Hello Wednesday!

If you’re just checking in, click on the link to the left under recent posts titled Fixing Genius. After reading that, return here and vote for how you’d like the story to continue.

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Fixing Genius Option C: Consult the Mouse

The mouse might be the only other sane creature in the room. Although you won’t look sane consulting your little guide, who cares? You’re not the one who electrocuted the most expensive piece of equipment in the mansion.

“Pardon me,” you excuse yourself and step away from the waiting Scholars. They eye you with varying degrees of curiosity but look away when one yelps. A short, pudgy Scholar tried to touch the scope again.

Good grief, you’d think they’d stop after the first few tries.

Crouching down, you hold your palm out to your left pant leg.

A tiny whiskered nose peeks out to sniff your hand. Then the creature scampers onto your palm.

“What a predicament,” you mutter as the mouse’s tiny claws dig into your skin.

“Marcus!”

You jump. It’s Edwin. He must have walked over while you were waiting for the mouse to emerge. The Scholar looks over your shoulder with a scowl.

“Back to your room!” He shakes a finger at the mouse.

Marcus’ small body shakes and-pop -he disappears.

“Now hold on,” you say, “I’ve a few questions for Marcus.”

Pop! The mouse is back in your palm. You shiver a bit. How did Marcus know to come back?

Edwin’s mouth pinches like a lemon’s clamped his jaw shut. Clearly he didn’t call the mouse back.

“Mice are never allowed in the upper rooms,” he shouts.

All the Scholar’s heads pop up like dogs after a scent. “Mice?”

Their attention’s broken by a loud snap!

Lightening zaps the metal rods on the roof, races down the cable and sparks on the telescope.

The Massidion sizzles and turns from its usual dark mahogany color to a deep ruby red.

Edwin races back to join his colleagues chattering about overloading the darned scope.

You turn back to Marcus, who’s crouched tight against your palm.

“What are my options?” you ask.

Marcus scrunches up his narrow face and his gray fur stands on end. It kind of looks like he’s going to poop in your palm.

Pop! he disappears only to reappear at your feet with a poof of hair.

He scrunches up again and pop–he’s half way across the floor.

Teleporting mouse!

Now you know how the mice show up in town right after something breaks. You glance at Edwin but he’s still chattering with the other Scholars and has completely forgotten you and the mouse.

Marcus appears in your palm again and flops on his side. His sides heave with breath.

“Tires them out going a few feet,” says a woman.

She’s detached from the group and looks at Marcus like he’s a beloved pet.

You frown, “So they can’t make it to Mandril?”

Her eyes grow round, “Good heavens no! We boost their ability for that.” she glances at the scope, which is throbbing like a hot branding iron now.

“You boost them?’

The woman bites her thumb and glances guiltily at her colleagues.

So between the natural abilities of the mice and the Scholar’s sticky static, they could teleport a mouse to town. Poor Marcus must have run the distance this last time. Without the Scholar’s static, he wouldn’t have been able to teleport far enough.

What would happen if the Scholars were super charged?

“Were you trying to teleport a person?”

The woman squeaks and scampers away.

They’ll never admit it but you know this is why they wanted supercharged sticky static.

The sky above the glass roof arcs with vibrant tendrils of lightening. The streaks collide and shoot into the metal rods, ending with a sizzle along the scope.

There’s your biggest problem. The attraction to the metal rods continues to draw lightening and every time it strikes, the scope throbs more with energy.

Massidion can hold a lot but there are stories about it exploding when over used.

Oh no…

The Scholar’s chatter about overloading the scope makes sense now.

If nothing else, you need to stop the lightening from charging the scope.

But how when the whole system’s electrifying.

Take out the rods?

Disconnect the cable?

Ground the telescope with something?

A Scholar yelps and shucks his apron as it goes up in flames.

The rain pelts the roof above you.

The Scholars aren’t going to be happy with you no matter what you do. The want their sticky static back but you can’t guarantee it’ll return to them when you cut the power.

The scope glows a deep ruby red.

Something needs to be done before it explodes.

Do you attempt to…

Cc. Remove the rods?

Cd. Cut the Cable?

or

Ce. Ground the Scope?

Blessings,

Jennifer

(Please post a comment with your choice. Heads up, after feedback, one vote per comment per day please but comment as much as you like=) This makes counting votes easier. Voting will end at 8pm Mountain Time Thursday. Friday I’ll post whichever option gets the most votes and we’ll see how the adventure ends!)