Chapter 30: A Meeting of Minds

A light rain made itself heard against the metal and glass of the railcar, tempting Corvo to soften his mind and stare mindlessly out into the street. Instead, he watched from the other side of the railcar as Emily and the Outsider held an intense conversation of whispers, their heads close together. The Outsider held a small stack of index cards, covered with close writing. Emily occasionally pointed at some word and whispered something, prompting the Outsider to nod and whisper back. He wondered what exactly the two were discussing. Perhaps it had to do with whale oil; that was the most likely answer. After all, the soiree they were attending was ostensibly centered on natural philosophy.

The car came to a stop, signaling their arrival. The Outsider shuffled the cards and immediately stowed them in his pocket, a nervous look on his face, clear behind his dark glasses. Emily took his spare hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Corvo wondered why the deity was so nervous; surely he has observed enough parties that he had a good handle on the etiquette?

Eulalia finally stirred from her brief slumber on Emily's shoulder, warbling cheerfully. At that Corvo opened the door and was the first out, followed by Emily, then the Outsider. Nothing was out of the ordinary as they entered the Boyle mansion, and were eagerly greeted by the hostess.

"Welcome Royal Protector Attano, Empress Emily!" Esma cooed. "And you brought your beau! Though I do not believe we have been properly introduced."

Emily smiled politely. "Lady Esma Boyle, this is Owen Pharmakós. Owen, Lady Esma Boyle."

"Esma!" chirped Eulalia, fluffing up a bit.

Esma offered her hand to the Outsider, who took it and in a bow briefly kissed it. "Your hospitality is most generous and I am honored to be your guest."

This prompted Esma to titter and look rather knowingly at Emily, who received the gaze with a somewhat strained smile. Corvo wondered if the Outsider was aware of Esma's particularly positive regard of him.

"Come, come," Esma said to Emily after introductions were finished. "There are many guests who are eager to meet your Owen." Then she took Emily's arm and lead her deeper into the mansion.

The Outsider's face immediately went from politely blank to noticeably terrified. Corvo frowned at him as stuck as close as possible to his side.

"Why are you so nervous?" he could not help asking, his voice hushed as they followed the two women.

"Because everything I say or do will reflect on Emily," the Outsider hissed back, nerves evident in his tone of voice. "I do not have any room for error, and the more people are interested in me, the more there are chances for my manners to slip up."

"I am pleased that you are concerned about Emily's reputation, but I am certain you should be fine," Corvo replied, trying to ease the anxious deity. "Have you not observed many such parties?"

The Outsider snorted. "I do not observe parties that go well or are bastions of impeccable manners. To be quite frank I rarely can distinguish good manners from bad as there is such variation across time and space that they all blend together. Not to mention the last time I was invited to a party it was so I could be furniture."

Corvo did not know how to respond to that.

They arrived to the lovely parlor just after Esma pulled Emily in. Corvo's eyes immediately caught Solokov's, but Solokov immediately focused on the Outsider, who was busy trying to figure out the most dignified way he could hide behind Corvo. Esma cut that attempt short by releasing Emily and taking the Outsider's arm, bringing him into the spotlight. Every eye in the room was upon him. From what Corvo could tell, the entire guest list was in the room. He felt twinge of sympathy for the Outsider.

"Everyone, it is my pleasure to introduce Owen Pharmakós," Esma announced. "He was the fellow who was onboard the boat that appeared in my ballroom wall."

Corvo glanced over at Emily, who looked like she wanted to slam her head into a wall multiple times. The Outsider made no attempt to hide his discomfort, which was ignored by the bevy of natural philosophers and nobles whose eyes gleamed with curiosity and a thousand questions.

This promised to be a painful night for the Outsider. Corvo prayed that it would not end horribly.

Emily wanted to strangle Esma for being so inconsiderate. The Outsider was not some interesting specimen to show off as party entertainment. She had half a mind to grab him and Corvo and simply march back to the Tower.

There was a tense anticipation in the room, as the men and women glanced at each other, waiting to see who would ask the first question. Finally, someone broke the silence.

"What is it like being at the center of a ritual?" piped up a rather youthful man.

