[IC] Strange Tidings: The Road to Canossa

*From the dark chamber whence Dr. Octavia finds her days, an eerie blue mist seeps forth from the floor as the vault cracks wide. For a time nothing happens. Then…a flutter of activity as a dozen or more skittering necro-bots race off in a myriad of directions in an apoplectic fit of sound and action. From the lip of the trencherman’s chamber, a sullen figure watches with talons clasped*

*Each in turn of the toaster sized bots seeks out its assignment across the width and breath of varied lands, and places. One for EACH member of the house, wherever they might currently be found, or otherwise engaged, a droid eventually finds them. With each they invariably corner their specified quarry, and deliver the same haunting message.*

*Some droids find themselves in back alley abattoirs, while others in sweaty bedrooms, some in distant mountain retreats, and some in hallowed school halls. One droid is even found perched over a soup bowl in a chic restaurant before an astonished and frightened room of diners.*

*But no matter where, with each visit, a full sized holograph of Dr. Octavia finds itself shimmering before the surprised viewer and their associates.*


"Greeting to you my Sisters of Sigma Iota Nu…Faculty, Staff, and Students.

Please forgive my intrusion, but the time has come to set my opprobrious behavior toward a fellow peer to right. I come to you in remorse, seeking absolution for my sin against a valued and beloved member of our community.

I of course speak of Dr. Tod.

I need not speak of the good doctor’s genius, or value. It is clearly evident. Such words are a useless and servile blandishment that cannot but help detract from an otherwise indispensable and autodidactic talent.

And yet with the closeness of such wisdom, and in such bounty… I was driven to distraction. Such pure inspiration, that I found myself enraptured and ensnared by its sheer poetry. And in that, I sought by fell methods that which would have otherwise been freely given. *a shame-filled tone*

I sought to steal a glimpse of that mind, an in that violated our sacred trust.

Dr. Tod was entirely correct to inveigh and berate me for my folderol and clumsy larceny. It is to her and to you my beloved sisters, that I offer this my deepest of contrition for my egregious trespass.

*Dr. Octavia shifts her gaze back up now*

In 1077, Henry the IV the Holy Roman Emperor had sinned against his Pope and thence his God. Henry was a proud man, not made to suffer lightly the bindings of penury. But he did so for the trust of his lands, and the love of his Lord. Henry spent three days in the cold winter streets of the fortress town of Canossa, fasting, and scourging himself until the pope, Gregory the VII saw fit to open his doors of the keep and receive him back into the Lord’s presence. In the end, Henry led the pope’s burro through the streets of Canossa, as the people cheered and heaven was reconciled.

I am a proud creature, but I am not so proud as to not lead your honored mule Doctor.


*and then with all sincerity she hisses *

Please forgive me, Greta."


*With that, the image of Dr. Alice Octavia bows her head, and the hologram slowly fades.*



*...and somewhere out there, a waiter in a south Florida restaurant faints.*