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Age 2021 AD
The sun was shining bright in the clear, cloudless sky as a group of people labored away, carefully, and meticulously removing dirt in squares marked off by string. A young woman stretched and swiped a hand across her brow removing sweat and slightly shifting the position of her blue bangs that were already drenched.
"Professor Briefs, are you alright?"
"I told you, call me 'Bloom' when we're in the field, and I'm fine. Get back to work," Bloom said as she too resumed digging.
'It has to be here,' she thought as she continued. They worked for two more hours until Bloom signaled everyone to stop.
"Alright, lunch time!" she said with a smile. As her team of grad students opened up their lunches, Bloom pulled out a cooler marked "lunch" and proceeded to astound her students, once again, by eating what would feed at least three other people as her portion.
"How do you eat all that, Dr-er Bloom?" a young man asked in astonishment.
"Metabolism. My grandpa holds a few world titles in eating contests," Bloom said with a smirk as she stashed the cooler away, "Alright kiddies, time to dig out more of our forgotten past! First one to find a hoi-poi pill* gets an 'A' for class participation!"
Bloom blinked at the speed her students showed, and she could have sworn she saw dust clouds kicked up in their wakes. Bloom shook her head before she joined them. Bloom carefully dug deeper into her section until-CHINK! Her shovel hit something. She carefully pulled out a spade and a brush and gently loosened the earth with the spade and dusted off the dirt until a piece of metal was uncovered. She pulled out her field journal and began taking detailed notes about her find and pulling out her digital camera to document the site. The double "C" logo was plain to see.
"Pay dirt!" Bloom said with a fist-pump.
Two Months Later
What Bloom had uncovered was not just a piece of metal, but part of a metallic round object with a few windows in it. They were so dirt encrusted, it was impossible to see inside the strange thing. Bloom catalogued everything found near it, such as a few small metal toys bent into odd shapes here and there, a wrench or twenty and pieces of what had to be metal shrapnel of some sort, but the alloy was odd and consistently found the deeper Bloom and her students dug around the spherical object.
"Dr. Briefs! Analysis came back on one of the samples," Bloom looked up from another odd piece of shrapnel.
"Yes?" She said.
"Those toys were industrial grade steel, the kind used on bridges," the student said.
"And they were mangled like that?" Bloom said. The student nodded.
"That's not all. Dr. Briefs, the marks appear to be consistent with….well with a toddler's grip," the student said. Bloom's eyes widened as she grabbed the report looking over it, repeatedly.
"What of the shrapnel?" she asked.
"Our machines have never seen anything like it; it's a previously unknown alloy. This could revolutionize how we build aircraft and spacecraft!" the student said. Bloom nodded.
"Any signs of the infamous hoi-poi pills?" Bloom said.
"None so far, but are you certain such relics are even possible?" the student said.
"At least I'm not dragging you off to find magic wish granting orbs. That would be ridiculous!" Bloom said with a chuckle, "But these things are mentioned across cultures so they have to have had some basis in reality, and we're not even finished excavating the West ruins. Maybe we won't find them here, but we've already found more than expected. Now get back to work, Karato, or I'll dock your participation points!"
"Yes ma'am!" the boy said saluting before getting back to work.
Two More Months Later
Bloom overlooked the much expanded archaeological dig site. More things had been found since her initial discovery of the metal sphere-room. Remnants of roads and other buildings had increased the interest in the site by other archaeologist and anthropologists of other disciplines until a full team of professors and their own hoards of grad students were helping them carefully uncover more treasures.
"And here is the woman who made it all happen. Our resident expert on the Lost Age, Dr. Bloom Briefs!"
Bloom turned to see a group of suits approaching her led by her, uh, rather diminutive friend and fellow professor of archaeology.
"Greetings and welcome to what was once known as "West City" in the region's local dialect. I trust my colleague Dr. Wu Kong has filled you on everything we have excavated so far," Bloom said.
"Dr. Briefs, can you promise us these so-called 'hoi-poi pills' exist as your proposal stated?" one of the lead suits said.
"I am positive we will find some shred of their existence with this site because we have found the legendary 'CC' on more than few things recovered from the site near the CC Sphere," Bloom said.
