The whistle of the train coming into the station woke E4. She sat up, and immediately noticed her hands were bound. Her arms twitched, muscles that were not actually there triggered claws that did not exist, glands that her brain remembered but her body did not posses. In the half dreaming state something twitched. Then it was gone. E4 looked around, she was not in the servant’s quarters, she was in the master suite. Rather than bunk beds two large beds occupied the room, and the walls were adorned with trophies of some sort. Also breakfast was late. She quickly managed to untangle herself from the blankets, trying not to wake her mistress. She did not succeed.
“E4, morning.” Marissa yawned, stretching.
E4 quickly stood and bowed, which was a bit awkward with her hands still tied. “Good morning Mistress.” She was painfully aware she was wearing one of her mistress’s nightgowns rather than proper attire. It was quite soft, the material one she did not recognize. Her eyes went to the bandage on her mistress’s hand, where during the shower she had realized the container she had been mixing the acid in had cut her. “How are your cuts?”
“Oh, these, they don’t hurt. We Aether Blessed heal pretty fast, nice work with them by the way.” Her mistress made a gesture, and the knotted silk ribbon that bound her wrists seemed to fall apart as if it had never been. Marissa looked at her as if she wanted to say something, and in a moment of panic E4 realized what it must be.
“Right, I’ll get breakfast going. Toast and scrambled eggs for you, pancakes for Master, right.” She quickly stepped out and to her own room to dress. Yet the moment she stepped in the door she was stopped by the stern glare of the head maid.
“E4, where were you last night?” E1 asked. Despite being the head maid, E1 was not much older. She wore the same uniform E4 had worn the previous night, yet something about her posture made her look almost military. She stood slightly taller, and just exuded a presence of command. She wore her pitch black hair in a tight bun and her outfit seemed just a little bit fuller with additional muscle. She adjusted her glasses, another difference between her and the other maids, with a gloved hand and E4 immediately straightened. Despite this, her eyes seemed to be shadowed with a gloom the light could not penetrate.
“The Mistress called me, she was injured, and asked me to spend the night.” E4 paused at how that last phrase could be mistaken. She and her mistress hadn’t actually done anything besides sleep.
“E4, a gentleman does not tell of his conquests and a Lady must be even more discreet. If you have fallen under The Master’s spell at least have a better excuse. We are their maids, and their reputation must not be besmirched on our account. Make sure to wash The Mistress’s nightgown and return it before noon today. Now, I believe you have breakfast duty today.”
E4 quickly dressed and made her way to the kitchen. E2 was finishing sweeping while E3 was making breakfast for the conductor C1, or dinner since he had been up all night. Either way, it was some sort of stew made from strips of lean meat and enough hot peppers it made E4’s eyes water just being near it. E2 and E3 were about the same height as E4, about 160 cm. E2 had dark straight brown hair that hung loose and in a forked tail style. E3 had her blonde hair in a ponytail. E4 immediately noticed how similar they looked, as if they could be sisters. Like E1, an odd shadow seemed to cover their eyes. C1 was oddly short at a mere 4 feet tall, yet he was almost that broad in the shoulders. His thick red beard was darkened by smoke as were his overalls. As she entered he turned to her, his eyes wide with mania and glowing with inner Aether. It wasn’t the shine that her mistress had, but a burning glow like the coals that burned within the engine had replaced his eyes.
“Maid, you are late.” He spoke, checking his pocket watch. “The master’s breakfast was supposed to be done five minutes ago.
“I know, I know.” E4 replied, wrapping an apron around herself and getting to work mixing. After it was finished she twisted the knob for the electric stove, yet nothing happened. She knelt and opened the cupboard beneath. The stove drew power from a wheel that attached to the train wheels. It could be powered via Aether directly or via a battery. As she looked she saw that the battery was connected to the stove top, but it wasn’t being charged by the moving of the train. She eyed the series of wheels and gears that were supposed to do that, but they were still.
“Is the stove broke again?” E4 straightened, hitting her head on the inside of the cabinet, before successfully straightening and turning to see her master. He was dressed in a night shirt and trousers, but still cut an imposing figure. His skin was as pale and flawless as her mistress’s, and his pure white hair was cut in a crew cut. Most striking were his eyes, flawless rubies that caught every detail and shone with the light of the Aether.
“Unfortunately, it looks like a cold breakfast is for today.” E3 replied.
“Seems like the charging wheels aren’t working properly.” E4 clarified.
