Steam – Fifth Night

The fifth performance of Steam was improvised on 1/20/12.

Episode Summary

Colonel Solomon Fitzgerald is having a bad day. His friend Sergei has kidnapped Leto, his cyborg assassin, to murder the czar of Russia. As the airship Victoriana arrives in St. Petersburg, he finds himself too late: the czar lies dead. But Leto, found shooting wildly outside the palace, is not the murderer! The Colonel finds a grisly calling card: the letter “S” carved into the czar’s neck.

Onboard the Victoriana, Captain Hamwich Leon is demonstrating his prowess with the ladies as he romances Yvette Cloud, from the wilds of Canada. She tells Hamwich that she first sought out the Victoriana in search of help for her family from the nefarious Black Cloaks, but that family is now seemingly dead. She then unveils a mysterious bauble: a dream in solid form. She gifts it to Hamwich, though he must discover how to use it.

Wilhemina Wyldeheart and her friend Kit allowed themselves to be left behind when the Victoriana departed Moscow. There, they explore their newfound magical powers—it seems that Kit, like Wilhemina, is from a magical tribe. Wilhemina is insistent that she never return to the Victoriana; she once sought it out for help, then for revenge, but now she feels her path lies elsewhere… and that it leads to London.

Colonel Fitzgerald brings Leto back onboard. Her soul appears to have been drained, leaving her a shell of her former self. Roger reports that eleven more people have been found with the letter “S” carved into their neck. Colonel Fitzgerald is flummoxed; Sergei might have kidnapped Leto, even murdered the czar, but rampant murder such as this isn’t his style. Unbeknownst to the Colonel, however, an unseen figure is hiding in his quarters…

Ship’s engineer Joshua Mew cajoles Randy, laziest and most reluctant of the Victoriana crew, into help with maintenance. Just then a mysterious machine in the corner whirrs to life, and Joshua finds himself in a video conference with Wilhemina Wyldeheart back in Moscow. Wilhemina declares that she has a magical destiny away from the Victoriana; Joshua is highly skeptical. Then Wilhemina says something even more surprising: Randy, typically only interested in finger sandwiches, is the one who can best protect the crew of the ship.

The adventurous ingenue, Adelaide McKenna, enters an abandoned home in the ravaged city of St. Petersburg with Benjamin Cumberbatch. Their plan to pilfer some abandoned loot goes quickly awry, however, as they’re kidnapped by Sergei—though he’s acting far more bloodthirsty and evil than the friend that Colonel Fitzgerald knew.

As Colonel Fitzgerald romances Lady Electra Spencer with his fine collection of cigars, the hidden figure suddenly leaps from its hiding place, kisses Solomon, addresses him as “father,” and disappears. The Colonel is floored: Sigma has returned! He tells Electra that Leto Rho is but one of a series of cyborg assassins he built during the war. Sigma is Leto’s dark twin, whose soul he took, and who later went on to establish the Black Cloaks. It was Sigma who led the Colonel to join the Victoriana in the first place, Sigma who turned Sergei into a Russian killing machine, and now Sigma is onboard herself. The entire ship is now in danger!

Down in St. Petersburg, Sergei is taking great pleasure in tormenting his captives Adelaide and Benjamin. He cruelly carves an “S” into Benjamin’s neck, but then Adelaide breaks free and effortlessly defeats Sergei in single combat. The tables turned, they return to the Victoriana.

It’s discovered that Sigma has wreaked havoc on the bridge, steering the ship back towards Paraguay, where the Black Cloaks have their giant robot factory. Joshua Mew enlists the help of Lady Electra Spencer, who shows a surprising propensity for repairing machines. The Victoriana comes to a stop over London, where it tosses and turns wildly. Then the ship calls to Joshua and reveals that Sigma has bound her soul to the ship’s; only emergency repairs can save it now.

Wilhemina and Kit arrive in London as well, not realizing they are again nearby the Victoriana. Wilhemina is drawn to another strange steam-powered factory. They reach the entryway and sense a powerful magical force within.

Adelaide reveals some tragic news: her father has died back in Richmond, and she’ll have to return to America. She offers her All-Seeing Orb to Benjamin, but for the second time, he has a vision of the future when he touches it: Adelaide, old and gray, surrounded by children but lacking an arm. He reveals his first vision to Adelaide as well: that he himself will kill Wilhemina Wyldeheart.

Colonel Fitzgerald corners Sigma and tells her he has plans to destroy her. She makes a daring escape, however, leaping from the bow of the Victoriana and plunging to the London streets below.

Without Sigma, the Victoriana begins sinking towards the earth, on a collision course with the Parliament building itself! The Colonel tells Joshua that the Victoriana is beyond hope, and sounds the call to abandon ship. Joshua refuses; he will stay with the ship he loves, even to its destruction.

The Parliament building trains its Gatling guns on the Victoriana as it plummets downward. The crew of the Victoriana strap on their jetpacks and leap into their lifeboats.

Is the mighty airship finally doomed? Can Colonel Fitzgerald stop his creation Sigma from causing further havoc? And what is Randy’s true identity?