Private バランスの求職者

Bruynzeel admires and chuckles to himself as Fen rapid fires off questions to the secretive and elusive Corvo. Thinking to himself she'll be lucky if he answers even one of those questions. Then she turns her interest back to him and the first mission.

"According to the file I received along with all of yours. The details are sketchy on it whereabouts but it does mention someone trying to sell it to an alchemist in Whiterun. So I think we will start there and see if it was indeed sold and if not then get a description of the person who hopefully still has it in their possession."

The lift reaches the bottom and opens the enormous cavern is revealed the doll house appearance of the dwemer headquarters building is striking. and the bluish-purple glow of the mushrooms the only light making the cavern beautiful and etherial.

After allowing Corvo and the other to take in the vista Samuel says. "I never get tired of the view." "It is rather impressive. Not as impressive as the view from the house but grand none the less." They exit and are closely followed by the others each taking in the vista in their own way.

As they continue toward the headquarters building Bruynzeel continues, "We need to be of haste but not too rushed we need to know our enemy." Finally stepping into the headquarters. "Corvo come here and look out the window." And there lined up for as far as the eye can see just below the lip of the small cliff are row after row of crates and artifacts on shelves. With the dwemer automatons patrolling the aisles. "That impressive enough for you. Stored away not used, enough here that it had to take a real long time just to get this much. If they were gonna use them they would have long ago."

Corvo admired the elfs Inquisitiveness, even if it caused her to get a little to close for comfort. he reminded himself to answer the Elf's questions later. she seems to know alot about Dwemer artifacts, maybe she can improve my mask. though he was not to eager on giving his mask to someone who seemed to blank out every five minutes.

The lift reaches the bottom and opens the enormous cavern is revealed the doll house appearance of the dwemer headquarters building is striking. and the bluish-purple glow of the mushrooms the only light making the cavern beautiful and etherial. Corvo was stunned by the beauty of the cave. In all his travels he had rarly seem a site so stunning. Bruynzeel then showed him all the various crates and artifacts stored in the Headquarters. Corvo was surprised to see so many rare items in one place. "i suppose your right Bruynzeel, if they planned on using them they would just use them to get the other artifacts. so tell me then, what do we know of the whereabouts of this heart?"

As they reached the bottom of the elevator shaft and made their way once more to the house situated in the massive cavern, Fen couldn't help but allow her eyes to wander across the glowing mushrooms that dotted the landscape of the underground view. They almost reminded her of the trees back in Valenwood, if not simply because of their enormous stature and breeze-like quality.

In the back of her mind, Fen heard Bruynzeel mention the possible whereabouts of the artifact they would be tracking down. Becoming very serious and attentive, she piped up from the back of the group. "This Conqueror's Heart, you said it was a briarheart. Does it look like one, then? Or does it look completely different? What should we look out for?" She stopped herself, reminding herself that most people weren't inclined to answering so many questions asked in rapid fire succession. It irritated them and sometimes caused them to provide short answers, when more information was needed. She took a deep breath, sure that all of her questions would be answered in time.

Since Bruynzeel had mentioned Whiterun, Fen began musing about where the artifact could be now. Would it still be in Whiterun? Or would the seller have moved on to a different hold or city? If so, which direction had they gone in? Whiterun was already a considerable journey away from Solitude, and if they made a move before figuring out exactly where to go, it would waste a lot of valuable time.

Fen snapped her goggles on top of her head as she watched Bruynzeel show Corvo the rows of artifacts and objects sitting on shelves being patrolled by the automatons. She watched the spiders slinking through the open spaces, and couldn't help but find herself growing curious about them. Why had Sam so adamantly forbidden her from inspecting them? What was different about them that made them so seemingly threatening and dangerous.

Rolling her eyes, Fen frowned and shook her head. Stop it Fen, you told Sam that you wouldn't mess around with them. So don't you even think about doing it. She hoped her curious nature wouldn't get the best of her, and, attempting to put it out of her mind for the moment, she walked over to the rest of the group to figure out what they would do.

