Categories > Original > Sci-Fi
The Artifact
"May, are you there?"
"Yes. What is it?"
"We finally got the satellite and radio fixed. Do you mind telling me where you are?"
"Somewhere in Bosnia, I think."
To tell you the truth, she was telling the truth. Up above the Magnolia Forest, high above the trees, you could see May Manning was climbing the rugged cliffs, 1,000 feet above the ground.
"Ok, thanks. Umm, yep. Got ya. By the way, what the hell are you doing up there?" yelled her technician expert, Pete Bellows, from back the mansion. He knew she was crazy, but usually she told him so he could follow her every move on the GPS tracking system. Calmed him, in a way.
"Oh, come on, Pete. Do I have to tell you everything?"
"Uhh, let me think. Yes! I am responsible for you. If you get in trouble, it's my ass.
"I am sorry, Pete. It wont happened again. Excuse me for a minute." She said as she moved her arm to get a better view at the surroundings. Pete would have a hissy fit if he found out that she was using no equipment.
"May?"
"Yes, Pete."
"From the satellite and your head-cam, I can tell that you have no equipment."
"You are absolutely right." She said, smiling.
"May, have I ever told you that you're crazy?"
"Many times before, Pete. Yes."
She was doing all this while studying the rock formation 6 feet away. Without her gear, she would have to jump in order to continue up.
"May, I have two things to tell you. One, Leroy just got here. Two, your not really going to jump, are you?"
"You know me. Always taking risks. Put Leroy on, will ya?"
"Hello, May" said a deep voice.
"Good to hear your voice, Leroy. What's up?"
She positioned herself, getting ready to jump. It takes a lot of guts to do what she's does. That's what you get for having a multimillionaire father, always getting what you want. She kind of like that one character, Lara Croft. Only she's real, Lara's not.
She jumped, hands outstretched. She made it, barely. She hoisted herself up onto a ledge. Just beyond that, she could she the ancient ruins of the Yaly tribe. She smiled to herself. A job well done.
"God that's beautiful." Said Leroy thru the headset.
"It is, isn't it?"
"May, we need your help."
"As always. What do you need?"
"I'll have details once you get back."
"Pete, arrange for.."
"Already did, May. An ospery will be there in 20 minutes."
"Excellent." Just enough time to do some exploring.
2.
High above the city of Tokyo, in the Bioware Industries building, the tallest building in the world, was Frank Miller, tapping his fingers on his desk.
"No. I told you a hundred times. No."
It was Friday, the worst day of the week. The system usually crashed on Fridays due to the mainframe problems when they first built the building two years ago. They had no idea why but it did. The engineers for the database said it was the massive overloads of data from the city. But Frank doesn't believe that. It's something more. Much more.
"I want you to reroute the data strings to the servers in Rome. I don't care what happens to the data as long as the system stays online." Frank was starting to get upset. Nobody like it when he was upset.
"Yes, thank you. After the transfer, fix the good damn problem. I am tired of this bullshit. Fix it or it's your ass. Good-bye."
He held the phone to his head until it disconnected. He slowly put the phone back.
"And this is why I hate Fridays." He stood up, feeling some kind of nausea, and walked over to the bar. He opened the cupboard, finding a glass, and found a bottle of whiskey in there too. After pouring himself some, he took the glass and started to stare thro it. "Hey, look. I have got a new perspective on life." He thought.
He swallowed it all, down the very last drop, and was starting to pour himself more when his phone beeped.
"Mr. Miller?"
"Yes, Sarah."
"There's someone here to see you."
"Tell them to come back later. I not seeing anyone now."
"But, sir. He says it's important. Something about a Miss May Manning."
"Oh. Send him in."
"All right. Will you need anything else, sir?"
"No, Sarah. You can leave now."
"Goodnight, Mr. Miller."
"Goodnight, Sarah."
He heard the phone disconnect.
He started to fill his glass when he heard his private elevator start up. He knew that he would need it and quickly poured himself more.
