I should have stored it next to the Ark..

I took the crate downstairs, and with much dread I pried it open with a crobar. Yes, that was Qli. Not my daughter exactly, but a Creator recognizes his own handiwork. It was the same engine that Flea Bussy manufactured to my design. The chassis was original. It bore the GC mark, but it had clearly been through decades of grueling use..dents re-hammered, rips re-welded, but still meticulously well-oiled and polished.

The rest of the parts had been retooled and replaced. Some of the gears were made of alloys that I hadn't seen before. I put those aside for analysis.

But what else I found left me flabbergasted..carefully wrapped in brown paper and numbered along with every other loose screw and gear was a sliver of rock and metal, Qabalistic etchings still glimmering with energy. It was Qli-Steel's Soul Drive and it was still functioning! Also found intact was Qli's cranial sphere, the center of her analytic processing. I would have pried it open and see what sort of damage was inside..to see if I could possibly rehabilitate her.

I stared at the drive for hours. I knew if I touched it with bare skin I would have an instant neural link to her essence. I would know what she was thinking..or screaming. I sighed as I took off my left rubber glove.

"Alright, Qli.."

I spoke down to her sliver, I knew she was shut off from her surroundings. She need a nervous system to connect to. In this case, mine.

"Now is your chance to explain yourself. Make it good. Real good."

I put my finger on the designs. The voice that spoke to my soul was familiar, but the madness that possessed it was not.

Io! Io! Blood..

I immediately threw the sliver down to the work bench where it bounced off the work bench like a bad penny before landing with a clink.

"HOW DARE YOU!", I screamed.

I cast my glance to the cranial unit. There was a slot in the orb to insert the Soul Drive..for in case she was ever disassembled to this extent. Mind and Soul in one convenient container.

I picked the Drive up with my gloved hand and slid it into the sphere with a click.

I should have known this was a trick.

The crackling energy hit me in the chest like a steam-powered elephant. I fell to cold stones of the basement, that smelled faintly of earth, oil, and spilled wine.

As I held onto consciousness I heard a clank, and then the sound of metal rolling on stone. "So I dropped her", I thought. "She deserves a lot more."

That's when I saw THIS leaning over me.



She hissed and growled at me as if she was still getting used the idea of speech. I saw rage in those green glowing eyes. I lay perfectly still..there was no spell I could invoke fast enough. I just stared back in those eyes, trying to find a glimmer of the construct I raised as my own flesh and blood.

"Qli? What have done to yourself?"

She laughed in a voice that sounded like tearing metal.

"What have you done to YOUR self, Father?'

With that, she curled into the enlarged sphere and erupted into a full galvanic tesseraction as she slammed into the basement gates to the catacombs under Steelhead.
I was ready to hear the gates shatter from the impact, but in stead I saw yet another flash of energy as she folded space to elsewhere.

Kids..

hide your face so that no one else can find you

It took quite a bit of courage to don the demon's cloak and mask. But this was a Masquerade after all. How ironic to show up as something I was, but no longer am. What if someone still had a vendetta against the Demon and was ready to unleash their anger on me? What if some of the madness in Caledon had followed me back to Steelhead, and a poisoned dagger from one of the Colonel's agents lay ready for me as well?

I was ready to remove the red garb and put it away when my doorbell rang. Miss Christensen was checking up on me. I always found her down-to-earth demeanor quite soothing. She just happened to have a mask in her purse, and was asking for someone accompany her. Who am I to refuse?

I looked about nervously as I entered the ballroom. Some called me Doctor, a few Mr. Masons, and the occasional Darien. All of them thought they knew me, but except for the Sheriff, I barely knew any of them except through vignettes in moment's of the demon's calm or weakness.

I could see tears welling up behind Lady Darkling's mask as I walked past her. She obviously missed her immortal friend, but I hope there is time to start friendship again. Miss Orr was in calico fur and a brown dress, her enigmatic movements giving her away behind her mask.

The masks they slide to reveal a new disguise

As I danced with Miss Christensen, she offered to work for me as a Nurse. She would even sew some uniforms the staff! I was overjoyed! The more we talked, the more it seemed like she had always known me, beneath the Curse.

During a break I had a sidebar with the Management..they were more than happy to set up a doctor's office downtown!




The next morning the postman delivered a letter and a package at my doorstep. The crate had the Caledonian seal stamped on it. The address listed as UNDISCLOSED LOCATION. My heart sank. The remains of my daughter who tried to reweave the Loom of Fate, despite any plea to sanity, lay interred therein.

The second was a letter from Mr. meQal. I'll save you the colorful language he used inside, but the gist of it was..due to a series of blunders by the Linden Bank, he would be unable to continue operations in Steelhead. Beauty & the Beast will soon be closing his doors.

