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Fear in the Dark - Breaker of Faith : The Sixth Hammer
Dr. Paul brings the trio of scientist back to his work's lab and show what they have been studying, a familiar looking weapon.
By this point, Reed could hardly contain his excitement. Any new and exciting discovery, especially one that he was sure could be solved with science, was exactly what he wanted to be doing with his time. Naturally cautious (okay, not naturally -- more like a learned behaviour at this point), Reed stared at the Hammer in its box without really moving. He put his hand under his chin and squinted. Scratched his cheek. Looked some more. Shifted in his feet. Sighed. Went back to looking.
"I want to take it apart." He nodded to himself. "Yes. Let's take it apart."
"Is it singing or talking to you, making weird smells, or otherwise doing something a hammer shouldn't be able to do? Because if so, I'm going to tackle you and knock you the hell out to prevent you touching it and getting whammied." Darcy replied sternly. "And you're wearing thick gloves, non-negotiable." She wasn't sure the gloves would actually prevent getting whammied by a magic hammer, but she wasn't sure she could actually stop Reed from examining the thing, either. Might as well take some sort of precaution.
Paul snorted, amused. "A singing hammer? This isn't a Disney film, Ms. Lewis. And I can assure you, nothing untoward has happened while the object has been here." He looked to Reed. "I agree - it would be much easier to study it once it is out of this protective casing. And since we cannot lift it, we shall have to remove the box from around it, non?"
"This would be easier with my equipment, but I can probably cobble something together to measure any frequencies it's giving off," Jane interjected. "Gloves?" She held a hand out expectantly.
Reed searched the table and handed over the requested items. He wasn't about to quibble anything about how it wasn't his place, or whatever. He was too into the hammer, wanting to know more about it. It was almost intoxicating. His practiced eyes scanned the object, trying to think of all the ways this could go wrong, but if it was going to go wrong, it would. And probably spectacularly.
Still.
There was nothing stopping him from wanting to go forward.
"Really not here for bad shit happening because we didn't take basic precautions dude," Darcy bit out curtly. "Singing hammers were less Disney, more nightmare on Grimm Street."
Paul put on his own pair of gloves with a snap and turned to the box, ignoring Darcy's words. "There appears to be some sort of clasp here, at the edge, and other on the other side. Reed, I shall take this side, you shall take the other and together we shall open this jack in the box, yes?"
While Reed could appreciate Darcy's caution (after all, she was the unofficial designated safety officer for most of the lab work in the mansion), he was too curious not to follow Paul's instructions. Add to that the whole situation with Sue and well, it was a recipe for disaster. He needed to know what this hammer was about. Putting on gloves, he followed Paul's instructions and went to the side. Once positioned, he met Paul's eyes and gave a nod. "On three then?"
"One...Two...Three."
The clasps opened stiffly, rust sprinkling the lab table, and then the lid itself was off. "The wood is amazingly well preserved," said Paul, examining the lid in his hands. "The whole thing was found buried in a former farmer's field - the property was sold for development and the construction workers discovered it whilst excavating for house foundations..." He seemed distracted however, the muscles in his neck twitching slightly.
"A hammer?" Jane asked as she got a peek into the box. In remarkable shape, with runes she almost but not quite recognized. "Those look like Norse runes, but not exactly..." She trailed off in favor of poking at the hammer, but her brain helpfully supplied 'Asgardian???' and she filed it away to discuss with SWORD later.
The hammer almost glinted with magic, a thing that Reed still struggled with believing existed ...but there was something, a sort of allure to it ... He shook his head. Taking a small step back, he peeled the gloves off and tucked them into his back pocket. "It's the same...well I mean, a hammer is the same object as the other hammer. ..it can't physically be the same one as before..." His ramblings were making no sense and he had to stop and calm his thoughts.
"I've seen this before. We've seen this before," he said, referring to Darcy. "Where we stay. There was another one that was there ...it...." He swallowed hard. "It took Sue. Changed her. It's immeasurably powerful, capable of turning people into something different, like channeling things..." He shook his head again. "We should close it."
"You have?" Paul dragged his attention back to Reed, although there was something about the hammer in the box that demanded he focus on it. "How extraordinary..." He looked again to the hammer, unable to take his eyes off it. "Doesn't anyone hear that...?"
"Oh no... NO NO NO NO" Darcy tugged at Paul with one arm, making shooing motions at Reed and Jane with her other hand. "Snap OUT of it, dude! Ignore the evil hammers with your superior science brain! Not a Disney movie, remember???"
