When Tess agrees to go to a darkwave concert with her friend Aideen, she does not expect her world to be turned upside down. Features characters from The Cosmic Beholder and James "Cyberkitten" Damaged.
Panel 1. Outside, thunder crashes. Lightning hits the crypt. This is a coincidence, but it makes for good theatrics. Panel 2. Inside, Tess and Abby stand astonished as steam rises from the 'window' of the coffin. Panel 3. More machines turn. The window slides open. SFX: Whirrrrrr… clickclickclickclick Panel 4. A hand emerges from the 'coffin'. Panel 5. A nude woman of about 50 years sits up,…
Panel 1. Abby looks delighted. Abby: I got it! Panel 2. Abby: All of these connections lead to this lever. It's like, you pull this, you turn the whole thing on. Panel 3. Tess: Whatever they've done, it seems to work! She hardly looks dead at a- Abby what are you doing? Panel 4. Abby pulls the lever. Abby: Muahaha! Tess: Abby! Panel 5. Gears start moving. SFX: Chunka chunka chunka! Panel 6.…
Panel 1. At the bottom of the stairs, there's a big room lined with levers and wheels. It looks somewhat like the 21st century build of a Babbage Machine (differential engine). Tess: I'm sure that this is not a- no, wait. I'm wrong. There's a coffin. Panel 2. In the middle of the room, there is indeed a coffin, though it's surrounded by tubing. Tess and Abby approach it. Abby: Those tubes go from…
Panel 1. Tess looks at a door. Tess: Yes, it's open. Let's go in! Abby: Yay! Panel 2. They walk in. Abby: But also, EW! Looking at a dead body? Ew, ew, ew! Tess: No. We're going to look for… Panel 3. Tess: To be honest, I don't know what we're going to look for. Clues, I guess. Abby: I'm sure this room is full of them. Panel 4. Tess holds up the flashlight on her phone. The walls are lined with…
Panel 1. Tess: How do they bury the dead on your world? Abby: We take them to the Feeding Spot for the wildlife. Panel 2. Tess: Ew! Panel 3. Abby: What? You gotta give back what you took! Panel 4. Tess: But you know, this is one of the most expensive tombs. I wonder if this door works… Abby: Push a little harder?
Panel 1. Tess and Abby materialize in Highgate cemetery. It's dark and pouring down with rain. SFX: FOOP! Panel 2. Abby is startled, despite being in her see-through Mac. Tess holds up her phone. Abby: Eek! How did you know? Tess: It's London! Now let's look for the grave. Panel 3. They walk past a number of graves. Tess: Karl Marx… Douglas Adams… George Eliot… Panel 4. Abby points at a crypt.…
Panel 1. Tess: He talked about Mary Shelley as if she was still alive! He needs a good caregiver, not a pair of amateur detectives milking him for information. Abby: What's so special about the grave? Panel 2. At home, at the computer. Tess: "Victor William Babbage was buried in Highgate Cemetery, London". Abby: Hmmm. I can shift us there. Panel 3. Tess: Can you shift us in our clothes? The other…
Panel 1. Babbage looks at the tea tray. Babbage: Oh! Let me take these dirty cups away. Panel 2. Tess: Do you have any books on your ancestor? Or other information like a family tree? Babbage: Who? Panel 3. Babbage thinks for a second. Panel 4. Babbage: Oh yes, Victor William Babbage. You know, he was an ancestor of mine. I'd like to… I'd like to visit his grave some time. Big grave. Before I get…
At Victor Babbage's house. Babbage is an elderly man dressed in brown and drab greens. He has a friendly demeanor and a shuffling gait. In his house is a bookshelf containing a row of books about Mary Shelley and Victor Frankenstein. Panel 1. Tess and Abby sip tea as V.W. Babbage carries off the tea tray. Babbage: Yes, that Victor William Babbage was an ancestor of mine. I don't know anything…
Tess in performance, with some old geezer playing bass behind her.
Panel 1. On the way home. Abby: You said you wanted to get on the internet… Tess: Oh yeah, that! Panel 2. At home. Tess and Abby are behind a laptop. Tess: This shouldn't be too complicated. You just type "Victor William Babbage"… Abby: I'm not completely ignorant, you know! We have the mycelial- Panel 3. Tess: Next,we scroll past a whole page of ads and that block of PeeleGPT results… Abby: OK……
Panel 1. Large and wide. Room for lots of detail and lots of text. At a thrift shop. A tv is blaring. Tess and Abby are at a fitting room; Tess is talking to a shop worker. TV: "…has done more than boost my IQ! It has allowed me to reconnect with my creative self and has even given me the soul of a poet. Peel technologies has given me life!” Tess: Yeah, it was bad! She lost everything and she's…
Panel 1. Abby is pointing, but not at anyone in particular. The cop joins her from the opposite direction to where she is pointing. Abby: That way! He went that way! Cop: Who did? And why- Bystander: Hey, isn't that the chick from Young Ejecta? Bystander 2: I thought she was a blonde? Panel 2. Tess, still naked, joins the conversation. Tess: An intruder in our house! He's orange and wearing jeans.…
Panel 1 The monster runs past Tess and Abby, towards the broken door of Tess's apartment. Panel 2. Abby pursues. Tess: Wait! Panel 3. The women are out on the shared hallway of the apartment block. An old lady is just coming out. Tess grabs Abby by the arm. Tess: What are you doing? We're still naked! Panel 4. Old lady: Oh, don't mind me! I was young once. Besides, it's a hot day. Tess gives the…
Tess and Abby standing in front of… a crypt!