So Close, Yet, So Far

Western Weyr - Kitchen

Perhaps you followed your nose here.. the cooking aromas are tempting. This is the main kitchen of the Weyr. At any time of the day or night you find cooks and drudges busy making meals and preparing foodstuffs for storage for later use. The cavern has been shaped into a huge room with a domed ceiling. The huge ovens and cooking stoves line the outer wall, their perpetual fires fueled by natural gas from a nearby well. Vent holes pierce the cavern walls, keeping the room amazingly clear of smoke. The inner wall has long counters of smooth stone, carved from the walls. You see a large, heavy looking metal-clad door. This is the large cold storage room, much like a man-made ice cave. The walls are made of volcanic rock, known for it's insulating properties. The heat exchanger is also powered by natural gas.


The kitchens are slow for the fact that nothing is being prepared at the time, and yet again, a certain computer craft candidate is making her way into the kitchens when there are few people present. There's a quick look around and then Kiley is moving to push one of the mats out of the way, revealing a door with a combination lock upon it. The woman then enters a few numbers and attempts to pull. Nothing happens, however and there's a heavy sigh. But rather than moving away, she continues to sit and stare at it, frowning.

Kilarden has a perfectly legitimate reason to be down in the kitchens when so few are about, and it has nothing to do with secret doors with secret combinations! You hear those dishes? No? Well Kil can, and they're calling his name. He's emerging through the door probably only moments after Kiley has made her first attempt at secret-agent-esque code cracking. Grey eyes seek out the woman's state first, before settling on the mystery door before her. "Whatcha got there?" Kilarden inquires, nonchalant. Who needs greetings when there's something of interest to be asked after? He's sporting that infamous apron of his, hair held at bay by the white bandana settled on the top of his head. Even as curiousity is piqued, however, the candidate is moving toward the sink containing the most soiled dishes and prepping for the tedious cycle of scrub, rinse, dry, repeat.

Kiley squeaks as Kilarden speaks, eyes widening and settling upon the man before she's relaxing and smiling. "A door." Rather obvious, but she doesn't leave it at that. "Apparently there is a room for candidates in it, or something. But I can't figure out the combination or why I'd need a friend." A sigh, "maybe I should enter a combination and have someone else try to open it. But that sounds complicated and rather frustrating." Then, her gaze follows him over towards the sink and she leaves her gaze lingering there before humming softly and turning full attention to the door. "But, I don't even know if the combination is right. Or if I counted enough stairs and I haven't found anyone to ask, yet."

Kilarden laughs, though not unkindly. It's a huskily smooth cadence, that ends without being too long or too short. "So it's like some kind of map-hunt, then? I'll be more than happy to be your hands if you want to try the combination again." There's a shrug of his shoulders, a crooked smile, but his eyes are dropping back to his task before too long, submerging dishes in water, scrubbing until he can see no more grim, rinse, repeat. "How many other people know about this? And where did you find out about it, besides? I mean, what if it's something considerably more dangerous than a place for candidates and somebody thought they'd have a laugh leading another to it?"

"Perhaps it is a map-hunt. That would be wonderful, but, I've got so many combinations that I've tried that I'm not sure which is the real one if you want to indulge me for that long?" Kiley tilts a curious look at the man and she offers a friendly little smile before considering and humming. "Patori, Kelthero, and Velrich are the ones that I've talked to about it so far and have seen it. Kershaw has only heard of it." She leans forward to enter a few numbers, frowning thoughtfully at it. "A'ven told me when I was in the infirmary getting my arm looked at. He told me the whole rhyme… Because S'chez, in the living caverns, can't seem to remember much of it. I'm sure they wouldn't talk about it if it were dangerous, though. Right? He said it was sort of a safe place for candidates."

"If you can remember that riddle, I'd like to hear it for myself." Pause. "Ah, logic. Can't really beat that, can you?" Kilarden is setting down some of the dishes, moving away from the sink as he wipes his hands to some semblance of dry on the part of his apron covering his mid-section. Legs carry him over to Kiley and her mystery door as he studies it in quiet contemplation, thumb and forefinger on his chin before grey eyes cast a sideways glance onto the tech. "Though, I can only follow that line of logic if they've actually been inside of it before. I don't trust mysteries, particularly because they tend to always have some kind of nasty surprise at the end." He contradicts his own words when he reaches out to place two hands on the latch that will release the door if Kiley can figure out her numbers. "Ready whenever you are."

"Yes, I have it memorized. Add the way up plus two, to honor the Weyrleaders that lead me and you, then reverse that answer and add it to the end. You've found your way through but you'll need a friend. I counted the stairs to the Weyrleader's area and there were three flights of stairs." Kiley recites and then smiles. "I'm not sure if it would be four or more numbers or simply one number. There are various ways that one may look at it." However, her gaze is settled firmly on the man as he talks logic and the woman colors a light shade of red. "You're wonderful, Kilarden. I didn't think there were any of the other candidates who understood the necessity and importance of logic. How that with stories that don't sound possible you can always determine what may have really happened with logic." You can almost see little hearts in her eyes. Almost. She is entirely gleeful before she's considering and entering the first attempt for combinations of the door.

