“What do you mean, the Illuminati?” Lisa squinted her eyes.

Watson could feel the pressure. All eyes were directed at Jones, who still couldn’t control himself. Chuckling, Jones stroked his fingers over the marking, feeling the curves indent, forming the sigil of the Illuminati- the triangle with the eye inside. Curious eyes blinked in surprise as he flipped open the page.

The title read: “In Nomine Deus. For the brothers to come after. Long live the Illuminati.”

Jones slowly repeated those words. His voice grew more triumphant with each recital.

“You going to explain or what, Jones?” Ben shot him an annoyed look.

Jones matched his glance. “Sure, sure.” He said. “But I thought I’m the delusional one here?”

“Coincidences can happen.” Lisa sighed. ”Just get on with it.”

Jones held up the book high above for all to see, pointing his finger at the emblem.

“This right here.” He said. ”Is the mark of the Illuminati. A secret society that’s been around since the middle ages.”

“And you know this, how…?” Ben asked, crossing his arms.

“They’re kinda famous where I’m from.” Jones said. He was grinning like madman. “You know, my world.”

Watson gulped. ”So… What do they do?”

Jones stepped one of his feet on his chair, earning himself a few displeased looks from the staff. He pointed a finger at Watson. ”Glad you asked.” He smirked. ”It’s a kinda long story, though, might wanna grab yourself some tea.”

“The express version,” Lisa coughed. “We don’t have that much time.”

“Fine, fine.” Jones shrugged. “Basically, they’re a bunch of rich assholes trying to control the world from the shadows.”

“And they did that, how exactly?” Ben said. “And how does anybody know, then?”

Jones pondered for a moment. ”...The details aren’t that important.” A few onlookers deflated. “But well, it was a bunch of politicians, so just imagine corrupt people making a council. That’s pretty much what it supposedly was, in my world.”

“Your world, huh…” Lisa tapped her fingers. ”Supposedly, you say? So you don’t know?”

“Nobody really knows.” Jones frowned. ”Well, nobody was supposed to know. But a couple politicians dropped a hint here and there, about ‘the New World Order’ and all that.”

Ben slammed his hand against the table. ”I don’t buy it.” He said, his gaze sharp. ”I still don’t buy into that whole multiverse bullcrap. Where the hell are you from, Jones?”

Jones stared him down. “I told you already.”

“Yeah, you fed us a whole load of crap.”

“You’re the dumbass who decided that.”

“Are you telling me smart people are supposed to believe half the shit you say?”

“Exactly what I’m saying. At least you admit you aren’t smart.”

Lisa walked between the two. ”Shut up, both of you.” She said. ”You’re getting nowhere, gents.”

“While I don’t personally believe his origin story either,” Lisa paused, and turned to Watson. ”At least Watson here seems to back for Mr. Jones.”

Watson pointed at himself. “Uh… Me? I mean, I did pick him up from the middle of a desert…”

Ben stared at Watson. ”What if he’s wrong?”

“Mr. Jones is still a useful asset.” Lisa said. “And until now, he’s been loyal, hasn’t he?”

Ben sat down with a grunt. “I don’t like the way you describe him. Loyal.”

Jones snorted. “I don’t, either.”

“Whatever.” She said. Lisa snatched the book from Jones’s hand. “You two can fight whenever you feel like. We’ve got better things to do right now.” She laid the journal down on the table.

The entire room inched closer as she flipped through the first proper page.

“The journal of Horace Bush.” She read aloud. “A record of the organization’s ‘Nevada Plan’.”

“This journal was created to keep an official record of my involvement with the ‘Nevada Plan’, or as it was officially known, the ‘Nevada Project’.” She said. She ran her fingers over each and every word. ”Only my experiences, and no one else’s, is written down. For full disclosure, I was not a part of the initial, nor the final, parts of this plan.”

She flipped to the next page. “The journal can be divided into three parts,” she said. ”The beginnings of the project, the middle, and the aftermath. The beginning and the aftermath is mostly anecdotal.”

