Carpe Noctem

Sam had not known Edy well, but what Jigano said of her was not surprising to him. She had helped him realise some things about himself and grow his confidence, but hardly in a gentle or tactful way. Wessex and Ronin were an odd pair of rulers, especially given Ronin's illness. But things had gotten better, he supposed. He was surprised when the lock came away in his hands, staring at it blinking for a long while before he even looked up to see what he had revealed - a boring closet. At first he held the same thoughts as Jigano, that perhaps it could be a secret way into somewhere else. But further inspection showed that it was just a closet. "Mmm...perhaps there really is nothing left here now it's served it's purpose." Sam mused, leaning back against the wall with a huff. "Do you think it's worth continuing?" Samuel He took a step but then felt tired He said, I'll rest a little while But when he tried to walk again He wasn't a child

The empty room was, admittedly, anticlimactic and Jigano frowned, feeling frustration bubble up and trying to escape in a snarl that he fought to swallow back. He bit down on the inside of his cheek to focus himself, trying not to lash out at Sam for wanting to give up so soon.

"Whatever its purpose was," he said, clearly disappointed. "Who knows, now." He pulled the door gently closed, even though it would never lock again and looked up the spiral, his frown lightening a little. "I'd like to keep going, if you don't mind. At least a little further. Surely there's something other than broom closets in this place, after all the trouble we had getting into it." He tried to push a wry smile past the black twist of annoyance in his gut. "Let's go a little farther, at least. It seems a shame to go back empty handed."

His smile might have been a bit weak, but he shouldered his medical pack again, rolling the needles between his fingers as he kept them out. He led the way up again around another bend of the stairs, another door appearing out of the shadows as his white lantern revealed the details above them. Jigano turned to raise a brow at Sam, gesturing to it with a bit more of his usual spark. "Care to try again? I need to do some work on these before I can try and use them." So saying, he put the point of one against the stone and started tapping it to dull it and try to get a bend in the metal.

Sam nodded, willing to go to further doors if Jigano wanted to. Honestly though, he didn't know if they would find anything more of use in the Spire. It had been built to be a prison of sorts, hadn't it? The Core had been freed and now he didn't know if it had any more uses. But Jigano was his guildmaster, friend, and...as much as Sam didn't want to think it, he was sick. Knowing how Ronin was getting, he wanted to do all he could for his ill friends as long as he had the ability to. They came to another door and Sam reached forward to take the lock in his hands again. "Alright, I'll have a go, though perhaps your method would be less destructive..." Well, he supposed no one cared about locks in the Spire. Sam pulled as hard as he could again, trying to yank the lock off. Samuel He took a step but then felt tired He said, I'll rest a little while But when he tried to walk again He wasn't a child

Sam's strength proves victorious once again. The bolt is torn away beneath the ascended's fingers, revealing a room that is roughly 10x10, but barren of nearly...everything. No windows, no cobwebs; only stale air and... ..oh. What's that? Precisely in the center of the room is a small device, almost the shape and size of a kidney bean. How strange. It seems made out of a hybrid-metal.

"Would it be strange to ask Remi to summon me up a set of lockpicks?" he asked, only a little rhetorically as he tried to coax the metal of his needles to bend without breaking. "If I can't get these sorted out, your strength will be the only way to go, at least for tonight..." And indeed, Sam's strength was both impressive and successful. The bard blinked a little, still surprised to see the gentle bookmaker exert such force in spite of his physically unimposing build.

Looking past his ginger friend, Jigano's eyes narrowed in initial disappointment as it seemed they had found a larger, fancier, equally empty broom closet. "At least it wasn't a trap..." he murmured, trailing off as a small reflection caught the lantern light in the center of the floor. He paused, sharing a look with his friend before cautiously stepping through the door and kneeling to examine the innocuous-looking metallic bean. "Mechanical beans for mechanical mice?" He joked weakly, reaching out a cautious hand to touch a gentle finger to the odd little object.

As he held yet another lock in his hands, Sam felt slightly monstrous; a hidden beast within in the form of his Ascended blood making him something he should not be. Even though he had recently come to respect and even love his Goddess and his 'people', it was hard to feel comfortable with seeing hands that should have struggled to even lift the lock easily pull it away. But the door was open, which was a distraction for now. He crouched down as Jigano did, staring at the little metal object. Nothing he knew of, but it looked like something to do with The Voice. As soon as the other man reached out to touch it he shot out to grab Jigano's wrist. "A lot of these things. Um. Metal things, technology and things like that...can be bad for people that aren't Ascended." After all, if he dropped his cube onto someones hands he could easily hurt them. It was not ridiculous to imagine this seemingly harmless bean causing Jigano pain, and since he was already ill...Slowly Sam let go of his wrist and reached out to take the object himself, lifting it up in his fingers and turning it, looking it over. Samuel He took a step but then felt tired He said, I'll rest a little while But when he tried to walk again He wasn't a child

It was hardly the first time that Sam had made contact with him without warning, but that was usually as part of a spontaneous hug. Jigano stopped in surprise as the bookmaker grabbed his wrist, pausing to look at his friend with curious confusion - and a spike of irrational anger at being denied. The explanation caused a pale brow to arch, however, and the bard drew in a slow breath and let it out again, nodding slowly. "Yes, of course... that makes sense..." He sat back on his heels, frowning slightly as Sam picked up the bean to examine it.

