"Hey, Val," Brundon began with a cheeky smile. Valarie, a sales clerk at the Castle gift shop of the Smithsonian, looked over at the security guard leaning against the counter and sighed. She set down the small figurine she had been dusting and folded up the cloth, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.
"I told you already, Brundon. My name is Valarie," she frowned, brushing a strand of chocolate brown hair out of her eyes, "The least you can do is call me by what I ask, since I do that for you."
Brundon lifted a finger and went to say something but stopped when she shot him a threatening glare. She knew he was young like her, but even she was aware that he was crossing a line to harassment. Lucky for him, Valarie was more forgiving than others. He lowered his shoulders and closed his mouth, apparently unable to find the words. Something suddenly caught his attention outside of the gift shop and he stood up straight, making his way out to a piece from an old Egyptian exhibit that now remained as an introductory piece in the Castle. She followed him out to the doorway and watched as he approached a man who had touched the piece. They exchanged words, none of which she could understand from where she stood, but when Brundon tapped the man on the chest with his flashlight, she placed one hand on her hip and the other on her forehead. She could swear that this kid was trying to get fired.
Glancing over her shoulder at the empty gift shop, she stepped away for a moment with the intention of stopping Brundon. When she got close, however, the man took the flashlight and restrained him. He was whispering something to him by the time she approached them, to which the guard replied, "Like, what kind of stuff?"
"I'm not gonna tell you," the man said flatly.
"Brundon," Valarie spoke sternly, "What are you doing?"
Flustered, Brundon stepped away at the sound of her voice and brushed off his suit. "He was just," he began, pointing at the man but faltering under her gaze. He gave in and looked over at the stranger, muttering under his breath, "That's actually really cool, what you just did."
"Thanks," the man smirked, placing a hand on his shoulder and taking his hand for a brisk shake, "We cool?"
"Alright," Brundon blinked, obviously confused. Valarie watched him as he stumbled away, slightly dazed by the proceeding, and did not return her attention to the man in front of her until he was out sight.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, "He's not the brightest kid."
"No kidding," the man chuckled. Valarie took a moment to look the man over. He was an older gentleman, at least in his mid thirties, cleaning up nicely in a jet black suit with a light blue, almost white, shirt and striped tie. He had thick black hair and blue-green eyes that sparkled playfully, like his smile.
He looked over at her and she smiled as well, extending a hand, "Valarie Hughes."
"Larry Daley," he introduced himself as he took her hand.
"Well, Mr. Daley, if there's nothing else I can do for you, I should probably get back to my post," she concluded, taking back her hand. She nodded and leaned forward a bit in a subconscious bow while he also nodded in silent reply. At that, she turned a heel and started back towards the gift shop. Noticing another employee there, she picked up the pace, hoping it was not her employer. Fortunetly for her, it was only a fellow worker she recognized as Morgan.
"Hey, Valarie," he waved as she approached him, "Everything alright?"
"Uh, yeah," she nodded, looking back over her shoulder where Mr. Daley had once been, "Just Brundon, you know."
"Ah," Morgan grinned, quickly understanding, "Well, anyway, I came to talk to you because Mr. Newport needs someone to help with shelving a couple new products coming in this evening. I have a game tonight though, so I can't stay. Would you be able to help out?"
"Of course," Valarie agreed.
"Good," he nodded, "In that case, you're gonna need to take a lunch, so I'll cover for you before I go."
"Great," she beamed, turning once more and heading for the back hallways. She was happy to have dinner earlier than expected, since she had slept in that morning, leaving her with no time to eat breakfast or pack herself a lunch. She placed a hand over her stomach as it growled in anticipation.
At the entrance to the back hallways, she swiped her access badge and opened the door. Closing it securely behind her, Valarie started down the empty halls, her small heels clicking against the tile. As she approached the break room and went to open the door, someone stepped out of the locker room to her left. She paused briefly to see if it was someone she knew and, much to her surprise, it was, but not from here.
"Mr. Daley?" she furrowed her brow in confusion. He whipped his head around at the sound of his name, seeming just as surprised as she was. She noticed that he was no longer in his suit, but in one of the security uniforms, complete with flashlight and badge. She pulled away from the door, pointing a finger at the imposter, "You stole Brundon's security badge! You know, I bet you riled him up on purpose, didn't you?"
"Shh," he shushed her, placing a finger over his lips. She went to speak again, so he quickly glanced down the hall to make sure there was no one else around before reaching for her wrist. Despite her pulling away, he caught her and pulled her back with him into the locker room.
"Let me go!" Valarie insisted as he moved between her and the door, closing it behind them.
"Just let me explain myself," Mr. Daley pleaded desperately.
"Explain what?" she repeated incredulously.
"Look, I used to be a night guard at the Museum Of Natural History in New York," he spoke quickly, "There this tablet there that makes everything come to life and it got shipped here by mistake. I have to get it back before sunset."
"A tablet?"
"Yes, The Tablet Of Ahkmenrah," he nodded, exasperated. She tilted her head and looked at him curiously. When she didn't answer, he shook his head and snatched her wrist again, "Look, I don't have time for this. Come with me."
