Steampunk Kohler

0-o-0

November 30th, 2014

0-o-0

He walked.

And as he walked, a gentle breeze blew, chilling him. He tugged his scarf tighter around his mouth and neck, trying the best he could to not freeze his mouth and nose. As another breeze blew, his silver blonde hair flew out of his eyes with it. A cross shaped clip in his hair, however, kept most of it down. He trudged on, turning to enter a large and old brick building, slowly falling apart. The rusty metal door creaked as he entered. Trudging up three flights of steps and avoiding dead rats and trash, he came to a door in shiny new metal, a hand print scanner to the right of it. He stood calmly and held his hand on it, the machine pinging as it registered his name. The door opened, showing a narrow hallway that would lead to the next building. He was met with another scanner, this time for his eyes. After making sure nothing was obstructing them, he leaned into the machine as a dim laser scanned his eyes. Yet another ping sounded and he entered a large metal room.

He tugged his scarf tighter as he stood by the door; the room had to be kept very cold for scientific reasons. A large metal pillar stood boldly in the middle, many metal cases surrounding it, some containing people within. He stepped forward towards the middle, scientists and engineers rushing around him in a seemingly chaotic fashion. He reached the centre, running his hands on the cold steel. He turned around, a man standing before him covered in frost and grease. The man stood taller than he did, roughly by six inches, in a black jacket and white clothing. His sandy blonde hair was slicked back and his light brown skin scar-less and perfect. His brown eyes stared into the violet ones of the first man, "There you are Bondevik, always attentive." He said.

The man referred to as Bondevik smiled, giving a simple nod to the man he knew as Chad. Chad ruffled his hair and they walked through the chaos, he talking all the while, "The tests are going good, we haven't have one person die the entire time we've been running this here." Bondevik nodded, pointing to a scientist who was hooked up to a few wires, "Saran? He was testing one of the machines, yours to be precise. We kept him in it for five days, no issue with him except his temperature rose a little and he was slightly dizzy." Bondevik nodded, glancing at all of the hard working people and smiling. "Bondevik, are you sure about this?" Bondevik looked at Chad, nodding as he tugged the scarf tighter over his nose. He gave him a questioning look. "Well, we don't know if its going to work for as long as you want to be in it. And it is a long time." Bondevik nodded, giving him a soft look, "I'm just worried about my only nephew. Me may not be blood related, but I'm still your Uncle."

Bondevik nodded and glanced around where they were. They had walked to a side room, the door frosted over and the cold radiating off of the metal. Chad punched in a code and the door slid open, allowing the two men entrance. They walked past several discarded metal containers, roughly the size of a man. Chad led him down a row of tables to a small stand, a better looking case resting on it. "If you're sure..." Chad said.

Bondevik nodded, but turned to hug his uncle. Chad smiled and returned the gesture, giving him a kiss of the forehead at which Bondevik tried not to cringe. "You sure about the time you wanna be in it?" With a small nod, Chad let him go and looked him over. "You sure are an odd one. Can't speak, not even in sign language, named after a country like your father was and about to get frozen for a long time. How many kids you know do that eh?" Bondevik made a face as though he was laughing and held up his hand in the shape of a 0. "I'm gonna miss you kiddo. Just don't forget me when you wake up." Bondevik nodded and tugged his scarf tighter. He stepped towards the case and two scientists helped him in. He smiled at Chad who nodded in response. "Get comfortable kiddo, you're gonna be in there a while." Bondevik got himself adjusted, making sure the scarf stayed in place. "Alright boys lets begin."

Scientists began typing at their computers, working as quick as their fingers could move. The door to the case Bondevik was in shut and clasped tightly, startling the young man. He watched Chad run around for a little while before a small flap in the door opened. A quiet speaker came on from behind the padding of the container, "Alright there kid, we're gonna start the cryogenics now, so close your eyes. You're gonna wake up in the future kiddo." Bondevik nodded and glanced out through the small window cut in the front. Chad waved at him and he nodded, shutting his eyes. "Freezing in 3..." Thoughts speeded through his mind, reminding himself of every little detail about himself as Chad said he's need to remember. "2..." A single thought crossed his mind; his name. His beautifully peculiar name. He smiled wide as he could at the thought. "1... Goodbye Kiddo."