“How many pages is this thing?” Jones asked, staring blankly at the paper.

Lisa quickly flipped through to the final page. “Roughly…” She paused. ”A hundred.”

----------------------------------------

Unlike the journal’s original entrance, the room was now mostly empty, save for a couple snoring soldiers hunkering down in a corner. In the middle of the room, where the big oaken table stood, sat Lisa and Watson. Lisa wore a pair of reading glasses and scanned passage after passage. Watson sat passively, waiting for her to make a remark, and jotted some notes down.

Jones stumbled in with a bottle of Brandy. A yawning Ben followed.

“How’s the novel?” Jones grinned, looking like an idiot. ”Is it getting a movie?”

Lisa shot him a disappointed look, and turned to Ben.

“I tried to stop him.” Ben said. His tone was apologetic. “But he tried drinking the molotovs.”

Watson gave his comrade an understanding look.

“But my bottle?” Lisa sounded annoyed.

“Wouldn’t have anything else.” Ben saluted.

“Hey, hey, you can’t just keep this good stuff to yourself.” Jones giggled and tumbled. ”Anyways, really, how’s the book?”

Lisa clapped the book shut. “It’s great. Really interesting, actually.” She said. “We’ve gone through it twice. Thanks to Watson, we’ve got the highlights down.”

Ben gave them a thumbs up. ”That’s great. Should I get the boys here for a meeting?”

Lisa yawned, and hastily covered her mouth. “No, no. I need some sleep before that.” She said. “But I do need to talk to you two. Well, you three.”

Watson perked up. ”About what?”

Lisa pointed at the notes. “We need to talk about the details.”

“Found anything interesting?” Jones kept grinning. He fell to the floor, and contently hugged one of the asleep soldiers.

“Yes. Quite a lot, actually.” She said, rifling through some notes of her own. “This is incredible. We may be getting somewhere, for the first time in a while. We really should’ve rushed this earlier.”

Ben leaned against a wall. ”Just what is it about?” His eyebrows were clenched. “I can’t imagine what could be so important.”

Lisa considered for a moment. ”It’s not... What’s in the book itself that’s a huge breakthrough.” She rubbed her chin. “The implications. If what I’m guessing is right, it’s more than just huge.”

“So… We have a new lead, then?” Ben asked.

“Yes. If this is as important as I think it is,” she breathed in and out. ”What we may find there could completely change our position.”

“There?” Jones said. He looked up from puking in a nearby trash can.

Lisa looked disgusted. “Let me explain from the beginning. Actually, why don’t you start? I might need a little break.” She turned to Watson.

“Me?” Watson said, looking surprised. ”Oh, sure.”

“Well, basically, I’ve got the cliffnotes here…” He rummaged through his notes. “This guy, Horace Bush, was an initiate member for the order. Um, the Illuminati.”

“He was a newer member, so they didn’t tell him much about the ongoing projects, but…” Watson paused to look for another sheet. ”He was a Bush, so they needed him for capital and political power.”

“So what were they up to?” Ben found himself a chair to sit down on.

“Well, Jones was… Mostly right.” Watson took a glance at Jones, still hugging his newfound best friend. ”They were trying to gain enough influence to essentially unite the world.” He said.

Ben shot him an incredulous look.

“Yeah... He’s weirdly right about all this stuff, isn’t he?” Watson looked apologetic. ”Anyhow… This Horace person got involved in the middle of the project. From his understanding, this ‘Nevada Project’, was a plan to access… Different worlds.” Watson glanced at Jones again.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Ben pointed at Jones. “You aren’t saying that guy’s somehow involved, right?”

Watson shook his head. “No... This was over fifty years ago.” He said. “Horace didn’t know what the plan entailed, just that it had that specific goal in mind. He was allowed to visit the facility exactly once, but was blindfolded on the way.”

“He wrote that it looked ‘beyond fantastical. Like a set at Hollywood’. And the laboratory was littered with ‘elements and machinery beyond his comprehension’.” Watson reached for another stack of papers. “But here come the interesting parts.”

