RP Thread 1

Festis arrived at the university to meet a few students who had signed up for the excavation that day. In his pocket, he had a notepad with some drawings and notes detailing the strange display on the device he had connected to the wing-craft's navigation gear.

"Ok, as soon as..." he mentioned as he continued to check the roster, "...as soon as Anne arrives, we'll be ready to start."

One of the students responded, "She's supposed to meet us at the quarry."

Festis put the roster back in his pocket along with the notepad. "Right... in that case, let's get moving."

At the quarry, several workers were operating heavy machinery. The foreman met the class at the entrance and handed them hardhats.

After breakfast, which Atlas and Anne decided to prepare for themselves since Anne's mother was still passed out on the couch, they caught the local bus and rode down to the quarry.

"So, do you think they're still looking for help?" asked Atlas.

He met the foreman and went inside one of the tents for an interview.

20 minutes later, Atlas and the foreman shook hands and Atlas put on his new hardhat. It was time to get to work.

He met Anne, Festis, and the rest of the class at the lowest level of the quarry. He looked down at the artifact they were carefully dusting off.

"You know, it's a good thing you found that here today. We're going to be digging there around noon."

Festis picked up the artifact and examined it. "This must be thousands of years old."

Atlas remembered something. "Anne, last night in the guest house, I noticed a strange map of the world. Where did your family get that?"

Over-hearing the mention of an old world map, Festis tried not to seem to obvious that he was listening. He continud to examine the new artifact.

"This one looks as if it's at least... oh, look, what's that over there?!"

While everyone was distracted, he slipped the small object into his pocket.

"That looks like a rare bird of some kind. Oh, I'll be right back class. Need to go take care of something..."

Festis hurried away, pretending to have to use the restroom.

Behind one of the excavation vehicles, he examined the object more closely. It was black, somewhat rectangular, and had a flat surface on it similar to the device that had been glowing in the wing-craft last night.

"This looks like writing..."

Symbols that looked roughly similar to those found glowing on the other device were engraved on the side. Upon closer inspection, the object appeared to be made of a soft metal, or even a hard rubber substance. It was very alien in nature. Like the other device, it too had an electrical connector on the back.

I could try hooking this up as well.

A man in some official looking uniform approached the university group. "Are you that student group here today," he asked.

"That we are," Festis replied.

"Ah, very good, then. I was beginning to think I missed you guys yesterday. Or it wasn't until tomorrow." The man shrugs, shakes his head, and appears to remember himself. "Sorry," he says. "I'm a little absent-minded sometimes. I'm Helmholtz Van Eisbern, administartor of this dig site. I was hoping I'd get to meet you guys and give a little talk about what we do here. That is, if Festis hasn't beaten me to it." He begins pacing back and forth in front of the students, looking them over.

Atlas climbed into his mining apparatus and was digging away at a wall. He turned back to look at the students, to make sure they were at a safe distance. Suddenly, the shovel of his machine hit something metal in the rock.

"There's something in here..." he said over the roar of the clunky engine.

He continued to dig at it when Festis ran over. "Stop, whatever it is, you might damage it."

Atlas turned off the machine and stepped out. He walked over to the wall, where Festis, the administrator, and the students stood staring.

The rock crumbled away to reveal what appeared to be some sort of large vehicle. It had a curved form and appeared to have windows in the side.

"What is this thing?!", he gasped, wide-eyed. He had never seen anything like it.