Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The Tower of Trials Chapter 6 Page 3

He pried open the panel with a screwdriver from his toolbag. The door looked like it was held by some hidden lock. Judging from the power cables at the back of the opened panel, he guessed that it was an electromagnetic lock. All he had to do was find a way to send the signal to the electromagnets to stop, or cut power to the electromagnets without electrocuting himself.

George took a moment to examine the circuitry.

Okay, there was the input from the keypad. There was the microprocessor. Hopefully, the signal to the locks would be a simple electrical pulse and not some complicated code. If it was a simple pulse, the most challenging part would be to figure out which wire or conductor led to the electromagnets holding the door close.

It sure would be easier to concentrate if it were not for that grinding noise. It was irritating, the sound of metal scratching grainy sand. Once in a while, there was the 'plock' of something hollow being dropped. What was causing all that noise?

George looked aside to see Iona working on the brick wall. She scratched grooves around a brick with a claw and then pulled the brick out and dropped it with the rest on the ground. She had already made a sizable hole by then.

Why did they even need him!?

Iona crawled into the hole. A short moment later, there were a simultaneous pair of dull clicks and the metal door swung open, revealing a grinning Vixen on the other side. "Open!" the girl announced with fists outstretched.

George shook his head and followed the other two Vixens into what was hopefully a treasure room. His first impression of the place was disappointment. The large room was plain with hardly anything within. There was what appeared to be a toaster, a potted plant and a weirdly-shaped box sitting on a freezer. That was it. There was not even decent decoration.

"That's it?" George blurted. He pointed at the first object. "A toaster?"

With an armored claw, Tricia gingerly picked up the white toaster, which looked brand new sealed in plastic. "An antique toaster," she said, "One that uses heating coils that bakes food slices unevenly. Maybe we can sell it to a collector."

"Okay," George uttered, "But the plant?"

Iona was examining the plant excitedly. It was small, with a few leaves sprouting out of the soil. "This one's mine!"

"What's that?" George asked.

Iona picked up the pot and showed it to George. "A mutant black-tipped spotted yellow rose," she announced.

"That's a long name," George commented.

"And that's why we call things by what they look like," Mabel said.

"Wasn't that name what the plant looks like?" George retorted.

"Well, do you see a yellow rose?" Mabel double-retorted.

George had to allow Mabel's counter. Especially since he had no idea what a rose was.

Iona presented the plant to George again. "Generic green plant!"

That name was instead too ambiguous.

"Somehow, I feel like we're rummaging in Madboy Keith's dumpster," Mabel said as she picked up the weirdly-shaped box on the freezer.

"Does that have any value?" George asked.

Mabel tossed the box to him. "That's for you to figure out, when you get it open."

George caught the box. It looked like it had been ripped out of a metal wall with a powered claw - depressions on the surface marked where the claw had gripped and part of the wall was still attached around the box. There were wires sticking out of it. There was also a smooth panel that he assumed could open. He noted a motor that could move the panel but there were no controls to operate it. A light shake revealed that something hard was inside.

"Oh, this is good," Mabel commented.

George looked up to see that the Vixen had opened the freezer and was peering within. He stepped round the freezer for a look inside.

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