[Flashback] Mad Science (Minerva)

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„I wasn’t sure“, he replied. „Your accent or dialect or whatever it is that you are speaking makes you hard to understand. You are aware that you will have to speak proper Common at the university, aren’t you?“ As far as Valerius was concerned, her way of speaking was a clear sign that she belonged to a lower class. Even if she were dressed in silk and velvet, as soon as she opened her mouth people would know. Judging by her behaviour she wasn’t even aware of where she belonged. He hated people that didn’t know her place. The fact that she admitted to being a dog person though redeemed her a little in his eyes. „I prefer dogs as well, to be honest“, he admitted. He suddenly wished he had his dog with him. He would loved to see how she reacted to an animal that was almost as big as her. „And it’s ‚I am’, not ‚I is‘“, he informed her. „Archimaneus had all the right in the world to boss you around by the way. It’s part of the relationship between a master and his apprentice. The master tells the apprentice what to do, although he should have made you do more things related to magic rather than abusing you as a servant.“ „Now then, would you mind telling me a little about Animation?“ he asked her. „In return I will not tell anybody what you said about the stuffed shirts. I may even let you look at my paper a while longer as long as you don’t ruin it.“ He needed to know exactly who he was dealing with. Was she just a paper thief? A liar? Or a real mage? It was such a pity that the Ebonstryfe was nowhere nearby!

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"Oy, what's wrong wit' the way I talk?" she demanded angrily, advancing on him and roughly shoving his shoulder. "Ain't nobody what needs ta tell me 'ow ta talk, bludger! I's plenty smart, an' I can does 'at book learnin' jus' fine, I can!" She leaned up close to his face, her temper flaring. "Maybe it's you's what needs ta go back ta school, mate? Aye? Ya must'nt know Common so goods if'n ya can't understand a lass what be speakin' 'er plain as day in fron'na ya! I don't know who done taughtcha ya manners, but yer really up yerself, ya know 'at? Why I oughtta take ya down a peg o' two, I should! Yeesh..." When he started lecturing her on the nature of masters and servants, she shook a fist in his face. She was starting to turn red from anger now. "Oy!" she shouted. "Ain't what nobody what done got 'eir right ta tell me what fer! Look mate, I don't know 'ow people does 'ings 'round floaty-town, but ya done say somethin' like 'at back'n Sunberth, an' ye'd catch a shiv inna gut, ya would, and weren't nobody take a second glance ya way 'less 'ey 'ad ta worry 'bout trippin' on ya, aye? I don't stands fer no bossy pants tellin' me 'is 'ullabaloo, an' I don't stands fer no blackmail neither, aye?" She hadn't the least idea who she was talking to right now, nor did she care. Where she was from, no one man had power over another, and despite this man's views on the nature of masterdom and subservience, Tock was no little girl who would let herself be bossed around. "Ya wanna learn jack one 'bout magics an' stuff," she said, shoving a finger in his face, "first thin' ya gotta pull yer 'ead outta yer arse, step off yer 'igh 'orse, an' done ask nice like. Secon' thin', ya gotta 'pologize what fer callin' me dumb, cause I betcha I's smarter 'an yous. Third thin', ain't gonna be no 'I's a gonna tell folks on yous 'less ya do what I says.' Ain't somethin' fer nothin', not nowhere. I ain't gots no reason what fer ta tell ya nothin' less I wanna, o' less ya gots yerself somethin' what fer ta make 'er worth my while, aye? Aye." OOCI hope you don't take Tock's angry rant personally! She just has a temper. But I'm really enjoying this scene!