Bruynzeel smiled. "Good question Fen! The file up stairs said there were a few items that we could use down here in this small house for helping us locate them. The drawing of it looked similar to a regular briarheart. But mentions it had a bluish tint along with the blood. But it requires knowing how to use those things, so they can help us. I am leaning right now on hard investigations and later learning all the secrets held here but if anything is simple I want to know about it. The file also mentions a manual on how to keep track of the safety features and security in the warehouse. And how to use the objects on these desks and tables."

His arm sweeps the room and there are 6 desks lined up in a circle with a path and small dais in the center with Dwemer runes and Akaviri script carved and inlayed into it. There were small silver cloak pins on each one.

There also were greenish glass window frames on each desk and what looked like the runed cube dwemer readers, only slightly smaller. Bruynzeel then notices the large stack of those same sized cubes laying about. Walks over and grabs one surrendering to his own curiousity. Placing it into a stand on the nearest desk. The apparatus grabs the cube and starts it spinning and images and writings spring to life on the greenish glass. Scrolling slowly to the right as it goes. "By the nines!" Bruynzeel whispers in awe. Samuel looks up hearing the familiar sound of the cube readers. "And each cube is different and there are blank ones that can be written onto." "Julianaus." "And Hermaeus Mora" "Indeed?! Simply amazing." "Yes and there is more... much more."

Samuel walks over and grabs a leather bound volume and one of the cubes. Then over to Fen "There are regular dwemer automatons, Then there are the three silver ones. The Centurion in the restricted section, The Sphere who has a personality and tries to play tricks on people. And the Spider who can be a dangerous as it likes to do its job too well and picks a nemisis, seems he used to be a pet but has turned angry." Winks at Fen as he hands her the cube and book. "This should be both fun and informative for you. This book tells secrets on how those machines are powered and programmed. This cube is a softcopy of the instruction manuel on the items in this office, and the security for the warehouse. Do you read Dwemer, Falmer, or Akaviri?"

Bruynzeel responds "I read Akaviri." "Good then she won't have to teach you everything you can read it for yourself." Bruynzeel a bit dismayed at the size and scope of what must be done and the nagging and immediate mission says. "What about the information we need right now?" "All right I get your point, I will help until Fen gets up to speed with the way and how to do this." "Thanks Sam." and Bruynzeel clasps hands with him. "Dang, thought I could retire. You charismatic devil you." Smiles. "And I am actually looking forward to working with you guys. I can see this is gonna be a good run."

Alice sat at her usual table in the Reach Stormcloak Camp's mess tent, sipping her tea and still trying to wake up. She had gotten up with the rest of the officers half an hour ago and the men were starting to rise now but it always took her a while to wake up and she could deal with no one without a cup of tea first. As she sat and thought about the day's duties, her father sat down across from her, setting down a cup of coffee and a large plate of scrambled eggs and bacon.

"Morning." He said groggily.

"Morning". She said, matching his tone.

"How'd you sleep?" He asked. He took a second plate out from under his own and put about half the food on it. He then handed it to Alice, along with an extra fork.

"Okay." She said, accepting her breakfast and starting to work on her eggs. They tasted good, and the melted eidar cheese mixed in was a nice bonus. The bacon was thick and crispy, just the way she liked it. "I think I drank too much. The women in this army drink just as much as the men do. You'd think they started as chidren." She covered her mouth as she let loose a small yawn and rubbed her eyes.

"That's because they did." Simus said, smiling at his daughter despite not being a morning person himself. "We're not in Cyrodiil anymore sweetie. The Nords have a vastly different culture than we do and much of it involves beer."

"Well that's what you and mom always said." She said through another yawn. "I guess I had to experience it to see how right you were."

As they were enjoying their breakfast a young Stormcloak soldier jogged into the tent and stopped beside them bearing a large letter with an elegant red wax seal.

"Captain Pskyrakon, good morning sir." The soldier said, saluting Simus with a fist across the chest. "I'm sorry to interrupt your breakfast but this just came for your daughter."

"Thank you soldier." Alice said, taking the letter. Being a new officer in a camp of veterans meant she didn't always get the respect she deserved. Being a woman, looking like she was about twelve, and having a strong "daddy's girl" stigma for being the commander's daughter didn't help matters.