The speaker shut off and cold air began to pump in through the flap, nearly instantaneously freezing his body. His body no longer functioned, all things that keep a person alive stopping, but only momentarily so. The cold air preserved his body, keeping it perfectly healthy, which he'd need when he wakes up.

The scientists who were strong enough moved his case onto a roller and moved it to a safer location where it wouldn't be disturbed. As they set it down, a paper fell off the front of it. A scientist sighed and places it back to its proper place; taped to the front of the container. The paper read the man's full name, as did the frozen thought in his head.

Bondevik, Norway Lukas.

0-o-0

December 15th, 4023

0-o-0

"Mister Kohler sir?" A timid man asked, leaning in from the door.

The man mentioned looked a him from his office chair, "Lincoln, there you are. Boss told me you'd be coming to tell me something."

Lincoln, a small man with brown straight hair and blue eyes nodded, "Yessir. He says you're going to be having another person coming out of the cryogenics sir."

"Another? That'd be the second person today. Though he was only in here for three weeks, so he probably doesn't count." He said.

Lincoln nodded, "Yes, but he says he wants nobody other than you to be there when he wakes up."

"Why might that be?" He asked, leaning back in his chair. The old thing popped and creaked like crazy.

"The first one, sir." Lincoln responded.

At this response the man shot up out of his chair, the metal popping more and his jacket making almost too much noise. "H-Him?"

Lincoln nodded and said "Him sir. That one. He said I should tell you to look unusual. By that, I suppose he means no metal."

"No metal? Not even my ear guards?"

"Well..." Lincoln looked around outside the door, making sure no one was there before answering as he was supposed to address him formally, "He is 2031 years old, so I recommend looking like that's the time period you came from. I might say keep the ear guards and boots, but not anything else."

"So what, just something boring and not awesome?" Kohler asked.

"Like... White shirt black pants. It might look odd to him and the book says don't startle him. I think the way we dress would startle him." The young man said.

"That's... Boring as shit." He said.

Lincoln nodded, "I know, the way they were back then was odd. After the robotic revolution they gradually learned to accept the way things would be and the people who didn't found a new home to complain in. Then slowly all turned into this." He gestured out the window just as a Zeppelin zoomed by.

Kohler nodded, "I like the world this way."

"Me too sir. They're going to open him up before we close up, so get prepared." Lincoln said and ran out of the room.

Kohler sat down, his chair popping yet again. He picked up his name tag off of his desk and spun it around to read it. Denmark Kohler, Head Cryo-Greeter it read. He thought about how stupid his title sounded for a moment and set the tag back down. He opened the drawer on his desk to the right of him and pulled out a rolled up object which resembled a piece of paper. He carefully unrolled it onto his desk and grabbed a black stylus out of the drawer. He drew a pattern onto the paper and it lit up, displaying a search bar. An add to buy a premium Zeppelin popped up, zebra included, but he ignored it. He already had the zebra and his Zeppelin was free, so why need another? He wrote in the search bar 2014 name Denmark. The country popped up so he edited the search to boys name Denmark. He found few were there, and same when he looked up the name Norway, but there were more than Denmark. He changed both searches to 4023, the names both at over 1 million, but Norway still the more popular name. He swore and tossed the stylus back into the drawer. He rolled up the paper, the name ELECTO-PAPEL flashing across the screen as it shut off. He placed it back in the drawer and shut it.

He stood back up, walking out of his office to the wardrobe. He entered, locking the door behind him and staring at all of the clothing. He searched for a white shirt and black pants like Lincoln recommended, finding the pants first and finding a grey shirt with a small dragon print on the back. He shrugged, figuring it was alright. He walked to the mirror and gave himself a once over. His blonde hair was normal, up in a sort of way like usual and the large bandage still around his left eye. Around right ear were piercings, running from the top of his ear to the bottom and each connected to form a guard around it. His left ear was only half-guarded. His jacket, which was black with brown striped and had gears and chains hanging off of the bottom, still came down to his knees. He set down the clothes and took off his jacket, carefully hanging it on a hook by the mirror. His shirt was a simple tan one, a pocket watch in the front pocket. His pants were black, a large chain wrapping around one leg and small mechanical objects hanging off of it, always clinking when he moved. His boots were pure leather, large buckles on the ankles and a zipper running up the back.

