Part Forty: The Return of the Regent

[matrixrefugee.livejournal.com]

Miss Meglomania: Nitika: "As much as I may think that humans are on their last legs of domination...they still can be put to some good use."
Ilia: "I rather resent your tone, Nitika."
Nitika: "Did I offend, my darling? Do forgive me..."
Matrixrefugee197: ((Why do I not like the sound of that 'put to some good use' ?))
Miss Meglomania: ((Did I mention that Nitika is a little more...aggressive...in her view on getting equal respect?))
Matrixrefugee197: ((Yep... Brrr!!))
Matrixrefugee197: Cecie: (trying to banish images of humans as batteries serving the nastier machine intelligences...>
Matrixrefugee197: Frank is innocently clueless as to what is being said, but he still doesn't like the sound of it...
Miss Meglomania: Nitika: "While an eye for an eye may make the whole world blind, sometimes the first eye must be plucked out to ensure any action."
Ilia: "Charming analogy, Nitika."
Nitika: "Thank you...oh, quit worrying, I rather like your eyes..."
The Contessa: "PARDON ME, Niti?!?"
Nitika: "Nothing! Nothing!"
Matrixrefugee197: C: (reeeally shuddering that time! Floaters of an extremely gruesome battle scene between the human army and the machine army, in one of the "Animatrix" short subject films...>
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa says something sharply to Nitika in Hindi, and Ilia gets up, heading towards the balcony...whatever's going on, it's not very plesant and he does NOT want to be in the middle of it...
Matrixrefugee197: C: (Leaves herself, goes to check on Frank, who is currently emailing Le Mero, trying to find out the latest news...>
Miss Meglomania: The argument between the Volkovas takes on the tone of ANY mother-teeage daughter arguement, before Nitika storms off towards Astarte's room...she needs a kindered spirit...
Matrixrefugee197: ((any luck on a loophole for Le Mero to squeak through ordering an autopsy to prove Dr. Schrever's theory?))
Miss Meglomania: ((technically, yes...although the body might be in the possession of the state, if there is enough reasonable doubt, the World Court could order one performed...))
Matrixrefugee197: The probe analyzing the logs on the tow bomb launcher which lobbed the bomb at the Opera House has turned up something interesting....
Miss Meglomania: Mischa Valerious has not been seen since her encounter with Julien the previous day...although a few friars reported to their superiors about disturbing dreams durning the night, and have small hickey/bite marks on
their throats...
Matrixrefugee197: The launcher system is somewhat sentient... and it seems to have been contaminated by a virus...
Matrixrefugee197: A sentient virus...
Matrixrefugee197: The coordinates were fine when the technician typed them into the system, but someone else tampered with them...
Matrixrefugee197: As Le Mero would say in utter innocence: "I'm a computer programmer, but I'm not a military engineer. I couldn't calculate a trajectory for a bean flying over a table top."
Matrixrefugee197: So they've taken another look at the system...
Matrixrefugee197: And lo and behold, but a virus who shares a name with a three-headed goat/lion/snake thing from Greek mythology decided to play hob with the launching system and tinker with the trajectory coordinates...
Miss Meglomania: (hmm....inter-es-tink!)
Matrixrefugee197: I came up with several possible scenarios as to who messed up the coordinates, rolled dice on it...
Matrixrefugee197: 6/6 - the Chimera decided to come out to play...
Miss Meglomania: He WOULD, wouldn't he?!?
Matrixrefugee197: So now the World Court has dropped the charges: but Le Mero has some public service work to perfrom in order to clear up the mess...
Matrixrefugee197: Dismantling that launch system and reprogramming everything the right way.... AND installing a better firewall!
Matrixrefugee197: ((Sound good?))
Miss Meglomania: ((a little financial aide would be benifitial, as well, lol))
Matrixrefugee197: Oh yes.... he's donating a quarter of a billion Euros to the Red Cross to help in the reconstruction effort, as well as another sum of the same size in reparations...
Miss Meglomania: That should be sufficiant!
Miss Meglomania: Ilia takes this news in stride...everything he personally wanted from Mero has been taken care of, there's nothing else he can do...
Matrixrefugee197: Even still, he's stepping down from politics: He's even gone so far as to order that his image be removed from all state portraits (his image has always been seen alongside Gaston's), postage stamps, the new Euros being printed...
Matrixrefugee197: Gaston is a much more capable ruler, and it's time he let the youngster fly solo...
Matrixrefugee197: Later that day, a courier comes to the Palazzo... the same data courier as before.....