"Hey!" she squealed as he swung open the door and dragged her out of the room. She reluctantly trailed behind him while he started down the hall and started to call someone. "Okay, buddy, I'm in," he said after a moment, slowing down slightly and looking around.
He stopped briefly as he listened but started up again once he recieved directions. Pushing through a nearby door, Valarie stumbled behind him down the stairwell. A couple landings down, he seemed to lose his signal and started going up and down the stairs in an attempt to get it back. Losing her footing with each jerk, she stopped and planted her heels on the middle landing and pulled him back. "You're not going to get any signal down here," she announced plainly, "There's probably some kind of plating blocking reception."
"Do you know where the archives are then?" he asked impatiently.
"No," she shook her head, answering honestly, "I've never been past the first floor. I don't have that kind of clearence."
"I guess we improvise then," Mr. Daley sighed. He was about to start back down the stairs when he paused and turned to face her, "You don't have to come with me, you know. As long as you promise not to tell anyone."
"I'm not letting you go down there. If you're lying and I let you go, I'll lose my job," she snapped but hesitated before adding, "But, if you're not, then you are going to need my help. There are thousands of exhibits down there."
"Thank you," he nodded with a smile, appreciating her offer, "Come on. It's only an hour until sunset."
Valarie followed close behind Mr. Daley as they made their way out the stairwell and started down another set of hallways. After some searching, the two eventually found what they were both certain was an entrance to the archives. The only thing stopping them was the secured gate and security booth. The two walked up to the booth and noticed no one was inside. Instead, a voice came over the intercom requesting that they present identification. Mr. Daley held the badge up to the camera over the gate and made brief conversation with the guard on the other end, lowering his voice and mumbling to sound like the guard. Scoffing at how easy it was, Valarie made a note to point this out to her boss while he hushed her once more.
She pursed her lips at this but complied nonetheless and followed him into the vast underground maze of artifacts. "How are we going to find your tablet in all this?" she said, looking around in awe.
"We split up," he said quickly, "If you see anything, shout."
"Wait," Valarie called after him as he darted down a corridor composed of boxes but he didn't stop. She looked around and her shoulders slumped, "But I don't even know what I'm looking for."
She stood there, alone, and looked around. He did say that it was a tablet, so Valarie assumed that it would be some sort of stone slab with writing etched into it. Still, she wasn't sure how big this tablet was. It could be in any of the thousands of boxes before her. She walked over the the nearest one, tracing the edge with the tip of her fingers when she noticed a sheet of paper stapled to the corner. Kneeling down, she read the information and found that the box was from a museum in San Antonio, Texas. She smiled when she realized that most of the boxes within eyesight had these labels.
"Well," she thought to herself, "That should make things easier."
She started her long campaign, trotting from box to box and, on occasion, clamoring on top of a stack of crates in an attempt to read another's report. After a half an hour of searching, Valarie had found two boxes from New York but both were dated as having arrived a few years ago. She was just about to give up on the search when something down a nearby corridor caught her attention. She blinked in disbelief as she approached a large red trailer, staring at the dozen Egyptian figurines poised to attack it. There was one that looked different from the others, adorned with much more decorations and standing near the back that looked as though he had been shouting. She suspected that he was in charged of these men.
"Mr. Daley!" she said, cupping her hands around her mouth in an effort to amplify her small voice. She heard no response but she continued walking up to the trailer. She could see inside, since part of the metal had been bent back in the fray, and she noticed, among the men with their bows at the ready, a large, gold slab held by a small monkey.
"That's it," Valarie smiled to herself. She turned and shouted again, "I found it, Mr. Daley!"
She back to the trailer once more, still hearing no response. She disregarded it and tried to lift the bar in front of the doors, but the disfigured door made it impossible with her meek strength. So she tried reaching inside, stretching her arm as far as it would go, but her arm was just too short. She mentally cursed her height and pulled her arm out again.
Valarie still hadn't heard from Mr. Daley, so she moved over to a stack of large boxes and climbed up the corners until she was walking along a relativly empty shelf. She kept a hand on a nearby box and placed another over her eyebrows, looking for some sign of the man. When she still didn't see anything, she called out again. Mr. Daley came rounding the corner and looked up at her in surprise, stopping in his tracks.
"How did you get up there?"
"There were some boxes on this side," Valarie explained, point down the hall ahead of him, "Come on. I can't reach the tablet, but maybe you can. Just turn right up there and there'll be an opening to your right."
"Got it," he noted, starting down the hall as she turned back and climbed down the boxes. When she reached the bottom, he had just arrived and was talking to one of the inanimate creatures inside the box. He then reached inside, straining to grab the tablet and pry it from the monkey's grip. However, Mr. Daley got it out and the two of them exchanged a smile. He stepped away from the trailer and looked down at his watch to see how much time they had left but was blinded by a glow emanating from the tablet. Valarie raised her arm to shield her eyes and suddenly heard shouting from all directions.