"I Tried"
Furor Paxx (VulgateOfEarth@hotmail.com)
Chapter 10- Discovery
I disclaim.
Pietro was on a roll. By July 4th, Pietro had everything planned to perfection. The invitations were being printed and the last details for the house were finished up. The food would be prepared the day before and the day of, a menu had been drawn up and the cooks (Jay, Pietro, Freddy and Todd) were practising their dishes and, to avoid making everyone sick to death of them, giving the finished products to taste testers at several shelters in the city. Pietro really did have everything planned.
So, the Brotherhood found themselves a week from the Open House with nothing to do. Well, almost nothing to do.
"While we wait, we could open up that door in the basement." Todd suggested.
"And have more stuff to clean up?" Lance yawned.
"Yeah, I guess."
"I'll get the crowbar. I don't think the doorknob works on it." Lance stretched and headed out the door while Todd rolled off the couch and dragged himself to hopping position.
"I'll get the others." He muttered to the TV. He imagined it looked at him funny, with it's blank grey screen. "Screw you too."
Within five minutes everyone was in the basement in front of the door, which was a lighter brown than the soil coloured walls. Lance stood at the front with the crowbar and had already wedged it between the door and doorframe. Pietro stood slightly behind him with a handkerchief over his mouth and nose and goggles over his eyes. To protect himself from the dirt and bugs, he claimed when Scott asked him...
"Alright, go for it." Scott said, holding half-a-dozen heavy duty flashlights. With a grunt, Lance pushed on the crowbar. Nothing happened. He finally backed away, rubbing the imprint of the crowbar from his hands.
"Maybe it's all the dirt and stuff caked in the sides of the door." Wanda said in a thoughtful voice. The guys looked.
"Yeah. That might be it." Lance said as he wrestled the crowbar from the niche and used it to scrape years of grime and dirt from the top, bottom and sides of the door. He then put it back and tried again.
"Ya' wanna lend a hand Summers?" He growled through clenched teeth. The door wasn't moving and he was putting all his wieght into it. After he and Scott spent about five mintues heaving, they gave up.
"Freddy, you do it."
Fred wrapped one massive hand around the crowbar and pushed. Nothing happened. Soon Freddy was sweating and swearing as he slowly but surely bent the crowbar out of shape. The door didn't budge.
"Okay. So maybe it's a fake door." Wanda shrugged.
"There's an empty space behind it, you can hear when you tap the walls." Kurt demonstrated. "Besides, the doorknob turns, although not all the way... If it was fake-"
"Why don't we take the doorknob off. The we can see into the room and have Kurt teleport in. It may be locked from the inside or something." Todd interupted Kurt and tossed a screwdriver to Lance.
"But, if it's locked from the inside then someone must have been in there to lock it. How could they have gotten out?"
"Aw, don't worry, fuzzy. They'll be nothing but a skeleton by now. You won't have to smell them."
"Kurt, it could just be that whoever it was was a mutant who didn't need doors, but didn't want anyone to get in. Or it may just be full of junk that slid down and blocked the door during one of Bayvilles many earthquakes..." Scott reassured Kurt. "In that case, I'll just have to blow the whole door to smithereens."
Kurt thought for a moment on how long he had spent painting the beetles and earthworms and pipes that adorned the door and decided that Scott was out of his mind.
"Dammit." Lance swore. He tossed the screwdriver back to Todd, who gave him a hammer. "Thanks." With one swing, Lance took the whole doorknob off and knocked the other end out. "Flashlight..." Scott handed one to him with a shake of his head. "Whoa. It's like a computer room minus the computers." He handed the light to Kurt and stepped to the side.
"Oh, well, that's not so bad." He said and teleported in.
"So, is it locked or something?"
"No. It opens in. Hang on." A second later, Kurt's fingers slipped the the hole in the door and he began tugging at the door.
"C'mon, push." Lance demanded as he put his shoulder to the door. It took Scott, Lance, Kurt and Fred almost fifteen minutes to get that door open, and once the got it, they saw why.
"Bloody hell. That door must be at least five inches thick." Todd swore as they looked at it. He knocked on the side and they all heard a loud metallic clanging.
