Emily The Strange_ The Lost Days Part 21

No birds here.

ME:.

What did Jakey's parrot tell you?

R:.

She has lice.

ME:.

How am I gonna stop Attikol from knocking down the El Dungeon?

R:.

Uhhhhhhh...

ME:.

I mean, I'm not asking for the whole grand plan...Just a little something. A diversion would be nice, to start with.

R:.

Sandstorm.

ME:.

WHAT DID YOU SAY?.

R:.

[Flickers of superior intelligence in her face...I swear.] Sandstorm.

ME:.

[Heart beating hard.] How did you get that idea? R: Iono.

ME:.

[Getting very excited.] Where is Great-Aunt Emma's will?

R:.

There is no will, my dear.

ME:.

AUNT EMMA, IS THAT YOU?.

R:.

...Huhhhhh?

ME:.

Great-Aunt Emma, did you make a will?

R:.

What's a will?

ME:.

GAH....

[image]

[image]

Later Have been to the library and photocopied Great-Aunt Emma's patent application for the amplitudinal sandstorm generator. Librarian was very reluctant even to unlock the doors for me, as he was busy packing his personal things so he can leave this town like everyone else. But I guess I was convincing when I told him it was a matter of Life and Death.

Not a bad idea, that sandstorm. At the very least, it might keep the construction crews from their work. Maybe. For a while.

I'm back at the El Dungeon now, wondering where I can find an oscillating vortical accelerator and an astrogendetic gyroscope. As well as an ablation shield, a guide wire lumen, and all the other a.s.sorted mechanical sundries I will need. Am thinking the junk-mail factory is not a bad place to look. Have to wait until dark to try that, though, since there are still a couple of police officers roaming the streets, scavenging the abandoned homes and stores.

In the meantime, I also need a nice, private place to build this thing. Am wondering if that lab coat I found in the secret closet is any kind of clue...Great-Aunt Emma WAS an inventor. I just bet she had some kind of laboratory down there. Most likely behind that locked door. Will just have to break in there and check it out.

Later. Much Later The locks on the door down in the secret closet are tougher than I expected. At first I was really surprised. Not to mention discouraged. Then I remembered whose secret closet this was. Come on. Of course the locks WOULD be tough, but surely Great-Aunt Emma expected that some little great-niece of hers would come along someday and try to open them? And she'd want to let that little great-niece in, I just know it.

The cats and I stood around for a while as I was thinking all this and gazing at the locks and trying to, like, convince them to open through the sheer force of my mind, or Great-Aunt Emma's spirit powers, or something. Absolutely nothing happened, and then I started to feel foolish and thought I might as well take some kind of concrete action toward opening them, instead of standing around like a drooling idiot.

So here's what I've learned: The top one looks like a straightforward bolt with a basic steel k.n.o.b, but I can't turn it. I mean, it's really solid, and I've already tried pliers, boltcutters, and a blowtorch. (Local hardware store closed forever=lots of perfectly good, easily fixable tools in Dumpster=paradise.) The middle one looks like a tiny stoplight. There's a small circle of gla.s.s in the door, and red, yellow, and green lights behind it. The yellow light is lit.

The bottom one consists of a row of dials, like the ones on a combination lock, only with letters and s.p.a.ces, apparently dialed randomly. It looks like this: [image]

I'm not sure, but I am probably supposed to dial in some code phrase that will open the door.

Have tried OPEN SESAME, PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR, and a few other variations on that theme. Nothing.

Will have to ponder this upstairs. Am expecting a visit from Schneider.

Later Schneider came into the El Dungeon looking all a-flutter and practically yelling, "I'm the mayor of Blackrock!"

ME:.

That was fast.

SCHNEIDER:.

Yeah! It was great! The mayor swore me in about an hour ago. Right before he left town.

ME:.

Are you sure YOU want to stay? There won't be many buildings standing by tomorrow.

S:.

That's what I'm here to talk about.