Late in the starlit evening, an unmarked armored transport enters the city and pulls into a nondescript government building.
Footsteps echo hollowly deep in a sub-basement as two uniformed officers carry a glowing container to a secure storage depot.
The crystal glows within containment as the officers sign over the delivery to the smiling clerk.
“Ooh that looks interesting,” she says, grinning broadly.
As one officer signs the receiving log, the other slides the container over, “some archaeologists dug it up a few days ago. No one seems to know what it is; figured it needs to go into containment until the eggheads can take a look..”
The clerk beams at the two officers finishing the check-in.
“Say, you’re not the usual girl,” one of the officers says, peering closely at the unusual clerk.
“Oh, I’m just filling in tonight…” she replies, but out of sight, behind the counter, a bound and gagged clerk struggles, her struggles silenced by glowing arcane circle.
https://www.deviantart.com/underwhelm/g ... 6/featured