He changed quickly, checking his pocket watch every so often. They closed at 8:30 pm and it was already 7:45. He checked his new outfit in the mirror, making a remark to himself of how under-clothed he felt. Lastly, he leaned close to the mirror and gently pulled the bandage off of his forehead. He smiled as he saw the mark it was hiding. It was a tattoo, a series of cogwheels to be precise. He even made the arrangement himself with the help of his friend Gil. He grabbed his clothes and ran back to his office.

After dropping off the clothes and quickly incinerating the bandage, he ran to the basement, or fell down the stairs to it is more the right thing to say. He stood in front of the door, mumbling to himself and fixing his hair in the reflection off the door. He glanced to the screen that hung above it, reading off the times for the process to begin. It read BONDEVIK in bold with the time set at 8:00. He pulled his pocket watch out and read the time, it showing 7:55 on the hands. He puttered around the landing, waiting impatiently for it to be 8.

At last the door buzzed and he ran in, all the way through the rows of cryogenically frozen creatures. He ran to the back row and went right, running to the very last case. He stopped in front of it, pulling off the faded piece of paper from the front. He read it, seeing the man's name. He flipped it over, seeing information about him that he would need later. He gently folded up the paper and stuck it under the cover of his pocket watch. He punched in the code on the keypad next to it and the case shot up into the air, going up a pipe. He jumped in after it, making sure he didn't loose it anywhere. The case landed on the floor of a room similar to an operation room, but brightly lit and less sharp objects. Denmark landed next to it, swiftly getting up and dragging to over next to a large padded table. He popped the latches on the case, waiting a second before opening it. Cold radiated out of it, making him shiver.

He waited exactly 5 minutes before he lifted him out of the case, his body still stiff and frozen. He laid him on the table and pushed the container back down the pipe it came from. He laid Norway out flat on his back and covered him with a blanket. He reached under the table and grabbed a small tubular machine and pressed it to the man's forehead, pushing the button on it. The machine buzzed dimly and then beeped, signifying that it was done. He tossed it over his shoulder and glanced over the man.

He was at least a foot shorter than him, smaller in stature too. Silvery blonde hair covered one of his eyes and on the other side it was pulled back by a cross-shaped clip. A scarf wrapped around his neck, mouth, and nose, the ends of it laying on his chest comfortably. He had on a sort of jacket Denmark had never seen before, one of cloth with a zipper going down the middle and small pockets on the sides of it. He thought it too small and unneeded. His jacket was unzipped, showing a plain red shirt with a small embroidered emblem of a horse on it. He wore pants of a material that took all his will not to touch because of how comfortable they looked. In 2014, they were just normal jeans with a black patch on one knee. His shoes were ones that were still around in 4023, and they were red Converse that went to his ankles. His skin was very pale Denmark noted, and also still frosted.

He gave an annoyed look, looking at the machine he threw over his shoulder. It was supposed to unfreeze the person, but apparently he was too frozen for it to do so. He grabbed another one and placed the end of it on his chest this time, pushing the button until it beeped and tossing that one as well. This time the process worked and began to actually thaw him out. Denmark smiled and paced around the room. He kept glancing at him, trying to see when he would become lively again. He waited and waited until it was 9:00, a half an hour past closing.

A knock at the door startled him, and he turned to see his boss standing there. "Denmark, what are you doing here still?" He asked.

"Sorry Mr. Kirkilliams. He hasn't woken up yet so its my duty to stay with him until he does.

The pink haired man nodded, adjusting his bow tie and top hat. "I'll be sure to close up when I leave , I promise."

Oliver Kirkilliams nodded, "Be out of here by 10:00 Kohler. And if he's not awake by then, you know the drill. And be prompt, I'm making cupcakes for this occasion when you come back." He smiled a cheeky smile and left.