Velrich is not in the infirmary! No, despite what his chore might list for the day, the candidate heads into the kitchen hauling a carcass. Or..part of one, anyway. Instead of smelling the horrible smells of the infirmary, he is instead helping out with bringing in meat! After all, it doesn't /get/ to the kitchen in the form of stew. He carries what he can though, and thankfully, he's wearing gloves and everything. Even a leather apron. That's right…it's leather. It is in no way made of cloth, or containing /frills/. Granted….it's rather smeared with redness. He heads right on through the kitchen with it, shoving into Kilarden a bit to jostle him out of the way. Tsk, people all crouching around on the floor, looking at doors! But he does find an area to set the large animal-part, settled in the area designated for meat preparation. "You're still messing with that?"

It's very clear when Kilarden's brows furrow together that he's trying to make sense of the riddle Kiley has just laid out for him. "Well, how many stairs were there? It sounds to me like it would be the number of stairs back to back. So say there's 100 steps, and we have to add two. That would be 102, right? So maybe the combination would be something like 102201." It's when conversation is suddenly turning to him being wonderful that he blinks once, twice, and then /himself/ is flushing. It's most definitely a feat, and one that Kilarden tries desperately to hide by giving Kiley his back and tugging uselessly at the trapdoor. "I ah-, well…" Pause, pause. "I just… thought it'd made sense, is all." He murmurs the last bit on a quick breath, but is spared any further attempts to regain composure when Velrich is once again bulldozing him to the side. He loses his balance, grasping for purchase to keep himself steady and finding himself coming down hard on his bottom anyway. He laughs, for the irony of the situation, and turns his head in the direction of his fellow candidate. Meat? Apron? "I told you that I could make aprons look more manly than you can, Velrich. Even when mine isn't spattered in blood." He pushes himself back up, giving an apologetic smile to Kiley as he once again hunkers down of the door and puts his hands in place. "Shall we try again?"

Kiley looks up as Velrich enters with the meat and looking all manly and whatnot as he provides for the Weyr. There's a blink before she's looking towards the door. "Yeah. We are." The computer crafter admits softly, "aren't you curious?" And the woman is much like a feline in the sense of her curiosity getting the better of her. "How many stairs? Shells, I thought it was just the flights." Her nose wrinkles just a bit. "But, if it is 100, then you add two. You reverse it and then add it to the end. Would that make it 301?" The blushing is missed for the fact that he turns his back to her and tugs on the door. "No luck. Shells." She peeks at him curiously and that smile only grows wider. "That is the point of logic! To make sense." She is entirely pleased by this and then the offer of trying again is met with a nod and she leans forward to enter a number. "I'm trying my first guesses. Then we can move on to the bigger numbers."

Velrich sighs just a bit, peeling the gloves off his hands. "I'm not in a /contest/ about it." Hey, he's not doing it to 'be manly' after all! He's doing it because it's work! He shakes his head though, pulling the apron off…although one foot comes out to try and push Kilarden over once again. Poor kneeling people..so easily..toppled. "Am I curious? Not enough to spend my spare time staring at it. Trying to come up with the right number to that thing would only give me a headache.." Let's face it, that's a whole lot of thinking!

Kilarden pulls when Kiley inputs her code, but shakes his head as luck seems to abandon them. "That wasn't it, Kiley." He moves back just long enough to rub the side of his head in contemplation as brows once again furrow in concentration. "But now you've dragged me into this madness and I intend to see it through. Let's give it another go." He's just about to put his hands back in place when he's being bowled over again. By feet. Does he go backwards? Most definitely, but this time the man is not going to play coy with his reflexes. He catches Velrich at one ankle with his hand while catching the other with his knee - a sure way to bring the man of equal stature down. This probably will have the man landing on Kilarden, but if he does, there will only be a sharp exhale and then a /shove/ before Kilarden gives way to laughter. If not? There will only be laughter.

Kiley squeaks as Velrich's foot comes out again, peeking between the two. Silence for a moment before she's nodding. "I'm not spending all my spare time staring at it, only when I thought I had an idea of what it could be. I'll have to ask for more clues, it sounds like." A heavy sigh and then Kilarden's next attempt is considered and /nothing/. More sighs, laced with disappointment. "Okay. We'll try a few more, then." The foot makes connection and there's another notable squeak that the woman releases, eyes widening as Kilarden retaliates. Wisely, however, she scoots away rather than lingering in the line of fire!

