Chapter 4

Dennis stared at the walkie-talkie, or whatever it may be, for quite some time. He scratched his head and didn't touch the thing. He was thoroughly confused, as he rarely was.
'Hello? Are you still there? You are still there, aren't you?' The voice sprang from the walkie-talkie, causing Dennis to jump back. 'Don't be silent, it can't be that surprising to you, could it?' The voice said.
Dennis tried to say something, the words did not form at his throat as they were not conceived in his mind. He took a deep breath and tried again, 'Wh-o are you?' He asked, rolling out the words slowly.
'I'm glad you asked, but I can't answer your question just yet, you will have your answer shortly.' There was a pause, 'Are you still capable of following instructions?'
'What instructions?' Dennis asked.
'Good, so you're not as confused as I thought. Here's what you must do: pick up the Verbal-Linguistic Transmitter.' The voice spoke monotonously.
'What's the Verbal-Linguistic Transmitter?' Dennis asked.
'Oh right, I didn't tell you, it's the thing sitting in the armchair that looks like a telecommunicator.'
'A telecommunicator? You mean the walkie-talkie?'
'The walkie-talkie? Is that what people call them these days?'
'I read it in a book.' Dennis said.
The telecommunicator/walkie-talkie/Verbal-Linguistic Transmitter was silent for a while, and this time Dennis picked it up and whispered, 'Hello?' into what he thought was the receiver, a bulge in the metal surface of the small device that looked like half a microphone. The device was only the size of a pocket dictionary.
'Hello? Sorry about the static, I was interrupted. I'm still here, so have you picked up the device in which my voice is emitting from?'
'Yes, and it's called a telecommunicator?' Dennis asked, feeling the need to get some facts straight.
'Let's not worry about names of communications devices for now, so you've picked up the device, now exit the room by the door.'
'Okay.' Dennis walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. He remembered something, 'Hello? I left my suitcase in the car I came by, can I go get it?'
'It's been delivered to your room,' Said the voice, 'There's no need to retrieve it now, right now I will take you on a tour of the mansion that is your new home. You just have to hand on to this device in your hand and I will tell you where to go.'
'Okay.' Said Dennis, looking down both ways of the hallway he was in, a narrow aisle extending to the front and back of the mansion. One end of the hall was completely covered in darkness, the other end was met with a wider hallway more brightly lit.
'And after that you will meet me in person, flesh and blood this time.' The voice said, 'Turn left and walk to the end of the hall, you will arrive in a wide hallway.' Dennis obeyed and walked to the wide hallway, it was decoratively carpeted and lit by dim lanterns on both sides of the red wood walls, there were other doors in the hallway and the ceiling was twelve feet from the ground, it was fashioned with mosaic tiles and arched upward towards the middle.
'Now turn left again, and keep walking.' Dennis did as the voice said, which spoke again to narrate the building's history; an omnipresent tour guide, 'This mansion was built around three centuries ago by the ancestor of my family, and the surrounding ten square kilometers of land are mine too, it explains why it took so long to drive you here. If you walked at a normal pace, you should now have arrived at the theater, immediately to your left.' Dennis looked to his left and found the double door with the plaque 'theater' embedded into the wood, the handles were padlocked. 'If you are wise, you will never attempt to enter there uninvited, I assure you there are booby traps in there that will injure you gravely. The theater belongs to my brother, whose obsession I will elaborate further at another time. Now keep walking and you will reach the second grand staircase, take a moment to gawk if you must, and through the doors to the right of the staircase is the library. The hallway should be about ended now, and you will come to an even wider hallway, this is the main hall spanning the width of the mansion. Avoid this hallway, today is an exception, there are other ways to get around the house, use those ways which I will show later show you, I repeat, stay out of the main hallway if you want to avoid getting struck by a motorcycle driven by my other brother who is mentally challenged-' The voice was suddenly cut off and static ensued, then it came on again, 'Sorry about that disconnection, there's a glaring error in the information just given, I am not mentally challenged! I repeat, I am not-' The voice became disconnected again, though the tone did not change, it appeared to Dennis that the person on the other end of the telecommunicator was experiencing an episode of split personality, and then it resumed just as suddenly, 'Okay, as I was saying, do not venture into the main hallway on a regular day, now, there are many other places to see, let's start in the basements, you will find the stairs leading there at the grand staircase, and directly opposite is the main entrance by which you came in with Mr. Quincy.'
'Is Mr. Quincy the chauffeur?' Dennis asked.
'He is.' The voice replied.
'Why doesn't he speak?' Dennis asked, remembering how the chauffeur did not say a single word to him during the trip here.
'People such as Mr. Quincy are paid to drive, not to speak.' The voice said, 'Moving on, down one flight of stairs is the main exit to the basements...' The voice guided Dennis to the places of interest in the mansion, including the wine cellar that was stocked with sodas, the ball room, the gym, the test-bunker (the voice said it is another place that Dennis should never enter uninvited, and even when he is, he should be wise to decline the offer), the toys storage (with enough objects to fill two toy stores), the main dining hall, kitchen and den, and then the voice guided Dennis to the outdoor pool on the large patio at the back of the mansion that overlooked a valley of pine and spruce.
Dennis stood by the railing of the patio for a while, the gusty wind blowing in his face and the lingering rainclouds rumbling overhead. The voice told him a bit about the surrounding lowland, which it referred to as the 'backyard' of the mansion. Apparently having concluded explaining the geographic features of its family's land, the voice fell silent. Dennis looked towards the pool, twenty-five meters in length, and recalled that he couldn't swim. He turned his sight away from the mansion, built of pale stone and cement and resembling a palace for a monarch. He looked once again out into the open of the valley beyond the patio; he liked the scenery.
'Hello? Are you there?' The voice said.
'I am, is the tour finished?' Dennis asked, his gaze remained fixed on the valley.
'It is, we are going back to the house for some breakfast, turn around.' The voice said.
Dennis turned around and nearly tripped over his leg in surprise.
'Hello, I am pleased to meet you.' Came the voice from the telecommunicator still clutched in his hand, while the person who had come up behind Dennis typed into a laptop with one hand, and raised the other hand to greet him.