//------------------------------// // Did that mystery really need solving? // Story: Wonderful Mechanical: Keen Eye and the Wonderbolt Saboteur. // by Monocrome_Monogatari //------------------------------// “Umm…” Rivet bit his cheek as he paced back and forth from the door. A one-two punch of criticism and encouragement got Rivet on task. He was mumbling his reasoning aloud. “Is there…maybe something’s loose?” He began to run his hoof against the wall. “Like a piece of wall…or the ceiling…it can’t be the floor, can it?…He didn’t find THAT did he?” “I didn’t” Twister said, spinning in his chair. “…How would you know what I mean the—“ “I didn’t” he repeated. I was watching Rivet’s performance with all the sadism of a loving father. This is adorable. Rivet IS smarter than me. There’s no way I could create like he could, and there’s no way I could keep up with his output without completely draining myself, but his way of thinking is more logical than lateral. He thinks the way he builds. Ideas are parts, and he methodically connects them to create an elegant concept. If you ask him how he got to his conclusion, he’d be able to write down his steps one by one. But there’s a weakness to that type of thinking. If there’s a piece, a logical step, missing, then construction grinds to a halt. Because of this he was stumbling in the wrong direction. ‘This is only half of a closed room problem, you know.” I said “Normally you have to figure out how they entered AND how they left.” “I know I know!” Rivet growled. When he was lost in a problem, he could be surprisingly curt… “I’ll give you a hint.” I said. “The question itself is somewhat misleading.” “What?” Rivet said. “It’s in the wording: How did TWISTER get in the lab. You see the problem right?” “How is Twister’s name a problem?” “Ponies blame me when their homes are blown away by storms… I only did that once or twice or a few times…” Twister said. “…Like I was saying” Rivet said “I’m trying to figure out what Twister did, right?” “Yes, but you’re subconsciously putting the cart before the pony.” I said. “By placing Twister in the forefront of your mind, you’re creating biases and assumptions about what you think Twister would or wouldn’t do. Remember: for all the geniuses, the gifted, and the eccentrics of the world, deep down we’re all replaceable and irrelevant. Similarly, most places and events are, in the end, interchangeable. The question shouldn’t be “How did Twister get in this lab, but how could a pony get into the lab.” Rivet twitched his ear, not seeming to get it…”Well, if it’s any lab or any pony, then they—“ his eyes widened. I could see the gears grinding in his head “they would just…” The last piece fell into place, and he understood how it happened. “AUGH!” Rivet facehooved. I grinned. The frustration on Rivet’s face was delicious~ Sure, handing the answer off to him was a sign of respect, but the answer itself was also something of a prank. The 15 minutes of silence between our entrance and Twister’s exclamation was key to this trick. Because Twister is boisterous, we assumed he would have made noise immediately. Because Twister is Twister, we thought he had done something elaborate and impossible. The truth was painfully, hilariously, more mundane. “I’ll leave you the honor” I said, waving a hoof to Rivet’s podium. Cheeks puffed, he stomped his way to the whoopee cushion buzzer, and stamped down on it. FFRRT “The answer is this: while we were out, the door had been left unlocked. During that time, you snuck in and found a hiding place. After we entered, and locked the door, you waited 15 minutes before making yourself known. Why you did that, I don’t know, but it looked like you had only just entered. In other words, I still have no idea how you normally break in.” “CORRECT!” Twister said, as he pulled a cord that ran to the ceiling. SPLASH! “GAH!” A bucket of ice water, hidden behind some machines hanging above, poured over me. “W-w-w-w-w-w-whyyyyyyyy?” Twister shrugged. “Should have been faster on the buzzer.” Rivet smirked, his earlier frustration washed away. I glared at Twister. You planned this didn’t you?! “But wait,” Rivet said “I don’t get it. You said that this was key to how he got around the screwdriver security system.” I toweled myself off with a nearby not-too-greasy rag. “Hmm? I never said that.” Rivet stared. “Keen, this is no time for games.” FRRRRRRRT Twister had shoved down Rivet’s whoopee cushion. “INCORRECT!” he shouted. “I didn’t say that he got through the screwdriver case’s security system” I wiped out the inside of my ears “I said that he got a screwdriver. There’s a difference.” “But there’s three missing!” Rivet pointed to the case. “That’s your problem Rivet,” I said “You think too reasonably. Three screwdrivers are missing. Twister has a screwdriver. Therefore Twister must have taken it from the case. It sounds sensible, but if twister had taken it from your case, then there would be FOUR missing, not three.” “Four? So there were three missing beforehand?...wait!” realization flashed in his eyes “I won’t blame you for not noticing, you were pretty pissed at me at the time. Actually...I will blame you. You should know better.” I swatted his forehead. “You saw them earlier today. Piece