Steamwork Harvester
Calder's leg muscles twitched, and he quickly crouched down behind a stack of coffins. Knocking over the bottle had been a bad move. Now the City Watch had heard, and were scanning the area. There was a long held breath of silence, until the guards finally muttered again.
“Must have been rats.”
He rolled his eyes as the morons went back to their original patrol. At least they were as dimwitted as ever. But he would have to be more careful in moving around... those idiots were determined to kill all the plague survivors remaining in the flooded district. And Calder wasn't ready to die yet.
As soon as their backs were turned, Calder swiftly moved passed them and towards the nearest piled of rubble. It was funny how these plague signs had once been used to keep people safe, and were now just stacked up like garbage. No one was safe. The rats were spreading the plague too quickly. At this rate, the city of Dunwall would only last three more months.
But this young man could not die yet. He had to find someone.
Carefully climbing collapsed buildings and scuttling quickly through dank alleyways. Occasionally Calder would stop to stomp on a disgusting rate or two. These things were the reason his home city was broken and disheveled. Now, the plague had spread everywhere, and the Empress Jessamine Kaldwin had been murdered by her own royal protector. What had become of this once great industrial city? What was left?
The clanking of metal joints bending made the survivor's blood run cold, and he froze immediately. Oh God. Those were the tall-boys, and their presence was not a good thing. Their guns could reach much further than the guards... and much faster. By the looks of it, the guard intended to set up high-powered lights on a block of buildings before slaughtering any remaining people within them.
NO, I have to find him first!
Calder rushed under some of the fallen walls and broken windows, looking for a back way into the building. But before he could get too close, the sizzling of an arc pylon could be heard. This was really bad! Men on mechanical stilts out front and an electrical shocking device in the back... how could he get by?
From the corner of his eyes, the young man spotted a shadow. He turned and watched as a cloaked figure appeared and then disappeared again. Looking around, he could see that the cloaked figure was now several feet away, safely beyond the scope of the arc pylon. What sorcery was this?
The Outsider?
Could those all whaler stories be true? The man with black eyes who do astonishing things? The enemy of the Abbey of the Everyman...
Was he here to harm or to help?
There was little time to think about it, since the guards were ready to pounce upon the building. So rather than dwell on a mystery man, who was likely a hallucination caused by all the rancid smells in this district, he had to find a way into the building. If the survivors of this district were gathered here, then so would be the person he was looking for!
There were several minutes of looking at all the angles, and a few more spent getting as close as possible to the arc pylon before running at the warning noise. All-in-all, it was a waste of time. But then he spotted the shadow again. Flashes of a man moving through the space. Calder stopped, and watched as the cloaked figure appeared near the control panel... and then the shocker made some noise. A different noise.
Did he rewire the machine so it was safe?
Calder swallowed hard. It was hard to trust any person who might be the outsider... or at least related to all that black magic trickery. But he inched towards the arc pylon. He would have to do SOMETHING about it... but it did nothing. It was clearly on, but it did not strike out against him. "What the..."
"Right this way everyone. Just beyond the arc pylon. We can wait there until my buddies return," a man called from the building as people started to pour out and heads towards him. There were only about ten or so, but that was still a good amount for the district where only bodies were supposed to remain.
"C-Calder... is that you!?"
Now THAT was a familiar voice! Calder turned and smiled just before being pulled into a hug by another young man.
"You... what are you doing here!? Are you sick?"
"No, no. I am not sick at all, Matton. I think I might be immune. I could bath in rotten blood or bile, and still be healthy," Calder replied, squeezing Matton as tightly as he could. "So I came here for you. I will get you out of here. I promise. We will run away together..."
"Calder, but I am si--"
Matton was interrupted as Calder stole a kiss. There would be no leaving this district without his boyfriend. And as the young man blushed bright from the kiss, Calder looked over to the cloaked figure, who seemed to be making sure they were all okay and safe now. "Thank you, sir. I did not believe in miracles anymore. But this is certainly one."
The cloaked man said nothing, but nodded to the group before disappearing again. The others were shocked by the black magic, but Calder no longer cared. Was that the outsider he had just thanked? Or some heretic? Maybe even a ghost? No, none of that matter. Matton was with him again. And Calder intended to spend Matton's last days together.
The cloaked figure, the former royal protector himself, Corvo Attano, would never see the two again. But if his actions were guided by peace, a cure would be found, and Matton would live. But if his actions were driven by chaos, the two boys may have died there together.
Only the player will ever know for sure.
Fanpet based on the Dishonored Game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. Profile Image is a screenshot from the game, and many of the items, places, and names are from the game.
Large Overlay by Tears and Blood, by Sililoquy (me) & sherrydee846
Calder, Matton, Profile, Story, and Coding by me,
Lexx. Thank you
Cab for letting me adopt Commotion! Notes About Art References and Design