“Hmmm, well,” her master reached over and put a hand on a piece of metal E4 hadn’t paid any attention to previously. He gripped it, and immediately the smell of ozone filled the car. All of its other occupants stopped what they were doing and looked over at him. “Nothing a little Aether can’t fix.” His stomach let out a grumble. “Though it takes a bit of energy to do that.”
“Understood, right away Master.” E4 immediately began cooking, staring with her master’s breakfast, before moving on to her Mistress’s breakfast. About half way through she noticed that the stove was beginning to lose heat. “I wonder,” she reached for the same lever.
“Maid, I wouldn’t,” E4 gripped the lever and felt a tingling sensation. Suddenly a cold sensation ran up her arm, and with it she lost all strength. She stepped back in panic, holding up her right arm with her left. “Are you alright?”
“My arm just went numb, is that normal?” E4 asked.
By this time her mistress had arrived and was now sipping tea while reading from a thick tome of a book. She rose up, dismissing her book to a nearby cart with a gesture, and removed her gloves. “E4, let me see your arm.” E4 held out her arm and Marissa removed E4’s glove before rolling up her sleeve and palpating her arm. E4 could feel her mistress’s touch, vaguely, but more acutely she could sense a pins and needle sensation. Suddenly Marissa’s hands crackled with sparks causing E4 to jump, pulling her arm back. She had sensation again, and it hurt. “How’s that feel?”
“Like I just came out of the cold and plunged my hand in hot water.” E4 replied, shaking the life back into her hand.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Marissa, could she, have the experiments worked?”
“I’m not sure Marcus. I haven’t done a full examination yet.” She sighed theatrically and tugged on her dress, a velvety brown dress that went down to her knees and forearms respectively. “And I just got dressed.”
“Marissa, don’t be a deviant. She is one of our maids, not a toy.” Marcus replied, tapping her on the forehead playfully. E4 felt the eyes of E2 and E3 on her, and turned beet red. “Honestly, best guess?”
“She’s asking questions, showing initiative, and can use Aether.” Marissa thought. “Either the elixirs are working, or she swallowed a soul. Possibly the elixirs attracted a soul to her, but if that’s the case we’d need a huge experiment to prove it.” She paused. “E4, how old are you?”
“32, I mean, 20.” E4 replied. That got a look from both of them. “20, I’m 20.” Skeptical looks. “I think? We didn’t really keep good track of time in the village.” A village she knew she grew up in because where else could she have? It could not have been a city of iron buildings that stretched towards the sun. Those didn’t exist, and there was no sun.
A whistle sounded through the entire train. “Looks like we’re putting this on the back burner, coming into a town.” Marcus said, checking his pocket watch. “A little early too, get your gear just in case.”
“E4, follow me.”
Ever aware of the eyes of her fellow servants, E4 followed Marissa through the library car, where E1 was currently organizing the books, and to the armory car. “E1, arm up.” E1 immediately placed the book in her hand onto a small shelf on rails and followed to the armory car. Various weapons lay on rack and on shelf, as did a miniature forge. E4 eyed the forge, questioning how it could function. Judging by the coils it worked on induction, a process that seemed impossible yet she knew she had used it herself at one point. “E4, do you know how to use a gun?”
“I don’t like them, too loud.” E4 replied. Immediately Marissa handed her a crossbow and two long knives. She immediately drew a bolt and raised it up to her lips, freezing as her mistress gave her a confused look. E4 slowly returned the bolt to the crossbow. Marissa next handed the same armaments to E1, who immediately saluted. Marissa returned the salute before moving on to armor. Leather arm and knee guards came first, followed by a black vest E4 recognized. “Is this kevlar?”
Marissa gave her a look. “Yes, how do you know that word?” E4 gave her a sheepish look, which Marissa returned with a predatory smile. “A question for another time then.” She next turned to a large drum made from some sort of metal. She reached out and closed her eyes, before the smell of ozone filled the room. “Devil’s hankerchief, still half empty.” She next opened another drawer and sighed. “E1, where are the canteens?”
“I washed them approximately 12 hours ago. Returning them was on my list after shelving the books and replacing the third bulb in the reading section. Shall I fetch them?” Marissa nodded. “Right away mistress.”
E4 watched her go. “Mistress, may I ask why you did that? If it is not too much to ask.”
“Why do you think?” Marissa asked. E4 hesitated. “No, really, I want to know your thought process behind this.”
