Chapter Four – Attraction
Soundtrack: Under The Milky Way by The Church
April 24th, 1891.
Naturally, Oscar and Pietro were spurred into action the next morning as they discovered the beginning of the being's creation. First, the elderly doctor upgraded the coterie of sensory apparati so that the being's ability to smell, see and hear became better than humanly possible. Next, Oscar and Pietro managed to improve the vocalisation algorithm to a point that the being's voice was no longer disjointed or distorted to the ear.
Whenever the being's voice provided a progress update, it now sounded like a real woman who'd never managed to develop nuanced vocal cadences – as if never being able to talk before the present day. This along with the construction of a head-shaped exterior for the cranium gave Oscar the impression of a talking bust made of metal and electrical components, atop a plinth of Dust.
But at four that afternoon, the inevitable setback happened once again. The body's individual limbs had long since been assembled by Merlot and altered as per Oscar's suggestion, and Dr. Polendina had nearly finished installing the core hardware for kinetic and haptic control in the left shoulder before the original magnetic joints failed to hold the left arm onto the body. It was a big mercy that none of the equipment was damaged as it all landed on a rubber floor.
"Shit," Oscar yelped as the crash happened behind the other side of the polymer construction ideas he'd been sketching out for the last hour. "Pietro?!"
"I'm okay, Oscar," the elderly doctor called out. "The magnetic joints failed, but there wasn't any extra damage to the components that I heard of."
"Thank God for the rubber floors," Oscar breathed as he made it to the accident site. After twenty-four minutes of examination, it was a mixed diagonsis the two had to present to General Ironwood.
"Looks like we managed to miscalculate the tensile strength of the magnets once the size and weight were changed," Dr. Polendina declared. "No damage to the components was spotted, however."
"This can be fixed, right?", General Ironwood.
"Yes, but it will be a minor miracle to do so before the being awakens."
The General nodded stiffly. "This wasn't the agreed outcome, but at least it's fixable. I genuinely hope that Dr. Merlot's absence won't slow you two down appreciably."
"It shouldn't," Oscar replied. "He left extensive notes for his work on the server box rather than keeping it to himself, and with the calculations needing to be redone, it won't be long before we can fix this – one way or the other."
Oscar's confidence seemed to appease the General, and he nodded silently before leaving them to it.
April 25th, 1891.
The following day, Oscar was all too excited for the first of what he hoped to be many dates with the young secretary he'd become enamoured with. His budding happiness overrode the succession of brick walls he and Dr. Polendina crashed into with their testing of different magnetic materials, and his good mood seemed to carry him to the Holborn flat that Ilia called home.
At the stroke of five-thirty, the apartment door opened to reveal Ilia, who looked about as nervous as Oscar felt. Still, she'd made an effort to look attractive, wearing a cordovan dress that reached the floor and black gloves that reached her elbows, her hair worn loose and parted down the middle. Ilia smiled as she noticed him wearing a black bespoke suit, with a white dress shirt and a pine green cravat.
"You look quite fetching tonight," Ilia started.
"And you look gorgeous, Ilia," Oscar replied with an earnest smile. "Shall I lead you to the cab on the ground floor?"
"Yes please," Ilia averred, locking the door behind her before Oscar led the way downstairs.
Twenty minutes later, Ilia felt amazed at the interior of the Savoy Hotel. She'd had to frequently book meetings and work lunches here for General Ironwood and his command staff, but had never been inside the building once.
Oscar, meanwhile, was nervous that someone here would blow his aristocratic background to Ilia; given his lack of luck with women on campus, he had been convinced that his inheritance scared people away from him. The first spike of nervousness came when the waitress escorted the pair to their table, and Oscar recognised her just as she greeted him familiarly.
"How come you know her?", Ilia asked as the tall, severe-looking lady walked away.
Oscar fielded it quickly with most of the truth. "May is someone I know from my days in university. The cousin of one of my fellow Balliol students, to be exact. That, and my uncle's taken me here a few times during breaks in university."
