“I know Charles said it was big, but did he really expect me to get this thing out of here without anyone noticing!” Within a single large marble pedestal surrounded by heavy glass stood the giant jewel. More than three feet in diameter and cut into the same shape of a diamond, the Grande Verde was far bigger than other jewels Darius had encountered… and “borrowed.”
“Least that pig could do was tell me the Grande Verde was green; would have saved me some time here. I was expecting something palm size, head at most, but this is just ridiculous. You’re killing me Charles, that ship better be worth it.”
Darius had intended to hide diamond, no emerald now, on his person, but that was an impossibility considering its size. He had backup plans in case things went awry, but they were all made under the assumption of a reasonably sized jewel.
“I’ll think of something later, right now I need to worry about getting it out of this case.” Darius got to work; this was his second favorite part when it came to the job. “Let the games begin.” The game, that irresistible competition between thief and trapper.
“Glass looks heavy and tough, so I don’t think anything that could cut it. Though I should probably check for alarms first. For such a valuable looking item to be up front with such seemingly lackluster security, they must have a lot of faith in this pedestal.”
Darius took to a wide radius while circling around the structure, sprinkling bits of dust as he walked around until he could see any hidden mechanisms. Some dust seemingly settled in the air, “Thin wire, where are you attached?”
He followed the path until he reached a small metal compartment in the wall, “Oh? So advanced, Sheildon has really been stepping up their game.” An alarm system that Darius was unfamiliar with. Small rubber tubes encased in thin metal wiring.
“Whatever it is probably sets off the alarm when the wire breaks,” When he placed his hand close to the compartment, he felt a small jolt of energy. “Electricity, right? Charles had a few tools that used the stuff. If I remember correctly, one broke when somebody spilled water on it. Person who did it got a rough beating.”
Darius didn’t have a lot to go off here. Electricity wasn’t something he came by often, and time was continuing to click by. Without a way to cut the glass, he was going to have to open it naturally, which would definitely break the wire. He just had to hope this thing worked the same way as Charles’s toy. If it didn’t and the alarm went off… well best to put off whatever can be done tomorrow.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
He took a small canteen of water he had and placed it over the compartment. “Please give me a small break… just a small one.” He said just before letting the water flow. Sparks blew out of the compartment, lightly burning his hand. Darius reeled back and heard a faint clicking sound.
“That either worked, or they’ll be here any second. Let’s just hope for the former,” he thought before glancing at a clock. “30 minutes until the next guard change, better pick it up.”
The next trap was more Darius’s speed. A paint trap meant to mark his clothes and give off a horrible stench. He had been hit one time in the past by one of these, and that was one time too many. Beating this trap was as simple as using his lockpicks to open the back of the compartment and simply turning that feature off. Though he did find a strange note inside.
Remember left side – Harold.
Disregarding that, after a quick look on the inside, Darius was also able to determine that there was a pressure trap under the emerald. This one was built into the case as a whole, and he couldn’t just turn it off. After opening the display case, he’ll have to replace the emerald with something of similar weight.
“This thing is huge, I wouldn’t be surprised if it weighed a few hundred pounds, yet the pedestal it’s on seems like it could only handle 100 at most. Maybe it weighs less that it should?” Darius decided to use a piece of heavy, jewel encrusted, plate armor and some shields to replicate the weight. “These should do nicely.”
Before that he got to work on the key lock, “15 minutes left, and the lock is shaped strangely, probably only one or two keys are capable of opening it. Lucky me that the shape of the lock dent doesn’t really matter as long as the mechanism inside are the same.”
Immediately, he ran into another problem. There were two compartments that a key, or in this case his tools, could enter through. This would suggest either the key has two heads or, more likely, the lock had a trick entryway. Which probably lead to yet another alarm.
“I have a 50-50 shot at this, I could just pick… wait a minute, didn’t I see a note earlier? Something about the left side? If I’m reading this correctly, that note is either or trap, or I’m one lucky bastard.”
With nearly 10 minutes left, Darius weighed his options and slipped his lockpick into the left section. Pin after pin fell into place until the final one clicked. Almost as if the jewel was presenting itself to him, the glass opened by itself. “I love it when a plan comes together.”