MidReal Story
1
Scenario: 1
Create my version of this story
Alex Thompson leaned back in his chair and stretched his long legs under the table, his blue eyes scanning the email on his laptop screen.
I watched him from across the table in the university library where we’d met almost six years ago.
We were both students then, working toward our degrees in history and archeology.
Now we were colleagues, he as a historian and me as an archeologist for the university’s museum.
“You know him?”
I asked, leaning forward to rest my forearms on the tabletop.
“Yeah, he was one of my professors.” He nodded at the screen.
“Actually, he was a mentor of mine.He’s been missing for almost a month now.” He ran a hand through his shaggy blond hair.
“We were supposed to meet up for a summer dig, but…obviously he never showed.”
“Did they find his body?”
I asked before I could stop myself.
He gave me a wry smile.
“Not that I know of.I think they’re still looking for him.”
I furrowed my brow.
“But then how did you get this email?”
He clicked on the attachment and opened it.
“It’s from him,” he said, “sent to me last week.”
I nodded, still confused.
“So you think he found something?
Something good, I’m guessing.”
He gave a short laugh.
“I hope so.But I can’t be sure until I figure out what this damn thing is.”
The attachment was a map—the one Dr.
Kline had supposedly found—drawn on an old piece of parchment paper.
Alex had already printed it off and had it spread out on the table in front of us.
“Want to take a look?”
I nodded eagerly and slid my chair closer to get a better look at the map.
It was written in Spanish, but with my knowledge of Latin and Alex’s understanding of Spanish history, I was able to make out most of it easily enough.
“I’ve read through this thing so many times now that I can almost recite it word for word,” Alex muttered, pointing at one particular section on the map.
“The problem is, I still have no idea what it means or where we should start looking.”
I leaned in closer to get a better look at where he was pointing.
The map was split into two parts: one was an intricate drawing of what we assumed was a temple or pyramid, labeled with Spanish words I didn’t recognize; and the second part was a list of clues and directions on where to find it.
The first section looked like a basic layout of a temple complex.
There were a few notes and descriptions written around the edges in a mix of Spanish and what I could only assume was Incan.
The second half of the map was where it got tricky.
We knew it was a list of clues, but we couldn’t figure out what most of them were referring to.
“I still can’t believe Dr.
Kline wants you to help him find this thing,” I said with a shake of my head.
“That’s like asking someone to find Atlantis.”
He gave me a wry smile.
“Well, I don’t plan on turning down an invitation from a dead man now, do I?”
I laughed and shook my head.
“Nope, I guess not.”
“Plus,” he said with a sly grin, “you know you want to come with me.”
I raised an eyebrow at him.
