Murphy's Law...

[Jyre]

Jyr Ornallus d'Tir was not pleased with himself.

He stood alone at a shabby workbench in the basement of a respectably-built house. Before him, laid out and almost fully-assembled on the workbench, lay a four foot long, mechanical spider-like creature. The primary module that appeared to serve as a body for the creature was a smooth, cool blue steel in color with black criss-crossing etchings inlaid on the surface like spider webs created with only right angles. At various points along the body, these strange etchings would end in a circle with a dot of normal steel set in the middle. The mechanical contraption had a certain air about it, the look of something living that has died and been laid out for an autopsy.

Absentmindedly, Jyr removed his time-keeper from his left breast shirt pocket, flipped the locket lid and looked at the face of the device without actually registering what it said, and put it back all in the same motion. He knew it was late, but that didn't concern him, he never got much sleep. Were it not for his extremely dark complexion, he might have dark bags under his eyes but it didn't bother him. But what was set out next to his newest golem did bother him, it bothered him very much. Or rather, what it represented bothered him.

Before him lay at least seven different kinds of rare gemstone that he had painstakingly spent the past several months tracking down through Tian Xia. He'd only just returned from the capitol city of Dalouxiu last week, returned tired and broke. He'd spent the last of the small fortune he'd brought with him from his homeland bribing, buying, blackmailing, stealing, and hiring to get at these useless rocks. Useless! Utterly useless, and now it'll be at least a month before I get my next shipment of gold from home...damn!

He had made his journey under the presumption that one of the jewels before him would have the necessary resonant frequency to act as a focal point for the energy matrix of his new golem. Now, he would have to sell them just to survive for the next month. I can't even keep them to use for some other purpose. What a waste. Jyr rubbed his eyes wearily and slumped down onto the stool in front of his workbench. Time to get back to work, study his golem a little more. Maybe he would gain some insight into what kind of jewel would do the trick. Maybe a diamon? But that's so common! He was running out of options.

[Kiger Reign]

Time to go to work.

Wearing a dark leather jacket over a black shirt, dark jeans and shoes he was able to slip easily enough through the shadows without too much evidence of his passing. Work time meant carrying his few weapons, none of which obviously were in sight. A few innocent throwing stars and daggers tucked a way just in case the worse should happen. Unlikely…Kiger was always careful.

The house appeared quiet, it had appeared quiet for a while. So with the casual attitude of a home owner he walked up to the front door, and took out a lock pick and inserted it in the key hole. A little exploration of the key hole with the tool, then eventually he heard the satisfying click.

He opened the door, and waited a second or two. When no one spoke out, or came into view he entered the house gently sliding the door shut behind him. He hadn’t come for anything large at the moment, just enough to fit in a modest sized bag. He walked through the front part of the house, stopping to consider an item or two, being particular to what might look best to add to his collection. A few objects were put in the bag, many more were determined to not be needed and put back into place.

For all his light fingered hands, he’d somehow managed to break a dinner plate last night, might as well collect a new one. Heading into the kitchen, he opened up some cabinets searching for a good plate, some silverware, and a new cup. The owner of the house would probably laugh at the objects he decided to take, if they even realized right away such basic things had been stolen. Any small ornaments he saw got tossed into the bag, or any loose stones.

After the rest of the house had been toured he made his way towards the basement. He was starting to think the owner wasn’t here, he certainly hadn’t been in the bedroom, and it was a time of night most people, if at home, would be asleep. Upon opening the door to the basement, he hissed silently behind his teeth as the realizing hit Kiger that he was not the only person currently in the house. He froze leaving the door open a crack waiting to see if he’d been spotted. The door hadn’t been opened to far after all, just enough to give him a small view of the inside, and only the glint of metal with a flickering shadow told him someone else was in the room.

[Jyre]

Jyr had given up working on what he'd nicknamed "The Modular" a while ago. He still hadn't figured out how to determine the kind of gemstone would be best-suited for use as a focal point for the energy the machine would need to harness. He knew it must exist, the problem was in finding it. He'd briefly considered building a machine that would be able to emulate the natural processes involved in the formation of such crystals, and that itself wouldn't take nearly as much energy as the Modular would. It's just that I need this machine as soon as possible, he thought to himself, though had I just gone ahead and done it last year before I left on that trip...

Whatever. He'd promised himself he would stop thinking about it while he was cleaning up. Though really. What was there to clean up? All the dirty work was done, had been done since last year. Now he was just walking back and forth sweeping the immaculate floor as if chasing some invisible, elusive speck of dust. Sweepsweep. Sweepsweep.

