The source of said SOS is frankly amazed she managed to bang it out at all (man that is going to smart tomorrow, and probably the next day - assuming she survives this), between all the crap she's attracted and how hard it's gotten to freaking move. Not that she's arguing if it helps Artie find her! "ARTIE!" NOT ARGUING AT ALL THIS IS NOT FUN ANYMORE.
...is the roof supposed to make that terrible creaking noise? (Perhaps more to the point, is it on cue or something?) "...okay, yeah, I changed my mind. Sugarcoat it."
Artie might have a snarky response to that, but he's too busy fine-tuning the machine that's connected to the magnets that are connected to Claudia. At least he is until the Farnsworth buzzes at him. "Just a minute!" he calls up to Claudia before answering the call. "Yeah?"
"Artie!" Myka's image on the screen is wobbling and blurring with interference--whether from the storm on their end or the magnetic field on this end, Artie couldn't say. "Artie, thank God--okay, what shuts down quartz?"
"Of course, it's quartz, it's quartz, right, see, that makes perfect sense, I should have thought of quartz--"
"Artie." Myka's voice snaps him back into the present moment.
"Yeah yeah yeah okay listen--um--Pierre Curie and his brother Jacques, they proved the existence of a converse effect of piezoelectricity. So what you've gotta do is..."
Something scraping across the concrete in his peripheral vision makes him trail off. It's an ice skate, and as he watches, it shoots up into the air, blade first--
Artie gives her a quick glance to make sure she's not bleeding before turning back to the Farnsworth.
"Yeah, uh, sorry, yeah--uh, okay. The frequency of, of a piece of quartz can be completely canceled out by its proximity to a second piece of quartz. Now, the second piece is probably what the Artifact is."
The image on the screen is getting blurrier.
"I'm having a little difficulty seeing you, the image is breaking up--now, it's a large piece, okay? The quartz. Is the storm getting worse?"
"A lot," says Pete through the static.
"Now, when you find the Artifact, you've got to put it exactly, exactly where it was before," says Artie, slowly and loudly. "Because it's triggered by proximity. Find out its original location, it's essential to neutralizing the halluciantions! You hear me??"
He has no idea whether they heard him or not, because the audio and video feeds both fade into white noise before the transmission cuts off. Artie mutters a curse under his breath before jamming the Farnsworth back in his shirt pocket.
"Hey, hello, can we get back to me, Artie? There's a bicycle on me." Yeah yeah Pete and Myka are on a case and she'd deserve it if Artie left her to get down alone but that's not the point. The point is: BICYCLE. ALSO BUCKET. ALSO OMINOUS CREAKING NOISE.
"We're going to have to, ah, reduce the magnetic field, but we're gonna do it very gradually," Artie calls up to her. "We have to do that because we wouldn't want to destroy your central nervous system."
Artie doesn't respond. He just stands there, poleaxed, as he watches a Peterbilt truck (a truck!!!) creaking its way toward Claudia's column, dragging boxes and knocking over shelves in its wake.
"Artie! Artie?" Maybe she doesn't really want to know the answer. But it's better than being stuck up here dreading... she doesn't know, the Titanic or something.
Groans of metal-on-metal reverberate throughout the Warehouse. Artie could swear that he sees the roof starting to buckle, but he's not about to take a closer look and check.
"Stay right there!" he shouts as he takes off down the aisle.
"ARTIE!"
NOT ARGUING AT ALL THIS IS NOT FUN ANYMORE.
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"...okay, yeah, I changed my mind. Sugarcoat it."
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"Artie!" Myka's image on the screen is wobbling and blurring with interference--whether from the storm on their end or the magnetic field on this end, Artie couldn't say. "Artie, thank God--okay, what shuts down quartz?"
"Of course, it's quartz, it's quartz, right, see, that makes perfect sense, I should have thought of quartz--"
"Artie." Myka's voice snaps him back into the present moment.
"Yeah yeah yeah okay listen--um--Pierre Curie and his brother Jacques, they proved the existence of a converse effect of piezoelectricity. So what you've gotta do is..."
Something scraping across the concrete in his peripheral vision makes him trail off. It's an ice skate, and as he watches, it shoots up into the air, blade first--
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CLAUDIA DOES NOT APPROVE OF ATTACKING ICE SKATES.
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"Yeah, uh, sorry, yeah--uh, okay. The frequency of, of a piece of quartz can be completely canceled out by its proximity to a second piece of quartz. Now, the second piece is probably what the Artifact is."
The image on the screen is getting blurrier.
"I'm having a little difficulty seeing you, the image is breaking up--now, it's a large piece, okay? The quartz. Is the storm getting worse?"
"A lot," says Pete through the static.
"Now, when you find the Artifact, you've got to put it exactly, exactly where it was before," says Artie, slowly and loudly. "Because it's triggered by proximity. Find out its original location, it's essential to neutralizing the halluciantions! You hear me??"
He has no idea whether they heard him or not, because the audio and video feeds both fade into white noise before the transmission cuts off. Artie mutters a curse under his breath before jamming the Farnsworth back in his shirt pocket.
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Yeah yeah Pete and Myka are on a case and she'd deserve it if Artie left her to get down alone but that's not the point. The point is: BICYCLE. ALSO BUCKET. ALSO OMINOUS CREAKING NOISE.
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GROOOOOOAN
...
That didn't come from the roof. That came from somewhere at ground level.
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"Hey, what is that? That sounds bad. What is that?"
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Maybe she doesn't really want to know the answer. But it's better than being stuck up here dreading... she doesn't know, the Titanic or something.
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"Uh--uh--Claudia? New plan. But listen, you have to do exactly, exactly as I say, got that?"
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Not like she has much choice in the matter, at this point.
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"Stay right there!" he shouts as he takes off down the aisle.
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......
Claudia would facepalm, but that's slightly complicated at the moment.
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