9)All of Us Mechanical Monsters (Tick)

Johann stood in the shadows below the window where he used to live. He knew he couldn't go back but this didn't ease the ache in his heart or whatever it was he was using for a heart these days. He continued to watch the window when a young girl, who was covered with dirt and soot, carefully peeked around the corner he was hiding and said, “Whacha doing here Mister?”

​Johann turned his head and pulled his pilgrim hood further over his face and said, “Nothing, now go away!” This was the first time he heard his new voice. It sounded mechanical and distant. Almost sinister.

​The little girl defiantly stepped forward and reached up and pushed Johann's hood away, “Say Mister, you one of those sentinels which protect the M'press?”

​Johann reached up and pulled his hood back in place and yelled, “No! I'm something else! Now Go away!”

​She wasn't deterred at all. She held out her hand and said, “I'm Mousy, what's your name?”

​Johann looked at her startled. This young girl appeared so frank, open and honest. Without realizing it he reached out and gently took her hand and said, “I'm Johann... Well I used to be Johann Schmidt.” he pointed up to the window he was looking at and said, “I used to live up there.”

​Mousy looked thoughtful and said, “I heard of ya. Ya the one who went up the 13 for killing some lard or nuther.”

​“Yes, that's me. So now you need to get away from me cause I'm dangerous.”

​She just gently pushed his hood back and said, “No you're not. Not to me anyway.” she held her hand out again and said, “Come with me. I can take you somewhere you can hide.”

​He didn't know why but he couldn't help but take her hand and follow her. She took him to a city service hatch for the drainage system. He followed her down a wrought iron spiral staircase down to a long dank smelling hallway with a trench filled with water in the middle of it.

​She led him down one corridor then another into a maze of such like tunnels. She appeared to know exactly where she was going. He realized even if he tried, he couldn't find his way back out for the life of him.

​Finally, she stopped in front of a storm hatch and said, “Wait here Johann. I'll be right back.”

​She went in and she closed the hatch behind her. While standing there in the dark dank tunnel he came to the realization even in the dark he could see everything around him clearly.

​Empress Victoria II and Sister were inventorying the gadgets and other resources which they had available when Mousy came into the room and whispered something into Sister's ear.

​Sister looked perplexed and practically yelled, “And you brought it here!”

​Mousy looked undeterred said, “Yes, because I think HE can be useful.”

​Sister closed her eyes and her continence appeared to be of a woman far older than her 12 years.

She kept her eyes closed for a few seconds then finally opened her eyes and nodded and said to Victoria II, “Your M'nence should see this.” she then turned back to Mousy and said, “Bring it in.”

​Mousy turned and left then after a couple of minutes she returned leading an automaton which looked almost exactly like one of the Empress' sentinels. However, there were subtle differences noticeable.

​Victoria II stood up and was visibly shocked by this new development.

​Johann felt his hand reach out suddenly and he knew it was some sort of residue of original programming which was compelling him to kill the Empress. With all his will he fought the impulse freezing his hand halfway up. His whole body began to quake with the obvious battle of will which was going on.

​Ouihan, who was sitting nearby working on a project, instinctively stood up and stepped in between Johann and the Empress.

​Johann, while fighting the impulse to kill the Empress, saw Ouihan step in front of him and he felt this click inside his mechanical head and the impulse went away as fast as it came. He suddenly felt another, strange compulsion to obey this young boy whatever he said to do.

​

​Minutes later, Johann and one of the sentinels sat back to back with their armored skulls opened up on top revealing their clockwork brains. Thousands of tiny gears, cogs, springs and other sundry clockworks were clicking along while Ouihan, standing to one side, was examining them with a magnifying glass.

​Standing on the other side were both Sister and Victoria II, watching Ouihan examine the workings. Ouihan finally straightened up and said, “The core gears and workings are the same, however there are many significant differences in what looks like the control regions. Whoever made this duplicate tried to override the core loyalty to you and your family, Your Eminence.” he looked down at Johann and asked, “But you feel compelled to listen to me?”

​Johann said, “Yes.” he still couldn't get over the sound of his new voice.

​Sister looked perplexed, “How do you know all of this,Ouihan?”

​“The machines make sense. I dunno why, they just do.”

​Victoria II was looking on with interest asked, “Can you fix Johann, so he follows my commands?”

​“I think I can, but I don't think we have the right cogs and gears to do it with here. What I can do with what we have on hand is bypass the external control center so his free will is restored and so he won't be compelled to kill you Your Eminence.”

​Victoria II looked thoughtful then asked Johann, “If your controls are released will you swear fealty to me?”

​Johann said, “Quite frankly Your Eminence, no. Your government has taken far too much from me to ever require me to serve you.”

​Victoria II was briefly stunned about Johann's frank answer but rather than answer sharply she took a deep breath and said, “Very well. If you will please tell Us about it?”

​Johann took the better part of an hour to explain his and his daughter's story as well as recapped what he experienced when he was first placed in the mechanical body he now occupied, “...so you see Your Eminence, I have given your empire my very life and quite unfairly.”