Denmark nodded and waited by the door. He checked his watch every so often, 9:07, 9:26, 9:49, and finally 10:00. Norway, however, had not woken up yet. He had, however, became lively at 9:49, as he was breathing now. He walked over to him and ever so gently picked him up, blanket and all, carrying him bridal style and walked back to his office. Norway's head loosely rolled around, eventually leaning against Denmark's shoulder and staying there. The man smiled and walked into his office. He set him in his chair and grabbed his bag and a few other things from the room. He slung the bag over his shoulder and picked Norway back up and headed to the bosses office. He hit the switch under his desk and the security machinery in the building began working, covering all the windows and doors outside so no one could get in. He grinned and headed for the roof where his vehicle was located.

He approached the stairs and once again climbed them, kicking open the door when he arrived. It shut by itself and he walked to a red car with a tall roof off to the side. After opening the passengers side door, he set Norway down and strapped him in, he himself then getting in and starting the car. He hit a red button on the side of the wheel, revving the engine and driving off the side of the building. As he fell, the car slowly shifted, wings popping out from underneath it and a large propeller coming out of the back. As it seemed it would hit the ground it adjusted itself and raised up, flying home on the standard route to his home. Denmark unbuckled himself and climbed into the back with Norway, checking him to make sure he was alright. He was and asleep too, rather than unconscious. A cheeky smile graced his lips and he sat back and watched the winter stars fly by.

The car flew for about half an hour, finally landing on a back road and shifting back into a car. Denmark climbed back into the front and drove it himself to his house. He parked in the drive, climbing out and gently picking up Norway. He walked inside and kicked off his boots somehow. He walked through his living room and into his room. He laid Norway down and made him comfortable and began cleaning up the room. This lead to him cleaning the whole house up, much to his own surprise. After he finished, he returned to his room and sat on the floor next to Norway, yawning and trying not to sleep. This, however, was not so easy and he eventually fell asleep.

0-o-0

December 16th, 4023

0-o-0

Denmark woke up to find he had the day off, and also to find his neck in an awkward position on the floor. He sat up and turned around, seeing Norway still out cold, but not frozen cold. He smiled and sat back, checking his watch every so often. At long last, at 8:47 the man made a noise. His eyes twitched and Denmark quietly got up and stood back. Norway rolled over, patting the bed next to him in a confused manner. He opened his eyes and slowly sat up. He glanced around and his eyes landed on Denmark. The blonde smiled at him and continued to stay where he was. Norway slowly got up a and nearly fell over, had Denmark not ran over and caught him, "Easy there, you've still gotta get everything working again." He said, his voice happy. He set him back down on the bed and sat next to him, "Welcome to 4023!"

Norway's jaw visibly dropped, even from behind his scarf. He tugged it off of his mouth and looked around, seeing only three things in the room: the bed, a dresser, and a window. He then gained a confused look and looked at Denmark. "You're confused I'm gonna guess. See this is just my room. I had to bring you back here because you wouldn't wake up. Job rules." He gave him a stupid smile and held out his hand, "Denmark Mathias Kohler, nice to meet you!" Norway looked at his hand and gently shook it, sitting back and staring at the ceiling. "Your name would be...?" Denmark asked, even though he already knew the answer.

Norway bit his lip and made a gesture for a piece of paper and a pen. Denmark nodded and got up, holding his hand out to Norway. The smaller man took it and was pulled up, leaning on him to stay up. "Paper's in my office. Can't you talk?" He asked. Norway shook his head, "Sign language?" With another no, he shrugged, "Oh well, everyone's different, which is a good thing." They walked out into the living room, Norway noticing the silver leather couch and large television. Things seemed a bit off to him, what with all of the nice shiny things, but he brushed it off. Denmark opened the door to his office and Norway stumbled inside, leaning against the wall. The larger man followed and slid a chair over to him. He nodded and sat down, rolling it over to the large desk in the room.

He looked around, seeing stacks of unused papers and rolls of fabric. A box of metal and metal-appearing objects sat at the end of the desk and a clock sat in the middle of the desk, the insides torn apart. Denmark ran out of the room for a minute and then back with his bag. He set it down next to the desk and placed the clock and its pieces into the metals box. He then grabbed his bag again and placed some things in it again. He grabbed out his electric paper and handed Norway a real one along with a pen. He grabbed his stylus and turned on the paper so he could write things down.

