i still haven't found what i'm looking for

In the depths of Washington D.C's City Archives, a century old clue to Captain Nemo's treasure map has been lying in wait, collecting dust and debris over the years.

When less than fortunate experiences forces a group of unlikely companions together in a race across the globe, this group must find a way to get past their differences and band together against the others who have learnt about these clues.

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Alexander yawned, a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. It was getting very late and with hardly any natural light in the archives, the hours seemed to blend together. He felt a little bad for how long he was making the security guard stay as it was much past both of their shifts but he knew the guard didn't mind too much as after talking with him, he seemed to be having troubles at home anyway. Either way though, Alexander was too engrossed in his work to want to leave anytime soon. He was working on a huge project. Three artifacts had just come in dating much much earlier then they should have from a cave in Peru. It very well had the potential to be a ground breaking discovery but a lot of lab work still needed to be done along with paperwork and the laborous task of writing report after report on each thing he found out about them.

So much for getting back to having a good sleep schedule.

He took a sip of his coffee and sat down at a desk. He always found it cozy in there with the shelves of ancient literature around him. It helped him think and get things done. Glancing up at the picture of the artifacts he had taped to the corner of the computer screen earlier he put pen to paper and began writing out one of the reports he still had to do and was running out of time on. He was getting focused and had almost made progress when his phone buzzed at exactly midnight. Raising a brow, he looked at the text then rolled his eyes with a little smile. The text was from his best friend which read:

I know you're still awake and I can't sleep so now you have to put up with me. Did you know time flies like an arrow but fruit flies like a banana?

Yeah, I did believe it or not. Alexander replied, chuckling little from the terrible pun

Well then I bet you didn't know that inspecting mirrors is a job I could really see myself doing.

haha, very funny but I really do have work to do. Alexander responded before putting his phone on silent and setting it down. Yes he enjoyed the puns and they lightened the mood a little but the constant texts were distracting and he had things to do. He just had to focus again to actually get them done.

The streetlights buzzed errantly, spilling flickers of dull orange light across the pavement. Chris shivered, regretting not bringing a jacket to cover up her exposed arms. The wind nipped viciously at her nose, sinking into her bones with frostlike vengeance. The coffee she’d bought from Starblocks was just enough to keep her from freezing entirely, shaking hands pressed tightly to the styrofoam cup. She took a languid sip of the piping hot liquid, salty caramel and sugar melting into a combination that could kill a god. She hummed in appreciation and sent a quick glance upwards, watching as the last drops of golden sunlight sank beneath the horizon.

It was time to get to work.



She stared up at the city archives, marching a neat brow at the massive marble pillars, cracked stone stairs leading upwards. Trees swayed in a gentle breeze, the few leaves that were left stained dark orange and yellow as autumn gave way to winter's call. Chris smiled, rummaging around in her bag for her phone.

Seconds ticked by before it rang loudly, playing the first opening notes of 'Raining Tacos' before she finally answered.

"How's my favorite person in the world doing this fine afternoon?" Chris twirled a strand of hair around her finger idly, grinning as Avery scoffed.

"Christyn Averil, where are you?"

"So about that..." She laughed nervously, sending a quick look towards the National Archives before returning her attention back to her phone.

"Chris..." Avery sounded disappointed, exhaustion pulling at every syllable. "What did I tell you about doing this? What are you trying to steal this time?" There was a click-clack of keys on the other line, Chris grinning triumphantly as her friend began typing ferociously.

"Okay, so you know that map I was talking about uhh, last week? Well, it just got moved into the National Archives 'n' I'm going to try and liberate it from its cell. The guard disappeared awhile ago, which is a little worrying, but I assume he's patrolling somewhere downstairs. Also, some guy walked in several hours ago and hasn't left yet."

"Hmm. I'll see what I can find. Wait, the National Archives? You're breaking into the National Archives for a map." Her roommate's voice was flat but Christyn knew better, she could hear the tinge of excitement creeping in. This was one of the biggest projects she's undertaken in over a year.

"Yes, isn't it exciting?"

Avery hummed quietly in response and the duo lapsed into comfortable silence, occasionally dotted over with the sound of frantic clicking and keys clattering.

"Sending you the blueprints, it looks like there's an entrance in the back without an alarm system attached to it 24/7. From there you need to find the vent shaft, climb through forty feet, take a left and then another left, then go right after twenty feet or so. That should take you to the storage. There is a camera at the back, I should be able to run a loop through it for about ten-to-twenty seconds. Will that be enough time?" The thief absorbed the information, nodding. Wait, she was on a call.

"Yeah, that's plenty of time. Is there anything, or anyone, I should be specifically careful of?"

"Umm, no, not really. Just make sure you take the right exit, or you'll pop out right in the middle of the Archives."

"Sounds good. I owe you one, Ave."

"Damn straight you do, energy drinks for at least a month."

Chris couldn't help but laugh, listening as Avery spewed off a few more general warnings of 'be safe', 'don't get caught' and some variations of threats that she would do if Christyn did get caught.