"Yes ma'am, sorry ma'am. I uh...didn't see you there." The soldier said, heading over to get some breakfast himself now that his task was done. Alice examined the envelope: the only thing outside was her first name in elegant penmenship. There was no stamp or return address. Curiosity piqued, Alice opened the envelope and read its contents:

Alice

Due to the unique skills you posess, your presence is requested at a special room at the Winking Skeever in Solitude. You needn't worry about your current duties in The Reach, as Ulfric Stormcloak has seen fit to give you an indefinate leave of absence in order to participate in this initiative. However, your father's services are not required at this time. He may escort you to the meeting, but he may not participate. You will find a sum of 100 septims attached to this letter to pay for a cart outside your camp. The driver's instructions are to take you to Solitude. Also, It is strongly encouraged that you disclose any strange visions you may have had recently.

Sincerely
A friend of your mother's
(may she find peace with the gods.)

p.s: Have you written to Natesse lately? She's anxious to hear from you.

Alice put the letter down in wide-eyed bewilderment. The detail of this letter had shaken her and Simus did not miss this. He took the letter from her and read it over himself. He was concerned but also intensly curious.

"Who in Oblivion could this be from?" Alice exclaimed.

"I don't know." Simus said. "But I think we should look into this. You see these seals at the top of the page? The one on the left is that of the Blades and the other is of the Knights of the Nine. Your mom and I worked with agents of both orders during the Great War. We've been able to keep some of our contacts so this might be one of them. It's impossible to say who though."

"What do you propose we do then?" Alice asked, looking at Simus. "Should we investigate this? Why did they ask for me and not you?"

"I'm not sure." Simus said. "You can do things that I can't, I guess they want those skills. Whatever they may be." His daughter looked concerned, which was perfectly normal when one recieved a mysterious note, but he needed to reassure her that they were not in danger. "There's nothing to be scared of honey. All they said is they want to talk to you, I seriously doubt this is a trap. Even if it is, I'll be right there with you. If they don't want me there, they're welcome to try and drag me out."

"I'd like to see them try." Alice said through a small chuckle. Dad was right, what was she so worried about? He'd never let anything happen to her, not after so much has happened already.

Simus smiled down upon his daughter and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Come along little faerie." He said. "Your carriage awaits."

-------------

"Alice?" Simus said softly, gently shaking his daughter. She had lain out on the carriage's bench and fallen asleep, using Simus' lap as a pillow. He had been cradling her head after making sure she was warmly wrapped in her blue hooded cloak. "Honey? We're almost to Solitude. Why don't you start waking up."

Alice gave a soft sigh and a gentle moan as she woke up. Her cloak had kept her nice and warm against the cold afternoon sun. Her hood was also up and that provided a nice buffer between her head and Simus' dragonplate armor, as well as some good shade for her eyes.

"M-hi." She said sleepily. She was still too tired to lift her head up but she was able to look up to her father, who was still holding her. "Sorry about turning your lap into a pillow, I guess I dozed off. How long have I been asleep?"

"About three hours." Simus said, stroking her covered head. "Did you have a nice nap?"

"Mhmmm." Alice said, enjoying the comfortable moment. It helped keep her mind off the comming uncertanty.

The carriage stopped at the gates of Solitude.

"C'mon." Simus said, gently lifting Alice off of him. "Up you go."

They arrived at the Winking Skeever without incident, undoubtedly thanks to their mysterious contact. The few-minutes walk had given Alice's brain time to restart and she was now aleart enough to produce her letter and show it to the woman manning the bar.

"Excuse me?" She asked. "I recieved this letter concerning some sort of initiative here at the Winking Skeever. Do you know where such an event would be held?"

"Oh, you're one of those letters." The barmaid said while examining Alice's letter. "head downstairs and go to the end of the hallway. Stop at the door with that wierd lock on it and use this key to open it up. Samuel said he was expecting one more so it looks like you're it."

"Thank you miss." Alice said, taking the large bronze key. "Do you have any information concerning what I might find down there? Also, this is my father. Would it be acceptable for him to accompany me?"

"Well, Samuel said to expect one more, not two." The barmaid said. "But I suppose it ain't gonna make this day much stranger 'n it already is. With all the folks goin' down there you'd think they were planning a surprise birthday party for the Jarl. Her birthday ain't even for six more months! Oh well, it ain't none a my business anyway."

"Thank you very much miss." Alice said, giving a polite courtsy. "Have a pleasent afternoon."

