![]() Regulations required that all the students stay wherever they were when an alarm sounded. Those that had been shut down whirred to life, screaming as if awoken from some nightmare of coal shortages. Soon this was picked up by other mechanicals nearby and then throughout the ship. Then the whistle turned into a very loud shriek, like that of a teakettle. When Sophronia did not respond, it whistled again, imperiously. Upon sensing Sophronia, it paused and let out a whistle of inquiry. This particular clangermaid carried a basket full of dirty linens. It was an odd-looking creature, as mechanicals went-faceless, with its head gears exposed, yet it wore a pinafore protecting the front portion of its conical carapace, as though an actual human maid. The maid took only a few seconds to realize it was an intruder. Where normally Sophronia would have whipped out her obstructor and stilled any clangermaid she encountered, this time she allowed herself to be noticed. Sophronia hadn’t frequented this area before, as she spent most of her time trying to avoid the most trundled hallways. Even late at night, with most of the steam turned down, some were around tending to laundry and the morning meal. These last were littered with tracks designed to carry and power the many household mechanicals that ran the day-to-day lives of the students and teachers. She emerged into the hallway that ran through the sooties’ sleeping quarters and from there into the kitchen and serving rooms. The door was so small she had to crawl through it. Since engineering was vast, this shouldn’t be a surprise, but Sophronia had thought she knew all the airship’s secrets by now. He led Sophronia over to a door she’d never noticed before at the back end of the boiler room. Smokey Bones liked Handle best, after Soap. Handle had been selected as their new leader by the sooties’ cat, Smokey Bones, rather than by any democratic process. Sophronia brought the sooties tea cakes as often as possible, and the sooties honored her odd hours and odder requests-when they were a low risk to themselves. And while not as proactively accommodating to her needs, he appreciated a system of barter that served them both admirably. He’d inherited her from his predecessor, Soap. Handle, so called for the size of his ears as well as the usefulness of his actions, knew better than to ask questions of Sophronia when gunshots had been fired. “Exactly! What’s the nearest well-patrolled hallway?” She’d learned to value sooties to an extent entirely at odds with her upbringing and her training. “Miss, are you hurt?” A thin young man spoke first, offering her a hand through the hatch. A few dirty-faced imps, also known as ship’s sooties, were dropping a rope ladder and gesturing at Sophronia to hurry. ![]() ![]() A few lights were on in the front module of the ship, the red-tassel section, the area forbidden to students. The climbing Picklemen, instead of coming to their friend’s rescue, were moving much faster and more frantically. Sophronia added, “And that stupid little girls travel in pairs.” Then she sprinted past, heading for the ship. She put one pretty little kid boot on the man’s chest and shoved him to lie back, coming to stand over him, pistol pointed at his head. Even with Mike Barnes back in the days, the way he initially greets him is genuinely inviting, offering the chance of a lifetime, with all the rewards and opportunities it entails sponsoring him, cheekily sharing pleasantaries, joking around offering him cars, welcoming him to LA, giving him allowance like an overly (and worryingly kind) host.“Stupid little boys should learn to use guns and not wave them around.” Monique walked past Sophronia to the man. With Snake and Dennis, we aren't certain if they're just some kids that co-habitate under his roof, if they're proteeges, his own personal wind-up jesters, his hired thugs or all four. Milos knows Terry Silver's contacts enough to address John Kreese and ask him if he wants coffee right from the threshold of the door. She is never subjegated or submissive, because Terry is nice, and Terry seems infinitely amused by their interactions. Margaret Spencer chats with him while he's bathing and one almost gets the impression of friendship and intimacy with all the mutual teasing going on, on equal footing - like an elderly aunt from overseas berating her unruly American nephew. ![]()
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