"There should be an antechamber just up ahead, Doc." Henry Foss reported as he tapped at the map on his tablet.
Helen Magnus and her team were making excellent progress through the caves. Though truth be told, she was getting rather sick of caves. Why couldn't Abnormals and artifacts appear on a deserted tropical island? She knew she'd be bored within days with laying about on the beach but at least a mission could be sunny and warm for once.
"So there's this theory on the internet." Kate's voice drifted up from the rear where she was chatting with Henry. Scans had detected no movement or heat signatures in the cave system, no signs of life beyond the lichen, so Helen hadn't been concerned with shushing any chatter. "That Keanu Reeves is really immortal."
"Keanu-.. what, from the Matrix?" Henry asked dubiously.
"Yup. There's all these pictures and painting of people throughout history that are dead-ringers for him. And some of these people they can't find records of, so who knows what happened to them. "
The general atmosphere of the group was doubtful, but Kate was too amused by the idea to let it go. What else did they have to talk about down here? Rocks?
"Hey, maybe he's a vampire, like Count Shockula." She went on with a laugh. "And he has to change his identity every 50 years or so when people start to notice he doesn't age." They had seen weirder thing in their line of work.
Helen snorted at the fanciful idea.
"So, in theory, Keanu Reeves is an immortal, ageless vampire who has escaped detection for centuries, uprooting his life entirely whenever people start asking questions?" Helen asked as they arrived in a room with a small but elaborately carved stone door set into the rock wall on the other side. She turned to her team as she lowered her pack to the floor. "And he gave up all that secrecy and risked discovery to star in 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure'?"
"Well, when you put it that way…" Even Kate had to admit it sounded dumb.
Magnus only arched a brow and knelt to extract her what she needed from her pack.
"Maybe he really is The One," Will quipped to Henry who chuckled. "Maybe the Matrix is autobiographical."
"Don't be absurd, Will. Keanu Reeves is neither The One nor is he a vampire." Helen grabbed her materials and stood to face the door. "He is an Aabrax."
Helen set to opening the door and it took her a moment to realize her team hadn't joined her. Turning, she say them goggling at her in shock.
"He's a what now?" Will had the presence of mind to ask.
"An Aabrax." She waved them over and the three set to work as she explained. "They aren't immortal, in fact they are not even particularly long lived. But you see, Aabrax reproduce by making perfect genetic copies of themselves. Identical in every way."
"And Keanu is one?"
"Normally they would reproduce in large numbers that live together in tribes where they all share the work. An evolutionary redundancy of sorts, with so many copies of the same genes running around the genetic line can't be wiped out. Of course, that sort of thing is hard to hide in the modern world, so these days Aabrax follow rigid family lines, no more offspring than could be creditably passed off as triplets for example. Keanu is actually the 7th generation of his line that I have known."
"How many of these Aabrax are out there?" Was Will's first concern.
"YOU KNOW KEANU?!" Kate had far more pressing questions however.
"And you never told us? Doc, c'mon!" Henry complained. "I must have made you watch 'Bill and Ted's' like 18 times when i was a kid."
"And imagine how many more silly movies I would have had to sit through if you'd know that at the time." Helen's smiled at her adoptive son so he wouldn't take offense. She made a mental note to invite Keanu to the Sanctuary so the team could meet him.
For now though, she had to focus as she finished delicately maneuvering the tightly fitted stone from its crevice. From what the map they had found, half-crumbling in a book older than Old City, the artifact lay behind this rather heavy little door. The stone fit so tightly it was likely protected from dust and damp. She rather hoped so because the nearly illegible text on the original map seemed to indicate they were about to find a time capsule. The mystery of the day would be determining what society had left it behind and why.
When they finally gained access, it turned out to be a small alcove, no more than a few feet deep. Within sat an object that reminded Helen of nothing more than a large egg made of polished grey marble. But when she extracted it from the alcove, it was too light and warm to the touch to be stone. She noticed a straight line, definitely not naturally occurring, on the surface of the artifact as she turned away from the small niche where it had lain hidden for untold years.
It was fascinating and she wondered what culture could possibly have left it behind. But when she raised her head, lips parted and ready to speculate, she noticed the faces of those watching her. There was something wrong with them but she couldn't put her finger to it. They were just faces of people.
Wait, what people?
"Who-" Helen started to verbalize the question when the world suddenly closed in around her. Her vision went black and she collapsed.
Henry darted forward to catch Magnus as she fell, barely in time to ease her to the floor without injury. The artifact was allowed to roll away unheeded on the stone floor. Will approached to check Magnus but found all vitals stable, within the normal range for the minor excitement and fatigue of the mission so far. He ordered them all back the Sanctuary as quickly as possible, keying his comms to have transport prepped and waiting for them. Kate carefully scooped up the weird egg thing in her pack, doing her best not to get close to it or touch it herself. She held the bag at arm's length as she followed Henry and Will, carrying Magnus between them, back to the surface.
Thank god it was a clear shot back to daylight, Kate thought. She did NOT want to put the damn pack of mystery evil on her back and who knows how they would have managed Magnus. Thankfully whatever gods that look out for Sanctuary fools and small children had been kind that day. The team was soon on their way back home with their unconscious leader.