He swept past the foot of the stairs leading up to the main house. As he did, he most definitely noticed the door was open a crack and that part of the moonlight shining from the adjacent room's window was blocked out. It was just a glimpse, but he knew what he'd seen. And he knew without a doubt that he'd shut the basement door behind him as he always did. There was a little routine he went through every time he came down; unlock the basement door, open it, step inside, shut the door carefully, remove his hat to hang on the wall peg, then walk down the stairs.

So, I've got a house guest, do I? He was rather surprised to note, having designed all the locks in the house himself. He must've got lucky, then. Or...did I forget the primary locks? The house had come with standard locks, of course, and he'd kept the for the sake of appearances. Sometimes he forgot his own locks when he used those, though... That must be it.

Jyr made certain not to give any outward appearance of having noticed the intruder. He knew his limits, and that the person would likely be armed. Very quietly, he collected all the precious gems he'd laid out earlier. He knew they would be out of view of whoever was looking in the door so he wasn't worried that they'd been discovered yet. After having collected them all and depositing them in the pouch, he went to his own special safe and stored them in there. It was a small safe, just big enough to hold the gems--which is all it was designed for anyway. The intricate locking mechanisms had been designed by Jyr himself a few years ago when he'd built his first golem. It was a necessity, when dealing with valuable gems like this.

He casually walked over to the end of the workbench that was just barely visible from the doorway at the top of the stairs and said in a conversational tone, "Why don't you come on down here? I have no weapons and nothing of value that you could steal, neither down here nor up there. And don't worry, I won't call those blundering fools, the guards..."

[Kiger Reign]

Kiger had kept to breathing as his only action to take for the next few moments. As far as he could tell the man hadn’t noticed his presence. Just in case he needed to ditch the bag he put the smallest of items he picked up in a pocket…no reason to not get away with at least one thing. Stupidity, was what kept him there he decided…stupid arrogance. Have I become so stupid as to think I will never get caught?

"Why don't you come on down here? I have no weapons and nothing of value that you could steal, neither down here nor up there. And don't worry, I won't call those blundering fools, the guards..."

Apparently he had indeed grown too arrogant. Of course…if the guy was serious and had no plan of calling the guards there was really no reason to listen to him. The merits of walking off could be considerably better. However the man of course could be lying. Perhaps the second Kiger left he planned on calling the guards, or perhaps he considered the guards blundering fools because he was better than they were…not an overly pleasant thought.

Kiger wasn’t a coward…not unless he needed to play the part. Well, he had already figured out a lie to get himself out of being caught…though quite frankly this wasn’t the style he had imagined the person he spoke with would have. He had expected more excited…angry…scared…riled emotions were easier to deal with, they often hindered logic which made his sound all the better. However, what mostly made him open the door the rest of the way wasn’t fear for his health, or a piece of a story needing to be played…just simple curiosity. He’d wanted to know what was in here so he might as well find out.

Dropping the goodies he’d collected Kiger opened the door the rest of the way and walked in. The gait was as confident as the assurance that glinted in his eyes. He moved to stand on the opposite side of the bench. Little emotion showed on that fae…the muscles were relaxed and still. His eyes calmly took in the room, inspecting it piece by piece, with a bit of awareness always turned on Jyre.
“Blundering guards do not bother me, only the capable ones.” So did the man think so little of the guards, or did he think so highly of himself? Of course the other option was that the man was playing Kiger, trying to influence his actions by a nice story he could weave. “Nor have I heard many people call the guards in this city blundering. Do you think little of them in particular, or the populace in general? Last option…you just think that highly of yourself.” Kiger’s eyes had to stop on the bench and the monstrosity on it. “What exactly is this anyway…looks pretty pointless.” Did it do something, was it just a thing to look at…or what?

[Jyre]

Jyr heard the man upstairs drop what sounded like a small bag full of something and walk down the steps. The man was confident, unsurprised at anything he saw. He said some stuff that really didn't interest Jyr, asked some questions about the guards, apparantly wondering why Jyr thought them blundering. Fool! Guards are always blundering, they're the same everywhere... Although, it was true that Jyr had pretty much stayed off the grid since he'd been in town.

Then, before Jyr had a chance to say what he'd been thinking, he was asked about the golem on the table. He forgot about the other questions completely. If it was one thing really enjoyed, it was a chance to expound on the particulars of his creations.

"This is...well, I'd say 'It's a golem' but that really isn't quite right, it's more than that. It is an Intelligent Battle-Configuration Automoton, capable of moving, thinking, and fighting on its own--that is, it will be once I finish building it." Jyr's long-winded speech leaves contains a hint of excitement, like a child's at receiving a new toy though his face betrays no such emotion.

Adjusting the spectacles that rest on the bridge of his nose, he takes a moment to consider the burglar before him. "Maybe you would like to see an older invention of mine, something similar to this?" The corners of his mouth upturn slightly in what might be called a grin and he stands utters a word: "Niab-yeh."

