Curiosity

Endorium was seized by chaos and the flames of war. What was found underground was not just a room, but a massive building, the full size of which is still unknown. Scientists and historians were tearing their hair out, telling their rulers about the importance of the underground discovery.

Nork was nearly torn apart; dozens of countries from around the world flocked there, but one of the strongest empires intervened. After three years of prolonged and positional warfare, the Ultrian Empire captured Nork and turned the republic into a puppet state.

Scientists from all over the world had no choice but to go there. Many mouths after the war began to earn their living by working in this huge underground building. Excavating everything was an incredibly long and difficult task; the entire building, walls - absolutely everything, was corroded and about to collapse under the weight of a single human body, yet there were thousands of them.

"Anna?" - a young woman, now a striking beauty in a doctor's coat, turned to the old man.

"Yes, Dr. Ant?" - the old man looked at a huge cleared mine in the distance, where steel structures - towers leading into the depths of the "dungeons" - were visible.

"Why didn't I see the documents on the desk?" - he sat down on a chair not far from the girl.

"Sir, I..."

"I believe I made myself perfectly clear last night - you're fired!" - his raspy voice struck right at the girl's heart.

"But why?! I only expressed theories about this?" - she gestured towards the huge quarry near the towers, more precisely a quarry that had appeared around the towers.

"Your statements are too frivolous, you're endangering everyone! And what if the soldiers hear? Do you think everything will continue as now, a war will start. And all for one reason, because of your words," - the old man spoke calmly, slowly gesturing with his hands.

"But how, I just mentioned the ancient technologies and Eden that's stored inside!"

"Anna, I believe you, as do many others, but you understand, our research is not currently aimed at weapons. But as soon as it is, this place will immediately become a military base with thousands of soldiers who will destroy all our years of work! They will blow everything up and find what they're looking for, and then what? What do you think people who will have weapons to subjugate others will do," - he didn't let her even respond, as he continued to speak in raised tones. - "Exactly, they will subjugate everyone," - he held his head. - "No! It will be even worse, they will then fight with each other, a vicious cycle, everyone will die and the theory of the apocalypse will become reality.

"We might become the same bones underfoot, the same fallen civilization as the ancestors we dig up every day right beneath our feet!" - said the old man, finally slamming his fist on the table.

"But we can take everything into our own hands, not let greed prevail and…"

"You're too young..." - he shook his head.

"Or maybe you're too old, unwilling to even look into the future from a different perspective?"

"Do you think I want to sit and dig in the ground like a child in a sandbox? I also want to delve into the depths of the 'dungeons'! But as soon as we step in there, as soon as they see something beyond iron and corpses, it will undoubtedly lead to war!"

"You can speak of an illusory war, but you and I both know who not only controls Nork but the entire world—it's the empires, and it's precisely them who protect us!"

"So understand that it's our main enemy! Which empire doesn't desire more power? Which person, between progress and decay, would choose the latter! None, because we are humans, evolving in any situation!" He slammed the table, his voice began to fill the observation tower where they were having this conversation.

"Let's develop, let's move forward, but no, you want to keep looking at this differently!"

"Girl, I picked you up, gave you knowledge and a home, and this is how you repay me! Trying to portray me as some sort of, some kind of wrong?!"

"Anna, don't forget who among us is the chief and who is a simple scientist, who decides, and who obeys!" The old man approached.

"Do you think your authority matters? Then let's test how exactly your 'authority' can affect people!" She stood in front of him.

"Your fervor will destroy us! You'll destroy everyone walking this earth!" His voice began to weaken; he was too old.

"Or perhaps the opposite—I will save this world, show how not to live and how to live, show people the greatness of the Alliance!" She pointed at the bracelet on her wrist.

"Don't be so naive. Your trinket, the most it might save, is a few beggars to whom you'll give money by selling the bracelet!"

"I can help someone, unlike some curmudgeon who constantly sits and denies everyone. Do you think people are glad to see you?" The old man's eyebrows dropped after such a statement.

"If you keep thinking like that, you'll die!"

"Threatening me, your adopted granddaughter?!" Her voice trembled.

"Maybe!"

"You just go to hell! What good can come from such a life? You want to die quietly, not letting others live. You just want to be like people generations ago, living without knowing the truth?" She stomped towards the door. "We could be one step closer to uncovering the mystery, but in reality, where are we? Right, we're nowhere, all the same, gazing at bones, guessing who they might be, but the truth inside is deeper, and even if it costs my life, I will unearth it!" She slammed the door and left.

"You foolish girl, how did such words and conclusions even come to your mind?!" The old man, limping, quickly moved toward the door.

He glanced back as he stepped outside but heard Anna hurrying down the stairs. He turned and picked up the telephone receiver, dialing a few numbers, and after a few short rings, said:

"Get Anna Hamp, don't let her leave?!" He slammed the receiver after an approving yet uncertain response from the other end.

"What a fool I've raised," he held his head. "I'll find her; simple reprimands won't cut it. I'll thrash the wretch for such thoughts!" The old man got up and looked at the papers Anna had held until recently. Among the stack of reports was something horrifyingly familiar.

"Dad, Grandpa - I love you!" A child's drawing with very crooked letters.

"Which one of us is the bigger idiot, me or you?" He crumpled the drawing and put it into the inner right pocket on his chest.

Limping, he headed towards the door; the soldiers guarding the area were already complying with Baron Ant's orders, the main scientist in these lands.

Above his head, in the night sky, an object was burning, its flame visible to the naked eye, but the old man wasn't looking at it; he was going after his "granddaughter."