It was a large place with and impeccable marble bronze-coloured floor and light wall with glass lighting fixtures in the shape of blue bubbles. The had drained the pool and put chairs in lines at the bottom closer to the steps used to enter in the water. In the other end, where Mr. Darbinyan immediately went, was a clear and cordoned area with a collection of metal boxes of different sizes and markings.
—Everybody behind the lines, please and have a seat—he said while pointing at the pool floor—. If anything goes wrong, Ariel over there will end the presentation and rescue me. Under no circumstances cross the demarcations.
From the corner of the large room, Mx. Bonheur was standing with a large shield strapped in one arm while holding the hose of a fire extinguisher. It was not a comforting sight, but at least they were prepared to deal with whatever was inside the metal boxes. Boxes Mr. Darbinyan was promptly organizing, selecting one of the small ones, and lifting the locks.
—Alright, so, our first demonstration artefact is the Janus Coin. Minted around the time Caesar was alive and at the end of the Roman Republic— he said, putting on gloves and taking from the open box a small golden coin—. As you can see, oh you can’t. Hold on.
He lifted his free hand and above him appeared a projection of himself but five times larger. From the chairs we could see his enlarged gloved hand and a bright golden coin with the engraving of a man’s face on it and the word “Janus” written in Latin letters. He showed the other side, and was the same face but looking to the other side and “Sunaj” written.
—Now— Mr. Darbinyan added—, as you can see, it’s a two-headed coin with the same face. On a good day, someone decided to mint the gold to dedicate it to the god of duality.
—And the beginnings and endings, war and peace, portals, and a baker’s dozen of almost everything related— Dr. Tang muttered under her breath—.
He took one glove off and, after warning us to never do that, put the coin in his palm. There was a burst of light and now there were two Mr. Darbinyan standing inside the demarcation but one was, at the same time, inside a white chalk circle drawn at the pool floor.
—Don’t worry, this is temporal in my case you are not going to deal with two bosses— he explained—. But for regular humans who have no way to revert this on the twenty minutes it takes for this duplication spell to set, this was a royal mess. Really, it was one of the reasons for the Hundred Years War.
Ariel, on the other side of the room, snapped their fingers and flames engulfed the Mr. Darbinyan inside the chalk circle, consuming him before anyone could do anything. So, this demonstration just killed a man in front of us in the most horrifying way possible. Technically, was the duplicate of a clone, but the pool area still smelled like charred meat and bones, though there was nothing but about a cup of ashes in the floor by the time the flames were over. Most of us shared a shocked look, probably at the thought of us being inside the demonstration by the time it’s not a demonstration anymore. I even saw Ursula praying in silence for a moment.
—For our next trick— he stored the coin back and opened the following box—. I need a volunteer who’s not scarred for life after what they saw. And if they know how to juggle, could be better for this.
Ortiz stood up and went to the line.
—I used to juggle for money when I was younger, does that work? —he asked.
—Sure, go ahead. Stand where my twin was, I’m sorry for his ashes.
While Ortiz stepped in the circle, Mr. Darbinyan took from another box a collection of different sized cobblestones with strange carvings. I recognized one from my classes on ancient languages, at least, I recognized it enough to know it was the Egyptian hieroglyphic meaning “tower”.
—Okay, so these are parts of the cornerstone of the Babel Tower— our boss pointed, while dumping the stones on Ortiz’s hand—. For as long as you are holding them, or stomping on them, it will mess your speech. The longer you are in contact with it, the more babbling the rambles become until they are permanent. Go ahead, Mr. Ortiz, say something.
—Ed ocurdae ubt I tond teg oocm eost av a rkwo— he said, and due to the surprise left the stones to fell and grab his own throat—. ¿Qué demonios? Ah, I’m back. Good.
The demonstration went on to other artefacts. Others were mild, like Jenny Diver’s gloves which allowed to trespass every solid object, including living people to a very sickling sight. Samuel Colt’s revolver, which never missed a shot. The Devil’s Dictionary, which was used to open a portal to one of the demonic prince’s realms. And so on, and on. But as the object went on and on, they were painting a very clear picture to us.
This was a demonstration in a very controlled environment. All of these artefacts could be used in the pursuit of dangerous or selfish goals, and, by the way Mr. Darbinyan spoke about them, it was clear they had already been used that way. From time to time he made commentaries relating to them, as if it hadn’t been so long ago, and his expression darkened from time to time, before smiling again.
—And this bring us to the last one. Thank you, Mr. Ortiz, you can return to your seat. Ariel, tell me when you’re ready.
Mx. Bonheur lifted their thumb before lifting slightly the shield. Darbinyan opened the lid and with caution stood back without pulling anything from it. Before any of us could do anything an enormous metallic came out of it and tried to grab him. Darbinyan stepped out of the way in the last minute, when the hand backed its fingers to try to grab him again.
—This is Talos! Invented by Daedalus to protect the city of Cnossos and his employer King Minos in the second millennia BCE! Since the loss of the kingdom and the island, his motivation is to crush anything that comes close to it— said, avoiding being crushed by the hand—. ARIEL, NOW!
We only saw another burst of flames coming from the circle, and Mx. Bonheur attacking the hand hitting it with the edge of the shield. In the end, the hits were enough to make the hand going back into the box, from where Darbinyan closed the lid with his entire weight and hurried to close the locks. He fixed his tweed jacket before looking back at us.
—So, now that you’ve seen what some artefacts can do, are there any questions?
I lifted my hand.
—Why can’t you just simply destroy them?
A grim and shocked expression crossed not just his face, but Mx. Bonheur’s as well. Taryn Darbinyan looked straight at me and took a heartbeat before answering.
—Let’s just say it’s one of those things you should never do.
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