Sub-Species
Characters: Sherlock Holmes, Jim Moriarty, Sebastian Moran, Mycroft Holmes, Eurus Holmes, John Watson, Gregory Lestrade …
Mode and Age: Steampunk Victorian Era with Supernatural creatures – Sherlock AU.
Chapter 1
'Dear Mister Brooke,
We have received your blueprints of the newly improved steam machine and have adapted it. We are very grateful to have been the first tester. The new addition is impressively useful in producing more steam power. Sadly, as we are no inventor, we do not know what to do with the second part of the addition. It seems like the bolts are quite specialized. We would like to invite you to come work directly for us tomorrow so the machine can run smoothly. The horse cart will be sent to pick you up at your house at six in the morning.
Sincerely,
Director of Mech&Tech Inc.'
Richard sat at his small desk, reading the letter. A happy exhale escaped his lungs. Finally he had got the job he had always been dreaming about - an official steam engineer. He was so excited about the promising work, very much, that night, he couldn't sleep. He dreamed of flying steam-powered gear birds and adaptable gear-based artificial body parts.
The drive to London was quite comfortable thanks to the luxurious cart Richard was given. He enjoyed the scenery on the way, though on arrival in the Capital, the young engineer was taken aback by the grim looking of it.
Grey sky, grey houses, grey pavement, even the people were grey. Something was not right. But what was it?
Stepping out of the cart, Richard was entirely engulfed in the thick fog of the city. He realized that the fog was so thick (thicker than any fog he had ever seen) that even his sight was limited badly. Gladly, he had just invented a pair of goggles that help dealing with reduced sight caused by bad weather and it helped very much in this situation. Upon wearing the goggles, Richard finally regained his sight and headed into the workshop of Mech&Tech Inc.
"Ah, Mister Brooke. I have been waiting for you." A chubby man in three-pieced suit greeted him at the door, holding out a hand sincerely. Glancing at the name tag, Richard noticed that this man is the director himself.
"It's my fortune to be invited here today, mister Director." Richard smiled and shook the hand of the other man. "I have been looking forwards to working here for years."
"Well, here you are now, young man. After reading through your blueprints, I know that you will be a gemstone in this industry." Mister Director laughed heartily and pats Brooke's back. "You have talents, you know. Fixing those machines require lots of knowledge. But you, you can even improve them. I must say that if you choose to work for us in the long time, we will be very grateful."
"I hope to cooperate with you as long as we can, sir." Richard smiled. Maybe the beginning wouldn't be very hard.
A siren could be heard from far away. The wailing sound informed bad news.
Richard looked out of the window of his workplace. Police car then. Probably some crime had just happened. He tried not to think of what the crime was and put his mind back to his current work. A knock on the door distracted him.
"Please come in." Richard cleaned the residual oil on the gears and turned to greet whoever coming in.
"Hi. You must be the new Engineer." A brunette with lovely face pushed the door gently and put her head in. Richard could see that she was blushing lightly. Cute. "My name is Molly. Molly Hooper. I work in the Testing Lab. Nice to meet you."
30 years old. Having past as Cum Laude in General Science and Medicine at Oxford University. Energetic but shy. Love cats more than dogs, especially hate arachnids. Enjoy domestic relationship.
"Nice to meet you too, Molly. My name is Richard Brooke." He smiled in a friendly way. "Would you like to have lunch with me at lunch break? Maybe you can show me a good restaurant. Don't be worried. I will pay."
Molly nearly dropped her lower jaw at that, her blushing became blatant. Never been in a relationship. Obviously.
"Oh well, if it's too much, we can go have lunch another day." Richard smiled and winked at the girl.
"No, it's nothing… I mean it's very nice of you." Molly blushed greatly with embarrassment while scratching her head. "So… See you at noon. At the gate?"
"Sure." Richard grinned and waved his goodbye to her.
