Steampunk Shenanigans

Damien was working late in his lab again, but that wasn't unusual for him. The university's custodian knew him now, and the elderly man gave Damien a friendly wave as he walked past his door. Damien was a little embarrassed as he waved back. The custodian opened the lab door and poked his head in.

"It's getting pretty late out there, Dr. Hart," he said. "Don't want your wife waiting too long for you."

"Thank you for the concern, Jimmy," Damien said. "And I'm still not married. Like yesterday. And the day before that."

"But you've got your doctorate," Jimmy noted. "That's something."

"Yeah," Damien said dully.

He knew Jimmy meant no harm, but sometimes the old man just said what was on his mind without thinking. Damien had gotten his doctorate in engineering at an early age, but he did sacrifice a social life for it. After the passing of his mentor and professor, Dr. Gilbert Devon, Damien had been given his lab and position for future research. He even had to teach in the coming fall, which terrified him.

Damien just went back to working on the machine he was working on, wincing when his fingers were pinched between two gears. Damn, he was getting tired. As Jimmy took out the trash, he yelped in surprise when a blur of orange fluff bolted out from behind the trashcan. Damien grimaced.

"Sorry, Jimmy," he said. "Minnie decided she likes to nap in that corner."

"Not a problem," Jimmy said shakily. "No problem at all. I'm just gonna go now. Evening, Dr. Hart. Don't keep your wife waiting too long."

"I don't- nevermind, thanks Jimmy."

As Jimmy left, Minnie jumped up onto a chair next to Damien and then onto the table he was working on. She made a yipping noise and gently bit Damien's hand to show affection, and he finally cracked a smile and looked away from the machine to pet her head. Minnie had been a helper in Damien's lab ever since he found her near death in a walk outside his house one morning. When he nursed her back to health, the little fox refused to leave his side. She had a little nook in his lab that she slept in, and Damien had fashioned a little backpack for her to wear like a harness that contained small tools and gadgets that he often needed. She was trained to dash over to him when he whistled, then turn so he could access her little bag.

"Maybe Jimmy is right," Damien said. "I should go home. Are you coming with me tonight, or are you staying here?"

Minnie yipped again and jumped down from the table before trotting over to her nest of blankets and settling in. Damien rolled his eyes.

"Fine, I didn't even want you to come with me," he said. "Goodnight, Minerva."

He put out the oil lamps and packed his things with the intent of going home and having a relaxing night with a glass of red wine, but then he was stuffed in a carriage with a bunch of strangers who were threatening him.

They had taken him to an inn somewhere in the shady part of town and sat him in a room away from everyone. He was tugging on the cuff that was tight around his wrist, but it only seemed to dig into his skin more as he messed with it. The one who kidnapped him, who was called Evie, lurked in a corner. The other two seemed to be siblings, and the man was sharpening a blade while his sister sat uncomfortably close to Damien and batted her eyes.

"Ooh, he's so cute," she said. "Corbin, we should keep him when we're done. He looks like he knows how to play."

"Mmmm, no," Corbin said, looking at Damien. "Excuse my sister. Olessa can be a little enthusiastic when it comes to our work."

"Which you still haven't told me about," Damien said. "You just dragged me into this inn against my will and put this very uncomfortable cuff on me."

"Are you uncomfortable?" Olessa pouted. "I'm sorry, honey. You'll get used to it."

"What we want is the spider," Corbin told him. "We're sure you're familiar with it."

Damien was definitely familiar with it. "The Spider" was a creation Gilbert had spent nearly his entire life on. It was meant to be a helper bot fueled with steam and crystal energy, and it would use its multiple arms to do housework. Gilbert had several prototypes and design plans for it, but he never managed to figure it out before he passed away.

"The bot?" Damien questioned. "It doesn't exist. It was a theory. An idea."

"It doesn't exist yet," Olessa said. "You're here to build it for us."

"With a few minor tweaks," Corbin added.

"I'm not Gilbert Devon," Damien told them. "I worked for him, but the plans were his. I have no idea how to build the spider or where the plans even are. And if I had the plans, there were a hundred different versions of them. I don't know which ones functioned and which ones-"

Damien was cut off when Corbin suddenly balled up his fist and punched him square in the nose. Damien's hands flew up to his nose as blood gushed from it and he yelped in pain. Corbin just casually flexed and closed his hand a couple of times. Olessa wrinkled her nose.

"Don't ruin his pretty face," she said. "Hit him in the stomach next time."

"You're going to figure it out," Corbin ordered. "And once you do, I'll give you instructions on the changes we want. And don't even think about telling anyone or running off, because Evie is monitoring you. So enough with the attitude, because you're in no position to give us sass."

"If you play nice, you might even get to teach your silly little classes when the school starts up," Olessa said.

"You'll find those plans and figure out which one is the most recent," Corbin instructed. "Evie, I want reports on whats going on with him. No slacking."

"Understood," Evie said, speaking up for the first time.

"Good."

Olessa gave Damien another wink before she and her brother left the room, leaving Damien alone. He cursed under his breath and took a handkercheif out of his pocket to try and stop his nosebleed. Evie seemed to almost pity him as she walked over and reached out towards him. When he flinched, she just rolled her eyes.

"Relax," she said. "I'm going to set your nose so it doesn't heal crooked."

"What-"

Damien didn't have a chance to say anything before she reached out and quickly snapped his nose in place with a crack. He winced, holding his nose.

"Don't be a baby about it," Evie said.

"Hey, I'm having a really long day," Damien grumbled.

"Trust me, it's going to get much worse."