Matrixrefugee197: Frank bumps into him in the hallway... it's been twenty years, but Burbone looks no different from when Hal was still the chief hacking god of the InVaginators.... "Burbone? What brings you here?"
Matrixrefugee197: B: "Official business... again..."
F: "You working for the World Court now?"
B: "No, I'm still working for the same courier service: the World Court's just renting my head, that's all."
Matrixrefugee197: And with that, heads for Gaston's rooms...
Matrixrefugee197: The document he carries is simple: Le Mero's release papers... he's still considered suspicious, and he'll have to have another tracking implant, but Gaston's father is a free man now.
Matrixrefugee197: The tracking device is being implanted even as they speak... Via a laparascope (kind of a hypoderm-like needle with a camera attached to one end.)
Matrixrefugee197: At supper that night, Gaston makes the annoucement to the rest of the assembled...
Miss Meglomania: As per usual, the Russians show little emotion to the announcement...better that any feelings be sorted out in private, no need to involve anyone...
Matrixrefugee197: Julien, who has been stiffly serving at table (he's angry with Gaston), is overjoyed. "He's coming home to me! He's coming home to me!"
Matrixrefugee197: Practically dancing with glee!
Matrixrefugee197: C: "Oh boy..."
F: (smiling> "Gonna be like old times again..."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: (to Julien> "Oh, shut up, you fucking pig...do you not have roofs to throw yourself off or something?"
Matrixrefugee197: J: "Not any longer.... It is a miracle, an utter miracle!" (not sure who to hug for this, but he thinks the Contessa had something to do with it... so he hugs her like a happy child>
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa stiffens immediately. "Mr. Julien, please! Such behaviour is unwarrented."
Matrixrefugee197: J: "I am sorry... I was only expressing my gratitude for your helping us through this crisis."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa looks up at him and narrows her eyes. "Me? I had nothing to do with this, Julien."
Matrixrefugee197: J: (looks at her, confused...> "Then who did?"
Miss Meglomania: Ilia, realising this might be a good time for his exit, stands up, expresses thanks for the meal, and heads out of the room...
Matrixrefugee197: J: (utterly baffled. This is too much for his little processors.>
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa: "I am as perplexed at this turn of events as you...I expected none of this, I saw none of this and I certainly had nothing to do with any of it. I do not fully trus the motives of Le Meroveque's latest
actions...but I cannot deny the concequences."
Matrixrefugee197: F: "Don't look at me: I had nothing to do with it. After what I saw, I didn't care if he burned in hell."
Matrixrefugee197: F: "Well, I'll tell you one thing *I* found out on the newsfeed: the launcher-system-thingie was messed up. Some kind of virus got in and messed it up, so that caused the thing to launch that bomb into the Opera
House instead of a military outpost or something."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa: "I cannot express joy at that, as it still implies the attempt to conquest by murderous intent...do they know what the virus was doing in the system?"
Miss Meglomania: Back in his room, Ilia types off an email to Mero: "I just heard the news-- while i cannot say I am overjoyed over it, congratulations. I have refrained from killing Julien. Sarkozi."
Matrixrefugee197: F: "Well, that gets interesting: it was a sentient virus, so it was messing with the trajectory coordinates on purpose, seems it was this Chimera-thing that's been going around for the past eighty years or something like that."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa: "Chimera? I was studying that virus in university however many years ago...I would have thought they would have destroyed it by now."
Matrixrefugee197: G: "I'm in the process of ordering the dismantling of any and all gamma-bombs and anything of that nature... I never liked the idea of them anyway... and since I have been given more responsibilites, I'm taking that as
one of my first courses of action."
Matrixrefugee197: F: "It's pretty sneaky: last I heard, there was an element of it hiding in Nightside."
Matrixrefugee197: It'll take a while for Le Mero to reply to Ilia: he's still sleeping off the anesthetic from the implant surgery...
Miss Meglomania: Nitika: "Hm...wouldn't know about that...then again, SOME people won't LET me go Nightside..."
The Contessa: "Niti, we have been over this and I will not discuss it again. Finish your supper."
Matrixrefugee197: C: "I'm careful about going there: a college professor-friend of mine had a son who got addicted to VR, and then when the local server crashed, he ended up in a coma he never came out of."
Matrixrefugee197: F: "Heck, Cecie, you've been Nightside: you were the one who was mimicking every gravity-bending trick from the "Matrix" movies!"
Miss Meglomania: Ilia will be a little busy, himself...
Mischa: "Good evening, my dear..."
Ilia: "What do YOU want?"
Mischa: "Oh, nothing...oh! My! What's this in my pocket? What's this little white powder? I can't IMAGINE how that got there..."
