Valentina reminisced her story…
Towering hills imbued with a petrified forest blocked off most sight of the Cyber Elite’s higher tiered mainland from the Steam districts. However, looking down, one could see the channels of every street throughout the lower tier;
expansive,
connective,
a bit congestive.
But charming and fully available to be monitored like a piece of artwork in a gallery. Though, most didn’t see the sight as something positive, except to someone like Valentina. Children born from the Cyber Elite have little to no control of their futures - their entire identity and path determined by the family in which they are born into. You might think this would cause a rebellion within the Cyber Elite, but the enticement of wealth and little to no worry of security, coupled with knowledge about the myriad of genetic deformities sprouting in the Steam districts made sticking to tradition quite appealing.
Unless again, you are someone like Valentina...
who dreams of a warmed flush face from working with steam power, and being a hands-on creative that also quite detests borders and being limited from using her senses to the fullest extent.
The Realm of Metal has come a long way since its earliest days, the Realm is the largest of those existing. Before complex civilization, it flourished mightily green just as the Realm of Sound. Steam power was brought on by means of necessity, after generations of oil reliance, and careless neglect, and over-harvesting of the environment resulted in a rapid decay of fertile soil, and the air quite toxic to breathe.
Engineers came together and develop the steam power Metal relies on today, but fixing the mistakes of the past is something that will be ongoing for generations to come. The wealthy escaped to the mountains where the atmosphere was healthier and they could simply pay those less fortunate to do their bidding in the lower lands.
Due to the egregious abuse of resources in the past, even today Metal struggles with hunger, the inhabited lands bear no fruit and leagues of adventurers are set out to cultivate farmlands far away that are too dangerous to relocate to. Nature evolved alongside the humans, and epic beasts lurk at the last of the fertile lands. Many adventurers dying yearly.
They’d be incapable of their jobs without the biggest industry, Steam workers. There may be some irony to being the wealthiest nation and also the most struggling one, seventy percent of the population works in some form of engineering field or another, to use as defenses from beasts, to sell weaponry to all surrounding realms, and as of late a large boom in the medical sciences and prosthetics industry.
Twenty percent maintaining odd end jobs and the other common stragglers, or forced into retirement due to ailment. Then, there’s the ten percent. The top dog, the government influencers, the Cyber Elite. Just recently have their financial investments created things even more efficient than steam power, but it hasn’t gone mainstream anywhere yet. Presently it serves as a cultural luxury and a convenient way to fuel the divide between the rich and the poor. Essentially living in two different worlds.
Valentina was not ignorant to these facts, and often dreamed of the day that Metal could come to a more balanced society, where she could be free to roam and help her fellow Metalites.
Much to Valentina’s dismay, a high pitched clap forced her out from her day-dream as she guiltily whipped her head around to a cold and judgmental face.
“If I catch you one more time, disheveling the furniture in your room just to climb them and poke yer’ head out the window, it will be the last you see of that window, period.”
Val groaned and hopped down, tossing her arms about lackadaisical and annoyed.
“Good mornin’ Beryl, didn’t sleep well I see, eh?”
She rarely would acknowledge threats or discipline in any progressive manner, a will of fire she’d almost always protest. Successfully becoming the ultimate headache of the mansion. Beryl, her second handmaiden after the first had quit, had a much sterner personality that equally would not give in, a battle of conviction might as well have been afternoon tea for their frequent back and forths..
“A disappointment as always, but today is an important day child. Co-operate and I’ll see about arranging some outdoors time for you.”
Val innocently changed her tone. “Do ya promise?”
Beryl rolled her eyes before giving a strained nod and escorting the now chipper little girl down the hall.
The room was blindingly lit, and a trio of maidens were on staff to assist with numerous aesthetic preparations.
“M’lady, your hair is quite knotted again, this might hurt…forgive me.”
The maid powered on a neon brush that immediately smoothed out frizzed hair, but would still get stuck on knots that sharply pulled at her scalp. “Ow, ow, ow!” Valentina pulled her head away in an involuntary protest, but the job had to be done. In the past, Valentina had asked for her hair to be cut somewhat shorter, having it hang past her knees was bothersome and heavy. As a little girl her father would help her by tossing it into a braid, but he no longer lived and her mother believed straight flowing hair was superior - and she had to do everything in her mother’s image.
