"Nice job in here," Daniel announced his presence with simple praise.
"Thank you, sir," the supervisor of the engineering team turned his head away from the huge drilling machine and stood at attention, performing a lousy salute only the civil crowd could bother to perform.
"Any problems with the drill?" Daniel then asked, throwing a curious look at the piece of equipment most of the engineers in the drilled-out cave were focusing all of their attention on.
"Not exactly, sir," the supervisor replied, his face souring when the topic of the drill turned out to be the main one right off the bat. "We managed to clear out this entire cave with ease… But the doors to the warehouse…" he cut his sentence short.
Yet, for anyone with eyes, it was pretty much clear what kind of message he wanted to convey.
Daniel, being the one in charge of the entire operation, had thus every right to scold the band of civilian engineers that he himself employed for the task.
And yet, rather than getting angry, he simply allowed his lips to curve up and form a small, slightly mocking smile.
"It would be a massive disappointment for me if this petty piece of technology could penetrate through those doors," Daniel announced to the surprise of not only the supervisor of the job but all the engineers that troubled themselves with trying to fix the drill.
"But sir…" one of the engineers protested, "we took some samples. Those doors… they shouldn't be able to resist this machine! While sturdy for sure, they are not made out of diamond or anything!"
Just like was the case with the salute, the band of civilians had no idea how to act around the military, even while being at the very core of the most important mission said the military would ever perform. After all, no proper serviceman with any brains would dare to talk back to their superior.
And the very idea of doubting their superior word would be taken pretty much for heresy!
"Since you've taken samples from that door, could you please point me out to where it is missing even the tiniest piece?" Daniel requested, unable to be bothered with scolding a random engineer.
And quite frankly, the discovery of the place he searched for several years ago filled him with so much happiness and enthusiasm he could let far greater transgression pass as long as they were not intentional.
"Sure thing, sir," the supervisor once again took the mantle of talking with Daniel, but not before giving the unruly subordinate of his a stare of death.
"Go easy on him," Daniel whispered as he passed by the supervisor. "He is young, he doesn't know how the world works," he added, more than willing to share his happiness with those around him.
"You are in a really good mood," Alice commented as they moved deeper into the cave and then through the last part of the tunnel that connected the cave with the entrance to the warehouse.
"I'm about to save the civilization from nuclear annihilation," Daniel replied, "what's there for me to not be happy about?"
Their small talk ended when they reached the massive gate that separated the rest of the underground from the place that Daniel called the vault while everyone else considered just an underground, ancient warehouse.
Those present at the expedition were either aware of the roots of the conglomerate or already learned from how most of the technology that the company used to shock the world wasn't a product of the ingenuity of their own researchers but a copy of the technology lost to the time.
This was also the likely reason behind the indisciplined behavior of the young engineer from before, eager to learn more about things that clearly went above and beyond his understanding of his field of study.
And upon arriving at the doors, the group of engineers was faced with a fresh problem.
"Sir…" the supervisor approached Daniel a moment later with an ugly grimace on his face. "We…" he hesitated for a second. "We can't find the hole we made to sample the material of the doors."
Daniel now openly smiled. Then, he shook his head before reaching out and patting the man on his shoulder.
"That's because the door has the function of regenerating itself," Daniel explained, showcasing how his own knowledge went beyond what he should be aware of.
They dug this door out just now, so how could he know about its properties?
Those who knew nodded their heads in respect. Those who didn't end up staring wide-eyed at the conglomerate's executive, unable to figure out the answer on their own.
It wasn't that they were stupid.
The answer simply was outside of the scope of what they could ever consider possible!
"Everyone, your job is done here," Daniel then announced as he turned to face the massive, stone-like gate that barred anyone entry to the vault. "I think it would be for the best if you all returned to the cave and ensured there is nothing wrong with the drill."
The supervisor of the engineers initially opened his mouth to protest, more than eager to take a peek inside the chamber that likely held some massive ancient secrets…
Ultimately, though, he closed his mouth and lowered his eyes only to then stand at attention and repeat his lousy salute.
"Understood, sir!" the man shouted before turning around. "Come on, you damn parasites!" he shouted, showing how even the cream of the top of human intelligence would still resort to harsh language when it was time to make people move quickly. "We did what we were supposed to do, now it's time for our boss to do his part!"
Clearing the connecting tunnel took roughly three times as long as it took for everyone to get towards the doors. And yet, just to be sure, Daniel ended up waiting for a few more minutes, just to ensure no one would be left behind, prompted by their curiosity to break the military drill.
"I will leave my back to you, Alice," Daniel muttered as he finally approached the massive gate before pressing his hands against it, one hand for each wing of the gate.
"Open, sesame," he then muttered with a smirk dancing upon his lips, right as two tiny needles suddenly materialized below his hands only to prickle him right in the middle of his palms.
A burst of light shone through the extremely tiny gap between the two wings of the gate. Then, a huge cloud of dust suddenly fell from it, only for both of the wings to start opening up.
They moved slowly, but with a force that didn't accept any opposition.
Parts of the tunnel that blocked the movement of the gate wings ended up crushed. And if the wings themselves weren't there to support the weight of the ceiling, that alone would likely suffice to collapse at least a part of the tunnel that led to the doors.
"Finally," Daniel then muttered once the gate opened up wide enough for a single person to squeeze through. And while there wasn't a single source of light inside the vault, he didn't even need to step inside to know he reached the correct place.
"I've finally found it!"
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