The Detective, the Doctor, and the Atypical Cases

Watson loved writing when he was young. While serving as a battlefield medic, he heard many stories that, in theory, should not be investigated too deeply or shared with anyone. He feared that if those stories spread and reached people’s ears, they might trigger a great plague of the mind or spirit. But he could not rein in his curiosity and wandering imagination. So he broke apart the stories he had heard, mixed them into his own fiction, and wrote them in a locked notebook, hoping to keep his ever-growing curiosity in check. Then came the night he returned home, scarred and sick with pain. On a sea battered by wind and rain, he and the ship somehow made it back to London completely unharmed, as if they had been protected. But Watson discovered that his notebook was missing. He had been writing furiously in the cabin the night before, by lamplight, yet everyone he asked said that Dr. Watson never seemed like the sort of person who would write. In their recollections, he did not even keep a diary. It was as if his writing had been nothing but a delusion from beginning to end. Just as he was ready, after repeated treatment from his psychiatrist, to forget his old notebook and its stories, a stranger who left him stunned showed up at his door and asked to share an apartment with him at 221B Baker Street. Watson could only stare in disbelief, feeling cold all over. The stranger introduced himself as Sherlock, exactly the same name as the fictional protagonist in Watson’s missing notebook. In Watson’s memory, there had never been a number 221 on Baker Street in London. And yet this apartment stood right before his eyes. * Reader’s Guide 1. This is a steampunk era that is almost entirely original. Aside from place names, the rest of the setting can be called wholly unlike reality, with some very inauthentic, author-style Lovecraftian elements. 2. There are detective elements, but also plenty of fight scenes. In other words, this Holmes and Watson can really throw down. In this story, Holmes is not human, and his early portrayal leans toward cold-blooded and ruthless. 3. Many original characters appear to drive the plot, and numerous elements of the original stories have been heavily altered. Some descriptions of frightening events may be unsettling. 4. Many original characters have original elements added to their identities and backgrounds, along with the author’s own interpretations of their personalities. They may feel very different from the originals. 5. Every scene exists to serve the plot. Theme: The unknown is the most interesting of all