"May, are you there?"
"Yes. What is it?"
"We finally got the satellite and radio fixed. Do you mind telling me where you are?"
"Somewhere in Bosnia, I think."
To tell you the truth, she was telling the truth. Up above the Magnolia Forest, high above the trees, you could see May Manning was climbing the rugged cliffs, 1,000 feet above the ground.
"Ok, thanks. Umm, yep. Got ya. By the way, what the hell are you doing up there?" yelled her technician expert, Pete Bellows, from back the mansion. He knew she was crazy, but usually she told him so he could follow her every move on the GPS tracking system. Calmed him, in a way.
"Oh, come on, Pete. Do I have to tell you everything?"
"Uhh, let me think. Yes! I am responsible for you. If you get in trouble, it's my ass.
"I am sorry, Pete. It wont happened again. Excuse me for a minute." She said as she moved her arm to get a better view at the surroundings. Pete would have a hissy fit if he found out that she was using no equipment.
"May?"
"Yes, Pete."
"From the satellite and your head-cam, I can tell that you have no equipment."
"You are absolutely right." She said, smiling.
"May, have I ever told you that you're crazy?"
"Many times before, Pete. Yes."
She was doing all this while studying the rock formation 6 feet away. Without her gear, she would have to jump in order to continue up.
"May, I have two things to tell you. One, Leroy just got here. Two, your not really going to jump, are you?"
"You know me. Always taking risks. Put Leroy on, will ya?"
"Hello, May" said a deep voice.
"Good to hear your voice, Leroy. What's up?"
She positioned herself, getting ready to jump. It takes a lot of guts to do what she's does. That's what you get for having a multimillionaire father, always getting what you want. She kind of like that one character, Lara Croft. Only she's real, Lara's not.
She jumped, hands outstretched. She made it, barely. She hoisted herself up onto a ledge. Just beyond that, she could she the ancient ruins of the Yaly tribe. She smiled to herself. A job well done.
"God that's beautiful." Said Leroy thru the headset.
"It is, isn't it?"
"May, we need your help."
"As always. What do you need?"
"I'll have details once you get back."
"Pete, arrange for.."
"Already did, May. An ospery will be there in 20 minutes."
"Excellent." Just enough time to do some exploring.
2.
High above the city of Tokyo, in the Bioware Industries building, the tallest building in the world, was Frank Miller, tapping his fingers on his desk.
"No. I told you a hundred times. No."
It was Friday, the worst day of the week. The system usually crashed on Fridays due to the mainframe problems when they first built the building two years ago. They had no idea why but it did. The engineers for the database said it was the massive overloads of data from the city. But Frank doesn't believe that. It's something more. Much more.
"I want you to reroute the data strings to the servers in Rome. I don't care what happens to the data as long as the system stays online." Frank was starting to get upset. Nobody like it when he was upset.
"Yes, thank you. After the transfer, fix the good damn problem. I am tired of this bullshit. Fix it or it's your ass. Good-bye."
He held the phone to his head until it disconnected. He slowly put the phone back.
"And this is why I hate Fridays." He stood up, feeling some kind of nausea, and walked over to the bar. He opened the cupboard, finding a glass, and found a bottle of whiskey in there too. After pouring himself some, he took the glass and started to stare thro it. "Hey, look. I have got a new perspective on life." He thought.
He swallowed it all, down the very last drop, and was starting to pour himself more when his phone beeped.
"Mr. Miller?"
"Yes, Sarah."
"There's someone here to see you."
"Tell them to come back later. I not seeing anyone now."
"But, sir. He says it's important. Something about a Miss May Manning."
"Oh. Send him in."
"All right. Will you need anything else, sir?"
"No, Sarah. You can leave now."
"Goodnight, Mr. Miller."
"Goodnight, Sarah."
He heard the phone disconnect.
He started to fill his glass when he heard his private elevator start up. He knew that he would need it and quickly poured himself more.
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