The metallic device was cool and smooth, and utterly innocent in the lantern's light. It neither hummed nor lit up nor did anything other than lie there and be reflective.

"Something that small, all by itself in a room this big? I can't help but think it's at least a little suspicious," Jigano mused. "What happens if you squeeze it? Are there any bits of it that feel like a button, perhaps?" The bard was no stranger to technology, but the alien machines that had fallen to his world during the Rain of Stars were a very different type of beast than the Voice's biotech.

Mostly. Then again, he had fought androids and watched his friend Jenny replace bits and pieces of herself with bio-technologies that made her faster and stronger than any human had a right to be without magical assistance. Not that they had saved her in the end...

Sam waited for a moment for the metal bean to spring to life or change colour or begin to sing, but after a few beats had passed it was clear it was just going to sit in his fingers and shine at him. He wondered if it was just a trinket, perhaps a part of a necklace or a charm that had fallen off the clothing of a past adventurer. But Jigano seemed to want to believe it could be something more and that did make it rather more exciting, so he nodded and began some tests. First of all he squeezed it all over, feeling for any buttons or softer parts. Then he would hold it in his hand, trying to warm it up (and belatedly realise he had no body heat to do it with and give up). After that he glanced across at Jigano and mumbled: "I'm just going to try..." before awkwardly licking it, wondering if it could be activated by fluid (one of these days, something had to be). Samuel He took a step but then felt tired He said, I'll rest a little while But when he tried to walk again He wasn't a child

If only you were Canadian Sam, and had grown up with wholesome television programs imploring you not to put it in your mouth or stuff it in your face, sung to you by blue monsters. Pity, you grew up in Caido instead and in so doing, decided to lick the bean. It tastes like earwax. Gross.

The bard watched Sam curiously, eyes avidly drawn to the metal object as his friend explored it with slender fingers that quickly probed and stroked their odd little find all over. The search for buttons or seams, depressions or any other clue as to the bean's purpose came up short, but the bard's mind was ticking over as he frowned at the shape. A bean, yes, but it was curved and rounded in such a way as to resemble something more familiar. He frowned and started to hold out his hand, a thoughtful look on his face. "I think I have an idea. Could I--"

Sam's apology came before he could quite finish his question, and a moment later Jigano withdrew his hand, struggling to keep his expression neutral and not wrinkle his brow in disgust and a little frustration. "Well, that's one way to claim it as yours," he said dryly. Drier, at least, than the bean now was. "I was going to say that it almost looks like something that would fit in an ear, but we'll probably want to dry it off first." A pale brow arched sardonically at his friend. "Dare I ask why you licked it?"

Sam's nose immediately wrinkled and he pulled back the bean upon tasting it (still though, thinking that licking it had been a logical thing to do, even if no one else did). He could sense Jigano's distaste for the action and felt a drop of shame, but it was the easiest way to test if something would react to fluid without cutting himself or stuffing it up his nose. Quickly, he rubbed it dry on his sleeve and held it out towards Jigano. "I just...sometimes, technology like this...well, it's made with Ascended in mind, usually, and our fluid is something only we could use to activate something. So I thought..." It didn't sound like a very good justification when he said it out loud. "...It did not taste nice." "Do you...want to try put it in your ear? It's dry now." He promised. Samuel He took a step but then felt tired He said, I'll rest a little while But when he tried to walk again He wasn't a child

At least Sam’s Ascended status made it unlikely that he’d contract a disease from his culinary adventures with metal beans. Unless there was an Ascended-specific disease that roamed the Spire, similar to whatever had driven the Demon mad. The thought made Jigano’s blood run cold(er than it usually was these days) and he shivered, barely resisting the urge to reach out and smack the bean out of his friend’s hand – much the same way Sam had stopped him earlier.

But it was too late for that, too late by far if he’d been hoping to keep that particular fear from coming true. The explanation earned a raised brow, for however much the bard distrusted the Voice, he had a hard time thinking that the pretty young goddess would expect her children to lick things to use them. That seemed to be taking the ‘child’ metaphor a bit too far.

To say nothing of jamming things up noses.

”Did the cube require licking to use?” he asked mildly, remembering that strange piece of technology that they had poked and prodded in the Guildhall when the world was simpler and the barrier still stood.

Blue eyes dubiously examined the proffered metal device bean, for he might not have known what it had been doing for the past three hundred years, but he certainly knew where it had been in the last three minutes. ”I would have preferred to try that avenue before it went in your mouth,” he said drily. ”But if you’re sure it’s safe…” He reached out to take the harmless-looking little object, studying it for himself – and surreptitiously giving it a more thorough wiping down on his own sleeve before he lifted it to his ear, settling it gently into place as he listened for the sounds of any clockwork or ticking within.

omg hygiene. Nothing happens. Jigano hears nothing. Weirdos.

"Well...no, but..." Sam shrugged, aware that further justifications for his licking would likely just make him look stupid. Maybe there really would never be an Ascended techology activated by fluid. He just thought it made sense. Maybe he could ask The Voice about it. Jigano took the bean and held it up to his ear; Sam watched carefully, unsure what he was expecting to happen. After a moment, when it didn't blow up and Jigano was still just holding it, he gently suggested: "Perhaps...it is just a bit of scrap metal." Samuel He took a step but then felt tired He said, I'll rest a little while But when he tried to walk again He wasn't a child