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Truth to be told, Valerius found her outburst rather amusing – which was probably not the effect she had been going for. The corners of his mouth twitched a little, and he looked at her as if she were only here for his entertainment, as if were just watching a particularly funny play. She reminded him of one of the annoying, somewhat stupid children that his relatives insisted on having. „Oh, I do intend to go back to school“, he informed her as if he hadn’t noticed that she had meant to insult him. „I’ve always wanted to return to the university for another semester or two. As for my lack of knowledge of Common, I would understand you much better if you decided to speak like a normal person. You should stop weaving your fist around by the way. You might accidentially hurt yourself.“ „As for your mention of Sunberth, I’m afraid that we are not there at the moment, so you’ll have to play by the rules of floaty-town. My family count much more than yours in floaty-town.“ He wondered if she even knew that this city was called Ravok. Should he mention it to her? No, he wanted her to get in trouble because she thought she was in some kind of strange place called floaty-town. „I’m afraid I can’t apologize now, by the way“, he remarked. „It’s not been proven that you are indeed smarter than I am yet. So feel free to show me that you are indeed an intelligent young woman.“ He pushed the finger she had shoved in his face away, and then he made a step back in case she insisted on doing the same again. „Anyway, there are a lot of things I can do to make it worthwile for you. You just need to tell me what you want. House Nitrozian has a lot of influence in this city.“ „And give me my paper back before you ruin it. It’s important.“

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock grit her teeth and bit the inside of her cheek after the man's retort. She really wanted to hit him. Back home, she would have simply done so without a second thought. But... much as she hated to accept it, she was smart enough to realize it was a bad idea here. If people could apparently get in trouble just for bad-mouthing the government, who knew what would happen if she actually started a fight with someone. She shoved his stupid paper at him, glaring at him. She was torn. Torn between hitting him, spitting in his face, just plain walking away, or... trying to get something out of him. She didn't know anything about this 'House Nitrozian', but he said it as if it meant something. Back home, there wasn't one family or house that 'had a lot of influence.' Nobody had that much power, because if they did, they'd get taken down right quick. This guy's attitude seemed to her like a prime example of just why that was. Give someone too much power, and it went straight to his head. Made him think he was better than everyone else. Well, he wasn't better than her. And she decided if she couldn't hit him, she'd just have to prove how much better than him she was. "Awright, Mister Smarty Pants," she said, crossing her arms and staring him down. This had become a challenge now. "Ya want I should show ya 'ow Animation works, I's gonna need a lab... an' tools... and buildin' materials. Which, 'course, I'd 'ave ta keep when we's done..." She stared him right in the eye. She was confident she could demonstrate her skill to him. Sure, she was a novice, but she was a genius novice. She knew ways to adapt her designs around her limitations. That was a large part of why she had trained in so many different areas. What Mr. I-Think-I'm-Better-Than-Everyone probably didn't know was how effectively Animation and Gadgeteering could each fill in the gaps in what the other discipline could do. Something she was too inexperienced to accomplish in a straightforward manner could be improvised in another way. She was quite confident she could do something to show this man just how good she was. It just depended on how much he was willing to negotiate.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„Thank you“, he said somewhat sarcastically as she finally returned the paper to him and put it into the folder. Now that he had all his papers back, he considered whether he should just go back to his ravosala and leave. He had what he wanted. On the other hand she had turned out to be quite entertaining (and mildly infuriating). Why, she looked as if she seriously considered hitting him now! Truth to be told, Valerius thought that hitting somebody would not be such a bad idea. Minerva looked as if she could benefit from a slap, but again, he didn’t hit women - unless they were slaves. „Ah, you are mistaken. My name is not ‚Smarty Pants‘“, he informed her. „I’m Valerius, and I think I can arrange a few tools and building materials for you.