Ilia: "For being an insane psycho-bitch, you can be a wondeful person, Mischa. Give me that..."
Matrixrefugee197: Julien is preparing himself for his master's return: taking a bath, refilling his contour reservoirs... One more sunrise and he will be reunited with his beloved savior...
Matrixrefugee197: Gaston spends a whole two hours with his mysterious companion...
Miss Meglomania: After, ahem, 'repaying' Mischa, the two part ways...Mischa to wreck havoc on the Vatican, and Ilia to his beloved vice...
Matrixrefugee197: Around three in the morning, Le Mero is alert enough to reply to Ilia's message: "It came as a total shock to me. I've got my work cut out cleaning up that launch system, though I've heard tell that the whole system may be shut down entirely since Gaston is getting rid of the tow bombs. By the
way... did you ever find out the identity of Gaston's mysterious companion? LM."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "Sorry, no, I have been busy. The Contessa-- she is not suspecting anything, but she knows she had nothing to do with this and she is not stupid. I am not sure what will happen if she discovers who was helping
you...even if my reasons to were purely self-serving."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "I was fully aware of that: but at the time, I would have accepted help from anyone who was willing to help me. Two birds may soon be killed with one stone: the crow that killed the Count, and the one circling my head, though unfortunately I was stupid enough to have left some bait for that one..."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "Two birds? Pardon me, I do not understand."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "Sorry, I was using another colloquialism... The anesthetic from my recent minor surgery is still bothering me."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "Can't think too clearly."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "That is okay, I am somewhat 'anestheticy' myself...not like I am complaining."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "In which case, I'd better turn in for the night and sleep the last of it off. I have an early start tomorrow, packing for my semi-triumphant return. LM."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia signs off his computer, then bathes and clanges into his pyjamas and crawls into bed...lies there awhile...then gets up, locks the door and goes back to bed...a repeat of last night would NOT be a pleasant experience
Matrixrefugee197: Rest assured, Ilia! All Julien's thoughts lie with his master this evening...
Matrixrefugee197: Gaston locks his window and sets an extra guard before it...
Miss Meglomania: Mischa perches on the roof across from Gastons' room, hiding in the shadows and looking at the window with a smile...
Matrixrefugee197: I'm somehow imagining a TV room somewhere on this floor... and of course Castor and Pollux are occupying it between rounds... and between annoying Julien!
Miss Meglomania: Mischa whispers quietly, her words floating on the night breeze..."I can hear your heart beating, sweet prince..." before flitting away again...
Matrixrefugee197: Castor has this thing for vampire movies, reality shows, and anything where stuff blows up...
Matrixrefugee197: Pollux perfers nature programs on the Botany Channel... so every time Castor gets up to make a security walk... and take a poke at Julien... he finds his brother has shut off the DVD player and is channel-surfing...
Matrixrefugee197: Cstr: "Are you watching grass grow aGAIN? Yeesh, bro! Gimme that remote!"
P: "You had it last time."
Cstr: "No, you did!"
P: "I distinctly remember..."
Cstr: "We've been shut off for two weeks, how would you remember that, M'sieur Diarrhea of the Cube!"
Matrixrefugee197: Cecie: (hearing this all the way down the hall> "Cain and Abel are at it again..."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa reads her email before shutting herself off for the night...there's a new one from the Premier, and when she reads it she gets an odd feeling through her body...there's nothing so strange about his words, or
threatening...but she just doesn't like it at all, there's something wrong...Shakes her head and pulls on her coat...she can't rest now, she needs guidance...steals out through the back enterence of the compound, heading straight for the Basilica...
Matrixrefugee197: Gaston sleeps with his head under the covers.... as if *that's* gonna protect him! ... And he winds up having a nice little dream about Mischa...
Miss Meglomania: Besides appearing to Ilia and Julien, Mischa has not made her presnece widely known to anyone...keeping up appearances shall we say-- after all, no Bride would make the wolrd know she was there, or appear in day...
Miss Meglomania: Mischa certainly HAS been out in daylight, in Russia...but if she can make the Vatican think there's a demon run amok, all the better!
Matrixrefugee197: Heh, heh, heh!!!
Miss Meglomania: So she's been hanging around the Basilica, and the resting places of the priests...even made her presence known to the Pope at 3 am a few nights ago...
Matrixrefugee197: Cecie has finally settled down, but Frank is almost too spent from her antics to sleep... Gad, do all pregnant ladies in their second trimester get this demanding? Gets up and goes for a drink...
Matrixrefugee197: Pope Andrew Kim, a former Korean cardinal, got a major jolt then!
