He crept into the old, familiar laboratory. It had served as his prison, at times, and his sanctuary at others. It stood only to house the madness that the town could never afford to come to surface, and Amelie would never allow. She had locked him here, years ago, simply to suffocate his genius in his misery, left alone to bode with his insanities. In this…pit. Amelie, the queen he had served even from the darkness. The one who considered him to be an ally, when none but pity moved her hand to see him as such. She had used his weakness and in the end it contradicted himself, and those around him, as it always did. As long as Claire had lasted, thinking him a friend, she would not escape, when time came. They both knew the risks, deep down. Because Myrnin was lonely and mad and… covert. And very much buried alive in his lunacy.
The laboratory, once so erratic with manic life and frenzy was as absent as any void would be, like the tangible ground had been pulled out from under his feet.
He neared the machine slowly.
The wiring had failed, and the computer that he and Claire worked on endlessly had not survived the shutdown of the town over the past month.
"NO!" he shouted, gripping the useless machinery. He pulled plugs and connected dead circuits in a feeble attempt to restart, and the interface flickered before sputtering out. The entire system had crashed; lost oblivion that could not be revived. Frank (or rather, what had been left of him) was gone, leaving Morganville once again in a hectic mess beyond control any structure could provide. Given the recent catastrophic situation, Myrnin highly doubted that was at all beneficial. Amelie most certainly would not approve.
…..
He was appalled that the woman would actually follow him. He was merely interested in her (most impressive) intelligence, but she had caught his eye in the crowd, and suddenly started after him.
He walked faster, but not so much as to draw attention. He made note not to wear the brocade waistcoat with the large cape in the 19th century. Oh, and the tri-cornered hat. And the leather boots may have been a poor choice, as well.
The damned, impertinent girl was suddenly by his side, out of breath and halting him with a grasping hand and determined expression. When he attempted to pull past her, she yelled.
"Sir, wait!" she held his arm in a grip that he could have easily broken from, but he was all too much of a gentleman to deny her what little consolation she should possibly think to gain from questioning him. Looking straight into her blazing eyes, his expression was slightly amused as he replied. He was momentarily charmed by the beauty on her harried expression.
"Yes?" he spoke steadily, trying to whip upa bored tone and taken aback expression. He could see her trying to compose herself; she clearly had not expected him to allow this sudden confrontation.
"Sir, I have never once in my life seen you here. Surely you are no traveler, for no curious tourist stops at …conventions such as these. I would ask- no, I demand to know who you are, at once!" she seemed surprised by her outburst, suddenly embarrassed by her lack of proper form and usual ladylike manners. Reason, however, was screaming at her to follow this strange, alien man, and was telling her that he should not exist. Not at all.
He was amused by this woman, who had just moments ago fascinated him with the presentation of an analytical engine, explaining algorithm and scientific computing involved. She was blazing with determination, and intelligence the vampire had never before come across.
So he gave her the answer she was hoping to find.
"A fellow soul of the sciences, fair lady." He raised her hesitant hand to his lips, never once hindering from her stunned gaze. "And who, might I ask, is the lovely woman I have had such the pleasure in meeting?"
The smile that played on her lips matched the clever one on his.
"Ada Lovelace. And, I assure you, the pleasure is all mine."
….
He stood for what seemed like ages in the ruins, never once moving. He took in the scent of the years of work and experiments and brilliance, suddenly overcome with remorse. Myrnin was never completely aware of how very alone he was. This town was falling apart, and its scientist with it.
Myrnin crumpled to the dust covered ground, willing himself to breathe, to feel.
Claire had met the same fate just moments ago, as well as her lover. They lay just before him, stained in blood , a silent slaughter that he no longer reconciled as a loss. He had placed them by each other, not daring to move them apart. Their hands were intertwined, their heads bowed toward each other's, just as lovers should be. He smiled, fondly remembering feeling such a love, even after the tragedy of death. This is what he had now given Claire and the boy. This girl would be fossilised in his mentality to scorch him forever, just as Ada had. It was inevitable that he would fossilise with them, in the pain of his history.
"Gweddill , bach adar." His last wish to his final assistant was no more than a careless whisper, but it was the first sound to fill the room in an eternity.
…..
"For one of such intellect, darling, your strategy surprises me." Myrnin scoffed, moving his next piece into the centre of her setup, spoiling her tactic altogether.
Ada rubbed her temples, her face taking on a rufescent hue as she eyed the board with as much concentration she could master under his demeaning gaze.
"I am learning. You cannot expect me to emerge at once into the game against one of such…. Brilliance." She muttered, reluctant to give the prideful, grinning man a victory by her own words.
He laughed. "I give you that, child. I cannot quite halt my superior when put to play with a novice as yourself."