“I mean, maybe you were purifying the water, for some reason?” E4 replied. “Except, you didn’t do that for the water you drank at breakfast. You and Master…” Marissa gave her a look, “Master Marcus both referenced Aether a lot, so I’m guessing that has something to do with it. Considering Master Marcus used Aether to power the stove, and didn’t lose sensation in his arm when he did it, I’m assuming it’s a power source, like ATP…” E4 froze, why had she said that? On one hand she didn’t know what ATP was, on the other revealing it like that was practically admitting guilt.
“ATP, strange you should say that.” Marissa replied. “The Myst Folk don’t know about Cell theory, let alone how cells work. They still believe disease is spread through bad air, which given how The Myst works isn’t exactly wrong either.” She reached out and took E4’s chin, staring straight into her eyes. “Have your eyes always been green?”
“Mistress?”
“Mistress, I have retrieved the canteens.” E1 replied. She eyed the pair. “Shall I give then a second scrub?”
“No, give them here.” E1 handed the canteens, metal cylinders wrapped in leather with odd markings stitched into them in silver thread. “Now E4, these canteens are designed to hold an Aetheric elixir.” She dispensed a shimmering luminescent liquid into the canteen. “It is a mixture of several herbs and non-toxic metals imbued with half broken down Myst. As the train moves it collects Myst, which is thickest between cities and towns. The canteen draws Aether from whoever caries it and begins to break down the Myst, but doesn’t do so all the way. Then, when you drink it, your body finishes the process.”
“So, wait, what is The Myst?” E4 asked.
Marissa sagged for a moment, before straightening. “Well I guess that answers that. Myst is, complicated. There is The Myst, and Myst, both capitalized and spelled with a y, and they are not mist as in regular water vapor. We’ll discuss that later.”
“So, is Myst like oxygen and Aether like carbon dioxide, we breathe one in and expel the other as a waste product?” E4 paused. “Except, Aether seems to be a power source,”
“You’ve got it half right. I think it would be better to hold off until you see a bit more of the world, have more context. I know of three boffins who dedicated their life to studying The Myst, and they still can’t agree.” Marissa replied, finishing the second canteen and half filling the third. “Not enough for a full one, so I’m going to give this to you.” E4 took it graciously.
“What about E1?” She asked. “She is the head maid.”
“E1 is Myst Folk, Aether is poisonous to her in all but the smallest dose.” Marissa explained. “Yet, you were able to handle Aether Jelly, and channeled a bit of Aether earlier, even if you immediately depleted yourself. I think it’s safe for you to use, just go easy on it.” She paused. “Though if you feel like you’re about to catch on fire, stop taking it immediately.”
“Yes Mistress.” She paused, then took a bolt. “Can I put Aether on a bolt and use it to poison something, or would that heal the kind of thing we’re going to be fighting?”
“It would be easier to just channel Aether directly into the bolt, though you’d need a special ability or crossbow to do it.” Marissa replied. She drew device that might have been a firearm, if the barren wasn’t a solid mass that ended in a tuning fork, it did not posses several LED lights, three vacuum tubes, and an elaborate sundial that might have three constellations on it. “Something like this.”
“I have much to learn.”
As the train came to a stop Marcus joined Marissa, E1, and E4 outside. He wore a dapper black coat and pants, with a white shirt and matching red vest and bow-tie. A black bowler cap and sword-cane completed the look. For ranged armaments he had a pistol strapped to a bandoleer next to three sticks of what E4 presumed was dynamite, and upon his back was a large blunderbuss made from dark wood and darker metal with complex gears etched in silver along the barrel. He took a canteen from Marissa and placed it in an empty loop next to the dynamite. “Are we sure we want E4 with us?”
“It’s a small town, what could happen?”
E4 stared at the town, contradictory instincts warring. On one hand she wanted to stand at attention, waiting for her master or mistress to direct her to carry the luggage or send her out on an errand. She had done that often enough in other towns. Yet another instinct told her to go home and lay low, for danger stalked the streets. A third instinct told her to keep her eyes up, blend in, and keep her claws ready. The second instinct seemed the most distant, yet the third instinct advised her to follow the first instinct. The group stood on a wooden train platform with room to hold at least three such trains. Several houses stood not far off, with a large wooden building marked Rail Station standing closest.
“Where is everyone?” She asked.
“Quiet, do not disrupt the master and mistress’s discussion.” E1 chided, adjusting her glasses. “It is for them to lead and us to follow.”
“While I agree chain of command is important, E4 raises a valid point.” Marcus replied, eyes shifting. “Let’s hit the local standing stones, then take a look. C1 and C2.” He turned, both men poked their head out of the engine. “Load up on water, and keep the engine warm. We might have to make a fast exit.”