act has taken the last that love can do and she collapses in the unconsciousness the presages death.
-
Calista struggles with her own restraints, but she freezes for just a second as Robyn puts mangled hands on her face. Blood coats Calista's cheeks, and she can barely see through the tears in her eyes, but what might be Robyn's last words come through loud and clear. Calista shakes her head in denial, and the shaking becomes full-body thrashing as Robyn collapses, her dead eyes closing and her body going limp. The thrashing becomes closer to seizure as Robyn's labored breathing becomes thready, her heart slowing and her skin cold.
As life finally goes to leave Robyn, Calista burns the last of her blood, the last gasps of essence she'd stolen along with her rage and her fear and her own life force. For just a moment, Calista's muscles regain their strength and with an awful heave, she wrenches her hands off the spikes, hearing the bones in her wrists grate and crack as the metal is pulled through. She sits up, gripping the spikes in her ankles by the base and bodily ripping them free. Blood spurts from the wound before her regeneration seals it off. Her whole body is burning, her temporary boost to her body's power catalyzing her regeneration. It will fade, and soon, but for now she is strong enough to do what needs to be done.
Calista is up off the table with the speed that only a vampire can claim, naked flesh tearing from where its stuck to the tabletop with blood. She blurs across the room to her discarded effects, reaching for her clutch. She tears the synthsilk open. Patchpatchpatchpatch...there! Calista rips the slap patch coverings open with her fangs, a red and a blue, stim and trauma. In the blink of an eye she's back at Robyn's side, searching desperately for a large enough patch of skin that can take the patches. One ends up over her rips and the other on the inside of her thigh.
Calista prays that its not too late.
Gathering Robyn up in her arms, Calista turns for the door, then stops and shakes her head. Stupid! What the frag is she thinking? There's no way Melissa will let her leave out the front fragging door! But the window...
Calista cradles Robyn as gently as she can and walks to the window overlooking Earl's court. Six story drop. She might be able to survive it but Robyn wouldn't, not without aid. A spirit? That might work, but she can't summon one in the room, the tradition is too aspected toward Melissa's magic and astral space is corrupted in the aftermath of the blood spirit summoning. She glances toward the door again, looking around the room, wracking her brain for any other solutions.
But there are none.
Gritting her teeth, praying to anyone who will listen that this will work, that the patches aren't too late, that Pax or Stitch or Daiyu can help, Calista holds Robyn as close as she dares and takes a running start and throws them both out the window, reaching for her magic the second she crosses the threshold out of the room and Melissa's ritual space.
-
Death come surprisingly slowly. Robyn's tortured spirit had waited for its release from her mortal body, its own survival in doubt several times due to the strong effects of the chamber the body was trapped in. Mercifully, all that was now over......mostly. Certainly the room is still horribly tainted by the blood magic, but the woman is gone and the chamber alone is not capable of restraining the spirit that was Robyn. Waiting for the final ticks of the heart to slow to nothing, the spirit looks forward to the release. It has been shackled to this body for a long time and had come to like it there, but that time is over and...............and the impossible happens. The spirit is being drawn back and it looks for the reason, seeing science, not sorcery. The medicine pouring into the broken body is barely enough to support what minimum life still exists, but the effect will be short-lived and the spirit freed after all. In minutes at the most. The spirit disappears back into its customary place in the body, again waiting for the release that is imminent.
Robyn is mercifully unconscious when Calista picks her up and breaks through the window from six floors up. True to their programming the aerial drones fly out of the room after their mistress as does the hound, loyal to the end. The flying drones have no trouble navigating the drop, but Calista, Robyn, and the hound drone are not so fortunate.
-
The spirit comes when Calista calls, her reckless conjuring ripping a scream of pain from her with the effort of calling one that will be powerful enough. The storm sylph materializes in a flicker of lightning and a whiff of ozone, forming into a winged woman with snow-colored skin and stormcloud hair. Calista shrieks as they fall and twists to shield Robyn as they plummet toward the cobblestones. She grits her teeth and shuts her eyes...
Calista touches down, lighter than a feather, her naked shoulders kissing flesh-warm stone. Her head snaps around to see the storm sylph standing on empty air five meters away, one hand extended with her fingers cupped, as if holding something. The sylph smiles coolly and nods once, respectfully. Calista nods back absently, operating entirely on reflexive courtesy and stands. She checks Robyn over, and her heart falls at just how bad the mutilated girl looks. She turns, putting her back to the wall and looks out at Earl's court. She has a choice: Run for the exit and try to get to the Ten Thousand Lions above, or cross Below to find Pax in the Warrens?
Above, she hears a shout and a scream above her, and then an abhuman roar. Calista's choice is made for her. The way across Below starts in front of her, so that's the way she'll go. Speed, now. It will come down to speed. She looks to the Sylph again, begging for speed in exchange for release, and the sylph obliges. The world slows down again and Calista takes off, moving at almost five hundred kilometers an hour. Naked, covered in blood, carrying a mutilated body and being followed at some remove by a drone-hound, she would have made quite a sight if she wasn't best measured by her mach speed.
The entire time she runs, her entire upper body locked to keep Robyn stable, a steady stream of sound spills from bloodstained lips. "Itsgoingtobeokayyou'resafeitsgoingtobeokaypleasebeokaywe'regoingtogethelppleasedon'tdieI'mherestaywithmepleasestaywithmeIloveyouitsokay..."
Its only a few minutes before she hits the Warrens, taking the twists and turns at a speed best described as suicidal. She only slips once, her dancer's grace otherwise keeping her from breaking bones on the rubble, ruins, and detritus littering the Warrens. The one time she falls, she goes down on her back, leaving ten centimeters of skin on the cracked pavement. She's back up in a flash, running again.
Ten minutes after she left Earl's Court, the ghastly spectres of Calista and Robyn burst through the cheap, badly hung door of Pax's clinic, bursting into an otherwise-empty waiting room. Its old, ugly, and badly lit. The "clinic" started life out as some kind of small storefront in the underplex shopping center that was planned for this part of The Old Smoke, but now its floored in roll-out linoleum, and plastic curtains divide it into a single waiting room with three folding chairs and a stack of screamsheets five years out of date, and a small triage area.
Pax comes out from behind the curtains a few seconds after Calista blows the door off its hinges with a shoulder. The little Xapiri Threpé with the wild hair and black cybereyes wears an irritated scowl. "What frag did you do to my d-!" She breaks off as she takes in Calista and Robyn and her black eyes get big. "My Goddess, Ang!" She half-screams. "What the frag...?"
Calista falls to her knees, spent as the last of her stolen blood and power trickles away. "Needs...help. I...need Grinner..." She turns her gaze up to Pax, a horrified look spreading across the medmage's face. "Help us..."
Then she collapses, falling next to her lover.
-
Robyn wakes in a bed. Not her bed. Not Calli's bed. A mostly comfortable but unfamiliar bed. Her ears and nose pick out the sound of someone nearby breathing and smoking. Without moving, she reaches out with her heightened senses to feel the room.........................and nothing. Nothing more than normal sounds and smells. Confused, she checks the wireless connections.............................and nothing. No connections. She tries to sit up but can't due to restraints placed on her wrists and across her body. Suddenly, unbidden and entirely unwelcome memories flood into her and she shrieks in horror as she tries to pull herself out of the restraints. The prick of a needle is the only warning she is being attacked and she thrashes about in an unsuccessful attempt to get away from Melissa. The drugs flow into her arm and she passes out.
Robyn wakes in a bed. Not her bed. Not Calli's bed. A mostly comfortable but somewhat unfamiliar bed. Her ears and nose pick out the sound of someone nearby breathing and smoking. Without moving, she reaches out with her heightened senses to feel the room.........................and nothing. Nothing more than normal sounds and smells. Confused, she checks the wireless connections.............................and nothing. No connections. She tries to sit up but can't due to restraints placed on her wrists and across her body. Suddenly, unbidden and entirely unwelcome memories flood into her and she shrieks in horror as she tries to pull herself out of the restraints. The prick of a needle and a cool cloth on her forehead are the only warnings she is being attacked and she thrashes about in an unsuccessful attempt to get away from Melissa. The drugs flow into her arm and she passes out.
Robyn wakes in a bed. Not her bed. Not Calli's bed. A mostly comfortable and oddly familiar bed. Her ears and nose pick out the sound of someone nearby breathing and smoking. Without moving, she reaches out with her heightened senses to feel the room.........................and nothing. Nothing more than normal sounds and smells. Confused, she checks the wireless connections.............................and nothing. No connections. She tries to sit up but can't due to restraints placed on her wrists and across her body. Suddenly, unbidden and entirely unwelcome memories flood into her and she shrieks in horror as she tries to pull herself out of the restraints. The prick of a needle, a cool cloth on her forehead, and a soft Russian woman's voice are the only warnings she is being attacked and she thrashes about in an unsuccessful attempt to get away from Melissa. The drugs flow into her arm and she passes out.
Robyn wakes in a strange bed. "Calli?"
-
"Heyyyyy..." a soft voice croons. "You're awake." Footsteps, a light tread in practical shoes. Robyn can smell disinfectant, menthol cigarette smoke, the coppery tang of blood. There are restraints on her wrists and ankles, but as she draws breath to shriek, memories flooding back to her there is a small hand on her forehead and a soothing voice. "Shhhh, shhhh, relax, you're safe now." Says the voice. "Your friend brought you here to get patched up. The restraints are only there so you wouldn't hurt yourself while I was putting you back together." The voice is strangely calming, and Robyn has spent enough time with Calista to recognize the self-directed magic of an adept in her words.
There is the sound of something small hitting the floor, a cigarette butt being tossed away and then stamped out and a second hand joins the first. "I'm Pax, I'm a medmage in The Warrens. You know the Warrens?" She did. She knew the Warrens in general from experience and Pax in particular from Calista's stories. Pax is a healer and a pacifist, a Xapiri Threpe and a self-taught mage. At Robyn's nod, Pax pats her cheek and says, "Good, that's good. Now, you're heavily sedated so don't feel too bad if you find it hard to move. I'm going to undo the restraints now and pull the faraday blanket off of you. If you start thrashing or try to run, I'll have to sedate you again, and neither of us want that so just take it slow, okay?" Another nod. "Alright." There is the feeling of something moving, a thin cloth that Robyn didn't even realize was on her and then the sensation of small, delicate fingers at her wrist, undoing the heavy leather strap. The process is repeated three times, and wireless, much-hashed and spotty but still active comes back to her along with freedom of movement.
"Go ahead and massage your wrists and try for an uplink if you would like. You're safe to move. Just undernourished and sedated." The footsteps move across the room for a moment, then there is a snap and an inhalation, Pax lighting a cigarette. "Your friend should be back any minute. She's at The Body Shop right now. Poor thing's been on her feet for the last twenty-two hours, ever since you were brought in." The footsteps return. "Can I get you anything?"
-
Robyn nods and lets the hands release her from the bonds. The soothing words help convince her that she is not in any danger. For now. Robyn remains cautious, believing that Melissa would be devious enough to use a trick like this. And why is she not dead? Her last memories were as she lay on the slab and.............
Memories flooded in of the torture she had undergone and tears welled up and started flowing down her face. "Is Calli OK? Why is she at Grinner"s?"
Mollified by the answers from the medmage, Robyn tries to access her implants ands gets spotty responses. Every device she has inside of her was damaged in some fashion by Melissa'a knife and would need some measure of repair. She turns her head in the direction of the voice. Are we in the Warrens? I will apparently need to see a ware shop to help repair by implants. Do you know of someone that might be willing to help me?"
-
Pax frowns, crossing over to the small folding table along one wall. A 'kaf maker is there and she pours herself a cup, adding imitation cream and artificial sweetener as she considers how to answer. She blows on the 'kaf, then takes a sip before returning to Robyn's side and sitting. There's a creak, the sound of metal. Some kind of barstool, maybe? Robyn hears Pax's thumbnail flick the butt of her cigarette, tapping ash before she answers.
"Yes, miss Lysander." She replies softly. "We're in the Warrens." She's talking around the butt of the smoke in her mouth, needing her hand for something and Robyn can feel a clean square of linen or something like it on her face, dabbing at her tears before the kerchief is pressed into her hand. "Here. You don't want Calli to come back and find you bawling, do you?" Pax pats her shoulder, then takes the cigarette out of her mouth. "You're about half a klick from Hellbound station, in my clinic. Calista brought you in yesterday." Pax sighs. "You were a mess, the hardest patient I've ever had to work on. I'm sorry about your cyberware, some of the damage was caused by me when I had to reopen your wounds, and more was caused by immortal flower-induced regeneration trying to reject or absorb them."
Pax taps ash again, takes another drink. This close, Robyn can smell the shot of cheap whiskey in the soykaf. After a moment's thought, Pax ventures, "I could call Doc Dicer. She can probably do your 'ware repairs. Good cyberdoc, good sawbones. I'm actually surprised Calista didn't take you to her." Pax stands again, draining her cup as the door out front opens. Quietly, she averrs, "I'll let you ask her where she went."
There's the sound of heels on linoleum and a soft, "How is she?" It sounds like Calista, but...not. Her voice is rougher, lower now, as if damaged. Pax replies, "She's awake. You can see her." Calista is immediately running, and a second later Robyn can feel soft, bare arms and the small weight of Calista's body as she throws herself into a full-body embrace. "Oh god, baby! You're alive! I was so worried that you wouldn't make it!" The words are coming in a rush, and Calista is trembling as she kisses Robyn's cheek. Robyn can make out the scent of blood on her breath, fresh and metallic under the scent of some kind of bodywash, but she doesn't get a chance to comment amongst Callista's rapid speech, "How do you feel? Are you okay? Can I do anything?"
-
Robyn gives a sort of laugh. "Always wanted to spend some time in the Warrens. Guess that shows I should be careful what I wish for." She puts a hand to her right cheek. "My Ward. Is it gone?"
"I have heard of Slicer. Do you think she will see me? I am.........different........without my implants. I feel different. Not whole. They have been part of my life for too long now."
She turns to face Calista as she enters the room and is trying to open her mouth to say something when the woman slams into her. The embrace is all she needs to know and answers all of her immediate questions. See just holds on and allows her tears to flow freely. When the tide of words stops, she places her forehead against Calista's and says, "I am so sorry that I failed you. I had thought to save you and instead brought greater risk to you. Thank you for staying alive and saving me. I love you."
