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ツ Lutrin Weesil

It was another night out on the town.

Yet it was not just another night. It was early morning, with the last rays of sunlight still bleeding over the horizon, and more importantly, it was a night in a new town: specifically Chittentown. Within the safety of the canyon walls, the city had already descended well into evening. Only the pale, violet glow of the sky against the ridge betrayed the hour. Still, for most it was too early. Nestled deep in the sopor slime of their recuperacoons, the city slept on against the falling twilight, dreaming the strange things that trolls dream, while the last psychic refrain of a calliope serenaded the setting sun. Most dreamed on in fitful slumber. Most but not all.

One troll sat awake in his hive, immune to the temptations of sleep. The other waited outside the hive, also immune to sleep though only temporarily. That was the nice thing about sleeping the day before; she would not need to sleep until the next sunrise.

Sleep however, was the last thing on Lutrin's mind. At the present, she was more concerned with the mystery of the missing light bulb from the nearby street lamp. Not that the light bulb going missing was a mystery—after all, she had removed it herself! No, the real mystery was the effect the missing lightbulb had on her surroundings.

Stroking her chin in an exaggerated fashion, Lutrin studied the curiosity before her: a simple window facing the now dim street light. Not just any window though—a magic window! Though she had removed the bulb, the street light shone through as though it were still there. She looked at the bulb in her hand. Then she looked back at the lamp. Then she looked back at the window just to be sure. Yep. No light. She fingered her lower lip, flipping it up and down, deep in thought. At least she scampered back over to the street lamp, shinnied up the post, and screwed the the bulb back in. As reluctant as she was to relinquish her prize, her curiosity proved greater.

The lamp flickered back into life and with a yelp she dropped to the ground. Humming, she sucked on her burnt fingers. From her shoulder, her lusus chided her. She had already burnt them once earlier, he said, performing the very same task but in reverse. Lutrin merely pouted in response.

Her petulance was short-lived. The tips of her fingers smarted for only a few seconds and then she was back on her feet. She made her way back over to the window, watchful. As she approached her eyes grew wide. She thrust her arms out to the side, then crowed with delight. She cast no shadow—at least not within the window.

Pressing her face against the glass and screening her eyes with a hand, Lutrin chuckled to herself. “Hehe! A great thief never misses anything!” She studied the interior of the hive carefully. Aside from the lack of a shadow, something about it looked odd... fuzzy almost. She slid from the left side of the pane to the right, nose squeaking as it left a visible streak. A look of realisation crossed her features and she grinned. “I've got you now, Mister Mystery Hive! And I'm gonna unlock all your secrets.” Cackling, she sped away from the window and towards the side door. Side doors were always unlocked. She was a genius.

She spent a good five minutes twisting the knob and trying to force the lock, clueless that her “genius” way in was no less than a shoddy mock-up.

ツ Lutrin Weesil

After her not-so-successful attempt with the first (faux) door, Lutrin decided to go about a different method of entry. She was no ordinary ground-bound troll. She had the power of... flight! Or at least the ability to climb very quickly.

Ignoring the front door, Lutrin circled round the building until she found what she was looking for: a entrance... of sorts. She let out a chuckle that sounded borderline villainous. “You thinking what I'm thinking, SugarDad?” she asked her lusus on her shoulder. The sugar glider let out an unsure bass squeak. Lutrin would not listen. “Race you to the top!!” she hollered, and jumped onto the rain pipe. As she made her ascent, the metal rattled and clanged noisily against the side of the building. Relenting, SugarDad hopped from her shoulder, onto the pipe and climbed ahead.

When they reached the third story, Lutrin crawled onto the roof. She went several paces around the edge, and then dropped down so she dangled over the street, only her hooked knees keeping her from falling to the pavement below. With some struggle, she dug around in her pockets, at last pulling out a popsicle stick. It would have been smarter to retrieve it before she threw half herself off the hive, but Lutrin rarely thought things through.

Humming to herself, she inserted the popsicle stick into one of the screws holding the grate to the ventilation shaft in place and began to twist. It took some time to get it going, but eventually the screw came loose and tumbled away. She repeated the process twice more, each screw hitting the pavement with a faint ping, until only one screw held it up. The grate swung away, leaving the shaft available for access. Lutrin stuffed the popsicle stick back into her pocket—one should not litter after all—and then squirrelled her way into the narrow shaft.

She had made progress!

“Hee-hee-hee!” The sound of her laughter echoed through the pipes.

ツ Lutrin Weesil

When a loud voice projected from directly beneath her, Lutrin let out a shriek and flipped onto her back. She lay there, completely motionless for about five seconds as the owner of the voice talked. Ordinary hive? He must have been crazy! This was no ordinary hive! This was a piece of art. Then again if he thought something like this was boring, then maybe he had seen much more amazing things.

Lutrin would have all his secrets.

Flipping herself rightside up, Lutrin continued along the shaft chuckling. One thing the mysterious voice said made her reconsider however. “A dangerous bird?” Lutrin mused. She blew out her cheeks. “I don't wanna be eaten. Maybe we should go back...” She glanced over her shoulder for SugarDad's opinion. He nodded.

“All right.” Lutrin heaved a sigh, face dramatically tragic. Tucking her knees in, she tried change her direction. Her foot caught on one side of the shaft. Her head bumped against the other. With a great amount of squeaking and squealing she tried to shove past. In the narrow space it was no good however. She lay down, panting a minute. “Wellp! Good effort, folks, but effort don't mean pudding! With our last route of retreat cut off we have no choice but to push onwards!” Picking herself up, she charged* forward.

Right into the path of a laser.

Despite it being a bright, glowing, neon obstacle in the dark, somehow Lutrin managed to overlook it. As she tripped the sensor a beeping sound began. Beeping. What did that mean? “Um...” Biting her lip, Lutrin considered the device. Her brows furrowed. Sweat began to bead on the back of her neck. “No sweat!” she exclaimed at last. “I'm a master hacker!” She punched a fist in the air enthusiastically. Her knuckles connected with the top of the shaft with a bang.

Flopping onto her side, Lutrin began to pry at the plastic casing of the laser. She did this with first her fingers, then her popsicle stick, and finally her teeth. Her teeth seemed to do the trick and the case popped open, revealing a curious assortment of metal parts inside. More puzzles! More to unravel. Humming to herself, Lutrin turned it this way and that. She poked and prodded at all the various metal bits, even licking one. Not a good decision as it turned out.

There was a brief spark of blue light and a zap. Lutrin jolted from the electric shock, letting out another squeal. She did not have time to nurse her wounds however. A rumble from the end of the shaft signalled that something else was coming... or closing.

“The gate! No!” Lutrin dove forwards, wiggling as fast as she could towards the descending gate. Her elbows banged against the metal sides as she frantically crawled forwards. Closer... closer... almost... there! Her fingers reached out, close enough to brush the metal. Then all of a sudden, the floor gave out from beneath her.

With a scream, Lutrin tumbled out from the shaft into a room.

*Crawled.