Implosion, part 3
Parking lot across the street from the Japanese embassy
Washington, D.C.
Artie's not terribly surprised to find Pete and Myka outside the Embassy. Slightly disappointed, maybe, but not surprised. If they'd been able to finangle a way into the room without him... oh well. In a minute or two that won't be an issue.
The two field agents are watching the Embassy doors from a parked rental car across the street. As he approaches, Artie can hear Myka talking: "I don't think this is what Dickinson had in mind."
"Well, what are we gonna do?" replies Pete. "We've got to get into that room. A room that's losing evidence as we speak."
"I know," Myka sighs. "It's just, I thought coming back to D.C. would feel like... Old Home Week, or something."
At that point Artie decides to enter the conversation. "Home is overrated."
Both of them turn toward him with yelps of surprise.
"What?!"
"Uncool, Artie!"
"What are you doing here??"
Hmf. They should be paying better attention to their surroundings than that. "I had a hunch about something from Pete's description," says Artie, sliding into the back seat of the car, "and I just need to see this with my own eyes. You two have a plan to get in there?"
They both start speaking simultaneously.
"Yeah, we're gonna crawl under the motion sensors on our bellies and--"
"Yeah, there's an access panel on the roof and we can go in through the--"
Pete and Myka stop and look at each other. "Please, ladies first," says Pete.
"No, y'know what? You be the smart one this time."
Pete takes a deep breath. "Okay. Get this. There's an access panel on the roof. It'll bring us in right above the main wiring for the security system. Now, if we crawl on our bellies, we can avoid the motion sensors and what do you mean 'this time'?!" he finishes, glaring at his partner.
"Alright, I get the idea. If I may?" Artie hands forward the two sets of goggles he fished out of his bag while Pete was talking. "Put these on. Really, or you'll be of no use to me. Let's go." He slides back out of the back seat and opens Myka's door for her, making her flinch and yelp again.
"I gotta tell you, Myka, those really bring out your eyes." Pete follows his partner out of the car and over to where Artie is setting up the other object he pulled from his bag: a fat rocket on a two-foot wooden rod.
"This is a, uh, 14th-century Chinese firework known as an 'Ice Flower,'" Artie explains as he slips on his own set of goggles. "Very few--very few like it left. Now--" he fishes a lighter out of his pocket and touches it to the fuse-- "do not tell Mrs. Frederick that I did this, alright?"
The three goggle-wearing people setting up fireworks across the street have now attracted the attention of most of the guards outside the Embassy. Artie would be worried about that, in most instances, but... well. A few seconds later, the Ice Flower shoots into the sky and explodes in a swirling vortex of flickering lights, and everyone besides the three Warehouse agents stop dead in their tracks, staring blankly at the sky.
"Alright, we've got about ten minutes, more or less. Let's go." Artie grabs his bag and hustles across the street toward the Embassy door. "The light pattern triggers a feedback loop in the optic nerve that mesmerizes the viewer," he explains to Pete and Myka as they go. "They won't remember a thing."
The workers inside the Embassy are staring out the windows, having also fallen prey to the Ice Flower. The room where the Honjo Masamune had been kept is dimly lit; the agents' flashlights cast the the tangled mass of furniture, fixtures, and unidentifiable objects in the center of the room into sharp relief.
Pete grimaces when he sees it. "Whoa. Freaky McFreakerson..."
"So it's some sort of reverse chemical reaction?" asks Myka.
"Oh, yeah. Okay, take these off, just don't look directly through the window." Artie pulls his goggles off, then turns back to scrutinize the cluster. He was hoping he was wrong, but no such luck... "This was made by an implosion grenade. It removes matter from the center of space and pulls everything--obviously, everything--directly towards it with violent force."
"This explains why they couldn't find the sword," Myka murmurs. "It could be in there."
Artie shakes his head. "No no no no. No. The sword? Long gone. Stolen. This was used by the thief as a cover."
Pete frowns. "So the guy that I saw..."
"The guy you 'kinda saw'?" corrects Artie.
Pete shines the flashlight directly in Artie's face. "The guy that I saw leaving must have stolen the sword and hidden in this room over here when he set off the bomb."
"I collected these grenades years ago," mutters Artie. "Every last one of them. I know I did."
"So, wait," says Pete, "whoever stole the sword has other things that belong in the Warehouse. Which would mean that we have competition."
Artie lets out a long, slow breath. "I don't know."
"Artie, just how long is this list of things we don't know?" says Myka, frustration creeping into her voice.
"I don't know, about twice as long as the list of things that I don't know about, alright?" Artie snaps back.
"Well, who else would have these implosion grenades, Artie?" asks Pete. "I mean, if you collected 'em all?"
"Well, whoever it is, if he's willing to use this to cover his tracks?" He looks over at the cluster again. "It's somebody that's... what's a darker word for 'dangerous'?"
Myka's crouching and staring at something on the far side of the cluster. "If he did this to steal the sword? He'd have no trouble killing anyone who got in his way."
Artie walks over and peers down until he can see what Myka's looking at. Protruding from the cluster, in between a fu dog statue and a set of rice bowls, is a man's arm.
"Oh, none at all," Artie breathes. "None. At. All."
[Dialogue from Warehouse 13 episode 1x08, "Implosion."]