DOWN! Yes, down Velrich goes with..definite surprise. But thankfully, there's a pillow named Kilarden there to break his fall. Hitting the stone floor from a position of standing wouldn't have been very fun at all. There's a frown though, and a hand on Kilarden's /face/ as he pushes to get up, even as he's shoved off. Smooshface. Thankfully, he'd taken off the bloody apron. But once he stands, he brushes himself off a little bit, eyeing the pair and their /door/. "Unless you're sure of the first number you're never going to find it."

"Well thank you for your wisdom," Kilarden offers Velrich, friendly sarcasm oozing from his words like blood from a fresh wound. "I don't think we would have ever figured that out if you weren't here to share your insight." Solemn, level-eyed, all that good acting marred by the crooked twist of lips that tugs at only the left side of his face. Still, he's pushing himself up into a sitting position, dusting himself off as grey eyes seek out Kiley with another smile. "I think I've got a few more in me, if that beast can keep himself in line long enough to /allow/ it." He only bothers pushing himself to his knees this time, moving towards the trapdoor in a scene of apparent deja vu. "Let me know when you're ready again, Kiley. Hopefully we've got it this time."

Kiley winces as Velrich goes down and lands upon Kilarden, here eyes closing until they are off one another and there's the sound of movement once more. Eyes open to consider the pair once more and then her gaze is drawn to the door. "That is right. I really think it is three flights of stairs. That would mean the first number is two or three. But, do you have the numbers you are meant to add in the combination or only the results? The results for the first is 5 and if you reverse 5 it looks like a 2. So 52 and if you add the result to the end it would be 524 or 527?" There's a sound of frustration as she folds her arms across her chest and stares at the door in an accusing manner. Her gaze flickers up towards Kilarden and she nods. "I'll try 524, then." One must wonder if they know what the definition of insanity is.

Velrich leans on the counter, briefly rubbing at his arm…and checking it for injury. He fell! Even if it was onto pillowKil. He sighs though, gaze boring into Kilarden for a few moments..simply…watching him. He shakes his head then, turning his attention back onto the attempts at finding the proper combinations to things. He offers a sniff then, and a shrug…but at least doesn't seem to be going anywhere. "Oh yes, the /beast/ is fine for now. Carry on."

Well if anybody is waving about the flag of sanity, it most certainly is /not/ Kilarden. He listens to Kiley siphon through her own logic until she comes to another conclusion. She's ready? He pulls. But there's no luck, and the man is making a face at that. "You'd think they didn't want anybody to find it, eh?" Which is probably a partial truth, even if it's not the honest one. It's Velrich's commentary that has him turning those grey eyes up and onto Vel again. "Are you just going to stand there doing nothing, or are you going to wrack that genius brain of yours for some kind of useful suggestion." Pause, and his eyes are back onto Kiley again. "Are you sure the reversal isn't maybe just… a zero?" It might be a long shot, but riddles are rather tricky things, and Kilarden would be a liar if he claimed having ever been very good at them.

A brow lifts for Velrich's statement, coughing softly. "If you are certain." The woman doesn't seem inclined to argue with that, at least. Attention turns to Kilarden and lips press together as there is no luck. "I suppose they don't want us to. Or they want us to work for it. Maybe there is something like a prize in there for all the hard work." Kiley suggests, perhaps to make this whole endeavor worth it. Kilarden's comment to Velrich has her tilting another look towards said man before looking back to the door. "A zero? But then it'd be… 252? Possibly? 352?"

Kaldrozen makes his way slowly into the kitchens, nodding politely to the other candidates as he makes his way back to his position to wash dishes.

Velrich sighs just a bit…once again. He shakes his head though. "Well isn't it /logical/ that if you don't know for sure where to start, then the possibilities of whatever the combination is are..completely astronomical?" Look! The hunter knows big words. And logic? Maybe he /didn't/ miss all the logic-talk when he came in, hauling meat. "My suggestion? Pry the answer out of some rider. Someone has to know."

"She does have a place to start, Velrich, and it's with counting stairs." Kilarden's eyes meet with the younger male candidate, shaking his head as he states, "And since we're preaching logic, I think it'd be pretty logical to assume that a rider would have already spilled the beans if they weren't interested in watching us all struggle to figure it out." He pulls on the trapdoor until muscles strain, relaxing his grip only when his hands complain for relief. He straightens himself up to his full height, one hand coming down on his hip just as Kaldrozen joins the fray. The wave is returned, but all interest is saved for Kiley. "I think I'm going to go check out those stairs, Kiley, and take my break trying to figure something that makes sense out." He ponders the trapdoor again, giving it a rather gentle kick in irritation, before landing grey eyes on Velrich. "Help her out in my absence, would you? I'm itching to know what's hiding underneath all these riddles now." It better be good! But he's not going to stick around long enough to figure it out. He's giving Kiley a smile and a wave before turning on his heel to retreat temporarily. Must. Uncover. Mystery!