Ben straightened his back. “Go ahead.”

“So... The aftermath.” Watson paused. ”The plan ended in...1959, in November. After that, I’m sure you know, the political climate of the USA completely flipped.”

Ben’s mouth hung open, and he seemed ready to say something. “Before you say something,” Watson said. “The plan was noted down as a failure, though. Horace notes it was a very hush-hush affair. Apparently something happened in the span of two weeks.”

Jones wiped his mouth using his shirt and found a place to sit down. “What’d I miss?”

Ben rolled his eyes. ”Not much.”

Watson’s eyes wandered between the two. “Anyways… That’s pretty much how it ends. The Illuminati ended basically right then and there. The meetings abruptly stopped.” Watson pulled out a well-worn piece of paper. “Only one more thing.”

Ben moved closer, his ears ahead. “What thing?”

“He mentions more extensive records may have survived.” Watson said. ”Most of the records regarding the project were burned. It’s why he wrote this. But he says a friend of his, Richard Clinton, hid a journal of his own at an abandoned, nearly forgotten Illuminati temple.”

“So we’re going to grab another Journal?” Jones’s head wobbled around.

“Um… I think so.”

“Lisa?” Ben said, looking over his shoulder. Lisa was snoring quietly at a corner.

He shook Lisa awake. ”Hey, Lisa?”

“Hmm?” She jolted up. Blushing, she dusted herself off, and ironed her face. “Uh… What’s the matter?”

“First off, go to your quarters if you need sleep.” Ben smiled. He pointed down the hallway. “And second, what’s the plan? You thought about the next step?”

Lisa flicked his forehead. ”It’s commander for you.” She grinned. “But yes. Assuming Watson filled you in, we’re going to that temple. Horace left a map in his journal.”

Jones stumbled towards the exit. ”Well, if that’s all…” He stabilized himself against a wall. “I’m going to the toilet.”

----------------------------------------

The crew were assembled into three separate cars, each driven by two members of the resistance. Leading the charge was the sandstorm-brown humvee, with Ben driving in the front. Jones was damned to his hell, the British Leyland. Watson gently hummed to himself, driving at the perfect speed to put a grandma to sleep. Nobody wanted Jones on the wheel.

“How much longer?” Jones tantrumed in the back seat, throwing a magazine away.

“We’re almost there.” Watson said, looking in the back mirror. “Only a mile away now.”

“Finally.” Jones groaned. “Where the hell are we, anyways?”

Watson looked at the map lying beside him. “Uh… This is California… I think we’re in ElDorado national forest? I was enjoying the scenery a bit too much. Sorry.”

“Commiefornia, huh?” Jones stood up. “Just how far away is this goddamn place?”

“Well, here.”

“You get what I mean.” Jones kicked the seat. “Thank god we’re getting off here.”

Watson watched a pair of birds fly by. “This is pretty neat, I think.” He smiled. “It’s nice to take a break sometimes.”

Jones snorted. “That’s exactly why you’re single, Watson.”

Watson groaned. “I’m not getting into that again.”

“It’s just banter, Watson.” Jones grinned.

“Sure it is.” Watson mumbled. ”Oh, look, they’re slowing down.”

Ahead, the two cars flashed their brakelights, creeping to a slow halt. The others started getting out.

“Finally.” Jones said, kicking the door open. Watson winced as he heard the crack.

The two got off, walking ahead to join the main group. Six people were present in total. Besides Jones, Watson, Lisa and Ben, two other resistance members had been recruited. Jones affectionately called them Fodder #1 and #2, but Watson didn’t know their names to counter him with.

“We’re here.” Lisa said, pointing at the treelines.

“I see exactly nothing.” Jones said.

“Look more carefully.” Ben said. “You see that glimmer? It’s a hatch.”

“Huh.” Jones said. “You’re right. I thought it’d be more dramatic than that.”

Lisa chuckled. ”Let’s hope it’s not more dramatic inside.”

“I think you just jinxed it.” Ben said. He walked towards the humvee, and pried the back door open.

