The Spinning of Gears - Part One

[Wulfen]

Cornelius Piper was having a very bad day, and it was still young. His Clockworks shop had been robbed several times over the past few weeks, and now he had to endure another hour-long interrogation at the hands of a Guild Guard Captain. The officer was accompanied by a cloaked man, or what Cornelius thought was a man; he wore dark, long robes, and his face was hidden in shadow, no matter how the light from the room shone on him. He made Cornelius very uncomfortable, and he made it a point to avoid the cloaked man's gaze.

"Are you sure you lock the shop doors every night?" The Guild officer asked, eyeing the empty glass display case beside him. His gaze lingered on the case for a few seconds, and then he looked at Cornelius sharply, irritated that he did not answer him immediately.

For his part, Cornelius was getting a tad tired answering the same questions; his answers had been no different the past four instances, surely the Guild had kept records of his interrogations?

"Of course, like I have already told your office before. I ensure the cabinets and doors are locked every night before I leave. Surely--"

The Captain interrupted him, "And yet your doors, your cabinets, are never left open after this thievery? You think it odd that thieves would take the time, or even have the time, to lock the doors after themselves?"

Cornelius sighed. He knew he had no answers for these men, and they would not accept any that he did give. He felt the suspicion, like an aura emanating from the Guild officer. The cloaked man was now slowly examining the store and its fixtures; the Captain had already gone over the cabinets, the cases and desks, and found nothing out of the ordinary. Cornelius had the fleeting vision that the cloaked man was looking at things that weren't there, as he touched nothing, but stared intently wherever he went. Cornelius quickly looked away from him; he was getting an ill feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Yes, Captain, I do think it odd, but I leave it to experts, such as yourselves, to solve these perplexing issues."

Ordinarily he would not have been so brazen with his replies, especially considering the rather large, armed man in front of him, but this had been tiresome from the start; Cornelius hid a smile as the man gave him a sour look.

"Indeed, good sir," the Captain said, clearly keen to be on his way. "And while I agree that it would be best left to the Guild, we are, rather unfortunately, undermanned at the moment."

Cornelius raised his brows. He had heard whispers of the nighttime activities, Guild raids on mines and offices around Malifaux. Undermanned, or is this beneath the notice of the mighty Guild? Of course, he did not give voice to his question; outright defiance would do no good.

The Guild officer continued. "I will spare a patrol if I am able, so they may check your storefront on their rounds, but I cannot guarantee anything. You may be best off to bring in some help of your own."

"Thank you for your generous assistance, Captain. Please have a good day, and I would be most grateful for your continued efforts." Cornelius knew no such effort would be forthcoming; he was on his own for the time being.

"Of course, Mr. Piper. Do call on us if you have further issues." And with that the Guild captain left, closing the lacquered wood door of the storefront--and his case, most likely--behind him.

Cornelius Piper had not noticed, but the cloaked man had gone as well. Odd, he had not seen him leave.

[elril]

Good start, well paced. Waiting to see where it will go though.

[Chucklemonkey]

I very much enjoyed it. The conversation and thoughts piper was having during it flowed really nicely. Also despite not a huge amount of description of their surrounding, you still managed to create an atmosphere.

Really Looking forward to part 2 and beyond.

[edonil]

I liked it. I will say, that the dialogue is very similar between the two characters, and it's very formal. Not a complaint, just a comment. The other thing I would say is that with Cornelius' inner dialogue (well done on making that flow, by the way) it seems to be redundant at moments. I'm not sure about how to change it, it may just be a style thing.