Jones scanned the desert sands and ended up with a blank reading. The A.I paused to make calculations regarding the probabilities of finding the Syger 800 underneath the increasingly hot dunes and vast yellow spread. It came up with a forty percent probability that the weapon used in the High Codex murder would be found in the area.

Syger 800s gave off a slight green glow when expose to large quantities of heat, the plasma tended to leak out of their cartridges which the A.I considered one of many variables in its calculations.

A figure approached the large hovering viewscreen.

"Jones, give me an update." The man ordered the A.I.

The scrawl of numerical data and graph images disappeared and a set of eyes like that drawn in Egyptian hieroglyphs appeared. That was the programmer Melios' own joke packaged along with the recent A.I update, no doubt because they would be in a desert.

"Commander, the chance of finding a Syger 800 is 40 percent." Jones relayed. Its voice was in the tone of a stuffy academic, a slight degree of Old-World Euro.

The commander made a sound of frustration. He spat on the desert floor, ridiculously, hoping for a moment the spittle would mark the place where the gun was buried. Truly ridiculous, he thought, and it disappeared as quick as it entered his mind.

Jones responded moving the probes like balls in a Quadball match. They hovered and bounced at the same time to be knocked back and forth by dual racquets before emitting a blue triangle of a scanning ray swept across the ground.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Commander," a voice yelled from one of the dunes behind. A soldier approached dressed in white sun cloth light armor.

"Graham has found something that you should see."

The commander turned his attention to the approaching soldier.

"He's found the weapon?"

"No sir," but he found something you really need to see."

The Commander stared him down with a disapproving look. He didn't want his time wasted not when the primary directive was to retrieve the gun. Nothing else mattered at that point. But the soldier was insisting. It must be of some importance. If it, wasn't he'd discharge the man for incompetence not adhering to schedule and orders.

"Very well," the Commander thought. "Come show me. Jones, continue the scans."

"Yes sir." The A.I. answered.

The hot sun was a yellow hole burned into the blue laminate cover of the sky. There was only the slightest of hot breeze which lightly caressed the sands. The Commander stepped over to where a troop of soldiers were gathered around a dig site. It was a small square hole with the sands pushed up and away. They had been digging with shovels as not to use the up the fuel operating digging machines for a non-primary directive.

The Commander peered into the hole. He saw what looked like a series of tangled gold pipes wrapped around each other like vines. The rest was buried under the sand. It was clearly an object of some sort, what it could be, he hadn't a clue.

One of the soldiers approached

"Shall we extract it, Commander?"

The Commander wrinkled his nose as the dryness of the air started to become an irritant to him. He gazed out into the dunes and noticed the sky was clear. The dust storm hadn't begun yet, but the reports had told him they were due for one later in the day.

"Yes. But let the others know to work double time, no breaks. There's a possible storm approaching."

"Well?"

The soldier approached the Commander once more as the dig was finished.

"Sir...you should look at this."

The Commander returned to the site before getting to the open pit, he stopped.

"What the hell?"

What the team had dug up looked to be a weapon of some sort.

It appeared to be a golden sword, fit to be wielded by a god.