Max looked up and said "she just left for the train station" He was a little surprised Lila doesn't usually have trouble finding Cooper, after all Lila probably knows her way around this town better than anyone else. Max then said "do you need something fixed, I work on more than just clocks, I'm a inventor first and foremost." @Framing A Moose

The ride to the Metalneart village was long, but calm. The first-class car was relatively empty, no nobles eager to step foot in the slums of the town save for Marcella, which wasn't exactly bad. The silence was a welcome tranquility. It gave time for the doctor to think. To think of the illness. To think of the state of the village. To think of her old friends.

Marcella's heart twisted with anticipation and anxiety as she thought of Max and Cooper. It had been so long since she'd last seen them due to her habit of staying in her part of town. She missed them dearly, especially the latter of the two. But did they miss her? Did they even remember her? A sudden thought flashed through the doctor's mind, a sharp thorn in the quilt of nostalgia. What if they had caught the illness? The question drove a sharp sense of dread through her heart. She couldn't bear to lose her close friends.

The train finally stopped and Marcella gathered her things. She hurried out of her train car, ignoring the curious looks sent her way. She'd gotten too many of those in the last few years for them to bother her. Her eyes scanned the shambles of tenements and filthy streets. A figure far away caught her eye, their direction set on the train station. Perhaps they would provide some directions. Picking up her plain grey dress to avoid the mud, Marcella went towards the approaching figure.

@Fubsy
Cooper got to the train station to find her small crew already working, hauling huge spools of copper wiring into the station. They had arrived earlier in a beat-up old handcar that went from a warehouse at the other end of the village to the station, built for carrying building and electrical materials. Though it was ill-advised, all four crewmen rode on it there, not wanting to walk behind it. As soon as she arrived, she grabbed a bucket of tools from the cart and started walking into the station, not above getting her heavy work boots covered in mud as she walked.
She saw a well-to-do young woman coming toward her out of the station, but she couldn't tell who it was. Knowing to avoid upperclass people, she tried to walk around her and avoided looking too closely at her.

Marcella hesitated as the figure veered away. So much for asking for directions. Then again, she did stick out like a sore thumb. Biting back a sigh, the Italian turned and wandered towards the shopping district. At least, she assumed it was. A couple of stores were open while the rest were nothing more than empty boarded up shells. Perhaps someone here knew a thing or two of the blossoming sick victims. Marcella walked into the nearest shop (a clock repair establishment? Hard to tell with the faded sign.) and reached into her purse for her notebook. "Sorry for the bother," she called, fumbling with her contents, "but my name is Dr. Biancardi and I'm here for some information..."

Cooper looked over her shoulder as the woman passed her. She looked so familiar, could it be... no... impossible. She shook her head and kept working, heading into the station where her crew was waiting. Most of them were about her age, some a bit younger and some a bit older, but all of them looked thoroughly overworked.

Lila hesitated, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear with her left hand, the one with the engagement ring. "Er...." She wasn't exactly comfortable with a clock maker working on her beloved, but she finally decided that this guy was a professional and that she could trust him. "Well....okay....it's Ali-....my carriage. Something's wrong with her. It's a little bit of a walk though." She said nervously.

@Dmessenger

Max turned to Lila and said "sorry it seems like I have a customer, I'll look at the carriage in a minute" @Framing A Moose Max then turned to Marcella and said "what information do you need." Max then realized who it was and said "Marcella? is that you?"@Fubsy

Marcella's head shot up as the familiar voice reached her ears. "Maxwell?! Lila too!" A wide grin spread across her face as she ran over to give them a hug. "It's been so long!" It took more than a minute for her to finally let go, relief flooding through her body.
"Where's Cooper?" She looked around in hoping to catch a glimpse of her. "I've been hoping to see her again." 'Hoping' was an understatement. These days, it seemed like the young Metalheart was always in her mind. Marcella couldn't understand why, or why her cheeks seemed to flush at the very thought of her. A jolt of anxiety pushed the thoughts away. "She's not ill, is she?"

@Fubsy Max said "I just saw her a few minutes ago heading to train station, she looked fine to me"

@Fubsy
Cooper and her crew had started working. They needed to install wire in the newest platform so that the screen could display schedules like all the others. Not particularly a hard job, and maybe it wouldn't take all day if they'd been allowed to work on it before the platform was put to use. Many people in the lower-middle echelons of society were already waiting on the platform when they got there to start working, making malicious comments about how inconvenient it was that the screen wasn't functional yet. Cooper had always advised the workers to just ignore them; they had a job to do, and indulging self-important nobodies in teasing matches wouldn't make it go any faster.

Relief flooded through Marcella. So Cooper was okay...good. Beyond good, really. She couldn't wait to see her friend again. "Thank you, Max." She turned towards Lila. "You can come with me if you'd like." She hurried out and back towards the train station.

@Fubsy@Framing A Moose

A train arrived at the platform and took the annoying passengers away so that the crew could work in peace. Cooper decided to leave for a moment so that she could have a quick break. She walked outside to the station entrance and leaned against the wall, staring absently at the sky. Looks like rain, Cooper thought as she sank down to the floor. Cooper often wondered if she was doing anything at all for her people, or even for her family. Sure, the extra income was good for all of them, but they were still living in squalor and were still among the most despised people in the country. Nothing had changed; if anything, it was getting worse by the day. The most bigoted, dogmatic man in the city was running for office, and the only person from school that she hadn't lost contact with was Maxwell. She didn't blame the others for forgetting them, if that was the case; it couldn't be easy to get to this part of town and socialize with these kind of people without losing all social standing. She sighed heavily; it was just one of those days.