"Well, ain't you a well-mannered girl." The barmaid said, genuinly flattered. "You must be from Cyrodiil. Ain't nobody here in Skyrim that has manners that good. Certainly nobody that comes through this place. Always a bunch a 'Imperial Soldiers' who get drunk and start fight an not one of 'em knows how to pick up after themselves. We need more sweethearts like you missy."

Alice thanked the barmaid for her kind words and then proceeded down the basement with her father. The key fit seamlessly into the strange puzzle lock and the door opened to a large living area with tables and comfortable looking couches. Directly beyond the living area was a well stocked kitchen that had seen recent use. To their left was a roaring fireplace and around the rest of the room were small hallways that lead to closed doores. Two rooms on the left, three on the right. By the looks of things, they were dormatories. Alice and Simus were taking in this small but cozy living area when something happened that made them both jump. The fireplace spontaniously opened to reveal an elevator! Inside the elevator was a man who appeared to be the innkeeper. He looked at the two new Imperials as if he were expecting them.

"Alice, it's nice to finally meet you. My name is Samuel. Follow me please."

"One moment, I..." Alice started but was cut off.

"All will be revealed my dear, in due time. Now please follow me. Your father can come too."

Alice looked to Simus and he gave her a reassuring nod.

"Um...very well then." Alice finished, she and Simus following Samuel down the elevator. As they descended into the etherial and beautiful cave, Alice's eyes went wide with wonder. They soon came to a small dwemer home with four other people in the living room: A Kahjiit, a Bosmer a Nord and and a fellow Imperial behind a strange Dwemer mask. Alice assumed they were the rest of the team.

One of the cloak pins makes a sound like a click. Soft and not very intrusive but in the quiet of the room it was like a bell had gone and rung. Bruynzeel looks at it and it was shining a little too with its own light. He reachs out and picks up the pin and as he touches it a small voice issues forth. "Sam, you have a young lady and her father in the basement." Bruynzeel so surprised drops the pin onto the ground a loud crack and the pin says. "Hey, that was loud." Bruynzeel looks at the pin perplexed laying there on the floor shouting at him.

Samuel walks over and picks up the cloak pin touches the stone carefully and responds back. "Sorry about that Esmerelda, the Kid was expected, and looks like you surprised Bruynzeel." "Ah. now that is funny." looks at Bruynzeel who says "Her father would be a bonus, But she is the one to be on the team. Why not go up and fetch her, her father, and the file on the Conquerer's Heart from my room." "Sure thing, but I need to point out we don't have another room for the father." Bruynzeel looks thoughtful "Perhaps we can figure out something. But thats unimportant until we know if he wants to stay. According to the file I am sure, if he doesn't want to stay with us. He will do nothing to endanger his daughter."

Samuel heads back to the lift and departs.

While waiting for the return of Samuel and the two newest characters to this new interesting tale... Bruynzeel walks over and looks closer at the pins each was a different color and each had a set of smaller stones around the outside that corresponded to the stones of the other pins. He pushes a ruby and the ruby pin chimes. Then a topaz and the topaz one chimes. "Ah, neat some kind of magical communication."

Bruynzeel looks around the room in awe not wanting to look inexperienced but still in wonder if something so benign in appearance can have such power what of the other objects he can see? Decides to take a few minutes while waiting for the next members of their troupe to arrive, in study of the manuel on the cube. Sits at a desk opposite the path to the dais and put the cloak pin with the amethyst as its center stone on just under the left collar of his armor hidden but available. He wasn't sure if the light could be seen but he was sure he didn't want it to be seen when he was trying to sneak.


So looking through the manuel he notices the controls for the reader he is using.. Scroll speed and brightness. Oh and a spoken word option. Nice, he could have it read to him. Then he comes across the controls for the pins and just as he suspected and had figured through trial each is connected to the others by the corresponding colored stones. and there were more than the 6 in view. But he had guessed that by the number of stones in the circle, and by the barmaid Esmerelda being able to call them. She must be the peridot. also on the ring but not present were onyx, tigers eye, and red jasper. Wonder who they belong to?