Miss Meglomania: That he did...waking up to see HER perched on the footboard in all her glory can do that to you...
Miss Meglomania: Nitika: "You should probably be more careful...they might send a Van Helsing-wannabe after you, drive a stake through your heart..."
Mischa: "What heart? And do not lecture me...if we were back home you would be right beside me."
Matrixrefugee197: Frank sits on the sofa in the room he shares with Cecie, nursing a glass of wine and hoping David didn't hear the racket a half hour earlier...
Miss Meglomania: Mischa crawls outside his window...nah, too easy...but what's in this room? A child? THIS could be interesting...
Matrixrefugee197: Frank could be interesting.... don't underestimate him!))
Miss Meglomania: Perches outside the window, peering in...yes, there's a child-- no heartbeat, but that's okay tonight...and who's that? A worker from Sobor Volkov? Oh, this is TOO easy...taps at the glass a little, alerting Sashenka to her presence...
Miss Meglomania: Sashenka looks up and smiles blankly...recognises this as a friend of Nitika's...gets up and opens the window, bidding her good evening before exiting the bedroom...
Matrixrefugee197: Uh oh....
Miss Meglomania: Mischa crosses over to the bed, looking at David intently...a little Mecha, but one nonetheless...reaches out her hand and trails her fingers over his chest..."Good evening, sweet child..."
Matrixrefugee197: Frank's a little surprised to see Sashenka emerge....
Miss Meglomania: Sashenka curties a little. "Do forgive my interruption, sir."
Matrixrefugee197: David Sweitz can just about sleep: he's a later-generation model...
Matrixrefugee197: F: "Oh, it's okay: just nursin' a few bruises Cecie pinned on me by accident... I dunno how she does it in her condition..." (blushing red as the rose on his arm, realizing he's said too much>
Miss Meglomania: Mischa pets his cheek with the back of her hand, crouching over him and breathing gently on his face...
Matrixrefugee197: David stirs and rouses himself from his lower level of activity....
Miss Meglomania: Sashenka tilts her head with a smile...she isn't advanced enough to get what he's saying...
Miss Meglomania: Mischa smiles down at him, her eyes flashing. "Good evening, sweet child..."
Matrixrefugee197: D: (opens his eyes, and looks up at her, not sure what to make of her> "Who are you?"
Miss Meglomania: Sashenka stands next to David's door, her hands folded in front of her as if she's waiting for something...a small smile on her face...
Miss Meglomania: Mischa: "Call me the Bride, my love..." flicks out her claws on one hand and runs them over his neck...
Matrixrefugee197: D: "What?" (has no cross-reference for this, so this triggers his 'fear of the unknown' centers... stiffens with fear>
Miss Meglomania: Mischa holds her index finger to her lips: "Shhh, my darling...this will take only a moment..."
Matrixrefugee197: D: "What are you doing?... DADDY!!!!"
Miss Meglomania: Mischa rises quickly, smiling down at him. "I suspected as much...until we meet again, sweet child..."
Matrixrefugee197: Frank jumps up, dropping his wine glass and rushes into David's room... "David?!"
Miss Meglomania: Mischa leaps onto the windowsill, watching the door...
Matrixrefugee197: The door flings open and Frank pelts into the room... David is up and out of the bed in a flash, running to his daddy for protection. "Keep me safe! Keep me safe! Keep me safe!"
Miss Meglomania: Mischa laughs a little, staring at Frank with electric eyes: "Such a little darling..."
Matrixrefugee197: F: "You get away from my son, whatever you are!" (taking a step he intends to look menacing, toward her...>
Miss Meglomania: Mischa is obviously un-frightened by him, and bows her head courteously. "Your wish, my dear..." Then stands a little and jumps off the windowsill, flutterin to the ground below...
Matrixrefugee197: F: (Holding David to him, making sure she's gone, wondering if it's that *thing* that's been skulking around the city...>
D: "Is she gone?"
F: "Yes, she's gone now... Wait here, I'll be right back..."
Matrixrefugee197: Goes back to the bedroom he shares with Cecie, nudges her awake, asks her if she minds if David sleeps with them tonight... she doesn't object, especially when she hears there's been an intruder... a moment later,
Frank comes back with David and helps him into bed beside Cecie, getting in after his son...
Miss Meglomania: When the Contessa returns from the Basilca, she catches a glimpse of something white crawling on the wall of the cathedral, but she pays it little mind...she's seen plenty more living at the Cathedral of the Wolf...
Miss Meglomania: (Literal trasnlation of 'Sobor Volkov', actually...>
Matrixrefugee197: Gaston awakens from his dream about Mischa... angry and embarrassed with himself
Miss Meglomania: In the morning, Ilia notices his face and gives a wry smile. "Somebody has been dreaming about somebody else...who is she?"
