James Barker looked at his pocket watch for the third time in fifteen minutes. It was an unfortunate task that brought him to the house of commons, a place he despised. Unfortunately, the assignment to glean information for the night's watch fell to him.

He hated the pomp and spectacle of parliament. He hated that they didn't speak plainly and never said what they really meant, instead the men spoke in code trying to show their wit. James looked around the lobby wondering if any of the men were having a true conversation. He noticed a large-nosed man wearing a brown great coat and a dark-haired man in a green double-breasted tail coat. The men looked friendly enough as they shook hands; however, they stood stiffly and the smiles upturning their mouths didn't reach either man's eyes. The man wearing green stiffly turned on his heel and left the building as another man walked in.

James looked down at his watch to see that only a few moments passed since he last checked. A muffled pop sound caused him to look back up to see the man in the brown great coat holding a pistol.

"I am murdered." The honorable Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, stumbled away from his assailant. The men who were conducting business in the house of commons turned towards the commotion at the sound of the gunshot. The room quieted as the astonished men looked onto the scene in horror.

The Prime Minister fell to the lobby floor. James had to help the fallen man, so he raced towards him and went to his knees. A red stain pooled on Perceval's waistcoat as he tried to draw in his last shaky breaths. "Oh my God." He whispered. "My enemies conspire." The last words were said so low that James alone heard him.

Before James could process the prime minister's words, Mr. Smith, a Norwich member of parliament, lifted the mortally wounded fellow with the help of another man and carried him into the speaker's office, but James knew that it was already too late for Mr. Perceval.

"Where's the murderer?" People questioned all around him. James looked up from where he knelt and met the cold eyes of the killer. The man sat quietly on a bench, stiff as a puppet, making no attempt to flee.

"I am that unfortunate man." He stood. Men flocked him and searched his person, removing a gun.

James woke with a start, sweat dripped from his forehead. Three days passed since he witnessed the Prime Minister's death, but he relived the moment every night since, in his dreams.

He hastily removed his nightclothes and began the task of dressing for work, but first, Mrs. Roberts, the women whose house he lodged at insisted that he eat dinner before he made his nightly rounds.

Once dressed in a pair of light pantaloons, a muslin shirt, waistcoat, jacket, and boots he was finally able to eat but before leaving for the night he had to grab his staff, lantern, and clapper.

At ten p.m. he gathered with the rest of the night's guard in his district at the watch-house and waited for the ward beadle to write their names down to prove they attended their shift.

Once dismissed James and his partner William set out on their patrol. Another watchman, Samuel, ran after them.

"Did you hear the trial is starting tomorrow," Samuel said.

"Already?" William asked.

"The case is straightforward enough. James here can tell you since he witnessed the murder and all." Sam gave James a friendly slap on the back.

"What about the co-conspirators?" James asked as he scanned the area for signs of trouble. "Surely they need more time to build a case around those fellows."

"What makes you think there are any?" William asked.

"There was something odd about Bellingham's behavior."

"I'd say, he did just kill the Prime Minister after all," Sam said.

"Why didn't he run? He just stayed there stiff almost as if he weren't human at all."

"Not human? You're not suggesting that Bellingham is an automaton?" William interrupted.

"I thought the mad king was the only one foolish enough to believe in those." Sam laughed.

James and William both gasped at Sam's comment. It was whispered that the King had delusions of automatons attacking him in the night, but the populace refrained from speaking about such madness outside the privacy of their homes. James scanned the area thoroughly to ensure that no vagrant heard the conversation between the three men. The night was dark, and the lanterns did little to help. Fog rolled in and nipped at his legs. James called out the time and weather.

"I heard talk that your wife thought you were an automaton," William said trying to lighten the mood.

"Are you impugning the character of my wife?" Sam asked.

"It's your character I wish to impugn, not that of your lovely wife." William teased.

"Speaking of such, Perceval's wife is quite the lovely woman, in fact, I hear that Reverend Carr's boy is already pursuing the widow. Some would say he benefitted nicely from Perceval's untimely death." Sam said raising an eyebrow.