Jones returned to his own car and cracked the boot open.

Inside were two bags. Kits, prepared for this expedition. The base was supposedly very large, and this was only one of a series of openings. He pulled out the two bags and handed one over to Watson.

“Thanks.” Watson said. “What did you pack in yours?” He began pullings things out.

“Eh… A molotov, a couple extra magazines, and Spam.” Jones answered. “Why’s your pack full of carabiners and rope?”

“I’ve got headlamps too.” Watson said, showing two off. “And water. And… A medkit. You never know.”

Jones laughed. “I doubt you’ll get to use any of those, Watson.” He said. “Let’s get walkin’ before the others go in without us.” He pointed at the rest of the group. Ben had already started to descend.

Watson hastily packed his bag. “Oh… Yes.”

The entrance was a hatch, similar to design to a submarine entrance. The steel was clearly aged, but not rusted. It was made out of very good metal. The local foliage made for a good cover. Watson doubted that they could’ve found the hatch without the specific location or an insane amount of luck.

The descent was uncomfortable and scary. At first glance, the narrow concrete tunnel seemed to stretch down infinitely. The stagnant air rushing past didn’t help with that impression. Their teammates slowly descending into darkness, suddenly not becoming visible, added an extra layer of fear. Watson gulped as he climbed down step by step.

It wasn’t as deep as first impressions led to believe. About fifty meters down, Watson reached the ground. At the bottom, everyone was waiting. When he arrived, they flicked on the headlamps.

Watson handed one out to Jones. “I knew this would come in handy.”

Jones dismissively took it out of his hands, ignoring his triumphant expression. “Yeah, yeah.”

Lisa started walking. ”You boys ready to get going?” She asked, turning back.

“Coming.” They both said, joggling lightly to catch up.

----------------------------------------

The outsides really didn’t match the inside.

Unlike the cramped entrance, the hallways were broad and tall. The air was musky with the scent of age, and the only occasionally functioning, dim lighting did not help the mood.

The occupied rooms were full of bookcases and tables. They were mostly of obscure topics, obscure even to the oddly knowledgeable Jones. Rows and rows were dedicated to politics, philosophy and arts, but none of them contained the knowledge they seeked.

First signs of trouble showed up a couple rooms in.

Jones yanked a book off the shelf, hoping to discover some secret room or mechanism.

And a secret mechanism they did find. With a clink, a javelin sprang forth from a wall, heading rapidly towards Jones. Fortunately, he had moved, and the javelin clashed against the wall, dropping to the floor with a clang.

The party stood still.

“Holy shit.” Jones said. “Holy. Fucking. Shit.” Jones repeated, with a bit more oomph.

“I think this means we need to be more careful.” Lisa said, exhaling loudly. “From now on, nobody touch anything without checking it out first. We step into rooms one by one, and not before it’s cleared.”

But that didn’t stop things from escalating.

The next room they entered, it was a piano wire aimed at their legs. The one after that, caltrops hidden under the silk carpet. Fodder #1, true to his name, learned a lesson from that. It was after the fifth room- and the third staircase downwards- that Jones snapped.

A low rumble came from the ceiling.

“Just what in the fuck were these assholes planning?” He said, punching and kicking the walls.

“Calm down, Jones.” Watson said. He was sweating profusely.

“What the fuck? Swinging fucking axe blades? What is this, Indiana Fucking Jones?”

“I think we’re all very angry about this, Jones.” Lisa sat down.

Ben grabbed a bottle of water. “Drink up and calm down.” He said.

“No.” He said. He kept throwing a fit. “What’s going to be next? Anyone got the script for the Crystal Skull here?”

“Jones, stop kicking.” Watson said, laying his hand on Jones’s shoulder. “What if something happens?”

“Like what?” Jones turned, his face scrunched up in anger.

The rumble grew louder.

“I mean, there’s could be anything.” Watson said, wiping his sweat off.

Jones gave the wall a good last smack. “Fuck, this is irritating.” He said. “I can’t believe how much we’ve slowed down because of this shit. How much further do we have to go?”