Matrixrefugee197: Frank awakens earliest... he's intending to meet the early train from Geneva... Someone has to be part of the welcoming committee...
Miss Meglomania: (sweet of him...)
Matrixrefugee197: No one has told Julien what train his master is arriving on, so the little one has to wait at home...
Miss Meglomania: Ilia spends the morning in practice...surprising how well one can dance to "Ode to Joy"...
Matrixrefugee197: Cecie has opted to stay home, as has Gaston...
Matrixrefugee197: And of course, so has the Mystery Guest...
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa leaves to greet the train...one must make an appearance, but Nitika is STAYING, young lady!
Matrixrefugee197: And at length, the express from Geneva arrives... various other passangers getting off first... Then a small man dressed in black, accompanied by two World Court guards...
Matrixrefugee197: Le Mero still looks about the same, but something has changed about him... some of the smugness has vanished from his face...
Matrixrefugee197: The Twins are on hand... they take over when the World Court guards depart...
Cstr: "Hey, boss, y' lookin' a little sore there?"
LM: "Nothing for you to worry about, Castor."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa steps forward and says very formally: "I hope you had a pleasant trip, Meroveque. Your presence has been missed by a select few." Something's wrong with how she looks, as well...if a Mecha's face could be exhausted, and distraught, she would be showing it.
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "I imagine a few people are sorry to see me back, but their feelings are understandable. The journey back was pleasant enough, aside from the fact that I'm a little sore here... Still getting over the implant
surgery, not that it's anything new to me..." (winces a little>
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa: "I see." Gets into the car, looks straight ahead on the ride back, saying nothing...
Matrixrefugee197: The reunion with Frank is a little more cordial... Frank hugs Hal, causing him to wince again, but he lets it pass...
Matrixrefugee197: F: "You landed on your feet at least..."
H/LM: "Not without banging my head on the sides as I fell..."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa: "It had to occur sooner or later..." looks out the window for a spell
Matrixrefugee197: H: "Well, that's why I'm stepping down from politics, not that I was ever really that good at it anyway... Hell, I usta bitch about corrupt politicians back when I was still in the States... and what did I end up as...."
Matrixrefugee197: The exterior may be Le Mero... but Hal McGeever has broken through the facade...
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa does not answer, but gets out of the car when it stops, hurrying up the front steps to the interior of the main building...
Most everyone is in the Common room when they come in...Nitika lounging, Yulia scouling, and Ilia in his practice gear doing morning stretches on the balcony...
Matrixrefugee197: Julien hovering at the back of the room.... Cecie sitting on a love seat, waiting for Frank, with David perched on the arm next to her. Gaston waiting seated on a sofa with Astarte sitting at the end, avoiding him...
Matrixrefugee197: Hal holds back for a moment... there has to be an easier way, just drop it all and disappear from sight, reappear a year later with a different identity... but he bears this tracking device deep inside him... the
World Court would trace him...
Matrixrefugee197: F: (puts a hand on Hal's shoulder> "Hey, you okay?"
H: (Shaking his head> "No... but I'll manage..." (takes a deep breath, then with Castor and Pollux trailing him, strides into the Common Room...>
Miss Meglomania: Nitika looks up. "Hello, Ugly."
Yulia just looks at him...
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "Yrrrgghh..." (baring his fangs at Nitika>
Gaston greets his father with a stiff kind of graciousness, clearly not sure what to make of all this... Astarte rises and hugs him carefully...
Miss Meglomania: Nitika bares hers back at him-- and they're just as pointy as Mischa's!
Ilia comes in off the balcony and just gives him a look under lowered lids, blue eyes dark...but says nothing, no indication that there's anything that has transpired between them...
Matrixrefugee197: A: (In a low voice> "I heard about the tracker..."
H: (same volume> "It's old hat to me..."
Matrixrefugee197: H: (nods to Ilia, acknowledging his presence, but leaves it at that...>
Matrixrefugee197: Julien can bear it no longer.... "Master!" (rushes out of his hiding place behind a large potted fern and plows full tilt toward Hal...
Matrixrefugee197: Hal tries to sidestep the assault... But nope!!
Matrixrefugee197: Julien gives him a body-slamming hug, knocking him to the floor!
H: "Ooff! Ay...."
Miss Meglomania: Lol!!
Matrixrefugee197: H: "Get OFF me, you bag of guts! Mmrpfff!!!!" (Julien silences him with a big kiss!>
Miss Meglomania: Ilia makes a "guuuuh" noise under his breath...ewww...