"Ain't no woman lovely enough to kill for. If Bellingham had help, it was probably the French!" William spat.

"It's not like Perceval was short on enemies." James supplied. "For all, we know this could have been a Luddite conspiracy."

"The French, the Luddites, even the Prince Regent himself all had reason to wish him dead. As for me, my romantic heart says it was for love." Samuel said before wishing the two men farewell. "I suppose I should go find my partner and wake the bloody sod up."

James and William watched as Samuel hurried down the lane. "You don't really believe this was a conspiracy?" William asked.

"One thing is clear, Bellingham was merely a puppet and I'm going to find out who was pulling his strings," James said.

"We can't allow you to see him." The guard at Newgate prison assured James again. James blew out a frustrating sigh. James couldn't get Perceval's last words out of his head. His enemies conspired, yet nobody but James seemed to investigate whether a conspiracy existed. James couldn't even talk to the only witness.

He checked his pocket watch. He had finished his shift at dawn and it was still too early to call on anyone. James didn't exactly know where to start but supposed the soon to be widow was as good of a place as any. At least the guard was helpful enough to give James, Bellingham's address.

James kept his eyes up and focused on his surroundings as he walked across town. If he were one to get lost in his thoughts he might not have seen the two men ahead. He might not have recognized the dark-haired man wearing the green tailcoat.

The man he walked with was obviously a working man who was a few stations below the fellow in green. James hastened his step so that he could reach the men, but he also didn't want to draw too much attention as he didn't want the men to become suspicious.

The two men turned down an alley. James quickened his pace for as much as he didn't want to get caught he didn't want to lose the man in green either. Before he could reach the alley, himself he heard a loud pop sound. James sprinted towards the gunfire only to find the working-class man bleeding out onto the ground.

For the second time, James went to his knees to aid a dying man. "He said he was one of us." The man said as the red stain spread on his dirty shirt and blood dripped from his mouth.

"Who did this to you?" James questioned but it was too late for the worker was already dead.

James spent the rest of the morning and a big part of the afternoon explaining what transpired. "This man is wanted." The bow street runner said. "I thought it would be harder to catch Frank Davies."

"What did he do," James asked.

"Breaking machines." The runner said.

"A Luddite?"

"Yep. He was vocal about it too. My bosses aren't going to waste their time with this one." He winked. "But far be it from me to stop a night's watchmen from investigating this." The runner winked. "Solve it and there might even be a place on Bow-street for you."

James shook his head. "As tempting as your offer is, I have my reason's for staying on the night watch."

"Suit yourself. But you don't seem like the type of man that's just going to let this drop. See me if you need any help." The runner offered before taking his leave.

"Mamma, there is a man here to see you. I think it's the banker that Papa was telling us about." A young boy said loudly as James waited in the great hall of the London home that Bellingham rented.

Mary Neville was in her early thirty's but if James hadn't known better he would have thought her younger.

"You don't look like a banker." She said in a soft voice.

"My name is James Barker and I'm an investigator."

Mary nodded. "I was wondering when one of the infamous bow street runners would get around to calling upon my hospitality."

"Madam, I'm actually of the night's watchmen."

Mary arched her eyebrows. "Then I'd suggest you get some sleep, lest you find yourself sleeping on duty tonight."

James clenched his jaw. "Madam, I take my duty more seriously than to allow such a thing to happen."

"Then you'd be the only one."

"Who is the man in the green jacket?" James asked abruptly. Mary did have a point, he would need sleep before his next shift and certainly, that meant he didn't have time to waste in the defense of his profession.

Mary blinked a few times. "I haven't a clue what you mean."

"Did any of your husband's associates meet him here?"

"No." Mary shook her head.

"Do you believe your husband acted alone?" James asked.

Mary sighed collapsing into a hard chair in the hall. She covered her face with her hands, her shoulders shook as she tried to catch her breath. "I don't know what to believe," she said. "Truthfully, he hasn't been the same since Russia."

"How so." James tried to put a softness into his voice that he hoped comforted the soon to be widow.

