171. Safe: Wiremu.

“Spiritual Safety Guaranteed!” The shop looked like a fortress. I splashed out on fancy clothes to visit here. Only rich people buy safes. The salesperson was a no-nonsense dwarf who took one look at me and steered me away from the high-end safes. The one I had seen was a mid-range safe with a moderate amount of Spiritual material included in its build. I asked about the guarantee, and it only extended to a replacement safe, not to the loss of contents.

“This safe has a Runelock, but this one doesn't, What different types of locks are there?” I asked.

“The Runelock is quite popular, as it is very versatile. You have a master rune sequence and can then set up access for different people. These safes only record who last accessed it, up to five people. The larger safes there can open different compartments with different runes.”

Larger being more expensive. “What if I forget the master sequence?” I wanted to know if there was an ultimate sequence.

“If you forget the Master Sequence, you need to bring the safe back to us, and we will open it, but you will need to buy a new safe as the process destroys the safe.”

Yep, that would have been too easy. “Why does that model not have a Rune sequence?”

“Those are more expensive as they are keyed to your Spiritual Signature. Only you can open it. The more expensive types can have more people keyed in.”

“And if I die?” I asked.

“Then you heirs will need to bring the safe in, and we will open it like the rune locks. We will need proof of ownership.”

“How do you key a Spiritual Signature? I know the Treasury Houses do it.” I pulled out my Kirghiz Treasury Token and looked at it curiously. It also proved I was rich.

“That is a specialised skill that is closely controlled, both the skill and the class it comes from.”

“I would like to purchase one of those Runelock safes,” I said, pointing to the one I had seen last night.

“Very good, sir. I will need a deposit and an address. Our Installers will come and install it for you, we recommend installing it in solid material like stone. At that point, we will require the balance coins, and you'll be able to enter the master sequence.”

“What if I wish to install it myself? I don’t want anyone to know where it is.”

“That is not recommended, sir. Some have damaged their safe trying that and had to purchase another. Our staff are held in extreme confidence and have been with us for years.”

“Nonetheless, I will arrange a cart to collect it and will take responsibility for installing it myself. When can I pick it up?”

I picked it up that afternoon and took it to my basement storage area. I was shown how to set the master sequence, which would be the first sequence I entered. I could then set two other sequences on this model. I wanted the safe to examine and possibly dismantled and see how it works. Could I get in and out without it being noticed? I knew I could get in, but it would ruin the safe and probably many of the contents like Puia did for Tabitha.

The rune sequence mechanism was encased in pure Spiritual material. It wasn’t Blacksteel, it was different, and I didn’t know what it was. I was almost certain that if I opened it, I would ruin the mechanism. I entered a master sequence and closed the door. I could feel with my Granite Sense some bars extended to lock the door on all four sides, and these also made spiritual connections. This allowed me to trace the thin spiritual material around the safe. It was like the window and crisscrossed around the safes outside and would set off the alarm. If I were coming in from the side, I would need to avoid these spiritual traces. Avoiding the door completely did seem like my best option, and it was only an option because of my affinity.

The walls of the safe were made from a Spiritual rock called Orichalcum. It had been mixed with something else, Cargonite, which made it very dense. I didn’t know what the lines of Spiritual material were making the spiritual connections around it, but I did know they were very fragile. Disrupting them sets the alarm off, and I can see why people who don’t know what they are doing would damage the safe. I couldn’t see why they couldn't be repaired. I assume the salesperson threatening that I would have to buy a new safe was just a tactic to sell me the installation.

My Granite Sense could sense the entire safe, except the door sequence. It took an effort. The material resisted me, but I could do it. I chose a spot in a gap between the spiritual flows and tried to manipulate the rock. I avoided heating it as the heat was harder to contain and might break the connections and set off the alarm. That would be experiment two. Detect Spiritual Traps Levelled. I was not going to get a level in disarming traps here as I was not disarming them. I was trying to avoid the trap altogether.

It took a while, but I made a hole through the side without setting off the alarm. I enlarged the hole as bid as I dared, but it was still too small to get a coin through. I assume that was a purposeful design. I put some papers in the safe. I could hook them with a small granite spike and drag them through. I had to be careful not to damage the paper. Getting it back in the same order was difficult. It was tricky, but I could make it work.

Heat sped up the initial hole, but I had to be very careful. The next step was determining whether I could move the Spiritual flow lines to make a bigger hole. I tried moving the material around the flow lines carefully. It was working, but then it broke, and the alarm was loud. I switched off the alarm by using the master sequence but relocking the safe would restart the alarm as a line was broken. Let's see if I can fix the broken line. I lined everything back up and had to squeeze the area to make the delicate material meet again, but it worked. I couldn’t do it too many times in one spot, but it worked.

I picked a different side of the safe and started again. I wasn’t going to get it big enough for my hand, but I did get it big enough for small objects. I was going to have to manipulate a wall to get to the side of a safe, but walls were easy. Granite Sense and Manipulation both levelled. I could get into a safe and back out without being discovered. If I were robbing the place, I would just force my way in and leave the damage. Spying was getting secret information covertly.

I sat back. This had taken me hours of work. I was still in the basement of the shop, and it was well into the evening now. I was hungry. All of a sudden, Tāoke popped out of the stone wall and dropped to the floor. He was getting very good at moving through the stone in his small form. He had found the guy that had run from the fight at Otto’s ranch. He may have escaped our Hunters Marks, but we did have his scent. Tāoke must have had a lot of luck because it was a big city. Tāoke now had a new Hunters Mark on him. It was time to go and have a look. After dinner. I should also check in with Tabitha.