The pipe twists out from the concrete like the roots of a plumbing tree.

The pipe twists out from the concrete like the roots of a plumbing tree.

Looks like it goes from the canal, into this building...

An interconnected system. A simple loop.

So the panel inside controls this, and this controls the water level in the canal?

Yes. It's a central part of the waterlock mechanism. Somehow these tubes drain and pump it.

Figure out how the pump system works.

Normally, a water-lock would be above-ground and entirely manual, but this is an annoyingly modernized version. However, the principle remains the same.

There are doors at either end, and a sluice gate to lower the water inside the lock. The latter is probably located inside the largest pipe, the one you're staring at right now.

Meaning the other two are the pumps that raise the level.

Correct.

Okay, so what can I deduce from that?

The water level is up right now. If you can close the gates, it's a simple matter of figuring out which control releases the water through the sluice pipe.

And this will drain the canal so I can reach the bottom half of that suspicious building over there.

Alternative wording

And this will drain the canal so I can reach the bottom half of the 'literary magazine'.

Indeed.

And as you've established, it's possible that hiding somewhere within it is a secret jail.

Sweet. [Leave.]

And an operant should always be thorough when searching for clandestine spaces.

Let's turn that question around -- how do you work?

I consume food and drink in one end and then it comes out the other end.

Fascinating. You work exactly the same way as this pipe.

How does this help me?

It doesn't. But at least you learned something about yourself.

Congratulations. You're as complicated as an inanimate object that literally has nothing in it -- it's completely hollow.

I'm not answering that.

Then no answers shall be returned to you. Enjoy staring at ancient metal tubing.

Wow, look at that! With your X-ray vision you are able to see right through the solid black steel of the pipe.

Really?

Yes, it's all thanks to your phantasmic mind. Now you can travel down the inner channels of the drainage system like they're a water slide.

Wheeeee!

Swoosh, swoosh, you go -- zipping around the corners at a reckless 30 knots. Down and down in a spiral until you reach the pipe's eventual and sad end.

What's down there?

Disappointment.

Sorry I asked.

Hey, you're the one staring at an industrial pipe and expecting to get something out of it.

I know there's treasure down there, or a secret lair. I will find it out no matter how much you try to block me.

There's really not. You've just been staring at an industrial pipe for a few long minutes.

That's shit. Come up with something better.

I'm full of that. It must be my favourite!

At least you got something out of staring at an industrial pipe for a few long minutes.

Ugh, I didn't want it to stop.

Well, it had to. You can't stare at an industrial pipe all day and expect to get something out of it.

All the fun without actually getting wet.

I don't like water slides.

Maybe they don't like you. But hey, you're the one staring at an industrial pipe and expecting to get something out of it.

The city's plumbing is a secret netherworld where water and sewage flow -- invisible, inodorous, forbidden. You shouldn't even be seeing this.

I can't possibly be this technologically illiterate.

It appears you might be.

The ins-and-outs of plumbed architecture aren't your strength. But you can find it in other technological fields.

Plumbing is barely technology anyway.

The large siphon in front of you gurgles angrily, almost as if it heard you.

Right. We'll find another way.

You are forced to leave the mysteries of the pipes unresolved, for now.

It's all a type of magic, as far as you're concerned.

Alright. I'm dumb. I get it.

Big pipe. Much water.

That's right, Hershel!

A small win, but I'll take it.

Boring. [Leave.]

They are just pipes, after all.