A one-two punch..one of two people left in the world who knew the real me was gone..and the charred wreck of the daughter scarred from the Dark Future lay in a coffin at my feet!

~Dr. Mason

Where a Doctor is Twice Needed

I was all set to make my debut at the Steelhead Masquerade Ball when I received the telegram..Mister Lunar had fallen ill to a chronic malady, and Miss Tensai had to withdraw from orchestrating duties that night to tend him. I wished him a fast recovery. Hopefully the Ball will be rescheduled for tonight.

As I was all dressed up with no place to go I chatted a bit with the Sheriff next door, that took a stroll to Lighthouse Island to re-introduce myself the Steelhead's owner, Miss Severine. She was apparently ready for the canceled ball herself, dressed in an exquisite peach dress.

I explained my..recovery..in detail to her, and pledged to set up my doctor's office immediately. She encouraged me to make arrangements with Lunar for an office downtown when he recovers.

After I gave my goodbyes and crossed over the bridge,,I was stunned to see a waterspout in the harbor!

(My apologies, but my timing with the camera is poor..I just reviewed the plate and the whale had submerged by the time the image was captured!)

The Sheriff, who was on the way to see Miss Katt herself, told me that this marvelous young specimen of the whale species was his new Deputy! The Weird Wild West indeed! I've tended to animals and anthros before, but if this beast ever became ill I would have QUITE the house call!

My strength had had grown enough that I could could slip into the space between spaces and return to Tanglewood to collect the rest of my belongings from Lady Darkling's treehome. I noticed a poster for some form dance earlier in the day..they seemed to be wearing the whirling Dervish robes and dancing in meditative circles like I once had the pleasure to witness in the Ottoman Empire. Since it is a sacred ritual I could have bent the Sabbath rules and attended, had I known beforehand. I heard a ruckus coming from one end of the island. I supposed it was a ball of some sort..from a distance I could see the magnificent gowns and military uniforms..this must have been an after-event from Reconciliation Day, I thought. But as I approached I could hear their sighs and see the somber looks on their faces. I sensed something was wrong, so opened my suitcase and donned my white coat at readied my sachel in case my talents were needed.

As I approached, my heart sank as a small crowd of the powerful surrounded me with the all-to-familiar cries of "Doctor! Doctor! What news..?" Sadly I was the one asking all the questions.

Colonel O'Toole and his jackbooted thugs disrupted the Reconciliation by trying to kidnap the Kaiserin, and had shot Captain Pearse in the process! I immediately sent a telegram to the Pearse estate offering my skills, but I received a thank you note in return saying his condition was stable.

So THAT was why Qli Steel was wearing a police uniform when the Paradox claimed her! She was obviously in on the plot as one of her latest demented schemes to reshape her own History! That HOTSPUR O'TOOLE! He's lived up to his name in more ways that one! He should count his lucky STARS that prodigal daughter wasn't involved..she surely would have gone berzerk, and you'd have had a MASSACRE instead of a botched kidnapping!

Staving off my feelings of helplessness I returned to my home and immediately set up my office. I only hope that when Lunar returns I don't run afoul of some regulation or another.



When the next situation arises, I shall be ready as a Doctor. My supernatural talents, however, I still need to recover.

~Dr. M

Solutions are Found

Qlippothic finds me by the telescope at the roof of Darkling's living home, rubbing my temples and gritting my teeth. She asks me what's wrong. I tell her nothing. I'm..working out a problem.

I sit down with her at the table, which I've crowded with star charts and arcane manuals. I open the largest tome and flip through the pages with a blur. This one of those books with far more pages than one sees crowded between the covers.

I stop the kaleidescope of bizarre diagrams where the black ribbon lies nestled between the pages.

"Here..it's not the entire incantation..that would be overkill. But this should be enough to purge the vampirism from the twins without destroying them."

Qli's glowing eyes illuminated the page. "But are you strong enough to read it? You are still recovering from the possession. And what of the oath..?"

"I will be strong enough by Beltane..and at these borders between the seasons there is a higher Law that supersedes that oath."

At a sacred time, at a sacred place, you shall fulfill your sacred duty.

"..and indeed, is it not my duty to heal the sick, as well as to counter the Darkness with what I have learned?"

A Time to Heal, A Time to Plan

Dear Reader,

Qli and I are recuperating quite well. Lady Darkling's sanctum is most conducive to healing. The chairs are so comfortable they seem to have their own gravity wells. The ethereal music is relaxing. The art is intriguing, and even the living walls seem to embrace us in a nurturing atmosphere.

This is exactly the sort of space I wish to turn my home into. I had a jump start before I left. The closest I'll ever get to telling the Demon how I felt about him was shattering his precious throne with an axe and burning it..and his other infernal contraptions..in the living room fireplace overnight. I almost wonder if it's better to tear the Horned One's lair to the ground an rebuild from scratch..like my life.

