[quote]He trudged over to where the servant's stone body was and searched it. "He had the plan in Rounard Skip's book. If we find it." He glanced up at Roy and Berry. "Also, this building has a generator. If we can get that running the mechanical defenses will activate." He found the book gripped in the arms of the servant and worked on easing it out from its grasp.

He leaned Randy on his left shoulder so he could use both hands to flip through the pages of the book to find whatever Father left in there.[/quote]
[quote]“Is there anything in particular we should look out for? A code or something perhaps as to what your fathers plan entailed?” She couldn’t tell what the book was supposed to be about from over his shoulder. “In any case where is the generator? The sooner we have power here the sooner we can start sort out this mess!”[/quote]

They traversed back downstairs, through the clawed and shattered door that led back into the ballroom where they had started, where the statue of the hapless servant still lay on the stage, the book gripped in stone arms. It was easy enough to yank out.

[b]"The generator sounds like a good idea ta me,"[/b] Roy offered. He illuminated the book with his eyes over Vincent's shoulder. Though it was clear by Berry's map that there were no more Grit to be wary of, he still kept his weapon at the ready. [b]"No running off alone this time, at least until those defenses are up."[/b]

[i]Regarding Dreams and the Application of the Soul[/i] by Rounard Skip was full of sigil diagrams and complicated mathematical formulas illustrating the properties of human souls vs the properties of human dreams, and the ways in which each could be utilized to power everything from machinery to the creation of new life. There were several references to the latter, stating theories that such a thing had been done before in secret, where a human body had continued to live though its organs had been removed, but there was no documented proof.

At the middle of the book, in the margin alongside a complicated sigil for the entrapment of dreams, was written the following in rigid, perfect handwriting:

[indent][i]The Grit and Dreams are one and the same.
Mechanical Generator Active
Code 3348256 Gravity Panel 2nd Floor
Do Not Sleep[/i][/indent]

The generator was on the lower storage level: an old metallic machine as wide as a kitchen table, fastened to the ceiling and floor. A panel on one side was etched with a sigil. Upon activation of the sigil, a high-pitched mechanical noise began to whirr and creak. Something bright green flashed behind tiny windows in the sides of the machine. The walls began to hum gently.

Throughout the house, hallway lights flickered to life. A few of the household robots, as well, sprang into motion to check the perimeter. A pleasant voice echoed somewhere above: [i]EMERGENCY POWER ACTIVATED.[/i]

The gravity panel that Berry had used to rescue Roy had a small hidden button that allowed for the entry of a code. Once the code had been entered, the humming in the walls intensified, and the air inside the house filled with tense static.

Outside the house, thin blue strings of light crisscrossed down the roof, along the walls and windows and into the ground, covering the house in a net of blue light. From the outside, the house glowed like a beacon -- but any Grit that approached it would be disintegrated on the spot.

Roy peered out the window at the strings of light that barred it, then swiveled his head around to look back to Berry and Vincent. [b]"We'll find the nearest people first. Miss Berry, does that map thingy tell ya where those people are? Mr. DeMoore, d'ya know how to put those pink stones back into their people? If we can bring 'em back to life and escort 'em back here, we'll be doin' some good."[/b]

But now the house's defenses were doubling as an attraction for the prowling Grit. They couldn't get in -- but they might make the search for survivors far more difficult. Luckily Roy was very confident in his aim.