"He was obsessed. He was falsely imprisoned. That is true. But he felt that the English government owed him for allowing Russia to take from him."

"You didn't agree."

"Even if they did owe him something, they weren't going to pay. I thought it better to just get on with our lives. But his time in Russia drove him mad and he wouldn't listen to reason."

"Do you believe someone took advantage of your husband's madness?"

"You would have to ask him," Mary said.

"I would if I could get in to see him."

"I have an idea," Mary said jumping out of her seat. "Stay here." She said as she went into the inner room of the house. A few minutes she returned holding a book.

"I received a letter from my husband asking me to send him his prayer book. Perhaps you could deliver it for me."

The next morning it took some convincing, but James was able to talk the guards into letting him personally take Bellingham the prayer book on the instruction of his wife of course. However, after pouring over the contents of the book James concluded that it really wasn't the prayer book that John Bellingham wanted but rather the instructions inside.

"I don't believe I know you." John Bellingham said after James introduced himself.

"I tried to see you yesterday before your trial but alas I was thwarted."

"Well, the guards probably allowed you to see me today since I've only three days yet to live."

James nodded in agreement. "I brought the prayer book that you requested."

John's eyes widened. "You've done me a favor. May I trespass on you for another?"

"Depends on the favor."

"My life is over in three days' time. There isn't much these words can do for me, but I have a friend who needs these words more than I. Can you take this prayer book to my dear friend Frank Davies?"

"The Luddite?"

John smiled sheepishly. "Yes, surely a working man such as yourself can sympathize with the Luddite cause."

James nodded. "The machines took their livelihood, so it's only natural that they want to break the machines. But on the other hand, those machines cost a lot of money. The government couldn't just allow citizens to go around destroying the expensive property. The punishment for machine breaking is harsh but I feel that Perceval had no other choice but to dole out such a punishment."

"Perhaps this prayer book could convince my friend to turn his life around."

"It's too late for Frank Davies." John Bellingham looked surprised at James' words. "The man I saw you shaking hands with murdered him yesterday afternoon."

Bellingham's face blanched with white. "No." He said sitting down on the prison cot.

"I guess you'll have to find someone else to attend tomorrow's meeting with Monsieur Dupont."

Bellingham's eyes widened. "Of course, you looked through the book and found out about the meeting."

"This is where the payoff happens, I assume?"

Bellingham opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out.

"I can understand you working with the Luddites. I can almost understand why you would seek revenge on the government. But working with the French!" James spat out the words.

"The French were the ones with the money."

"You made your wife a widow for money?"

"Are you married?" John asked.

"I'm a widower." James didn't usually talk about his past. He wasn't sure why he admitted it now except that he knew the pain that John was putting his wife through. James wouldn't wish it on anyone.

"As is my wife," John said. "But she isn't to become one when my neck hangs in the rope, she became a widow when I was arrested in Russia."

"They took a piece of me that I can never get back. My wife deserved better. She deserved a husband that could provide for her and that is what I set out to do."

"No, sir. You set out to get revenge." James said. "I get that Russia took a few years of your life, but now you've gone and thrown away the rest of it and made fifteen children orphans in the process."

"They took more than a few years from me," John said getting up from his seat on the cot. He walked closer to the bars and scratched his right arm before shoving it through. The arm had no skin on it. John held the skin colored panel that he scratched off his arm in the other hand.

James couldn't believe what he saw. Where there should have been bones, veins and tissues resided metal wires and gears. "What in the world."

"The Russians did experiments on me. They cut off my hand and replaced it with this robotic one."

"That's ghastly. Surely the government would have something to say about this type of treatment of our citizens."

"They would if our government wasn't too busy trying to hide their own experiments and machinations."

"Surely you don't believe that our government has any types of plots involving this," James said gesturing to the man's arm.

"I'm saying that the mad King, isn't so mad."

James found himself back at Bellingham's house. This time he made it further in than just the hall. He brought the two boys, who were old enough, a few sweets. They quickly ate the treats while James waited in the parlor for their mother. James didn't know why he had gone back to the house where she resided, except that maybe the widow could help him with his eternal battle.