I had Miss Orr's furniture shipped back to her the next morning. I have no idea what her take is on the current situation, but for certain I won't risk a confrontation.
Death and Rebirth may be a carousel ride for the Incubus, but I am all too human. He already granted me the pleasure of being eviscerated once. I do not think I can survive another such encounter.


When I return to Steelhead..

I have no intention of entering the Taiyu House unless I am summoned, with Doctor's bag in hand.

(Note to Self: I must visit TombStone to speak to the medical staff there. I could use their advice on where to purchase supplies, and what equipment I need to turn my main level into a clinic.)

I'm not happy keeping a gun in the house either, but it is still the Frontier..and the Weird Wild West. It was the Horrors of War that traumatized me enough to first give the Demon the upper hand.

I won't be attending the Friday events in Steelhead. While tending to the sick has always been considered a form of prayer in itself, I will not violate the Sabbath by
cavorting about in a Mummer's parade outfit! I might actually enjoy putting on a tuxedo for a Saturday night event, but I really don't have the charisma of my predecessor. Since Qli is a golem, she is exempt from these restrictions. She can raise money to keep the Foundation running, and I will be content with whatever is donated to help run my practice.

I am finally getting used to having my own body back. Among the very few positive side-effects of the possession..my body seems not to have aged during his reign, and judging from my peak health, I might have even aged backwards! Also, the pathways of my mind to my psychic talents have been widened. Telekinesis, Telepathy, Clairvoyance, even Teleportation..all these Disciplines have been enhanced.

As for Magic..the Demon has made a total wreck of my library! Oh Mr. Drinkwater, you would faint dead away to see what has become of my shelves! Nothing is categorized..the most dangerous of tomes were left lying about for the uninitiated to open, even those where just looking at their covers are dangerous! And those books I had found, he'd scribbled in the margins and between the lines the most rude sketches and his darkest obsessions..oh Steelhead is lucky they did not see even half of the schemes he contemplated!

And I found works of the most horrid filth one could ever imagine! Merely flipping through a few pages of a poorly-bound pamphlet of rice paper (marked by a code beginning with the numeral 4...) nearly made me retch! I threw it straight into the fireplace along with his precious throne!

It is so tempting to remain here in Tanlgewood, but Steelhead feels more home to me than anywhere else, and they do need a Physician desperately. Except for my war buddies Fuzzball and meQal, and my childhood friend T. Masala, nobody in Steelhead knows the real me..not even my own daughter!

Yes, the Demon proclaimed Brothers, Sisters, and Nieces in his territory, but I had no role in those demonic pacts..they are null and void to me, save for Qli, for she is the product of my works that the Incubus took all the credit for.

Oh Dear, I'm breaking a sweat. I need to calm down. Maybe a proper noontime meal will settle my nerves.

~Dr. Mason

Remaking Qli

My call across the Void was heard..energy poured in from the angles of time and the ripples of space. I was too busy to dwell on the individual sources, lest I be distracted and cause the incantation to waver. I am able to lock the Sephiroth in place, so Life may race like lightning down through the Tree and into my Creation, my Child.

I heard footsteps..out of the corner of my eye I see Caledon's Chief Librarian arriving. The shining spheres reflect in the panes of his glasses as he took in the situation. And true to form, he opened the journal in his hand and began feverishly scribbling away, recording the event for posterity.

Her lifeless eyes opened, radiating the pure light. Her pattern drifted from her red-winged Fae body to her original form..smooth, featureless golden clay with shining metallic hair, and heavy bracers on her forearms and ankles to reinforce her frame.

I gestured towards the steamer trunk, which magically unlocks and flips open. I kept my gaze on Qli, monitoring her transformation.

"Mister Drinkwater? Could you retrieve her front grill for me please?"

JJ blinked, and nervously slipped a bookmark into the pages of his journal before closing it.

"Why yes..of course.."

A few seconds later Mr. Drinkwater stood next to me, carrying the hatch firmly in both hands.

A thanked him quickly as I accepted the hatch. I lowered the grill to the space on her torso above her navel. I pressed down firmly and the device nested snugly into the clay. I flipped the latch.


I looked up at the ten spheres of energy hovering over Qli in the classic pattern, linked together by a string of crackling energy.

I wrapped my hand around the handle of her grill, and took a deep breath. I looked down and I sensed that Qli was ready.

I lifted the handle, and her hatch swung open wide. For only a second I saw the hollow shell of her abdomen inside before the lighting leaped from the lowest sphere into her cavity. JJ took a few steps back, but I held onto the handle, straining to keep my eyes opening in the blinding light of Creation's force.