-
Pax leaves the room to give the lovers some privacy, muttering something about ending in tears. Calista pays her no mind. Her entire world has shrunk down to the woman in her arms and palpable relief that she's going to be alright. Her silent, unmoving tears give way to great wracking sobs as Robyn apologizes to her, and she curls into Robyn, one mostly bare leg stretched out alongside Robyn's and the other thigh pulled up, resting across Robyn's hips with her calf pressed against Robyn's thigh. One arm is around Robyn's shoulders and the other under her breasts, and her face is buried in the hollow of Robyn's neck as she cries piteously, gasping, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for you to get hurt! I never wanted you to get trapped in my world!"
Calista kisses Robyn's neck and jaw and cheek, still gasping and crying and holds her close while she gets control of herself. Her hand comes up to trace Robyn's face, wandering along her still-intact ward before tracing her nose and lips and throat. After a few seconds, when she can speak for a moment, she manages to get out, "Dicer will see you. She's a good doc, even if she's a bit prickly. She can help repair the..." Calista dissolves into another fit of crying as she remembers how terrible Robyn looked when Calli carried her in, and why, and the awful, animal screams of pain. It takes maybe fifteen seconds before she can finish with, "repair the damage to your 'ware."
Calista takes a deep breath and lets it out shakily, then raises her head up enough to look at Robyn's face. As firmly as she can muster, Calista says, "You did not fail me. You came for me. No one's ever come for me, and while I would never, ever want you to go through that, you coming when you did probably stopped Melissa from killing me to finish her work." She kisses Robyn full on the mouth. "Never, ever blame yourself for any part of this. I love you too." The uncharacteristic steel in her voice gives way to a quavering note as she collpases back down, curling close to Robyn again and asking, "How do you feel?"
-
Robyn clutches at Calista through the embrace and the tears. Her heart soars when Calista says she loves her. She grasps a hand after the vampire lies down next to her and asks how she feels. Wiping her tears away with her other hand, Robyn, thinks then says. "Clinically, I feel remarkably better than I should have, even with sorcery involved in the healing. Someone used some serious mojo on me. Implant-wise I am a mess. Many connections were sliced apart when Melissa........when Melissa.........when Melissa cut on me. Others were broken during my healing. The end result is that most of my implants are not functioning at all, and those that are functioning are giving spotty results at best. I need some serious repairs. Pax was saying that Doc Dicer might be able to help. Finally, emotionally I am a near total wreck. I bounce from revisiting the horrors of that place to being ecstatic about seeing you. I am glad that I am alive one moment and wish I had never been born the next. I see some extensive and expensive therapy in my future. Part of the problem is my mutated brain. It is not an implant and is functioning as normal, and even though my mind suffered greatly, it took note of everything that happened. And that means that I will remember what happened for the rest of my life."
Robyn squeezes Calista's hand. "As for you; I will always come for you. Wherever you are. Whatever has happened. Whoever has you. I will always come for you. You are the dark of the abyss and the light of the sun. You are all of the stars and planets in the sky. You are everything to me and I will never let you go. If you tell me to leave and that you no longer love me, I will not believe you." She takes a finger and puts it to her lover's chest. "You are not normal. I know that. I also know that there is a chance that our closeness may result in you either killing me or infecting me and I do not care. Every risk, every danger, is a special moment if I am with you. You kept me alive in that room while she was tor..............while she was torturing me. You kept me alive when she was done and had left me for dead. You injured yourself to get me from that horrible chamber. Compared to you, that strange woman is nothing more than a nearly impotent windbag, long overdue for death. She has power, yes, but that power will eventually turn on her. You have me and I will never turn on you, which makes you more powerful that she."
"And speaking of Melissa; has she made any effort to find us? What can she do here? Obviously, my previous thoughts on bargains and betrayals between Houses is not as accurate as I had though. I need to be properly educated. I think I will visit The Old One after I an move about better. And you? You have fed at The Body Shop? Enough to be well?"
-
Calista shrugs, suddenly diffident. "Well enough." She mumbles. She doesn't want to tell Robyn that the effort of getting here nearly killed her, and that glutting herself on essence to fuel her magic enough to aid Pax had cost three badly damaged, strung out joytoys their lives. Calista has no illusions that she is anything other than a murderer, but she couldn't just let Robyn die, and taking Grinner's victims rather than letting the ghouls get to them was a small price to pay for the necessary power. Calista bows her head, still ashamed at her actions. She can acknowledge the necessity of the act without taking pleasure or pride in it, and for a minute or so she doesn't trust herself to speak, for fear of blurting out what she'd done. Would Robyn still love her if she knows that Calista is a murderess? Calista knows she'll have to tell Robyn but...not today. Neither of them can bear that right now.
When Calista fights down the urge to confess her crimes and can speak normally once more, she tells Robyn, "Melissa isn't coming. Its not her way, not while she thinks I'll still come back to her. You lived, and that's going to irritate her, but it wouldn't surprise me if she actually expected us to escape." Calista thinks for a moment. "She could send agents of the House after me, but now that you're no longer on the grounds and haven't willingly surrendered yourself, she can't send them after you without crossing the First House." She shakes her head. "She thinks I'll still come back after this, so she won't bother with agents for just me. She could send a shadow team, deniable assets to get us both and keep her from being implicated, but I don't think its going to come to that. Not yet, anyway. Once she figures out that I've turned my coat, maybe." Calista shakes her head. "I'm not going back. I can't. Its going to be very, very hard, but she finally crossed the line. I can't let you get hurt by her again."
Calista props herself up enough to kiss Robyn's forehead. "We'll do whatever it takes to put you back together, Songbird, and I'll be right there with you, every step of the way." She considers for a moment, then offers, "If you don't want to deal with it, we can make you forget. There are ways with magic to alter or blot out memories."
-
Robyn puts a finger to Calista's lips. "There will be no talk of making me forget. That would cheapen what we both did. No, every memory, good or bad, is something to share because of you. And I may not6 have access to all of my enhanced senses, but some things do not need enhancements. You have fed recently; I tasted the blood on your lips. And knowing that you were at Grinner's place, does that mean that you killed someone? No lies. No secrets. We both deserve the truth from the other. Are you alright?"
-
Calista kisses the finger on her lips, then averts her eyes as Robyn tells her that she knows. She curses herself for not being more careful. She had been so excited to see that her lover was alright. Yes, and now she's going to know that her girlfriend is a killer. The thought brings a wave of fresh tears, and she sniffs and rolls away, standing up and perching her well-upholstered hoop on the barstool that Pax had recently vacated. She doesn't say anything at first, instead helping herself to one of Pax's cigarettes; they're green paper with silver filters, in a pasteboard box with Sperethiel lettering on it. She lights it, then hunches over, a pale vulture with smoke pouring from her lips.
"I am about as far from alright as a person can be, except perhaps for you." Calista replies evenly. Her voice is tight, overcontrolled. She's not letting any emotion show, and there is nothing to color her words save for a faint rasp. "Yes, I fed at The Body Shop. Three times, three corpses. Tamanous will collect the bodies for scrap or food, I'm sure." She takes another draw on her smoke. "They were strung out, brain-burned from chips or drugs or too many beatings, but yes. I killed them. Drank their blood and their essence until there was nothing left but husks." She's staring off into space, unable to bear looking at Robyn's face as she talks. She takes another drag, taps the ash, sighs. "Want me to take off?"
-
Robyn is silent for a minute. She can sense that her friend is unsettled. Calista has moved to where Robyn can no longer touch her so she just sits in the bed with her hands on her lap. "My love. You seem convinced that I will want to leave you for some reason. Don't you see yet that you cannot drive me away by word, action, or past. You and I are inextricably bound now. Whatever this started out as a month and a bit ago is a love so strong that no one and nothing can shatter it. I certainly will not ask you to go for being what you are. You did not intentionally become a vampire, and from what I have learned of you, you are very careful not to hunt indiscriminately. Those people may have had a heart beat, yes, but from what you say of their condition, they were no longer alive."
"The world is not black and white. I learned that long ago. And if truth be told, I have probably done more to innocent people with my trix sorcery than you have with your mojo. I have dreams and nightmares of the things I have done, the people that have died because of what I did. You are a much kinder person than I am, despite the fangs and blood sucking. If you had been an evil person, you would have let Melissa harvest me and as many other people as it took to complete her ritual."
Robyn motions with her arms. "I can no longer tell if you are looking at me, so if you are not, please do. I want you to feed on me as often as you need to. My blood is your blood. I willingly and knowingly offer myself to you whenever you need blood. And the same for what essence I have. If you need it, take it. I am cognizant of the risk of infection and offer that to you as well. IF I get infected, I know that you will be there to see me through it. We are partners. Partners in life and will be partners in death if it comes to that. I swear this to you on the blood I spilled for you and the blood you spilled for me. Can you make the same oath?"
In an attempt to try to lighten the mood a bit, Robyn adds, "And tell Pax to quit smoking Parlies. No one smokes Parlies anymore. Tell her that as part payment for her help here, I will supply her with a lifetime supply of fags. Just not Parlies."
-
Calista giggles, but there's a desperate edge to it, as if she's laughing to keep from weeping. She strokes Robyn's hair, smiling through tears and says, "I'll tell her." She leans down to kiss Robyn's forehead, strokes her cheek and and squeezes her hand, but she doesn't answer Robyn's question or reply to her heartfelt promise.
The truth is, she can't make that oath.
Robyn is wonderful and Calista loves her, even more now than before- a feat she wasn't certain was possible- but to feed on her essence?
No. It wouldn't be right. With the evolution of cybertechnology and biotechnology, and Robyn's own transhuman tendencies and extensive augmentations there's no guarantee that one day she wouldn't want more metal, or need more if something dire should happen.
Calista shakes her head silently, cursing her condition for the first time in months. To feed on Robyn would be to preclude augmentation or even major surgery, and Calista can't handle the idea of Robyn remaining sightless or crippled or unfulfilled because she couldn't find someone else to drain.
And infection! That might be even worse. Robyn is already blind. With HMHVV, her body could reject all of her cyberware, taking away the compensating abilities that she has mastered and leaving her crippled by her injury once more, to say nothing of the inability to ever eat or drink again, stripping a second sense from her by necessity.
Hoping that Robyn won't press the issue right now, Calista straightens and takes Robyn's hands in hers. "C'mon, love. We should get you home. If we're going to break me out of this life, then I've got a drekload of things to do and very little time in which to do them."
-
Robyn cocks her head in Calista's direction. "My love. I may be more blind now that at any time in almost forty years and my mind is beset with nightmares that only you can probably imagine, but even still I can detect a hedge and a change of subject. Have I said something wrong or inappropriate? Not one of us can truly see the future, but I know that right now I want my future to be you. And I would hope that you feel the same. There is no reason for you to find victims to sate your need for blood when you have me willing to do that for you. I can eat well and make sure that my blood is good enough for you and I can heal enough to let you feed as you need. As for essence, I offer that as well, if you ever have a need for it. Whatever happens to me afterwards is a result of my choice and is a symbol of my love for you. I know that what little essence I have is not nearly enough to satisfy your needs for more than what can tide you over in an emergency, but I need you to understand that it is there for you, regardless of the effect on me. There is NO risk that is too great for me to take where you are concerned. This is my love for you. Do you understand?"
"And home? I need my implants looked at and there will be some serious repairs involved. Pax mentioned a name I have heard before, Doc Dicer? Should I not get that done here if possible, or are you recommending that I do that in the overworld?"
-
Dicer? Dicer is good, and it puts Calista back on firm footing. She nods. "Maria is excellent. Good doctor, good cyberdoc. She did most of the 'ware for the girls at Saints and Sinners and a lot of the people who are chromed here in the Warrens." She kisses Robyn's forehead. "You might find a more conventional cyberclinic Above, but not a better one, and down here no one asks questions." She squeezes Robyn's hand. "I'm not sure you want the Red Vory to know that you got taken out of commission, even briefly. Might give some idiot with more cojones than sense the wrong idea." She sighs. "It shouldn't take long. Dicer has nanite repair systems. The nanopocalypse is largely confined to the UCAS, not the Old Smoke, and Dicer wouldn't jeopardize her patients by giving them dodgy treatments anyway. I say do it here."
Calista sighs heavily. "I love you, songbird. Please don't ever think otherwise. But..." She sits back down on the stool and leans over, draping herself across Robyn and laying her head on the blind elf's breast. "I can never take your essence. I can take your blood, and its wonderful, but while it'll feed me it won't sustain me." She strokes Robyn's thigh with her fingertips and sighs again, softly. "I need more than just blood, and I can't take that from you. You're wiling to give it, I know, really I do! But I can't take it." She turns her head to kiss the bottom of Robyn's jaw. "Taking that from you might mean that you can't get more 'ware later, or get your eyes fixed, or survive an invasive surgery that you need for something unforeseen. I can't risk that, I can't let my hunger endanger your life, songbird."
-
Robyn folds Calista into her and lays her cheek on the top of her lover's head. "No, I do not doubt that you love me, despite all the trouble I have caused you. And everything you say makes sense, but the heart does not operate on making sense. I know that you do not want to take my essence, and I am satisfied just to have you know that what I do have is yours if you need it. I care little for repairing my eyes and doubt that I would do so if I could. I have lived many years with out direct sight and have compensated for the loss. As for other 'ware, My intent it to improve what I have, no get more. Almost all of my implants were state of the art when they were put in, but now there are better ones available. They cost more, but require less essence. I will keep what essence I have available for you if the need ever arises and I expect that you will take if it is your only choice. If it comes to it, I would rather have my body reject my implants than live without you. Now, enough said on the issue."
"When can you take me to see the Doc about repairing my 'ware?"
-
Calista sighs. Its pretty clear to the young banshee that Robyn is either not getting what she's saying or is willing to take a risk that borders on the insane, but...she shrugs mentally and smiles a little. That insanity is part of the reason she loves the pretty, blind elf. She nods out of reflex, then blushes- an interesting look on the liquid paper complexion of a banshee- and says, "Of course. We're already in the Warrens. Maria Dacia, Doc Dicer is two turnings surfaceward and three corridors over. Just a few minutes walk." She thinks for a second, then adds, "Stick close to me. I'm known well enough here that if I leave my game face on, no one is going to frag with us, but if they don't think you're attached to me the locals will see a blind woman as an easy mark or worse."