Matrixrefugee197: H: (pretends that Julien has subdued him, but then suddenly flips Julien over in his back and bites him, hard....>
J: "OW!!!" (but there's a note of delight!>
Cstr: (to Frank> "Yep, it's gonna be like old times..."
Matrixrefugee197: H: (straightening up> "Excuse that outburst... "
Matrixrefugee197: H: (to Julien, through his teeth> "You're embarrassing us all..."
Matrixrefugee197: Julien cowers on the floor, but is otherwise grateful...
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa returns for a moment. "Meroveque-- when you have a moment, I must speak with you."
Matrixrefugee197: H: "My time is yours... " (translation: Ah right, ah right, let's get this ovah wit'...>
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa walks to her office, ushering him in before closing the door...
Matrixrefugee197: He follows her in... that lordly stride is starting to decay into a weaving, aging-boxer sort of gait...
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa goes to the window and looks out before speaking, her voice low and slightly unsteady. "Is it true?"
Matrixrefugee197: H: "Is what true?"
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa: "All these things you have been saying...all these accusations of murder, are they true?" Turns to him, her eyes desperate. "Please-- tell me the truth!"
Matrixrefugee197: H: "We'd really have to have an autopsy conducted to prove it, but Schrever's pretty sure it was murder."
Miss Meglomania: The contessa swallows and sits on the edge of her chair. "I-- i do not understand. Why?"
Matrixrefugee197: H: "He's arriving on a later train this afternoon, along with my wife, I might add... he wanted to discuss the matter with you, but I can hold him off if it's too difficult for you..."
Matrixrefugee197: H: (puts his hand on the back of her chair, not in *that* way at all...> "I wish I had that answer for you... But murder will out, and when we find out who ordered this, we can ask them that question."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa: "If I do not confront this now, when will I? I have to-- I must meet him, what else can I do? I just..." presses her hand to her mouth. "I had just put this to rest, and now...now it is rearing it's head
again. I thought I had finished with mourning, but now..."
Matrixrefugee197: H: "I'm not the right person to talk to about mourning... but like they say, murder will out. I think part of you was still asking those questions, even if you weren't fully aware of it."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa stands and goes to the window, resting her hands on the ledge and closing her eyes, bowing her head a little. "I cannot...this is simply too difficult to comprehend at the moment...forgive me, I know I look weak."
Matrixrefugee197: H: "It's all right... It'd be a shock for anyone who found out this kinda thing, 'specially at a volitile time like this."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa turns to him. "Please excuse me...I would like to be alone right now."
Matrixrefugee197: H: "Understood... I gotta give myself a break here: Julien kinda jumped on my sutures..."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa wishes him a good afternoon and lets him go before sinking onto her day bed and burying her face in a pillow, heaving out dry tears of despair, just to let some of this off...
Matrixrefugee197: He limps back to his room and enters...
Matrixrefugee197: Only to have Julien try jumping him again: he manages to hold the little one off this time
H: "Dammit, Julien, you'll kill me!"
J: "Eep!"
Miss Meglomania: (And now Julien can FINALLY have someone willing to screw him! Oh, happy days are here again!)
Matrixrefugee197: Though right now, Hal has to check and make sure Julien didn't just rupture the sutures on his surgical wound... ow...
Miss Meglomania: Ouchie...
Matrixrefugee197: Hal has to lock the bathroom door to keep Julien away from him as he checks... Nope, the biotape covering up the wound hasn't been disturbed, so the sutures are all right...
Matrixrefugee197: Steps out again, only to have Julien try pinning him against the wall... which Hal responds to by pinning Julien!
Miss Meglomania: Lol!!
Matrixrefugee197: Several minutes later, Hal lies snoozing on the couch, with a very contented Julien kneeling beside the couch, resting his head over his master's heart... careful not to move since the surtures are just a few inches south...
Miss Meglomania: awww....
Matrixrefugee197: At last... the rift in his world is closed...
Miss Meglomania: (Ilia (internal> "Better him than me-- YUCK!!!"
Nitika: What are you talking about?"
Ilia: "NOTHING!!! Go away!")
Matrixrefugee197: About three in the afternoon, another Mercedes arrives from the train station... The Queen Mother returns, accompanied by her handmaidens and a non-descript man in his late thirties...
Matrixrefugee197: And although Marilyn despises the good doctor, she finds she has to put up with him as a travelling companion...
Matrixrefugee197: Never mind that Schrever's father/genetic twin/whatever helped genetically engineer her spouse... she still finds those Schrevers unsettling...