Just as he was musing about that, the door opens and the trio arrive from above. Samuel steps forward and lays the file for the Conquerer's Heart on the desk Bruynzeel is using. And puts on the mother of pearl pin on his left upper breast. While doing so he introduces the new arrivals to the group. "These are Alice and Simus. And I am Samuel caretaker of the Winking Skeever and the house in general. This regal looking Khajiit is Bruynzeel he is your lead. This imposing and mostly silent Nord is Geran. This perky and mischeivious one who I am sure will be fast friends with Alice in no time is Fenditura, Fen. And this secretive, and sneaky one in the mask is Corvo." Bowing while keeping his eyes up and looking them both over Bruynzeel says "Welcome to our little group. I am sure you have questions, go ahead and ask away."

Alice was wide-eyed with joy as she took in all of the strange and wonderful technology inside the headquarters building. The only other time she had been so excited was whenever there were new clothing shipments at Divine Elegance, her favorite clothing store back in the Imperial City. Her brain moved much faster than her mouth, so the flood of data it recieved came out as a barrage of questions to no one in particular.

"This. Place. Is. AMAZING!" She squealed. "The giant cave! The huge glowing mushrooms! All of this wonderous Dwemer archeotech!"

She gasped when she saw the screens and index cubes and made the connection based on prior study.

"Is this a reading machine?! OOh, and this must be some sort of data storage device! How does it work!? How much data can it hold before it's filled to capacity!? What sort of mechanism transferres the data in the cube to the screen?! Is it a continuous stream of data or is it loaded into a memory buffer?!"

Alice then looked out the windows and saw the shelves upon shelves of artifacts patrolled by Dwemer constructs.

"By Talos..." Alice whispered. "I've never seen such a collection. Who ownes all of these? What do they plan to do with them? I read a paper once concerning a very special Dwemer orrery in one of their old strongholds, Mezulft I think its name was. In theory, it has the power to project a map of all of Tamriel and superimpose upon that map the locations of magical artifacts. Has such a machine been found? Are you using one to find these artifacts? What does the Synod think of this?"

As Alice continued to ask questions at a hundred miles an hour, Simus shook Bruynzeel's hand and pulled him aside.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Bruynzeel." He spoke softly. "You'll have to excuse Alice. She gets her scholarly interest from me and once she gets going, well...she's kind of like an oil fire. You have to let her burn herself out or take away her oxygen. Now if you don't mind, could you kindly explain who you people are and what you intend to do with my daughter?"

Simus' tone wasn't threatening but it was very serious. If he was going to leave Alice in the custody of strangers then he would know exactly what they were up to and be completely informed on their activities. He loved his daughter far too much to allow them to harm a hair on her head.

Bruynzeel literally laughs out loud. Then settling into a chuckle

"Simus, no the honor is mine your histories are known to me, some even before I read the file on your daughter. But you'll see that in time. Right now I should answer your question. We are here to store away those items, like the ones on the shelves. Deemed too powerful to be in anyones hands. Including ours. Her job is exactly what she is doing now and ask all the right questions, if a bit fast." looking closely into Simus' eyes. "Our contract is with Alice but I am willing to pay you personally out of my share if you will join us too. We have no political view point here, but I know you to be a honorable man. And I might need help babysitting the kids."

Then before Simus can answer "Watch what happens when I do this..." Looks across the desks and determines the cloak pin closest to her is the Sapphire one and presses that stone on his own pin. The Pin nearest to her chimes and pulses with a faint light of its own.

Simus watched as Bruynzeel pressed the amithyst-headed cloak pin he was wearing and the sapphire-headed pin closest to Alice gave a single chime and glowed faintly.

"Now that is interesting." Simus said, stroking his chin in genuine curiosity. "Some sort of signalling device. Possibly a two way comm system. A few years ago I taught Alice a message spell that allows her and another person she's linked with communicate telepathically. Made hunting with her mother easier. I wonder if these stones share similar properties."

This Khajit seemed on the level but who was he working for? Did he even know? This alone would make Simus nervous enough but sending Alice into this without some way of gurenteeing her safety was an unacceptable risk.

