The Locksmith and The Watchmaker

Love Transcends

She entered the complex while the others slept. She didn't care about the noises. The growls and scratching were an occupational hazard. She had to see that face again. She didn't care what would happen, she didn't care what they would do if they found out she went against orders. She could die happy so long as she knew.
She remembered the way back, reciting each turn in her mind as she took them. She glances behind routinely making sure she was not followed. She found the room and stared at the strange black wall, perfectly smooth.
She reached out and placed one hand on the obsidian panel just as the head researcher did. After a burst of silent light, there it was. It was remarkable how much they resembled one another. Resemblance went far beyond the brown hair and hazel eyes. Every Freckle was a mirror image twisted only by their gender. She stared at that face from the other side baffled by the sight. Why was she crying?

The Locksmith and the Watchmaker

The Locksmith and The Watchmaker are the two greatest thinkers and most accomplished inventors in history. First appearing at the emergence site of the first City of Blue, the two practically rebuilt the world, even spending considerable time aboard The Delerium. Their inventions are used worldwide and their research into theoretical science has sparked an almost cult-like following amongst scientists in the present. Be that as it may, remarkably little is actually known about them. They kept themselves from the public eye for most of their lives. They were very private and many individuals would be surprised if they knew the truth.
What many don't realize is that these two enigmatic figures are in fact the same person, but from different realities. No one in the world knows this apart from their closest friends. No one in the world even knows what they looked like. Many theories have sprung up and every one of them is wrong. Some state that they were a group of scientists, others say that they never truly existed at all.

Intensive Study and Magnificent Devices

the two created many fields of science that only grew overtime. From the study of Aether and beyond, their research is valuable to almost everyone who knows of them. The research, however, is scattered throughout the world located in often strange and unnecessarily hard-to-reach places. Finding their research can earn you a small fortune or paint a target on your back for the The Sky Barrons who wish to use the power to bolster their houses.

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"Is this some sort of trick?" She asked, embarrassed that they spoke at once, asking the exact same thing. She felt a desire unlike any other: She desired to be held and loved. She began talking, about nothing in particular at first. One asked who the other was only to find that they were unwilling to give such information unless the other replied in kind. They talked about their surroundings, where they were and why they were there. They finally came to the same conclusion, a convergence and a dedication to a single quest. They must meet.
"Where is the strange machine for you?" he asked, and She replied. "What machine?" "You don't know? Curious." he said.
"That is what's curious?"
"Of course. Given the circumstances i'd wager that it's what's missing, what's different that matters most." She pondered this, but didn't quite understand. "I'm an engineer. That's a little to out there for me."
"I'm a thinker," He smiled. "It's bound to happen, we can't be exactly the same. I for one couldn't build half of my crazy inventions. An engineer would be needed for that."

Accomplishments	Impact
Airships	Airships were invented to facilitate travel to The Cities of Blue. Since then, they have grown into a major method of travel spanning all industries.
The Study of Aether	Aether was their next discovery. They learned much of what is currently known of the material and developed most of its uses.
Quantum Keys	Using what they learned before, the two attuned and activated and inert quantum key, granting them powers, if the legends are true.
Multiversal Study	See sidebar.
The Delirium	A dreadnought class airship created for a wealthy noble, The ship was stolen and is now the most famous airship in the world. It was the first ship to use a new invention, Quantum Locks
Weapons	The two developed many weapons while aboard The Delirium. Most of them were powered by Aether.
Apocrypha	Many studies and blueprints for inventions were discovered and many have yet to be built. Others are thought to exist all over the world.
Disappearance	Some time in the last fifty years, Both vanished, along with the Delirium.

by tyleramato

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A Question of Ethics

While the keymakers, make them out to be morally firm and without fault, this couldn't be further from the truth. They routinely delved into research and experiments that would be considered unethical at best. The creation of The Imbued is a prime example.

The imbued are a race of Living Dead who are mindless until the Aether they are required to consume restores lost memories and sentience. Some are eons old and live out their lives in silence servitude due to the fear of a second death.

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They made a plan and it took agonizing months to reach his conclusion. Every night he would study the machine and she would attempt to build it. But the universe is cruel, and made it a goal to impede their progress. Failed attempts in strange creatures both force them to postpone their meeting but on that fateful night it was their own colleagues that threatened their quest. She was terrified. Was it really her lot in life to know of him but never meet him?
He turned from the screen, she heard the sound of a woman shouting. He ran to the machine and it activated. It wasn't ready... His famous last words: I'll see you soon.

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Legacy

While many do not fully understand who they were, The Locksmith and The Watchmaker, have a long lasting legacy. Keymakers are a direct result of their influence as they practically worship their research as gospel using it to further their own understandings of the blue cities and the beings that built them. The two held many seminars and lectures at places of Education across the globe and that education was passed down from generation to generation.

The aristocracy in the British Empire we're not particularly fond of their teachings. They always emphasized equality, something that the empire actively rejects. They also emphasize the need for scientific progress and social progress which also goes against the ways of many leaders in the world, especially among The Pauper Kings

The look of shock and horror on her face as she screamed in a final useless cry, an inconsequential act of defiance as he disappeared forever. She fell to the ground in tears. The wailing overpowered the shouting.
She must be an idiot. She can't play with these powers and expect anything good to come from it. He burst in a flash of blue light, atomized to basic fundamental particles. Is that all we are?
She felt arms around her, forcing her up to her feet despite the flailing. She stopped as she saw the other scientists. Each one stood in a line at the threshold of the room. Why were they crying?
She was held through the sobbing by strong arms, no... his arms. She looked up. It was hard to see in the darkness but she knew.
"Jules?" she asked, holding on to what hope she could muster.
The response sounded just as hopeful, but it wasn't a question. It was an answer to the what she asked, an acknowledgement. It was a confident statement, seasoned with a pinch of triumph. He spoke their name in reply through a smile.
"Jules."

A Personal Subject

A strange document was recovered by researchers who entered a blue City off the coast of Iceland. It detailed research pertaining to the effects of meeting yourself from an alternate reality. The term quantum twin and soulmate are often used in the document. Quantum twins are individuals who occupy the same space in alternate realities. There the exact same person but alternate versions of the other. A solemate, according to the research, is one who is a Quantum twin, but it's different enough to be considered an opposite.

Soulmates

One may have a classical mind while the other is a hopeless romantic for example and their genders are always in line with their sexuality. A heterosexual will always have a soulmate that is an opposite gender and a homosexual will always have a soulmate that is the same gender. The document does not go into detail on how gender is different from biological sex and likely does not distinguish the two. It does however specify that the soulmate will always fall in line with what the other is attracted to and vice versa.

If two soulmates meet they become entangled and encounter intense emotional attachment almost instantly. Those around when they meet often experience intense emotions themselves. The two are also linked in life and cannot die so long as the other is present and not in a life-threatening situation that results in death.

Connection

There are two kinds of quantum twins.

• Identical: Identical quantum twins are a complete mirror image of one another. Every blemish and scar is the same. This doesn't necessarily mean that they are genetically the same, but the random factors created identical images. The two may have different names and different lives. The looks must be remarkable similar but they don't have to be exact.
• Particle: Particle quantum twins are not limited by looks at all. They can appear and behave very different from one another. The key factor is that they are made of the mirror particles in their respective realities.This tends to grow romantic attachments more often but familial attachments occur just as often. The attachment is not defined by either kind of twin.