"That is true, again." A soft whine, "but… Shells. I am impatient." Kiley stares at the door and frowns at it, willing it to open with that look alone. "Well, if we can find a rider who knows and is willing more than give a riddle, that would be wonderful. But, so far it is only riddles that I have gotten in response." But then Kilarden is offering the logical response to Velrich's statements and she is quickly nodding agreement Looking far too happy now despite their recent failures at opening the door. She looks to Kaldrozen as Kilarden does, returning the wave with a smile before Kilarden states his intent. "Sounds good. I'll sit here and… Stare at the door for a moment longer. I'll try and find a rider in a few." She waves after him, returning the smile and then staring at the door more intently.

Kaldrozen glances over to Kiley as he sits and says, "Find a rider who know what?" looking to her curiously as he begins to reach into the sink to pull some dirty dishes out.

Velrich groans as he's directed to..help? There's a slight scowl that follows Kilarden out of the kitchen though, as well as a grumble of dissent from the candidate. Why does /he/ have to? "Without definitely knowing that the /stairs/ is the right answer, there is no way of knowing if any of these numbers are right." There's a bit of a frustrated noise though, both hands moving up to rub at the back of his neck. And then? He puts on the bloody apron again. Might as well help with the meat he brought in, after all. He waves a hand toward the trapdoor in the floor as Kaldrozen starts questioning, however. "How to open /that/."

As Kelthero wanders into the kitchens, he pauses by the entrance for a moment to take in the scene in front of him. Looking as though he's just come from the baths, his hair is still damp and his clothes look surprisingly free of dust and dirt for one supposedly on cleanup duty. Maybe he's finished early? Even so, he makes a silent approach towards those gathered around the trapdoor, nodding to the familiar faces among them. "No luck still with the sharding trap door?" he asks, not bothering with overly formal greetings. In fact, he isn't even meeting anyone's gaze right off, staring at that door that somehow manages to continue to perplex them all. Eventually though, he grins to Velrich and Kiley. "Please don't tell me you've been in here all day trying to puzzle it out?" he muses in a teasing tone as he moves to lean back against a nearby countertop.

Padpadpad. The quick little shuffling way Patori sneaks into the kitchen is hardly anything of note, especially with other people about. He's still snuffling into that hankie, but at least isn't sneezing with every other word, one hand up to his face to hold the cloth in place while the other is clinging rather tightly to a patchwork plushie. The same one he's been carrying around /everywhere/ for the past several days. Indeed, there's a bit of a hug to the thing as he spots people over there by the trapdoor, bobbing his head quietly to those he knows, and maybe kindasorta hiding a little behind Kelthero, since the former guard arrives just before he does. Though Pat, in contrast, is totally dusty and grumy-looking, a smudge of something smeared right across his forehead, if faintly. He snickers somewhat for the man's comment to Velrich and Kiley, the latter given a curious look as the weyrbrat edges closer, "How many combinations have you tried." He's assuming they've been sitting around doing that, yep.

Kiley clicks her tongue, "correct. You don't have to help, really. I should find someone else to ask." She smiles and then he's going off to help with the meat. The woman instead crosses her lets and stares at the door as if it may reveal the secrets of the door, of the numbers and it all will suddenly come to her. But, no. No such luck. Instead, Kelthero is arriving and the woman is blinking at him innocently. "No. No luck." She tilts her head back down. "Not all day. But I was thinking about it while I was weeding. I'm not sure what the answer is. I love it and hate it at the same time. But, quite ready to solve it." And then there's the little Patori entering with his stuffy. Her attention is drawn there and she offers a shrug. "Not sure. Quite a few. Maybe the friend part means that one person enters the combination and the other opens the door?"

Velrich looks over as Kelthero, and then Patori also head into the kitchen. The place is filling up fast! Kelthero is at least given a faint smirk of his own though, shaking his head. "I haven't. I've been working. Whatever's down there…can stay down there. For all we know it's the remains of some /other/ candidate who got trapped down there, with the way that door locks." It could happen. Enjoy nightmares of being trapped in locked, dark cellars folks! He continues manhandling the meat he's working on though, starting to cut it. "You're /still/ sick?" This, of course, is aimed at the snifflesnuffling Patori.

"I'm beginning to hate it more then love it." Kelthero admits with a slight dismissive wave of his hand, smirking as he glances back to Kiley. That smirk soon turns to a typical crooked smile though. "And here I thought you said you wouldn't get obsessed." He teases her further, before being distracted by Patori's arrival - that of which isn't noticed until the young candidate speaks up. Blinking a little in surprise, he glances over, no doubt noticing the still present hanky and the ever present stuffy. The dirty clothing seems the least of his concern or interest. There's an awkward shift as the former guard fights the urge to shuffle away a little, but instead he continues to stare at the patchwork stuffy. "You got one of those too?" he asks, before Velrich's macabre remark earns his attention and sets him into some equally dark chuckling. "Stuck in the kitchen again, eh? And hidden bodies? Now part of me has to wonder…" he then shakes his head. "It's unlikely. Cause I think someone would notice the smell…." And then Kelthero promptly falls silent mid-sentence, no doubt realizing how unsettling that topic is becoming and quickly coughs to hide his awkwardness.