"So what?" Simus asked. "A secret organization dedicated to keeping dangerous artifacts away from their fellow mortals? That sure sounds good, but I hope you undrestand if I feel the butter on my bread is a little too thick. If this were just me I'd be okay with taking the job. Your organization obviously knows how to keep secret and this collection took centuries to assemble: Whoever you people are you go a long way to stay out of the history books. However, we're talking about my daughter here. If you know as much as you say then you know all Alice and I have is each other. The Thalmor saw to that. I suppose the Stormcloaks count, but they're not family yet. Losing her is an unacceptable risk so here's what we're gonna do. I'm going to stay here until I'm sure she's safe and taken care of. I don't know how long that's gonna be but I don't want your money. Alice has an oppertunity to be very happy here and that's enough for me. I'd like to stay in the background, some place where she won't feel smothered. Maybe Samuel can give me a job to pretend to do."

Simus extended a hand to Bruynzeel.

"You can consider me Alice's manager. Let me be clear that I'm not interested in your scavenger hunt, I'm watching out for my daughter. I love her more than you could realize and if anything happens to her you and I are going to have a very big problem. I hope we're clear on that. Now, I've given you the terms of her employment. Do you accept?"

How refreshing, a true man. He was guarded but he was open also. He knew the lay of the land. And his responsibility clear.

So in one of the lulls in the other conversations in the room Bruynzeel says "I can tell we are gonna be fast friends Simus. Your honesty is very appreciated. I admit I am just as new at this as you. And I am here also in protection of those under my charge. The idea of it seems right. And everything I have been given has been only information, not decision. My only order was that I should lead. But even that was left up to me. I know they know a lot about us all but they haven't used that against us. Just like the artifacts, it seems stowed away." Extends a hand for a shake affirming the deal. "I agree. We appreciate what help you wish to offer."

Samuel hearing his name; walked over. Standing a bit to the side of the two. While listening to Bruynzeel, thinks about how true his words are. He had been given this job, about a decade ago. The information he received was just like Bruynzeel. The Circle didn't meddle, they gave the facts and let you decide. Samuel bets that Simus would have been a close second for the lead. if the job had been a race between these two. "What skills do you have that will blend in?"

Simus smiled as he shook Bruynzeel's hand. This man was someone he could trust and Simus liked that. Trust ensures loyalty and loyalty is critical for any leader to keep his place.

"Thank you for being up front with me Bruynzeel. I'm looking forward to working with you. I know Alice will."

Alice was practically bouncing off the walls as she was firing off questions to anyone willing to listen. Siimus then turned to Samuel.

"I've done some work for both the Knights of the Nine and the Blades, back when the Blades existed of course. Artifact hunts, squad-level assaults, attending fancy parties in order to recover sensitive documents, any example you can think of I've probably done at least once. I know how to play dumb and I can keep a secret. I'm also good at serving customers and I'm a good mediator: when you've got four children you have to be."

He paused and smiled at Samuel.

"I also know my way around a bar and a kitchen, so I can help you run the Inn. I took a look at your books on the way down here by the way: your profit margin's a little thin. Maybe you should re-evaluate your expenses."

"Hahahahahaa" Samuel burst out. "Those are the public books, how do you think we cover the expenses for the care and feeding of you guys? Plus you and Bruynzeel have two things in common besides your honesty. He loves to cook and I'll let him reveal the other when he wishes. But your hired, I want you to settle in upstairs in the servants quarters. Then tomorrow you will have one light shift helping with breakfast then the rest of the day is yours to spend however you like. though most likely it'll be keeping track of that whirlwind you call a daughter." Smiles broadly.

Bruynzeel smiles too and in a chuckle "Yeah I bet that's true. And Samuel was eluding to the fact that I am the last DragonGuard. I was with the Akaviri Samurai who helped form the Blades. Who are still around being run by Esbern, like many you may have gotten lost and believed dead when we had to start worrying about Thalmor spies and intersceptions. And before you freak out and blow how old that would make me. Some of the kids don't know I am that old. Plus I don't want you saluting me or anything as a Blade you earned the right to be a equal. Speaking of which store whatever hard gear you wish in our safehouse."

Simus smiled at Bruynzeel and Samuel, appreciating their generosity. He was taken aback by how old Bruynzeel must be. Something on the order of hundreds of years, perhaps over a thousand. Then again, Simus had seen stranger things in his time so he was able to roll with this. He'd keep it to himself though, it wasn't polite to disclose someone's age, especially your elders'.

"Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow boss." Simus said to Samuel, shaking his hand. "I'll wait for Alice to get settled then head upstairs and get myself aquainted with the other staff."

