Re: The Battle Royale S2 [Round 3: Endymion]
08-10-2011, 12:16 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.
Had Hattallan scientist and inventor Fellen Wernscroft been born in another time altogether and in a different section of his home galaxy, he might've become good drinking buddies with a man named Rube Goldberg. Wernscroft was best known for his astonishingly (and pointlessly) complicated creations, which would often fill entire rooms with cogs, string, and tiny mechanical contraptions, all of which would work in harmony to perform some tiny, meaningless task. Of all of his works, his most famous was a device that, over the course of twenty minutes or so, would carve a piece of wood into a smaller and smaller piece until all that was left was wood shavings. It then burned the shavings.
The office of the Grand Inquisitor of Endymion would've made Wernscroft roll his eyes. There didn't seem to be a single section of wall that wasn't in motion; everything constantly shifted or rolled or ticked away, with no apparent purpose in sight and no obvious start or end to be found.
"The offices of the three heads of Endymian government are all designed to be microcosms of the moon as a whole; as goes the world, so go the rooms."
Geoff shot Wardell a look; the human had taken out A Comprehensive History of Endymion again.
"So, what, something breaking out there will damage it in here too?"
Wardell scanned the page, flipped to the next one, and read it over as well. "Doesn't say," he replied.
Just as Geoff was about to respond, a section of the wall swung open, letting in a pair of male beings, both of the same spindly species Geoff had first encountered. At least, Geoff assumed they were- one of them was wide enough that he had to turn sideways to fit through the door.
"So," said the large one, "these are our two suspects?"
"Yes, Acolyte Calor," the smaller replied, "and with the Grand Inquisitor's demise, the duty of solving the crime-"
"-Falls to me, yes, I know. I am familiar with the scriptures, Minister Dreus." He stressed the apparently-lower rank of the smaller man, then turned to glower at the pair. "Don't worry, I will investigate quite thoroughly just who killed the Inquisitor."
Wardell, in a near-unparalleled act of sociability and extroversion, looked up sharply. He didn't say anything, but the cogs moving in his head were obvious to everyone in the room.
Geoff just swore to himself.
Calor smiled grimly down at the pair. "Now, you two are entitled to due process, of course. How, why, and when you killed the Inquisitor will be ascertained as fast as possible, and the sentence will be carried out soon after."
Geoff was about to start shouting something at him, probably about how he was an investigator and that he could be an asset to the investigation, about how they were losing crucial minutes as the real murderer escaped, or about how he and Wardell had absolutely no reason to kill any sort of Inquisitor, but before he could get out a word, the heavy doors behind him slammed open and a small, soaking wet page hurried in, brandishing a tiny piece of paper at Calor.
The Acolyte barely glimpsed at the paper before cursing under his breath, grabbing Dreus, and practically running out the door.
As the door slammed behind the two priests, the page giggled a bit. Geoff eyed him cautiously, and his giggles only increased. "Well," the kid asked, "are you gonna keep sitting there, or are you going to get rescued?"
Geoff blinked at him. "Rescued?"
"Duh. Come on!" Still giggling, their apparent rescuer grabbed one of the wall's many gizmos and twisted it, making the section of wall Calor and Dreus had used to enter open again.
As the lad darted down the dark passageway, Geoff and Wardell rose and followed. It wasn't every day a tiny child saved you from an apparent execution.
Had Hattallan scientist and inventor Fellen Wernscroft been born in another time altogether and in a different section of his home galaxy, he might've become good drinking buddies with a man named Rube Goldberg. Wernscroft was best known for his astonishingly (and pointlessly) complicated creations, which would often fill entire rooms with cogs, string, and tiny mechanical contraptions, all of which would work in harmony to perform some tiny, meaningless task. Of all of his works, his most famous was a device that, over the course of twenty minutes or so, would carve a piece of wood into a smaller and smaller piece until all that was left was wood shavings. It then burned the shavings.
The office of the Grand Inquisitor of Endymion would've made Wernscroft roll his eyes. There didn't seem to be a single section of wall that wasn't in motion; everything constantly shifted or rolled or ticked away, with no apparent purpose in sight and no obvious start or end to be found.
"The offices of the three heads of Endymian government are all designed to be microcosms of the moon as a whole; as goes the world, so go the rooms."
Geoff shot Wardell a look; the human had taken out A Comprehensive History of Endymion again.
"So, what, something breaking out there will damage it in here too?"
Wardell scanned the page, flipped to the next one, and read it over as well. "Doesn't say," he replied.
Just as Geoff was about to respond, a section of the wall swung open, letting in a pair of male beings, both of the same spindly species Geoff had first encountered. At least, Geoff assumed they were- one of them was wide enough that he had to turn sideways to fit through the door.
"So," said the large one, "these are our two suspects?"
"Yes, Acolyte Calor," the smaller replied, "and with the Grand Inquisitor's demise, the duty of solving the crime-"
"-Falls to me, yes, I know. I am familiar with the scriptures, Minister Dreus." He stressed the apparently-lower rank of the smaller man, then turned to glower at the pair. "Don't worry, I will investigate quite thoroughly just who killed the Inquisitor."
Wardell, in a near-unparalleled act of sociability and extroversion, looked up sharply. He didn't say anything, but the cogs moving in his head were obvious to everyone in the room.
Geoff just swore to himself.
Calor smiled grimly down at the pair. "Now, you two are entitled to due process, of course. How, why, and when you killed the Inquisitor will be ascertained as fast as possible, and the sentence will be carried out soon after."
Geoff was about to start shouting something at him, probably about how he was an investigator and that he could be an asset to the investigation, about how they were losing crucial minutes as the real murderer escaped, or about how he and Wardell had absolutely no reason to kill any sort of Inquisitor, but before he could get out a word, the heavy doors behind him slammed open and a small, soaking wet page hurried in, brandishing a tiny piece of paper at Calor.
The Acolyte barely glimpsed at the paper before cursing under his breath, grabbing Dreus, and practically running out the door.
As the door slammed behind the two priests, the page giggled a bit. Geoff eyed him cautiously, and his giggles only increased. "Well," the kid asked, "are you gonna keep sitting there, or are you going to get rescued?"
Geoff blinked at him. "Rescued?"
"Duh. Come on!" Still giggling, their apparent rescuer grabbed one of the wall's many gizmos and twisted it, making the section of wall Calor and Dreus had used to enter open again.
As the lad darted down the dark passageway, Geoff and Wardell rose and followed. It wasn't every day a tiny child saved you from an apparent execution.