Carefully, Calista helps Robyn to her feet, then wraps an arm companionably about her waist, partly for support and partly just because she wants to feel close to Robyn in the wake of what they've both been through. On the way out, she trades looks with Pax. Pax looks at them both, looks at Calista's exposed fangs and hard red eyes, and shakes her head. Calista shrugs slightly and passes her a certified standard credstick, payment for Robyn's medical care and a small fee to keep silent about it. Pax takes it and nods once, then disappears back inside her ramshackle clinic.
Calista leads Robyn on, and for a wonder, the pair aren't bothered. As they walk, Calista watches about her carefully, her hellish eyes and fangs warding off anyone who might otherwise think two young women would make easy prey. She kisses Robyn's cheek often, or squeezes her waist, or strokes her hip as if assuring herself that Robyn is really there. About halfway to Dicer's clinic Calista stops for a moment to ask Robyn, "Are you feeling alright? Are we going too fast?"
-
Robyn's progress is hampered more than she had thought it would be. The inoperative implants are bad enough, but the partially operating ones are worse, sending conflicting information or shutting down without warning then starting up again. What should have been an easy walk is turning into a problem. Robyn stumbles often and would have fallen several times if not for the vampire's arm around her. Calista's touch is more than merely comforting or supporting, it is an expression of love that also helps. She can understand Calista's concern and her question is reasonable. Robyn takes advantage of the halt to face her lover. "See? I knew that you would help me when I need it the most. Physically I am fine; better than fine. Pax tells me that she has healed all of my injuries, but that the stuff she used tried to get my body to reject what functioning implants I have left after Mel.....after Meliss.........after Melissa tortured me. If they cannot be fixed I will need to learn all over again. It is just a curve to get around, and with your help and love I will make it. I do not know where we are and cannot see where I am going. It is much like back in '33 when that Yak shot my eyes away. But I will get better. I will."
-
Calista shakes her head, smiling. "You better." She says, exhaling through her nose. Too determined and too damn stubborn for her own good is her Robyn. With a put-upon sounding, amused sigh, she wraps her arms around Robyn and lifts her up, taking the other woman's weight with a barely-perceptible sound of effort. Holding her like a child, Calista set off again down the turning rat's maze of the Warrens, whistling softly as she walks. It doesn't take long to get where they're going, only a few minutes at the swift pace Calista sets. A half dozen turnings and switchbacks later, they find themselves infront of another clinic, though this one is considerably less run-down than Pax's. Real windows look in on a bright white operating theatre, with blackout drapes drawn back. The armorglass door bears sharp white lettering, reading simply, "Dicer's." A piece of railing has been bolted to the outer eaves, like the sort found in corporate facilities, and two drones hang from it. Their magnetic systems are of little use on the uncharged rail, but the Ares-Stone White Knight LMGs look plenty serviceable.
-
Robyn is about to resist when Calista picks her up, but shuts up. She knows that she is a burden to the vampire and if this helps, she will let it go. Instead, she takes advantage of her position to nuzzle against the other woman's neck, gently licking and kissing her way along the entire range she can reach. Even without her sonar sensors, she knows that Calista is moving over the ground very quickly. She has no way to track where she is going so she just stops, allowing herself to enjoy the taste and feel of Calista's neck. She may have lost her implanted sensory enhancements, but she feels a definite reaction in herself from what she is doing. About the time she is starting to moan, the ride is over. As she stands, she laughs softly and says, "You did that on purpose to see what I would do. But listen, I understand that you want to help me. Just remember that it was not your choice that I went after you. It was not your choice that I offered myself to.........her. Those were my choices and I would do the same thing a thousand times over if I had a thousand opportunities. I am a big girl. I need to learn about my body, what it can and cannot do. Obviously, there is a lot I cannot do that I could do a couple of days ago, but I need to learn. There is a chance that Dicer will not be able to help me and then what? Will you carry me wherever we go? I do not want to be a burden to you. I want to contribute. I learned before and I can learn again. My last surgeries took months and some of my implants were added years after I was shot as new stuff was developed. Will you be here when I come out?"
-
Calista rolls her eyes. "You're a big girl but we're on a bit of a fragging clock, here, luv." She said, a trifle sharply. "I would like to get out of here sooner rather than later, and never come back below if I don't have to. You can learn when we have the luxury of time. Until then, yes, I'll carry you wherever we go." She supports Robyn with one arm and pushes open the door with the other, calling out, "Maria? Doctor Dacia?" She leads Robyn into the clinc and calls out again, "Doc Dicer?"
A sharp faced woman of about forty comes out of a small door in the back of the clinic. She has grey-streaked red hair and tanned skin, and wears a labcoat streaked with stains of an indeterminate but dubious nature. Her face is caught in a perpetual scowl and she glances at Calista and snaps irritably, "I hate that name." She turns her practiced eye on Robyn and raises one bushy brow. "You look like drek. The frag happened to you?"
-
Robyn laughs. "Don't be cross. I am sorry to be flippant about this. Say, since this might involve some invasive surgery and recovery, why don't you dump me here and go to the overworld for a bit then come back to take me home?"
Once inside, Robyn replies to Dicer. "I died. Or near enough to matter, anyway. My implants are fragged and I need repairs or replacements. We were told that you are the best down here and might be able to help me. I need to warn you that if you help, you might incur the wrath of Melissa."
-
Calista looks torn. She doesn't want to leave Robyn, but she knows that- despite her words to the contrary- she has a target painted on her back. House Laesal isn't going to take two captives escaping lying down. After a short deliberation, she nods. "Go, you'll be in good hands with Dr. Dacia." She says reassuringly, nodding at the hatchet-faced street doc. "I'm going to make a couple of calls on my way up. If I'm not here to get you when you wake up, a friend of mine will be. Her name is Iris because the mutation to her eyes. You'll know her when you see her." She embraces Robyn tightly, then, with a last look at the two women, turns and walks out of the clinic.
Her boots click on the cracked concrete that serves as a street outside. She's walking purposefully and swiftly but trying not to look like she's hurrying. Hurrying implies a need to be somewhere or a need to get away, and both make you a target. She pulls out her Erika Elite and consults it. Not surprisingly, being Below hashes the hell out of her comm reception, so she turns to head for Sinners and Saints. There's a signal repeater there that'll allow her to reach Iris.
Fifteen minutes later, she stands outside the club. The Goblin rock coming out of the lower level provides a strangely complementary backbeat for the Maria Mercurial Remix playing in the upper level, and she sways in place absently as she connects her comm. All around her are clubgoers, some coming, some going, most drunk or high. Stilettos, synthleather, body paint, holowear, and accessories like horns and wings abound and normally the sights would have stirred her loins and fired her bloodlust, but right now all Calista can think of is getting out.
-
Robyn blindly reaches out with an arm and catches Calista's shirt, holding on and pulling herself up to the vampire. She reaches out and runs her fingers across Galista's face, then pulls her head to hers, locking her lips in a kiss. Before she pulls free, Robyn nips at her lover's lower lip, drawing a bit of blood and licking it up to taste it. She breaks the kiss and softly says, "I love you........just in case."
After Calista leaves the shop, Robyn turns to face Doc Dicer. "I need help. I was shot in the head and blinded years ago. My body has a lot of implants to enhance my other senses; cyberware, bioware, and even some geneware. You might have heard what happened at House Valerian? Cliff Notes version is that I was tortured. Calista tells me that it lasted about fourteen hours straight. What Mel.......what.......what that woman did to me really fragged me up. Lots of implants were turned to drek. Anything else was damaged. Then Pax used some sort of super healing medicine on me that forced my own body to try to reject what was left. Bottom line is that I need some massive repairs and probably some replacements. I have a list of what I used to have, and I have creds. Can you help me?"
The hard-faced woman looks carefully at Robyn then holds out her hand to take one of Robyn's. "Come on, let's see what I can do." Dicer takes Robyn through a door to a screening room. She has Robyn disrobe and begins a thorough examination, then hooks her up to some advanced diagnostic equipment. After a while she puts her scope away and whistles. "Well, you were right. You had a good bit of 'ware inside you and it is all fragged up. I can repair some of it, but a good bit is just scrap and will need to be replaced. I can do that, too, but things cost more down here than in the overworld, but I guess you already know that. I will need to call someone in to help with the bioware and geneware, and that will be expensive, too. Calista told me that you are good for it, and her word is good with me. Are you ready to get started?"
"I am more than ready. Thank you."
Dicer takes Robyn into an operating room and puts her to sleep before she starts cutting. For some reason, even though Robyn is unconscious, her body remembers another table and another knife and reacts violently to being cut. The doctor is forced to stop and re-anesthetize her patient before she can begin again.
-
Robyn's mind tortures her. She is on a table being cut again and again. The smiling face above her is enjoying every snippet of pain, every anguished scream, and every drop of blood shed by her victim. The room is awash in blood.....her blood, and the table is covered in it. The next cut comes and she shrieks in absolute, soul-wrenching terror. Then blessed darkness and nothing.
She wakes up feeling a bit groggy. OK, a lot groggy. She tries to move, but is restrained. Her first sensation is one of near panic and her first impulse is to scream. A soft voice tries to calm her, but her mind does not register that. Then blessed darkness and nothing.
She wakes up feeling a bit groggy. A steady beeping comes from somewhere off to her left. Her fogged mind filters the noise and identifies it as the sounds from two medical monitors. By the different tones, she can identify both devices, recognizing them as an ISO 45Q7 and an EVO Centralia Biserver and somehow knowing that both were obsolete nearly a decade ago. Then her mind catches up to her memory and she realizes that she CAN actually filter the noises and tell which monitor is which. The impact of this dawns on her; she can hear. She tries to move and finds that though she is still restrained, she does have a small range of motion in her arms, while her legs are still tightly secured. Robyn tries to reach out with her olfactory and tactile senses and gets nothing more than what would be normal. Before she can panic again, she hears a soft voice, "Ah. My patient is awake again. Are you at least semi-rational or do I need to sedate you some more?"
Robyn considers the words and the voice. She does not detect anything malicious and then the name that matched the voice comes to her. "Doc Dicer. No, you do not need to sedate me, but I am not sure how rational I am. Some real drek was done to me. You were fixing me up. I have my hearing back, but nothing else. Did something go wrong?"
She feels the touch of a hand on her arm as first one then the rest of her restraints are removed. "Yes, I am Dicer and yes I am fixing you, or more correctly I am fixing your implants. And some things went horribly wrong. You are one seriously fragged up woman. It is bad enough that I have to deal with the sort of drek I found inside you, but I also had to deal with you fighting me every step of the way. Even unconscious, you resisted almost every move I made, as if your body itself was remembering. I can and have done near-miracles on your body and your implants, but in my considered opinion, you will need some intensive mental therapy."
"Now, your ears were the easiest to fix and they are back on line and should be working perfectly. Do you detect any differences in what they were before?"
The doctor's calm voice is more reassuring than Robyn had thought it would be. Dice says just the right things at the right time to defuse another panic attack and she recognizes an extremely good bedside manner. She reaches out with her ears and gives them a good run before responding. "No, The ears are working perfectly and the wireless functionality is spot on. But what about the rest? I cannot seem to pick up or turn on anything other than my ears."
"That is because I have blocked them for the time being. Don't worry; I have repaired or replaced, well mostly replaced, all of your stuff that was on the list you gave me. The deck was a fragging bitch to replace, though, and I have spent a lot of your money. I had to have help with some of it, although you will be billed at a discount for that. There are a surprising number of people that are impressed with what you did. Hardly anyone likes anyone else in the Warrens, but Melissa is pretty much universally hated and let's just say that you have some friends here. Might not mean much, but there it is anyway. To get back on point, your body was apparently still under some small effect of Pax's drugs and started rejecting what I was putting in so I had to be very careful with the devices. You were under the knife for a long time; much longer than I would have thought possible. I will turn your devices on one at a time and let you get used to them again, but you have to promise to let me know if you cannot access what I am turning on, which would mean that I have to go back in. Ready?"
Robyn reaches a hand out to touch the doctor's sleeve. "Wait. How long have I been out and have you heard anything from Calista?"
The silence from the other woman is deafening, then she softly responds. "You have been here for three weeks, dear, almost all of it unconscious. Calista has not been by, but she sent a friend to check on you. Her name is Iris. I did not let her stay for more than a few minutes. I will send a message to her when you feel ready to talk to her." The doctor wipes at the tears that start falling from Robyn's dead eyes. "Now, enough of that. Time for tears later. You would not have wanted her to see the agony you were going through, would you? Now pick an implant and I will turn it on."
It takes almost another two weeks before all of the implants are turned on. Two need additional work and Doc Dicer puts Robyn in restraints to do the cutting, which turns out to be a good idea as her patient's body does not take the cutting well. After that, a few more days sees all of Robyn's implants back on line and working perfectly. Iris comes to visit twice but does not provide any information about the whereabouts or condition of Calista, nor does she stay long. The doctor advises plenty of rest and practice with the implants and Robyn, being a surgeon herself, recognizes the value of the diagnosis and complies.
-
Robyn stretches out with her senses and smiles. Her implants are as good as new and she is ready to go back out into the world. At least she hopes that she is ready. She still has nightmares most nights about being cut, but the severity is fading and she rarely wakes screaming. Like Doc Dicer has said, it will likely take a lot of therapy with a good shrink to get past those memories, to bury them in some internal vault. One of her greatest assets is not a curse; her mutated brain has allowed her to remember the smallest details about everything she has done, seen, heard, smelled, or touched. And so she remembers everything from that fourteen hours of torture.
A representative of the Earl has visited several times to check on her progress and to tell her that an arrangement has been reached with Valerian House that Robyn will not be bothered or pursued as some sort of vengeance for escaping. According to Melissa, all is forgotten and she does not wish to dredge the situation up any longer. Robyn is skeptical, but she is reassured. What bothers her more is that she has not been able to reach Calista and Iris, on her rather too infrequent visits, has not been forthcoming with any sort of information. In fact, all the rather strange Keeb does is come in and check on Robyn's condition, almost as if she has to, and usually does not even speak to Robyn at all, relying on Dicer for information before abruptly leaving. Robyn has resolved that today will be different.
