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

[ortion]

[Ah, well! It was worth a shot.

He crosses his arms, looking down at her from the other side of the desk.]

Then what, shall I work on it in here with you?

[Knowing her, she'd probably want to breathe down his neck the entire time anyway...]

[soulspice]

[The Lady is in silence for a moment, tapping her fingers against the desk, until she takes a decision. Taking out a bag of tools obtained from who knows where in Krakow, she tosses it across the desk. It's rather heavy, but it has all kind of tools. All of them seem rather normal]

If you're in so much need of a place to work at alone, then stay here. I have to perform some duties somewhere else, anyway. If you need anything specific for this leave me a list somewhere and I'll decide if I grant those pieces or not some other day.

[She takes all of the papers she judges important, and walks to the door]

Don't take the tools out of this room and don't spill anything on the carpet, darling, that'd be such a hassle to deal with.

[Without another word, she slams the door closed, her steps indicating she was leaving the bookstore. Well then!]

[ortion]

[He's actually a little shocked by the decision. His eyes drift further down to the tools, then he follows the Lady's movements as she makes for her exit.]

What do you take me for, some kind of barbarian? I am hardly that messy. [Retorts aside, he gives her a slight bow. It's not entirely sincere of course, but he is pretty impressed by how this is all turning out.] Best of luck with your duties.

[With the Lady gone, he turns around to his new makeshift workshop. He sure didn't think he'd be doing something like working on a generator today, but here he is. Time to get to work!

While Dist knows what the hell he's looking at, his player definitely doesn't. Might this be something he can even hope to salvage?]

[soulspice]

[Someone with an excellent knowledge of machines and technology would indeed be able to solve it if they were anywhere else other than Krakow. It'd be a challenge to assemble the generator and make it work but it's certainly doable, and if he wanted to test it, there'd be plenty of electronic devices in Krakow. In that bookstore there was what seemed to be an old radio, perfect for testing.

But it's just like the Lady said: even though everything is well made, even though it should work, it simply refuses to. The electricity is just completely ineffective, and it doesn't seem like it's the generator or the electrical device's fault.

Stupid Krakow and its stupid lack of electricity, why is it such a problem]

[ortion]

[Fuck!!!

He talked himself up and was entirely prepared to gloat about his accomplishments to the Lady, but in the end even he, the genius Dist, can't get this damned thing to work! He's going to look like a complete buffoon now. Damn iiiit.

He's hardly going to give up, but he knows he's not going to get anywhere at this time. Something is going on with the electricity in this town, and he fully intends to get to the bottom of it.]

[soulspice]

[An undetermined but long enough time later, the Lady returns. When she enters the first thing she does is glance at the generator. Since she sees nothing working, she immediately realizes Dist wasn't any more successful than her. 'How disappointing'. Part of her was hoping Dist would succeed. But nope!

She sighs]

How hopeless.

[She leans against the open door]

Good effort. I barely need to glance at it to know that was a serious attempt.

[She doesn't seem to be mocking him. If there's one thing she takes real seriously, it is mechanical or scientific work]

[ortion]

[Dist is, unsurprisingly, in a bad mood about this. He's sitting across from the Lady's seat in absolute befuddlement. It's only the Lady's words of consolation that prevent him from going off on another rant.]

This is some town you've chosen. I've worked with machines for decades and this is the first time I've seen anything like this.

[He taps a small wrench against her desk.]

I will keep at this, for as long as I am able. I haven't forgotten what else is going on outside of this room.

[Her little game.]