#77

Lefty will walk into the penultimate chamber, where Bones Ellson is. He'll be tied up with a rope suspending him from the ceiling. He'll look at Lefty in desperation, his eyes moving looking towards an incoming laser beam threatening to cut the rope, sliding along a track very slowly. Below him will be a huge model of Bones' own head, weirdly enough. It'll be pretty square down in the Uncanny Valley, overall. The mouth will be open, and flames will be visible inside. Once more, there'll be a computer terminal that will apparently stop all this, somehow.

Lefty'll tackle a computer one last time. Of course, there'll be a message displayed.

“That's two of three failed now, Lefty. Now you have a chance to save Bones from his own Bone-head.” Fuckin' ouch. “Just solve the riddle and a platform will catch him. Otherwise, you'll have to find a new Mob. Would that be the New New O'Grady Mob, perchance?”

Lefty will hate this guy with a passion beyond words.

He'll look at the riddle, then, halfway assuming that it's impossible.

“A Roman asks: what is the opposite of empty war?”

Lefty will pause. He'll have an idea, but it can't be that easy.

He'll still give it a try.

“Full peace”?

It won't even be ten seconds into the timer when a platform appears, blocking off the garish head of doom. As this happens, however, the answer will rearrange into something else: “Vulpes”.

Vulpes. Fox.

Oh no.

Tiber-own: tiburón. Spanish for shark.

Voter: vautour. French for vulture.

God fucking damn it. It was, or would be, there, right fucking there, the whole fucking time.

The glass wall will collapse, and Bones will be free. He'll run towards Lefty. “Where are the others?”

Lefty will barely be able to choke out what happened to 'em. The only satisfaction he'll get is the rage that'll fill Bones' eyes. They won't say anything past that, even as the final door opens.

There's only a slight moment of hesitation.

At least the traps will be over; now it'll be payback time. Lefty will hand his piece over to Bones, and then reach over to his violin case. The pièce de résistance will lie within. But even as he calls it that in his head...Lefty will consider how much he'll have to avoid anything but English for awhile.