ikissdhimbck | OOM: Down in the East Texas Town of Galveston... -- 1888 -- for X-23

The only casualty is a fine cap, which the sister scoops up and dusts off, calling after the boy who lost it.

"Hopefully you're in for a treat, in that case."

She finds her quarry, paying twenty-five cents for a very reasonable portion of taffy for them both to share. There are no fancy neon colors, no designs or swirls. But there are a variety of flavors, from vanilla to peppermint, molasses and fruit.

She holds the brown paper cone they came in out to X, letting her choose one to try.

X leans over a little, scenting the air over the taffy carefully. Just to know what she is getting herself in for.

Then she reaches out to select a piece of vanilla-smelling taffy, putting it in her mouth and starting to chew.

And chew.

And chew.

It doesn't taste unpleasant, however, so she keeps at it while she waits for Kate to choose a piece.

Kate does so, opting for the plain saltwater taffy. She's grinning around her mouthful, watching X studiously chew.

"It's a bit sticky."

Pre-warnings? Who needs those?

"S'posed t'be."

(It's more fun this way.)

"What d'you think?"

"I like it," X declares, once she's finished chewing. And swallowing.

Twice.

Of course, that liking has more to do with the circumstances, the company, and the fact that Kate likes it -- but X is that way about a lot of things.

"Vanilla is good."

Kate chuckles lowly, moving away from the small crowd of children.

"Try one'a the molasses ones. I think you'll like it."

She'll also be sure to find X something to drink — to aid her in her troubles swallowing the confections.

Without any clear agenda, she moseys toward the exhibit halls, past tents that promise wonders that will delight and astound. Younger folk hang around the more bizarre and astounding sights, while a more mixed crowd heads toward the halls where more of their world's technological advances are on display.

It is a time of science and industry.

"Okay."

X tries really hard not to look dubious, and by the time she's halfway through chewing the molasses candy, she even succeeds!

She catches a glance here and there of signs declaiming horrific sights, grotesques, and disfigured beasties. Some others talk about men and women of foreign lands.

X, however, keeps glancing toward the halls. She's curious about what Kate's world is like, and what sort of advances count as current, here.

(Plus she gets enough gawking at mutants at home.)

Current advances here include the subject of trade cards not unlike this one, as laid out in one of the first booths they come across.

Well, Kate did promise to find her something to drink. What better than the nation's newest soft drink?

A good portion of the displays are for farm equipment, big industrial machines, and tools for the burgeoning 'office job'. There's a pavilion not far removed with electric lighting strung up, despite the daylight hour. Building plans are on display, while folk discuss the fine new medical school they plan to install and the greenery for Texas' first golf course.

X appreciates the root beer in a very transparent way.

Though, after a quick glance at Kate and what her friend might be interested in, X makes her way toward the big industrial machines.

They are interesting. And she is curious as to how they are different from what she knows.

The golf courses are less relevant.

It's the era of levers, fuel, and cogs; the cusp of the electric revolution, where simple buttons and keypads have not been finessed to the point of everyday use they likely have in X's world.

Stentors stand by and explain easy features, "Modern Conveniences!", and the coming world of Tomorrow.

One particularly interesting exhibit is on German inventor Gottlieb Daimler's gas-powered 'motorcycle'. An earlier model developed over two decades previous by Sylvester Howard Roper is on display (coal-powered, two-cylinder, steam-driven), while the mostly wooden gas-powered replacement is shown in grainy photographs, blueprints, and sketches. Though, one of its iron-banded wheels — with wooden spokes — is on display.

It's a bone-crunching monster of a vehicle, powered by a single-cylinder engine. The crowd oohs and ahhs.

X's attention seems caught by the 'motorcycle'.

She has one of her own, after all.

And the steam-driven technology is particularly interesting, as it is not something she has much experience with.

(And one can never tell when the next world-skip will drop one into a steampunk-flavored universe. For instance.)

"We are not allowed to look closely?"

Edited 2013-04-02 01:08 (UTC)

The demonstrator starts the engine to the appropriate gasps from the rapt audience.

"I'm sure y'can look all y'want."

Kate chuckles.

"They might even let y'touch."

Sure enough, one particularly curious gentleman has approached, and he and the demonstrator hold a jovial conversation about how the two machines will differ.

X slips in behind the curious gentleman, gaze intent.

She's listening to their conversation, too, of course.

But it will be better not to ask questions until she is sure which are the wrong ones.

The past is a different country, after all.