With that, a low mechanical whirring is hear from behind the stairwell and what had previously appeared to be a piece of furniture covered by a white sheet stirred. Actuators and pulleys, smoothly oiled gears and shafts, all activating at once, whispered softly as the thing tried to stand at its full height. There was a loud cracking sound as its head began to split the wood of the stair above it. "Niab-yeh, STOP!" The thing ceased its movement, though a small whirring sound still permeated the room. "Niab-yeh, staircase, guard it. Don't destroy it."

The creature seemed to consider for a moment, as if all the commands were confusing but eventually it resolved its thoughts and began lumbering out from under the staircase and over to stand in front of it. It paid no mind to its surroundings, crushing one half of a metal pail as it walked.

The tall, thin golem made of metal and stone simply stood in front of the staircase, staring straight ahead over the workbench and between the two humanoids. In middle of what could be termed its forehead was encrusted a glowing red gem, crudely-cut but apparantly well-protected by a small metal "cage" covering it. This golem was probably about twice the size of that laying on the workbench.

[Kiger Reign]

Uhm…that was certainly a new one to Kiger, but he imagined magic was magic and that was all there was to this. Still if he was telling the truth about the metal monster and that it could think on its own that meant he didn’t have to control it magically at the moment, only the original creation. However did it really matter? It wasn’t finished and therefore not a threat.

As that last thought clicked into place he saw the hidden veil of a smile on the mans face. His heart pumped a few extra beats as he tried to get an eyeful of the whole room without turning his head to much or too fast, the only time to act scared is when you chose to do it, not when your emotions suggest it. Furniture moving? Too late; the realization hit Kiger that just because the thing on the table didn’t work didn’t mean the guy had only the one. In fact he’d seemed so confident that it would work…damn he should have thought about that. Still…it wasn’t like it had been a long decision. Kiger twitched a lip watching the thing going to block his escape route. Arrogance can get a person into a lot of trouble…he knew that…yet here was some pretty damn good proof he’d just ignored that bit of common sense.

“You know…the fun part is that thing is probably going to cost you more money from breaking up your home than say if a thief broke in and stole some things.” Great…if it was a person blocking the door he could try to trick it, confuse it, or at last ditch effort even attack. How do you attack that thing? It could think on its own but he had never tried to confuse a machine before.

Kiger was not happy with the situation whatsoever; choking back the emotions he wanted to show…he instead offered the man a relaxed smile and sat down on the bench. I’m fucked…I’m fucked…but the machine is blocking and not attacking. Of course if it went to attack him Kiger could try to dodge around and escape. “That really is one cute trick. So…these kind of look like something that takes a lot of time to make. Why? Most people wouldn’t get too excited to see that roaming the streets.”

[Jyre]

“That really is one cute trick. So…these kind of look like something that takes a lot of time to make. Why? Most people wouldn’t get too excited to see that roaming the streets.”

Jyr smiled what might be considered a condescending smile, though it could just as easily be taken for one of calm patience with a pupil. "Scientific progress invites criticism from any and all, even those who have no intuitive grasp for its most important and far-stretching implications," this said almost as if to himself. "Perhaps this is not readily apparent to you at first glance and this I can understand, but please try to absorb the lesson I am about to impart."

With these words, Jyr closed his eyes briefly and his smile disappeared; when his eyes opened again, his demeanor was all academic. He reached up briefly to touch the bridge of his nose just between his eyes, as if adjusting something though obviously there was nothing to adjust; he didn't notice this, however. "Without my second golem functioning, this will be a short and incomplete lesson. Please, noticed the bulky construction of model Niab-yeh, that which almost destroyed the staircase. It is crudely built to handle the crudest of tasks--even simple orders are merely potential disaster waiting to happen, as you saw." Whenever Jyr mentioned a part, he would subsequently point it out and the various features which could be improved to increase its effectiveness in carrying out orders.

Jyr goes on for some time describing the various pitfalls of his first creation and then turns his attention to the one on the workbench. "Now this, this is a significant improvement upon the last model I have showed you. Note that it is slimmer in construction and has more joints on each limb and many more on each gripping appendage--giving it the capability of performing feats of great manual dexterity. Indeed, such improvements can be seen throughout the body of the machine...though many require it to be able to move to fully demonstrate. However, movement and capabilities are secondary to the primary experiment for which it was build: to achieve the next level of automation. It will be able to think and reason for itself, to interpret commands rather than take them to their literal intent."

Jyr takes a while to let the kid in front of him digest this information and draw the logical conclusion from the contrast thusly described between the two models.

