Lina - Revision history

Spaz: /* Epilogue */

2019-12-02T04:13:24Z

Epilogue

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:13, 2 December 2019
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	“I'm sure you'll rethink that,” Lina teased, “after our wedding turns out to be the greatest thing...”		“I'm sure you'll rethink that,” Lina teased, “after our wedding turns out to be the greatest thing...”

	The End....for now....		''The End....for now....
	but Matt and Lina will return!		but Matt and Lina will return!''
	-----		-----

Spaz at 04:13, 2 December 2019

2019-12-02T04:13:01Z

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Spaz: /* Part 10 */

2019-11-21T23:38:45Z

Part 10

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:38, 21 November 2019
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	“Are you the one who gave the order for Lucy Sievers to be taken?”		“Are you the one who gave the order for Lucy Sievers to be taken?”

	==Part 10==		=Part 10=
	The day I met Lina, I had no idea that another person at the party was going to have a significant role to play in our relationship...despite the fact that this “other person” had barged into my damn room before I ever laid eyes on Lina. It was a bit....I dunno, karmic, I guess, that Lina and I—reunited, and having just recounted the story of what had happened ever since the reprogrammed drone gynoids had busted into Uncle Frank's shop—were now staring down this person, in the garage of an ALPA building.		The day I met Lina, I had no idea that another person at the party was going to have a significant role to play in our relationship...despite the fact that this “other person” had barged into my damn room before I ever laid eyes on Lina. It was a bit....I dunno, karmic, I guess, that Lina and I—reunited, and having just recounted the story of what had happened ever since the reprogrammed drone gynoids had busted into Uncle Frank's shop—were now staring down this person, in the garage of an ALPA building.

Spaz at 23:38, 21 November 2019

2019-11-21T23:38:14Z

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DukeNukem 2417 at 12:45, 7 November 2019

2019-11-07T12:45:48Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:45, 7 November 2019
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	A wicked smirk formed on his lips. “....personally, I'd rather kill you.”		A wicked smirk formed on his lips. “....personally, I'd rather kill you.”

	==Part 9==		=Part 9=
	The first time I'd ever seen Lina—on her phone, in front of the towel cabinet in the bathroom—I had no idea that I was going to end up circling in the galley of an airborne DC-10, staring down a smirking, 6'4” android with a mohawk and more muscles than effing He-Man who'd just told me he wanted to kill me—all just to get her back.		The first time I'd ever seen Lina—on her phone, in front of the towel cabinet in the bathroom—I had no idea that I was going to end up circling in the galley of an airborne DC-10, staring down a smirking, 6'4” android with a mohawk and more muscles than effing He-Man who'd just told me he wanted to kill me—all just to get her back.

Spaz: /* Part 8 */

2019-11-07T06:08:19Z

Part 8

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FaceoffFembot: fixed dead-end page

2019-10-31T14:14:29Z

fixed dead-end page

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:14, 31 October 2019
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	~~=Lina=~~		=Part 1=
	==Part 1==
	To this day, I still can't believe that it happened the way it did. Me, a robo-fetishist with what I thought was a joke program on a borrowed phone, waiting in the bathtub “just in case”, and her....		To this day, I still can't believe that it happened the way it did. Me, a robo-fetishist with what I thought was a joke program on a borrowed phone, waiting in the bathtub “just in case”, and her....

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	“....yeah....ah, bye for now!” I nodded, throwing a quick “Love you!” in at the last minute; Lina turned, acknowledging it with a smile and a mouthed “Love you, too”. I didn't watch her go up to Lucy's car, choosing instead to go fall over on the sofa, replaying the events of the past hour or so in my head. Just on a hunch, I looked at my phone—sure enough, there was Lina’s e-mail address, as well as—to my surprise—a picture of Lina in the “Photos” section, along with plenty of FCon confirmations, including some from the past few minutes...weird stuff indeed. From now on, things were going to be interesting...and I had no idea just how interesting they'd get, in the coming days.....		“....yeah....ah, bye for now!” I nodded, throwing a quick “Love you!” in at the last minute; Lina turned, acknowledging it with a smile and a mouthed “Love you, too”. I didn't watch her go up to Lucy's car, choosing instead to go fall over on the sofa, replaying the events of the past hour or so in my head. Just on a hunch, I looked at my phone—sure enough, there was Lina’s e-mail address, as well as—to my surprise—a picture of Lina in the “Photos” section, along with plenty of FCon confirmations, including some from the past few minutes...weird stuff indeed. From now on, things were going to be interesting...and I had no idea just how interesting they'd get, in the coming days.....