Maker, Ratchet Wrench, and Blue Print borrowed W-Screwdrivers from your lab shortly after I arrived. Before Twister did anything, three screwdrivers were already gone.” “So…” Rivet rested his chin on his hoof “If he didn’t get that W-screwdriver from this case, he must have gotten it from one of the others. But…even if we could check all the cases in the other labs without rousing suspicion, that wouldn’t confirm anything. Other engineers take them out during the workday too so…wait…that means…” “You’ve got it Rivet.” I said “You were on the wrong track because you were applying the same logic of the supposed saboteur incidents to Twister. There, a pony is using the screwdrivers when the machine records state no pony took them out of their case. Because Twister is Twister, you assumed he was doing the same impossible trick.” “Accept no substitutes!” Twister shouted. “Twister, however, took a screwdriver during a different scenario,” I said “He took one in the middle of a work day, during a period where several of the screwdrivers aren’t locked up.” “But…when did…wait, that’s it!” Rivet shot upwards “When! The key tying the screwdriver question and the locked room question is time!” He lunged for the whoopee-cushion buzzer. FRRRRRRT I pressed mine a moment before him. “That’s right” I said, ignoring Rivet’s glare “In both problems, we underestimate how much time Twister has to act.” “If we dial the clock back to the beginning of this incident, we would find ourselves in the Battledome, during the sparring matches.” “Twister knew what I looked like, so, unless he had some prior warning, like looking through Rivet’s mail, this was the moment he learned I was here. He spotted me in the audience. Shortly after, he had his match against Zugzwang, and was promptly knocked out.” “Here is the origin of our error: We assumed that, because he was knocked out cold, he must have spent a good while unconscious. Even if he woke up quickly after the fight, he probably would have been detained by the medical staff. Forget means, there’s not even enough time to make plans. And yet, here he is, holding the impossible screwdriver.” Twister was beaming, vibrating in excitement. “He’s talking about me!” he squeaked. “Therefore, he must have actually had more time than expected. Here’s Twister’s first trick: During his fight with Zugzwang, he wasn’t actually knocked out. When Twister took the climactic hit against his skull, he used that opportunity to play dead.” “It’s possible that Twister and Zugzwang had colluded before the match to orchestrate this outcome, but that’s unlikely: the matches were randomized. That leaves two other possibilities: One: as impressive as Zugzwang’s positioning plan was, Twister read through it from the start, and intentionally played into it, knowing that Zugzwang didn’t have enough strength to properly knock him out. Two: Twister fell for it hook, line, and sinker, and when the blow hit, he made a split second decision to play dead.“ Either way, the end result is that The Failure Squad’s only victory was a thrown match. How apropos. “I came to a similar conclusion but…” Rivet looked to Twister “Why did you throw the match?” “To see how far it would fly!” Twister said. “It’s because I was there,” I said “He wanted to get closer to me, and ending the match prematurely gave him opportunity. Once he was carried out of the arena, he gave his carriers the slip. There are countless ways he could have done this, like simply pretending to wake up and saying he can walk the rest of the way. He then makes his return.” “I’m guessing he attempted to sneak up on me through the audience seating. Before he could pull this off, however, he’s interrupted. The fourth match goes by quickly, and the fifth match is interrupted by the cloud machine malfunction.” “We’re separated again, but here Twister comes up with a new plan. He waits for the engineers to respond, and swipes one of the now unlocked W-Screwdrivers. Then he runs into Rivet’s Lab, and lies in wait for us, creating this little locked room puzzle.” I look to Twister, who’s now hopping from side to side in excitement at watching my explanation. “So, what do you think?” He stops, head drooping. “I’m sorry but…THAT’S CORRECT!” he shouts, jumping and pulling at another cord dangling from the ceiling. “Ah!” Rivet covers his head with his hooves…as confetti slowly falls above him. “…Why doesn’t Rivet get the cold water treatment?” I pouted. “Because Rivet is Rivet and Keen Eye is Keen Eye!” he says. …aren’t you supposed to be a fan? “Anyways” Rivet ruffles the confetti out of his mane “That answer may be ‘correct’ but…I still don’t understand why he did it.” Rivet looked at Twister. Twister stared at Rivet. … … … … “Nevermind” Rivet said “Understanding Twister’s motives is impossible.” “Well, he said he was a fan. He also seemed pretty entertained by the proceedings.” I said “He created a mystery just to see me solve it.” I had a second theory to his motive, one that might be critical to the saboteur investigation, but I needed to be away from Twister to discuss it. For now, I prepared the ace that landed in my hoof. “Anyways, now that we’re done with that fun distraction,” I offered Twister a hoof “Let’s talk business.”