Friday, August 1, 2014

MORE STRANGE REALITIES FROM THE LUNAR TOWN OF BABY PHILADELPHIA ... 8/1/14

Now doctor Franklin had a townhouse in Baby Philadelphia. The place was patterned after his residence under The Anti-Enchantment Bureau, but minus the exterior vistas (holograms, since they were beneath the surface). If you're curious, google - photos of townhouse mansions in Philadelphia. The stately, red brick domicile occupied four stories. Tall, narrow, multi-paned windows let in lots of light. Floors were hand-laid walnut, burnished to a fine, rich, glow. Some of the furnishings were authentic, but most were Lunar made, though of exacting specifications. And the carpets, woven by intelligent cephalopods from another settlement planted inside the moon, equaled those wrought for the court at Versailles. Indeed, Doctor Benjamin Franklin was exceedingly fond of the house and quite proud of its comforts. 

Martha, his automoton (but in reality, more like an android) housekeeper, met them at the door. Sarah and Luna, being vampirinas and used to sniffing out mortals, knew that right away. Even Tomas recognized the difference, in his temporarily mortal form. Vampire skills and abilities die hard. There were a pair of footmen too, Jack and Walter, but they were human. Three maids, also android, kept the place spick and span. And a gardener, named Chauncey, tended the small, walled sanctuary out back.

Each was given a room. Not counting staff quarters, the residence had seven bedrooms, all with en suites and small sitting areas, unheard of in Revolutionary times, but the Doctor likes HGTV (yes, you can click on it) and is quite up on things.

The Old Patriot (Doctor Franklin) said - Tomorrow we go for our fittings. Our tailors and seamstresses are quite adept and can reproduce a wide variety of eighteenth century attire. You'll get those suede, knee britches you asked for, Billy. And Tomas will find enough linen (term for shirts) and waistcoats to please his rarefied tastes. The ladies (Sarah & Luna) will be attended to by Madame Hortense, dressmaker to the fourth or fifth Duchess of Alba. Well, not the actual woman herself. But via careful scanings of her preserved brain (she lost her head during The Reign of Terror, you know) we were able to download her essence into the engineered woman you'll meet tomorrow.... Oh! I nearly forgot. We'll also be meeting a gentleman from the fourth dimension. And please don't stare. Beings like that are very different. They wax and wane, appearing to move about the room (and sometimes beyond) without warning. You see, in their dimension, everything exists as two poles of a spinning dumbbell. Living things, inanimate things, even the very world they live on. At times he will appear to occupy space already occupied by a wall, or a pie-safe or a lady. But no harm will be done. This is not like vampiric sublimation. So don't be alarmed. We look like rigid and diminished things to him. But he tells the best jokes. You'll like him.

Tomas (somewhat lost in his own thoughts) said - Who built this place? And if vampires, well, certain ones anyway, have traveled as far as Europa and swam with the manta-ray people under the ice, how is it we never stumbled on this place? (he meant the Dyson-like 'globe' occupying the inner surface of the moon.) ... Doctor Franklin just shrugged. no one knew the answer to that, even him.

Billy asked about conditions on Earth. Sarah wanted to know too. But he pretended not to hear. Why burden them with the truth?

So they repaired to their quarters to freshen up, then met in the Louis XV dining salon for victuals suited to their own special spiritual condition and physicality.

<more next time>

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