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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