Lisa pointed down the hallway. “Well, I think it’s safe to say a nice, long while.”

“Won’t that be fun.” Ben pulled out a box of sandwiches. “Anybody want a sandwich?”

“I’ll take one.” Watson said.

“Me, too.” Lisa reached for a sandwich.

Jones reluctantly grabbed himself one too. “Is this peanut butter?” He took a bit. “Bleh. Jelly only?”

“Oh. I wanted that one.” Watson looked disappointed.

The rumble grew very close.

“Here. Take it.” Jones passed his sandwich.

“Do you guys here that?” Fodder #2 said. Fodder #1 had been sent back to the car.

Jones stepped back. “You speak?” He asked.

Lisa smacked the back of his head. “Of course he speaks.”

“Um, I didn’t know that either.” Ben said, raising his hand.

“I can speak.” Fodder #2’s eyes were glassy like a puppy’s. “Seriously. Can you guys hear that?”

Jones pointed at Watson. “You sure he didn’t just fart?”

Watson stood up, breadcrumbs falling from his shirt. ”I did not.”

“Maybe it was her.” Jones turned to Lisa. She smacked him again. “Or maybe not.”

“It was me. I admit.” Ben said, keeping his hand raised. “But I don’t think that was it.”

“What did you have for breakfast?” Jones clenched his nose. “What else could it be?”

“I think it’s above us.” Fodder #2 said.

At that moment, the ceiling cracked open, a good seventy meters behind them, right at the top of the staircase. Out came rolling a massive iron ball, slowly gaining speed and heading for the steps, threatening to accelerate.

“Oh, fuck me.” Jones said. He didn’t bother looking behind as he booked it. He somehow knew everyone else would do the same.

----------------------------------------

They ran down hallway after hallway, always closely avoiding traps after traps. Caltrops, arrows, and bullets all made an entrance, but good movement and a lot of luck pulled them through.

In the end, they finally reached a turn, and watched as the ball crashed halfway into the wall with an earth-shuddering crack. Everyone was alive, albeit a bit more bruised, and huffing like crazy. The party collectively collapsed on the ground.

After they settled down, Jones began laughing.

“This is just fucking crazy.” He choked. ”I swear, is this a fucking cartoon?”

Ben jolted up. “Don’t you start.” He said. “This is your fucking fault, you know that? We almost just died.”

Jones raised himself. “The hell do you want now?” He stared at Ben. “What’s your problem?”

“Your attitude, Jones, you ass.” Ben gnashed his teeth. “You piss me off. Let me bet your tantruming set the damn ball free.”

“Now, now, why don’t we calm down…” Watson said, sneaking closer.

“Stop, Watson. Just stop.” Jones said. “I want to hear what Mr. Dover here wants to say. Just how big is the stick up your ass?”

“Big enough to choke you with.” Ben said, his face twisted in anger. “It’s a nightmare to work with you, Jones.” Ben turned to Lisa. “Aren’t you gonna say anything?”

Lisa glared at Ben. “I don’t want to be a part of this, no.” She said. “But if I have to- I think we can definitely cooperate better.”

“You too, huh?” Jones bitterly smiled. “You know what? Fine.” He stood up.

“What’re you doing?” Ben asked, watching him walk away.

Jones pointed at the path ahead. It split into two. ”I’m going that way.” He pointed to the left. “Don’t fucking follow me. Meet you outside.”

“Wait.” Lisa said.

“No, don’t even start. Just take your damn break and take the right.” He waved her off.

Watson jogged towards Jones. ”Don’t go, Jones.” He said, raising his hand to grab his shoulder.

Jones brushed the hand off. ”Stay behind, Watson. Stick with the cool kids.” He said, speed walking away.

Watson stood still, unsure of what to do. At Jones, who was steadily gaining ground, he said: “Wait up, Jones! Come back!”

Jones raised but a finger. Then a click echoed through the hallway.

Everyone stood still, anticipating another disaster. Then, the ceiling collapsed behind Jones, leaving him and the group separated.