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The Word goes out!

Tepic dashed down the street, head whirling with ideas on how to trap the raven – his conversation with the Id bit of Mr Arnold had been interesting, though not easy, and the idea that the birdy was occupied by Metier and something else felt like there was a kind of shortage of bodies in New Babbage….

Still, first things first, he had to spread the word. As he encountered groups of urchins, he stopped for a few minutes, huddled together and talking earnestly. Then it was off again, and the others would split up to pass the message on across the City. People thought the telegraph was quick, they had never seen the spread of a City wide urchin missive!

The request was simple, ravens were to get no rest. Throughout the City, perches were to be smeared with bird lime or heavy grease, stones were to keep them on the wing – not kill or maim, but sting and scare, and reports of any strange behaviour to be passed back. If it could be trapped, all well and good, but otherwise….. And the spur? Ravens were stealing the one thing an urchin could call their own, their soul!

Though it may seem strange to the scientific and rational minds of their elders, not one urchin questioned the message, they knew only too well the many types of darkness that haunt a City’s streets, and in New Babbage, this was not the most strange or outlandish.

Once the message had been spread, it was on to other things. Miss Book and Cyan had ideas about how to trap the birdy, and they made sense. The Bell Tower of the Asylum and the use of one of the reality thingys was a good start, now it was up to the urchins to make the rest of the arrangements. They would need nets to secure the windows, a cage to trap the birdy, and all sorts of gadgets and gizmos to make everything go smoothly. He paused for a moment, then grinned, it was time to call a meeting of the Under Thirteen Society!

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5 Comments

  1. Avariel Falcon Avariel Falcon January 16, 2013

    Meanwhile… “Hug!”.

    A moment later… “Hug!”, “Hug!”, “Hug!”, “Hug!”, “Hug!”.

    All around New-Babbage people started hearing the little high pitched voices from the rooftops, but only a tiny handfull saw the little clockwork bunnies as they chased various ravens around the city…

  2. Garnet Psaltery Garnet Psaltery January 16, 2013

    This is the most charming idea – little hugging automata.  I now want to dress up as a Tiny raven.

    • Jedburgh30 Dagger Jedburgh30 Dagger January 16, 2013

      It might work save for the armed urchins with rook rifles…

      • Avariel Falcon Avariel Falcon January 16, 2013

        Yes, its probably not the best time to be a raven in New-Babbage.

        The hugging thing is derived from young Master Tepic’s request that the ravens not be allowed to rest. By being constently chased and hugged by a swarm of bunnies that grows more numerous the longer the birdy stays in one spot this outcome is achieved! *nods*

        As the gutter cleaning clockwork are programmed to not cause harm I had to be a little inventive in my instructions to them.

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