Ezra awoke from the strange dream to a cramped shelter of stone. His head rang with pain, and his side felt stiffer than usual. Removing his hand from his forehead revealed a bloody sight. Panic invaded his mind, but he kept his breath steady. There was no telling how much air was left.

I removed the wire and then… It was all a blur after that. Tears wet the edges of his eyes. He wondered why until he remembered the strange dream he had. A man and a woman. Landscapes more vibrant than anything he had seen in Deepburrow. They were arguing about something, talking about their future and a paradise, and then there was that strange ethereal flower. He’d seen it before. Twenty years ago. The flower that fell from the sky. Who are they and why that flower, he wondered.

Keeping his body as still as possible, he surveyed his rocky prison. It was high enough to sit up and about twice the width of his arm span. All things considered, he was lucky to even be alive. A vibro-crystal stuck out from the roof above his right hand and gave just enough light to see the edges of the cave. Yet the turquoise light was dim and fading. It must be damaged.

He twisted to his left, and a faint red light pulsed beyond his hand. Attempting to reach for it, the stiffness in his side became a sharp pain. He tried again, and his fingers brushed against a smooth round object until they finally grasped it. The silver spherical object in his hand was like nothing he had ever seen. There wasn’t a single blemish on its surface except for a flat indent with a red blinking light near the top. Small black words wavered on the red surface. It read:

No user authenticated. All features deactivated.

Ezra rolled the sphere through his hands and looked for other features on its surface. There was nothing. He felt exhausted and wanted to sigh, but that would use air. How long have I been here? Surely, Owen and the others have already started digging. He had avoided serious accidents for three years, and now this was how it was going to end. His coffin felt smaller, and he could feel gravity pushing down on his lungs. Each breath was harder than the last.

Was he slowing down his breathing to conserve air, or had he already given up on living? You idiot. You were never trained in explosive work. Why did you volunteer to go in? What do I even owe to White Rock anyway? Maybe I have some pride in my work after all. He chuckled, and it turned into a cough. Damn it, there goes more air.

He raised the sphere above his head again. What even is this thing? Maybe some ancient technology. Ezra had always heard rumors about strange technology left behind by some ancient race, but he had never seen it for himself. The lower layers were scoured centuries ago, and nothing of value except minerals were down here. That was what he had been told, but it seemed like they had missed something. Whatever that something was.

Running his fingers over the smooth surface felt nice, much better than the rugged ground beneath him. His thumb slid over the red light, and green rays wrapped around the sides of his finger. He removed his thumb and saw that the words had changed.

User authenticated, Clearance Level One Activited.

The green light seemed like a good sign, but the words meant little to him. Other than the light, nothing about the metallic sphere had changed. He looked at the words again, but they were stationary. His patience was beginning to run as thin as the air. He hurled the ball to his right, and it struck the vibro-crystal. No musical sound, no vibration. Everything remained still and then went dark.

The sphere rolled over, revealing a blue light emanating from the top. The vibro-crystal was gone. Completely wiped from existence as if it had never been there in the first place. Ezra reached for the device again and fixed his vision on the words.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

View menu

He tapped the words, and rays of light shot out, sending pain through his retinas. Pulling the device further from himself until the knuckles on his hand brushed against the ceiling, he opened his eyes. A luminescent screen, formed by rays projecting from the orb, floated right above his face. There were two options on the screen.

View Inventory

Drop all

Pressing on ‘view inventory’ brought up a grid with one picture in the top left corner. The picture was identical to the vibro-crystal that had disappeared moments ago. Once he clicked on the picture, three options along with the name vibro-crystal appeared.

Drop

Store

Delete

Ezra clicked ‘Drop,’ and the image disappeared from the grid. His whole body suddenly felt heavier, and his stomach caved in from an impact. A shock reverberated out from his abdomen, and from pure instinct, he gasped for air. On his stomach rested the vibro-crystal.

How and why, were the first two questions that popped into his head, but those were useless questions to answer now. What he needed to figure out was how to use this to his advantage and fast; before his brain stopped working altogether. A tool can always be used in more than one way—his father taught him the saying, and that practice had gotten his old man through life. Right now, it would save his.

He shoved the orb into his left pocket and rolled the vibro-crystal off his stomach and onto the ground. A small tremor passed through the stone, and he turned his body to his right. He shoved the pain to the depths of his mind. The back end of the crystal was coated in rock and dirt. This would serve as his protection against unwanted vibrations. Ezra lifted it above his head and positioned the tip against the ceiling.

Lightly now. Lightly. He poked the ceiling and listened carefully. Little shifted, and the rattling of stone dampened within seconds. Not there. Choosing another spot, he repeated the process. Poke, wait, listen. Starting from the area closest to his head, he continued to probe each spot in the ceiling until the rumbling was a bit louder and lasted seconds longer than the others. That spot was just to the right of his hip.

Wish it was closer to my head, but I’ll take what I can get. Now, this is the dangerous part. Ezra’s hands trembled just thinking about it. He tried sitting up, but the pain in his side pulled him back down. Guess I’m doing this lying down.

He steadied the vibro-crystal on his hip and positioned his palms at its base. Pain surged through his ribs, and he thrust the crystal into the ceiling with a yelp. His cavern shook, and he tossed the crystal aside. More vibrations passed through the ground. By now, it was pointless to care about the integrity of the stone around him. Ripping the ancient device out of his pocket, he shoved it into the widening hole above.

Rocks pounded the sphere but quickly evaporated upon impact. Ezra winced when a few smaller chunks of rubble hit his fingers before disappearing into his mechanical net. Whether it was an actual net that swallowed up the debris or something else, he didn’t know. It was working, and that’s all that mattered. With one arm over his head, he shielded his eyes from the increasing dust. The hole kept expanding till he saw a few glorious streaks of light illuminate the area around him. A current of air washed over his face. Almost there.

The sphere suddenly flashed red and then returned to blue. A large rock hit his finger, and he cried out in terrible pain. The words on the orb made his eyes widen.

Inventory full

“Not now.” The light was getting brighter. Only one thing left to do. He pulled the orb towards his chest and threw himself to the left. The earth caved in, and rocks shattered on top of each other with the sound of thunderous applause as if to cheer on his feeble effort.

There were faint voices in the distance. People shouting and boots stomping. Ezra’s ears were still ringing from the collapse or perhaps from the explosion. Time had passed so fast yet so slow.

“Over here,” someone yelled.

More light, but he wasn’t sure how long he could keep his eyes open. His side hurt so much, and the pain was spreading. The cold metal orb still rested on his chest. Will they take it when they find me? I can’t let that happen.

A heavy weight was lifted off his chest. Emerald eyes and a soft face covered in dirt stared down at him.

“I’ve found him!” Owen said, frantically waving to the others.

I can’t let them take it. Ezra opened his mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out.

“Everything is going to be okay. We’ll take care of it from here.” Those were the last words he heard from Owen before the pain crawled back to the front of his mind.