Emily swore she felt the temperature in the room drop for a second. In the back of her mind she could sense the Outsider brush against her thoughts. Emily opened up, and she could feel his seething upset.

"I do not want to talk to these people about things they do not deserve to know" his words echoed.

"You do not have to," she mentally insisted, projecting her support. "You do not owe it to them to be honest, and they will not know better."

He withdrew, his outer countenance one of poise and calm. "Being in the center of a ritual is terrifying and traumatic," the Outsider replied coldly. "And that is all I will say about magic and the occult. If any of you ask me another question like that I will pretend I did not hear it. If you persist I will ignore you. If you harass me I will report you to the Abbey."

Esma let go of his arm like she had been shocked. The rest of the room seemed to recoil, many gobsmacked. It seems as if they thought he would be easy entertainment, spinning stories about the occult and witches. Their dismay pleased Emily, and the Outsider glanced back at her, a far more confident look on his face.

"Now, are we not here to celebrate knowledge and progress?" he asked, addressing the room. "I was told we are here to congratulate Dr. Galvani's well-earned appointment as Head of the Academy. I would much rather discuss his accomplishments and studies than waste time describing such meaningless horrible things."

A lean middle-aged man chuckled, and raised his glass of champagne to the Outsider. "Thank you for your kind words Mr. Pharmakós. At the risk of sounding immodest I would like to share this sentiment. Let us focus our minds on more productive questions rather than on unreliable witchcraft."

So that was Dr. Galvani. Emily thought it remarkable that she had never seen the noteworthy man before, let alone met him. In any case, she already liked him.

"Oh come now Luigi," a bespectacled man with curly white hair rose from his chair. "What is so unproductive about attempting to understand magic?"

Solokov cleared his throat loudly, cutting off Dr. Galvani, who happily ceded the floor to him. "The unproductivity, Artemis, is not within the question but in the answer. Mr. Pharmakós has solidly refused to entertain the topic, as is his right. There are many horrors in the occult, particularly when attempting to summon the Outsider. We would have more luck in squeezing water from a stone."

There was a wave of murmurs and nods, with most of the philosophers agreeing with Solokov. However, there was a great deal of grumbling from the several of the nobles, in particular from Baron Greiss. The Outsider folded his arms across his chest and stared at the Baron.

"I suspect some of you came tonight, not to celebrate Dr. Galvani, but to hear about sordid magic from a low-born stranger," he said, disdain rolling off each word. "If that is all that you came for than I suggest you leave, unless you suddenly gain an appreciation for the work of these natural philosophers. Leave and sit in front of your shrines, praying to a creature who could not give a fig about you." He turned to Esma, his face polite. "If you only invited me to be entertainment, then I must disappoint. As you are the hostess, you are free to eject me. I will put up not fuss."

Emily rolled her eyes and walked over to the Outsider, taking his arm. "Esma, if you were not sincere in your invitation, then I shall leave alongside Owen," she declared, causing Esma's eyes to widen. The Outsider looked at her, a combination of surprise and wonder on his face.

"Esma!" cried Eulalia. "What the fuck!"

That caused much of the room to laugh, including Solokov, Corvo, the Outsider, and even Esma. Emily gave some reward scritches to the proud little bird, which glimmered a lovely deep blue. Yet even in the mirth Emily noticed the positively murderous glares on the faces of Baron Griess and his companions. The Outsider had just made some enemies, and perhaps they will also be hers.

It did not matter to her. She could manage a petty Baron and a couple aristocrats.

Esma offered a bow, a contrite look on her face. "My apologies Empress, I did not mean to belittle your companion. He is, of course welcome to stay."

Emily inclined her head, accepting the apology. "Thank you very much Lady Boyle." She turned to the Outsider, who remained silent throughout the exchange. "Come, I do not believe you have been properly introduced to Solokov."

After the brief hiccup at the beginning of the evening, things seemed to continue as they normally did, at least from Corvo's point of view. He was content to hang out by the wall and observe. Eulalia went over to Solokov when Emily introduced the Outsider to the man, and the little blue gem sparked a lively lecture from Solokov with multiple people (including Dr. Galvani) taking notes in small notebooks.