Suddenly, his vision shifted. Everything covered in old, grey color. And Molly had a large fish tail with fins and scales. Richard frowned and blinked his eyes. Nothing wrong, it was still his workroom, and Molly was standing at the door, frowning at him.
"Mister Brooke, are you alright?" She asked with confusion.
Richard shook his head and blinked a few more times to make sure himself was not hallucinating. "Yeah… I think I am quite tired and dehydrated… I will go get some water."
"Oh, okay. If you need help, just ask. I don't mind." Molly nervously watched as the new engineer shifted around his workroom to get a bottle of water.
"Thank you… Ah, I am fine now." Brooke took a gulp of water and smiled. "You should go back to the lab."
"Okay then… See you later." Molly casted a glance at Richard before leaving, closing the door for him.
Richard sat back on the chair, resting his left arm on his forehead. Jesus Christ! What the Hell was that? I must have overworked myself. He thought and took another gulp of water. After making sure that his body wasn't running a fever, Richard went back to his work. He still had five steam tanks and one lifting arm to enhance before lunch.
Gladly, nothing went wrong till lunchtime. He finished all the given jobs and even had time to work on his own creation - a portable and scrollable geographer. He had always dreamed exploring the world on foot so he made this map-drawer to his assist in the future. Well, he had a long list of things to do but he had just been able to work on the weather-resisting goggles and the hand-held map-drawer. Richard sighed as he looked at the list of his to-do works, well, he needed to work harder or he would become an old man before he could set food on his exploring trip.
A gentle knock on the door pulled him out of his thinking. Richard quickly put on his jacket along with his beret and headed to the door. Molly was there, wearing a simple striped scarf, waiting for him.
"Oh hi there, Richard. Are you ready to go?" She smiled with excitement, which made the young man huff in amusement.
"Yes, of course. Now, surprise me with a wonderful lunch, will you?"
The food at Speedy's was good, especially the sandwiches. And the porridge was not too bad though Richard still could not say that he liked it (he only picked it because Molly urged him). He hated porridge. Who doesn't hate it if their whole childhood was filled full of it every single meal?
"So how do you think?" Molly asked him while eating a scone of vanilla ice cream.
"I love this place, the meal is good and it has a lovely space." He smiled as he stuffed his mouth full of grapes. "Maybe I will stick to it every lunch now."
"That's great. I'm glad you like it." Molly exclaimed her happiness. "So… How do you think if we, well, hang out together more often?"
Richard looked up from his bowl of porridge. "I think it's a great idea. Actually, I need help finding a place to stay in London since moving back to Dublin isn't my choice now. And I also need help with settling in the company."
"Don't worry about that, I will make sure that you get on well with everyone." The scientist smiles reassuringly at her friend, which made Richard return with his very rare innocent smile.
Maybe everything isn't so bad, like what they taught me in the orphanage. Perhaps I can give myself a chance.
"Mister Brooke, can you bring over the pump machine? Our client has arrived." Charles, the receptionist, called from the first floor.
Richard picked up the machine, along with its additional parts, put them all in a box and carried it downstairs. This one was a blood pump machine that St Barth hospital had sent for some modification. Richard had added an upgrade to the device which would help increasing the speed of the pumping process (though he still needed further test runs to make sure that the upgrade was successful).
While the engineer was deep in his thought, a tall figure approached him from behind with fast speed and bumped into him. Richard fell face first but the box the device protected his face from landing on the floor. He was glad that there were soft cloth in the box or else there would be bruises on his face. What happened next made the young engineer reconsider about his luck. His body was abruptly pulled straight up then shoved violently at the wall, Richard then found himself staring straight into a pair of cold cyan blue eyes.
"What's your name?" The tall man in vest with backward-combed black hair, who was pinning him to the wall, asked with a low, growling, London-accent voice.
