Minor Adjustments

I was standing on the deck of the Rama shooting the clockwork finches that keep swarming my airship (possibly attracted to the magnetic resonation caused by the new eel generators I devised?)
when I saw a familiar face down on the ground approaching the tower the Rama is docked to. Zooming in with my goggles, I recognized Miss Allen immediatly. She had left the Rama to essentially patrol the Vernian in her glass deathtrap of a submersible, presumably looking for signs of Dr. O's men, or Deep Ones, I had told her deep ones, but she seems to think that means everything in the sea.

Regardless, Usually she only comes to where I am docked when it's time for one of Miss Aya's personality adjustments, where I usualy take the chance to examine some of the machinery that powers her (much of it is just the regular clockwork i've seen in so many older model automotons, but some of her cognitive engines are still a total mystery). Miss Aya was currently in Caledon and last I knew, there was no personality upgrade for today, so I knew something was amiss. As the elevator arrived to the level of the docking tower, and Miss Allen stepped up the gangplank onto the top deck, I nodded to her, and asked what was wrong, assuming something had happened during one of her patrols, possibly the glass mockery of proper subs springing a leak.. She replied by revving the sawblades in her forearms and taking a swipe at me. Apparantly she had somehow gotten stuck in combat mode again. Luckily, the fact she did it in an unusually jerky motion gave me enough warning to duck out of the way. I rolled back, and drew my pistol, she leapt up as the bullet I fired pinged uselessly off the metalwork of the deck, and then was upon me, slashing with her blades, and digging deep furrows into my chest. I was able to kick her off, and activated the gauntlets I always wear. The gauntlets had been an early project of mine back in Antartica, utilizing copper disks engraved with a specific series of tetragammic wards , and powered by miniture, self contained tesla turbines, they harness the powers of the elements depending on the settings, the current settings were lightning. I swung one fist at her, attempting an uppercut, She deftly sidestepped and swinging around one of the envelope's tether cables, landed a kick in my face, mashing my resporator into my skull. I pulled off the mangled device, and spat out a couple teeth, glad there were no other spectators than the clockwork finches, the teeth I'd have to replace later. I rushed towards Miss Allen as she crouched on the decking, and swung both fists down towards her head in a hammer blow. She blocked the blow with one of her arm saws. her arm shattering as it connected with the lightning field emitted from the gauntlets. We both backed up and eyed each other, this is when i noticed the red glint in her eyes, wich was very unusual to say the least, I tried to speak to her, after spitting out a little more rotten, congealed blood, "What are you doing? This is not like you at all." pretty pointless and cliched, but enough to make her pause to reply "I must kill Footman" As she spoke, I changed the settings on my gauntlets, and swinging my arms as far apart as they could go, clapped them together as hard as I could, sending a sonic blast of sound towards her. She took it full in the chest, losing her balance and falling off the edge. I approached and looked over, expecting her to be shattered all over the ground. I saw nothing, then two steel strong legs swung up and pinned my neck between them, she then pulled me down. She was hanging onto one of the engine mounts apparantly, and was now trying to crush my throat with her legs. I was beginning to lose my vision, I don't often need to breathe as much oxygen anymore, but I do still require some, as no matter how much serum I use, or research i preform, the brain still needs oxygen to function, and with the current lack of respirator, and now an insane automoton's thighs squeezing it all out of me, no much of that was reaching my brain now, and I really did not want to have to keep it in a jar again while I repair everything else. So as i blacked out, I switched the dial on one gauntlet, while smacking the resistors on the other against her leg, cracking the ceramiam covering, and exposing the metal underneath. reaching for the exposed metal with my other hand, I grasped her leg and sent jolts of elemental lightning through her body, and coincidentally through my own as her legs were still firmly clamped around my neck as I smelled burning and realized it was me, she let go and we both fell.

When I awoke, my crew had apparantly returned from their foraging for fish and coal, the pengi's bringing down a stretcher as I propped myself up, feeling a possible broken leg, and of course the smashed in face, misssing teeth, and deep oozing wounds in my chest, I was also having a very difficult time breathing. Fortunatly, one of the pengi approached with one of my backup respirators. I gladly put it on, and started to breathe much more easier. As the pengi's loaded me onto the stretcher, and I mentally went through my inventoy of parts, i believe I had enough in spare bones to replace the broken ones, the wounds I could stitch shut again, my teeth were the easiest to replace, and a liberal infusion of serum should help, As the pengi brought me up to the ship, I turned to look at Miss Allen, her arms and legs were still in peices, but I could ell she was still functioning from the key on her back still turning. Wanting to know what happened to her, and who would want me dead, I ordered the pengi to gather her up and bring her in.




After preforming some basic surgical procedures to myself, some bone splinters still remained in my leg, but they'd soon work their way out anyway, and I had a new femur to stand on at least. I then turned my attention to Gizzy. Her torso was propped upright on my desk, the bits and peices of her arms and legs in a box underneath. I had popped her head open, and looked a her brain, her body is typical clockwork many of babbage's older automotons, such as the ones in Clockhaven have, but her cognitive engine, or her brain, were still unlike anything I had seen, the scientists of her homeland really knew what tey were doing. I didn't want to damage anything, so I simply flicked the small copper lever in her brain marked 'Reset'. She came awake immediatly and looked around, no sign of red in he eyes at all. "Where am I?"
"Gizzy, you're in my study, do you have any memory of what happened?"
"none, I had been in th canal district, and now I am here, why am I damaged?"
"so you don't remember who sent you to kill me?"
"me? kill you? why would I agree t something like that? no, I didn't! Where's Miss Aya? does she know what happened to me?"
I sighed, apparantly any recollection was purged when I reset her, but someone obviously had tampered with her engine, "no, Miss Aya is out of town, it's alright, I can patch you up, you are sure you don't remember anything?"
I took out my tools ad began to work on her limbs as she thought about it.
"Well, there was a man I met and was talking to just before......I tried to kill you, he was.....hm....I don't remember what he looked like. I'm sorry"
"It's alright, maybe you should switch to conservation mode, save your energy until you're fixed."
She nodded and blinked as her eyes went stark black, signifying she was in her version of sleep, leaving me to repair her and think things over, Who'd want to kill me? I've actually managed to keep a low profile in this city, most enemies i've made are dead, and I doubt Langain's dinosaur friend is smart enough to even remember all the tranq darts I fired at her months ago.
so who could it be?.....