Universal Remote

Leman was digging around in the couches of the living room. Systematically checking each of the three, looking for the remote. He was really hoping that it wasn't lost, or eaten by either Freki or Geri. Geri had eaten the previous remote, so he would be in trouble again if that were the case.
"Found it!" Leman said as he reached deep into the large couch. "Seems that Allfather had it."
"Wonder why," Perturabo said.
"Maybe he was doing something after we all went to bed," Corvus answered.
"Most likely," Perturabo said.
"Come on, Leman," Jaghatai said. "We're going to miss it!"
They were trying to catch a special airing of a historical hololith program. It was focused on the later stages of the Golden Age of Technology. They were quite excited about it. The Emperor rarely spoke of how that age of humanity ended, and he never went into details.
"We're not going to miss it," Leman assured Jaghatai. "if we miss anything, it'll just be the announcement part and the first commercials."
"I guess," Jaghatai said, though he didn't seem so confident.
Leman went to turn the hololith on, but nothing happened. He pressed the button harder, but still nothing. Magnus looked frustrated, his eye turning an odd shade of orange.
"Is it broken?" Ferrus asked.
"I don't know," Leman said. He pressed the power button again, and then hit a few other buttons. "Maybe he reprogrammed it?"
"Why would he do that?" Horus asked. He cast a glance over at Konrad.
"I didn't do anything to the remote," Konrad said. "Why would I do that?"
"Fair point," Horus said.
"This still doesn't explain what's going on with the remote," Ferrus said.

************************

The remote wasn't for the hololith display. It was a small side project for the Emperor; a universal remote for the Imperial Dungeon. When Geri had eaten the previous hololith remote, the Emperor had gotten two programmable remotes. The issue was they were identical. Leman had found the Imperial Dungeon remote, 

It began innocently enough, just panels changing their displays, a few things opened and closed on their own. Most of the court was confused, but politely amused. Valdor was curious about it.

Then the webway gate opened on its own. Several people were sucked into the labyrinthine dimension, and then the gate closed again. A single Custodian, Ra Endymion, had been taken as well.

"Are we under some form of attack?" Valdor asked, pointing his guardian spear at the webway gate. The Emperor remained seated, seeming to have realized something. "My king?"

"We are not under attack," the Emperor said. he stood and went to the vox unit. "My sons, I have a question for you."

"We also have a question for you, Father," Horus answered. "What is yours?"

"Are you trying to use the hololith remote?" the Emperor asked. "What is yours?"

"Did you reprogram the hololith remote?" Horus replied. "Leman found it in the big couch, but it isn't working."

"That is not the hololith remote," the Emperor said. "That should be by the hololith display where it is supposed to be."

"Leman! stop pressing buttons!" Horus called out. "Father says it isn't the hololith remote."

"I just found the actual remote," the Lion said. "It got knocked behind the hololith."

"That explains a lot," Leman said. 

"What is the remote Leman found for?" Horus asked.

"The Imperial Dungeon," the Emperor answered. Malcador fixed the Emperor with a stare. 

"Oops," Leman said. "Did I do anything bad with it?"

"There are several people trapped in an area just off from here," the Emperor said. He wasn't telling his sons about the webway just yet. He wanted them to be adults before dealing with that complexity. 

"That's not good," Leman said. "I'm sorry, Allfather."

"You made an honest mistake," the Emperor said. "However, I do need the remote in order to set things right."

"You can't open the area from there?" Horus asked. That seemed quite strange. 

"No," the Emperor said. "The use of the remote causes a locking mechanism so that only the remote can open it again."

"This does not seem like it was a wise idea, my king," Valdor said quietly. 

"It might not have been," the Emperor agreed. 

"Don't get me started about how bad of an idea this was," Malcador growled. 

"Do you need one of us to bring the remote?" Horus asked. Leman had set it down very carefully, trying not to press anymore buttons and cause more damage. 

"I think that would be best," the Emperor said. 

"Magnus just grabbed it," Horus said. "He should be there soon."

"Very well," the Emperor said. 

**************************

"Where are we, lord?" a courtier, Siara, asked Ra. 

They were in what appeared to be a corridor of some kind. It was impossible to see the floor as it was shrouded in a mist. It was hard to tell if that mist was gold or blue, and seemed to change with the angle one viewed it at.

"I believe we are in the webway," Ra replied. "We need to stay together, and close to the gate."

"Why, lord?" Siara asked.

"The webway isn't stable here," Ra said. "It has been breaking down with the decline of the Aeldari. It would be unwise to wander."

"Is there any danger?" Teral asked.

"There shouldn't be," Ra answered. "This part of the webway doesn't seem to have been in use for years."

"Then we just need to wait for our lord to open the gateway?" Teral asked.

"Yes," Ra said.

"Why has he not done so?" Siara asked. 

"I'm not sure," Ra said. "It could be due to the manner in which the gate opened and closed."

"What do you want us to do?" Teral asked. 

"Be patient," Ra answered. "It is all that we can do. That, and to stay with me."

****************************

"Why in Terra's name did you think this was a good idea?" Malcador asked the Emperor, with the vox channel closed he had proceeded to berating the Emperor about this.

"I was bored," the Emperor admitted quietly.

"When did you have time to get bored?" Malcador asked. 

"It wasn't very long," the Emperor said defensively. 

Valdor wasn't sure if he should get between Malcador and the Emperor. He had already expressed that he thought this an ill-advised activity. A remote that controlled things in the Throneroom was a large security breach that Valdor was not alright with.

"Well, I am impressed," Malcador said.

"How so?" the Emperor asked suspiciously.

"You managed to create something that you should never have created," Malcador said. "If you had stopped to think about it for even a second you wouldn't have."

"I put a lot of thought into that remote," the Emperor said.

"Clearly none of it went into where you were putting it," Malcador said.

"Father?" Magnus asked as he entered the Throneroom. Malcador stopped his ranting, The Emperor turned his attention to Magnus, and the remote.

"Thank you, Magnus," the Emperor said, taking the device from his son. "Go watch the rest of your program."

"Alright, Father," Magnus said, casting a nervous glance at Malcador. It was clear to him that Malcador was very angry, and it both confused and concerned him. He beat a hasty retreat from the Throneroom.

"Alright," Malcador said. "Let's fix this situation, and prevent it from happening again."

"Indeed," the Emperor said. 

Valdor relaxed a fraction as the two no longer seemed as angry with each other. The Emperor took the remote and aimed it at the webway gate. He checked to ensure that it was on, and then hit a button.

***********************

"Something's happening!" Siara cried as a strange shaft of light appeared before them.

"It's the gate opening," Ra said calmly. "The Emperor must have fixed whatever was preventing him before."

"That's good," Teral said. "This place is strange."

"It is a very strange place indeed," Ra said. He had been in the webway before, and was more accustomed to the oddities of the place. It was not a place that normal humans usually entered for any reason.

The two courtiers stayed close to Ra as they waited for the gate to open the rest of the way. Only then did Ra step forward, back into the Throneroom. 

"If I may ask," Ra began. "What happened, my king?"

"One of my sons accidentally grabbed a remote that I made for this room" the Emperor said. Ra blinked, unsure of how to react to that. Siara and Teral were also surprised.

"It won't happen again," Malcador said. He looked to the Emperor, who crushed the remote in his hands.