Prompt from Hades Lord of the Dead: Write a steampunk!Holmes one-shot.
Holmes hated the airships. They were too large, too loud and too modern. "Why can't we just take a self-propelled hansom?" he complained. "They get us there just as quickly without half the fuss."
"Because soon hansoms will go the way of the cart horse." I flicked my newspaper open and watched the images dance across the page. "You had better get used to the progress of humanity."
"Ah, yes." Holmes said sarcastically. "The progress of humanity. How positively mediaeval of me to wish for slower times."
"You have to admit," I waved the tea-service bot closer to our table. "Medicine has evolved rapidly; the city is expanding. Lives are longer lived. Steam power has its benefits."
"I'm disappointed in you." Holmes took the offered cup from the expressionless tea-bot. "You were always the romantic one. I thought it would be you lamenting the loss of the old fashioned, not me."
"I enjoy new inventions." I held up a hand to stop the amount of sugar being poured into my cup. "The surgery on my leg has been a success. I no longer feel any pain. Crime rates have been lower as…" I trailed off as Holmes's scowl deepened. "Is that what this is about? A lack of criminal activity?"
"It's disgusting." Holmes shooed the waiting bot away and sank lower in his seat. "Everyone has what they've always wanted. Why commit crime when everything is so readily available? Where are the murders? The thefts? With the invention of steam power, why are we not seeing an increase in more powerful weapons? It's a conspiracy just waiting to be uncovered." He took a cautious sip of his tea. "Who's to say those tin robots always carting tea services aren't listening devices for the Queen's army? What would happen if a drug was slipped into my beverage as I chatted idly away on this expansive airship? No, I like things I can control, things I know to be calculated. This new age is too consuming for my taste."
I sighed and looked out the window at the fast approaching airstrip. "Despite your many paranoias, you have to admit that airships do have the speed of travel on their side."
"Are we here already?" Holmes slammed his teacup on the table and craned his neck to peer out the window. "Well, would you look at that. Perhaps this wasn't too terrible an idea after all."