Ilia seemed to accept it easily enough. "I see."
The two made good progress through the Escoiffer-produced triple-course menu over the proceeding hour and a half, with Ilia managing to surprise Oscar by having an appetite that matched his own. They'd managed to pay the bill just in time to take the cab up to Covent Garden for a production of Carmen.
Within their box seats, Oscar and Ilia were transfixed at the strength of Minnie Hauk's efforts in the title role, especially since she was a former soprano. Cesira Feranni and Guiseppe Cremonini played Micaela and Don Jose superbly, while Jacques Bouhy effectively led the crowd in a rousing edition of the Toreador Song, playing the role he originated decades ago for Bizet.
As the applause died away, Ilia's expression was thoughtful, and yet content. Oscar felt more confident than he'd ever done at this point, seeming to float on air as he led Ilia to the doors. But as the pair left, Oscar's cover was cruelly ripped away from him when the Hon. Henry Marigold tipsily staggered up the street towards him.
"Hey Oscar," he called out loudly. "How's your uncle Cormac doing?"
Oscar's skin paled so much, he almost glowed in the dark as Ilia joined the dots.
"Wait, Cormac Ozpin's your uncle?!", she asked accusingly.
The way that Oscar and Ilia looked at each other as he silently escorted her up the staircase twenty minutes later was one of resigned melancholy. Despite getting on so well as friends, and despite their ability to understand one another as well as they did, the co-workers now knew that romance wasn't worth exploring together – no matter how much either of them had wanted it to happen with one another.
Oscar had prayed to whatever higher power would listen that the smart, kind-eyed girl who enjoyed his jokes and company wouldn't shy away due to his wealth and heritage. The inevitable had happened yet again, due to the millstone welded onto his name since his family had been decimated, and he knew he would remain lonely as always.
As for Ilia, she had hoped that the gentle boy she'd taken under her wing and shared hobbies with would flip the switch for romance in her mind, to give her the type of affection that all of her friends enjoyed and society expected her to have already. But alas, she remained unsatisfied, wondering why the powers that be continued to render her immune to enjoying male attention.
It was Ilia who broke the silence as the pair arrived at her front door, looking remorseful about how she'd reacted to the revelation.
"Oscar," she started, "I'm sorry about tonight. I didn't mean to come across as frigid or classist earlier."
"If anything," he replied, "I should apologise for doing this to you."
"Don't be," Ilia gently chided. "I just … I decided to take a chance on you because we had a fair bit in common already, but I just found it impossible for me to imagine you as anything other than a friend, and a close one at that. The aristocracy thing was gravy, really."
To her surprise, Oscar didn't yell at her. "I understand. For your sake, I genuinely hope that you find love someday. A woman of your kindness, morals and intelligence deserves no less."
Despite her guilt at having hurt Oscar's confidence, Ilia managed a smile. "And a man of your manners, earnesty and empathy deserves the same. You treated me to a high-class dinner and the opera, and I enjoyed both immensely. You tried your best to be good company, and I've no doubt that you'll be able to charm the next lady that you take a fancy to."
Oscar nodded slowly, feeling Ilia's words cauterise the wounds to his ego.
"So from tomorrow, we'll work past this and resume our friendship?"
Ilia nodded calmly, pleased to see Oscar's natural confidence return. "Indeed; we'll probably be able to laugh at this with enough time."
Oscar smiled for the first time since Ilia had cottoned on to his dirty little secret. "I'll see you tomorrow morning. I'd better be making my way home. Sleep well, Ilia."
As Oscar Pine walked away in a gloomy sky that matched the mood this evening had suddenly adopted, Ilia smiled to herself despite her pained frustration. "What an absolute gentleman," she muttered to herself. "If any of my friends are looking for companionship or romance with someone of high status, I'll be sure to introduce them to Oscar."
A/N: Can anything go smoothly for Oscar in this AU? We shall see.
Chapter 5 should be due sometime in June.