Iris had arrived at the clinic a few minutes earlier and was out front talking to the doctor as usual. Robyn walks out to the waiting room and stands in front of the door, facing back at the other two, who have barely noticed her. She waits for a break in the conversation then says, "Iris, Doc, I want to know. I feel that you are both keeping something from me about Calista and I think I am well enough to hear it. Is she.........is she dead? Did Melissa get her and that is why she is not interested in me any more? Is she waiting for me in the overworld? I would like some answers, please."
-
Iris turns, her strange, particolored eyes widening. Its been a long time since someone caught her unawares, and she's more than a little embarrassed. It doesn't show on her face, of course. Her parents drilled into her at a young age to never let any see her sweat, and her poise and social graces are a cut above even amongst the intrigues of Below. So it is with a soft, melodious voice and a small, sweet smile that she greets Robyn. "Hello, Lady Lysander," she says, coming forward two steps and placing her hand on Robyn's wrist. "It is good to see you up and about. Calista will be pleased, an' she hears it." Her mode of speech is different than Calista's, more formal and complete and bearing that icy, instinctive aristocratic courtesy that old money families sometimes have. Iris' cool soprano is as heart-wrenchingly beautiful as Robyn's paramour's is, but it is the beauty of an ice sculpture or a snowy wood rather than the blast-furnace warmth of Calista's furry contralto.
Dicer looks at Iris and rolls her eyes, then opines, "Don't bullshit her, kid. I don't care if you are Calista's teacher. She has a right to know." Dicer turns to speak to Robyn but stops as Iris holds up a hand.
"Doctor, please leave us briefly." Iris says gently. Dicer looks offended, but Iris heads off her sharp retort by saying, "What you do not know you cannot have tortured out of you." Dicer looks shocked, but she nods and heads for the back of the tiny clinic and disappears into her office. She shuts the door and a moment later Iris and Robyn can hear Maria Mercurial's "Who Weeps For The Children" coming out from under the door.
Sighing softly, Iris pulls a chair away from the wall and ushers Robyn into it before coming around in front of her. She kneels- a difficult maneuver in the fifteen-centimeter Armanté heels she's wearing- and places her hands on Robyn's gown-shrouded knees. "Robyn, I have some news that might unsettle you. Please remember that we know nothing for certain and that this may amount to no more than a case of wanderlust or cold feet." She pauses to let that sink in, brushing a lock of honey-colored hair from one alabaster cheek as she waits, then says, "Calista is missing, and has been ever since just after she brought you here."
-
Robyn sits back in the chair and considers what Iris has just told her. She has certainly already acknowledged that Calista might be dead or missing, but to actually hear it is unsettling. Even as tears well up and fall onto her cheeks, Robyn shakes her head. "I refuse to accept that she is dead, and she would not develop cold feet or just go walk-about. That leaves missing. The Earl's man told me that she is not a prisoner of House Valerian and that a quite willing Melissa was only too glad to open all of her torture rooms to prove it. Of course, that does not mean that she doesn't have her, just means she is not at the castle."
"I know that she told me she was gong to make a couple of calls on her way to the overworld, but she did not say to whom or even if it was a comm or a visit somewhere. Can you tell me what you do know? Tell me everything you can, even the horrible stuff. I have lived through Melissa and I will not fall apart here. I want to find her and bring her home. Please help me?"
-
Iris nods. "Of course, Lady Lysander." Iris agrees, her voice the soothing tone that one uses to calm a frightened child, or animal. "She is my friend as well." Iris purses lush lips painted the color of ripe cherries, considering what to say and how to say it. Finally, she decides to start with where Calista isn't. "I have extensive contacts with very nearly all of the syndicates in London. I have made...inquiries." [/color=blue] She shakes her head. "The Yakuza, Seoulpa, Vory, and Triads have no knowledge of her whereabouts. Nor do Barimen House, the Terminus Margravate, or the Tolltaker Knighthood. All of them are looking now, as a favor to me. If she is hidden, she will have to be well-hidden indeed." [/color=blue]
Iris rises and offers her hand to Robyn. "We will find her, fear not. I can tell you her tale of woe, but not here. That is a tale best heard in the light of day, in convivial company and the warmth and comfort of home. It may lessen the impact."[/color=blue] She nods toward the door. "Shall we depart? I believe you have been cleared to leave this place and the good doctor has agreed to come to you if you need further adjustment. I would take you to Juliet House, my home, as a favor to Calista. I was her first call, to arrange an escort for you."[/color=blue]
-
Robyn takes the hand in front of her and stands. She moves to the counter in the waiting room and writes a short note of farewell to the doctor, before turning to face Iris. "I am ready to go."
The journey from the Warrens is about as uneventful as possible, considering where they were. Her senses pick out people nearby but Iris and Robyn are not bothers, which is completely out of character for this portion of London Below. Robyn would find a place to stay down here if she thought that Calista was still here, but the hard truth is that she has no idea where the vampire has gone. And Iris is right, it is time to go back to the Overworld and see what can be done from there. She knows people here, but she also knows people up there. People that can look for Calista. For a price, of course. And Robyn would pay any price to find her lover, her Dark Lady.
Once on the surface, Robyn allowed Iris to take her to her home in Juliet House, but is quick to tell the other woman that she has a very nice home of her own. She says that she is very glad for a place to stay while she heals some more, but that she will eventually want to go to her own home. One of the first things she does is to buy a burner 'link and set it for the comm code that the had given Calista when they had met. This is what the vampire would call her on and she plans to keep it free of other codes. After arriving at Juliet House, she lets Iris take her to her suite and give her the guided tour.
-
Iris delights in her home. She is vain, of that there is no doubt. Its not that she likes to rub the noses of others in her relative wealth and prosperity, its just that she knows that she has nice things and she appreciates when others enjoy them. The house is in a moderately awful part of the East End, and the homes to either side are crumbling at best and dilapidated at worst, but hers is a house lovingly restored and well looked-after. She gives Robyn the grand tour of the large, stately old victorian, showing her the pool, the garden, the sumptuous bedrooms, even her ritual space. The house herself is a grand old slitch, her floors either green-veined black marble or thick grey and green carpeting, her walls paneled in dark-stained, real wood, her furnishings wood and leather and sinfully comfortable. It is a lovely home that dates back to before the awakening, and Iris is justly proud of it. As she gives the tour, she points out this curio or that painting, always ready with a little story about its creation or how she came to possess it. She introduces the House's software personality, the eponymous "Juliet" and her drone maid, a realistic anthroform named Eros, with top-of-the-line domestic software and more than a few surprises. She even explains the security measures: the bribes paid to street gangs, the watchful eye of the Ten Thousand Lions, the spirits bargained with for astral security, and the Matrix programs put in place by a qualified Spider.
After a half-hour's tour, Iris stops at an oak-panelled door marked with a complicated carved-rose design and tells Robyn, "You can sleep and rest and reside here for as long as you wish. This is Calista's room, and you are welcome to your lady love's residence." She pushes the door open and RObyn is greeted with the smell of roses. A vase sits on the low, round table and two more on the dresser, each holding a dozen blossoms in pink and white and yellow. Unlike the rest of the house this is decorated in lighter colors; white carpeting, blonde wood, pale yellow curtains and dove-colored bedclothes. A small bookshelf holds two-dozen of Calista's favorite novels; The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, Nine Princes in Amber, Carmilla, Interview With The Vampire, Kushiel's Dart, and others, all from the last century or more. There are photographs on the dresser, one of Calista and a young girl, another of her having a black belt tied on, a third of her standing in a snowstorm wearing a scarlet snowsuit and skis.
With a promise that dinner will be served in two hours time, Iris touches Robyn lightly on the cheek and departs quietly, letting Robyn face the room and whatever thoughts or memories it might conjure alone.
-
Robyn cannot see the things that Iris points out, at least not in any real detail. Her Ultrasound sensor allows her to walk without bumping into anything and even gives her a good idea of the textures of what she is "seeing", but there is no color. She stops at the door to Calista's room and turns to face her hostess. "Thank you, Iris, for the tour of your lovely home. Did Calista, or Doc Dicer, tell you that I am blind? I have sensors and senses that can pick out what you were showing me, but I do not get colors this way. I am sorry; I know that many of the things you showed me are beautiful and I can and do appreciate fine things, but I cannot see them to appreciate them like normal people. I will stay here until called for diner. I do hope that I am not too much of a bother. May I call my book store from here? My assistant would like to know where I am and I do not know what you want me to say."
-
Iris looks chagrined. In truth, she had been told that Robyn is blind during one of her interminable long chats with Calista, but in the excitement it had slipped her mind, and Robyn's demeanour and carriage make it easy to forget that she is in any way disabled. She blushes hotly, glad for a moment that Robyn cannot see the color rising to her cheeks and offers an instinctive curtsey. "My apologies, Lady Lysander. I fear I have wronged you by rubbing your nose in your condition." She says formally. "It was not my intent. Indeed, I am impressed. Calista mentioned your misfortune to me, but seeing you move and act offers no reminder that you are blind."
As she turns to leave, Iris says, "Of course you may call out. Juliet House has a global grid subscription. And it is no bother. I owe Calista plenty and you seem perfectly pleasant company." Her lips twitch into the ghost of a smile. "As long as you do nothing illegal while on the grounds, you may tell your assistant that you are at Sola Carys' home in the East End."
-
"No apologies are necessary, Iris. I try hard to appear normal. Indeed, thank you for believing I was and treating me so. I can actually "see" many things in fine detail, but colors are a bit of a challenge. I can use drones to help with that, but the ones I had were destroyed by Melissa and I will need to replace them."
"Thank you for allowing me to call out. I promise to do nothing illegal, but I may have some books delivered to me. I find that having a real book in my hands is a good stress reliever and I have a bunch of them in Braille." She pauses. "I will not give up looking. I let one person I cared a great deal about just walk away and I really do not want to repeat that. How can I help?"
-
Robyn places calls to several people to let them know she is alright, telling them that had fallen quite ill on a trip Below and was still recuperating. She explains that a friend has graciously invited her to stay for a few days and assist her with the final bits of recovery. Her assistant, Sarah, tells says, "Yes, Miss Lysander, I am very happy to hear that you are finally on the mend The staff has been quite worried, but a nice man by the name of Arch has kept us informed on your progress. That must have been some illness."
"It was, Sarah, yes. I am confident that you are running things well in my absence."
After a short back and forth about the status of sales over the past few weeks, Robyn promises to keep her informed as to when she will be back at work in the shop, and thanks Sarah for keeping things going in her absence and signs off to contact Arch. The leader of the Mechanica is also glad to hear from her and gives her what information he can. He has been sending messages to her associates to keep them from worrying too much. Robyn asks him if he has any information about Calista in the Overworld and he tells her no, but that he will put out feelers.
After the calls, Robyn feels a bit tired and goes to the bed, stretching out and falling asleep until dinner is called.
-
During the next three weeks, Robyn is guest of Iris as the Dryad helps her learn to use her implants again. Messages are sent out as the pair begins the laborious task of trying to find out what happened to Calista. Each lead is received with hope, something that never changes for either of them, but every lead turns to dust in their hands. Calista was seen in a number of places by a number of people, but on further investigation, it always turns out to be someone else that looked like her. Robyn wants to scream out that no one looks like Calista, but that would do no good. She cries herself to sleep every night, and wakes up every day with a greater resolve to complete this task better than the last one she let go of.
Some of her clues point back to Below, but she cannot bring herself to back there, yet, so puts off exploring that until she is more ready. Three weeks and she wakes up one morning with a new determination and a new plan. Thanking Iris for the use of her house, Robyn trades promises to share any knowledge learned about Calista and returns to her own home. Once there, she begins the next phase of her search. She realizes that she is going to have to go back Below and that she will need some form of protection that her tattoo does not afford her. Robyn calls Arch and gets the name of Robert Logan, a man that deals in private security. Going to see him she explains enough of her problem to get the man interested, especially when she tells him that she is planning on returning to Below. He asks her to follow him and walks with her to an outside pen holding three large dogs. Robyn sees nothing out of the ordinary except for their size and does not believe the man when he says that these are really just pups, not quite at their maturity yet and will probably add a few inches to their size in the next few months. "These are Hell Hounds, ma'am. Believe it or not. They make some of the finest security beasts available. They are hardy, fiercely protective, and loyal. Presuming, of course that their training begins at precisely the right time. And this is just about the right time for these three. Now, call me a salesman, but I can see that you have some sort of affinity for these creatures. If you are willing to go through some training, I can teach you how to make one of these your best friend. They are already responsive to vocal, sight, and some sound commands. What you need to do is impress them that you are their companion and learn the various signals. It means a lot of time on your part, probably more than he spent getting this far, but you will be rewarded with the best guard animal ever born. What do you say?"
"I have heard only what is "common knowledge" about Hell Hounds. Tell me what is so different."
"Well, for starters, these stand much larger and heavier than just about any other breed of hound. Being awakened gives them advantages over others. For instance, they exist in both our own world and the astral at the same time, which means that they can see and attack men as well as spirits. And they have a powerful set of jaws and a really mean fire breath. They can burn those spirits up like nothing. They have something of the mojo about them, if you know what I mean."
Robyn has no idea at all what he means, but resolves to learn. She asks about the price and can barely keep from blanching at the price tag. Robyn makes a call to the executor of her trust fund and makes a request for the funds to be transferred. There is quite a bit of back and forth before an agreement is made and the money is transferred to her and then to Robert Logan and Robyn is the owner of a Hell Hound.
-
The Hell Hound stays with Logan while Robyn learns how to control it. At some point the two seem to bond and she realizes that her new guardian needs a name and her mind flashes to the man that had saved her life more than once in a very short time period, proving how effective a guardian he has. And so the hound becomes Al and Robyn hopes that the human Al will not mind when he finally shows up. Robyn's mutated brain allows her to learn the different commands and signals easily and her training progresses at a rapid pace, surprising Logan very much. After two weeks of dedicated training, Logan comes to her and says, "You know, it is likely going to be difficult for you to walk the streets of London with Al, much less be allowed into buildings with him. Would you mind a suggestion?"
"Yes. That thought has crossed my mind as well. I would happily hear your suggestion."
"There is no easy way to say it, so here it is. Get a certificate indicating that Al is a service animal."
