And I can say again that your prompt is entirely responsible for the first half of this :)
Intimidating "Open it," said Finesse. His real name was Stef and he had an accent that sounded European to me. He had agreed to join us at the Lampshade Bar for a drink to discuss a proposition -- from the way Kraulik described the tale of inviting him, it sounded like an invitation from a Mafia boss. Now we were sat at the bar, a little distanced to avoid the impression we might be planning something, planning something. "If it were that easy don't you think we'd have done it?" Kraulik sounded impatient though his face was relaxed and he wasn't drinking fast. "You have to start at the beginning," said Stef. "Ever do crossword puzzles? In English?" Kraulik shook his head and I did too. I want to say that they're a waste of time, but the truth is I find them hard. I don't know half the words that are answers, and I've no idea how you can sit there and see 'simultaneous' and come up with 'contemporaneous' as an answer. "You start at the beginning," said Stef. "You know the clue has two parts--" well, that was news to me about crosswords "--and so you start by finding the dividing line. Then you know one part is definition and the other wordplay..." I stopped listening for a bit. That might explain why I couldn't do crosswords, but in my experience the clues were one or two words at most, and Stef sounded like he was talking about something entirely different. "Does this help us get through the door?" said Kraulik, interrupting. I noticed he'd finished his drink while I'd been daydreaming. "No," said Stef. "Why don't you show me the actual door and this alarm? Then we can get started." "Wish you'd said that before you talked my ear off," said Kraulik. He stood up and set his glass down. Then he picked it back up and got the bottle from behind the bar. "If you take as long to open the door as you did to tell us to show you the door, I'm going to need plenty to drink." As Kraulik stalked off and I stood up, Stef looked up at me. "He's a bit intimidating, isn't he?" he said. "I had a cell-mate like him once. Nutter. Glad when he moved on." "Released?" Stef stood up. "Killed in a yard-fight that he started against about thirty other guys." I shook my head. "He took six of them with him." "Honour guard, maybe?" I said. "Come on, Kraulik won't get less intimidating if you keep him waiting." Stef smiled. "I don't think he'll ever get less intimidating," he said. "But at least I've known worse."
We pulled the rubber mats up off the floor to show Stef the alarm, or whatever it was, and I smirked more than I wanted to at the puzzlement on his face, first when we started on the mats and then when he saw the floor. I had to straighten my face quickly when he looked at us and started talking so I turned my head to the side to hide my expression a little; so I saw Kraulik's eye-roll that the chatter had started up again. I decided I'd better pay attention. "Why do think this is an alarm?" asked Stef. I opened my mouth, but Kraulik had apparently been listening after all. "It nearly killed Chuckles," he said. "He walked on it, and there was a bright flash of light and a loud bang." "That's how he got like that? I see." Stef took a couple of steps back from the uncovered floor. "So, how do you turn it off?" Kraulik's voice was flat and he poured gin into his glass until it was half-way full. "Got a mains switch?" Stef didn't sound hopeful. He knelt, looking at the floor. "It looks like a circuit diagram, you know?" "No." Kraulik glared. "And you did say there was a flash of light and a loud bang... could be shorted out now, I suppose, but how would we know?" "It's safe then?" Stef rubbed his hands together, still staring at the floor. "Maybe. But the obvious answer to how to open the door is that you have to have this working. Because you have a door that's closed and no obvious way to open it, and you have this that's probably the opening mechanism, hidden where we wouldn't be expected to find it. Right?" Kraulik spat. "Chuckles broke the damn door?" "I don't know, yet," said Stef. "Let's do some checking, shall we? I need a bit of metal, a rod say, maybe a metre long. And some rubber gloves, or something insulating at least."
3 comments:
And I can say again that your prompt is entirely responsible for the first half of this :)
Intimidating
"Open it," said Finesse. His real name was Stef and he had an accent that sounded European to me. He had agreed to join us at the Lampshade Bar for a drink to discuss a proposition -- from the way Kraulik described the tale of inviting him, it sounded like an invitation from a Mafia boss. Now we were sat at the bar, a little distanced to avoid the impression we might be planning something, planning something.
"If it were that easy don't you think we'd have done it?" Kraulik sounded impatient though his face was relaxed and he wasn't drinking fast.
"You have to start at the beginning," said Stef. "Ever do crossword puzzles? In English?"
Kraulik shook his head and I did too. I want to say that they're a waste of time, but the truth is I find them hard. I don't know half the words that are answers, and I've no idea how you can sit there and see 'simultaneous' and come up with 'contemporaneous' as an answer.
"You start at the beginning," said Stef. "You know the clue has two parts--" well, that was news to me about crosswords "--and so you start by finding the dividing line. Then you know one part is definition and the other wordplay..."
I stopped listening for a bit. That might explain why I couldn't do crosswords, but in my experience the clues were one or two words at most, and Stef sounded like he was talking about something entirely different.
"Does this help us get through the door?" said Kraulik, interrupting. I noticed he'd finished his drink while I'd been daydreaming.
"No," said Stef. "Why don't you show me the actual door and this alarm? Then we can get started."
"Wish you'd said that before you talked my ear off," said Kraulik. He stood up and set his glass down. Then he picked it back up and got the bottle from behind the bar. "If you take as long to open the door as you did to tell us to show you the door, I'm going to need plenty to drink."
As Kraulik stalked off and I stood up, Stef looked up at me.
"He's a bit intimidating, isn't he?" he said. "I had a cell-mate like him once. Nutter. Glad when he moved on."
"Released?"
Stef stood up. "Killed in a yard-fight that he started against about thirty other guys."
I shook my head.
"He took six of them with him."
"Honour guard, maybe?" I said. "Come on, Kraulik won't get less intimidating if you keep him waiting."
Stef smiled. "I don't think he'll ever get less intimidating," he said. "But at least I've known worse."
We pulled the rubber mats up off the floor to show Stef the alarm, or whatever it was, and I smirked more than I wanted to at the puzzlement on his face, first when we started on the mats and then when he saw the floor. I had to straighten my face quickly when he looked at us and started talking so I turned my head to the side to hide my expression a little; so I saw Kraulik's eye-roll that the chatter had started up again. I decided I'd better pay attention.
"Why do think this is an alarm?" asked Stef. I opened my mouth, but Kraulik had apparently been listening after all.
"It nearly killed Chuckles," he said. "He walked on it, and there was a bright flash of light and a loud bang."
"That's how he got like that? I see." Stef took a couple of steps back from the uncovered floor.
"So, how do you turn it off?" Kraulik's voice was flat and he poured gin into his glass until it was half-way full.
"Got a mains switch?" Stef didn't sound hopeful. He knelt, looking at the floor. "It looks like a circuit diagram, you know?"
"No." Kraulik glared.
"And you did say there was a flash of light and a loud bang... could be shorted out now, I suppose, but how would we know?"
"It's safe then?"
Stef rubbed his hands together, still staring at the floor. "Maybe. But the obvious answer to how to open the door is that you have to have this working. Because you have a door that's closed and no obvious way to open it, and you have this that's probably the opening mechanism, hidden where we wouldn't be expected to find it. Right?"
Kraulik spat. "Chuckles broke the damn door?"
"I don't know, yet," said Stef. "Let's do some checking, shall we? I need a bit of metal, a rod say, maybe a metre long. And some rubber gloves, or something insulating at least."
Greg - oh boy, let's see what I've done this time...
Hah, less of a diversion, I'd say. And I think I like Stef - he's an interesting new ingredient to this recipe.
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