Patori nods to Kiley, all solemn-faced and serious. With a dirt smudge on his forehead and a plushie under his arm. "Maybe," he agrees, scooting closer and plopping down near the door, where he can watch the others with wide eyes, "What if the riddle is wrong? Or it means someplace else?" It's a valid question, after all, though the boy is them STARING at Velrich, horrified. There's only a mute nod for being sick, Pat giving a leetle sniff. And then gulping. Right, give the boy nightmares, why don'tcha. Luckily, he's distracted from the sudden and growing bottom lip-wibble by Kelthero, who is asking about the plushie. He totally hugs it tight, practically squeezing the stuffing from it, "Yeah, it was a gift." Eyes dart left and right, and he tucks the dingy little hting under his chin, "It's mine." Because one neever knows when those pesky plushie thieves might be lurking. Yuup. He'll just hunch down and let the other guys ponder the possiblity of dead bodies.

Kiley blinks at Velrich, "I doubt that they made it so that people cannot come out. I mean, Zi'on was a candidate and I am sure that he was down there before. And not to mention that they all made it to the Hatching in the end, so it is highly illogical that they were locked in. Not to mention that it would be rather hard not to notice knocking coming from the floor?" Kelthero's statement earns a laugh, "as am I. Rather hoping that it may just open on its own." Cheeks suddenly color once more and she murmurs, "I was already obsessed, I just hadn't realized it until now." A soft laugh and then she is considering the stuffy with a slight twitch. "I got one, too… Mine is almost completely perfect. But the seam zigzags under one arm." Twitch. It visibly bothers the woman! "Wrong? What's wrong? The stairs were wrong? Different stairs?" Brows draw into a deeper frown and she stares accusingly at the door once more.

Velrich shakes his head slowly. "Like I've /been/ saying. She doesn't even know if the first part of her numbering, the stairs, is the /right/ thing to be counting in the first place." Hey, he's all with Patori on that one! "Who's to say it's stairs in the first place? Count the way up..wasn't it? From where? Why does it have to be /those/ stairs?" He sighs, raising an arm to rub the back of it across his forehead, getting back to work for another minute on the meat-cutting endeavor. "…It was a /joke/. Damn.. If anyone in this place wanted to hide a body it wouldn't be in the kitchen." The gruff hunter can make jokes! Sometimes. About dead things, apparently.

"Well, of course it's yours." Kelthero says, giving Patori a bit of a puzzled look as the young candidate begins to squeeze the plushy tight. He's the least likely to go stealing it from him. "I was just curious." He adds, with a bit of a smile. See? Purely innocent. Then his attention is shifting back to Kiley and the former guard is soon laughing as she replies to Velrich, shaking his head a little and keeping his comments to himself - for now. Instead, he shrugs his shoulders slightly as he sobers up, laughter drifting into chuckles. "To be honest, I think we're all getting a little obsessed. But it helps pass the time between mind-numbing chores." When Kiley mentions another plushy, Kelthero seems to shift again from where he's leaning against the countertop, arms coming up to cross over his chest. "I uh… got one too. Kind of surprised to find it." Oddly, he doesn't give details. Instead his attention is focusing back on Velrich and with a bit of a wicked grin, he asks. "And how would you know where is best to hide a body?"

Patori does not like Velrich's jokes! He's totally curling up in a horrified little ball of weyrbrat. Luckily, Kiley reasons it away, which sees a noticable relaxing of the poor boy's shoulders, though he does draw his knees up, hugging that plushie tight. And maybe scooting closer to the computercrafter, hankie-muffled snuffles and all. "Yours is zig-zaggy?" he moves on to less disturbing topics, glancing down at the squishable thing he's holding and then back toward Kiley, "What are you going to name it?" Names are important, after all. Kelthero's smile has Pat relaxing completely, and even returning it slightly. His gaze flickers back to the door, though, the boy absently chewing on his lower lip as he mumbles, "We could just try all random numbers till we get one. How many tries could there be?" Eyes widen, though, and he darts a glance back to the former guard, "You did?" totally surprised, "What did you name it?" Everyone has got their obsessions, maybe. Pat's might be naming inanimate objects. Or maybe he's just trying not to think about dead candidates trapped under the floor. That last question, though, has him.. staring again at Velrich. Stare.