Robyn's first reaction is anger. She has spent decades proving that she is as capable as those who can see. "You mean a seeing eye dog." It was more a statement than a question and the silence from Logan told her all she needed to know. "I am not sure that I like that suggestion, Roger."
After a brief pause, Logan says, "Think about it. Service animals are allowed by law into every establishment. You have what most people would consider a handicap, although those who have known you for more than a few hours know that is clearly not the case. However, a Hell Hound is a creature of magic, some would say Al is a monster. He scares people just by existing. I can safely bet every nuyen I have that you would be denied entrance to almost every building in Greater London if you try to bring him along. And leaving him outside is certainly not an answer; he is going to be your guardian and would do everything he could to get to you. But a service animal is allowed everywhere. All you need is a certificate of training and then you register him. After that you have no troubles with access."
"I know a man who trains seeing eye dogs and I think he would be glad for the challenge. If he says yes, you could be doing his training as early as next week, perhaps. As it is, you are such an exceptional student that there is little more that I can train you to do. Should I give my friend a call?"
After considering Roger's words, Robyn agreed. An appointment was made and Al's training as a service animal began. Within three weeks, Robyn was able to get a certificate of training and register Al as a service animal.
During this time, Robyn kept in touch daily with Iris as the two followed every clue that came up. Sometimes Iris played sleuth and sometime both went together. Each clue proved to be an empty promise, but did nothing to undermine the hope that Calista would be found.
-
Robyn warns the staff at the book shop before bringing Al home with her, and even so it is a shock for them when the huge beast comes through the door. The creature stands at just shy of a meter tall at the shoulders and easily weighs about 25 stone. Robyn introduces everyone to Al and has him sniff then to add the staff to his list of friends. He is very intimidating and it takes a while for some of the staff to get used to him, especially since he is at Robyn's side as she walks about the shop. She makes time each day to continue her training with Al, learning a bit more every day about this new part of her life. After a few days at the shop, Robyn can get Al to lay down on a huge doggie pillow near the heat register at the entrance to the special book room. His presence there unnerves some of the customers, but he soon becomes a fixture there when Robyn is about. The staff and customers alike are explicitly warned to not try to pet the dog or risk losing a hand or worse.
One day towards the end of the month, Robyn gets a message. "Long weekend next. Coming up? Love to see you. G" Her smile would light the room and after shaking her head responds that she would not miss it. She still has a hard time understanding some of the cryptic speech of the younger people, but this makes complete sense. She lets her staff and Iris know that she will be going to Cambridge the next weekend. One of the meeker staff asks if she is taking Al and Robyn laughs, saying of course. The rest of the week and early the following week see no additional clues concerning the whereabouts of Calista, which means that Robyn can use the time to get in some additional training with Al.
At the beginning of the week, Robyn sets up a hire car to pick her up on Thursday for the drive to Cambridge. She requests one that is driven by autopilot and puts an animal deposit down. She smiles more the closer the weekend comes and barely comes down from her suite above the shop on Wednesday. Thursday dawns grey and drizzly, like so many London days, but Robyn does not even seem to realize it as she puts a suitcase and a hanging bag into the boot of the large auto that comes by for her. Al settles into the rear seat and Robyn gives the auto driver the destination and sits back to let the machine do the work.
-
The ride is comfortable and Al proves to be an excellent travelling companion. By now, he has grown used to her putting a hand on him and seems to enjoy a good scratch behind the ears, much like many of his less fearsome cousins. Robyn had considered taking one of the many trains to Cambridge from London, but with the hire car she has greater flexibility and does not have to worry about how the other passengers would view her Hell Hound guardian. The car travels the distance in a little over an hour and Robyn is brought out of her thoughts by the spires and domes of the colleges of the ancient university. She gives directions to the hotel where she has booked a suite and the car obediently takes her there, where a uniformed attendant opens the door for her and offers her an arm. The man goes momentarily rigid at the sight of Al, but quickly recovers. He does, however, give the huge beast plenty of room as it leaves the car and stands at his mistress' left side. Robyn shows the valet her service animal card while two bellmen take her luggage from the boot of the car. The valet nods after reading the card and welcomes her to Peyman's.
Robyn takes a short chain from her bag and attaches it to Al's collar before turning to the valet and asking for directions to the hotel car park. After sending the hire car off, she follows the valet to the door and enters the grand lobby of the luxury hotel, Al at her side. The Hell Hound causes no end of comments from the guests and staff as she walks to the registration desk, where she notes that two people who were ahead of her in line move away from the counter, giving her first place. She quietly considers this unexpected side effect of having the huge hound at her side and smiles. The woman behind the counter is clearly nervous and is about to say something when Robyn introduces herself, stating that she has a reservation and has made prior arrangements for her service animal. The woman quickly recovers and welcomes Robyn, albeit in a slightly nervous tone. After registering, Robyn is escorted to her suite, where she tips the obviously nervous bellmen and goes to look out the window after they leave. She cannot see with her eyes, and her ultrasound sensor only sees so far out, but what is there is beautiful. Still, she sighs, thinking that all this beauty cannot begin to compare to any of the number of jungles and rainforests she has been to.
A knock on the door heralds the arrival of the room maid, who introduces herself as Stephanie. Robyn identifies a slight French accent and addresses the young woman in that tongue, which goes a long way to easing the tension she must feel at the sight of the Hell Hound. Robyn has the girl stand still to let Al get her scent and file her away as a friendly. A suspicious friendly to be sure, but someone his mistress will allow to get close to her. Stephanie has clearly been warned of the hound, but is still a bit leery of it as it comes close. Obviously happy about not being burned to a crisp, she begins unpacking Robyn's cases and putting things in the closet and drawers. Robyn takes the opportunity to sit at the desk and send a quick note off. >>In town. At Peyman's. Meet here for lunch? M."
The response is almost immediate. >>So glad. Can't wait to see you. Be there at half eleven. Hear food is worth the cost. Love you. G.<<
-
Robyn sits while Stephanie quickly and efficiently puts all of her clothes away, carefully asking about some things to make sure they were placed correctly. The maid casts a questioning eye over the steampunk frocks but makes no comments. When done, she comes to stand as close to Robyn as she thinks the hound will let her. "Will that be all for now, Miss? I am only a bell away and will be at your disposal at any time, day or night. I am provided a room here at the hotel and you are my only responsibility for the next week while you are here."
"Yes, Stephanie, you can help me. I am meeting my daughter here for lunch. She is in her first year at the university. Can you recommend something from the menu."
Stephanie nods. "I see, yes. The university long weekend. It is nice for you to come visit her. Has it been long since you saw her, Madam?"
"A few months, yes. She is all grown up now and needs her mother less and less every year. Still, we get along famously when we see each other, and that is more than I can say for some families."
"Is there a Mister Lysander coming down, to join you then?"
Robyn laughs and shakes her head. "No. No Mister Lysander. There was once someone who might have fit that role, but he chose not to."
The French girl shakes her head and gives a tsk or two before bringing up the virtual menu for the hotel restaurant and giving her recommendations for lunch as well as dinner if they were staying for that. Robyn thanks her and the maid leaves the room. The musician reaches a hand out to scratch Al and wonders what her daughter will think of the Hell Hound.
-
Robyn leaves the room so as to be in the restaurant at just on half eleven. The maître d'hôtel looks askance at the hound, but by now the word had been spread among the staff about the beast and he pretends that it does not exist as he escorts Robyn to a very nice table for two near a window, as she has requested. The tables near her are empty at the moment, which suits her just fine. She orders cocktails for two and sips at hers after it arrives, waiting for her daughter to come in. Her enhanced hearing picks up Gems voice at the restaurant entrance and Robyn waits as the girl is escorted to the table. Or near it, at any rate. "Halloo, Mum. How ha.....and what is that?"
"This is my service animal. I decided that I need a guide to keep me from walking into streets and stepping in front of a lorry."
The pretty woman laughs. "That might fly with other people Mum, but your daughter is not most people. And even if it was true, why a Hell Hound?"
"Even as a little girl, you could always see right through me. No wonder you are doing so well in school. Straight As and all the best high marks." She pats the table. "Now, let Al sniff you and have a seat."
The girl is startled by the name, but puts her hand out to be added to the list of friendlies. Somehow, the creature knows that this one is different and licks at her hand.
Another laugh. "Not sure if a lick means he likes me or is just getting a taste in before he cooks me. Anyway, what if he comes back, Mum? Won't it be awkward to have two Als in your life? Or have you given up?"
Robyn shakes her head vigorously. "I will never give up, Gem. I do still hope that I find him some day. I have so much to tell him that I should have told him years ago before he left. Knowing him, he was probably thinking it was for my own damned bloody good. That, or my note scared him away. But I still hope, dear Gem, I still hope."
Gem nods in silence, then fastens on something Robyn had said. "Hey, so how do you know my grades? The marks have not been released yet. Have you been peeking again?"
This time it is Robyn's turn to laugh. "Just a bit dear, just a bit. I can't help myself. So tell me all about university life. I remember what mine was like, but I had bodyguards everywhere I went. I imagine you have a much more social life."
The two women spend an hour eating and talking, catching up on the several months of activities. Gem can sense that Robyn is not telling the entire truth, but wisely leaves that for another, more private conversation.
-
Robyn signs the chit for the meal as the two women finish eating. Gem puts a hand on Robyn's arm and says, "Mum, would you like to walk a bit. I have things I am trying to work out and don't know if I can get there on my own. We can walk to the university and you can see where I live. It is only a short distance."
Robyn know that her adopted daughter has a very good idea that she has walked lots more than the 1.1 miles from the hotel car park to the university and surmises that something is bothering her. "Of course, Gem. I would love the walk and the chance to see your rooms." The pair stand and the massive hound rises from the floor as well, taking up a place to Robyn's left side. Gem laughs as they walk to the lobby. "Al is really something, Mum. I can't get over that you bought a Hell Hound. How did Uncle Harold take it?"
"The executor of the trust practically had a heart attack when I told him the initial cost plus the cost of training and keeping him. He has never truly been a happy man, and this did not help. However, the expense falls under a certain provision for safety and well being and I forced him to cough up the credits. Last time I checked the balance of the trust, this was only a bagatelle compared to the earnings. I like that word. Bagatelle. I really must use it more often."
The women walked slowly along the tree-lined streets of Cambridge, headed for the university. Neither of them displays any sort of discomfort at holding hands. They chat about what is happening in their lives, but each notes a certain reticence from the other. As they walk through a small park, Gem nods to a shaded bench and the two sit. The younger woman gives the older an earnest look. "Listen, Mother, I can tell that something is bothering you and I am sure that you can sense that something is bothering me. So let's start with you and them I will have my say."
Robyn thinks carefully then sighs. "You do not have my advantages, yet you always surprise me at how sensitive you are. Yes, I have been keeping some things from you. A few months ago I met someone. Someone very special. It was like finding a brick that was missing from a wall. She fit perfectly into my life and I fell for her. Hard. And she for me. She is a vampire sorceress from Below, but that did not matter to me. You already know that I have very good relations with a number of people there. Everything was nearly perfect for just about a month and then she disappeared. I had been unsuccessful once before and resolved to find her. The search led me Below, to House Valerian. I have pointed that House Castle out to you before, remember? She had talked of a woman there. Her name is Melissa, and I do not know if a darker soul exists anywhere among mortals. She was torturing Calista and I offered myself up in her place if she would spare my lover. I know, I know, but one does such things for love. Melissa agreed and tortured me in Calista's place for fourteen hours, using sorcery to keep me from dying. The experience was the worst thing I have ever known, physically or emotionally. Melissa decided to abandon her agreement with me after she got what she needed and I was left on a table to die. Calista rescued me and took me to a physician who healed my body then to another who healed my implants. She disappeared again while I was recuperating from the surgeries. Just disappeared, as if into smoke. I have been actively searching for her, have called in friends of mine and hers to help, put up posters in some of the worst places I can think of and no luck. It is a repeat of Cambodia all over again and it is weighing heavily on me."
"I got Al here to help protect me from Melissa's servants and summoned spirits. A Hell Hound can see and affect things in the astral world and so could help defend me. And another thing; some part of the ritual magic she used on me is slowly affecting what the doctor did to heal my body. I am getting pains in my right leg. Small for now, but they were not there at all a month ago. I have been back to the doctor that healed me and she tells me that she can help, but it will mean a few weeks under her care to make sure that the mojo poisoning is gone. I might do that."
Gem sits in shock then says, "Frag, Mum. My problems are way less than that. I am sorry that you lost your friend, and sorry for her, as well, for losing you. I hope that you find her if she was as close as you say. My problem is far more prosaic, although it is certainly important to me." The girl pauses and bites her lip in a manner that Robyn knows means her daughter is concerned about something. "I, too, have met someone. I was not even looking for love, but it has come to me like a tonne of bricks. She is the best thing to happen to me since you adopted me after you and Al rescued me on that river. She is in pre-med studies as well and we share a room and several classes, and just so much more. I am very happy. But I do not know what to do. We do not know what to do. Her parents are very..........against same sex relationships. Adamant, even. We want to shout it all out to everyone we meet, but she is afraid of her parents. So we hide it and are miserable. Can you meet her and talk to her?"
"Of course, Gem. Is she the rather anxious-looking girl watching us from across the park? It is either her or someone is stalking one of us."
Gem reddens. "Never could put one over on you, could I. Yes, that is her."
"Wave her over, Gem. And you should have brought her to lunch."
Gem reddens again and nods as she stands and waves an arm at the young woman sitting on a similar bench across the park. The woman comes over and is introduced as Lydia St. John-Smythe, and Robyn immediately knows the problem. The Right Honorable Prescott St. John-Smythe is the sitting MP for his district and an important member of Parliament. He occupies several key committee posts and is a very outspoken opponent of anything to do with same sex anything. It might be quite bad for him to have it bandied about that his daughter is involved romantically with another woman. A sticky wicket indeed.
-
Sahsa's sensors tell Robyn that the approaching girl is the same height as Gem and that her weight and form are nicely proportioned to her frame and her hair is cut short in the new style young women are wearing these days. Her clothes are what had caught Robyn's attention as soon as they had entered the park and her security drone had spotted the young woman sitting nervously on the bench. Her daughter's girlfriend apparently prefers the steampunk style of clothing and Robyn is already predisposed to like her. After introducing her to Al, Lydia takes a seat next to Gem and holds her hand tightly, giving her lover a hopeful look and Robyn a concerned one. Gem squeezes Lydia's hand and says, "Mum is totally cool with us, just like I told you she would be."
