Private Conversations with the Lady

[soulspice]

[Welcome to the Lady's...not home far from home, but it's a place she tolerates. The moment you enter it's clear she did her best to make this office in the bookstore a place she approves.

Outfitted with an overly plush chair on a rather elaborate rug, the desk is overflowing with countless books stacked everywhere, with everything serving as a makeshift bookshelf including an errant fax machine. The Lady seems to have tried her best to make the amenities up to her standards: there’s a tray with a teapot, notes everywhere written with confusing ciphers, and what seems to be an attempt to make a generator, but wasn’t completed.

Where the Lady sits it’s far more orderly, facing the door and giving her the high ground against anyone who enters. On the far wall hangs a large portrait of the Lady, adding character and additional charm. Truly, this is the office of someone who wants you to feel small before her presence.

And, there on her chair, there she is. When the door opened she turned her head towards you, seeing who it was. Invariably of who it is, she sighs like this is a big interruption of her work, and keeps writing and drawing]

Don't touch anything and make sure you don't track mud in. If you have any complaints go see Rembrandt.

[She didn't even look up while saying that. So, what brings you to her office today?]

Comments

[soulspice]

You know, Rembrandt once asked me why I tolerated you. I said you reminded me of my world. You'd fit in seamlessly. [She goes quiet] Adored by your followers and reviled by everyone else, being the one who dictates the fate of any common person who lives in the vicinity of your lair. Working day and night to bend the laws of physics to make them do what you want them to do.

[And he's shamelessly proud of his work. Really, if she didn't know better, she'd think she brought someone from her world]

Science rules my world. Those with a spark of genius are who make the world go round. I don't understand how that doesn't apply to the rest of the worlds out there, it really should be the same everywhere.

[It really shouldn't, her world is a major mess]

[ortion]

[That gets a soft laugh out of him. But even his soft laugh still has a villainous touch to it. It really does come naturally to him...]

I wouldn't say my ambitions are that lofty. I believe Iago is the one you are looking for to have a mass of followers to bend to his will. [He speaks with a lot of fondness for Iago, though.] But don't get me wrong- I love the idea of having more support behind my work. I certainly don't receive it back home.

[His magnum opus is a banned subject and he's a branded criminal for even continuing to practice it, so...]

Your world does sound lovely. I would like to hear more about it, and about you. Whatever you are willing to speak about, of course.

[soulspice]

Oh, I'm already trying to recruit him too, darling, but the offer I had for him has lost its luster.

[Because Iago got that pesky little thing they call "character development" and she wasn't counting on that. How dare Iago grow to some extent!]

My world is...the year is 1896. People with talent in science are rare because it's genetic, and often it comes from families. Usually the first signs appear at childhood, and it tends to be fatal because when you have the ability to do science, you just are a danger to everyone including yourself! That's half of the fun, frankly.

[Mad scientists causing their own deaths is common no matter the age, really]

[ortion]

[Did she? Well that's something to think about. He almost wants to ask why she's losing interest in Iago all of the sudden, but he'll just keep that to himself for now.

The description of the Lady's world gets quite a look of intrigue from Dist, and a smirk. Boy does he ever relate to bending the laws of science at a young age...]

I take it your own childhood never lacked a dull moment, then. Are you part of one of these families of scientists?

[soulspice]

That's right. My father was a rather renowned villain to the point where me, my sisters, and I fighting against heroes trying to stop our many schemes happened every once in a while.

[And it was real fun, really. The Lady has absolutely no love for her sisters, but she appreciates her father. Who'd have thought]

Those were quite the fun times.

[ortion]

Incredible.

[Like, honestly. That sounds like quite a life. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do to protect your work.]

I imagine you went off to begin your own projects somewhere down the road...?

[soulspice]

Of course! You can't be under someone else's shadow your whole life. You have to branch out and make a name for yourself, or else you're just a footnote in the world! Who'd want that?

[Certainly not someone with an ego the size of a mountain like her, really]

[ortion]

Nobody worth mentioning, obviously.

[Lady, how does he get people to actually listen to him and take him seriously, though?! Was he just born into the wrong world for this???]

So where does this [he motions around in a general sense] fall into place? Is it simply another addition to your grand resume, or something more?

[soulspice]

Something more. The project in Krakow is the final piece I need. My total and indisputable victory is literally days away once I get what I want here.

[And apparently it makes her so confident she has no problem admitting that]

[ortion]

[Man, if only she would boast about this project some more...but he knows that's not going to happen unless he makes it through this nonsense.]

I take it you must be facing off against more of those "heroes" you spoke of.