Re: Mini-Grand 5112 [Round One: Artificer's Alley]
03-11-2013, 03:50 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Anthano Zasalla.
Ada Hanmarian was running.
It wasn't like her to run, really. Or at least that was what she liked to think. She hated cowards and hated being a coward, so whenever the time came for her to swallow her pride and run she always found another word for it.
Smart. That was a good one. Sensible. Tactful, even.
The corridors were no more modest in their architecture than the lecture hall. Everything was brass plated and sculpted and the walls were decorated with paintings. Some were landscapes she didn't recognize, though she couldn't say she spent much time outside anyway. Most were lavish portraits of decorated... people...
She slowed for a second, looking closer. The paintings were certainly people, she supposed. But they sure as hell weren't all human. She even caught a glimpse of what seemed to be some kind of android-- and that wasn't jarring, she'd been building humanoid robots all her life -- but it was giving her the same "cultured" sneer as the rest. And it was wearing a high silk hat and black peacoat.
Harriet Townshend, she read. Esteemed Professor of Electrum-based Alchemy.
It's a woman. Android. A woman android professor. Damn.
"Who are you?"
Ada nearly punched the voice's face in. Then she realized it was a kid's voice. She'd never liked children, but she liked crying children the least. She moved the gauntlet slowly aside, still locked in a fist, expecting to see some pathetic schoolchild making puppy eyes up at her. She was mostly right.
"Are you a substitute teacher?" it croaked. A forked tongue flitted out between scaly lips.
She scoured her mind for words. "I... yes. Er, run along now?"
"Okay!" The child darted off cheerfully on clawed feet.
She finally relaxed. She usually knew what to tell children to make them bugger off, but...reptile children? What was... no, she decided she didn't want to know what was next. She just needed to get out of here, and do it fast. Before she caught too much attention.
She reached the end of a corridor where a grandiose double-door waited, welcoming. She practically smashed it open and sprinted through--
She skidded to a stop, breathing heavily, halted by a sea of faces all three or four feet high. They grinned.
"Substitute teacher!" yelled one. The rest joined in chanting, surrounding her, as if at a grand seance. "SUB-STI-TUTE! SUB-STI-TUTE! SUB-STI-TUTE!"
She searched wildly for an exit. There was none. Okay, she thought. Desperate measures.
"EVERYBODY SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
It was suddenly so silent Ada could hear her own breathing. Her heart nearly jumping out of her chest. In the distance her voice continued to echo throughout every hall.
"Excuse me, madam?"
All eyes turned to look at a tall bearded man in a suit and bow tie, goat horns poking through otherwise perfect hair. "You are coming with me."
Among the children began a crescendo of "Oooh..." as they parted. Ada slowly, wide-eyed, followed him.
She wasn't a coward, she decided. But she certainly wasn't smart.
Ada Hanmarian was running.
It wasn't like her to run, really. Or at least that was what she liked to think. She hated cowards and hated being a coward, so whenever the time came for her to swallow her pride and run she always found another word for it.
Smart. That was a good one. Sensible. Tactful, even.
The corridors were no more modest in their architecture than the lecture hall. Everything was brass plated and sculpted and the walls were decorated with paintings. Some were landscapes she didn't recognize, though she couldn't say she spent much time outside anyway. Most were lavish portraits of decorated... people...
She slowed for a second, looking closer. The paintings were certainly people, she supposed. But they sure as hell weren't all human. She even caught a glimpse of what seemed to be some kind of android-- and that wasn't jarring, she'd been building humanoid robots all her life -- but it was giving her the same "cultured" sneer as the rest. And it was wearing a high silk hat and black peacoat.
Harriet Townshend, she read. Esteemed Professor of Electrum-based Alchemy.
It's a woman. Android. A woman android professor. Damn.
"Who are you?"
Ada nearly punched the voice's face in. Then she realized it was a kid's voice. She'd never liked children, but she liked crying children the least. She moved the gauntlet slowly aside, still locked in a fist, expecting to see some pathetic schoolchild making puppy eyes up at her. She was mostly right.
"Are you a substitute teacher?" it croaked. A forked tongue flitted out between scaly lips.
She scoured her mind for words. "I... yes. Er, run along now?"
"Okay!" The child darted off cheerfully on clawed feet.
She finally relaxed. She usually knew what to tell children to make them bugger off, but...reptile children? What was... no, she decided she didn't want to know what was next. She just needed to get out of here, and do it fast. Before she caught too much attention.
She reached the end of a corridor where a grandiose double-door waited, welcoming. She practically smashed it open and sprinted through--
She skidded to a stop, breathing heavily, halted by a sea of faces all three or four feet high. They grinned.
"Substitute teacher!" yelled one. The rest joined in chanting, surrounding her, as if at a grand seance. "SUB-STI-TUTE! SUB-STI-TUTE! SUB-STI-TUTE!"
She searched wildly for an exit. There was none. Okay, she thought. Desperate measures.
"EVERYBODY SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
It was suddenly so silent Ada could hear her own breathing. Her heart nearly jumping out of her chest. In the distance her voice continued to echo throughout every hall.
"Excuse me, madam?"
All eyes turned to look at a tall bearded man in a suit and bow tie, goat horns poking through otherwise perfect hair. "You are coming with me."
Among the children began a crescendo of "Oooh..." as they parted. Ada slowly, wide-eyed, followed him.
She wasn't a coward, she decided. But she certainly wasn't smart.