The other girl gives an obvious sigh of relief. "That is such a relief. I wish my parents were as understanding."
Robyn holds up a hand. "I am totally fine with the two of you being in love, or even just thinking you are in love. To me, your sexuality is your own business. And to be honest, I have had many very satisfactory experiences with other women and can understand the attraction. I also understand that this opinion is not universally shared, and am quite aware of your father's rather vocal position. What can I do to help?"
Gem raises her friends hand to her cheek and says, "Mum, you have said the perfect things. Just as I knew you would. You are just the perfect mother."
"You certainly are. I wish my mum was as cool."
Gem looks at Lydia. "Say, I told you mum is way into your steampunk stuff, right? Aren't you having some sort of party tomorrow night?"
Lydia starts, then gives Robyn a decidedly excited look. "Really? How super. Yes, some friends of mine are hosting a party tomorrow. Can you come? Appropriate dress is required, but I can see if anyone has anything in your size."
"If I know my mum, she has at least two or three frocks she can wear."
Robyn laughs. "You do know me that well, dear. Yes, I have a couple of things I can wear. I hope scandalous is approved?"
Lydia's mouth drops. "Oh God, I do wish I had a mum like you. And Al is really cool, too. In a sort of "is he going to eat me" sort of way" She stands and adds, "We still have one class this afternoon. Would you like to come out for dinner? Maybe stop off to see the room? Here is the address and code to give the warden to get in the building."
Robyn nods and takes the codes as Gem gives her a quick hug and kiss. "Thanks, Mum, you're the greatest."
Watching the two young women walk off together, Robyn is reminded of her first love, which brings her to her other lost loves. She remains seated on the bench under the large tree for a couple of hours, just thinking.
-
Robyn sits on the park bench, lost in thought and feeling a great sorrow for the people she has lost. She has mourned the losses but never allowed herself to really grieve for them, fearing that the grief would mean that she had given up on them. Her mutated brain allows her to remember everything as if it had happened only yesterday and she replays moments she had with all three, allowing tears to fall, finally giving in to the loss and the grief. She raises her hands to her face then slides off the bench to kneel on the grass and bows her head, asking God what she has done to have lost all three of these people. Feeling an urge to pray, she looks on the local grid to see if there is an Orthodox church in Cambridge, resolved to use even a Catholic church if she cannot find one of her own.
A bit surprisingly, she finds that there is indeed a small Orthodox church not too far away, the only one in the city. She struggles a bit as she rises to her feet, but Al is right there to give her a hand up and a comforting pat on the arm. He leans forward to whisper something but the shadow fades before he can tell her anything. In the next moment all thought ends as she collapses to the ground in a heap.
She wakes to a confusing series of sensations. There is a constricting band on her left arm and an unfamiliar feel of being poked in several locations. She identifies a not-so-soft growling that must be Al and there is a low murmur of a number of people talking, although one voice is louder and closer than the others. "There, boy. See? Just trying to help here." Then louder. "See, Constable. No need for the guns. And could you please have everyone just move away a bit so she can have some air?"
Robyn accesses Sasha's real-time feed and sees herself on the ground with Al standing over her in a very protective stance, a man kneeling at her side with a medkit hooked up to her, a small crowd of twenty-three people standing in a rough arc about thirty feet away, although three men in the uniforms of the local constabulary are a couple feet closer and all three have drawn tasers. She also notes a couple of patches of burned grass near her. Two of the constables holster their weapons and begin to move the crowd on and the third joins them, although it does seem that he would have been willing to shoot it out with Al. She stirs a bit and moans, causing the voice to say, "Hold on there, Miss. You took quite a tumble there and hit your head on the bench. Please let me complete my diagnostic on you."
Recognizing that the man has a passing knowledge of what he is doing, Robyn stays where she is, reaching out a hand to Al. "Quiet, Al. The man is only helping." She gives the command to back off and Al obediently moves off all of two feet, still keeping watch over the man with his mistress.
"Quite the loyal.....um......whatever sort of seeing eye dog you have there. I would not have thought a Hell Hound would take to that sort of training."
Robyn turns her head to face the voice. "That is an odd bit of knowledge for a doctor to have."
A slight chuckle, "No, not doctor yet. Just a student working off his obligation to the university for the value of the education I am getting here. But I do have a secondary of para-creature bioscience as well."
"That would seem to be a heavy load to carry and have time for a job as well."
"Tell me about it." A slight ding tells Robyn that the kit has finished its run. "Well, it seems that you are none the worse for wear. Just for the record, may I have your name, address, and comm code? I have to justify why I am missing my class. Too many absences and I might as well take up street sweeping for a career. And will your hound let me help you up?"
Robyn laughs. "He will as long as you do not appear to be trying to harm me." She takes the proffered arm and stands. She feels slightly light-headed and sways, thankful for the man's arm as he guides her to a seat on the bench. "Oooh. I guess I should sit here a few minutes. My name is Robyn Lysander. I am up from London visiting the university." She pulls a cheap commlink from a pocket and passes him her address and comm code. Here you go. And thank you very much for your timely help."
A slight warning growl from Al as well as a beep from Sasha informs her that one of the constables is approaching. The man stops several feet away and lifts his hands. "Oy. Someone's got to answer for the damage. And that monster is a danger to everyone."
Robyn puts a hand on Al's head, saying, "Only a danger to some people, Constable. And I will be perfectly willing to cover the damages. Here, I am sending you my contact information both here and in London. Please send me the bill for any damages. And I do have a license for my service animal. Please consider that when you make any official complaints."
The constable hems and haws a bit then walks away with a stern warning to Robyn to keep her dog in check in future. The man on the bench with her nods and says, "Nicely handled, Miss Lysander. Now are you really blind? I would not have thought you could know the rather officious man was a constable rather than some other odious official."
Robyn laughs. "No, I am completely blind, but not without other senses. It is completely true that one's hearing gets much better when blind." Robyn takes the opportunity to hack the man's commlink to get his name and other information, just in case. "I do believe that I am able to walk on my own again. Thank you for the timely help. May I have your name and place of employment? I would like to send your manager a note for your help." The young man blushes a bit, but gives her the requested information, which matches what she has already found out. He bids her a farewell after making sure that she can walk. Robyn leaves the park headed for her original destination of the Orthodox church, but notes with a smile that the medic turns to watch her as she leaves.
-
The walk to the small church is thankfully devoid of any further incident, other than the normal one of people's reaction to Al. Sasha keeps tabs on the people around her and Al certainly does an excellent job convincing any would-be muggers to look for an easier target. Robyn approaches the door to the chapel and enters into the dim light and coolness of the small building. She makes the proper obeisance at the entrance and walks to the front to cross herself at the symbol of Jesus on the cross. She is the only person in the chapel as she kneels at the prayer bench and begins her prayers, confident that the resident priest will find her soon enough. Robyn has time to run through several of the daily prayers before Sasha and Al inform her that someone is approaching from behind her. She hears the sweep of the priests long robes even as Sasha sends her confirmation and she gives Al the visual signal to stand down. Even so, the priest changes his direction to approach her from the side of the altar. A soft voice reaches out to her, "I am sorry Miss, but there are no........." He stops as Robyn looks up and he sees the card on its chain about her neck. "Pardon me, child. Of course your companion may remain with you. I have not seen you here before. How many I help you?"
"May I speak in the tongue?"
The priest switches to Russian. "Of course, child."
He helps Robyn stand and move to sit in one of the pews at the front of the church, joining her after making sure that Al will not crisp him right then and there. He waits patiently for her to get to the point where she wants to talk, having done this many times in his long time in service to God. Robyn finds it hard to put her thoughts into words, but once started it is like a floodgate opens as she relates the reasons for her hidden grief and sorrow. Somehow it seems easier to do it in her native Russian. Tears flow from her sightless eyes and most of her talk is in whispers. The priest puts a hand on her shoulder and listens to every word, realizing in the way real priests do that she has probably never spoken of these things to any living soul. His words of comfort help ease her soul, more than she had thought they would. A weight lifts from her and she smiles at the man. "Thank you, Father. You have eased my mind. I needed to grieve but was afraid to. I will pray over your words."
Robyn leaves an offering in the box on her way out, her spirits lifted substantially. Her heart is lighter than it has been in a very long time. She turns to go back inside the church and slips her credstick into a slot that probably has not seen much use and adds a considerable offering before leaving again. She walks to the hotel and summons Stephanie to help her dress for dinner. She selects one of her favorite steampunk dresses; a long dark brown frock that sweeps the floor that has a number of buckles and straps. The bodice is designed to expose a significant amount of décolletage, barely holding her breasts in place. The ensemble is finished with a sort-sleeved jacket in a slightly lighter hue than the frock. She adds a pair of lace-up boots that rise to just above the knee and a small hat that sits at a jaunty angle on her head, along with a dark brown umbrella. Her lovely long hair is redone from its customary ponytail into a braid that hangs to just below her ass. Not for the first time, she thanks Pax for giving her back her hair when she healed her. Finished, she turns to Stephanie and asks her what she thinks.
"I think you look bloody marvelous, Madam." The woman blushes and takes a step back. "Pardon my swearing, Madam."
Robyn laughs, "Swearing is alright in my presence, Stephanie. And you may speak as you desire. I would rather hear you tell me I look a bloody fragging wreck than go out and have others think and say it. And please call me Robyn while I am here."
"Yes Mad......Yes Robyn. And that frock really does look smashing on you."
After making her final preparations, Robyn and Al leave the room and walk the short distance to the university grounds, where she asks for and gets directions to the quad where Gem and Lydia room. The warden at the quad calls security to check on the validity of the service animal license but passes her in after the check is made. She walks lazily across the quad, giving the warden plenty of time to alert Gem that she is on the way. Gem and Lydia are standing in the doorway to the brownstone building that houses their small dorm room, and they take her to the lift, explaining what a privilege this is because first year students are not normally allowed to use the lift. Robyn shakes her head, some things seem to be universal to university life, no matter how separated by time or distance. In the lift, Lydia gushes over the outfit Robyn is wearing. Her own outfit is very nice, but lacks some of the tailored appearance of Robyn's The tour of the room is short and Robyn is able to ascertain though her enhanced senses that only one of the two small bedrooms is in true use. Once back in the postage stamp-sized living room, Robyn stops in front of a small glass case holding a very beat up doll made from sticks and ragged fabric. She stays facing the case, lost for several moments in memories. "Still have it, I see. A bit the worse for wear."
"Mum, they will bury me with that ragged thing."
"Yes, I suppose so. I am glad that you are finally using the case I had made for it."
Gem laughs. "It was that or watch it fall apart."
Gem and Lydia escort Robyn and Al back down to the quad and leave for one of the small pubs that dot the streets outside the university, where she introduced to several of the girls' friends. Robyn finds the food to be excellent for pub fare and enjoys the ale and stories that the young people tell each other. Gem talks Robyn into singing a few songs and the crowd shows its appreciation with applause and some free rounds. All in all, it is a very nice evening and Robyn is invited to the a number of small parties, most of which she will not be able to attend, but the offer is well received. All too soon, it is time to go home and Robyn bids her daughter a fond farewell, promising to make the party the following night. confident that Al is sufficient for her protection, Robyn begins walking home, turning down several offers of a ride. On a whim she places a call. "Rory. This is the rather strange woman you helped earlier this afternoon. Are you going to be awake for a while? I would like to see you if you are?"
"Miss Lysander? Do you have any idea what time it is?"
"Yes."
After a moment of silence where Robyn thought he might hang up on her, he says. "Not the neatest flat, but yes, I would like to see you."
"I will be there soon." She changes the direction of her steps and heads to the young man's address. On the way she sends a short text to the hotel to let them know that she was staying out for the night with friends and would not be in until the following day. The walk serves to clear her head a bit from the drinking at the pub and she soon arrives at the small building that houses Rory's flat. He is standing at the open door as she walks up. Without saying a word, he holds the door open for Robyn and Al and follows them inside.
-
Robyn leaves Rory's flat at half ten the following day, walking to the hotel. Her heart and her mind are in a much better place than the day before and she even whistles a small tune, changing it to a hum when Al reacts to one of her note combinations that coincidentally is one of the non-verbal commands he has been taught to obey. She files that information away and laughs, thankful the command had been to stay and not one to attack someone. Knowing that she has missed the breakfast at the hotel, she stops at a pie vendor on the way and purchases several varieties of the meat pies offered. She sits on a nearby bench and samples the pies, sharing them with Al. Once back at the hotel she changes into more conventional street clothes and goes out to walk the city. She should be tired, but she cannot sleep yet with so many thoughts running through her head, the most prevalent one being relief that she can finally start enjoying sex again. It has been a long time since she has satisfied those urges and she smiles as she recalls every detail of the interlude with Rory.
it is a glorious day, a bit overcast as usual, but no sign of the rain that had been predicted on the morning news feed. She returns to the hotel for lunch and goes up to her room for a nap, sending a text to Stephanie, asking the maid to be available at four to help her dress for the party. She falls into a deep and nearly dreamless sleep, waking when her internal alarm tells her it is time. She emerges to find Stephanie waiting in the living area and the two begin dressing her for the evening. Her selection for the evening is a skirt that is split in the front and held apart to expose her legs and a long-sleeved bodice that completely covers her chest. Two lace petticoats peek from under the skirt and barely conceal the tops of her thighs, truly designed to draw attention to what is just almost visible. A bustier-style corset worn outside of the bodice emphasizes the swell of her concealed breasts. A long coat with tails is worn over all of it and she chooses a headband with an attached veil over a hat.
