Conversation · Door, Basement Apartment

The door is closed again. Nothing to do here anymore.

You hear someone inside, walking from room to room... whoever lives here must be back home.

The door has braved the elements for decades. The copper nails holding the upholstery in place have turned green from sea air and so is the knocker, shaped like a lion's head.

The Royal Lion. Guillaume's Kitten. This knocker will last a lifetime and then some.

Press your ear against the door.

Not a sound. The silence is eerie.

Even the darkness is holding it's breath inside the apartment.

Someone is moving around in the apartment. You hear the water being turned off and the sound of dishes clinking together.

The tenant must be cleaning up. That means you're too late. Nothing more to do here, better report back to Evrart.

Use Mañana's key to unlock the door.

The key stops mid-way in the lock. Something's blocking its path. Not a sound is coming from the apartment.

The tenant's key is in the lock.

The lieutenant looks first at the door, then back at you, then signals you to back off from the door.

You should leave. Leave! Before anything happens...

The key stops mid-way in the lock. Something's blocking its path. You hear a dish smashing and shattering inside the apartment, then everything falls very silent.

[Leave.]

As you turn to leave, you hear footsteps on the other side -- yes, someone's definitely home.

"We should leave," the lieutenant whispers, "and go talk with Evrart, tell him what happened -- that we couldn't open the door. Maybe there's a workaround."

Maybe it's a good thing you didn't get to open this stranger's door? Go talk with Evrart, tell him what happened.

"I know you're in there!"

"That already defeats the point, doesn't it?" The lieutenant glances at the surrounding windows. "Let's get out of here."

No answer.

Knock on the door.

No answer.

Something hits the ground and shatters inside the apartment.

A plate, glass or a mug.

Then a running tap is turned off and the complete absence of sounds feels... tense.

You're too late -- the weasel's already back in its den. Let's see what Evrart thinks about it.

"That's probably the door Evrart mentioned. We still need to get the key from this Mañana first though."

This must be the door Evrart mentioned. You still need to get the key from Mañana first though.

The door to the 'Weasel's' Den', guarded by the lionhead-knocker. Both have seen better days.

Use Mañana's key to unlock the door.

You try to be as silent as you can. It takes a bit of rattling of the handle to loosen the bolt.

Finally, the door unlocks with a small clack. Thoughts race through your head...

The sound of the key turning still echoes in the yard. Hopefully no one heard.

Well buddy, you opened it. No need to go inside. It would be rude.

Good job. Let's go now. I'm sure there's nothing interesting in there.

There's nothing else to do than leave and tell Evrart. No conceivable reason for you to intrude on the premises.

Only curiosity could account for stepping over that threshold. Maybe there's treasure in there? A white alligator? A fountain of quicksilver?

There might be important information in the apartment... I mean... there might...

As you hold the opened door you can feel the air moving. A little draft. A whistle...

Carefully knock.

You knock silently. The upholstery muffles the sound. No response comes from the apartment.

"I guess no one is in." The lieutenant looks uncomfortable.

You feel eyes on you, watching you from the windows overlooking the yard.

You're pretty sure the owner of the apartment isn't here. It's safe-ish.

Press your ear against the door.

The door is slick with rain. You don't hear any movement inside.

In fact, it's oddly silent in the yard around you. No birds chirp.

The leather upholstery is worn and rough against your jaw. You don't hear any movement.

"Lieutenant, what is your opinion of this task we're undertaking?"

"As I already said," the lieutenant replies, adjusting his glasses. "I understand this can't be avoided."

"So you don't mind if I unlock the door?"

"If the merc tribunal happens before we solve this..." His eyes meet yours. "We're looking at casualties. What's one unlocked door compared to that?"

"On the other hand..." He looks at the surrounding windows uncomfortably. "We could just leave and tell Evrart we opened the door. No one seems to be tailing us to see if we actually did it."

"Lie to Evrart? That's also an option?"

"Yes, presenting a fabrication is known to get results here and there." He crosses his arms. "You took this task. You make the call."

The door is right here. You can just open it and be done with this.

Besides, if you never open it, you're never gonna find out, what's behind the door.

I don't know... you're a pretty good liar. Are you as good an infiltrator as you are a liar?