"There must be a space in the door so whoever is outside can get the person inside to open up." Scott said as he stared at all the locks on the inside of the room. Thankfully, none of them had been locked. It would have taken no less than Scott's optic blasts to melt them. "Are you okay, Pietro?"
"I just had a revelation." he said more quickly than usual. "Those grilles by the lightswitches in all the rooms... they're really speakers. This is the control room. Since it's all down here like this, then... This building wasn't built as a house. A business would have this place above ground, near the entrance. It's sound-proofed, but they left a way for someone on the outside to signal the person inside... Guys, this a secret room, which means there may be more..."
"Pietro. I hereby charge you with the task of restoring this room..." At Pietro's look, Lance thought fast of a way to get Pietro to do all the hard work. "It may hold a key to accessing the other hidden rooms."
"You're right! Of course..." Pietro removed the handkerchief from his face and swiped at one of the walls. A thick layer of dust came off to reveal a screen.
"Whoa. Correction." Lance said as he stepped closer to the screen. "The computers are still here."
"Do you realize how long this place has been like this? Look, Mystique didn't know about it, or it wouldn't be like this. She's only been gone a few months and this is way too much dust for that amount of time. So that means that it's been this way since before the Brotherhood arrived here. That was... almost three years ago!" Pietro calculated. "They only just started selling computers like this, and just the monitors cost thousands of dollars."
"So what does the actual computer look like, I wonder... There's about..." Todd counted the number of dusty screens. "Twenty four screens and eight desktop computers. Are they networked?"
Lance and Scott hung back with Freddy by the door. As Todd and Pietro got more and more into the conversation, Lance and Scott got more and more confused.
"Y'know, I heard Evan say that word once." Kurt muttered, having far more difficulty understanding computer jargon than he ever had learning English.
"Yeah, well, we'll just let you two have at it." Scott said. "If you need anything, just figure out how to work the intercom and we'll come running."
Neither of them heard. Without bothering to repeat it, the non-computer geeks left, sharing a look with each other. If Pietro and Todd could get the room in working condition, they'd get no peace from the little grilles built into the walls of every room. On the other hand, what if Pietro was right...
Furor Paxx (VulgateOfEarth@hotmail.com)
Chapter 10- Discovery
I disclaim.
Pietro was on a roll. By July 4th, Pietro had everything planned to perfection. The invitations were being printed and the last details for the house were finished up. The food would be prepared the day before and the day of, a menu had been drawn up and the cooks (Jay, Pietro, Freddy and Todd) were practising their dishes and, to avoid making everyone sick to death of them, giving the finished products to taste testers at several shelters in the city. Pietro really did have everything planned.
So, the Brotherhood found themselves a week from the Open House with nothing to do. Well, almost nothing to do.
"While we wait, we could open up that door in the basement." Todd suggested.
"And have more stuff to clean up?" Lance yawned.
"Yeah, I guess."
"I'll get the crowbar. I don't think the doorknob works on it." Lance stretched and headed out the door while Todd rolled off the couch and dragged himself to hopping position.
"I'll get the others." He muttered to the TV. He imagined it looked at him funny, with it's blank grey screen. "Screw you too."
Within five minutes everyone was in the basement in front of the door, which was a lighter brown than the soil coloured walls. Lance stood at the front with the crowbar and had already wedged it between the door and doorframe. Pietro stood slightly behind him with a handkerchief over his mouth and nose and goggles over his eyes. To protect himself from the dirt and bugs, he claimed when Scott asked him...
"Alright, go for it." Scott said, holding half-a-dozen heavy duty flashlights. With a grunt, Lance pushed on the crowbar. Nothing happened. He finally backed away, rubbing the imprint of the crowbar from his hands.
"Maybe it's all the dirt and stuff caked in the sides of the door." Wanda said in a thoughtful voice. The guys looked.
"Yeah. That might be it." Lance said as he wrestled the crowbar from the niche and used it to scrape years of grime and dirt from the top, bottom and sides of the door. He then put it back and tried again.
"Ya' wanna lend a hand Summers?" He growled through clenched teeth. The door wasn't moving and he was putting all his wieght into it. After he and Scott spent about five mintues heaving, they gave up.
"Freddy, you do it."