“ Finding a lab for her would likewise pose little problem, the question rather was whether he should find her a lab where she could conduct her experiments. His family would likely not be pleased if he dragged a woman that looked like she had escaped from an insane asylum into the family mansion – a woman that might or might not possess dangerous skills. But then again, would it not be better to watch her, to study her rather than letting her loose on the city? He had made his decision. „Come with me. We’ll need to take the ravosala. I can’t think of any place where you can demonstrate your skills nearby. Unless you are worried that I’ll throw you off the boat when we are in the middle of the canal so that you’ll drown?“ He smirked a little as he said that.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock arched an eyebrow, mildly surprised the man had agreed so quickly. Then she shrugged, a wide grin spreading across her face. "Awright mate!" she said, giving him a friendly smack on the arm. "Let's do 'er 'en, aye?" She followed him over to the boat without further question. When he mentioned throwing her off the boat, she snorted, then burst out into laughter, slapping her knee. "Oy, throw me over, aye, right!" she said, still laughing. She gave him a few hard, playful slaps on the shoulder. "'At's a good one, mate! I'd like ta see ya try, aye!? Ha!" She continued laughing, though there was nothing smug or challenging in her tone. She had merely taken it as a joke. Valerius had the look of a man who'd never been in a proper tussle in his life. He had the soft hands of a rich boy, whereas Tock had spent her life doing physical labor, and been in more than one fight in her time. Sure, she was no trained warrior, but a girl didn't grow up in the streets of Sunberth without learning how to throw a punch and knowing how to keep a man's hands off her. But then again, she didn't know how to swim. Not that she was going to admit that to him. She climbed into the boat, taking a seat and looking the vessel over. She had been on a few sailing ships before, but nothing like this. She was curious how it worked. She knelt down in the boat and started examining its structure, leaning close to the wooden boards to see how the cracks between them were sealed. After a few moments she leaned over the edge of the boat and stuck her head in the water again to get a look at the underside of the boat. She knocked on the bottom a few times to check how solid it was. Then she leaned back up and brushed the wet hair out of her face and grinned at Valerius, bouncing in her seat a bit. "Oy, so, Val," she said, bubbling with excitement over the coming project, "whatcha wanna see me build?"

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„Mate?“ Valerius arched an eyebrow as he heard what she called him. „I’m not your mate, woman.“ As she gave him a smack on the arm, he pushed it away, looking slightly annoyed. Had nobody ever taught her manners? At least she followed him onto the boat and didn’t complain or make some kind of stupid remark about him or his slave. Although he didn’t understand why she felt the need to repeatedly touch him. Did she think she was being friendly? Had she suddenly developed some kind of weird, unnatural attraction to him? She needed to restrain herself! If it weren’t for the fact that she was in possession of potentially dangerous knowledge … As she stuck her head into the water again, he shook his head. Pushing her suddenly seemed even more appealing than before, but then again he doubted that she would learn from it. She didn’t seem to have learned anything from the first time, so he just left it at the warning. „Be careful!“ With that he turned to the slave who was sitting in front of them. The man couldn’t help but wonder what was going on, but he knew better than to ask. A slave was supposed to be quiet unless he was given permission to speak. „To the Nitrozian Estate!“ Valerius told the slave, and soon they were on their way to his home. „We don’t have a laboratory per se at the estate“, he informed Minerva. „We Nitrozians are merchants, not mages, but what we have should be sufficient for your needs. There are proper labs at the Institute of Higher Learning, but you’d have to be a member to use them. As for what I want to see you build, make something that will impress me, that will convince me that you are indeed the talented young woman you claim to be.“ It wasn’t too long before they reached the Nitrozian Estate which was probably far more luxurious than any house Minerva had ever lived in. As Valerius stepped through the door, a couple of slaves appeared. „This … lady needs dry clothes“, he informed them without asking Minerva if she did indeed want dry clothes that would keep her from getting a cold. „She’s also going to build something for me. Bring whatever she desires to my quarters as long as it’s not too expensive.“