"Then you try figuring out the first part of the numbering." Kiley states simply, nose wrinkling and her gaze fixating upon the hunter. "It says to honor the Weyrleaders. How else would you honor them other than giving them their own place? Where would we honor Weyrleaders? I counted the way up from there. Well, not all the stairs but how many flights of stairs. If you have a better idea of what we should count, please suggest it so that we may go do so?" As for the explanation of the joke the woman sighs, "I don't understand that sort of joke." Kelthero's laughter draws her attention, "it does help pass time. But to classify it as obsession by simply thinking of it during chores would likely be inaccurate." Patori is drawing her attention with his sniffles as he scoots closer towards her. "Under one wing." She stares at him for a moment, blinking before shrugging. "I haven't even named my laptop yet. I doubt I will be able to thing of a name for a stuffed toy." But she smiles, "maybe Zig would be fine, however." She does, indeed, indulge the boy before considering the door with a thoughtful tilt of her head.

There's a loud clammering as Tineska enters the kitchen, as she unintentionally slams into a server who is on his way out with a large platter. "Oops, sorry!" She turns slightly red as the man gives her an intense glare. She tried, at least. She's been busy running errands for the wings today, and she's got a list with her, with some of them crossed off. She searches for the cook in charge and points to the list. "I'm afraid I have an unusual request." She doesn't look convinced that the kitchen staff will go for it, but..here goes nothing.

Velrich smiles vaguely at that, looking over at Kelthero again. "I imagine that one carcass is the same as any other..human or not. Granted, this place doesn't get as cold as the region I'm used to, and I don't know all the..nooks and crannies of this place yet." He does finally set the blade down, apparently done with chopping for now as his smile fades again. "I've already said I'm no good with riddles." Alas, he's got nothing but grump for that insufferable door. He goes to wash his hands off, shoulders lifting somewhat. "I don't have answers, just trying to say that you shouldn't focus blindly on one conclusion, that's all." Hands wiped down then, he moves, skirting around Tineska for the door…with a quick look shot at Patori as he goes. "Mine's Dave." And he's gone!

"We'd be here until even /after/ the Hatching happened if we tried all the numbers possible! There's countless!" Kelthero explains with a grimace, freeing one of his hands long enough to wave it dismissively. Then he's simply gaping at Patori for a moment. Name? "I… didn't name it." He admits, looking rather sheepish as he does shuffle awkwardly now, seeming to hesitate in giving more. Eventually, it takes a deep inhale and a bit of a smile. "But yes, I got one. Only now it belongs to someone else. So she can name it." He finishes cryptically, before glancing back to Kiley. He frowns at her response for a moment, no doubt taking a moment or two to process what she just explained. "Uh, I guess? It's still a lot of thinking and puzzling over just a door. Just seems a bit much to me." He replies with a smirk. So then why is he here? For a moment, his focus is broken by the commotion by the kitchen entrance as Tineska collides with a server. There's a hint of a wince from the candidate, but he simply watches as she seeks out the head cook before Velrich is given a snort, his lips curling up in a slightly bemused half-smile. "They probably are one and the same." He admits with a shrug and no further comment on that, his gaze following the candidate for a moment as he heads off as well before the trapdoor is given another quick glance. "He had a point there, you know. About other conclusions?" Kelthero mumbles thoughtfully, glancing between those still gathered around.

Patori s totally just staring at the blade-holding, meat-chopping guy. Nevermind the possibility of some poor candidate dead under the floor. He's briefly distracted by Tineska walking into somebody over there, but eyes dart back to Velrich, watching the guy wordlessly, wide wide eyes, until the other candidate is good and gone. But there is a bit of a blink as a name is provided. He opens his mouth, but instead of words, there's only a little 'o' and he just closes it again, going back to nibbling on his bottom lip. This time, with eyebrows sneaking together. Distractedly, there's a glance at Kiley, and a mumbled, "You.. wantto name your laptop?" as if /that/ is silly. Still, he bobs his head, "Zig is a good name. Mine is Patch." Yep. "It should have a name," he insists to Kelthero, though again his gaze is sliding toward the trapdoor, with more trepidation this time. He'll nod for the gifting of the plushie, though his own is anbsently, in a thoughtful, totally-not-evil-genius manner while he considers the lock down there. "Maybe.. maybe there's only one number? And we have to get it right?" hopeful thinking there, perhaps, but he looks at the others, "Or we could cheat and find someone with, um. An axe."

Kiley peeks up from her spot on the floor to stare at Tineska as she enters, brows lifting just a fraction before attention flickers to Velrich. "you did say that." She agrees, brows drawing into another frown as she wiggles a bit to stare down at the door more intently. "One conclusion is all I have. I may have to take a step back and reconsider it all over again. Start fresh and search for new answers… Or something." Her gaze shifts to follow the hunter to the door before she waves a farewell as he takes off. The door gains her attention and she hums softly as she thinks before attention is drawn by the former guard. "Yes. That is why we're trying to narrow it down." There is a bit of laughter, however and she smiles. The confession about the plushy has her lifting her brows a lifting in a questioning manner but the question never comes, instead settling on his comment on obsession. "It may be much, but, it could be worse." Patori's question earns a frown, "why not? Nik has named his Vera. It's only fair that I have a man as well." Yes. The laptops. But, she acts as if this is completely normal. "I've tried one number. Or, well, the number that it may possibly be if the addition is right, but it will only be right if I have the right number. Maybe I should just do one through nine and have Kelthero pull." The axe bit earns a firm shake of her head. "That is not recommended. Can you imagine what people in the kitchen will say? The kitchen workers? The cooks? They'd have to avoid falling into a hole."

