001 ¬ audio

[dishonourabledischarge]

[Note to self: Throwing the thing against the wall? Apparently turned it on.]

'Bout time.

[The voice is irritated, yes, but no more than that, and the Cockney accent hasn't slipped into harsh anger.

He picks up the device. Tries pressing a few more buttons.]

Think that's got it, then.

[He's calmer now. Perhaps because the device decided to work.]

I'll go ahead an' offer an apology now. Don' know if I'm using this thing right in the slightest. Still, thought it best I introduce myself, and seems this might be the way to do it.

[Victorian gentleman does not like this thing. At all.]

Colonel Sebastian Moran, formerly of the First Bangalore Pioneers. Retired. [And dishonourably discharged, but he dares any one of you Victorian lot to mention that. Go ahead, try it.] Last I knew, I was in Switzerland. So, bit of a shock, all this.

Space, though. Still can' quite believe it.

Don' suppose there's any part of this ship where a man can get a view, is there? [He wants to see it for himself, if there is... and he knows that if Professor James Moriarty is to be found on this God-forsaken thing, that's where he'll be. Somehow or another.]

Comments

voice; sobs I don't know if this is going to be glorious or awful

[sebasher]

[Wait, wait. Hold on a tick. What? Oh, for the love of God. On top of all of this, an impostor? At least, he assumes this man is an impostor. A poor one, if you ask his opinion. Sure, this bloke has the basic information down, but that can be found in any of the military records. And where has he pulled Switzerland of all places from?

It takes him a few long moments to spark life into his own device--a few moments long devoted to slamming the thing against various surfaces, but he lucks out in the end and gets it to work.]

Colonel Sebastian Moran, was it? First Bangalore Pioneers? It's a pleasure, Colonel. [Polite words, if they had been written, but there's quite a bit of malice in his voice.] Why don't you spin me that old web about the tiger and the drain? I'd love to hear it told by another voice.

voice; ...Both?

[dishonourabledischarge]

[See? Hitting it works. Totally the way military men work these things.]

More of a pub story than anything, that one. Not to say it's not true, just don' hear that mentioned much outside pubs or the Anglo-Indian.

[He's trying to ignore the malice in that voice. Trying to pinpoint who this is. Someone who knows him, or knows about him, but it's not Holmes or Watson.

...Well. Might be Holmes. He can change his voice, can't he? But why would he go with a hunting story? If he wanted to put him in a tight spot, he'd ask something about the professor.]

Gorgeous girl. That's the most important part. The tiger, that is. Flawless coat, never seen another quite like her. An' smart.

Sniffed me out even though the wind should've been in my favour.

First time in a long while somethin' dodged my first shot, and, Christ, look in her eye... One or the other, an' we both knew it. No runnin'.

Led a good chase, though. Don' know who was the better hunter, really.

Think she realised, though, that she wouldn' win it. So, down she went. Straight into a drain. Never seen a tiger do that before or since. Thought I could get behind her, so I followed. But she was waitin' for me down there.

Got her in one, but she got hold of me. Just the paw-- wouldn' be here to tell it if she'd used her teeth. Got me good an' deep, almost killed me then. [He gives a soft chuckle. He can appreciate using your last breath to kill the man who'd killed you.] And got even closer after she was dead.

voice; ...both's good.

[sebasher]

[He didn't expect to hear a recap of the entire story, but there it is in. And in startlingly full detail. That is something that can't be written up in the public records.

He wants to know who this man is and how he's managed to weave the picture so accurately. It's something that not even the Professor can do. No one else had been there in that drain but Moran and that tiger. So he keeps talking, hoping this man's act will slip and he'll reveal himself.]

And that's the one that got you shipped back home, wasn't it? Lovely scar those claws left, too. Lucky you got your gun in her belly before she got her teeth in your neck. But then she nearly killed you again after she was dead. Bleeding, gaping wound in the chest gone septic really puts a soldier out of commission, don't it, Colonel?

voice;

[dishonourabledischarge]

[Not hard to guess the wound went septic, the way he'd led up to it.