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Minerva cast him a glare when he called her 'woman,' and said, "Oy, 'mate,' 'bloke,' 'chap,' 'feller,' whatever ya done wanna be called 'en. Ain't gotta take 'er all personal like." It never occurred to her that he might take the word in a much more literal manner, rather than the casual way she always used it. As they approached the house, she looked it over with architectural interest. She was impressed, but not at the display of wealth. She really didn't care about money or power, and thus didn't give a rat's arse how nice of a home Valerius lived in. Rather, she was interested in how a house that big was put together, and if it took any major differences in construction compared to a smaller home. She wondered how thick the support struts had to be, and how they were arranged inside to hold up the large frame. She didn't offer any protests when he had his servants (for as far as she knew, that's all they were) go to fetch her some dry clothes. When he mentioned that they should bring 'whatever she desired,' she grinned, and pulled out some paper to make up a list. It was nothing elaborate, but she listed some sizable quantities. It included wood, metal, gears, springs, a variety of other clockwork parts, and tools. She had her own tools, of course, but there were certain 'specialty' tools that were currently outside of her price range. Though since he acted like price was an issue, she said, "Better stuff makes fer a better way what fer ta impress ya, aye?" How good of a creation she came up with would depend greatly on what she had to work with. She rubbed her hands together and grinned. "So," she said, looking around the expensively furnished entry hall. "I gonna work right 'ere?" She didn't much care where she worked. As long as she had the tools and supplies she needed, she would work anywhere.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Valerius looked at the list she had made, frowning as he did so. „That’s quite a lot“, he remarked. „It’d better be worth it.“ He handed the list to one of the slaves. „I want everything on it to be delivered to my quarters within a bell.“ The slave – a middle aged human male with brown hair – nodded. Once he was out of sight, Valerius gestured for Minerve to follow him. „You are of course not going to work right here. This is the entrance hall. It wouldn’t do if everybody saw you, and you got in their way. We’ll go upstairs. My quarters are there. Or are you worried that I’ll take advantage of you once we are alone? Trust me, I have absolutely no interest in your kind.“ He laughed a little. With that he walked up the stairs. She could follow him – or not. If she chose to follow him, she would eventually find herself in a spacious room with a balcony from which she could see the canal below. A huge brown dog – easily as big and heavy as she was – was lying on the carpet in the middle of the room, watching her closely from out of big, black eyes. „My dog“, was all Valerius said before he sat down in the single armchair that stood in front of one of the windows. It was only a moment later that a dark haired girl appeared, holding a white blouse and a simple blue skirt. „My master said you were in need of dry clothes“, she remarked. „You can change in the room next to this one.“ Her gaze rested on Minerva for a moment, but she knew better than to ask Valerius who she was and what had happened to her. He was a Nitrozian. He was allowed to bring suspicious people into his home every now and then.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Minerva grinned when he so quickly agreed to her list. She started bouncing up and down on her toes, eager to get started. She was starting to form some ideas in her head about what she could make, but she would need to get everything down on paper before she made a final decision. Until then her mind was simply a mass of whirling gears, coiled springs, and ticking pendulums just waiting to be made into reality. His comment about 'taking advantage of her' made her snort. That was about as likely as him throwing her off the boat. She'd been known to insert chisels into places they didn't belong when men tried to get fresh with her. Besides which, he most definitely wasn't her type. Too smug. To obsessed with his own status. Bring a man like that to Sunberth and he's wind up hanging from a tree within a week. She followed him upstairs, ignoring the dog. Unless it was trained to fetch her tools, then as long as it stayed out of her way, she didn't care what it did. She also ignored the servant who came into the room, right up until the point where she tried to hand Tock a frilly white blouse and a skirt. She snorted and tossed the clothes back at the woman. Turning to Valerius, she held her arms out to the sides and asked, "Does I look like some fancy Mary Sue Lady wit' petticoats and ribbons? Oy, gimme some trousers an' a work shirt what won't get all stained an' ripped five minutes in." She gestured to her own clothes, which were made for work. Leather pants, thick shirt, tool belt, and a leather vest with pockets and loops she could hang tools from. She definitely wasn't dressed like any girly-girl. "I can't work in clothes like 'at, mate!" she said. "Skirts done gets all tangled when yer up under a construction o' a machine, an' a loose shirt like 'at's done gonna snag every gear it comes near. Oy!" She was right. He had definitely never done real work a day in his life.