He stood, hands folded neatly beneath his back. He could sense Ada's hand move tentatively to the board and cautiously slide a knave into play, stepping out of harm's way but leaving more valuable pieces to the mercy of his own tactics, not fate, as she so foolishly believed would rule in her favor. He could hardly suppress his sly grin. Not in this game, dearest Ada.
" And… what feelings might you possibly harbour for someone so inferior, as you put it?" she spat, narrowing her eyes.
He did not respond, but rather turned and knelt at eye level to the board, examining the array of pieces engulfed in the perplexing play before him, caught so completely in the stagnant battle. His fingers moved to carry his queen across a seemingly unapparent stretch of board through a fault in his apprentice's previous move; his grin, this time, holding back none of his giddy pride.
"My dear, I do believe you are in check."
Her fingers swept across the portion across the board nearest to her, knocking her own king to the ground before standing and taking leave.
….
He left, emerging onto the stagnant streets of the town that had claimed so many lives. Claire, who had too much ahead of her to possibly make it through Morganville. Shane, who had been plagued his whole life by the monsters. Samuel, who in the end was just a miniscule part of the game that none of them could really see.
And Ada, who had taken the last of his sanity when she burnt out in final pixilated image.
He locked the rusted door and left the alley, hurling the tarnished key off to the roadside, which was still flooded with the tendrils of recent rains.
He ran, chasing the blood-red morning in all its glory, determined to let the his hollow mind run its course in the hellish grasp, brief a time as it may be. He would yield for nothing, this time.
Myrnin was a madman, in the end, and left with nothing to barricade the inevitable havoc.
…..
They tampered once again with the circuits and formulas, as they had so many times before. The spark in the assistant's eyes matched that in her teacher's as they worked.
Ada sought to test the effects of the medicine; something she prided herself in developing. Myrnin's mentality had yet to deteriorate to the point where he allowed this child, his own student to treat him, and it was apparent that Ada was momentarily puzzled as to how she would test the new solution, which was sitting readily in vials and syringes.
Ada rubbed her temples, as she always did when the science she held so much passion for became too much.
Seeing her frustration, he smiled in sympathetic compassion and slipped around to the table. He promptly grabbed one readily-set needle and plunged it into the solid skin of his forearm without so much as a wince as the mixture entered his body. He laughed at Ada's horrified expression as she looked up from her work.
"Quite all right, I assure you. Fret not, my sweet, it is but a simple experi-" he paused, frowning as the effects of the medicine seemed to surge through his brain in a sudden flow of clarity. And then he was on the ground.
This was not at all expected, he thought, Ada's worried face darkening from his view.
…
He came to much later, focusing on the ceiling just beyond Ada's worrisome expression. He laughed a bit as he recalled the effects of the medication.
Hilarious, really.
"Myrnin." Ada called, as his eyes focused on her. He should frighten her more often. He let out a gleeful, maniacal laugh as he considered the notion, thinking already of childish tricks…. And Ada was saying something to him, he realised, as senses slowly returned.
"….and Myrnin, we mustn't work with untested samples, of all things! You are… absurd! Lord knows what it could have done to-"
But he was already on his feet, babbling and taking notes on the drug that was already fading from his system.
Ada spoke again, shaken out of speechlessness. "Are you saying, then, that the drug did in fact…..work?"
"Of course! BRILLIANT!" he cried, spinning to grasp her shoulders and kiss her plainly on her rounded lips. He pulled back, furrowing his brow.
"Well. A bit powerful, perhaps… how long was it… ah, in effect?" Myrnin questioned, curious.
"Fifteen hours, at the least." She spoke slowly, eying him warily.
"Well. We could modify that!"He was beaming in delight, leading her in a frenzied dance around the room. "Nevertheless, my love, FANTASTIC!"
She shook her head, smiling as she leaned into the microscope to examine a slide of the medicine."You're awfully mad. So demented a mind for such genius. You go against all reason, my love! You cannot just… inject yourself with trial-one lab experiments!" She truly was worried, and astonished he could be so daft. His peculiar behavior had become more and more frightening, lately, and their love a contagious and frantic idea that had eventually infected her, as well.
And still, she worried.
"My dear," Myrnin laughed again, "intelligence is hardly proof of sanity."
Myrnin grasped both sides of her face, kissing her once more before turning back to his work.
He heard her cough and stumble, followed by the shatter of an Erlenmeyer flask. And then the unmistakable scent of her blood .She had tried to leave; her only error was giving him the satisfaction of her retreat when she was, in fact, cornered like frightened prey.
Oh, dearest Ada, he thought, Fate will not rule in your favor. Not in this game.
He pounced.
….
Now then! Here's some music:
"Africa" - Toto
"Your Flowers Will Bloom" -The Lovely Sparrows
"The Monsters Will Rise" - Repo! The Genetic Opera
"Paradise City" -The Audreys
"Breath of Life" -Florence + The Machine