"302-115… 302-115…"
Claudia scanned the warehouse shelves for the next artifact on her list.
"115!" She stopped at a rather plain looking white vase.
"Aaanndd… nothing. Great… checked." She crossed off the tenth artifact on her list and read the next.
"303-107 Water the Omli-got-ford." Claudia made a face. "The what?"
She grabbed the watering can that she brought all the way from Leena's and halfway across the warehouse on the Edison car. She tracked down the 107 number and saw a bucket of water half way empty. Claudia read the video monitor.
"Omligotford. Eats oxygen from surrounding atmosphere." Claudia visibly flinched. "'Eats'?"
She carefully, slowly peered into the half empty bucket of water.
"OH! Nasty one!" Backing off she hastily filled the bucket to the top with water from Leena's watering can and got away as fast as possible. "One nasty, watery, oxygen eating artifact down!" She emphatically crossed it off of her list.
(elsewhere)
Artie managed to disassemble the piping carrying neutralizer to the 1770-1780 section. He stood perched atop a very high ladder that allowed him to access the top of the row where the piping ran. Literally in neutralizer up to his elbows, his blue protective suit kept out the hallucinogenic effects of the purple goo. Or so he hoped.
He shoved a cork plug into the piping and punched buttons on a hand held electronic box wired to the cork. The device started pumping air into the pipe to track down the clog in the system. Artie frowned at the results. He pulled out the cork in frustration. As high up as he was, the movement made the long ladder shudder and sway. Artie instinctively grabbed the ladder with one hand and a shelf with the other. His panicked heart beat faded from his ears just in time to hear a "plink plink". He looked way, way down to see a wrench that he dropped during his desperate clutch.
A small voice laughed. "Ha! Haw…!"
Artie looked over at the shrunken head laughing at him.
"Oh be quiet!" he snapped. "You take away just a little neutralizer and they think they know everything!" he grumbled.
He sighed and started down the really, really long ladder.
Artie set his feet on the warehouse floor again several minutes later. A little breathless, he sat down on a nearby crate and wiped sweat from his brow. Out of habit, he made a mental evaluation of the nearby shelves out of habit. Everything seemed to be in place. Then his eye caught something of interest.
An unusual look passed over Artie's face. He stood and slowly walked over to a shelf. He found himself staring at a normal looking piece of rope. Long lost memories came tugging back. This was a favorite artifact of a fellow agent, Ian. Ian was the senior agent when Artie started at the Warehouse. The rope was originally owned by a telekinetic in India. It became imbued with his mental energies and able to move on its own. The rope was discovered by an explorer and scientist who acquired it by means unknown. The explorer owned it for years and found it appropriate to transfer the personality of his favorite dog to the rope. More than just another artifact, the rope became sort of a pet in the office and would come when called. It was often around Ian and was a part of Artie's early Warehouse memories.
Artie thoughtfully ran his finger around the coils of the rope. It shuddered and raised its end almost out of curiosity. It curled around Artie's hand as if it recognized him. Artie knew that he was now linked to the rope in a small way, but he was also linked back to Ian and the early days that he had nearly forgotten.
After giving himself a few minutes, he shook himself from his revere. Artie picked up his discarded wrench and eyed the top of the ladder. The indications from the cork test made him strongly suspect that the plug was further down the neutralizer line. He lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes in frustration. The agent racked his mind for other options but found none less dangerous. Sighing, he went over to the control unit at the end of the row. Artie held his breath as he pressed the button turning off the neutralizer supply for the neighboring biologic section.
(On yet another aisle)
Claudia walked up yet another aisle in the warehouse with her list of chores.
"Video display repair woman! Knock knock!" she called. She located the faulty video display and squared herself in front of it to determine the problem. The display showed the artifact for a moment then static interrupted the image. Claudia smacked the side and the image cleared. She waited. The static returned, making the display unreadable.
"Finicky display. Say hello to my little friend!" She whipped out the wielding torch from her tool belt and got to work on the display.
(elsewhere in the Warehouse)
A loud rolling sound echoed through the warehouse as Artie pushed his ladder cart through the aisles. He watched the very top of the rows, following the pipes of neutralizer. Stopping the cart, he circled around a corner, craning his neck. He then came back to the ladder cart and snatched his map off of it. After referencing the map, he started to set up the massive ladder.
Artie made sure that the ladder was positioned just where he wanted it. Then he lowered the support legs off of each side, deployed a lever and locked them in place. He deftly spun a set of weights in the middle of the wide base of the ladder as he walked by. They spun and started to power each other. They continued to spin themselves faster and faster, becoming a perpetual motion machine. Artie moved to the side of the ladder and hooked a heavy weight on a hook that was coming from the piece of the cart that would be the top of the ladder. He made sure that the weight was attached securely to a rope and put the rest of the rope on the floor so that it could be drawn up without tangling.
The ladder cart lifting machine changed pitch. Artie went to the front of the cart where the wide base was. He flipped a lever engaging the lifting drive and pressed a button twice. The back of the cart started to rise. A narrow ladder rose into the air carrying the weight and a pulley with it. Artie made sure that the ladder was deploying properly and gave the driving weights one more spin. He then sat on a crate and studied his map of the neutralizer distributing system. That clog was somewhere around here and he would have to find it. The sooner the better too. Turning off the neutralizer system was definitely a way to turn his hair even greyer.
The ladder lifting machine changed pitch again as it strained under the increasing weight of the ladder. It continued to lift 5 foot sections of ladder further up the rows of artifacts. Each ladder segment slid along each other, locking into place at the ends, making a single unit once extended.
Artie walked over and gave the weights one final spin to help power the machine. He monitored the ascending ladder but his brain was on the clog. When he judged the ladder was just past his needs, he pressed and held a button. The machine sighed and was quiet. He pumped a lever and locked it in place. Artie rolled up the map and stuffed it in his ever present bag. He rechecked his tools, tossing a few more items in his bag, then made sure the bag was secured to the rope. He pulled blue gloves out of his pocket and tossed those in the bag as well then set the bag on the floor by the ladder. He took a deep breath and started climbing.