Bellingham asked that he meet the Frenchmen in his stead to collect payment for his wife. Doing so would make James part of the conspiracy. But he could go, arrest the Frenchman and turn over the money to the Bow-street runners. That would leave Mary and her three sons destitute.

"Is it true that all the night's watchmen are lazy, and they sleep all night?" One of the boys asked.

"Well if I ever find a sleeping watchman I kick them where it hurts, that usually wakes them," James admitted as the boys giggled.

They reminded him so much of his own children. He tried not to think about the life that he used to have, the one where he had two children, a boy and a girl, and a wife. James would have done anything to have his family back so for the life of him he couldn't understand a man choosing to throw his family away.

"Sorry," Mary said as she walked into the parlor. "I had to put the baby down for his nap."

"It's quite alright," James said. "I brought a letter from your husband."

Mary tearfully read the open letter. "Eight hours." She whispered when she was done. "That's how long they took to determine his fate."

James handed her his handkerchief and she delicately wiped the tears from her eyes. "You're not what I expected from a night's watchmen." She said.

"Oh well. I used to be a banker." He admitted.

"Really?" Mary said in surprise.

"Perhaps I'll tell you the story one day."

James still wasn't sure what he was going to do but he knew that he had to at least attend the meeting. Unfortunately, the meeting was planned to occur under the cover of darkness when James had to work.

"I've got something to do tonight," He said as he patted the pocket that contained his pistol. For tonight James felt that he just may need more protection then his staff could provide alone. "Can you patrol with Samuel," James asked his partner.

"Of course, are you getting close to uncovering the conspiracy?" William asked.

"It's looking like you were right about the French," James admitted.

After they met up with Samuel and his partner, James left the trio to find the Frenchmen and put an end to this once and for all.

James heard muffled voices as he neared the site of the meeting deep in the manufacturing part of town. James knew the area rather well, he found himself patrolling the area often after the Luddite's started breaking machines at night. He inched closer trying to stay quiet to not alert the men of his presence.

"You're early." The man James assumed must be Monsieur Dupont said in a French accent.

"I didn't think you were going to show." The man in the green coat spoke in a monotone voice.

"I'm a man of my word." Monsieur Dupont said. "I promised Bellingham his final payment after the job and I brought it."

"I'll just take that off your hands for you." Green Coat said.

"This is for the soon to be widow." It was a question and a statement.

"She'll be taken care of."

"Why didn't Bellingham run? Why just let himself get arrested?"

"Well, I threatened his wife." Green coat said.

"Sir, I don't follow?"

"Somebody had to take the fall for the Prime Minister's death and Bellingham provided a nice tidy bow."

"You Brits are vicious." Monsieur Dupont said shaking his head. On that score James agreed with the Frenchmen, so did Green Coat.

"Yes, we are." He said producing a small pistol and firing it into the Monsieur Dupont's chest.

"No!" James cried out giving away his position. Green Coat turned his head facing the direction where James hid. Green Coat's eyes were the color of steel and his face was too handsome to the point that he looked artificial. He pointed his gun at James. "Stand so that I could see you." He commanded.

He's probably out of ammunition. James tried to assure himself as he stood up pulling his pistol from his pocket and firing in one swift motion. The ball connected with its intended target, but it ricocheted off the man's chest. Green Coat laughed nonplussed by the gunfire.

"What are you?" James asked.

"The last thing you should know about." Green Coat answered before striding towards James. James felt himself lift off the ground as Green coat grabbed him by the neck and threw him in the air. James flew until he hit his head on a gray building.

Green Coat smiled before stalking over to James to continue the attack. James needed to protect himself. He reached for the staff on his belt and as the monster came closer James swung the staff with all his might, but Green Coat's body was made of metal and the beating James doled out wouldn't deter it. James thought about ringing his clapper, but surely doing so would only bring other watchmen to their deaths.

James lifted the staff once again and took aim. The man must have a soft spot somewhere to pass as human. James swung the staff at Green Coat's face finally encountering human flesh.

