As cool as it was to explore a castle using a drone, Liam didn’t want to antagonize the palace’s occupants. He decided to bring the drone back for now and request permission to explore further at a later date. In fact, Lilith and Sylara were waiting for him to give the go-ahead so they could proceed with Gat through the invisible door.
He gave the drone one final rotation as he looked in each direction, then he guided it back down the stairs towards the summoning chamber in the basement. Once there, he positioned the remote controller so Lilith and Sylara could inspect the video feed closely. It gave a side-view of the entire chamber.
“I’ll go first. Liam, don’t forget about my dog. Lilith, count to ten and then come through with the orc.” Sylara hopped up onto the toilet and then dropped through the invisible door. On the other end, she got to work distracting the guards and drawing their attention away from the portal.
“I too shall return once I’ve taken care of matters. Come, Gat.” Lilith removed Gat’s bindings all at once, but kept a firm grip on his shoulder.
“Yes, Mistress…”
The two waited a moment and then dropped through the invisible door, one after the other.
Liam returned his attention to the drone’s camera but couldn’t tell exactly what happened or how Lilith and Gat had snuck through the summoning chamber. He gave up worrying about it and sent the drone back up the invisible door. Once it reappeared in his bathroom, he withdrew the antenna as well and then piloted the drone onto the bathroom floor. Considering how useful the drone could be, he immediately plugged it into a nearby outlet to charge it back up.
Not only was the drone useful for inspecting the summoning chamber, but it showed that Liam could bring technology through the invisible door and expect it to function normally. While the drone had its advantages, a wired video system would probably work even better. With the help of Sylara, or perhaps someone more suited to craftsmanship like Thane Stoveson, Liam could install a wired phone system that allowed people to talk from both sides of the invisible door. He might possibly be able to pass through some kind of a wireless network extender to allow cell phone use in the other world, but that seemed unnecessarily risky. The last thing he needed was some spy agency learning about the invisible door via his phone communications.
As promised, Liam returned to the other end of the house and saved Lilith’s and Sylara’s games. Then he prepared a simple dinner for himself and completed some chores around the house. With constant visitors, it was difficult for him to keep on top of laundry and dishes and the like. Well, his guests might actually enjoy watching him use modern technology to complete chores, but he needed a break from the aggravation anyway.
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Liam glanced at the sign “We Buy/Sell Gold!” before proceeding into the store. He’d never been to a place like this before so he wasn’t sure what to expect. He couldn’t see any other customers, so the staff greeted him right away, welcoming him and inviting him to have a look around. Of course, he wasn’t there to buy.
“Excuse me, I have some gold to sell.”
“Sell? Ah, come this way.” The clerk, an elderly gentleman with a distinguished gray beard, waved him to the backroom. Liam looked around and saw all kinds of large machines in the room, most of which he couldn’t identify. “Please place your items on this table.”
Liam had only brought two pieces of gold—about two ounces. He knew the items were roughly worth $4,000, but he didn’t care that much if he got exactly the market-rate for them. He just needed some money. Removing the two small chunks from his pocket, he placed them on the table.
The clerk raised his eyebrows as he inspected the gold. “Where did you get these from?”
“Oh, uh, I got them from my late grandfather’s belongings. I don’t know where he got them but I figured I’d just sell them.” That was the cover story Liam had concocted so he could safely feign ignorance.
“Ah, I’m sorry for your loss. I’ll appraise the pieces right now. We offer competitive prices for buying gold.”
“Thank you.” Liam sat down in a chair and waited while the man went to work.
He placed one of the gold pieces onto a tray and slid it into a large machines. Pushing a button, he brought his face up to a viewing window and then fiddled with some controls. “Hm?” He continued inspecting the gold for a while. “What is with this gold?”
“Uh, is there a problem?”
The old man pulled his face back from the machine and turned to look directly at Liam. “Where is this gold from?”
“I told you, I’m not sure. My grandparents traveled all over the world before I was born, I think.” Liam’s story sprinkled in the truth for maximum believability.
“This gold isn’t like anything from this world! Just who are you!? Guards!”
Before Liam could even stand up, three armed men filed into the room. The first two looked to Liam’s eyes like Secret Service agents, sporting dark suits, dark glasses, and handguns which they rested the palms of their hands on. The third man was dressed like a medieval knight and actually drew his sword in anticipation of battle. Liam instinctively took a few steps back toward the far corner of the room.
“Don’t try to run!” the old man commanded. “I’ll have you tell me where you got this gold from!”
“No!” Just then, Liam noticed a door immediately behind him, so he escaped from the room using that exit. The guards chased after him. Once through the door, he realized it was just a bathroom. He was cornered. Or was he?”
Liam glanced down at the toilet. It wasn’t his toilet, but perhaps it was a portal to another world as well. He only had a moment before the guards would be upon him, so he bent his knees and attempted a swan dive into the toilet. As his head entered the bowl, he realized that it was just a normal toilet.
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Rolling over, he glanced at the clock on his dresser. It read 3:19 AM. “A dream, huh?” Liam was hoping the real trip to the gold store went better than the dream did.