One by one the spheres winked out as the Qabalistic energy drained from the representation of the Tree of Life. Her torso grew brighter from the primal force. Wen the last spark drained from the sole remaining sphere I slammed the hatch shut and locked it.

JJ approached again, and cautiously crouched beside me.

"Is she..functional?

Her eyes opened, and they radiated with that same pure light.

"I am indeed, JJ."

"Wonderful, Qli, wonderful." I stood up slowly, exhaustion beginning to set in from the invocations. "Mister Drinkwater, can you help me lift her engine from.."

"That will not be necessary, Father."

Qli rose to her feet on her own volition.

"All systems..fully functional."

I touched her cheek, cold and clammy but quickly warming to my touch. I peered at her back. The sockets along her back where her engine was meant to be bolted in remained bare.

"Very good, my daughter..very good..standing without your engine..you are much more powerful now..but we must do this gradually."

I reached into the trunk and unfolded a robe I had packed for her. I helped her into it as her skin flushed with the healthy tone of a young human female. The robe had a low back for obvious reasons, but I removed my own cloak and draped it over her shoulders for an extra layer of modesty.

I thanked Mr. Drinkwater for his help, and I promised him I would explain everything that transpired to him in the morning Qli and I retreated the safety of Darkling's magically protected abode.

Qlippothic and I thank all of you..from the bottom of our hearts. We will return to Steelhead soon, and in a week or two we will be walking the streets of the Colonies again..but not as the same people we were before.

~Dr. Mason

Reviving Qli

My heart sank as I gathered her in my arms, cold as the clay from which I made her. Building her was the one Project I was allowed during my confinement within my own body by that nefarious Son of Hades. Yes, he supplied the raw power with his soulflame, but why did a living, loving person and not an automaton as he expected?

Because I willed it so. Because I reached upwards to catch her soul as the Tree of Life shook her essence free from the Higher Realm, while the Demon was looking down, stoking the black flames of the Qlippothic Spheres.

But now..with the Demon gone, so was her pilot light. I pressed lightly on her belly. Her Soul Drive extruded from her navel..a lucky first guess as to one of the many places she could keep it safe. I held it close to the lantern's light. The diagram of the Tree was intact. The sliver of rock glimmered from the Fae blood that had been absorbed into its sigils.

Father?

The voice echoed in my brain. I smiled as I felt her spirit communicate to mine from within the stone.

"Yes, Qli. It's me."

I finally sense you as I first saw you when I opened my eyes.. I knew someday you would be free.

I could only nod as I bit my lip. Finally, I gulped hard and whispered,

"But this is a terrible price for my freedom. Your paralysis. So many hurt.."

What matters now is you are here as you truly are. I did everything I could to confound the Demon's plans without incurring his wrath and risking your own body and soul. I rushed to Tombstone at your plea, not that of the Prince.

I nodded sadly. "He almost succeeded..trying to have me killed so he could claim my body all for himself." A long, quiet pause as we listened to the crickets..the rustling leaves, the rippling of the waters. The cool night breeze blew across my cheek. All little things..little things I never realized I would miss so much.

I shook my head and came back to my senses to deal with the here and now.

"Qli..I don't know how to power your body again!"

The same way you conjured my soul, Father.

I slid her Soul Drive back into its hiding place. Was I strong enough after all this time? With no preparation to retry what took me years to accomplish, both with the Demon's help and interference? For the first time, I recited the formula as it was meant to be spoken, unobscured by intricacies meant to confound the Stranger inside me

with ends in sight, with means defined
imbue this clay with spirit mine
the goal condoned, the process blessed
the Sacred Spheres I do request
my will is strong, my faith endure
endow this flesh with light so pure!

Blue eyes shut tight as the edge of Tanglewood floods with luminescence, multiplying with each orb invoked that floats in formation above the creator and the creation,

KETHER.. CHOKHMA.. BINAH..

Words that would have burned the Demon's tongue to cinders echo among the trees.

CHESED.. GEBURAH.. TIPHARETH.. NETZACH..

The wind begins to howl, spiraling the leaves around the pair.

HOD.. YESOD..MALKUTH!

The air is warm and smells of roses..


But something is wrong. I am still too weak. My body misused for years. My soul taunted by my captor until I had all but given up hope.

The Spheres are not phased down far enough..I need help to widen the portal! I must draw from my own life force..

FATHER! NO! I will not allow it! I will not see you cured just to die over me!

And I will not have your soul crumble to dust in my arms! Then how..?

Friends..

Friends? Yes! YES!!

Here I send my distress call through the aether, between the gaps of time and space. It matters not what you think of me now or then..all I want is my daughter to walk again! I reach out to you Dear Reader..if ever you loved my sweet Qlippothic..close your eyes..see her in your mind..and channel what energies you can to her..let her LIVE again!