And then it seemed every alarm in the building was going off at once.
By this point, Reed could hardly contain his excitement. Any new and exciting discovery, especially one that he was sure could be solved with science, was exactly what he wanted to be doing with his time. Naturally cautious (okay, not naturally -- more like a learned behaviour at this point), Reed stared at the Hammer in its box without really moving. He put his hand under his chin and squinted. Scratched his cheek. Looked some more. Shifted in his feet. Sighed. Went back to looking.
"I want to take it apart." He nodded to himself. "Yes. Let's take it apart."
"Is it singing or talking to you, making weird smells, or otherwise doing something a hammer shouldn't be able to do? Because if so, I'm going to tackle you and knock you the hell out to prevent you touching it and getting whammied." Darcy replied sternly. "And you're wearing thick gloves, non-negotiable." She wasn't sure the gloves would actually prevent getting whammied by a magic hammer, but she wasn't sure she could actually stop Reed from examining the thing, either. Might as well take some sort of precaution.
Paul snorted, amused. "A singing hammer? This isn't a Disney film, Ms. Lewis. And I can assure you, nothing untoward has happened while the object has been here." He looked to Reed. "I agree - it would be much easier to study it once it is out of this protective casing. And since we cannot lift it, we shall have to remove the box from around it, non?"
"This would be easier with my equipment, but I can probably cobble something together to measure any frequencies it's giving off," Jane interjected. "Gloves?" She held a hand out expectantly.
Reed searched the table and handed over the requested items. He wasn't about to quibble anything about how it wasn't his place, or whatever. He was too into the hammer, wanting to know more about it. It was almost intoxicating. His practiced eyes scanned the object, trying to think of all the ways this could go wrong, but if it was going to go wrong, it would. And probably spectacularly.
Still.
There was nothing stopping him from wanting to go forward.
"Really not here for bad shit happening because we didn't take basic precautions dude," Darcy bit out curtly. "Singing hammers were less Disney, more nightmare on Grimm Street."
Paul put on his own pair of gloves with a snap and turned to the box, ignoring Darcy's words. "There appears to be some sort of clasp here, at the edge, and other on the other side. Reed, I shall take this side, you shall take the other and together we shall open this jack in the box, yes?"
While Reed could appreciate Darcy's caution (after all, she was the unofficial designated safety officer for most of the lab work in the mansion), he was too curious not to follow Paul's instructions. Add to that the whole situation with Sue and well, it was a recipe for disaster. He needed to know what this hammer was about. Putting on gloves, he followed Paul's instructions and went to the side. Once positioned, he met Paul's eyes and gave a nod. "On three then?"
"One...Two...Three."
The clasps opened stiffly, rust sprinkling the lab table, and then the lid itself was off. "The wood is amazingly well preserved," said Paul, examining the lid in his hands. "The whole thing was found buried in a former farmer's field - the property was sold for development and the construction workers discovered it whilst excavating for house foundations..." He seemed distracted however, the muscles in his neck twitching slightly.
"A hammer?" Jane asked as she got a peek into the box. In remarkable shape, with runes she almost but not quite recognized. "Those look like Norse runes, but not exactly..." She trailed off in favor of poking at the hammer, but her brain helpfully supplied 'Asgardian???' and she filed it away to discuss with SWORD later.
The hammer almost glinted with magic, a thing that Reed still struggled with believing existed ...but there was something, a sort of allure to it ... He shook his head. Taking a small step back, he peeled the gloves off and tucked them into his back pocket. "It's the same...well I mean, a hammer is the same object as the other hammer. ..it can't physically be the same one as before..." His ramblings were making no sense and he had to stop and calm his thoughts.
"I've seen this before. We've seen this before," he said, referring to Darcy. "Where we stay. There was another one that was there ...it...." He swallowed hard. "It took Sue. Changed her. It's immeasurably powerful, capable of turning people into something different, like channeling things..." He shook his head again. "We should close it."
"You have?" Paul dragged his attention back to Reed, although there was something about the hammer in the box that demanded he focus on it. "How extraordinary..." He looked again to the hammer, unable to take his eyes off it. "Doesn't anyone hear that...?"
"Oh no... NO NO NO NO" Darcy tugged at Paul with one arm, making shooing motions at Reed and Jane with her other hand. "Snap OUT of it, dude! Ignore the evil hammers with your superior science brain! Not a Disney movie, remember???"
And then it seemed every alarm in the building was going off at once.