Solo Hear No Evil Part I

[Switch]

Hear No Evil Part I

65th of Spring 514

Switch had spent far too long in this blast citadel to keep hiding from the wizards golems. The blasted buggers were always around, skittering this way and that way with their listening and their viewing and their being nosy. That was going to end. Switch had to sling his pack over one shoulder seeing as the one strap was torn by a careless wizard in the common lab several stories above. Their sightings weren't too uncommon the pycon saw them all the time, he saw them more then he saw the undead wizards themselves. It wasn't the viewing ones that this pycon animator was in search of, no it was the far trickier ones he saw put into walls more often than not.

They were the ones that kept him from being super quiet, and no matter how unseen he was Switch knew he was able to be 'seen' by one of those bloody bastards, they were all ears all the time. Luckily for Switch he was better at staying within the walls instead of out, like a rat scurrying about the citadel Switch was able to use support rafters, beams, bent nails used to hold pictures and frames up to get about.

That was where Switch found himself currently, kneeling down on a rafter holding onto the one strap of his pack as he studied the drop he was contemplating. His view was murky due to the lack of lighting, using only what he had available from the mortar lacking between the seams of rocks and brick. It was in this murky distance that he found something a bit odd, there appeared to be a bit of coiled copper some distance down snaking itself out from the wall it was embedded in. Wrestling with his ladder off of his pack Switch paused, listening for some sort of alarm to go off. One tick... Two tick... Three tick...

Nothing. Switch exhaled and twitched as he released the ladder's spools and allowed the thing to unroll, clacking its full length down into the gloom before leaning it against the edge of the rafter and shimmying his way down the it found himself within arms reach of the witness golem. At a closer look Switch about gasped at the wire that seemed to be innocently coiled outward from the brick, as far as the pycon could tell it was just there, lost inside the mortar of the wall waiting for some just like Switch to come along and snatch it from it's nestled location.

Switch reached out, his hand twitching in excite as he twittered before he pulled back his hand and rubbed both nervously together, “Yes yes... wire... yes yes...” He nervously giggled, it rumbled in his throat.

[Switch]

Switch couldn't see it but his rumbling giggle caused the coil of wire to vibrate as he reached out once more for it. Any moisture in his hands was sucked deep within his body in a fit of nervous twitching. His fingertips curled around the wire, scrapping brick and mortar as he completed an open circle around the wire. The wire seemed oddly still, there wasn't any sort of feedback of energy, no movement caused from his hand curling around it.

Something wasn't right... Even if it was just a bit of wire sticking out from a crevice in the wall it would have still vibrated when his fingers started to curl around it, yet it remained still, like it was being held into position by some unseen force. Clasping the wire in his hand it felt cool to the touch, unused metallic objects were like that Switch knew, but still something didn't seem right about this specific piece of wire.

Maybe I should give it a yank... See if it comes loose? And yank the little pycon did. He could feel his body tensing as he struggled to remove the bit of wire from the mortar, again something didn't seem right. Releasing and settling back into a more comfortable stance Switch realized then that the wire didn't just coil it actually fed back into the mortar. What the petch... Shifting his pack off his shoulder the pycon stared at the wire, releasing it from his clutches, watching as it just then vibrated.

It should be known by now that Switch was playing with one of the rumored hundreds of Witness Golems installed through out the citadel. His rumbling nervous giggle already set the golem into action, initiating its internally built protocols and start the recording feed that could later be played back to which wizard was on the other end. His hand wrapping around the coil didn't send a message right away, it wasn't until he tugged on it that it sent a message to the inner workings. There was a brief delay though as the machine had to register and react to the tugging wire.

It was then that Switch understood what he was messing with, just as he pulled out of his pack his shaving razor. The razor was dull, entirely useless in terms of shaving as Switch – like all Pycons – could just make his facial hair go away by make a subtle change in his normal appearance. Yet the razor did have a useful feature for the gadget tinkering clay being. Bringing the cutting edge underneath the wire Switch pinched the wire closest to where it fed back into the wall's mortar.

A quick pull of the razor towards his body was enough to bend and nick the wire causing a crease and a weak spot in the signal. It wasn't enough to trigger an alarm, not yet anyway. Without pausing in his pull Switch stepped back, releasing his pinch the Pycon placed both hands on his razor and tugged hard, the dull razor edge resisted against the wire, but weight and determination proved to be the winner and the wire gave way.

With a small twang of sound the wire snapped and at the same time a loud klaxon sounded, rocking and vibrating the whole wall, if not the whole citadel. Dropping his razor Switch brought his hands up to the skull he called a head. There was no ears to speak of, but the sound was deafening nonetheless. Stumbling backwards from the resounding noise Switch lost his balance and followed his razor's descent, his pack snagged his ladder and both heirloom and pack came with.