"The Sphere. Are you closer to identifying what it is?" another suit questioned. This one Bloom recognized as Dr. Tien Shin, Dean of her College.
"We're consulting with a few engineers before Dr. Kong or myself can make a positive identification. The technology, even to my less than expert eyes, far outstrips anything we have in the modern era," Bloom said, "It's why I believe that we will find the legendary hoi-poi pills because they too seemed to be examples of technology from the past that puts our modern work to shame. As it is, we have found enough from examining the artifacts recovered from the roads to establish that society was on a similar track to our current era, but with flying cars and other amazing technological feats. Any further questions?"
"I think that about covers it, don't you gentlemen agree?" Dr. Kong said.
"Way to earn us our budget, Bloom!" Dr. Kong said later, messing up Bloom's blue hair with his free hand, while standing on a chair.
"Oh, like you didn't do your part, Wu," Bloom said.
"If you hadn't had this mad idea in the first place, we wouldn't be here," Dr. Kong said, "I'd still be chasing the legend of Gyumao and his Mt. Frypan if your site hadn't been such an amazing discovery."
"Wu, your were chasing your dream. I'm chasing mine," Bloom said, "It's even a family legend that one of my ancestors actually created the mystic hoi-poi pills and his daughter surpassed his brilliance. She was also a legendary beauty. Her brains and beauty attracted the affections of Warrior Prince from the Heavens, and their children were part mortal part divine."
"Do you believe that?" Dr. Kong said.
"Well, when I was a little girl, I did. What little girl doesn't want to secretly be a Princess? Then I grew up. If anything, it's possible he was a Prince, but he was likely a regular human like you or me," Bloom said.
"Oh, so you're including yourself into the category of "normal" now, Miss I-Can-Out-Eat-Line-Backers-and-Keep-my-Figure?"
"You have room to talk Mr. I'm-so-Pale-if-I-Wanted-to-Be-a-Mime-All-I-Need-Is-to-Use-Black-Make-up," Bloom said. The shorter professor crossed his arms in a huff. He smiled back at Bloom and laughed a little.
"I guess we just want to find out if there is a source to all those fantastic stories," Dr. Kong said.
"And I've almost found my first one," Bloom said.
"What will you study next?" Dr. Kong said.
"I-."
"Dr. Briefs! DR. BRIEFS!" Bloom's student, Karato ran in, black hair a wild bird's nest, onyx eyes bright clutching what looked like an ordinary pill capsule.
"It... was...right... where... you... theorized... it... would... be," Karato said between breaths. He proffered his discovery to Bloom.
Bloom shakily reached a hand for the capsule and walked out of her tent, Dr. Kong and Karato on her heels. With a prayer, she pressed the top and tossed it away. With a "POOF" of smoke, a small motorbike appeared.
"I-it's just like in the stories. WE DID IT!" Bloom said grabbing Karato and Dr. Kong into a hug and jumping around, "We need to study it! We need to find more! Did you document everything where you found it? Please tell me you did!" Bloom said. Karato nodded and held up his field journal and his own digital camera.
"EXCELLENT WORK MR. SON! As I promised, you receive an "A" for your participation grade for this course!" Bloom said hugging the now bashful Karato, "Also, because you've shown impeccable course work, I'll even offer to allow you to ask for my help on your thesis project for Dr. T. Pitakas. I had him and he is a stickler."
"I-I couldn't, Dr. Briefs!" Karato exclaimed.
"It can't be that embarrassing a topic!" Bloom said, "And in the field, call me Bloom!"
"I'm going to be doing my paper on the Monkey King, Sun Wukong and his quest for the seven Dragon Pearls.** Your passion for the mystic Hoi-Poi Pills inspired me, D-Bloom," Karato said.
"I wish you luck on convincing Dr. Pitakas to approve it; Trip doesn't like fantastical ideas as much as I do," Bloom said.
"He, uh, already gave me the go ahead," Karato said, looking off to the side, "Who knows maybe I'll find something like you did someday! I could even find one of the seven pearls!"
"Maybe," Bloom said with a shrug, "You never know until you try."
*Names get distorted over time.
**This is referencing another adaption of the Monkey King story made in the 1980's.
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