How deeply do inventor-geniuses get buried in their work? Do the tropes of being lost to the outside world hold true? Does the phone ring unheard, the knock at the door go unnoticed?

Relevant questions, because something is on the roof. For something as heavy and dense as it is, it moves lightly; yet all the same there is the occasional scuff of foot against roof. The scratch of claws against the exterior wall. The sound of skylights being opened.