[Switch]

The pycon and his belongings fell for only a short time, landing on a support beam that ran between floor and ceiling his pack landed heavily on his gut forcing what breathe he had to come rushing out. Groaning Switch rolled to his right, pushing his pack off his stomach as his foot caught hold of the dangling ladder, it wouldn't due well at all if the gadgeteer lost his heirloom in a situation like the one he found himself in. Sitting up the pycon grabbed a hold of the spool closest to him and started the steady but simply rolling up of the contraption. With each clacking stick Switch cringed, hoping he was hidden from sound and sight as the klaxon kept going off.

For several chimes Switch found himself remained where he was sitting, curled up with knees pulled close. Gripping his pack tightly the pycon hoped to the gods that the klaxon would end soon and he wouldn't be caught. It wasn't until the alarm ended did the pycon stand and climb back to where he located the golem. Surprisingly it was still there, the wire still cut and hanging in the air, sticking out just as the pycon left it. Hmm.

Placing a hand against the mortar Switch traced the mortar away from the cut into the direction he was heading. Unfortunately he had to climb and shimmy around in order to keep his eye or hand on the mortar line he had been tracing. For another chime or two Switch followed until the wall took a bend, denoting the corner of two rooms. A frown traced his face as he saw the shimmering glint of copper in the wall perpendicular from him. It was only a foot or so from the turn in and maybe an inch or so from the support beam that looked pretty worn from lack of upkeep.

Well, I see there is another golem there. Now, time to figure out how to confuse the wiring and pull that machine out from the wall. Switch looked up at the one with the wire he had cut earlier. Sitting down the Pycon frowned, crossing arms over chest he made a sound that could only be described as instance concentration.

Neither comb nor brush would work, they are wooden. I have my eating knife, would that do against mortar? Fishing said knife out of his pack the Pycon scrapped it against the mortal. Even though it was nothing more than a blunt flattened bit of metal the knife did rake into enough to form a thin scratch of a line.

The remaining groove he created was extremely shallow and thin. Hmm. Setting knife beside him the pycon shoved hand back once more into his pack. Pushing aside his rations of clay the pycon didn't even bother taking that out currently.

Let's see what else I have available that could be of use. Flint is too brittle will snap on impact. Steel... Switch held up the steel portion of the fire starting tool. Useless. Setting down the steel with flint the gadgeteer shoved hand back once more into his pack. Soap... Holding up the object used to clean one's body the Pycon screwed his face into a contortion of deep thought. No... Not enough to work with. Cramming all his belongings back into his pack Switch found himself looking at the wall once more.

“Wire... Wire... Wire... How to confuse the wire? … Confuse... Confuse... Hmmm...” He rubbed his hands as he twittered once more. “Yes yes... How to confuse... Yes yes... Hmm.”

[Switch]

Taking a closer look at the brick, standing right in front of it Switch realized something odd about it. The coloration of the golem wasn't quite right. It surprised the mini gadgeteer but he assumed most of the unsuspecting fools within the walls of the Citadel would notice the off color from the other side. Maybe they hide them behind paintings or tapestries. Regardless the pycon dropped to the balls of his skeletal feet and fell still.

Hmm, I wonder what it looks like on the inside of that golem. A machine is a machine... Regardless of it's use, this machine is just that. Now, to open it. Tapping his hand against the back the pycon pressed the side of his face against the golem. Each tap echoed a vibration through Switch's head, resounding it down through his body and echoing through his nexus. Hollow sounding echoes rebounded, but all sounded similar... All but one spot.

The lower right corner sounded a tad louder, meaning the back in that corner was weaker... Thinner. Hmm. Sliding his pack off his shoulder once more the pycon fished around inside for three items he required. Pulling out his flint and steel, his soap, and his eating knife.

Setting the flint and steel in his lap Switch took soap and knife in his hands and with a nimble hand slowly sliced a chunk off the widest side of his cleaning supplies. Being dirt getting washed wasn't exactly beneficial to him, but the material was useful for other... Experiments. With the soap sliced off Switch shoved the remaining hunk of soap back into his pack along with his knife.

Taking hold of his flint and steel he pressed the soap slice onto the corner of the golem and once the soap stuck he held up the fire starting tool and placed the striking edge close to the soap and paused. A hesitant look on his face was visible in the grimace that formed If this blows up in my face it is surely going to suck

Yet his need to sate his curious nature Switch struck a spark close to the soap, continually until nothing happened. Hmphing he settled back down and then blinked, “Course. I need a constant source of heat.” Looking at his belongings and his location surroundings and found nothing of use. “Hmm must return to the Lab... Find some tinder. Or a metal thimble and coal... Yes yes, hot heating fuel source.”

Leaving soap attached to the golem Switch turned and started his return to his bedroom and the lab outside of it.

[Ink]

Let me see what you have done with your ink. Switch Skills Climbing 1 Deduction 2 Stealth 2 Observation 3 Lores A Machine is a Machine Finding a Watcher Golem Traversing Rafters Inspecting a Watcher Golem for flaws Notes Loot: 3inch piece of copper wire Between Black and White If there are any concerns or problems with my grading please feel free to toss me a PM. I am more than happy to explain my reasons or reevaluate them if you feel I've been unfair. Also please remember to edit your grade request as graded or delete it if possible. Thank you, Ink