Miss Meglomania: (int-er-es-tink! Man, is ANYBODY in politcs either a) not related or b) born/created naturally, lol?)
Matrixrefugee197: Hal is up and about by now... meets his wife in the common room -- "Hey, gorgeous, long time no see?" -- then has a word with Schrever: the Contessa's having second thoughts about this, or so it seems: proceed with
caution...
Matrixrefugee197: S: "Yes, it would disturb anyone to find out something of this nature happened to a loved one... But the truth will help her through it."
Matrixrefugee197: H: "I hope she can see it that way..."
Matrixrefugee197: Escorts Schrever to the Contessa's room... taps on the door...
Miss Meglomania: There is a pause before she answers, "It is open..."
Matrixrefugee197: H: "Dr. Arnault Schrever is here to speak to you..."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa: "Let him in."
Matrixrefugee197: H: (pushes the door open and steps back, letting Schrever enter>
Matrixrefugee197: Now Schrever is about five or six inches taller than Hal/Le Mero, but he somehow succeeds in looking shorter than his master...
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa stands from her desk to face him, her eyes intense and her jaw set. "Dr. Schrever, how good of you to come and take an interest in...in our dilemna."
Matrixrefugee197: S: "My pleasure... "
Matrixrefugee197: S: "I had had my own suspicions when I heard the news of the Count's passing, but I originally laid those aside as mere suspicions... But perhaps they were not as far from the truth as I had thought."
Matrixrefugee197: "And, alas, as I have found out."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa glances away for a moment, then back at him. "We all did...I want to know everything. I will help you however I can, but I cannot help if I am kept ignorant."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa: "Please do not think you have to spare my feelings. I was there, I saw everything and I lived through it for three years. If I could do it once, I can do it again and...and this time it will all be just
words on a page."
Matrixrefugee197: S: "There are ways, and I am prepared to use every means possible to help you discover the truth."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa: "Thank you for that. I have had smoke blown up my ass far too long-- forgive my choice of words. What do you need to know?"
Matrixrefugee197: S: "I am acting with all due consideration... But I assure you, of myself, I am acting only in the name of science and justice...."
Matrixrefugee197: S: "All I need is a way to perform an autopsy on the subject in question..."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa (tightly>: "His name was Josef Volkov, doctor, not 'the subject'. He was a human being, I would appreciate it if you referred to him as such."
Matrixrefugee197: S: "Forgive me... I have been told to my face that I have no heart, only a blood pump... "
Matrixrefugee197: S: "I shall take care in how I speak of your husband..."
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa: "Thank you...I will see what can be done-- I make no assurances that it is possible, but I will try as hard as I can. And...and if I cannot work around the Premier, there are...other ways."
Matrixrefugee197: S: (a slight shrug> "I am fully prepared to take those risks... "
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa: "Hopefully, it will not come to that. Until later, Dr. Schrever."
Matrixrefugee197: S: (bows slightly to her before going out>
Matrixrefugee197: Much later, during the evening meal, Gaston has something to announce to the rest of the gathering...
Matrixrefugee197: G: "I have to come clean here... I've been inconveniencing everyone by my disappearances into an apartment at the rear of the wing we have been occupying these weeks..."
Matrixrefugee197: G: "And some of you have probably been curious to know the identity of the mysterious woman who was seen entering the Palazzo in the days just after my arrival..."
Miss Meglomania: Nitika: "Not really..."
Kitty: 'Nitika!"
Matrixrefugee197: G: "I have been innocently courting her attentions in the few minutes I had to spare amidst discharging my duties to the state..."
Matrixrefugee197: G: "And, father, with your permission... I wish to pursue a relationship with her..."
Matrixrefugee197: H: "Out with it: who is she?"
Matrixrefugee197: Gaston draws in a long breath, then gestures to one of his mother's handmaidens, who leaves the room for a moment...
Matrixrefugee197: Then the mysterious blonde, clad in a light blue evening gown, enters. Gaston rises and leads her to the table...
Matrixrefugee197: Hal takes one look at her...
Matrixrefugee197: His eyes roll back in their sockets and he slumps back in his chair in a dead faint...
Miss Meglomania: Ohhhh, dear....
Matrixrefugee197: Marilyn stares at her... recognizing her...
Matrixrefugee197: M: "It's... you... (rising quickly> "Excuse me..."
Matrixrefugee197: And with that she hurries out...
Miss Meglomania: Nitika looks around at the fainting/leaving. "Okay, am I, like, missing something here or what...?"
Matrixrefugee197: Frank and a few servants are attempting to revive Hal... who finally comes to...