He then turned to Bruynzeel.

"Well, I'll just say you look really good for your age and leave it at that." Simus said. "I like to think I've aged well myself, of course my wife is still as beautiful as the day I met her even if she's dead. I was never an official Blade just so you know, just a free agent of sorts. I joined the Imperial Legion when I was 18 and I served through that wonderful debacle we call the Great War. I retired as a Legate when I was 40 and then Amy and I bought A Fighting Chance in the Imperial City. I learned how to smith in the Legion so it was a good retirement job. I was also a sort of consutant for the Knights of the Nine in those years. I had a lot of experience chasing down relics in my younger days but having a family stopped that sort of work for me. It's amazing how children reshape your life to revolve around them while at the same time sneaking into your heart so you want it to be that way. You can never take a day off as a father but it's the best job in the world."

Simus paused for a moment, just looking over at Alice and seeing how excited she was. In that moment he was so happy for her. She had been through some terrible things in the last few months, things no girl her age should have to witness. She deserved to have some fun.

Coming out of his lull, Simus refocused and became aware of the tangent he had just gone off on.

"Sorry." He said to Bruynzeel. "Didn't mean to ramble."

Corvo observed the two new arrivals with great interest. The first, an aged man who has clearly seen his fair share of action in all of his years. The man was an imperial who, oddly enough, fought with the Stormcloaks. around 5' 7" Caucasian with an average build. His body is covered in scars but he appeared to be in excellent shape considering its age. He his hair is shoulder length straight silver hair. He also has four large scars going down the side of his face and one of his eyes appeared to be blind. Corvo could tell that the man was, despite his age, a skilled warrior and he was surprised to hear that it was his daughter, not him, who was going to be working with him. "greetings Kinsman" Corvo called to him "A pleasure to meet you" he then turned to the girl who had just joined the group.

the other imperial, the one named Alice was busy asking questions to no one in particular. she is around 5', 0", with pale, cream colored skin. She has nice shoulder length ebony hair and appeared to have no scars or blemishes. she was wearing a strange, white jumpsuit type, over which she wore a pair of letter boots, gloves and a blue dress. overall she appeared quite fashionable but seemed to lack in protection. no wonder her father is so protective, she doesnt wear proper armor. Walking over to her, Corvo preformed a swiping bow before greeting her "greeting milady, A pleasure to meet you. you may call me Corvo, Corvo Attano" seeing as Bruynzeel insisted on reveling his identity to everyone else, Corvo saw no need to hide his name.

The amount of information Fen was expected to take in felt monstrously overwhelming. All of this new technology was strange to her, but she felt the gears in her mind begin to turn all the same. After looking over a hard-copy manual for a short time, she was beginning to feel the usual excitement and anticipation that accompanied new discoveries. Learning all of the new information she was being given would take time though. There was no use trying to cram all of the information into her eager mind as quickly as she could; Fen knew that in order to best help the rest of the group and their endeavors, she would need to take her time and make sure she fully understood the mechanics of the automatons, as well as the rest of the objects contained within the house.

Holding the cube in one hand and the worn leather journal in the other, Fen made her way over to one of the modules situated off to the side of the room. It looked to be of Dwemer make, the knobs and carvings inscribed bearing the unmistakable resemblance to ones found in Dwemer ruins. There were glass panels sitting on top of it, with a small containment node located on the module to the right of the glass. Allowing her curiosity to get the better of her, Fen hesitantly placed the small cube near the node. It quickly came to life and snatched the cube out of her hand, causing her to instantly pull her hand back out of alarm. The machine whirred and hummed for a few seconds, and then displayed charts, graphs, images, and text about the automatons and how they worked.

From what the screen and journal were telling her, the automatons and all of their internal constructs were powered by what seemed to be soul gems, and rather large ones at that. According to the data, automatons were able to run on the soul gems for extended periods of time because they were not organic lifeforms. They required much less energy to be used than something like a charged magic staff because magic was inherently organic and derived from life.