Fred wrapped one massive hand around the crowbar and pushed. Nothing happened. Soon Freddy was sweating and swearing as he slowly but surely bent the crowbar out of shape. The door didn't budge.
"Okay. So maybe it's a fake door." Wanda shrugged.
"There's an empty space behind it, you can hear when you tap the walls." Kurt demonstrated. "Besides, the doorknob turns, although not all the way... If it was fake-"
"Why don't we take the doorknob off. The we can see into the room and have Kurt teleport in. It may be locked from the inside or something." Todd interupted Kurt and tossed a screwdriver to Lance.
"But, if it's locked from the inside then someone must have been in there to lock it. How could they have gotten out?"
"Aw, don't worry, fuzzy. They'll be nothing but a skeleton by now. You won't have to smell them."
"Kurt, it could just be that whoever it was was a mutant who didn't need doors, but didn't want anyone to get in. Or it may just be full of junk that slid down and blocked the door during one of Bayvilles many earthquakes..." Scott reassured Kurt. "In that case, I'll just have to blow the whole door to smithereens."
Kurt thought for a moment on how long he had spent painting the beetles and earthworms and pipes that adorned the door and decided that Scott was out of his mind.
"Dammit." Lance swore. He tossed the screwdriver back to Todd, who gave him a hammer. "Thanks." With one swing, Lance took the whole doorknob off and knocked the other end out. "Flashlight..." Scott handed one to him with a shake of his head. "Whoa. It's like a computer room minus the computers." He handed the light to Kurt and stepped to the side.
"Oh, well, that's not so bad." He said and teleported in.
"So, is it locked or something?"
"No. It opens in. Hang on." A second later, Kurt's fingers slipped the the hole in the door and he began tugging at the door.
"C'mon, push." Lance demanded as he put his shoulder to the door. It took Scott, Lance, Kurt and Fred almost fifteen minutes to get that door open, and once the got it, they saw why.
"Bloody hell. That door must be at least five inches thick." Todd swore as they looked at it. He knocked on the side and they all heard a loud metallic clanging.
"There must be a space in the door so whoever is outside can get the person inside to open up." Scott said as he stared at all the locks on the inside of the room. Thankfully, none of them had been locked. It would have taken no less than Scott's optic blasts to melt them. "Are you okay, Pietro?"
"I just had a revelation." he said more quickly than usual. "Those grilles by the lightswitches in all the rooms... they're really speakers. This is the control room. Since it's all down here like this, then... This building wasn't built as a house. A business would have this place above ground, near the entrance. It's sound-proofed, but they left a way for someone on the outside to signal the person inside... Guys, this a secret room, which means there may be more..."
"Pietro. I hereby charge you with the task of restoring this room..." At Pietro's look, Lance thought fast of a way to get Pietro to do all the hard work. "It may hold a key to accessing the other hidden rooms."
"You're right! Of course..." Pietro removed the handkerchief from his face and swiped at one of the walls. A thick layer of dust came off to reveal a screen.
"Whoa. Correction." Lance said as he stepped closer to the screen. "The computers are still here."
"Do you realize how long this place has been like this? Look, Mystique didn't know about it, or it wouldn't be like this. She's only been gone a few months and this is way too much dust for that amount of time. So that means that it's been this way since before the Brotherhood arrived here. That was... almost three years ago!" Pietro calculated. "They only just started selling computers like this, and just the monitors cost thousands of dollars."
"So what does the actual computer look like, I wonder... There's about..." Todd counted the number of dusty screens. "Twenty four screens and eight desktop computers. Are they networked?"
Lance and Scott hung back with Freddy by the door. As Todd and Pietro got more and more into the conversation, Lance and Scott got more and more confused.
"Y'know, I heard Evan say that word once." Kurt muttered, having far more difficulty understanding computer jargon than he ever had learning English.
"Yeah, well, we'll just let you two have at it." Scott said. "If you need anything, just figure out how to work the intercom and we'll come running."
Neither of them heard. Without bothering to repeat it, the non-computer geeks left, sharing a look with each other. If Pietro and Todd could get the room in working condition, they'd get no peace from the little grilles built into the walls of every room. On the other hand, what if Pietro was right...