Project Hyrax: Beyond Time

His body hunched, his knees curled close to his c.h.e.s.t, and his hands were slowly dragging his body forward by pressing on the ground. His flashlight clutched tightly in his left hand, was shining brightly, scaring away the nearby creepy crawlies. As Robin went in deeper, the cave grew larger and his claustrophobia was fading. When the cave was large enough for him to stand, he shone the flashlight on the surroundings, and the first thing he saw was a pile of human skulls.

The cave was eerily similar to the one he first ventured into. There were many shamanic paintings on the walls, and flint tools were lying around. Once again, the quietness hinted Robin that he was alone. To update his general and to feel less lonely, Robin picked up the Commune.

'I am in the cave. No one is here.' Robin stated.

Kael sighed on the other end. 'Maybe they left the place somehow. Probably there is an exit somewhere. Just look around.'

'Looking. All prehistoric stuffs. No sign of them. The cave is going in deeper. The cave ceiling has many carvings, I wonder how they managed to reach it. But there is no sign of the geometric shape-like carvings I saw in the previous cave.'

'Kid, come on. That is not a big deal, you gotta stop thinking about that.'

'Yea…I get it. It just makes me wonder-' As he kept talking to Kael, Robin suddenly slipped. He slid down blindly, his flashlight rolling down faster than him and splashed into an unseen pool. Robin fell into the cold waters and began to shiver. He could not see where he was going. Everywhere he turned seemed like a dead end. Beneath the waters, he could see the light emitted by his flashlight. He held his breath and dived inside the pool, grabbing the flashlight. As he was rising up, he felt something slithering against his waist. Not willing to see what it was, Robin quickly swam towards the nearest solid ground. He pulled himself up from the water and pointed his gun towards the pool, waiting for the attacker to pop up. The pool was once again tranquil, Robin held his gun firmly and ventured deeper into the cave.

'Kid, is everything okay. What happened?' Kael sounded worried in the Commune.

'Nothing, I fell into a pool. Now I am out.'

'Kid, told you to be alert. Anything could be a possible danger, it all depends on whether you are alert enough to be a man of caution.'

'Yea, got it. Woah!' Robin eyes were wide open as he stared at the cave. It was filled with huge crystals growing all over. The crystals were pearly white and magnificently beautiful. Robin didn't need to use his flashlight any longer. Far ahead, he could natural light shining through, which meant that there was a chance to exit the place.

'What is it, kid?'

'Nothing, just the cave…is huge.' Robin walked slowly as to avoid being grazed by the sharp edges of crystals. It was akin to walking between thick bushes, only the branches are crystals instead of wood. The splendor made him think whether all this beauty was accidental by nature, or could there be an intelligent 'being' that architects all these arrangements of molecules that created life? If so, why would that 'being' allow evil to grow? Or is that 'being' insentient? Or is it conscious yet unconcerned, but eventually created humans where some were quite forethoughtful? More questions, yet no answer. Part of Robin's mind was admiring the beauty, yet the other part was pondering about existential questions. It was only when his right knee bumped into the blunt edge of a crystal, Robin realized that he should not deviate from his main purpose.

Out of curiosity, Robin took out the Xcio, which was left deep within his pocket all this while. The small glue-stick like object looked futuristic in the lab, but now paled in comparison with the crystals. Robin twisted the top of the Xcio until a small needle like end popped out. He placed the needle end on the crystal, and almost instantaneously, the Xcio displayed readings.

SELENITE CRYSTALS, GYPSUM, CaSO4·2 H2O

'Not bad!' Robin exclaimed.

'What's so exciting?' Kael g.r.o.a.n.e.d.

'Nothing. Just testing out the Xcio. It works pretty well.'

'Cos it does!'

Robin tried it out on more crystals and rocks. The Xcio worked flawlessly.

'It works, though it seems pointless for me.' He blurted before he could stop himself.

'Look, kid. If you think that you are-'

'Wow! The cave is bigger than I thought. I will go in deeper.' Robin interrupted.

The cave was huge, but Robin had to squeeze and hunch his back several times to avoid bumping into the crystals. At one point, he had to climb onto one of the hanging crystals to prevent himself from stepping onto the sharp-edged stones covering the floor. At another, he had to slide on an inclined crystal. He kept venturing deeper, reaching towards the source of light. It was getting brighter, until one of the crystals under his grip broke and he fell into darkness once again.