[Kiger Reign]

Kiger acted the proper student since it seemed the role the man was asking him to play. His eyes tracked where they were told to go from robot 1 to robot 2. It was interesting to an extent…but to a limited extent because he didn’t see much personal good in this. They still would stick out like a sore thumb where he most often tried to fit in. How would this person use them? Great, it had potential to do wonderful things. What wonderful things did he need doing. Kiger bobbed his head agreeably as Jyre went into say how it was more important that the new one would think better.

When the man’s instructive lesson ran out he held his tongue for a few seconds to make sure nothing else was coming. “Alright, I see why you’re excited about this newer one you are making, and that it certainly has promise of being able to do some fun things. However, that still doesn’t answer what good it will do you? What do you need it for? Why would it be worth putting so much time into? You don’t look like one of those people that believes in the greater good, sacrificing your time to better the world and such, are you? Or is it simply that you felt a need to try and build it since you imagined it?”

Kiger had a feeling he might be here a while, but if listening to the man talk about his wonderful machines kept him one piece he’d listen. His eyes trailed about the room. Nothing worth stealing huh? That big guy over there had a gem in his forehead…so where there more of those somewhere? The house seemed set for one person…most people did need to find them a hobby if they lived alone. This was one hell of a hobby.

There was more to pretending to be impressed than just words. Kiger looked back over to the bigger monster blocking his exit, studying the thing… Niab-yeh he’d called it. It was actually an impressive sight, and a dangerous one. Well, one use would certainly be a bodyguard inside at least…if you don’t mind it destroying the house. No, the smaller one might be better but still, Kiger would take a dog over one of these any day. “You planning to toss the big guy when the little one works? So you still have somewhere to sleep at night?” The only thing that worried Kiger now is if the man wanted to show off what they could do by having Niab-yeh tear off one or two of his limbs. So far the guy didn’t show signs of having gotten that into his mind. Even if Jyr was underestimating the guards and he would get caught if he murdered Kiger…Kiger would still be dead. He didn’t like that idea one bit.

[Jyre]

After having went on at length about his golems, Jyr finally took a moment to notice the burglar's reaction: the young man seemed unimpressed to say the least, maybe even uncomprehending altogether. Thinking back over his little lesson, Jyr figured that perhaps it would have been best to come right out and say his intended point.

"These things serve very well in their intended capacities as well as a few extras...for example, Niab-yeh was originally built as a proof-of-concept for the idea of a mechanical autonomous machine. But more than that, he serves in the capacity of a heavy laborer. I have used him to break down the walls of protected vaults, to tear the arms off of would-be highwaymen, to carry heavy materials that would have otherwise required a team of draft horses, and so on."

He took a breath to see if the young man before him had absorbed this tidbit of information, if it made any sort of impression on him. Surely, the above-stated uses would appeal to one of his profession, if such it could be called...

"As I said, though, this was a proof-of-concept. I fully expect the next design to have far better functional capabilities and to be a further proof-of-concept of a form of artificial intelligence that I have theorized. Once this is seen to be possible, I will then set my sights on a new project, which will be far more complex and involved than either of these. For now, that is all I the information I can trust you with."

[Kiger Reign]

There was actually a few intresting words said in all that, the last ones stuck out the must. all you can trust me with? Well that apparently meant he planned to let Kiger live. Which after mentioning what that robot did to some highwaymen well...might be a good thing. Of course he wasn't to sure how good those men were if they let themselves get caught by that huge thing. Kiger was betting if need be he could dodge the things attacks, of course thats one of those bets you'd have to be willing to put your life up as ante.

"Yes, those actually make sense, but it certainly creates other questions. While I am still unproven and have not claimed to be a thief, you on the other hand have just mentioned using your robot to break into vaults. That doesn't make much sense, or at least it proves your a liar. When I came in here you were busy telling me how you had nothing of value. So what was in the vaults you broke into, and what did you do with the items?"

"You should trust me. I may be sitting in your basement by my own invitation, however during this whole time I have been polite and not once lied to you. Lying takes effort, having to remember the lie properly. Most people find after getting into the habit of lying they have made so many they can't keep up and snare themselves in a trap. I'd rather not have that issue." Kiger glanced again to the robot blocking his path out. "The next question would be why exactly is it your not letting me out? You don't sound like you plan to try and have me killed. You don't want to share some special secret. What else was it you wanted us to discuss?"

Kiger's eyes trailed the room again, he considered giving it a closer inspection. The man wasn't the easiest to read, especially since he didn't meat many people like him. Kiger was having to carefully evaluate every word the man said and look for patterns. He wasn't normal...he wasn't use to dealing with this odd pattern of thought. Oh, that didn't mean he wouldn't manage, it just meant he needed to pay attention.