"Bye girl, I gotta start this before that guard gets out from wherever he is." She hung up in the middle of Avery's goodbyes, phone dinging as the blueprint files finally attached. She briefly scanned them, taking note of which exit (the third one, would take her about five steps to the left of the map. The first would take her nowhere and the second would drop her straight into the sight of cameras.) was the right one, stashing her phone away and making her way to the back of the building.



It was ridiculously easy to get through the doors, a simple pair of stiff wires and a couple seconds to put them to use, and she was in.

The hallway was dark, red light flashing silently from at the end as a camera slowly turned back and forth, not quite enough to make it to where she was prying the vent cover off. Chris set it down gently, followed by a few screws and began to wiggle her way inside, grunting in annoyance at the tight squeeze.

The metal cut into her skin, scraping against it unpleasantly as she wormed her way through the tunnel, counting to herself. Left, left, right. Light flashed from various vent grates, painting stripes across her body as peered through each grate, pausing at the second one and blinking curiously at the two people below. Hmm, that complicated things a little bit.

Christyn squirreled her phone out of her pocket, contorting her spine weirdly in order to do so, tapping out a quick message to Avery.



archive bprints
FILE(S) ATTACHED (17/17) archive.jpeg (8.09 PM)



Chris watched as Avery opened the message, a flurry of typing bubbles appearing on the bottom.

yeah, i can run them through the database, might take a few minutes though (8.18 PM)



She slid her phone back into her pockets, rolling over awkwardly and continuing her way to the third exit, palms sweaty around a screwdriver handle. Breath whooshing out, she began the tedious process of unscrewing the vent cover, pocketing the screws in order to keep them from making noise.

She eased the cover down, metal thudding softly against carpet. She winced at the noise, climbing down beside it and sending a quick glance around. A dim red glow from around the corner. She was currently tucked behind two massive shelves, next to a display case of dusty papers and documents.

Chris immediately began to fiddle with the lock on Case #48, tugging on rubber gloves with a grimace, smoothing out the map and wedging it between two wax sheets. She rolled everything up tightly and shoved it in an airtight tube which she strapped to her back.

The thief began to silently back away, keeping a wary eye flitting between the duo examining some kind of artifact and the security cameras, moving sluggishly towards the vent.

Metal crunched under her heel, sharp and loud in the muted silence of the Archives. Her phone dinged loudly a mere second later.

Oops.

Alexander blinked from the sudden noise and looked up from the artifact he was looking at, almost spilling his coffee. Quickly, he checked his phone to see no messages or anything and his brow furrowed. He glanced over to the security guard beside him with an inquisative look.

The security guard perked up and shot Alexander a sharp look in return. "Wasn't me. Did you bring a friend along that you didn't tell me about?"

"Not that I know of unless Daniel decided to show up. He was just texting me. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if he was trying to surprise me with like, late night donuts or something and dropped his keys." Alexander got up and took another sip of coffee. "I'll go find him and tell him he's not supposed to be here without permission."

"How would he even have gotten in?" The guard asked, frowning in disapproval.

"More then likely took the extra key from my apartment." Alexander yawned.

"You need to keep better track of that then." He grumbled

"I trust Daniel with my life. He wouldn't do anything harmful. Like I said. He's probably just here with donuts or something." Alexander shrugged and made his way between the shelves, following what he had heard. "Dan? Are you here?" He continued wandering the shelves after he called, looking tired and still holding his now lukewarm cup of coffee in his hand.

Christyn shot the grate cover an unhappy look and a scowl, gaze shooting between the vent and the duo talking in the room beyond.

Okay, okay, everything was great. Everything was fine. She could think of a way out of this! Ideas ticked through her brain faster than she could process them, before she managed to snag one.

Crazy fangirl route it was. She sent off a quick, messy text to Avery, telling her to wipe her phone and make it look like a typical teenage girl's. The techie only sent a thumbs-up before her phone went black.

While the two were talking, Chris popped the grate up silently and began to frantically screw it back into place as quietly as she could, tucking the cylinder into her shirt while fiddling with the screws.

"Ohmygod, ohmygod, Nolan Price! I'm sooo sorry, I just had to meet you! You are like, totes, my idol." The girl popped her head out of the shelves and leveled a blinding grin at the two, all pearly whites and faux adoration. She widened her eyes, clapping her hands together in excitement as she named a relatively popular movie star, one that, if you were across the street, Alexander might pass for.

Christyn let her grin falter slightly, tugging the corners down into a confused frown. "Waaaait a second, you're not Nolan Price. I was totes expecting him, this sucks, ughh. I was hoping to know what movie he was working on next."

She scowled at Alexander and the guard, acting the part of a spoiled teenager who had been hoping to see a movie star, only to be disappointed.

Alexander blinked the tiredness away as he looked at her, incredibly confused and also much too tired to deal with this. "I'm sorry but who are you?"

The security guard frowned "You're not supposed to be in here. This is a secure facility." He stepped forward. You're going to have to come with me."

Alexander sighed and put his arm out to stop the guard after taking a sip of coffee. "Let me handle it. She hasn't done anything wrong. She probably just followed me in and was too anxious to say anything until now."

Alexander looked at Christyn and with the best tiny tired smile he could muster tried to bargain with her. "If you'll follow me, I'll lead you to the exit. Do you have a ride back home?"