"I need twenty whole roasted heardbeasts. Yes, I know. But that's what they want. Rismaryth wants what Rismaryth wants." Tineska argues with the cook for a few minutes about the request, but finally he agrees. It's at that point that her mind is free of that particular task and she notices her fellow candidates. "Oh, hello guys!" It's been a long day so far, and Tineska's been all over the Weyr. "Laptop name? I'd name it Zap. In case the harddrive gets zapped."

Kelthero looks a little too eager when Patori mentions and axe as a solution, though that is probably the former guard's frustration over the trap door showing through. But he knows better and so soon that eager look is replaced by something more serious and level headed. "I don't think they'd appreciate us hacking into the floor." He grumbles. At the insistence of naming the plushy, Kelthero shakes his head. "Can't name something that isn't technically mine now." So there! No name from him. Kiley then earns a quick glance and a light smile. "Let's hope it doesn't get worse then." He says, before looking down at the bane that plagues them all. He frowns, narrowing his eyes at the door and then suddenly seems bored with it all - or he's growing restless. When Kiley mentions him helping by pulling on the door again, Kelther grimaces. "We tried that though, didn't we? It didn't work then and I don't think it'll work now." He admits bluntly. Spoil sport. Suddenly, he's pushing off from the countertop, arms uncrossing so he can give a half wave, half salute to Kiley and Patori. "I'm getting pretty stir crazy. Think I'm going to go for a walk." He offers as an explanation to his sudden departure. Then it's a quick smile and a nod and he's off, shuffling past Tineska on his way out, pausing long enough to give her a nod as well before disappearing back the way he came.

"But it doesn't have a /face/," Patori protests, peering at Kiley for her explanation of naming laptops. Though the way she phrases it gives him pause, and he squints at her, "..You want.. a man as well?" Stare. He tries to figure that out, brow creasing in puzzlement, "Why don't you just have Nik?" It makes perfect sense to him, somehow. He's nodding though, about her suggestion of putting in numbers and having the former guard tug on the door, Pat quickjly scooting out of the way to watch. His enthusiasm wanes slightly, for taking an axe to the thing, after hearing the computercrafter's once-again powers of reasoning, "Oh. Right.. I don't want to make a big hole in the floor." The strange request over there has the boy briefly blinking and peering over towards Tineska, a baffled, "That's way more than a dragon could eat, isn't it?" but he's soon bobbing his head in proper greeting to her with a soft, "Oh, um. Hi." Fidgety fidgety. He misses Kelthero's eagerness for the axe suggestion, but he does pout a little for the guard's spoilsport-ness. "Later!" he des call after the man, glancing back to the girls with a softer, "If we can find sombody else strong, we can have them try to pull the door open. Because he has no illusions about his own muscledness, or lack thereof.

Tineska's order is met with a lift of her brow. "I didn't think they could eat that much in one sitting. Normally they only have one or two?" The computer crafter stares at the younger girl for a moment before she shakes her head. "Zap is not a really good name for him. He'll have one when there is one to fit him." Kiley smiles and then tilts a look to Kelthero. "I don't believe it will get worse. We just need to find it out." As for his question, she shakes her head. "Not just pulling but…" She shrugs and waves a farewell to the departing guard with a smile before dropping her gaze to the door and sighing. "I think I'll just come back later." The mat is resettled into place and she stands, stretching out slowly to remove the kinks from her legs. "He doesn't need to have a face. Well, you could consider the screen the face, really." The woman reasons with Patori. "The laptop /is/ the man. And Nik hasn't spoken to me since I told him I was a candidate." She shrugs and then sighs softly. "We're not trying to force it open, just to try after we enter another combination. Either way, however, we should wait until we have more information. I'll ask around some more."

Tineska gives a wave of her hand to Kelthero as he leaves and gives a slight lip pout at his departure, and then nods to Patori. "Yes, it's /way/ too much, if you ask me. But Rismaryth is…well. She's in one of those moods. She's /ultra/ proddy. Today she's decided she wants a whole herd. And she actually wants them roasted first." She didn't ask for errand running today. It's all Ae'gus' fault. Yep, that must be it.. at last, she gets the confirmation she's looking for from the kitchen staff, and crosses this errand off her list. "Take them to the east bowl when they're ready. She's quite eager to receive them. I hate to see how golds act when they're like that.." That might actually be a little scary. The mention of Nikolas and the status of his and Kiley's relation ship miffs her. "What?! So are you guys broken up then? He should be more supportive, regardless of what you decide to do." He may have gotten her computer parts, but he sure needs some work in the Boyfriend department. "Maybe he will come around eventually." She's not really sure whether or not her last words hold any water, but perhaps they will help Kiley?