"Alright, so here's what goes down. I'm a person in charge of getting you used to this world no matter how long it takes. I just gotta ask you some questions to make sure you remember things." Norway nodded and pointed at his piece of paper, "Its from this year electric paper. Its like one of those iThings or whatever that they had in your time but if I say rip in in half or drop it in a river it won't be damaged, it repairs itself automatically."

Norway nodded and clicked the pen. "Alright, so first, your name, age, and birthday."

He wrote Norway Lukas Bondevik, 22, 5/17/1992.

"Very nice, and your direct family's name. Direct as in father, mother, siblings, guardian." Denmark said after writing something down.

Norway thought for a moment and then wrote, Father: Brazil Bondevik, Mother: Alaska (Mardi) Bondevik. Guardian/Uncle: Chad Bondevik.

Denmark wrote something down again and looked at him, "No siblings?" Norway shook his head and he wrote more down. Before he could say anything more, Norway wrote on the paper, Do you have any? And tapped Denmark's shoulder. He looked at it and nodded, "I have two brothers and a brother-in-law who's the cutest little thing ever. They're not named after countries like I am because my dad picked their names and my mother picked mine." He laughed quietly, "I always told people who asked my name, 'I'm Denmark, and I'm not even Danish!' Some people laughed but others thought it was stupid." He shrugged, "Guess it works for you too, your name is Norway and you're not even Norwegian." Norway rolled his eyes but was actually mildly amused.

"Alright next question!" He said and scrolled through his paper. "Not important... Not important... Why is this on here...? Here we go!" He grinned, "I can fill out the rest of this but I need you to sign it alright?" He turned the paper around and slid it to him and handed him the stylus. Norway set down the pen and took it, signing his name on the line.

"And we're all set! Now any and all questions you have ask away!" He said with a stupid grin. Norway gave him a slight look of anger and rolled his eyes. He flipped his piece of paper over and grabbed his pen. He scribbled down a few things and handed it to him. Denmark took it and smiled, "Alright, so first off for where we are is that we are on the outskirts of Yaldar in the country of Canexina. You've never heard of them because according to Lincoln they didn't exist when you were born. He says most of what you called Europe is still the same but something happened with three countries called... Oh what were they... Amerina, Canada, and Mexicana?" Norway gave him a gesture meaning close enough, "But some fight or whatever and the countries got split up in half and then more fighting and so I guess most of what was Amerina is now Canada and the rest of Amerina and Mexic...o Mexico! Yeah. The rest of Amerina and Mexico were divided into countries. The last remaining bit of Amerina is where we send all the people who want... Something radically different but extremely bad, like nuclear war, genocide, stuff like that. Usually in groups though. And people who just can't get along with the now normal peaceful ideas just move themselves there."

Norway gave him an odd look, as if saying that seems like a bad idea, "It might not seem right to you, but if it keeps wars and earth destroying things like that away its good for us 10 billion people here." He looked at the paper again and laughed quietly, earning a dirty look from Norway, "What? It seems like a stupid question to me! Yes, there are aliens. They usually go to Canada though." He glanced at the paper again and crumpled it up, "And to answer your second to last question no, I don't have a special someone, just me in my singleness." He jumped up and yanked Norway up, pulling him to the front door, "And today, we're gonna go get you some normal clothes for here! Wait here, I'll be right back. He ran back to the office and grabbed his bag and ran to his room with it. Norway played with his scarf and waited, walking around the small area and looking at all the nice things. He sat down on the couch and stared at the ceiling.

Denmark's door opened and he walked out, back in his jacket but with different clothes in the same style as he had the day before. If Norway could've burst out laughing he would've, but he could not so airy laughs escaped his throat and he nearly fell off the couch from laughing. "I don't look that stupid! This is normal here! Don't laugh...!" He sighed and picked up the laughing man, throwing him over his shoulder. He jumped and pounded on Denmark's back to put him down. The taller man laughed and shook his head, "You're gonna calm down alright there bub?" Norway faked a contemplating look and shook his head, his face emotionless, "You're meannnn" He muttered and set him down next to the car. "Get in, we're going shopping" He said with a smile.

0-o-0

This was going to be in a collection of oneshots I was going to make but I liked the idea too much to leave it as a oneshot. So here, take this.

~ViraLayton