Robin opened his eyes and saw bottles on a table. He was perplexed, he rubbed his eyes and opened them wide. The light from his flashlight can't be lying. He was, indeed, looking at chemical bottles lying on a table-like surface carved inside the cave.

'Umm…kid?'

Robin g.r.o.a.n.e.d. 'Yea, still here. Fell somewhere inside the cave.'

'Well, anything?' Kael inquired.

'I see bottles, something like chemical containers, lying abandoned on a table-like surface. Seems like they were unattended for quite a while. The chemicals inside probably dried up.'

'Wait, WHAT?! Chemical bottles…in a cave?'

'Yea, I mean…flasks. More like chemical flasks. But yea. Surprising. But not really surprising when you consider all that I have told you before.' Robin answered blandly, trying to sound unmoved by what he just witnessed. Though in reality, his heart was pounding rapidly. He couldn't make out anything from what he is seeing. None of what he has been through so far makes sense and can be put together.

'Well…just observe everything carefully and be alert. Keep investigating and update me if you see anything new.'

'Umm, okay.' Robin didn't expect Kael to react that way. He thought Kael would doubt him once again, and irritate him further by questioning his sanity. But Robin began to feel that his mind was betraying him. It was becoming more difficult to breathe as he stood in the cave. His vision began to become slightly blurry.

'General…I don't feel so good.'

'What's going on, kid?'

'Nauseous. My vision is kinda blurry too.' Robin replied.

'Use your watch and monitor the radiation levels. It has a built-in Geiger counter.'

Robin used his watch and activated the radiation sensor. It displayed 5.5 microsieverts.

'It says 5.5 microsieverts. I am not sure whether that is good or bad.'

'Borderline.' Kael answered. 'It should be fine, that's the safe limit. Nevertheless, take a break, and then observe the place once again. Tell me if you find anything.'

'Err…ok.' Robin wished Kael would ask him to get out of there instead. Robin began to feel uncomfortable, the place didn't help much in providing information on his father's whereabouts. Robin couldn't believe that these experiments could have been done by them either, why would his father bother to perform chemical experiments deep within a cave, in an ancient world? Unless Kael is hiding something from him, there was nothing to explain what he was seeing.

Robin decided to leave the place. His head felt heavy and jittery. The moment he switched off his flashlight, suddenly a bright light was emitting amongst the chemical flasks lying on the table. Slowly, Robin moved in closer, and he saw a glistening ruby. He switched on his flashlight, and the ruby quickly lost its shine and blended with its surrounding, slowly camouflaging and disappearing from his view. He kept away his flashlight, and once again, the ruby glowed bright red. Robin took out his Xcio and placed it on the ruby. It says unidentified.

'General, there is a gemstone in the cave, a blood red ruby in fact. Other than that, there is nothing much here. I am about to leave this place.' Robin affirmed.

'Wait, kid! What did Xcio say regarding the ruby? Any other odd properties you noticed?'

Robin was waiting for this moment. Kael's questions sounded like the general knew about the ruby. Could it be that he was hiding something?

'The Xcio said it was unidentified. Other than that, I didn't notice anything odd.' Robin lied.

'Okay then, just keep it with you for now. Probably you can leave the cave now since you are feeling a little uneasy.'

Robin was not convinced with Kael's sudden concern over his health. Still, he is more than glad to leave the eerie cave. Robin wondered on how he could climb out of this 'cave lab'. He saw a tall stalactite hanging from the cave ceiling and began to climb on it.

He managed to climb out of the 'cave lab' and proceeded to move towards the light source. The ruby was safely placed in his left pocket, when he accidentally bumped into a selenite crystal. Suddenly, the ruby began to fizzle, Robin pulled it out but it was too hot for him to hold, and he dropped it. Sparks began to appear as the ruby rolled down into the 'cave lab' again. Then the selenite crystals began to break away. The whole cave began to shake as though it was earthquake. Robin ran as fast as he could as the cave walls began to collapse. As he was about to escape out, he saw a symbol on the cave. A brief glance, but his mind was quick to recognize the symbol. It was the same geometric symbol he saw before. As Robin stepped out, the whole cave collapsed into a rubble. He was now on a higher ground, staring into beautiful mountains.