Utterly Mad

What George wanted Catnip to look at was a shaft leading from an intact but inaccessible section of the sublevel, all the way up to the tower above. Catnip could see a tiny hole far above where the towers main axle punched up through the roof and connected with the outside world. She wish she could see more than just the axle, the machine that ran it would have to be very large or fairly sophisticated, she believed. George showed her and L around the room, indicating especially the strange teardrop shape of the chamber.

"What do you think, mechanic?" He asked. Catnip didn't answer at first, too busy eyeing the room and making measurements. She couldn't be sure of it, but the shape of the room was important. In her eyes, she could see the imaginary lines and spirals, nonsense numbers and letter, and all the other little things that made up her strange method of measuring by eye.

"I think we should get the lower level drained so I can look at the machine this is a part of." She finally answered.

"Yes, but what about the room itself? Does it look stable?"

"I'd say so, yes. It's an odd shape though, isn't it?"

"Oh yes, a very sturdy shape. What do you think the purpose of such a room would be though? Normally people build rooms like this for decorative purposes, but look, there is nothing ornamental about any of it. I would look at this and think to have professional paint it with images of stars to mimic the night sky or perhaps some simple patterns."

At the side of the room was a walkway, and it was this that the trio stood on while they talked and went about their work. Catnip looked over the railing and noted that even the floor sloped gently into a kind of bowl shape, making it so that there were no walls whatsoever in the chamber.

"I don't know." She said, "I suppose... Maybe it just wasn't finished?"

"I think," put in L, "We aren't seeing everything here. Look at that." She was pointing up at a ring in the wall, connected to the axle via a series of flat angled plates. "Do you think those moved once?"

"It's possible. You know, I bet we could find information about this room on the computer system, so long as it's not off limits."

Catnip nodded, computers were useful and this job would probably be easier if they all used them more. She bet that the howling towers computers probably had plenty to read. She had to pause for a moment though, and asked, "But that Samson guy hasn't been yet. Is it safe? Do you think?" George shrugged, heading for one of the many monitors set into one of the rounded walls.

"How hard can it be?"