
10 May, year unknown
Since I have found myself with nothing else to do, I have opted to catch up on the circumstances that have found me here in this place. I was focused to the point of of ignoring many other things in my life due to the matters at hand in New Victoria, namely taking what measure of revenge that I could for the killing of Miss Frost and the plot to take over the city government by her brother, with the assistance of the Governor and the complicity of his minions. There at our last day in town I found myself on the roof of the Governor’s Palace, my Henry rifle in hand, awaiting the explosion of our carefully placed surprise in the dining room of the Dysart Hotel.
Percival and his men arrived and went inside, and a quick peek through the window ensured that all of them had taken seats around the table to enjoy their celebratory meal before heading to the city offices. Vivianne and the ladies on the ground had completed their task of setting the timer as I watched them retreat back down the street. A few moments later and the first explosion was followed by a huge plume of fire, no doubt aided by the severed gas line in the basement I had arranged before climbing to the roof. What came next was more of a shock to me, when the entirety of the town was enveloped in a swirl of what I assumed to be aetherial energy and a white flash. Reflexively I threw myself flat on the roof, my body being enveloped in what I can only describe as an intense electrical shock.
I opened my eyes and found that I was no longer on the roof, and a quick check of my extremities showed that I was not injured. What I saw when I looked around was more of a shock. I was on a platform surrounded by buildings that were made of some sort of burnished metal. The ladies were there as well, all looking as bewildered as I was. Several individuals in what appeared to be a uniform approached us and led us into one of the buildings. Once inside we were separated and taken into a small room that had very spare furnishings consisting of 4 chairs and a table. The door closed behind me, and my guide gestured to one of the chairs. I took a seat and she sat across from me.
She said she was sure I was confused and had questions as to what had just happened, but that all my questions would be answered after a few matters were attended to. A second officer walked in carrying a large box and a neatly folded bundle of clothing. At that point I was asked to place everything on my person into the box. I warily complied, placing my rifle and my sidearm into the box, then turning out my pockets and placing the contents into the box as well. A recessed door in the back of the room opened and revealed what I assumed was a bathroom. I was told to take the clothing inside and change once I had taken a shower. Despite my reservations at this point, I took the bundle and walked into the bathroom. I undressed, and stepped into the bath. I felt a degree of unease and had the feeling that I was being watched as I turned on the water. Admittedly I did feel a bit better once I had bathed and dried off. I found that I had been given a set of either the most effeminate male undergarments or the most manly female undergarments I had seen. I then slipped into the dark blue coveralls I had been given and pulled on the matching boots. I then gathered up my clothing and walked back into the main room. I folded my dress and the rest of what I had been wearing and placed them in the box along with my other effects. The lid was closed on what I had brought in with me and I was ushered out and taken to another room down the hall.
My guide walked me down a long hallway deeper in the interior of the building and paused at a translucent door with a stylized caduceus on it. I was escorted inside and the door closed behind me. The room had several beds and the walls were lined with various sorts of what appeared to be technical equipment and glowing panels that displayed various sorts of information. There were two men wearing white jackets stand beside what appeared to be an upright glass booth. The shorter of the two men started speaking to the other man, annoyingly speaking about me in the third person.
“So now we have our next subject. We will have to scan her thoroughly as well, since we have no idea what her physical state is currently.”
The other man nodded, looked at me and gestured towards the cabinet. I decided that compliance at this stage would not be unwarranted, I walked up and stepped into the device. The glass walls began to glow and I noticed a large panel on the wall that began to display various images of what I assumed were the internal parts of my body. The shorter man began to recite a litany of what I assumed was my overall physical condition.
“Subject is a 36 year old Caucasian female, 176 centimeters tall, 76 kilograms in weight. Body shows indications of involvement in combatives. There are multiple healed wounds from both edged weapons and kinetic projectiles. Subject has environmental damage corresponding to timezone of origin, a degree of alveolar scarring in the lungs from smoke ingestion, and signs of intestinal parasites in the upper colon. Finally subject has three ovarian cysts and a stage one mass in the left breast. The medical conditions will be remediated prior to transfer to Stage II housing.”
I stood there in the cabinet trying to fully take in everything the man had said, since he continued to speak at me about my conditions without actually speaking to me. He unceremoniously took a seat at a desk which was festooned with many colored buttons and had an additional large glowing panel above it.
The tall quiet man walked to where I was still standing and offered me a hand. I took it and he guided me to an elevated bed in the back corner of the room. He gestured to the bed, so I climbed up on it and laid down. He applied a flexible strip of some rubber-like material to my forehead and pulled a translucent shell over the bed. He shot me a slight smile and turned to walk away. Before much longer I fell into a deep dreamless sleep that I was unable to stave off.
At some point I woke up. I fell back into old habits and decided to take a quick look around before sitting up, cracking one eye open at a time and looking around as much as I could while keeping still. I was lying on a bed in a small suite that reminded me of a ship’s stateroom. It was the same smooth finish as the other rooms, well lit from panels in the ceiling, and appeared to have a small kitchen and sitting area as well as the bed I was on. I also noticed that I was no longer dressed under the light sheet that covered me. I carefully ran my hands over my torso and found I had several small adhesive plasters stuck to my skin, two down towards my hips, one above my navel and one nearly at my sternum, two just below my ribs and on the under-curve of each breast. Before I could think about this much more, I was greeted by a voice that came from just behind me in the one spot I was unable to see while remaining still.
“Good afternoon Ms. Dagger. Don’t be alarmed. I am hoping you rested well after your arrival from Medical…”
I rolled over and rested my chin on the back of my hands. The speaker stood just behind me, and I took that moment to look at who was in the room with me. It was a slender female wearing a close fitting sleeveless dress, and I made the immediate assumption she was an automata. While her features were attractive and her proportions perfect, it was obvious to me she was not flesh and bone. Before I could say anything, she gave me a slight smile and folded her hands in front of her waist.
“I am the administrative unit assigned to you. I will assist you in your transition to your new surroundings, answer any questions you may have and accompany you once you are allowed the freedom of the city.”
I hung onto those words and considered what the automata had said. As I had thought before, I was no longer in New Victoria, and no longer in the world I had been before. I felt myself slipping out a grin from one corner of my mouth, because I suppose the average person finding themselves in a totally different time and place from where they had been would be experiencing a large degree of, let’s say disquiet. For me, having dealt with the strange preternatural things I’d seen before, this was at least seemingly comfortable.
“So what do I call you? Do you have a name?’ I asked.
She inclined her head to the side ever so slightly, and said “My programming allows this unit to respond to a name of the assignee’s choice.”
I thought for a moment, and finally spoke. “I am going to call you Talia.”
She nodded, and said “My name is now Talia. How may I be of service Ms. Dagger?”