Chapter Fifty-Three: A Search in Vain
“No time like the present,” Nicholas said loudly to all of those nearby. His voice cracked. I don't know if it was because of the strange screaming sound or because he was just nervous. “The investors will be here tomorrow. We've got to get things ready.”
The workers began running around trying to bring loads of trucks toward the mouth of the mine. They all looked like they were worried about getting yelled at by Nicholas. I couldn't blame them.
“Tomorrow?” I asked.
Nicholas nodded.
“Why are they coming so soon?” Anna asked. It might have been better to let her ask the questions. I had a high Moxie, but she had a trope that specifically helped her get information from NPCs. Until I understood how the game worked behind the scenes, I was probably better off letting her take care of it.
Nicholas ran his fingers through his hair, a nervous affectation. “We promised a lot of things to get this project funded. Investors want to see where their money went.”
He put his arm around Kimberly and began walking toward the mouth of the mine, yelling inane commands to the workers nearby.
Off-Screen.
“Something's definitely up,” Camden said. “I've been looking through this file some more. They really cherry-picked my report to try to get this mine project going. My character has no idea why they're so confident there will be paydirt down there.”
I didn't understand it either. In fact, if I were to guess, I'm not sure that Nicholas knew everything. Despite his blue-blooded upbringing and his projected confidence, he seemed nervous. Maybe it was just because they'd taken a gamble on this mine. Maybe it was something else.
“We're going to find out what's going on sooner or later. Something tells me we're not going to be happy when we do,” I said.
Progress moved slowly in between scenes. There was an elevator right at the entrance to the mine. It was in a state of disrepair. NPCs were working around the clock trying to fix it so that it could be used by the investors the next day. I wondered how this kind of thing would work off-screen. I thought maybe the elevator would be magically fixed, but no. They were actually working on it, swapping out parts and messing with the electrical systems.
Being an NPC must have been a really thankless job.
On-Screen.
Nicholas and Kimberly eventually made their way back to us.
“Get suited up,” he said. “We're not going to wait around getting nothing done. I intend to see gold by sundown.”
He pointed us over toward a table that had been set up next to a truck. The table had climbing equipment on it. We walked over to it and started putting on harnesses. Luckily, the table also had flashlights that we could use.
Nicholas took off his vest and jacket and handed them to Kimberly. He started to put on his harness. As he did it, I noticed that Kimberly had subtly started to pull the deed he had waved at Akers from his jacket pocket.
“Are you coming down, Hun?” he asked her.
Kimberly paused. I think she was legitimately having a hard time deciding. I couldn't blame her. If I had a choice not to go into the clearly haunted mines, I would have a tough time too. Part of the trouble was guessing what her character would do. It was unlikely that her character would want to climb down the side of a shaft into a mine.
“I think I'll stay up here,” she said. She wrapped his jacket and vest around her arms, concealing the deed.
“You can wait for the elevator,” he offered. “Might be a little dangerous climbing down there, but I have to do it. It's my job.”
Kimberly smiled. “Be careful, won't you?”
He smiled back at her. “I'll be fine.”
I had no idea how to repel down the side of a mine shaft. To my left, the elevator was still being repaired. Workers were strapped to the metal scaffolding that held the elevator in place. They were busy grinding and welding.
We were climbing down a small wall right next to the elevator. A long, thick rope was tied off at the mouth of the mine and dropped down the hole that we would be climbing down. I had no idea how to do it.
Nicholas did, but he was sparing with the instructions.
“Put this around the rope pull it tight and slowly let yourself down,” he said.
Anna did seem to understand what he was trying to say so I was able to watch her do it first. I was told to go next. Camden would be after me. Nicholas stayed at the top with Kimberly. Ironically, Kimberly was the only member of our team who could teach herself how to do this in an instant with her Convenient Backstory trope and she didn't have to do it at all.
Have I mentioned that I'm afraid of heights?
At every step, I thought I was going to fall to my death. The rope went through a large carabiner. We had to control our own descent. I was in no hurry to get to the bottom.
After Anna had called up that she was down, I started my climb. I probably took 5 minutes longer than she did. By the time I got to the bottom I was exhausted, and my heart was racing.
There was a burst of static like a radio tuned to a channel without a signal. I didn't know where it was coming from, but it sounded like it was coming from where Anna was.
Anna started patting her clothes down searching for the source of the sound until eventually she found it in a small pocket of her jacket. She had a small square device attached to ten feet of thin wire. She pulled it out of her pocket along with all of the wire.
We had been switching back and forth between On-Screen and Off-Screen as we descended. Now we were On-Screen.
I held my flashlight up to the device that she was holding. It was a small radio.
“Anna, do you copy?” A broken-up voice sounded from the device.
We looked at each other. We had to stay in character, but this development surprised both of us.
She brought the device to her mouth, pushed the small button on the side, and said, “I hear you. We're in the mine. We don't have a great signal.”
There was silence for a moment.
“We found an air shaft,” the voice said. “We might be able to shimmy down. Is it safe?”
Anna looked up at me hoping that I would have the answer. I shrugged.
“It looks safe but the boss is coming down soon.”
“Be sure to get pictures of anything we can use. We'll stand by.”
Off-Screen.
“STP?” Anna Asked me once we had a moment of privacy.
“That would make sense,” I answered.
Our characters were secretly a part of the environmental organization called STP and were sent here to get evidence against the mining company. I didn't know where that plot thread was going to take us. Now I was starting to get an idea.
We could hear Camden coming down from above.
Anna quickly wrapped up the little radio and put it back in her pocket.
I took my flashlight and started shining it around the room where we had found ourselves in. There was nothing that stood out as an immediate threat. The ceiling for most of the room was only six feet high. It was supported with old beams of wood that were wider than I was.