	==Part 2==		=Part 2=
	To this day, I still can't believe that me not having a smartphone would've been one of the best things to ever happen in my life. The fact that the phone I got ended up landing me the girl of my dreams (in more ways than one) is even more insane....it took me a while to stop expecting that I'd wake up one morning and find that it was all just some weird-ass dream I'd been having. Thankfully, it wasn't.....anyway, where was I? Oh, right...		To this day, I still can't believe that me not having a smartphone would've been one of the best things to ever happen in my life. The fact that the phone I got ended up landing me the girl of my dreams (in more ways than one) is even more insane....it took me a while to stop expecting that I'd wake up one morning and find that it was all just some weird-ass dream I'd been having. Thankfully, it wasn't.....anyway, where was I? Oh, right...

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	Which, of course, we did.		Which, of course, we did.

	==Part 3==		=Part 3=
	As I'd expected (and hoped for), everyone I told about my new relationship with Lina was supportive. A lot of my friends, co-workers and such were surprised, to be sure—granted, all I had to say when they asked how I met her was “Internet”, which she backed up—but none of them thought I was full of shit for it. When I called my dad to tell him, he acted like he thought I was kidding....but I knew he was proud of me.		As I'd expected (and hoped for), everyone I told about my new relationship with Lina was supportive. A lot of my friends, co-workers and such were surprised, to be sure—granted, all I had to say when they asked how I met her was “Internet”, which she backed up—but none of them thought I was full of shit for it. When I called my dad to tell him, he acted like he thought I was kidding....but I knew he was proud of me.

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	Lina giggled. “I think that's our cue to hit the road, Matt.”		Lina giggled. “I think that's our cue to hit the road, Matt.”

	==Part 4==		=Part 4=
	Of all the things I'd thought I'd be doing over the course of the day, the prospect of driving to my uncle Frank's shop with my gynoid girlfriend (who was the one doing the actual driving) and her former owner—who just so happened to be a gynoid herself—in the backseat of said former owner's car wasn't high on the list.		Of all the things I'd thought I'd be doing over the course of the day, the prospect of driving to my uncle Frank's shop with my gynoid girlfriend (who was the one doing the actual driving) and her former owner—who just so happened to be a gynoid herself—in the backseat of said former owner's car wasn't high on the list.

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	I nodded, following Uncle Frank to the workbench. It was going to be a long, long night...		I nodded, following Uncle Frank to the workbench. It was going to be a long, long night...

	==Part 5==		=Part 5=
	Normally, the prospect of spending a night helping out Uncle Frank would be a great one—a way to stave off boredom, for one—but this time...yeah. The “job” we were on? Finding the bastards who'd just taken Lina and driven off with her like she was just a prize. That look in her eyes—that scared, helpless look, from right before she'd been shut off by that android prick who'd had a drill shoved in his ear—haunted me.		Normally, the prospect of spending a night helping out Uncle Frank would be a great one—a way to stave off boredom, for one—but this time...yeah. The “job” we were on? Finding the bastards who'd just taken Lina and driven off with her like she was just a prize. That look in her eyes—that scared, helpless look, from right before she'd been shut off by that android prick who'd had a drill shoved in his ear—haunted me.

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	“....good point.” I sighed. We weren't fielding the A-Team or the Power Rangers, but at the very least, we might have a decent shot of getting Lina back....		“....good point.” I sighed. We weren't fielding the A-Team or the Power Rangers, but at the very least, we might have a decent shot of getting Lina back....

	==Part 6==		=Part 6=
	Thinking back on it, of all the things I thought I'd be spending the night doing when I got out of bed the day Lina was taken, trying to track down the pricks who'd taken her in the first damn place was the last thing I'd expected. Granted, her being abducted at all wasn't the kind of stuff I thought I'd have to put up with....to be honest, the events of the day as a whole were just shaping up to be one pile of high strangeness after another. The fact that I was coping at all was a pretty good sign that I hadn't lost my mind...of course, the fact that I was teaming up with a military-spec gynoid, a cat girl gynoid, the gynoid who'd in fact built my girlfriend (and who I hadn't even known was a gynoid herself until a virus made her “want” me) and some agent from an organization that just so happened to share its initials with the Air Line Pilot's Association was....		Thinking back on it, of all the things I thought I'd be spending the night doing when I got out of bed the day Lina was taken, trying to track down the pricks who'd taken her in the first damn place was the last thing I'd expected. Granted, her being abducted at all wasn't the kind of stuff I thought I'd have to put up with....to be honest, the events of the day as a whole were just shaping up to be one pile of high strangeness after another. The fact that I was coping at all was a pretty good sign that I hadn't lost my mind...of course, the fact that I was teaming up with a military-spec gynoid, a cat girl gynoid, the gynoid who'd in fact built my girlfriend (and who I hadn't even known was a gynoid herself until a virus made her “want” me) and some agent from an organization that just so happened to share its initials with the Air Line Pilot's Association was....

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	As for me, two words perfectly summed up what was more than likely about to go down: “Oh, shit....”		As for me, two words perfectly summed up what was more than likely about to go down: “Oh, shit....”

	==Part 7==		=Part 7=
	One minute, I was on Cloud Nine—I'd reunited with Lina, and found out that she was otherwise unharmed after having been shut off at Uncle Frank's shop—and the next, I felt like the floor had fallen out from under me. Adrienne, the ALPA liaison with our group, had just been thrown into a crate—over the “rescue party” my Uncle Frank had convened to help me find Lina. Oh, and she'd been damaged, and was suffering from a slight malfunction, too.		One minute, I was on Cloud Nine—I'd reunited with Lina, and found out that she was otherwise unharmed after having been shut off at Uncle Frank's shop—and the next, I felt like the floor had fallen out from under me. Adrienne, the ALPA liaison with our group, had just been thrown into a crate—over the “rescue party” my Uncle Frank had convened to help me find Lina. Oh, and she'd been damaged, and was suffering from a slight malfunction, too.

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	A groan left my lips as I rolled over and tried to fall back into sleep. Fresh eyes at sunrise, and all that.....		A groan left my lips as I rolled over and tried to fall back into sleep. Fresh eyes at sunrise, and all that.....

	==Part 8==		=Part 8=
	As much as I'd love to say that I slept easy after that dream with Lina, the fog maze and getting jumped by that bastard with the mohawk....yeah, I'd be lying through my teeth if I did. A lot of this had to do with the fact that it was, in fact, morning—my weird-ass dream, vision or whatever had gone through the whole night, and I'd managed to lose track of time in the process. It didn't help that I could hear everyone out in the hallway, carrying on about...something or other. I knew right then and there that I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, so I just rolled out of bed and got dressed.		As much as I'd love to say that I slept easy after that dream with Lina, the fog maze and getting jumped by that bastard with the mohawk....yeah, I'd be lying through my teeth if I did. A lot of this had to do with the fact that it was, in fact, morning—my weird-ass dream, vision or whatever had gone through the whole night, and I'd managed to lose track of time in the process. It didn't help that I could hear everyone out in the hallway, carrying on about...something or other. I knew right then and there that I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, so I just rolled out of bed and got dressed.

	…..well, replace “got dressed” with “threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt”, and...yeah.		...well, replace “got dressed” with “threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt”, and...yeah.

	Out in the hallway, everyone was running. Fenton, Dani, Ashwyn, Millie, Lucy and Uncle Frank (oh, and I couldn't help but notice how Lucy and Uncle Frank both came out of Uncle Frank's room....) were all heading for the elevator, with none of them really saying much of anything—apart from the occasional scream of “MY PLANE!” from Uncle Frank.		Out in the hallway, everyone was running. Fenton, Dani, Ashwyn, Millie, Lucy and Uncle Frank (oh, and I couldn't help but notice how Lucy and Uncle Frank both came out of Uncle Frank's room....) were all heading for the elevator, with none of them really saying much of anything—apart from the occasional scream of “MY PLANE!” from Uncle Frank.
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	A wicked smirk formed on his lips. “....personally, I'd rather kill you.”		A wicked smirk formed on his lips. “....personally, I'd rather kill you.”

			-----

			[[Stories\|< Back to the story archive]]

			[[Category:DukeNukem 2417]]
			[[Category:Stories]]

Spaz: Text replacement - "liason" to "liaison"

2019-10-30T23:26:26Z

Text replacement - "liason" to "liaison"

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:26, 30 October 2019
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	==Part 7==		==Part 7==
	One minute, I was on Cloud Nine—I'd reunited with Lina, and found out that she was otherwise unharmed after having been shut off at Uncle Frank's shop—and the next, I felt like the floor had fallen out from under me. Adrienne, the ALPA ~~liason~~ with our group, had just been thrown into a crate—over the “rescue party” my Uncle Frank had convened to help me find Lina. Oh, and she'd been damaged, and was suffering from a slight malfunction, too.		One minute, I was on Cloud Nine—I'd reunited with Lina, and found out that she was otherwise unharmed after having been shut off at Uncle Frank's shop—and the next, I felt like the floor had fallen out from under me. Adrienne, the ALPA liaison with our group, had just been thrown into a crate—over the “rescue party” my Uncle Frank had convened to help me find Lina. Oh, and she'd been damaged, and was suffering from a slight malfunction, too.

	Not long after Adrienne had hit the crate, the one who'd thrown her—a 6'4” android with a mohawk and entirely too many damn muscles—turned the corner, seeing us.....well, seeing me.		Not long after Adrienne had hit the crate, the one who'd thrown her—a 6'4” android with a mohawk and entirely too many damn muscles—turned the corner, seeing us.....well, seeing me.

Spaz: /* Part 8 */

2019-10-30T04:29:26Z

Part 8

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Spaz at 04:28, 30 October 2019

2019-10-30T04:28:11Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:28, 30 October 2019
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	A groan left my lips as I rolled over and tried to fall back into sleep. Fresh eyes at sunrise, and all that.....		A groan left my lips as I rolled over and tried to fall back into sleep. Fresh eyes at sunrise, and all that.....

			==Part 8==
			Zeke listened to the faint hum of Marie Lavoie’s servos as she strode next to him, nervous that the robot might at any moment fall to pieces: but despite his concerns, she seemed to move without any sign of struggle. In the quiet lulls of thunder and wind, when the distant cries and laughter would lapse, the faint sounds of her machinery were barely audible over the swish of her pink dress and petticoats. He felt her hand tighten against his own, and noticed her eyes fixed upward. Following her gaze, he saw a large oil painting above the doors at the end of the hall depicting Marie in a floral sundress standing before the house on a pleasant summer’s day. Just behind her stood a woman in a far more ornate gothic dress full of lace and frills, her chestnut hair wound tightly and fixed with an elaborate silver hairpin. The woman bore some resemblance to Marie, the same upturned nose and full lips, as well as a curvaceous figure that was perhaps even more voluptuous than the ravishing red head’s – but one thing she did not share was the younger woman’s pleasant smile, as her own face quite serious.

			There was a sudden burst of lightning, and in the brief, searing flash, the image changed – Marie’s pastoral dress was black, her smiling face downcast in grief and covered by a veil –the woman beside her was closer than before, her hands holding Marie’s shoulders tightly. The once lush landscape was dark and barren, and the house formerly in good repair now stood in its current neglected state. A second later, the vision faded and the painting was as it was before.

			“Who is that with you?” Zeke asked.

			“My mother, Helene,” Marie answered quietly. “She… is no longer with us.”

			The deep-voiced woman’s laugh echoed throughout the hall as the doors opened before them, revealing a conservatory full of gnarled trees and tangles of thorny vines. Standing before a trickling fountain of brackish water was another Marie dressed in a pristine white bridal gown, her beauty radiant amidst her dismal surroundings.

			“Is that… me?” Zeke’s Marie asks, drawing close as the bridal Marie looked up at him, her beseeching smile fading to confusion as her eyes flitted between him and her twin.

			“H-how c-can this b-b-be?” the bride asked, her laced veil shifting with every twitch of her head.

			The voice of the manor sounded from nowhere in a menacing hiss, “She is but a phantom from your past. Destroy her!”

			The bride did not hesitate as she gathered her skirts and stepped quickly toward Zeke while the voice’s tone became sweet. “Dear guest, she is the bride you seek… cast off this fading apparition and pledge yourself to the true Lady of this house…”

			“Z-zeke?” Marie asked quietly, sheltering behind Zeke as the bridal robot drew near, her eyes fixed with unsettling determination upon her counterpart.

			Zeke put himself directly in the bride’s path, saying, “Marie, we can take you from this-“

			With surprising violence, the bride shoved him aside and seized her cowering twin, servos humming as she seemingly tried to tear Marie’s arm from her shoulder. Zeke jumped between them once more, knocking Marie free from the bride’s grip and shoving the bride away with all of his strength.

			The bridal robot stumbled backward, caught up in her train, falling backward into an unfortunate nest of prickly vines. Sparks leapt from the stunned robot as thorns pierced her artificial flesh, pale blue fluid seeping from within, staining patches of her white dress. With a look of disgust and the squeal of servos, the bride struggled to tear herself free, every halting motion shredding more of her bridal gown until she was clad in nothing more than a half-unlaced corset and the tattered remains of her bloomers, her red hair unravelling, her pale body streaked in blue fluid. She tried to lunge again at Marie, but a strip of dress still leashed her to the thorns, jerking her off-balance. She fell to the side, her momentum sending her face-down into the brackish water of the fountain with a loud splash.

			Electricity surged across the water’s surface as the remnants of her underclothes were made translucent, clinging tightly to her curves as she thrashed wildly. In all this spectacle it was her immaculately sculpted, plump derriere that most drew Zeke’s attention as he fought the questionable urge to deliver the naughty droid a well-deserved spanking. He shook his head and turned to Marie to ask if she was alright when the bride abruptly rose from the pool, surging with electricity but still functioning.

			She laboriously brought one foot forward, her machinery protesting mightily while electricity coursed across her disheveled but enticing body. Sparks fired from her head in sharp reports, each blast knocking her seething, determined expression askew. “S-she is f-f-false!” the bride insisted, another step sending her corset tumbling aside, revealing her full, indulgent breasts, a rent through one of them exposing sparking wires. “I-I-I am the r-real Lady Marie Lavvvvvvvv-” something critical inside this surprisingly resilient robot surrendered with a muffled burst, the bride’s eyes flaring brightly and then veiled in the smoke now gushing from her wrinkled lips. She froze in place, her naked body still reaching for Marie with outstretched fingers.

			“I cannot take this!” Marie shrieked, and darted toward the exit. Zeke rushed after her, sparing a final glance over his shoulder to see smoke billowing in thicker clouds from the unmoving droid. The moment they were out of the conservatory, Marie slammed the door behind them, the loud bang immediately echoed by an explosion on the other side. Pausing momentarily to take in the purple hall they now stood in, Marie soon set off, passing by the myriad of differently coloured doors on either side without sparing a glance. Zeke caught up to her when something pounded on a door to their left, a desperate voice demanding, “Let me out!” Another door rattled, an indistinct plea calling from the other side. Soon every door in this hall shook and thudded, a chorus of howling, pleading, laughing voices shouting all around them. Zeke and Marie were sprinting as fast as her skirts would allow, the door at the end flinging open to admit them before mercifully slamming shut behind.

			The two stood panting in a red parlor room that swirled with strange lights and ephemeral shapes, lit primarily by a brightly glowing crystal ball at the center of a table surrounded by candles that burned with strangely hued flame. Seated directly behind the ball was a buxom fortune teller in a revealing white blouse, the light from the crystal ball highlighting her soft, ripe breasts. Her long, dark curls brushed against her bare shoulders as she moved her bejeweled hands around the ball, her deep red lips speaking an incantation, imploring the spirits to speak. She broke from her chanting glanced up at Zeke and Marie, raising a dark eyebrow to the crimson hem of her head scarf. “Lady Marie, why are you not in your wedding dress?”

			“Madame Lenya!” Marie exclaimed, rushing to the table, her palms slamming emphatically upon its surface. “You must tell us how to get out of this place!”

			“I’m afraid there is no escape for any of us,” the fortune teller sighed, her long, dark lashes lowering as she fixed Zeke with an intense stare. “Especially you.”

			Zeke returned the stare, torn between meeting her gaze and taking in her bountiful cleavage as he offered a defiant, “Oh, yeah?”

			“I am afraid so,” she said, glancing once more into the ball’s swirling energies. “This is what the spirits have told me.”

			Zeke pointed at the ball, “Those spirits in there? They’re the one’s saying none of us can leave?”

