Daniel Alderidge

Daniel Alderidge started his life uneventfully, helping out his paternal grandfather, Matthew, in his mechanic's workshop and junkyard. He took readily to the sciences in school, however, and took a special interest in biology and chemistry. He started, even before university, studying medicine on his own. One of the first hiccups on his intended way to a simple life as a country doctor involved a trip with Matthew to rescue the eight-year-old Alexandra Romanov from public hanging (charges included Sedition, Sabotage, Subversion, Naturalism, and Illegal Unenlightened Thought Processes). Matthew's insistence on seeking out his late sister's granddaughter seemed rather strange to Daniel until he saw that Alexandra bore an uncanny resemblance to the woman. He took quite a liking to her, in spite of her complete lack of interest in most of the things he studied, perhaps in part because she so strongly idolized both him and his grandfather for rescuing her. He taught her to read, and gave her a new name: Luka Arlexi, the Arlexi's being distant cousins who had for the most part disappeared in an Automoton raid on their village. This, he hoped, would help explain the resemblance she bore to the late Amelia Alderidge, and to a small extent, her faint resemblance to Daniel himself. Seeing how self-conscious she was about the broken scars along her neck, he claimed that the name belonged to a heroine from a book he was fond of who had a similar scar. It was many years before she discovered the deceit.

In helping to keep her hidden, Daniel began to realize how many of his grandfather's employee's were not friends of the Enlightenment, and how many of his grandfather's inventions had been appropriated for more militaristic purposes than the old man had intended. Granted, the young woman of whom he was quite fond had rather interesting connections herself, and so he could not precisely hold it against his grandfather.

By this time, the adolescent Luka had become a common sight around the workshop, and seemed interested in carrying on Matthew's work in exactly the way Daniel hadn't been. This was considered by most (including Daniel, though not Matthew) to be a temporary diversion, as the son of a local magistrate had taken quite a liking to her, and she seemed rather fond of him as well. It wasn't until after the accident which would lend her the rest of her distinctive scars that both her fate, and Daniel's, was sealed. It took everything he had learned up to that point to prevent her losing the use of her left arm entirely. He and Matthew had something of a falling out over the whole incident, and Daniel left (rather belatedly) for more formal training at University on poor terms; he delayed only long enough to promise The Fox that he would return (she was not pleased with his departure, and he was not pleased with her running a criminal organization, so they had some issues), and to see that Luka would be alright. He would not, in fact, return until after Matthew's death and funeral, and even then not until after he found out that Luka had sold the junkyard and the workshop to help pay for his schooling. He returned to find her much harsher than when he had left, and angry with him for something she was unwilling or unable to explain. She had cut off most of her hair, as well. Selling the workshop had been Matthew's final request, so that Daniel would not be in debt to the state. She was injured helping Gregori with some assignment for The Fox, and it was while running some minor tests that Daniel realized that something was off. He suggested she go in for formal genetic testing, which she vehemently refused. He accused her of being foolishly stubborn, she called him several unflattering-sounding names in Russian, and when he told her she was just like Matthew her response was simply, "How would you know?!" (A statement she would instantly regret, but not retract.) The argument progressed in severity, and volume, before she left. He would not see her again until after he was taken to the Reeducation Camp on the Isle of Man.

In the meantime, he ended up settling in and starting a small clinic of his own, noting with a certain wry humor that most, if not all, of his patients were involved in anti-Enlightenment work.

"I swear, Gregori, this is going to get me into trouble someday."

He now spends a great deal of time wondering if he's going to turn into a werewolf. He never mentioned to Luka what he discovered that made him suggest she go in for testing.

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