Matrixrefugee197: H: "Nadia... what compelled you to... What the hell are you doing with Gaston?" (an odd tone, partly pleased, partly annoyed...>
Miss Meglomania: ilia (to himself> "Behold the elusive Nadia..."
Matrixrefugee197: Nadia: "We'd been seeing so much of each other... I got lonely when he came here to finish the work you couldn't, I even said as much in a letter...."
G: "I couldn't leave her shut up in Versailles... so I brought her here... (to the rest of the gathering> "This is my fiance, this is Nadia Benachkova."
Matrixrefugee197: Hal blacks out again, slumping against Frank's shoulder...
Miss Meglomania: Yulia, Kitty and Nitika exchange their greetings in Russian-- if her name is Nadia Benachkova and she doesn't know even BASIC Russian, they're embarrassed for her...
Matrixrefugee197: She speaks it quite well: her mother was half Russian and half Strelsori...
Miss Meglomania: Ilia looks at her in disinterest...pretty, but he's seen prettier, and just goes back to dinner...Nitika eyes her carefully, she's not too find of blondes...
Matrixrefugee197: Frank manages to revive Hal by flicking on his lighter under Hal's earlobe, startling him into consciousness.... Through the rest of the meal, Hal and Nadia studiously avoid looking at each other...
Miss Meglomania: (Nitika: "Can you blame me? All I see in magazines are 6-foot blue-eyed blondes with porcelain skin...well, I am 5'3'', black hair and eyes and brown-skinned, how can I measure up? Well...I AM richer, and will live for centuries...but STIIIIILL...")
Matrixrefugee197: Nadia is about five-foot-four....
Matrixrefugee197: Her eyes are greyish-violet, a rather odd shade...'
Miss Meglomania: One inch taller, and Nitika's growth perametres are set...she might be able to shrink herself, but she can't get any larger...
Matrixrefugee197: After dinner, Gaston and Nadia step out into the courtyard for a walk in the moonlight... Marilyn emerges from her room, and is careful to keep close to Hal....
Miss Meglomania: That night everyone settles down to sleep...the Contessa avoids looking at her email, Nitika goes off without a fuss...Ilia does not lock his door tonight, since Julien is reunited with his beloved, lol...
Matrixrefugee197: And now Hal has to deal with a fight between his wife and his male secretary over who has him first... and he's still pretty sore...
Matrixrefugee197: At length, Marilyn returns to her room... At last, Julien has his master all to himself... only to have him fall asleep on him...
Matrixrefugee197: Lay there utterly annoyed.... the old wretch would pull something like this on him.,...
Miss Meglomania: Lol..poor Julien! Even when he's up, he's down...
Matrixrefugee197: Oh yes....
Miss Meglomania: Fellow just can't cut a break...but at least now he won't be moping about annoying everyone...
Matrixrefugee197: Nope, now he's just sulking next to a snoring Hal...
Miss Meglomania: Lol...and fade out as the curtians stand stock-still against the tight-shut window...and the train stalls before it hits the tunnel, or even gets out of the station...
Matrixrefugee197: Vlad is back at his post outside Hal's door.... The Twins are fighting over the remote still...
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa lies in bed, holding an old pillow to her chest, breathing in the faded smell of pine trees and shampoo...a few short red hairs still clinging to the pillowcase...closes her eyes...
Matrixrefugee197: Frank and Cecie snuggle together... Nadia dreams of her life ahead with Gasque... Gaston hides under his bedcovers, hoping he won't dream of that *thing*....
Matrixrefugee197: Marilyn realizes this is for the best: Gaston will distract that woman from her spouse... but why did her son have to choose *her*?!
Matrixrefugee197: Schrever is awake, burning the midnight oil, double-checking his analyses of the disrupter...
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa hugs the pillow closer as she remembers a conversation from a lifetime ago...
"Dira, I am losing my hair!"
"You can't be Seffi, you're only 30, you're far too young."
"Well, you come look at this comb and tell me I am lying to you..."
"How is that-- Seffi, you do not look well...are you all right? Perhaps-- darling, you need to see a doctor, something's wrong..."
Miss Meglomania: Coming into their bedroom one afternoon, seeing the suitcases by the door, her artificial heart racing when he came out of the toilet...the look in his eye...
"Seffi...don't leave me."
"Oh, God, Dira, come here. Silly girl, I'm not leaving you...at least, I bloody well hope not..."
Matrixrefugee197: Deep in the night, Hal awakens long enough to turn over and pull Julien into his arms before dozing off again...
Matrixrefugee197: Julien sighs...well, at least he's in his master's arms if nothing else... nestles against him and closes his eyes...