Marcella gave the train station a sweeping look, hoping to catch a glimpse of her friend. A light sprinkling of ran was beginning to fall. The warnings of an approaching storm. Hopefully it wouldn't last long. A crew of workers shot her odd look. Some curious, others hostile. Marcella merely gave them a tight lipped smile and continued her search.

A figure crouched against the wall caught her eye. At first she seemed them merely as one of the workers taking a break or so. But on closer inspection, they seemed familiar. Shockingly familiar. "Cooper!" Marcella gasped, her eyes lit with joy. "Cooper, is that you?!"

@Fubsy
Cooper flinched at the voice and looked around. That couldn't be... could it? She stood up and nearly lost her breath when she saw her dear friend Marcella. An overjoyed smile crept across her face as she raced towards her, catching her in a tight hug. "Marcella! I can't believe it's you!" She exclaimed as she pulled away to look at her. Marcella looked just as tired and stressed as Cooper did. "How are you? What brings you here?"

Some time after Marcella and Lila left, Max was ready to close his shop and then two men in suits walked up and said “Mr. Taylor, we need to talk.” Max glared at them and said “what do you want now?” He heard a voice behind him say “we are here for the item we asked you to make” Max turned around to see a man named Mr. Black. Max said “I told you it’s not done yet….” One of the men in black smacked him in the head. Max dropped to one knee coughing. Mr. Black said “don’t joke with us Mr. Taylor we know that you finished that weapon yesterday, you are too skilled to take that long to make what we want.” Max glared at the man. Mr. Black then said “don’t mess with us or you will be replacing your other leg.” Max then stood up slowly since the prosthetic leg he had wasn’t motorized yet. He then said “fine, this way.” He then led them to the back where he moved a clock revealing a lock. He spun the dials and unlocked the fake wall that revealed the weapon. The two men in black suits took the weapon and put it in a bag. Mr. Black said “now wasn’t that easy” Max said “yeah, it’s not like I have a choice”
Mr. Black glared at Max and said “Mr. Taylor you a valuable asset to Black Rose, your weapons are leagues above anything anyone else has made.” Mr. Black then smiled and said “you truly are a decedent of the Great John Gildone, and yet only your mother knew the truth and you stupid father never once realized what talent you had” Max said “yeah he was working for you at one point and then my gramps gave you morons the slip” One of the men in black hit him again. Max coughed up some blood and said “you do realize that isn’t going to stop me” Mr. Black said “that is true, though if we were to threaten your friends, family, or…” He smiled and said “the one you care about so much” Max then said “you wouldn’t dare.” Mr. Black said “we will do everything that is necessary no matter what it is to keep the peace that is what Black Rose was created for.” Mr. Black then pulled Max close and said “Also I believe your grandfather left a clue with your mother that she gave to you which is a clue to where he is hiding and we will find out what it is soon enough.” Max said “I may be smart but even I have no clue what he left use that is important.”
Mr. Black said “we will find out what it is “He then said “remember if you try to betray us again we will hurt your friends and we will hurt her.” Max said “why do need all these weapons?” Mr. Black said “To protect our organization and our benefactors and if Magnus T. Carthenwald is elected he may start a civil a war, we need this weapons to protect us and our benefactors.” Max then said “but you guys are planning on killing him before he can do anything I thought.” Mr. Black said “no our puppet rebels will do that for us.” Mr. Black then looked over at the window and said “Look our methods are questionable but you wish the same end that we do.” Mr. Black turned to Max and said “We want metalhearts to not be treated as lower class just because we make and work on machines, even if we are rich metalhearts are not treated the same as other rich people.” Max said “yeah, and that’s the very reason why my grandfather hid from you.” Mr. Black then said “yeah, well now we have you, and you are going help us build a future.” Mr. Black then left with the other men in Black. Max sat down in a seat in the shop “what am I going to do” He said to himself. He then looked up and said “grandfather why did you curse me with your skills.” He then pulled up his pant leg to work on his prosthetic leg some before he left the shop and headed to his house in the back of the store.

Marcella laughed lightly, though it seemed more weary than anything. "Oh, Coop...I'm so happy to see you're okay." She gave her another tight hug. "I came because of some illness going around." And because I wanted to see you, she silently added. "Luckily I ran into Max and Lila, and they told me where you were."

@Fubsy "Lila's here? I haven't seen her since graduation!" Cooper exclaimed. She sighed happily and looked back at her crew, who were clearly trying to signal for her return without verbally interrupting what was clearly a tender moment. She smiled and rolled her eyes as she looked back at the beautiful Marcella. "The guys need me, we're just finishing up this job. How about we meet up back at Max's shop?"

Lila had left at the same time as Marcella, but it didn't take her long to fall behind. Lila had low stamina, probably because she tended to use her fiancé to get around instead of her own two legs. But after a more than a few rests, she finally reached the train station. Almost immediately, she saw the doctor, who's name still evaded her, talking to Cooper. She jogged up to them, standing a few yards away. She panted for a few seconds before she was able to speak again. "I...*pant* *pant*...am...*pant**pant*...here...*pant**pant*...too...*pant*" she said, speaking between pants.

@Fubsy@ladyanglaise

@Framing A Moose Cooper looked over to Lila and laughed. Some things - or rather, some people - never change. "Lila, it's so nice to see you again, but I have work to do right now. I was just telling Marcella that we should all meet up in a bit at Max's shop."

"Wonderful idea," Marcella agreed. She gave Cooper one final embrace, with a quick farewell peck on the cheek before pulling away. "I'll see you there."
She flashed the arriving Lila an apologetic smile and took her hand. "Let's go."