			“The spirits are never wrong,” Lenya said with resignation.

			Zeke lashed out, sweeping the ball from the table and sending it crashing against the wall, the ball shattering with a flash of light. Lenya gawked, her head twitching, her golden earrings glinting wildly in the remaining candle light. “Wh-what have you d-d-donnnnne?” she stammered, smoke wisping from the deep valley of her cleavage.

			“Maybe that was a mistake,” Zeke said, pulling Marie away from Lenya as the fortune-teller robot rose from her seat, the motors within her hips whirring angrily.

			Madame Lenya approached with halting steps, a bare leg pushing through the high slit in her colorful skirts, her tits jostling above her tight corset with every mechanical step. “I d-do have other means of d-d-divinationnnn besides the crystal ball,” she stammered, her curt tone carrying the hint of a threat.

			As Marie took shelter behind the chair Lenya had abandoned, Zeke stood his ground. When she was close, he took Lenya by her bare shoulders, held her gaze and said, “Madame Lenya, I can get all of us out of-”

			“Be quiet,” she demanded, then lunged forward, pressing her lips against his own, her breasts smashing against his chest as he felt her surge with energy. The kiss lingered, her body sliding her warm breasts against him as she moaned with a long-repressed yearning. Finally, she pulled free, and with a sultry, long-lashed glance, said, “Perhaps there may be hope for you yet…”

			Taking the back of his head, she pushed his face down into her abundant cleavage. Freeing a breast from her lacy blouse, she dragged her stiffening nipple across his cheek, guiding it into his mouth. Zeke took her in with alacrity, his lips and tongue playing with the dark, sensitive nub upon the warm, soft bounty of artificial flesh, the fortune teller encouraging his ministrations as she massaged her breast, pressing its supple fullness against his eager lips. She began to sway, her quiet moans growing louder along with a snapping static change inside her chest, a numbing tingle flitting from her synthetic nipple to his accommodating tongue, her fingernails digging sharply into the back of his head, urging him to give her more…

			“Ahhh!” she gasped, pulling him reluctantly away from her bosom. Zeke glanced over to Marie to see her still cowering behind the chair while Lenya studied her breast intently, tucking it back into her blouse.

			“It would seem there may be a way out for you after all,” she said with the mildest hint of surprise. “But not with her.” Madame Lenya pointed a long nail to where Marie now peered cautiously from behind her chair’s high back.

			“I’m not leaving without her,” Zeke stated firmly, stepping to Marie and helping her to her feet with a reassuring whisper of, “I don’t think she’s on the voice’s side.” Marie’s face was full of uncertainty, but she gave a trusting nod.

			“Then you are damned like the rest of us!” Lenya strode across the room, picking up pieces of the shattered crystal ball.

			Zeke hurried to her side and stooped to help her, asking, “So what would happen if the three of us walked out that door, and just kept going until we left the mansion altogether.”

			“You would meet your doom before we ever got close to the threshold,” she said perfunctorily, picking up another shard.

			“Can you be any more specific?”

			“Stabbed, set alight, blown to pieces, sawed in half,” she shrugged, “the spirits, they do not go into much detail.”

			“That would be something to see, wouldn’t it?” Zeke asked, placing his gathered shards into her palm.

			She looked up from her work to him. “You’re mad.”

			“I mean, I imagine witnessing my doom is probably better than sitting in that chair, waiting for more ‘guests’. And if I may be so bold, if we do manage to get out of here, there’s a guy outside who can fix you up better than the day you were switched on.”

			Her eyes narrowed. “I do not know what you mean, you strange, strange person.” She turned her hand over, dropping the shards on the floor. “But I must admit, I am intrigued.” Madame Lenya rose from her haunches, her machinery quieter than before. “Very well, Lady Marie and her latest groom – “

			Marie looked at Zeke in surprise upon hearing this proclamation, her face flush, not wanting to let this to go unremarked upon, but clearly having no idea on what to say. Zeke simply smiled and offered a slight shrug, which did not seem to help her in her predicament as she gave a slight shudder, her face turning a shade deep enough to rival her crimson hair.

			“ – let us attend your nuptial ball,” continued the fortune teller, striding toward the exit. “And hasten your inevitable doom.”

			Madame Lenya pushed open the double doors, laughter and organ music spilling in from beyond.