So why does hearing this man talk leave a chill in his blood?

Could still be Holmes. He'd put it together like that, but.]

Wasn' a soldier by then. I'd retired [been forced out, but. not admitting to discharge here.] 'bout three months before then.

Couple of 'em wanted to send me back to England at that point. Put me in a damp, dreary house in the country and call me done for. Told 'em I'd rather die in a week in India than last a month in England.

[But then, after his recovery, there had been more scandal. And he'd had no choice. He'd had to go back to England. Just to let it blow over, he told himself.

He'd planned on leaving the country again within the year.

But then along had come John Clay from his Oxford days and Professor James Moriarty.]

voice;

[sebasher]

[Finally! A true slip-up! The stranger had done a noteworthy job with the tiger story, but he was clearly off with his timeline. The wound, on this Moran's end, was part of the reason for his retirement, but such effort had been put into getting him off of the continent anyway. The natives didn't like his hunting habits, and the rest of the regiment apparently didn't appreciate just how cowardly they looked when compared to old Basher. He had been freshly retired when he met Professor James Moriarty.]

Now, then. Is that what you've been told? [He chuckles, just barely amused.]

Come off it, chum. Who are you really? I won't tell a soul.

[He wants so badly to ask if he's been hired by the Professor to play some sort of mind game, but he remains tight-lipped. He doesn't know who may be listening, and that's not information for the entire network to hear.]

Anon Text.

[spider]

[B O L L O C K S.]

You sound like you are dressed for a tea, sir. :)

S

Text

[dishonourabledischarge]

[Damned if he knows how to use this thing.

...But there are letters on it. Typewriter? Something like it?

He manages a response and-- well. This is almost preferable. Rather like a typewriter, yes.]

I'll believe this place has proper tea when I see it in front of me.

Col S Moran

[Writing? Much more eloquent than speaking.

Because the adopted Cockney doesn't carry over. There, in writing, is the son of the Minister to Persia. The Eton and Oxford educated man.]

Anon Text.

[spider]

[He almost laughs.

His suspicions almost immediately pull together, stitching into the small theory that there is some sort of relation to... what does he call him, Holmes? Other universes. Doubles. Versions. This place is mixing some dangerous chemicals.

Doesn't mean he can't have a little fun. Oh, he might have to wish for his employee for Space Christmas. Naughty list or not.]

You sound very much out of your era, I'm afraid. There's tea. And more.

S

Text

[dishonourabledischarge]

[Instant letters. This? This is convenient. He likes this.]

I'm afraid I am. Quite.

1891, last I knew.

Col S Moran

video;

[wont]

[ Alayne knows nothing of Switzerland. Or of colonels or Bangalor Pioneers. She does know a certain Irene Adler, though. In fact, they are fine friends. Pity she never warned her off anyone named 'Moran'. (That's what you get when you keep so many secrets.)

His question, though, is simple enough and she gets to answering it only after she's dipped in greeting, her head lowered and her chin tucked politely. ] No windows, I am sorry to say. Or — no windows that we've given access to, at least.

encrypted, 10%

[jilt]

Dear heart, might I give you a word of caution?

encrypted, 10%

[wont]

[ A word of caution from the links of Miss Irene? Alayne is nothing if not wholly attentive. ]

What is a word of caution between friends, Miss Irene — of course you may. Always.

encrypted, 10%

[jilt]

[ and here is where irene must tread carefully, so carefully. she does not think moran the type to harm an innocent girl, but his master...well, if moriarty set his hound a-hunting, then that was another matter entirely. ]

Be careful with him. He's not the sort to share your secrets with.

video;

[dishonourabledischarge]

[Pretty thing.

But too young to spark more than a gentleman's passing notice of her looks.]

Now, that's a shame.

[When he wants, he can be quite proper. Even avoids swearing while she can hear him.]

I've a friend -- not here, mind, bue he makess a study of the stars. Had hoped for somethin' of a view.

video;

[wont]

[ That's very generous of the colonel, considering the supposed 'gentlemen' that Alayne Stone has made acquaintance with in the past. Although his general demeanor strikes her as rough his manners are not overlooked, though she meets then with polite hesitation in the wake of Miss Irene's warning. ] There are pictures of all sorts available in the library. Pictures made of light — unlike anything I've ever seen before.

Some show the stars, if that would please you. They perhaps serves as poor reproductions but— the stars are so very different when not seen from afar.

—they loom.

video;

[dishonourabledischarge]

I'll keep that in mind, miss.

Can' say I'd benefit much from it m'self, the pictures. Wouldn' know what I was lookin' at.

[It's an easy statement. Self-deprecation without being an insult to him.]

He doesn't know the stars more than in passing, but he wouldn't trust a rifle in the professor's hands.]

Might still pop 'round for a look. [So he could properly direct the professor these if he found him on this damned thing.] can' hurt to take a look.

[jilt]

I could have shown you how to use it, had you asked.

voice;

[dishonourabledischarge]

Nothin' to trouble someone about. Got it to workin', after all. Do appreciate the offer, of course.

[Ever the gentleman.

Away from the hunt, he is fairly docile. While this woman is not a friend, she is not an enemy either. Not here, not now. She will not be treated as Holmes was. He reserves full civility for her. For now.

Their truce is an uneasy one, yes, but she is all the ally he has.]

Seems a shame. So strange a place as space, an' not a way to see it.

[His disappointment isn't really for himself. He has only so much interest in the stars.

But he's thinking of another man. A powerful man who showed uncharacteristic humility when he stared at the night sky.

What would his professor think, if the sight was visible, of being amongst the stars he admired and sought to study?

But such thoughts have little place here and now.]

Now, you'd be more dear than all the saints [from another man or at another time, it would have sounded like friendly teasing, maybe even flirting] if you'll tell me there's tobacco here and where to find it.

Don' expect them to have my blend, but somethin' would be nice.

[jilt]

[ he is not a tame hound, moran. irene does not forget this. perhaps he dips his head and allows her to cosset him. perhaps he walks at her side and perhaps they smile and nod at each other, but he is not tamed. should his master arrive and give the order, he'll tear her to pieces.

irene does not forget. ]

I've been advised on the matter. If you wish it, I can show you where it grows in the oxygen garden. I do doubt it can rival your blend, but one makes do.

[dishonourabledischarge]

I should be quite grateful, Miss Adler.

[Grown tobacco. How long had it been since he'd rolled a cigarette from fresh, green tobacco?]

Suppose there's just one breed.

voice;

[adlered]

[ Victorian and the sort of man who fights with a counterpart who shares the same name as him. Moran, had she heard that name before. Was that name even in her- she couldn't even check because her phone was clean as it was the day she got it.

But Irene knows him and James recognizes the name. So it stands to reason that she should at least keep watch. (Perhaps over both of them, assuming one doesn't shoot the other.) ]

A military man retiring to Switzerland. Interesting. Have you done anything since you retired? [ Retire, oh good god that shouldn't be amusing but it is. ]

voice;

[dishonourabledischarge]

Ah, no, ma'am. I didn' retire to Switzerland.

[Far too quiet and far too cold. England was barely tolerable after his beloved India.

His voice is warm, all gentleman, despite what some might have assumed from the accent.]

Don' care much for idleness. [He chuckles.] Few months after I found m'self back in England, I took up a post on the suggestion of a friend. That found me in Switzerland, on business.

An' somhow I end up here. Still don' know what to make of that.

[video]

[the_vishual]

Sir, you're not alone. There's quite a healthy population of the Tranquility crew that does not come from a space-faring background.

That being said, should you require assistance, please do not hesitate to let me know.

[video]

[dishonourabledischarge]

[So many young women.

Ah, well. He has the manners to carry it off, he thinks.]

Well, that's kind of you. I'll keep that in mind if you'll give me a name t' ask for should I need it, miss.

[video] super late tag ;_;

[the_vishual]

Chase, sir. Chase Kilgannon.