Once ready, she thanks Stephanie and departs for the off campus location of the party. The evening air is a bit brisker than earlier, and she carries an umbrella just in case. One learns to do that in England as rain is an ever-present threat to one's clothes. Arriving at the party location she finds herself to be among others sharing the steampunk traditions. Robyn is an instant hit when she mentions her Mechanica connections in London. Gem and Lydia arrive afterwards, Lydia completely comfortable in a very nice frock but Gem a little less comfortable. She has grown up amidst her mother's steampunk influence, but has never really ascribed to it. She seems resolved to have a good time and soon realizes that the people are very nice, they just wear odd clothes. Both girls seem agitated and Lydia tells Robyn that her father is up from London on a surprise visit and had dropped by the dorm flat earlier. He was pleasant enough, but had made a poorly concealed threat about the rampant lesbianism prevalent in girl's dorms and wanted to be sure that Gem was straight and understood his mind. Both girls had meekly told him they understood and had cried when he left. He had told them he was busy tonight, but would see them for lunch the following day. Gem had mentioned that Robyn was in Cambridge as well for the weekend and he had shown a desire to be introduced to the well-known musician and invited Robyn to dine with them. She tells them that she would be delighted, which seems to relieve both girls.
-
The party stretches on for several enjoyable hours before it starts to break up. Robyn and the girls leave the flat after thanking the host for a very nice time. Outside, the weather has cleared some and the ever-present threat of rain seems to have dissipated for a time. Gem asks Robyn if she wants to return with them to their dorm flat, but she declines. "Thank you very much, dears, but I am going somewhere else."
Gem and Lydia look at each other then back to Robyn. Gem asks, "Who do you know in Cambridge, Mum?"
"You might just be surprised who your old mum knows. But, actually, I am going to the church. I need to think. I will see if I can work out something with your father, Lydia."
The girls look askance at each other, but nod and embrace Robyn before heading off to their dorm flat. Robyn walks the streets of Cambridge, making her way to the church. The door is open and she goes inside. One person is sitting in one of the front pews, but does not turn when Robyn enters and crosses herself. She walks to the front and kneels before the altar to pray. She asks God for the continued safety of Al Guthrie and Calista, wherever they are and whatever they are doing. The emptiness of her heart has been a drain on her for years and she sees no end in sight, her experience last night with Rory notwithstanding. Her prayer finished, she rises and takes a seat in a pew and contemplates her situation. She dozes and is awakened by Al growling softly at the approach of the priest. He stops a few feet away and in Russian says, "If your guardian will not eat me, I would sit with you for a bit."
Robyn motions and Al settles down to allow the priest to sit near his mistress. She, too, switches to Russian. ""My life is very complicated, Father. I feel it spiraling away from me at times and feel powerless to stop it."
"We all feel that way at times, Miss Lysander. Have you considered using that marvelous talent you have to release some of the pressure that is bearing you down?"
Robyn turns her head sharply to face him and he nods. "I am no stranger to the matrix, despite being a priest. The size and composition of my quite small congregation give me much time for self reflection and to listen to music. Your name and talent are not unknown to me. I particularly like your interpretation of several of Bach's pieces for the cello."
The priest rises and places a hand on Robyn's shoulder. "Come with me, if you have some time. I have something to show you. It will not take but a few minutes." Robyn rises and lets him take her arm in his and guide her to a small storage room. Opening the door, he flicks a the dim light and leads her in. "Please excuse the mess, but much of what is in here has not been used in years. Hmmm. It could get a bit crowded. Why don't you stay here and let me get it." Her senses show the priest moving through the piles of stacked things, moving some aside to make way to one corner of the small room. He moves an ancient tailor's dummy to one side and picks up a large case, bringing it back to her. She can tell it is a cello case by its size and contour. The priest confirms that as he excuses himself to pass out of the room, asking her to turn the light off. Brushing off some cobwebs from his cassock, he says, "Now, no guarantees about the state of the instrument inside, but perhaps you would do the church a great honor and play a song or two for the congregation this morning at the service?"
Robyn holds out her hands and takes the case from the priest. The priest talks about it as they walk back to the chapel. "The priest who served her before me told me the story about this case. He had a very old man among the congregation that would play this in the town square on Saturdays. Every Saturday. Rain or shine, hot or cold. Every Saturday. To some accounts he was quite good when he was young, but his skill was failing him at the time my predecessor was here. Still he played. Apparently he was once asked why he continued to play and the man said that he did it for his wife, who been a true master of the instrument. She had given concerts in her home in Russia every Saturday for years and he was simply carrying on as she would have done. He left the cello to the church when he died. I suppose he had no one else to leave it to. Unfortunately, we have never had anyone else who wanted to play it and so it sits forgotten and unused in a storage room. Please look at it and see if you can play it."
Robyn sits down and runs her hands on the case, feeling worn leather cracked with age and neglect. One of the clasps is broken and she undoes the others, lifting the lid to expose the instrument inside. She carefully feels the wood of the cello, finding no obvious cracks, indicating a well made instrument. Removing it, she feels for and finds the expected pouch in the case that holds a soft cloth for cleaning the cello and uses it to remove a two decades of dust. It is as if the fine instrument talks to her, telling her of its prior life and its hope for a future one. She tests the strings and finds three of them in need of replacement. She searches the case again and finds several strings coiled in protective packets, replacing the ones that need it. The bow could use some work as well, but should be able to make do for one performance. The cello is badly out of tune and she places her head against the neck, using her deft fingers to bring it back in. With the skill of years of playing behind her, she rosins the bow and tentatively begins playing the first of J. S. Bach's six Cello Suites.
Soon she is playing as if she was alone in the world. The beautiful music floats through the small chapel and out into the early morning air. First two people, then four, then several more enter the church to see what is going on. And stay for the impromptu concert. And she plays. She plays magnificently, her heart and soul in every stroke of the bow. She runs through the Suites and moves on seamlessly to solo cello works from other composers. Soon the pews and aisles are filled with people who have come in to listen to her play and even more are standing outside, on the steps and out into the street. A constable comes by to move the people along and simply moves them aside so that traffic can make its way by on the street. Word of mouth spreads that someone is giving a free concert out of the church. Somehow, someone gets her name and it spreads. Even people who know nothing of cello music stand spellbound by her performance. Tears flow from sightless eyes as she plays, and she is lost in the emotion of the moment. More than sex with Rory, this is truly cathartic in the way it allows her to release years of pent up emotions. Love vies with loss and is challenged by pain and abandonment. But love wins through.
She plays for three hours straight. She plays until her hands are nearly cramped and she has to stop. For a moment there is silence after she puts the bow down for the last time, the audience waiting to see if there will be more. When it becomes clear that she is done, the people erupt in applause, standing in ovation at the cellist's skill. The priest comes to her side as she bows her head over the instrument and stands near her to ward off the curious and the fan alike. Tears fall from her ace as she lets her anguish go and the priest lets the crying run its course before saying anything. "Are you alright, dear? I do not have to tell you how magnificent that was. Truly amazing."
Robyn nods without speaking and begins putting the cello back in its case. She holds up the frayed bow and says. "Thank you, Father. The bow needs to be replaced and someone should look at the case, but the cello seems to be in good condition. I am sorry to have run past your service."
"Think nothing of it. This old church has not seen so many people inside it for, well since before I came here. Probably forever. And your playing did as much to spread the Word of God as any sermon I might have had ready." He pauses then adds, "This old instrument does not belong here where no one can hear it. Would you like to have it?"
She lifts her face to the man in surprise. He waves a hand and nods. "There is no one here that can play it like you do. One condition, though. You need to return here at least twice a year and give us a concert. Deal?"
Robyn nods and swears an oath that is as binding as life to a Russian and takes up the case after closing it. She stands and calls Al to her side before leaving without saying another word.
-
Robyn places a call to the hotel as she walks the short distance to her hotel, asking if Stephanie can be available to help her change for lunch. She gives a short description of what she wants to wear and is told that the maid will be waiting for her. Before hanging up Robyn asks for a cab to be available and reminds them it needs to be able to take service animals. She consults her chronometer as she enters the hotel and notes that she had just about forty minutes to get ready and meet the others at the restaurant for lunch. Fortunately, her destination is close by cab. As she walks to her suite, she pings Gem and finds out that they are already on the way.
Stephanie is already in the room and has the change of clothes laid out. She greets Robyn and takes the cello case from her, putting it carefully away in a corner before helping her change out of her very wrinkled frock into something restaurant appropriate. The girl is amazingly efficient and Robyn leaves the room with Al with plenty of time to spare. She arrives at Dominic's with three minutes to spare, which proves fortunate when she has to explain Al and show his license to two managers. Finally allowed into the building, she is shown to a table where the others are already waiting. Lydia's father is too amazed at seeing Al that he forgets to rise to greet Robyn. The usher seats her and offers a menu before pulling it back with an embarrassed air and an apology.
Robyn greets the girls and nods to Lydia's father, who is still staring at Al and has moved his chair a bit farther away and closer to Gem. Lydia has to prompt him to acknowledge Robyn and he badly muffles the introductions, having to repeat himself twice. Robyn laughs politely and says, "I am used to Al's effect by now. I perfectly understand. It is a pleasure to meet you."
-
Lunch is....................odd. The Right Honorable Prescott St. John-Smythe monopolizes most of the conversation after he gets over the huge hound on the floor next to Robyn. In turn, she encourages this by asking questions about parliament and his circle of acquaintances, as it appears that they know many of the same people. He admits that, while he does have box seats at the London Symphony, it is usually his wife that goes as he is usually tied up with legislative business. He does lean over and whispers somewhat conspiratorially that he is up here for some meetings with some of the local civic and labor leaders that could have an effect on the economy of Cambridge and the surrounding area and that he is sure that his constituents would be pleased. Robyn nods and gives small, understanding sounds as her contribution to the conversation. The girls just sit and watch while they eat, saying very little except to reply to a direct question from either Robyn or Prescott.
The meal ends when an attractive young woman enters the dining area and comes over to the table. Careful to avoid walking near the Hell Hound, she moves to St. John-Smyth's side and bends over to say something softly. His head turns and he gets a good look down the young woman's partially open shirt as he nods. "Yes, yes. I will be along shortly. Thank you, my dear girl." He looks about as the woman stands erect again and motions to his dining companions, introducing them to his new personal assistant, Mrs. Pauline Gooden. The others nod as they are introduced and the woman smiles at all of them before leaving. Lydia's father huffs a bit then indicates that he must leave for one of his scheduled meetings. "Tedious, don't you know. Tedious, but important to the welfare of this great constituency." He excuses himself and leaves the table after promising to come to the symphony the next time that Robyn plays there.
He reaches for his wallet and Robyn holds up a hand. "Please, Prescott, let me get this as a treat for meeting the father of my dear Gemima's flatmate. It is indeed an honor. And I do hope that we meet again soon. Perhaps in London?" Prescott nods and looks a bit pleased that he is not picking up the tab for the lunch. Both girls look at Robyn in amazement after he leaves.
"Mum. But you did not say anything to him about us."
"No dear Gem, not yet. This is not the time, but I rather imagine I will be able to find something to chat about with your father, Lydia. Never fear, girls, I will get this sorted out. Have faith in your mum. Now let me eat and think on things." The two young women chat among themselves as they finish the lunch and Robyn thinks. After a nice dessert of cherry tarts, the waiter comes by with the check, nearly tripping over his own feet when Al raises his head to look at him as he approaches the table. Robyn thanks him very much and leaves a generous tip for the young man's bravery. Rising from the table, she lets Gem take her free arm as they leave the restaurant. At the exit from the establishment, she turns to both girls. "I may stay in Cambridge for an extra day or two, if you have no objection. And I would like to treat the pair of you to dinner at my hotel this evening. I am going to a small, rather private party after the dinner and I would like to bring both of you, if you are available and not too tired of me yet. No school tomorrow, if I remember the schedule correctly, so it should not be an issue if you stay out late. Remember to tell the porter, though, or you will be climbing walls to get back to your dorm flat and that always looks so inelegant in a frock and heels."
The two girls look at each other and accept both invitations and settle on a time to meet for dinner. Robyn tells them that the dress for the party is casual, but nice and then Gem and Lydia embrace Robyn before heading off to the campus. Robyn goes to the small park nearby and sits on a bench for a bit, trying to organize her thoughts.
-
Robyn spends a couple of hours in the park then talks a Sunday afternoon walk about town. The impromptu concert at the church has had a very beneficial side effect in that a number of people recognize the cellist from the morning and stop to say hello, making sure to give Al a wide area. She stops in several shops and only has to justify Al's presence in two. The huge hound seems at ease with the attention but his head is constantly moving to ferret out danger to his mistress before it gets to her. Robyn is mostly just looking about, but does make some small purchases, including s nice flower arrangement to take back to the hotel.
Robyn calls ahead to the hotel as she is returning and Stephanie is waiting for her with a vase for the flowers and some clothes laid out on the bed. Robyn is pleased and tells the maid so. "You are amazing, Stephanie. You seem to know just what I want. I am thinking of staying in the hotel a couple of extra days. Are you still available for that time?"
"Of course, Miss. For as long as you are staying here. You are really very easy to look after."
Robyn sits and lets her senses tell her what the girl is doing as she moves about the room. She is quite efficient at what she does and has not complained once. **Smart girl and probably worth more than the hotel is paying her. Hmmmm.** "Stephanie. May I ask what you are paid here? You do not need to say, but I would think it is not enough. Would you like to consider moving to London and living with me? Goodness knows I can use the help and my rooms there are more than large enough."
The maid stops what she is doing and turns to look at Robyn. "You want to hire me? Really? Well, they pay me enough for my needs here but not so as I can save for the future. But we would have to talk more on what the job would be. And I would feel badly about leaving the hotel on short notice, so I could not come immediately."
Robyn nods, "I appreciate your concerns for the hotel. We will talk more tomorrow, if you have time. Perhaps we can work something out."
Stephanie nods and continues to work around the suite before going off to take care of someone else's needs. Robyn sits in the room for a bit then sends off a note to the host of the party she was planning on attending, asking if she can bring two guests. The response is quick and in the affirmative. Smiling, Robyn rises and goes down to the lobby to wait for Gem and Lydia.
-
Robyn sits on one of the plush settees in the lobby as she waits, her legs crossed primly at the ankles and her hand on her inlaid walking stick, Al on the floor near her. She is going over some of the research she has set her agents to gather on Prescott St. John-Smythe. The implanted deck and commlink allow her to work and yet appear to be doing nothing. She had chosen a seat out of the way and Al's presence tends to make sure that she is undisturbed, although a helpful young man twice comes near to ask if she would like something from the bar while she waits for her table and twice she tells him no, but as he turns away the second time, she calls him back to place a drink order for just before when the girls are supposed to arrive. He brings the drinks right on time and just minutes before Gem and Lydia arrive. Robyn signs the chit with a generous tip.
