It is the week of Charity’s debutant ball and everyone in her house was excited, except Charity who was more nervous. The event was bound to be unconventional at best (something of a comfort) with a male arranging the ball and dress, the lack of female friends, and her foreigner status. Luckily, Sheela was around to lend a hand where she could, namely giving Charity a dress from her native land instead of the ugly one her father had selected, and waiting with her as she greeted guest.
Fidget was asked by Dmitri Maximov to find the stash house of William DeHarve and “redistribute” his wealth to as many people as possible. While beginning his quest, he managed to intervene on a group of thugs trying to accost Charity, namely by dropping the sewer grate from under him.
Archie Waylan sent Kael a message for him to come check out the advancement on his investment, a steam/electric horseless carriage. They took it for a test drive and were impressed by just how fast the vehicle was capable of going. Kael’s sister and Mr. Blackmantle also took note of the vehicle and came over the chat about it. During their conversation, Rifford Rafferty drove up in a wicked-looking automobile of his own. As rich boys with toys are one to do, he challenged Kael to a race.
Blackmantle noticed on the vehicle a strange symbol he had only seen once before, on that horrible day. He later questioned Mr. Rafferty about it who had no idea about it; his mechanic did all the real work. Rafferty gave Blackmantle the name, Deidrick Lexington. He began to hunt down the man.
Archie believed that they needed an edge to beat the other horseless carriage. After a cocaine inspired brainstorming session, he came up with blue-prints for something new, something never seen before. However, what he needed was strange at best and he asked Kael’s assistance in gaining those items while be finished tuning the car and adding the new parts. After getting a new steampot from a silly man, hiring Willy to steal the strange nitrogen from the only man who had ordered it, Mr. Lexington.
Fidget managed to find the stash house of DeHarve after much tailing. He grabbed as many items of value that he could get his hands on (a surprisingly large amount) and made his escape. During which time he ran into Kael and Charity. Kael, thinking the worse, gave chase but was stopped by Charity, who had been helped by the Ratman earlier that week. Fidget also had a tremendous amount of silver, an item Kael needed to finish his engine. The trade was made and they went their separate ways.
With the horseless carriage supped up, it was time to race. The two cars burned rubber down the track until Mr. Rafferty’s front end literally twisted upon itself. The man was okay but shaken, as were all who witnessed the strange site. Blackmantle knew that the mechanic was a strange man indeed. An attempt to chat proved him to be a secretive one as well.
Finally, it was the day of the ball! The event is small compared to some but the fine weather of the evening and exotic decor made it quite popular with those who were fortunate enough to attend. Many men where in attendance and Charity received a fair amount of bouquets. During the party, she spoke at length with Baron Branford, Harold Wyndham, another man from their native country. They were interrupted but the presents of none other than Queen Elizabeth herself, who approved of Charity’s boldness of dress and commented on how lovely she looked, before attending to business with her father and a few others.
To the observant member of the party, it was obvious that trouble was brewing when several prominent members of foreign affairs moved away from the party to discuss urgent business. To most, it was just another pleasant party as the social season began to head towards a close.