After her hair was done, her face was hit by a barrage of pens that air-brushed her face. The maids outwardly criticized the many small cuts and bruises they had to mask all over her body that came about from her rebellious adventures. While most girls probably wouldn’t mind a spa treatment such as this, Val’s heart was desperate for privacy, something a life as a Cyber Elite would not be achievable when always in the public eye.
A sneeze crept up on Valentina and exploded outward, causing the maids to flail sideways avoiding the geyser.
“For cryin’ out loud, your mascara is on yer’ cheeks now!”
A re-application, before being fitted into a tight, white leather mermaid style dress with a sweetheart neckline and magenta neon trim looked gaudy, but that was the formal Cyber Elite aesthetic. A finishing touch of a magenta and gold locket corset enclosed around her ribs, the second pull being quite too sudden as well as excoriating. It nearly winded her before a sharp pain caused her to gasp out and clench her jaw. No sympathy from her handmaiden came.
“I’ll hear no complaints, now look how beautiful you are!”
Valentina gritted her teeth trying to bear the pain, she strongly desired to be permitted outdoors.
The way she was dressed aged her into the next generation to the point she couldn’t recognize herself. The feeling was uncomfortable and surreal. Her mind skipped like a broken record trying to recognize the girl in the mirror as her vision became vignette.
Suddenly, the face looking back at her twisted into her mother’s disapproving scowl. For but a moment, her mother seemed to change her emotion to something more kind and reached her hand out to Valentina through the mirror. Val hesitated but the desire of approval lured her closer.. A whimper barely escaped before her mother’s arm grabbed her wrist and jerked her forward into the mirror, falling into a black abyss that stole her breath.
A cold sensation on her neck woke Valentina up from her nightmare as she stared up at a doctor.
“Good, I’m glad you’re awake now. Do me a favor and breathe in and out, nice n’ deep?”
Valentina attempted to comply, but the inward breath forced her to dart up, sitting hunched and clasping her side. An annoying and incessant beeping sound blaring off in the metal medical collar placed around her neck. The doctor reached to remove it, being careful to not messy Val’s updo.
“M’lady Ruby, your daughter should be fine for now, but wearing a corset to tonight’s party is a no go. Her rib is fractured, and any tighter it would have broke and maybe punctured a lung.”
The doctor’s tone carried a irritation to it, a fellow jaded person was a welcome sight to see, even in these conditions.
“Oh, my darling Valentina, you poor thing!”
Val’s mother quickly approached with a overly strained look absent of any tears, reaching out to hold her daughter, but Valentina instinctively flinched out of the way. Be it from the pain or from a reaction to her mother’s touch typically being disciplinary – who knew.
The doctor took note of the reaction and gave a slight questioning glance to the weeping mom, but any curiosity based from judgement was quickly squashed under the piercing eyes of Ruby Diorite. The doctor saw herself out, holding the door open for Beryl who lingered longer.
“M’lady, I take full responsibility for this.”
Beryl bowed deeply and the long nails that were forcing Valentina into an embrace tightened painfully into her skin, causing Val to tense up.
“Oh, well that’s convenient. Thank you for taking responsibility Beryl. You’re fired. You’ll also never be hired by anyone in the Cyber Elite again, but I’ll be kind enough to pay for your train ticket back down to the Steam Districts.”
Both Valentina and Beryl gasped a bit at the harshness, though at least in part this was some kind of odd way to see karma in action. Tears welled up in Beryl’s eyes unable to respond without choking, but managed to walk herself out with some form of dignity before the door shut behind her.
“And you….”
Ruby traced her nail up Valentina’s arm to hook under her chin, sharply guiding her face to attention.
“How DARE you flinch from my touch.”
“WHAT A BIT-“
Vaughn slammed his coffee mug down the contents splashed up and the mug handle broke off.
“Ya clutz, I couldn’t hear what you said over you breaking MY mug!”
Both he and Valentina scurried to pick up the mess, but she noticed his hands were shaking.
“You alright, Vaughn?”
He let a sigh escape to calm his nerves.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m okay. Your story is tough to hear, think I need a cig break before I hear the rest of it and give myself a hernia.”
She smiled with relief feeling validated about the situation she was in.
“Here, while I go do my bad habit you can open this.”
He dug through his bag to hand her a neatly wrapped gift box.
She eyed it curiously.
“Got that for ya in my travels, while I was missing you and such. I’ll be back and ready to listen again in a couple minutes. Still need to get to the good part where you tell me how you hijacked my airship.”
They both gave a hearty chuckle, he left out for the porch as she opened his present.
@Shadami: Yup! You got it. 