She rises as the girls arrive, as does Al. The huge hound is still a bit unsettling, and there is a slight hesitation as Gem and Lydia come forward for cheek busses. They take seats in chairs opposite Robyn and she motions for them to take the drinks, offering a toast to their health and happiness. Although both young women are bursting with questions, Robyn leaves the talk to school, weather, home, etc. Precisely on time, a bell in the lobby is rung and a man enters the lobby to tell Robyn that her table is ready and would they care to come through. All rise and follow the uniformed man into the dining room, Robyn acknowledging the Maître de Hotel as she passes him. She had asked for a table with an outdoor view that was a bit out of the way so as to not create too much of an issue with Al, and such a table is provided. The meal is excellent and so is the conversation, although that is a bit spirited on occasion. Robyn is careful to send word back to the chef that the meal was very enjoyable. The chef sends out a plate of meat for Al, who merely looks at it until Robyn gives him the signal that it is alright to eat.
When dinner is done, the three women rise and are escorted from the dining room by their waiter. The evening promises to be clear and without rain, but all three have umbrellas just in case. Once outside, Robyn fishes a Lucky Strike from her purse and lights it with a beat-up Zippo lighter. Lydia gives the lighter an odd look. "So why do you use that old thing? Lots better you can get right cheaply."
Robyn looks up at her as she clicks the large thing shut and puts it back in her purse. Gem laughs, "Ooooh. Leave it be, Lyd. It is like me and the doll; they will have to bury that with her."
All three laugh. Robyn motions for the others to walk with her although she has them walk so that Al can stay to the street side of her. She reaches down to scruff his head between the ears, which he seems to enjoy. As they walk, she explains that the party they are going to is a sharing experience; a sharing of bodies and emotions and sexual inhibition. Both girls stop, mouths agape. Robyn explains that all participation is voluntary and that anyone can stop what is happening to them at any time. Some bit of explanation later and all three continue on their way, although the young women are quite skeptical. Lydia seems more into what will happen than Gem, remarking that this is definitely something her own parents would be strictly against. Robyn cautions her. "Lydia, dear. And Gem. This sort of party is not something to take lightly, and is certainly not something to do because your parents either are for it or against it. It should be something you do because you both want to do it. Sharing like this is meant to be fun. I encourage you both to come along and try it out, but do not feel that I am pressing you. I will be fully comfortable if you simply decide no and skip the party. But I am going." After a short talk among themselves, both girls decide to come with Robyn to the party.
-
A costumed and masked woman opens the door to the house where the party is being held. She checks their names against a list on a data pad and lets them inside and escorts the three to a changing room, where the three again talk about what is to happen. Robyn waits for the girls' decision and is glad when they both agree to at least see what is involved. She removes her clothes, puts on the required mask, and leaves the pair to go about on their own while she takes the stairs to the second floor and the fun waiting for her there. She has been a committed sharer for years and fits into the party, moving from room to room and sharing her body with others here for the same experience.
Robyn has never been to this party house before and many of the participants are complete strangers, and she is happy with that. She revels in the anonymous sharing that leaves her feeling well used by the various men and women she meets and has sex with. It has been several months since she was out of her shell, in fact since Cali had disappeared, and she had feared that things might have changed. She finds to her great pleasure that she still enjoys it a great deal, giving as good as she receives. Robyn's enhanced sensors are enough to defeat almost any common masks, but she rarely tries, as the main point is to remain anonymous, but she is surprised by meeting two people that she can identify based on the way they speak. At one point early in the evening, she is approached by a young woman who takes her off into a room and proves to be a rather skilled lover but a bit talkative during sex. Mrs. Pauling Gooden hints about her employer in the most unflattering terms, saying that he has been shagging her ever since she was hired. She confesses that neither her own husband nor her employer's wife know of the affair, but that she is quite grateful for all the extra perks having sex with her boss brings, even if his technique leaves much to be desired. Robyn files the information away, wondering if she can use it to get the hypocritical pious jackass off the backs of her daughter and her girlfriend. She barely has the time to wonder at it when she wanders into a room where four men are shagging each other. One finishes and comes to sit near her. After a bit of conversation, she realizes that this is indeed the rather hypocritical pious jackass himself. Sensing a delicious opportunity, she moves closer to him and allows him to seduce her. She leaves him well satisfied and whispers the word "London" in his ear as she leaves him.
She meets back up with her daughter and Lydia at the end of the party and finds out that they had indeed participated and liked it very much. The three leave arm in arm, with Al following close behind. They separate with a promise to meet the following day for lunch. Robyn whistles on the way back to her hotel, already planning on making a trip in the morning to where the pompous MP is staying.
-
Robyn returns to the hotel, undresses herself and climbs into bed, sleeping the sleep of the weary. In the morning, she tells Stephanie that for sure is staying at least two more nights. The maid nods and says that she has approached the hotel with the idea of leaving and that they are not happy. Robyn tells her that she will have a word. After breakfast, Robyn goes to see the manager, who is quite upset at what he thinks is poaching. Robyn calms him down by offering to tell people that the hotel has done a magnificent job in training its maids. The reality of such publicity sinks in and the manager becomes far more friendly. The two discuss how best to word their statements and part as friends, or at least business associates.
Robyn gets directions to the Majestic and walks over to the competing hotel, Al at her side. Once there, she uses her name to determine which is the MP's suite and takes the elevator to his floor. She and Al go to the proper suite and enter. Mrs. Gooden is at a desk in the center of the main room and looks up as Robyn enters. "Good morning, Miss Lysander. What a pleasant surprise. What can I do to assist you this morning? I am afraid that Mister St. John-Smythe is with some constituents right now. Would you like me to leave him a message."
"No, thank you very much. I will wait, if you do not mind." Robyn sits in one of the comfortable chairs and waits. Pauline Gooden gives her a distasteful grimace, but says nothing other than to offer some tea, which Robyn politely refuses. She sits quietly for an hour before the door to one of the offices opens and several men come out accompanied by the Right Honorable Prescott St John-Smyth. All are laughing and patting each other's backs, but the appearance of the massive Hell Hound puts a stop to that. Prescott recovers quickly and introduces his companions to Robyn, who graciously files their names away in subfolders within the folder labeled for Prescott. She looks directly at the man and says, "I know this is unannounced and a terrible inconvenience, but could I have a few minutes of your time? It is about my daughter."
Prescott says, This really is not a good time, Miss Lysander. Perhaps a bit later? Maybe in London?"
Robyn shakes her head and says, "London." She puts exactly the same tone and volume she had used the previous night and Prescott blinks and goes ashen. He turns to his companions and tells them that he will catch them up in a few minutes and motions for Robyn to follow him into his office. Once there he takes a shaky seat and tries to bluster. "Now see here. What do you mean by....................by all of this?"
Robyn leans forward on her stick and says. "Come now, Prescott. I may call you Prescott, may I not.? After all, we did share something special last night, did we not?"
The man sits back in his seat, trembling and perspiring. "My.....my.....my wife and daughter?"
Come now, Prescott. What do I really gain by telling them? I know that you are a hypocritical bastard who fucks his personal assistant and is certainly not discriminatory in his selection of other sexual bedmates, both male and female. And do not think that you could publicly deny your indiscretions. I can tell everyone the location and shape of two very distinctive birthmarks located in places that I should not be able to know."
"The man splutters and tries to regain some of his lost composure. "But......but you are blind. You could not possible know."
Robyn laughs. "I cannot see with my eyes, Prescott, but my other senses are quite good, I assure you. And I can certainly discuss how I used my tongue to feel one while I was blowing you. Besides, you are craven and would collapse under any sort of questioning. Even if most people do not believe me, your wife would suspect. What do you think would happen to all of the money she provides you, especially when it would appear that some of that is used to pay for the love nest you share with your current fuck buddy, Mrs. Gooden? I would think the suspicion alone would leave you very short of funds."
Prescott's body sags; the very picture of a broken man. "What do you want?"
"It is simple, Prescott. Lydia and Gem are lovers and are very much in love with each other. I want you to leave them alone and stand aside as that relationship flourishes. I also want you to stand aside and give support when they decide they want to marry. Your own proclivities indicate that you are already fully immersed in the homosexual scene. You were certainly shagging that young man last night with what I can only describe as wild abandon. And you also seemed very pleased when you seduced and shagged me. Tut tut, Preston."
Robyn stands and gathers her things before leaving without saying another word. She nods to Pauline as she leaves the suite and the hotel.
-
Robyn smiles to herself as she walks along the boulevards of Cambridge. She has several things to be happy about and walks with a light step. The girls ought to be happy, too. At some point she is aware that she is standing outside a particular house, looking up at a particular window. About to turn away, the door opens and she hears a voice call her name. Smiling, she turns back and walks to the house and through the open door.........................................
-
Robyn wakes up alone in the bed, the sheets tossed about as if someone has had a very busy night. Feeling immensely satisfied and comfortable, she sits up and musses her hair after stretching. There is a note for her on the nightstand and she lazily reaches over to pick it up. "I have to leave but you look so serene that I can not make myself wake you up. I left some a particularly good soycaf blend in the pot for you, if you like and the shower still had forty-three point six minutes of hot water for the day. Use it all if you want. I usually get home at half eleven for lunch. If you are still here............"
She smiles and goes to the bathroom to use the toilet and shower, careful to use only eight point three minutes of his ration. She puts his robe on and walks about the small flat. The man is obviously not well off, but he spends his small income on nice things. The generous hot water ration must set him back a bunch, as should the soycaf, which Robyn agrees is a very nice blend. She roots about in the frig and finds something to cook up for breakfast. She looks at Al and decides he needs to go out as well and takes him down and out the back exit after finding a large plastic bag. Once done, she returns to the flat and sits in the window seat overlooking the street. her mind wanders to various places and various people. The pain of losing Cali is so new that it still tugs at her and she relives some of their best times together. She fingers her cross and prays that the woman is still alive somewhere. As always, she finishes her prayers by asking that Al be safe and healthy. After that, she just sits at the window, drinking good soycaf and scratching at Al's ears and head.
The man comes home to find Robyn sitting in the window and comes up to put his arms around her, braving the Hell Hound to do so. She clasps his arms in hers and holds on tight. She tells him that she has made some lunch and he spares a glance to the table where she has laid out sandwiches and crisps. He turns back and puts his head on hers. "Something tells me that I will not have you much longer and I would rather do something besides eat lunch, if you are willing."
Without saying anything, Robyn turns in the chair and kisses him then takes him to the floor where they make love in an amazing manner. It is everything Robyn has been missing from her life for eight years and she lets go with this man she has only met. There are tears in her eyes as they lay together on the floor afterwards. He looks into her face and wipes her tears away. "Will you be leaving soon."
She nods, "I return to London the day after tomorrow."
"Will you stay with me tonight? I get out of class at three."
She nods without saying anything and he leans over to kiss her again before getting dressed and leaving. Robyn lays on the floor for some time before rising for another short shower and returning to the window seat to wait for him.
-
True to his word, the man arrives home a bit after three. He tells Robyn that he has arranged for a chum to take his EMT shift so he can have the afternoon off. She smiles and rises from the window seat to slip into his arms. Seldom has simple contact felt so good and she lets him know that. They sit and enjoy the simple meal that Robyn has prepared, then the man takes her by the hand and takes her into the bedroom. They make love, telling each other parts of their lives as they recover their strength. The sex is amazing and extremely pleasurable and they stay in bed all evening and through the night. He claims that she has ruined him for other woman and she pretends to believe that and in the morning, she leaves him with a kiss and a promise to come see him when she is in Cambridge. She remains in his flat for a bit after he leaves for school, sitting in the window seat and wondering for perhaps the first time in her life if this would be enough. Robyn is certain that the man would declare love for her if given the chance and would likely propose if she even hinted that she was ready for that. She casts her mind about the flat, letting her sensors tell her everything, and she wonders if she could give up everything to live like this.
Her mind goes on to wonder what "everything" actually is and determines that, yes, she could give up everything for the right man or woman. She had been prepared to do that for Al..................and at that point the entire proposition falls apart. She knows that there will never be anyone in her deepest heart except the man she lost in Cambodia. Cali had come the closest to replacing him, but Robyn knows what she would have chosen if it came down to having to choose between lovers. And that would not be fair to the man who has given her back her sexuality. She owes him far more than she can really explain to him, but feels that he does not really need an explanation.
Robyn cleans up and finds a piece of paper and a pen in the flat. Her senses are so much better than sight is so many ways, but they do not allow her the ability to write an actual letter and her effort is usually more like a child's scrawl than anything else, but she painstakingly pens a simple note of thanks to the man and places it on the bed where he is certain to find it. She then leaves the flat, stopping in the street to look up at the window one last time. Her eyes cannot see, but her mind can clearly place herself in the window, waiting for the man to come home to her. As she turns away, she wonders again if it could really be as simple as that.
A light rain is falling by the time she gets to the hotel, disguising the tears she has shed for another might have been. Her life has been full of these might have beens and now it has one more. Her mutated brain allows her to remember everything she has ever done, but that can sometimes be a curse as much as a blessing and right now it is more the curse as she considers all of the might have beens in her life. Not wishing to be alone and maudlin, she lets Stephanie know that she is only in to change and will be going out to play tourist. The maid tells her that the hotel manager has spoken to her and has agreed to release her. She says that she will be available to leave for London with Robyn, if the musician wants that. Robyn smiles and nods, almost breaking down but gathering what strength she can and leaving the room to walk about.
-
The last day is mostly a forgettable blur as she plays tourist. Except that she cannot forget anything. But it does allow her the time to just be herself and she rather enjoys it. She finds a few things to take back to London as souvenirs and finally returns to the hotel in time to dress for a dinner alone. The following morning she packs and leaves for London with Stephanie. The next few days are spent settling her new personal assistant in at the hotel in her suite and getting used to living together. The bookshop below the large flat is a plus for the maid and she settles in happily. Robyn reconnects with her London contacts and pulls a couple of shifts at London General. She is revitalized after her visit to Cambridge and many of her friends remark on it, bringing an enigmatic smile to her face.
Robyn again digs into the search for Cali, seeking out her contacts in both the Overworld and Below, she renews her efforts.