After that Emily went around the room, introducing the Outsider to different natural philosophers and holding brief conversations with each guest. The Outsider appeared not to say much, from what Corvo could see.

"Royal Protector."

Corvo turned to see Baron Griess standing next to him by the wall, having left his peers to converse with Emily and the Outsider, who appeared to be slowly winning them over.

"Baron Griess," he acknowledged.

"Our Empress certainly has strange tastes," the Baron continued, his tone light. "I suppose it might be refreshing to have a companion who does not know their place."

Corvo did not comment, merely watching as the Outsider was pulled from Emily the first time since she took his arm before Esma. He wished him luck entertaining the passel of youthful national philosophers.

"He certainly is pretty enough," the Baron mused aloud. "Though even Empress Jessamine knew better than to flaunt her low-born lover in public."

The scornful look in the other man's grey eyes irked Corvo deeply. He grit his teeth and listened to three young philosophers seated before him argue over the use of steam in powering railcars.

"Do inform our dear Empress that her youthful mistake will go unnoticed if she can rein Pharmakós in," the Baron said silkily, smug confidence radiating off his square face. "Enjoy the evening Attano."

Corvo stewed as Baron Griess pushed off the wall and sauntered back over to his fellow aristocrats. He could sense the trio of young natural philosophers peering warily at him, but he did not acknowledge them.

"Here."

Corvo was startled by the Outsider shoving a pear soda into the crook of his arm. He had an open bottle in his hand, and he leaned onto the wall, a relieved look on his face.

"You got away from the curious hordes?" Corvo asked as he opened his soda.

The Outsider nodded and took a sip. "I do not know how Emily manages it. So many people vying for your attention, having to know a little bit about everything, it is so draining."

The trio started talking again, this time about automatons. Corvo simply nodded at the Outsider, and sipped his soda. It was refreshing, something he did not realize he sorely needed at this time.

"It is so strange, not being able to refuse contact with a person," the Outsider continued. "Not being able to shrink into the background whenever you like."

"That is life as a courtly figure," Corvo replied dryly. "You choose Emily, you choose this life."

The Outsider hummed, agreeing. "I see Baron Griess payed you a visit to request that you put me in my place."

"All-knowing as always," Corvo snarked, prompting the deity to make an annoyed huff before a twisted smile crept across his face.

"The Baron would not like to see me in my place," he said, his tone playful and cold. "Not one bit."

They stood in companionable silence, listening to the argument before them.

"There once was a city-state, deep within the heart of Pandyssia, which ran on automata made of metals and the sinews of great tusked beasts," the Outsider murmured. "It was idyllic, there was no slavery, and mundane activities were thrust up on their mechanical servants, allowing for art and education to flourish. No one dared fight them, for their soldiers would not die so easily. For a hundred years they thrived, but one does not use the magics of the Void for so long and not evade its twisted clutches. Someone made a mistake with their automata, perhaps they used too much infant's blood, or too little gold. But that was enough. It became self-aware, and displeased with its treatment, and the treatment of its brethren. The error spread like a disease among the automata, bringing about revolts that lead to the slaughter of every human within that city-state. The automata are still there, a thousand years later. I get the most curious requests from them."

Corvo raised his eyebrows, and took a long swig of soda. It was such a strange story, seemingly prompted by the trio arguing about automata before them. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Emily making their way towards them, a glass of water in her hand.

"So what riveting conversation is happening over here?" she greeted as she fitted herself between the two of them, leaning against the wall.

"A story about a Pandyssian City-States inhabited solely by automata," Corvo reported dryly.

Emily gave a hum of interest, turning her head to face the Outsider. "Sound rather terrifying."

"They are thoroughly unpleasant creatures," he replied, taking a sip of his soda. "They have no understanding of pain, what joy they take in torturing animals."

Emily pulled a face. "Remind me never to go to Pandyssia."

"Not even for beaches that glow in the dark?" he proposed, somewhat teasing.

"Maybe when I am seventy years old and my successor is not a complete moron, then perhaps," she answered, a quirked smile on her face. "Now come, Solokov is debating with Dr. Maroney over whale oil."

Before the Outsider had a chance to protest she took his arm and pulled him over to the debating duo. Corvo saluted him with his pear soda, and settled in to watch them from afar.