"Rich… Richard Brooke… Uh, sir…?" Scott swallowed hard, not daring to move a single limp. Through the thick fabric of his shirt sleeves, Richard could still feel the freezing temperature of the man's hands. Is this man alive after all? Oh wait, if he isn't alive, how can he stand right here, in front of me? Maybe his temperature is already cold…
The man's eyes narrowed a bit before enlarging back to their normal size. "Oh, it's so rude of me. I'm very sorry. You… You look like someone I know…" He carefully put the smaller man down on his feet and picked up the dropped box while looking at Richard up and down. "You must be the new engineer in the company, hmm?"
Richard was still confused after the encounter and received the box from the other man. "Ah… Ah yeah, my name is Richard Brooke, I'm new here…" His eyes opened wide with the realization. "Wait, how did you know?"
"Molly told me about you. She said that you have some easily recognizable features… Like your big, doe-like, black eyes." The stranger smiled, a predatory smile, which sent chill to Richard's spine, then he held out his left hand. "The name is Sherlock Holmes, it's wonderful that we meet."
"William Sherlock Scott Holmes…" Richard subconsciously spoke out then blinked his eyes fast as the taller man stared at him with wide-opened eyes as if he had a third eye or something. What was that? Why did I speak out that name? It's so embarrassing! Oh God! I need a hole to bury myself in it right now!
"I mean, ugh, nice to meet you too, Mister Holmes… Really!" Richard awkwardly smiled back and took the hand offering to him, knowing that he had probably fucked himself up. The way Sherlock continued to stare at him made Richard feel goose bumps rising on his skin.
After they shook hands, Holmes gave a quick smirk at the young engineer (Richard couldn't understand what the smirk was for) before straightening his vest. "So, I believe you are looking for a place to stay in London?"
"Miss Hooper must have told you so. I come from Dublin, it's very far from here so I think if I settle down in London my work will be easier…" Richard explained. His worry of Mister Holmes's abnormal way of behavior increased sharply as the man chuckled.
"I am looking for a second person living in. I rent an apartment and my current flat mate can only afford one third of the rental fee. As for my part, I cannot pay more than half of the fee, so we have agreed on finding a third person." Sherlock grinned. "I you agree, you can move in right this evening, if that is okay."
All right, Rich, this man is totally not normal. He is offering a very cheap renting fee to some stranger who he has just met for about five minutes… It's ridiculous!
"Now, I hope you are not feeling awkward, I have also brought the renting contract here so you can sign on it." Mister Holmes grinned and took out the contract from his inner pocket and handed it to the too confused engineer in front of him.
Richard received the contract, still staring at the taller man with great confusion. What should I do?
Seeing the hesitation in the eyes of the Irish man, Sherlock decided that he shouldn't push this problem further.
"I am sorry if I made you confused, Mister Brooke. I will leave you to think about it. Just take your time." With that, the pale gentleman took off his hat in a greeting manner and left.
And the poor engineer still didn't know what to do.
In the veiled highest chamber of the mansion, Sherlock looked out into the foggy crowded street. His eyes fixated on one single figure. The young Irish engineer was in on the pavement, probably looking for a horse cart. The image was like a rain to his thirsty, which he tried to drink as much as he could into his acrid soul.
"It's him again, isn't it?" A stern, concerned voice rose from behind him. Sherlock didn't turn around.
"Isn't it obvious?" Holmes replied coolly, leaving not a single hint of emotion in the sentence.
A blond man in casual clothes walked over to Sherlock, his posture showed years of experience in military service. "This is going to be a very bad habit, Sherlock. You can't…"
"I know what I am doing, my dear Watson." Sherlock cut him off, too fed up with meaningless advice. "Now if you don't have anything better to tell me, you should go do some check-ups for your patients."
The shorter man gave out a frustrated and annoyed huff then turned his heel, heading to the door. He halted before opening the door. "One last time, Sherlock. Call me John."
Sherlock only smirked at the warning, satisfied with the sound of closing door. His attention was still on Richard, who had just got himself a horse cart. The vehicle dashed off into the thick fog of London night, then vanished into the darkness. The pale gentleman at the window has also vanished into thin air.