​Victoria II nodded, “Just so. Very well will you then agree to help me for just compensation for the wrongs done to you and your family?”

​“With all due respects Your Eminence, how can I trust you will indeed do this?”

​“You will have to take Our word for it. Besides We cannothave one such as you run loose on the streets.”

​Ouihan said, “With all due respect Ma’am, it would seem to me you already have the control which you need. Meaning me. Both your sentinels and Johann have some sort of base programing to follow me.” Ouihan turned and faced Victoria II and said, “Besides, if you want me to help you then you will have to trust me. My feeling is since Johann here didn’t ask for this and was unfairly into this by your government, it is your responsibility to make it right regardless of what Johann does in return.” Ouihan sounded surer of himself and held himself much like a man far older and wiser than his 12 years.

​Victoria II looked at Ouihan stunned. She had grown used to people sugar coating their corrections of Victoria’s mistakes or their disagreements to her. Only other person did not do so, her beloved Captain Cooper. He always laid things out plain. Ouihan’s correction and stance also highlighted something else. She knew he was right as was Johann. So why did she suddenly take a hard line on Johann. Because what he represented quite frankly scared her. No, terrified her. An army of sentinels was out there somewhere, and they weren’t beholding to her but, instead, to her enemies. The fact Johann had said he personally saw several hundred and perhaps a thousand of them only terrified her even more. So, her whole reaction toward Johann was innately sharp and hostile. She chided herself about reacting mechanically. No different than one of the sentinels. It wasn’t because she didn’t trust Johann or even not like him. No, it was because he represented a greater threat than she was prepared to deal with.

​She finally said, “Yes you are right Ouihan. We suspect your ability to control the sentinels was the reason why the Glass Darkly showed your importance to what is to come.”

​She turned to Johann and said, “Our apologies. You have indeed been through far more than you should have, and We have no right to ask more of you, save you do not oppose Us. Once We are back at the palace, We will make amends in any way We can.” She then turned to Ouihan and said, “Since We cannot have him so compelled to do Us harm, do what you must to restore his free will.”

​“Yes, Your Eminence.”

​In a small, quaint park just adjacent to Empress Victoria I Plaza, Captain Cooper patiently watched Ehawee greedily devour the meat pie he had bought her. He thought back over his 50 some odd years of life and he realized he had been hungry at times, even to the point of starvation, but never because of poverty. Something moved in his heart as he looked down at the young girl who had restored her disguise making her look once again like a boy from the Eastern Continent.

​This was only the second time in recent memory he felt his otherwise cold heart open to another. He knew he had no room in his heart for romantic love. Not since she died, his one true love. However, in order to do the things he has had to during his life, he had to turn off a part of his humanity. The pain of losing her had, perversely, made it easier to shut it off. He had come to a point in his life when he felt he had no soul left. That was until he, quite accidently, found his way to this parallel universe and his Vicky. She somehow rekindled the spark inside him he thought was long cold. In the subsequent years he devoted himself to his now adopted daughter and none other.

​Ehawee somehow, in such a short span of time, widened his heart even more. He couldn’t even begin to fathom why. All he knew was as devoted as he was to Empress Victoria II, he would also be to Ehawee.

​This also brought him to another realization. In the recent years he had been serving Vicky, he allowed the coldness to settle and grow stronger in his heart regarding anyone who wasn’t her. Thisand his immortality made him an even more dangerous man. He used to despise the zealots he had, on more than one occasion, seen in the both worlds he had lived in. Now he discovered he had become one. No more than one of the mechanical clockwork monsters he had been constantly amazed by since he had come to this world.

​He realized in that moment that he had to widen his gaze. He needed to be more discerning about his approach to things and his methodology. This didn’t mean he would be any less devoted to Vicky and her cause. No, rather he would redouble his devotion to her, but will do so with a greater scope and consideration. He had to ensure the Ehawees of this world not be hurt in his singlemindedness.

​Ehawee finished her meat pie and started to use her grimy sleeve to wipe the succulent juices from her chin when Cal, absentmindedly, reached into his pocket and took out an embroidered handkerchief and handed it to her. She shyly accepted the handkerchief and wiped her chin and lips then started to hand it back when he shook his head. She then put the cloth into one of her pockets and said, “Well sir, I need to take you back with me to our covey.”

​Cal looked thoughtful and shook his head, “No, you need to go back and tell Vicky I would do better for her if I stayed out here in the streets getting more information and running interference for her.” He then reached into his pocket and took out a key, a few coins and a notebook. He then scribbled some notes on a piece of paper in the notebook and ripped it out and handed the paper to Ehawee, “Take this back to your covey and give it to Vicky.” He then scribbled something else on another page in the note book and ripped it out and handed it, the key and the coins to her and said, “After you do that go to this address and use the key to let yourself in and stay there until I come get you. I want you safe for the rest of this.”

​She looked at him with a puzzled look on her face, but like the earlier look in his face made her feel fear the current look made her feel safer than she had felt in years. So, she nodded, took the paper, key and coins and on an impulse leaned over and kissed him on his cheek. She then stood, turned and disappeared into the crowd in the plaza just outside the park.