The thing stepped back, but James didn't let up his assault he hit it in the face again until the gears, wires, and metal showed through the fake skin. The automaton stumbled and fell to the ground as blue sparks lit inside it.

He continued to beat the machine even after it was dead. Four men were dead at the hands of this machine and James had no way to discover who was really behind all the madness!

After a big enough hole was ripped in the automaton's face, James went to his knees and started pulling wires our of its body. He wanted to make sure that nobody could ever put it back together and use it to kill ever again. That's when he noticed the words etched into the machine's chest, 'Property of...'. He slumped to the ground. It didn't surprise him that the man behind it all was arrogant enough to write his own name into the automaton's chest.

"Second murder in as many days. This has to be a record." The runner who introduced himself as Fielding said.

"I recovered someone's property and need to meet with them," James said.

Fielding bobbed his head intrigued and whistled when James confided part of the story to him. Of course, he left out the robot bits.

"You don't ask for small favors, do you?" Fielding asked and for the life of James he didn't know how Fielding managed to arrange the meeting but the next day James found himself sitting with the Prince Regent George IV.

"They tell me that you have recovered my property?" The Prince Regent said at once.

They met in the Prince's private quarters, an overly opulent and distasteful room. Prince George was known to squander his money on lavish items he didn't need to the dismay of many including the late Spencer Perceval.

"Oh yes," James said pulling out the Automaton's chest plate which said: Property of Prince George IV.

"Where is the rest of it?" The Prince asked.

"Safe, it will be returned to you once I am also safe."

The Prince Regent threw his head back and laughed. "I can't say that I've ever been blackmailed by a night's watchmen before."

"I come from a family of bankers," James admitted. "My house caught fire when I was out of town. My wife and children died because some stupid night's watchman was too busy drinking to do his duty. After that, I swore that no father would clean up the night's watch so that no other father would go through the pain that I have."

"You are to be commended." The Prince said through gritted teeth.

"Four men are dead and at least fifteen children are fatherless," James said.

"I dare say that you are correct, Mr. Bellingham is probably swinging on the rope as we speak."

"I need to know why!"

The Prince sighed. "Technology is a race. The country with the most innovative tech will be the country that rules the world."

James nodded at the Prince to continue.

"Britain has little chance of being the technology leaders with the Luddites breaking machines. I got the idea to send a spy to work with the Luddites and report back to me."

"You sent the Automaton?"

"Can you think of a better spy to infiltrate the group of machine breakers than a machine?"

"I guess there is a poetic justice," James admitted.

"I was very concerned when Ajax, that was his name, told me that the Luddites were meeting with the French to assassinate members of Parliament."

"Why didn't you stop it from happening?"

"I tried but Ajax calculated that it was impossible to save all of the members, we would have a crisis on our hands. Instead, he worked at convincing the group to take out just one target."

"It didn't hurt that the one target took your wife, Caroline's, side when you tried to divorce her."

The Prince waved James off. "This wasn't about revenge, it was about doing what was best for our country."

"How did Bellingham play into this."

"Well the Luddite fellow, Davies, brought him in. Davies overheard a civil servant telling Bellingham to take whatever action against the government he felt he must. Well, Davies figured that Bellingham must have had just as much reason to hat the government as the Luddites, so he brought him into the conspiracy."

James shook his head. Bellingham was too focused on the past that he couldn't see what was important.

"Bellingham resisted at first. He told Davies that he, himself was a partial machine. That is when Davies changed the plan. He was going to expose Russia for putting machines into humans. He figured that when the story broke there would be riots and the people would break every machine in the country. Bellingham was supposed to kill Perceval and then use the superior strength in his cyborg's arm to escape. When the people found out that machines were killing humans they would have no choice but to act. That's when Ajax threatened Bellingham's wife to keep him docile. Then Ajax cleaned up the mess of everyone who was involved in the conspiracy. The only thread left is you."

"You'll set up funds for both households," James said. "I'm taking Mary and her boys away, so you won't have to worry about us."

"Very well." The Prince agreed. "If you intend to marry Mary then I hope that each of you find the happiness you deserve."

W.C.- 4492