Danny laid the mechanism on the ground and stamped on it
dispassionately. When the destruction was complete he scooped up the
remains and tossed the useless unit into a small stream that gurgled
nearby.
His knees were weak. He buried his face in the grass and let sobs shake
him until there were no tears. He smoothed his hair and wiped his face
and got up.
The way was not exactly clear, but he knew he was going to reach it. He
would have to do it alone.
* * * * *
There was always a chance a passerby might look into the entrance and
see him. Danny worked according to plan. He adjusted the ultraviolet
cell, fanning it out to a thin vertical beam of the proper height. He
sat it on the floor and aimed it at the dark stripe that looked like
a decoration but wasn't. It was a photo electric eye, continuous from
floor to ceiling. It was also, Danny knew, a minimum intensity circuit.
And that made it easier.
Danny walked through the circuit, behind the cell he had set on the
floor. The alarm didn't ring. It wouldn't, as long as the eye received
an unbroken beam from any source. In the ultraviolet cell he had
provided such a source.
He reached back and drew the cell toward him, carefully pointing it
at the dark stripe on the wall until his hand was safely through. He
snapped off the cell and hurried around the corner. He was beyond
chance human detection.
He went on. There was a door, locked, as he expected. An old fashioned
lock, mechanical type, in keeping with the character of Music Hall.
It had been a good lock when it was made, nearly unpickable. Danny
inserted a wire device and listened. He turned, and the door swung
open.
He stepped back a few feet in the darkness, ran, and jumped forward.
The lights did not go on. He had jumped far enough. It was merely a
pressure plate, designed to count visitors. But one visitor would
activate the auditorium staff. And that he didn't want.
He closed the door behind him and made his way into the balcony by way
of a rest room. From the balcony he climbed into a box. From there a
little used passageway led to the stage.
It was easy, ridiculously so. The piano was lighted by a soft violet
light, probably germicidal. Danny paused at the entrance to the
enclosure.
It was useless to struggle against the hand, that, from nowhere,
fastened to his arm. He was no match for the strength of a robot.
"I knew there was something wrong," said the caretaker. The face that
looked at Danny was dignified and kindly, if expressionless.
Danny said nothing.
"Humidity changes," muttered the robot caretaker. "Not much, but some
on three successive days. No one is supposed to be here. Can't have it.
Wood will rot and metal rust." It seemed vaguely disturbed.
Danny squirmed. The caretaker took hold of both arms and looked
closer. "Why, it's human." It squeezed harder as if to test.
Tears came to Danny's eyes. "I belong here," he said stubbornly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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