“You assumed what?”
“Well, sir,” Edgar rolled backward a little, away from his master, “I collected your clothing last night, as always. Just to give it a brush and make sure it was creaseless.”
“And?”
“I...er...well...” His words trailed off as Lucas’s gaze remained fixed on his face.
“You what?”
“I made what might have been a hasty assumption, sir.”
A dark eyebrow rose as tickerkin and master stared at each other.
“And that assumption was...?”
“Well, sir, I—I—as you know, I pride myself on making sure you are correctly garbed, sir. So as I was straightening the garments you wore yesterday, I couldn’t help noticing...”
“What?”
“They smelled of lily of the valley.”
Lucas groaned. “Edgar. Go away. I shall finish my tea, prepare myself for the day, and then make the decision as to whether to remove any of your working parts.”
“Very good, sir.” Another rumble of gears and wheels accompanied the tickerkin’s departure from Lucas’s room, beak high and an amused look on its face that his master couldn’t see.
Admonishing himself for the visions that drifted through his mind after Edgar’s words, Lucas walked straight into his bathroom and took a bracing cold shower. He was not usually given to such self-flagellation, but he hoped the brutal shock would rattle his mind back into some sort of order.
Pleased to notice that his house was looking more and more like he remembered, he dressed and turned his mind firmly away from lilies of the valley, and back to the problem that had brought him to Arcvale in the first place.
And that was now expanding, it would seem.
Time to access his mirror-engine.
“Edgar...” He yelled. “Come here a minute...”
The obedient tickerkin rolled to his side. “Yes sir?”
“Has anyone opened this door since I left?” He pointed at what looked like a panel on the wall of his study, similar to all the other panels.
Edgar blinked several times as he ran through his mechanical recollections. “No sir. As you saw when you arrived, Ashcombe Cottage had been almost deserted. Only myself and an annual cleaning crew had access. And certainly not in here.”
“Good.” Lucas nodded, then walked to the panel. “Let’s see if I remember this, and if it works...” He turned. “Edgar, would you mind leaving, please? And close the door after you?”
“Of course, sir.”
The tickerkin did as he was bid and the door clicked shut, leaving Lucas alone in his study. He reached toward the panel,smiling a little at the smoothly familiar feel of the carved decoration that matched the ones on every other panel in the room.
This one, however, if one were to examine it closely, betrayed a tiny shining spot. It was to this exact spot that Lucas applied the tip of his forefinger, at the identical moment his left foot pressed on the floor tile in front of it.
And with a creak and a bit of a groan, the panel swung open.
He sighed with pleasure as he observed the machine still waiting within. Had anyone actually managed to open the panel by mistake, all they would see was an exquisite piece of furniture resembling a tall bureau, with several drawers and cupboards symmetrically arranged around a slightly slanted surface, and a mirror on top.
Stroking it possessively, Lucas sighed as he recalled the hours he’d spent building it and then using it as his access point to the Arcvale bank and the PBIC. He had one very similar in Sectorvale that he’d connected to this one, and between them, he’d had chance to keep an eye on the financial world that was usually hidden from public eyes.
The next test would be to see if it worked as well with a human touch. After ten years without any maintenance, getting any kind of response to his personal commands would be wonderful. Reviving it to full working order? Well, the word ‘miracle’ crossed Lucas’s mind.
Taking a breath, and wiping his hands on his jacket, he carefully opened the left-hand cupboard and flipped one of the switches inside.
