Simply stunning! :D

Dude, that's a nice mauser! SHe doesn't have to crush it! Can she just give it to me?

I'll work on that. Right now the darn thing is still on the bottom of Spontoon Harbor, reduced to a useless ball of rust.

She certainly passes the Turing Test! Amazing art!!

Yeah! I would say she certainly does pass the Turing Test. Have you ever been to "Moments with Mr. Lincoln" at the Disney theme parks? I remember having a visceral "Thrill" when the Lincoln Automaton actually stood up. I was trying to recreate that "Feeling" in Marder's, (The Martin.) body language. He was very shocked to discover the mechanical feline could move about on her own.

Yes I have, and had exactly the same reaction. I was not at all prepared for that! Fine depiction of having one's mind totally blown.

Very well drawn, and a sweet story! It's very refreshing to see a robot portrayed as benevolent rather than mindlessly violent.

I really love the way you make their shoes look human and at the same time, comfortable for a digitgrade leg. And of course I love all the details you lovingly apply to your pictures, Roy.

Dominus tecum

Skunks and Martins are lucky because their "Plantigrade" foot structure would allow them to wear human looking shoes. Besides, it helps set the "Period" of the image better.

Martens are always the bad guys.

Not so fast my friend. My character "Millie" is a mink-martin-skunk hybrid, and her mother was more martin than she was mink looking. Yes, Millie's mom could be irrasable at times, but it was her "Fire" that gave her the drive to try new adventures and challenges. This also gave Millie her "Tom-boyish" personality and quick temper. I found it quite a challenge to come up with a "Nice" Martin character because I don't like the critters always getting the bad rap.

Good for you! I never understood why martens were popular as 'bad guys'. Perhaps their habit of chewing through break lines of cars in Europe? That seems evil, but they just like the taste of silicon break fluid...

This would make a create short story or novel! Almost like a Steampunk Frankenstein meets Not Quite Human.

And the metal work on her body looks great!

I'm trying to encourage Eric to follow up with a "Sequel" where Mam'zelle Mechanique ends up being an idol to the Island people.

I just read through the story . . . quite the achievement! Mysteries are always tricky stories for me to compose . . . keeping details secret until just the right time . . . misdirecting the reader . . . all while building an incredible experience all around.

And what a story!

This "Master of the Spring" sounds like a chap Idion might have met on his 2000 years journey, or after he retired and began exploring the multi-verse for fun.

Idion takes a bit of pride in the mantle folks gave him as a Craft Master, an individual who has studied and mastered every form of creative craft from art and cooking to magic and machinery . . . the ultimate Artificer.

Seeing a wonder like Mam'zelle Mechanique would greatly intrigue him on many levels.

I just had the vision of my interpretation of the character in a leather apron, wearing black glass goggles, and old fashioned "Tin Pot" hard hat on his head and watching a Bessemer Converter being charged off. Nothing beats looking into the fires of creation as long as it's done safely.

Hehehe, funny you should mention "the fires of creation" . . . Idion has embers from those very flames flowing his own veins, that's why he's so powerful, and why he's one of the ones All High Heaven keeps on permanent retainer for those "Hard Cases" that need his special kind of handling.

He whole pantheons in their place and makes Hell quake with unease.

And he just likes to spend his days tending his Inn, shops, smithies, gardens, nurseries, and just enjoying his semi-retirement with good company.

If he happened to come across a fine piece of craftsmanship like Mam'zelle Mechanique, he won't hesitate to learn all he could about her . . . but with the same respect and care the good Doctor showed . . . for the hallmark of a great Crafts Master is TLC for their creations and the creations of others.