Washington, D.C.
Artie's not terribly surprised to find Pete and Myka outside the Embassy. Slightly disappointed, maybe, but not surprised. If they'd been able to finangle a way into the room without him... oh well. In a minute or two that won't be an issue.
The two field agents are watching the Embassy doors from a parked rental car across the street. As he approaches, Artie can hear Myka talking: "I don't think this is what Dickinson had in mind."
"Well, what are we gonna do?" replies Pete. "We've got to get into that room. A room that's losing evidence as we speak."
"I know," Myka sighs. "It's just, I thought coming back to D.C. would feel like... Old Home Week, or something."
At that point Artie decides to enter the conversation. "Home is overrated."
Both of them turn toward him with yelps of surprise.
"What?!"
"Uncool, Artie!"
"What are you doing here??"
Hmf. They should be paying better attention to their surroundings than that. "I had a hunch about something from Pete's description," says Artie, sliding into the back seat of the car, "and I just need to see this with my own eyes. You two have a plan to get in there?"
They both start speaking simultaneously.
"Yeah, we're gonna crawl under the motion sensors on our bellies and--"
"Yeah, there's an access panel on the roof and we can go in through the--"
Pete and Myka stop and look at each other. "Please, ladies first," says Pete.
"No, y'know what? You be the smart one this time."
Pete takes a deep breath. "Okay. Get this. There's an access panel on the roof. It'll bring us in right above the main wiring for the security system. Now, if we crawl on our bellies, we can avoid the motion sensors and what do you mean 'this time'?!" he finishes, glaring at his partner.
"Alright, I get the idea. If I may?" Artie hands forward the two sets of goggles he fished out of his bag while Pete was talking. "Put these on. Really, or you'll be of no use to me. Let's go." He slides back out of the back seat and opens Myka's door for her, making her flinch and yelp again.
"I gotta tell you, Myka, those really bring out your eyes." Pete follows his partner out of the car and over to where Artie is setting up the other object he pulled from his bag: a fat rocket on a two-foot wooden rod.
"This is a, uh, 14th-century Chinese firework known as an 'Ice Flower,'" Artie explains as he slips on his own set of goggles. "Very few--very few like it left. Now--" he fishes a lighter out of his pocket and touches it to the fuse-- "do not tell Mrs. Frederick that I did this, alright?"
The three goggle-wearing people setting up fireworks across the street have now attracted the attention of most of the guards outside the Embassy. Artie would be worried about that, in most instances, but... well. A few seconds later, the Ice Flower shoots into the sky and explodes in a swirling vortex of flickering lights, and everyone besides the three Warehouse agents stop dead in their tracks, staring blankly at the sky.
"Alright, we've got about ten minutes, more or less. Let's go." Artie grabs his bag and hustles across the street toward the Embassy door. "The light pattern triggers a feedback loop in the optic nerve that mesmerizes the viewer," he explains to Pete and Myka as they go. "They won't remember a thing."
The workers inside the Embassy are staring out the windows, having also fallen prey to the Ice Flower. The room where the Honjo Masamune had been kept is dimly lit; the agents' flashlights cast the the tangled mass of furniture, fixtures, and unidentifiable objects in the center of the room into sharp relief.
Pete grimaces when he sees it. "Whoa. Freaky McFreakerson..."
"So it's some sort of reverse chemical reaction?" asks Myka.
"Oh, yeah. Okay, take these off, just don't look directly through the window." Artie pulls his goggles off, then turns back to scrutinize the cluster. He was hoping he was wrong, but no such luck... "This was made by an implosion grenade. It removes matter from the center of space and pulls everything--obviously, everything--directly towards it with violent force."
"This explains why they couldn't find the sword," Myka murmurs. "It could be in there."
Artie shakes his head. "No no no no. No. The sword? Long gone. Stolen. This was used by the thief as a cover."
Pete frowns. "So the guy that I saw..."
"The guy you 'kinda saw'?" corrects Artie.
Pete shines the flashlight directly in Artie's face. "The guy that I saw leaving must have stolen the sword and hidden in this room over here when he set off the bomb."
"I collected these grenades years ago," mutters Artie. "Every last one of them. I know I did."
"So, wait," says Pete, "whoever stole the sword has other things that belong in the Warehouse. Which would mean that we have competition."
Artie lets out a long, slow breath. "I don't know."
"Artie, just how long is this list of things we don't know?" says Myka, frustration creeping into her voice.
"I don't know, about twice as long as the list of things that I don't know about, alright?" Artie snaps back.
"Well, who else would have these implosion grenades, Artie?" asks Pete. "I mean, if you collected 'em all?"
"Well, whoever it is, if he's willing to use this to cover his tracks?" He looks over at the cluster again. "It's somebody that's... what's a darker word for 'dangerous'?"
Myka's crouching and staring at something on the far side of the cluster. "If he did this to steal the sword? He'd have no trouble killing anyone who got in his way."
Artie walks over and peers down until he can see what Myka's looking at. Protruding from the cluster, in between a fu dog statue and a set of rice bowls, is a man's arm.
"Oh, none at all," Artie breathes. "None. At. All."
[Dialogue from Warehouse 13 episode 1x08, "Implosion."]