And this is Kate's world.

" ... has what they're calling the 'Otto Cycle Engine'. It's a Four-Stroke Internal-Combustion Engine. It's small, lightweight, fast; it uses a gasoline-injected carburetor, and has this vertical cylinder. Let me tell you, brother, the size, speed, and efficiency of this engine's gonna change the world. Have you heard of what it's done to carriages as we know 'em?"

"It sounds mighty fancy, and no mistake," the gentleman chuckles. "And judgin' by the pictures will look smarter than this steam-driven velocipede. I just ain't convinced it's a safe way to travel."

The 'motorcycle' hisses. Nearby, there's a sandwich board advertisement for the machine they've got on display, as well as several pictures of the gas-driven contraption, which looks a little something like this.

"Couldn't be safer, my friend! Couldn't be safer. This little beauty can take you up to sixty-four kilometers per hour! Imagine what this new 'Otto Cycle Engine' can do. Imagine the time you'll save!"

Steam drizzles from the pipe off the back end of the 'velocipede'.

X studies the vehicle as the man continues his spiel. She moves away a few steps, giving herself a better vantage point, then presses back in.

"It is very heavy?"

Call a girl curious.

He could at that, not to mention that a lady wearing britches catches the eye. Along with that duster, that hat, and them boots.

At least it gives him the good sense not to make any remarks on how it'd be far too heavy for a lady to handle on her own, but only as the absence of skirts usually tells tale of an abundance of spirit.

(And nobody wants to get shot today.)

"She's gonna be heavier than your average bicycle, yes ma'am. But even this old gal's been made for comfort; this here steam engine is lightweight, precision design distributin' her weight just right so she ain't gonna be unwieldy."

X tilts her head, considering the contraption in front of her.

"It would not be rideable?"

Beat.

"If the engine were heavier."

"Oh-ho, surely, Little Miss! Just take a gander here."

He motions to the drawings and blueprints for the modern velocipede, the boiler replaced with a real engine. It's thicker than what they have on the showroom floor, sturdier, and that engine is heavier.

"You can ride both of these gals just fine, miss, but if you're hopin' for speed then you're not gonna want to be weighted down, now are you?"

X leans over to better view the blueprints, frowning a little as she looks them over.

But at last --

"No. That is accurate."

Beat.

"I like maneuverability."

"And maneuverability you'll get! She's smaller'n a horse, and less stubborn."

A few people in the audience chuckle.

"Best thing is, you ain't gotta feed her an' you ain't gotta stable her, and if she breaks, you can fix her!"

Kate's mingling with the crowd a few paces off. She wouldn't toss over one of her animals for that thing if she were paid to do it, but she hasn't quite made the leap into the future of the 19th century just yet.

X shrugs, one-shouldered and quick.

"I like taking care of animals, too."

This is true.

"But repair on mechanical equipment is easier."

You know. For people without access to magical healers. And mutants.

It's a curious statement for a young woman to make, thus eliciting a response from the gentleman customer who had been engaging the barker's time prior to X.

"Woman after my own heart."

He looks enchanted.

Kate knew she'd fit in just fine. Still, she doesn't want her to fit in too well. That is to say, the gentleman is getting the stink-eye.

"Miss Talbot?"

She nods to the next booth, if X is finished here.

X appears oblivious to the gentleman's enchantment.

There are multiple reasons for that.

Her head turns, gaze flicking toward Kate as the other woman says her (assumed) name.

"We can go. Now."

Then she turns back to the man with the velocipede.

"Thank you."

Okay, now they can really go.

The men all tip their hats and grin.

They keep on grinning, long after X has turned away.

Kate smirks, offering her the taffy as they walk past a cotton gin and a 'dish washer', pausing at the booth where they're selling bottles of root beer for two cents.

"I'm guessin' y'have a vehicle like that in your world, only better?"

Such is often the case.

She gestures to the bottles of soda, silently asking if X would like one.

"It is lighter," X allows, nodding once.

"And it is yellow."

She flicks a look toward the soda bottles, nostrils flaring as she catches the scent of root beer.

Does she smile?

Maybe. At the very least she nods.

"You could see it. Sometime. If you want."

"Yellow? Honestly?"

Kate smiles brightly, exchanging coin with the vendor for a couple of sodas. They're warm, but they're tasty.

"Such a lovely color. I'd like t'see it sometime. I've really only seen automobiles from the future up close. An' aeroplanes, but they was in a museum. Never been up in one."

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