Rabble in the Alleys, Mad Science in the Parlour

I am doing my best to keep a pleasant atmosphere at my current assignment: Novem in Babbage Pallisades. I must admit I am "out of the loop" as it were when it comes to Babbage politics. But the difficulties Miss Lily Nightfire has had in simply maintaining a Gentleman's Club makes Steelhead's Time of Troubles look like a Tempest in a Teapot. I half expect the torch and pitchfork waving mob to show up at the front door during the salons. Scratch that...this is Babbage. Make it miner's helmets and overly large crescent wrenches. In a city whose smog-filled streets are home to so many Dollymops and Urchins, you'd think they'd wave through rights to operate a Mature and Cultured establishment such as Novem? Relocating to New Tolouse is sounding better with each passing day. Laissez les bon temps roulez!

Of particular interest to my medical associates is a Gentleman I welcomed there last night, a Dr. Laird Laszlo, a graduate of Cambridge. He is building a Sanitarium across the street from Novem. Tricky words these are...Sanitorium and Sanitarium. He describes his project as something of a health spa, as opposed to Dr. Fourway's Sanitorium where avatars who have proven dangerous to themselves and others are restrained as they are treated for their maladies.

Dr. Fourway and I are already investigating a Magic Lantern therapy to be administered at the Sanitorium, based off of the training exercises the Sheriff and I underwent as members of the Capper Brigade. The cinematic presentations of dubious quality lift the patients' spirits and stimulate the brain centers for humour, irony and sarcasm, which are essential traits in a thriving mind.

Of interest to my fellow scientist (Herr Baron) is Dr. Laszlo's cautious steps into the field of reanimation, as we non-Europans are used to calling it. In fact the Doctor and I were so involved in our whispered "Sparkspeak" that was elbowed by the manager at least once to change the subject.

Like myself, he has had difficulty finding a lab assistant in these endeavors. (Despite the Frau's humility, I insist that she is no mere Minion but a full-fledged Spark and Builder in her own right!) If we can but find a suitable surgical theatre, I would love to build him one while demonstrating the techniques I have developed in the creation of construct servants.

In my efforts to be a good Host for a smaller audience, where for once the music was not center of the evenings activities, and not everyone in the crowd appreciated a discource on regenerative techniques for the central nervous system, I related my struggle with the Founder's legacy. How naive the applying entertainer was that she had never even beheld the Supernatural before! And again, Miss Vivian rolled her eyes. I think she might have heard the story before while passing through Steelhead. But as a fellow Spark, Dr. Laszlo understood all too well the struggles of carrying a powerful yet dangerous force barely contained within you.

All and all, it was an interesting night.

~Dr. Mason