There were two tracks leading off down the main paths. They must have been for mine carts though I didn't see any carts there.
A main path went off to the left and another went straight forward. To the right, was the bottom of the elevator.
The entire space was claustrophobic and utterly quiet. I couldn't see the source of the screaming sound. I began hoping that it was just the wind rushing through the tunnels.
After Camden made it down to the ground, Nicholas was right after him. He didn't walk step by step like we did, instead, he let himself fall quickly, slowing his descent by pulling on the rope. He was clearly experienced at this.
“Here we are,” Nicholas said. He started looking around the room like he was expecting to see stacks of gold right in front of him. “Where is the nearest vein?”
Camden pulled his file folder out from under his shirt where he had stored it for the climb down. He grabbed a map and started familiarizing himself with it.
“Right this way,” he said.
“There's supposed to be an untouched vein right through there. They estimated it as being worth millions of dollars and if their measurements are correct, it probably is,” Camden said. He pointed toward a small crevice off of the main path we had taken.
We shined our flashlights over in that direction. It would be a tight squeeze for all of us. I could see Nicholas' smile growing wide as we walked closer. The two of us had to Crouch down because the ceiling was so low. Now, trying to squeeze into place through a gap that had not yet been widened was going to make things even more difficult.
Nicholas sent Anna in first. He followed afterward.
It took him a minute to squeeze through the gap. While I stood there I noticed how humid it was down here in the mine. I'd expected it to be drier. I swore that I could hear drips in the distance but I couldn't say where they were coming from or if they were just in my mind.
Camden squeezed into the area we were headed and then I followed behind him.
When we got there, Nicholas' smile had disappeared.
“Is the gold deeper in the rock?” He asked. “We need it to be something very visible and obvious so that the investors feel confident and don't end up pulling the plug on this.”
Camden consulted his notes again. I held the flashlight for him so that he could see.
“According to their reports, there should be visible veins of gold right where we're standing. That was the claim at least,” he said.
“If it says that they're here then they're here,” Nicholas said.
Except they weren't.
I've seen pictures of gold mines before. Glittering metallic veins creeping through stone walls. Old-fashioned miners giving toothless smiles to the camera as they present a promising vein.
There was nothing here. It was just plain brown and gray rock.
“This must be a mistake,” Nicholas said. “You must have misread the map.”
Camden humored him. He retraced our steps along the map but they led straight to where we were now.
We spent at least an hour on and off screen looking around hoping to find some crag filled with gold. Nicholas swore that the map must have been written incorrectly and that the real vein was nearby so we scoured the area looking for any sign.
All we found were more minecart tracks and more brown and gray rock.
That's not quite true. We also found water leaking down the walls forming little streams that eroded their own miniature canyons in the rock beneath our feet.
“I thought you said it would be dry down here?” Nicholas said.
“This is dry for a mine like this,” Camden responded.
We went Off-Screen, yet the story continued.
Nicholas was about to say something heated, but before he could we heard yelling in the distance. Back the way we came, someone was yelling Nicholas' name.
“Oh what now?” He asked.
A worker with a white hard hat, the same one who had explained the drainage system, was yelling for Nicholas.
“What? Don't you know we're doing something?”
The worker held up his hands in a supplicating gesture. “I just thought you ought to know that your father is almost here,” he said.
This news must have surprised Nicholas because a flash of fear appeared on his face.
“He's not supposed to be here today.”
The worker shrugged.
We followed him back to the entrance. In the hours that we had spent down in the mines, the NPCs had managed to fix the elevator. We took it back up to the surface. Personally, I was very glad to be out of the mines.
But something was strange.
We had been Off-Screen ever since the NPC with the white hard hat, Gary, had come to get us. We didn't come back On-Screen for a long while.
As we left Nicholas took off his hard hat and started running his fingers through his hair. He was clearly not prepared to see his father.
He turned around and looked at us. “Don't say that we didn't find the gold. Say we didn't get to it yet.”
We all agreed.
Outside the mouth of the mine, Kimberly was waiting for us. Nicholas gave her a distracted side hug and then continued walking forward.
As soon as Nicholas was gone, Kimberly practically threw the deed to Camden.
“See if that tells you anything,” she said. “I thought it might.”
Camden opened it and flipped through it quickly. A look of surprise grew on his face.
“That's interesting,” he said.
“What?” Anna asked.
He turned the deed around so that we could look at it. Specifically, he was focused on the last page where the signatures were.
The agreement was a leasehold for mineral rights, a temporary transaction. It was signed by the land owner, a Douglas Akers, and by the owner of Ehbert Mining (the company that opened the mine), Gerald Hesper.
“So?” I asked.
Camden grabbed a piece of paper from his folder and held it out.
“Hesper is Nicholas’ last name,” he said. “Gerald is his father.”
“Wait,” Kimberly said. “What does that mean?”
What it meant was that there was a mystery. Gerald Hesper had been the one to open this mine. His company had probably been the one to seal it. Why were they now trying to reopen it? And why had they lied about there being gold?
“It means we’ve been lied to,” Anna said.
Overhead, I heard a helicopter. I turned to see a sleek black chopper heading directly for us. It landed in the flat pasture beyond where the earth started to descend down to the mouth of the mine.
As the doors opened, three ex-military types in black suits exited and then turned to assist an elderly man who needed a wheelchair once he was on the ground.
Gerald Hesper. NPC. Plot Armor: 35.
His three bodyguards were called Guards on the red wallpaper. They also had plot armor of 35.
As Nicholas ran out to greet his father, my friends and I looked around at each other and wondered where this story was going and how these high-level NPCs played into it.
Even as Hesper, Nicholas, and his guards came down into the recessed area to greet us, we didn't come back On-Screen. Surely this would be something the audience would need to see.
What was going on?
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel