Lord Steam and the Clockwork Assassins (IC)

[Supercape]

Arriving by another, more regular car, came Lord Steam's most trusted staff, all hand picked from his home dimension for their particular talents, and trained by himself.

Archibald Bellowforth, the diminutive lawyer, was the first to pick up something: a bundle of papers.

"All legitimate, as far as I can tell, your Lordship!" he said, stuffing his fingers into his lapels. "Damned if this colonial dimension hasn't got he most peculiar laws. But I am quite familiar with them now. Reading between the lines, however, my nose tells me its smells of the shufflings and dealings of smuggling. Offshore accounts, fake companies, that sort of thing. Nothing one could say was wrong, but smells off to me...and I have a good nose for such things!" he boasted, and it was no idle boast. Archibald Bellowforth handled the complicated administrative and legal matters of Steam Mansion with clockwork efficiency.

He had underlined, and questioned the name "Walter Black"

A possible lead?

Blakely brought him some curious devices, with all the hallmarks of the clockwork automatons that he had examined previously.

Definitely warm...

Steam himself examined the office.

Messy, poor filing. All the hallmarks of someone wanting to get out quickly. Several passport photos. Different identities. Cover for automatons? or someone wanting to break cover...

"So Jennings, anything you and Brodzki found?" he asked, showing the policemen his own pieces of intelligence.

[Thunder King]

GM

Soon after Steam's staff was done searching the place, more officers arrived to turn it into a proper scene. They combed it thoroughly, it seemed. After a while, Brodzki and Jennings returned to Steam, seemingly empty handed.

"Same stuff as your guys, just some of the tech. I think the Walker Black name is our best lead, though I'll be sending officers to thoroughly search the shipments in those manifestos." Brodzki said. "I have no idea who Walker Black is though. Jennings, stay with him. Lord Steam, if you need any other resources, go ahead and ask. My boss says you've done better than our boys on this, so you can go ahead and keep working on it."

[Supercape]

Lord Steam tapped his chin with his silver-tipped cane.

"I am afraid I find myself without further resource on the matter" he concluded, with some reluctance. "I can only assume that Walter Black is our best lead, although there are probably several dozen mister Black, Walter's in the city..."

"The matter will probably take a lot of asking around. Perhaps if the possibility of shipping, or imports, or even, frankly, smuggling was used to cross reference, the field would be considerably narrower. However, this is not my city. I can spread some of your charming dollar bills around, to see if any tongues would loosen..."

He shrugged. It was a foreign city still, and his method of deducting usually involved analysis of clues rather than gossip on the street...

"The device we recovered, I will take it back to my laboratory at the Manor, see if careful analysis reveals anything..."

[Thunder King]

GM

After hours spent investigated, and money changing hands, Lord Steam finally had a solid grasp on a lead. It seemed like nobody was willing to talk about this mysterious Walker Black. No one knew what he had planned, or why he needed specialized parts. All anyone knew was that he showed up one day with a lot of money, and a willingness to spread it around for the right reasons.

Walker Black was clearly an alias, it seemed. Invented by a man from Earth Victoriana for as-yet-unknown reasons. The machinery was all manufactured separately, and then later adapted into efficient assassination robots. They were built with after-market additions such as interchangeable faces and gas-powered poison injectors.

As for Mr. Black himself, he lived in a very upscale apartment in one of the richer parts of the city. Exactly how he paid for it all was a mystery, as was where his money came from.

Either way, the culprit looked to be a Walker Black.

[Supercape]

It was late evening and Steam was tired, having spread money and word around to get what he needed. Damn, the people in this city had no manners or etiquette!

He pinched together his forehead, as Kamil Singh, his trusty driver, sped him home to Steam Mansion.

So, Walker Black was almost certainly the man, but he remained a mystery. He seemed as robotic as the creations he was mixed up in. Possibly he was an automaton himself, albeit of a higher order of intelligence. Such things were not impossible...

He hadn't enough proof. He needed to get it.

He needed to snoop.

"Singh, my dear chap. I have had the most splendid idea for a spring loaded suction device!" he said, as the thought whizzed into his brain. "Perfect for climbing a mountain, or say, a building!" he reasoned. "To the workshop!"

5 Hours later....

"Perfect!" he concluded. He was tired, but Blakely had brought him several cups of strong tea. To each hand and boot he had strapped a black rubber suction device, making him look like an octopus. The devices were not exactly elegant, but they would allow him to slowly climb any surface.

"To Mr. Black's department I think, Singh!" he requested, as he and his Chauffeur stepped into his steam powered car and made their way to that very apartment...

[Thunder King]

GM

The building was a modern apartment complex, pretty upscale and probably quite expensive. Walker Black's apartment was one of the highest ones, near the penthouse.

Lord Steam's devices were perfect for the job, enabling the Victoriana native to scale the outer walls of the building easily. It didn't take very long at all for him to reach the top. That is, about ten minutes. However, Lord Steam was in excellent physical condition, and easily capable of climbing that surface without undo strain.

He neared the window and found it empty, or, at the very least, having the appearance of being empty...

[Supercape]

Lord Steam was very pleased with the suction devices.

I must give them to M back at the ministry when I'm done. I'm sure some of his spies and crooks could do with a pair! he smirked to himself.

He took a look inside the apartment. Empty...at least as far as he could see.

Not considering it wise to look down, he extracted one hand from his suction glove, to his belt where he stashed a variety of tools. It would not be easy work, but he counted that nobody was expecting anybody to break in from an outside window at this height. He placed a screwdriver in his mouth and places a pick in the window lock, trying to force it open without breaking the window, or activating any alarm...

[Supercape]

Lord Steam gently opened the window and crept inside, his ears alert for any sound that might indicate somebody present.

Good. Empty. He reassured himself, although he remained careful to maintain silence.

This is a rum old thing, a detective breaking and entering! he smiled to himself, although not without a pang of distaste at his action. The adrenaline, however, kept him on task, and he had to admit to enjoying the buzz.

He did not wish to linger here longer than necessary, so he moved quickly and to purpose, a methodical and quick search of the premises. There was nothing much of interest. Some receipts, unimportant documents, and the like - although the name Walter Black was mentioned several time.

The only thing that was of note was a safe, hidden behind a painting of rather poor quality (he judged).

This really is not right... he said as he brought out his tools and started to break into the safe...

[Thunder King]

GM

It was all there, the safe had everything. Except for his plans. Corporate manifestos, more detailed blueprints that explained which companies contributed which parts. Personal expenditures. No mention if Walker Black was a real name or not, but there was a lot there to go over.

Walker Black was a very secretive man, and it was evident that his exact plans were yet unknown. Lord Steam knew far more than he had previously, especially in regards as to what corporations to investigate, both on Earth Prime and Earth Victoriana.

[Supercape]

Lord Steam speed read through the wealth of information.

No Camera...dammit.... he cursed. He dare not risk taking the documents, he would rather keep Mr. Black and associates in the dark. If they were unaware, they would be less cautious, more likely to make a slip.

He memorised the names, dates, facts and figures, his photographic memory locking it into his cortex.

Stuffing the sheets back into the safe, he carefully closed it. He took one more look around the apartment, checking everything was more or less as he had found it. Then, he took to the window and descended in much the same manner as he had arrived.

He climbed back into Bessie, and drove back to his Manor, his brain whirring. For now, however, he needed to catch a few hours sleep before the morning...