"I guess so.." Pat will nod somewhat, about the laptop screen possibly being a face. But the boy is then wrinkling his nose with a mumbled, "So you.. replaced him with it?" either missing something or jumping to conclusions. Or both. There's a confused look sent Kiley's way, and the weyrbrat just shakes his head, obviously not understanding. He just okays in slightly disappointed fashion for needing more information, giving the door a wrinklenosed look and snuffling a bit behind his hankie. He just gives a headshake at Tineska's explanation of the proddy dragon, mumbling a soft, "..Her rider should know better," but leaving it at that, distracted as he is by eyeing the door. He will bob his head in agreement with the girl and her miffedness, though he makes no such bold comments of his own, instead peeking up and adding, "Someone should write him a letter and tell him that."

Kiley coughs softly, "I'm not sure if the Weyr took that into account with the purchases of the herdbeasts. Did… You talk to the Headwoman or Enka about it?" She blinks at the computer crafting apprentice, staring at her for a moment. But then the staff is agreeing and she can only stare at them as well. But, then she shrugs and relents before considering Tineska. "I don't believe we've broken up." Even though they haven't spoken for some time. "I do need to focus on what is to come rather than worrying about a relationship. But, if he comes back to talk, we'll talk and I'm sure he will have figured everything out. I'm not worried." She either has a lot of faith and confidence in her boyfriend, or something else. Patori earns a look and then she shakes her head. "No. He's had Vera this whole time. It isn't as if she has taken away from the relationship at all." She smiles a little more warmly, "we'll figure out how to open the door."

Kaldrozen seems to not be paying much attention to his fellow candidates as he busies himself with the last bit of the nights dishes, scrubing them quickly in an attempt to finish his chore for the day.

Tineska nods. "I don't think her rider is in his right mind right now…" that's probably an understatement. Headwoman..oh yeah, her. "The Headwoman had an idea. She said she figured that if it comes down to it, other dragons would probably eat them, too. Because a green would get sick if she ate all of them, so they'll probably just put out a few, and see if that satiates her. They are hoping she'll go up soon." Dragons sure do seem like quite a bit of work. Not just physically, but mentally as well. It's like a boyfriend times 1000. Tineska's never even had one of those..but she probably hasn't missed anything. As far as real boyfriends go, she looks hopeful at Kiley. "I'm sure he will soon, then. You're probably right." The door, she's been ignoring that up until now. She inspects it, and gives it a hard kick, which of course does nothing. Oh well, it was worth a shot, right?

A'ven bustles through with an armful of things for the kitchens. He nearly trips on the rug. The very alert amongst you may notice that in doing so, he reveals a strange discoloration on the floor underneath, and it sounds somewhat hollow. A trapdoor? Here? Impossible. He doesn't seem to have noticed his blunder, other than catching himself before he falls with the help of a nearby drudge.

Patori peers at Kiley, though whether for her reasoning or for her lack of worry, he doesn't say, only shaking his head a little and pursing lips together. But while he stops talking about computers and naming things, there's totally a look given the door. Especially for that kick, and then A'ven wandering through and nearly tripping on the thing. Patori just sits there, and stares. And maybe starts pondering going to get lunch sometime.

Kiley blinks, "oh… But wouldn't they get sick if they ate it roasted?" Thoughtful, she considers this question before shrugging to herself. "Thank you for that, though." There's a blink as A'ven makes his way through and she seems ready to greet or take after him but then he's on his way once more. There is a heavy sigh and then she's looking to Patori, watching him take off into his own world. "Well. I'm going to go ask some questions. Maybe recount stairs." Maybe. And then, she's making her way out. No. She really can't drop this door thing.

Kaldrozen tilts his head to the side looking to the obviously discolored spot for a moment before shaking his head slightly looking back to his work.

Tineska's face shows more than a little surprise as the Weyrleader of all people comes in, trips, and scurries off. Once he's gone, she can't help but chuckle. Even powerful men can be klutzy, it seems. She studies the door a bit more, and then shrugs. She's curious, but she's got her hands full with the oddball Green. "I don't know. I'll ask the Dragonhealer. I would think it would taste better to them fresh, but..who knows. Maybe she just wants to see what it tastes like. I never can tell what's going on underneath those headknobs.." She spots Kaldrozen hard at work and calls out to him. "Hello!" Suddenly the Cay Wingleader pokes his head in the door. "Tineska! Got another job for you. Come on, I'll show you!" And with that, the auburn-maned apprentice makes for the door.

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