Pulling a small tool from the belt around her waist, Fen opened the journal page up and laid the book flat on the module. The tool was a slim, small metal cylinder that contained a piece of charcoal. At the end was a small push button, which made the charcoal extend further out of the cylinder when pressed. She had shown it to Calcelmo before, but he dismissed it as an over-complication of a simple writing device. She saw it as a way to keep her hands from getting unnecessarily dirty when she was working on her research, which was especially helpful when she was working with physical automaton parts.

After she finished making a note in the journal about how the automatons were programmed and directed (there was a buried sub-command in the module that altered the soul gems), the sound of the elevator doors opening drew Fen's attention back to the front of the building. An older gentleman and a girl who was presumably his daughter stepped out, with the daughter immediately firing off questions just like Fen herself had done a few times already. She was wearing an interesting assortment of clothes, which caught Fen's eyes immediately. Walking over to the girl, she eyed the device sitting at the top of her white body suit. Meeting her eyes with a curious sort of frown, Fen let her fingers fiddle and play with the large goggles hanging around her neck. "I see you have a zipper. How did you come by that Dwemer device?"

In the midst of her incessent questions, Alice realized that she was adressing anyone who was listening but no on in particular. After her question about these artifacts and their possible link to Mizulft, she paused and let her mind catch up with her mouth. She assumed she was making a fool of herself and her ears and cheeks turned a light shade of pink for it. Her father was in conversation with the Khajiit, Bruynzeel the others called him, as well as the man who introduced himself as Samuel. He looked Imperial or Breton, she couldn't tell. Then she noticed the handsome imperial in front of her wearing a strange and intensly interesting mask. He had greeted her and the pink of her face deepend when she realized her lack of manners. She tried to have a courtly appearence when she finally addressed him but could not hide he flustered look.

"Oh my." Alice said, putting her hands up to hide her red cheeks while at the same time quite flattered by his gentlemanly greeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Attano. My name is Alice, Alice Psyrakon. As Samuel already mentioned, this is my father." She said, giving him a ladylike courtsy. "I'm sorry, I have absolutely no manners at all. I ask that you forgive my rude behavior, It's just I simply find this place...wonderus. Almost beyond comprehension. If I may be so bold, I find your mask to be quite intriguing. May I ask as to its nature?"

Before Corvo could respond, The pretty Bosmer Alice had noticed before had come up to her and inquired about her suit's zipper. Alice briefly wondered how she had seen it, since the collar of her dress usually concealed it but she then saw that she had neglected to do her top button, leaving the zipper's fastener exposed. However, Alice enjoyed the bit of extra room for her atom's apple and she saw no harm in leaving her collar undone since this girl had a clear interest in Alice's clothes. Alice loved to talk about clothes and it always flattered her when peope inquired about her about what she was wearing. Considering her current attire was her favorite outfit as well as her battlegear this was a double plus.

"Oh, this?" Alice said, placing her hand on her suit's zipper. She had used them for so long she had forgotten how uncommon they were. "Well this isn't a dwemer device per se. This is a replication of one made specifically for my armor. My mother and father found an intact instance of a zipper in some old Dwemer ruins a few years back, studied it, and forsaw its applications, especially in clothing. My father's a marvel with steel and he was able to make more based on the original example. When my mother and I made my suit my father didn't have any Dwemer metal but he was able to use refined moonstone as a substitute. As you can see, the results were quite successful.

Alice then picked up her right leg and turned her foot outward, exposing the inner side of her soft leather boots and running a finger along the zipper than ran the length of the shaft. It stopped about an inch below her knee. "The same design for my suit's zipper was used in my boots except this is dyed steel rather than Dwemer or Refined Moonstone. The dye gives the zipper the nice black color you see here and prevents it from rusting. It's really quite ingenious."

Alice then put her foot down and looked back up at Fen, pleasently surprised that they were the same height. "I love these boots. My mother made them for my last birthday. I could have bought a similar pair at Divine Elegance but it would have been about three-hundred septims. You get what you pay for though, It was my absolute favorite place to shop back in the Imperial City. It's a shame I haven't found a good shop in Skyrim yet, just general stores. Oh, I'm sorry: here I am babbling on about clothes and you're probably not interested in the least. You're name's Fen, right? It's a pleasure to meet you."

Alice finished with a smile, happy to find not only another girl in the group but a fellow thinker as well. Perhaps even a scholar? She waited patiently for both Fen and Corvo's responses, having gotten both of them into her field of vision.