Steam – Seventh Night
The seventh performance of Steam was improvised on 1/27/12.
Episode Summary
The mighty airship Victoriana hovers over the dusty streets of Cairo. In the market bazaar below, ship’s engineer Joshua Mew confronts “Randy,” the drifter who has been living a quiet and lazy life aboard ship for 7 weeks now. Joshua has learned Randy’s true name, Barnaby Jones, and suspects that Barnaby has been an agent for the nefarious Black Cloaks this entire time. Barnaby denies any such involvement, insisting that his only loyalty is to finger sandwiches.
Across the ocean in Richmond, Virginia, Adelaide McKenna—once thought a naive young ingenue—supervises the production of black cloaks at her family’s own factory. She and Roger Rogér, dispatched from the Victoriana to escort her, try on their new cloaks and feel flushed with evil power. Adelaide has seized control of the entire Black Cloaks organization!
Alone in his quarters, Benjamin Cumberbatch consults the All-Seeing Orb for visions of the future. He again sees an elderly Adelaide McKenna, lacking an arm and with a scar on her face; then he sees Barnaby, standing at the wheel of the Victoriana as it burns.
Colonel Solomon Fitzgerald and Yvette Cloud explore the great pyramids of Giza. To their surprise they find a secret passage, and deep inside, an entirely unexpected duo: Leto and Sigma, the Colonel’s own cyborg assassins, waiting for them there. Sigma, who went rogue and founded the Black Cloaks, remains furious that Solomon refused to grant her a soul. The Colonel responds coldly that she was a simple, evil mistake; it’s her sister Leto who is good and deserves to live. Dejected, Sigma agrees to give up Leto’s soul, and she quietly dies—but not before declaring that the Black Cloaks have a new leader now.
While in London, Sigma converted the ship’s captain Hamwich Leon into a Black Cloak. For everyone’s safety, his onetime love Wilhemina Wyldeheart has magically teleported them both far away, to the heart of New York City. She knows he’s a Black Cloak, but hopes he can be saved; however Hamwich realizes that she, too, is now bound to become one. They decide to spend time in New York City together, not knowing what the future may hold.
Joshua Mew, in the belly of the ship, discovers Barnaby’s hidden stash of finger sandwiches—and a curious token: a brass compass. At that moment the Victoriana itself stirs to life and asks Barnaby a curious question: “Have you thought about what we asked you?” Much to Joshua’s disbelief, Victoriana wants Barnaby to pilot the ship. Barnaby snatches the compass from Joshua and refuses the job.
Adelaide reappears on the ship to visit her chum Barnaby, who (to her delight) is as lackadaisical as ever. She and Captain Rogér begin to quietly reroute the ship’s main power, intent on making the Victoriana itself a giant, living Black Cloak. Joshua Mew is too concerned with rescuing Yvette, Colonel Fitzgerald, and Leto from the pyramids below to notice their scheme. Their work complete, they inject their own dark energy into the ship! Though the soul of the Victoriana fights back, it’s no use, and the ship hyper-shifts its way back across the Atlantic to Richmond.
In New York City, Wilhemina and Hamwich enjoy each other’s romantic company, drunkenness and all. We discover that, years ago, Hamwich proposed to Wilhemina. She kept his grandmother’s ring as a token, yet never said yes, and Hamwich is crushed to learn that she pawned it off to save him. (Unbeknownst to Wilhemina, the ring is still among the crew, though it’s now in the hands of Adelaide.)
In the skies over Richmond, the Victoriana is powerless to resist the evil energy infusing it. Again it calls out to Barnaby, begging him to pilot the ship to safety; again he refuses. Finally Barnaby is confronted by Yvette Cloud, whose spiritual powers let her see his potential for saving them all. Barnaby finally admits to being a pilot, but a stubbornly retired one, following a mishap that killed his own sister and many others. Yvette is furious that he won’t put the past behind him. She chides him until he agrees—reluctantly, as always—to try taking over the ship.
Barnaby innocently wanders to the bridge, where Adelaide and Captain Rogér are but minutes away from docking with the Black Cloak factory. He wins the trust of Rogér with his casual attitude, and offers to take the wheel…
Just then the heroes strike! Benjamin Cumberbatch scuffles with Captain Rogér. Yvette attacks Adelaide, who displays a superhuman strength but is finally subdued. And then Barnaby executes “The Move,” steering the ship directly towards the sun. Leto is seen standing on the bow of the ship, soul now intact. The ship bursts into flames, just as in Benjamin’s vision. And in a burst of light, the Victoriana is purged: both of its dark energy, and of Adelaide and Captain Rogér. Again it is safe!
In Central Park, a happy Wilhemina awaits another romantic outing with Hamwich. Behind a tree, though, Hamwich is cruelly strangling a homeless man. His appetite for violence as a Black Cloak is, as of yet, unquenchable. He then gathers himself, resumes his cheery personality, and meets Wilhemina for their date.
On the Victoriana, we discover that Barnaby is a famed former captain. Joshua Mew tells Barnaby that, with both qualified pilots turned into Black Cloaks, the Victoriana needs someone at the wheel. Barnaby sighs and agrees to the task.
Just as the lights fade on this story, however, one dark revelation: the Victoriana was not purged of its evil power as our heroes thought—it now has an identical twin, a second ship just as evil as the Victoriana is good!
Will Adelaide and Rogér seek out the Victoriana again?
Can Hamwich and Wilhemina resist their evil impulses? Can the Lady Electra, previously absorbed into the ship, be extracted?
