the clockwork god - season 1 finale
(on or about may 5, 1873. the change in earth's rotation has made dates quite speculative.)
things left undone will become very undone, given time. this may be listed in the _books of ever, 'wisdom of fallen earth' part 1013_.
having completed many hours under Emma's mother Emaliel's tutelage and feeling decidedly worn down after 52 hours of unending night, a telegraph arrives from Lord Blackmond instructing our heroes to wrap up whatever current business was outstanding through the agency, and return to the estate as soon as possible. whilst preparing to leave, a plea for their' aid arrives via that same accursed telegraph, signed by the mysterious Dr. Heath and marked with an unfamiliar code: 733. when referenced in Emaliel's Central Statistics Bureau code book, code 733 reads "urgent, bypass normal routing, proceed with caution". they return post-haste to london upon a vessel designed by the CSB for rapid travel known internally as the fast train, commandeered by Heath's servant Arturo—a man with an ordnance-loaded lumitech arm whom they know to be a CSB assassin.
as they approach, Arturo's mechanical arm—also a computing and communication device—is struck by some malady and ceases to function. he was receiving a message describing an attack on the CSB's central network which likely crippled the CSB's processing capability. in due course the team arrives at the the CSB tunnel 1013, Arturo in the lead with arm restored to find the facility abandoned, the clockwork guardian non-functioning, and the long ropes of luminous chemical memory under core processing unchanging. upon reaching core processing, they discover the mind of the CSB is not a man, that Dr. Heath is in actuality three ornately inscribed orichalcum gears within an immense engine called VULCAN—and a Shard more powerful than any they have encountered to date, and containing a passing imprint of the Elder Child the greeks called Hephaestus, left here to aid in the maintenance of this world.
the sun is rising as they leave the tunnels but they are unable to shake the feeling that something is wrong—a feeling confirmed when they discover a shaft of blackness stretching from central london to the skies above. the Maelstrom Bridge from Nuria had fallen to Earth sometime during the long night. Olivia Sutherland attempts to contact Lord Blackmond psychically, with the aid of the Clockwork God, Dr. Heath, and finds his mind battered and broken, meanwhile Arturo, not being Dreamworthy but aided by Dr. Thackery, struggles with the conflicting realities within his own mind.
arriving at last at the estate of Lord Blackmond, they are met in the foyer by Rand, now called the Lorekeeper of Earth. at Emma's request, he retrieves Emaliel from her estate and then transports them to the realm of Minos, a Dreamland where Blackmond has taken refuge. upon arrival, they discover Lord Blackmond and Mr. Stewart suspended in tanks of a gen2 nanosym solution, and otherwise in dire health. with the weakest of mental contact, Lord Blackmond asks Olivia, who still holds out hope of recovering the world, which is more important: the world, or the people in it. she indicates the people.
"Oh," says the shattered Blackmond. "You want to do this the hard way."
/end
characters:
Miss Emma Durbin—daughter of Emaliel, Katherine Durbin, the Dowager Lady Blackmond, and an investigator from London.
Sam Morrison—a Lieutenant of (the new) Lord Blackmond, a freelance photojournalist and legendary pyromancer.
Olivia Sutherland—a Lietenant of (the new) Lord Blackmond, an actress and minor psychometrix.
Dr. Ethan Thackery—a doctor, student or Mesmerism and Animal Magnetism, emerging sorcerer, and possessed of a healing gift.
special guests:
Arturo—Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, lately in the employ of the Central Statistic Bureau. Assassain.
Emaliel, Katherine Durbin—Nurian True Guard, former Lieutenant of (the new) Lord Blackmond, mother of Emma Durbin, the Dowager Lady Blackmond.
Dr. Heath—Echo of Hephaestus, the Clockwork God, Fellow of the Royal Society.
Lord Blackmond—Thomas Bennett, Lord Bannaug, True Guard of Nuria, Knight of Atlantis, and last guardian of Earth.
Rand—Lorekeeper of Earth, former Lieutenant of (the new) Lord Blackmond, and sorcerer of devastating power.
Sawyer 17—Gatekeeper of tunnel 1013, origins unknown.
Mr. Stewart—bodyguard of (the new) Lord Blackmond, possessed of martial prowess, and preternatural durability.