Natla Technologies
Lara touched down in the LAX Airport at around 9:30 local time. She was dressed in more conservative attire, so as to not stand out amongst the others in her usual outfit. She was wearing one of her fancy cream-coloured business suits that she was supposed to have saved for a possible media interview and her hair was not tied into a French braid. With special tactics, Lara was able to bring her weapons safely into the United States without attracting the attention of the authorities. The Scion, as well as the other Peruvian artefacts she collected, were safe in her backpack, which she carried with her on the long flight. When Lara collected all of her luggage, she headed over to one of the kiosks inside the airport and asked to use an international line. She waited a few moments and then heard Winston answer the line.
"Hello?" Winston said.
"It's Lara again." Lara replied. "I just wanted to let you know that I made it safely into Los Angeles."
"I'm glad to hear it, Miss Croft." Winston said. "So how long will you be in America?"
"Probably not too long." Lara said. "I'm only here to get information. Once I get what I'm looking for, I'll probably make a quick trip home before I set off to my next adventure. It's crucial that I learn the location of the next piece of the Scion, because I want to get to it before Pierre does."
"I understand." Winston replied.
"Just out of curiosity, how's the weather been back in England?" Lara asked.
"It's been very much the same since you left for Peru." Winston replied. "It's been foggy in the mornings and evenings, and it's been raining nonstop for the past few days. We even had some snow mixed in not too long ago. It's almost that time of year again. By the way, I am happy to say that the boxes in the foyer have been taken care of."
"Really?" Lara said. "Where did the movers put the artefacts?"
"I went by what you wanted and had all of the relics placed in the study, as well as the music room and in the designated locations of the walls of the foyer. You should see it, it looks much better than it did before you left."
"That's great to hear!" Lara said. "I'm so glad I don't have to unpack those crates! That really helps out. I just wish they would've gotten there sooner."
"Well, they said they were waiting on another large shipment at the time they originally said they would help." Winston replied. "Apparently, it was delayed by a couple of days, so it ended up delaying everything else."
"Did you give each of the workers the tip I left for you to give them?" Lara asked.
"Yes, Miss Croft." Winston replied. "I told them the tip was your gift, and they were very delighted."
"Thank you so much, Winston." Lara said. "What would I do without you?"
"I'm not sure." Winston said. "I didn't realize I could be that important."
"What are saying, Winston?" Lara asked. "You and my father practically stood by me as I grew up, even when my aunt tried making more into a lady of her own image. I absolutely despised that. Too bad father isn't still around to see the achievements I've made in recent years. He would've been so proud."
"Your mother would've been proud too." Winston said. "Even though you were only eight when she disappeared, she always told me how lucky she was to have a daughter like you. She wouldn't change you for anything in the world. She was supportive of your interests, just like your father."
Lara remained silent for a moment.
"Well, I guess I won't keep you on the phone." Winston finally said. "I'll see you when you get back home."
"Alright, Winston." Lara said. "My ride is waiting outside, so I'll talk you later."
"You take care, Lara." Winston said.
About thirty minutes after Lara exited the airport, Lara stepped out of the taxi and emerged in front of her hotel building, which was conveniently placed down the street from Natla Technologies. Looking around, the city was bustling with activity. Large neon signs flashing, cars honking their horns as the traffic stalled, and people walking in opposite directions made for a very noisy city environment. The tall illuminated buildings loomed high into the dark sky, which made the slight cloud cover glow orange under the intense lighting. Lara looked down the street at the Natla Technologies building and saw the flashing red, blue, and yellow logo looming high on top of the roof, which made it stand out among the others.
"Well, it guess it couldn't have been more obvious to find." Lara said. "It looks like they're still having their business hours. I guess I'll have to see if Natla's in her office. She will have a lot of explaining to do… If she's not there, I have a backup plan."
After Lara dropped off her luggage, changed back into her normal outfit, and fixed her hair back into a braided ponytail, she started down the street to Natla Technologies and walked in through the glass doors and into the main entry hall. The floors were made of nicely polished granite and the walls were made of expensive-looking wood. At the far end of the main room, Lara saw a large metallic Natla Technologies logo and a large fancy front desk where a man sat reading a book. Lara walked up to the desk and rang the small bell to get his attention.
"Excuse me, sir. Can you direct me to Jacqueline Natla? I need to speak with her." Lara said. The younger-looking man looked up at her.
"You don't sound like you're from around here." he said.
"I'm not." Lara said. "Can you help me though?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but Miss Natla is not in her office right now. She left yesterday for a business trip to Peru. Shall I set up an appointment for you?"
"No that's alright." Lara replied. "Thank you anyway. By the way, where exactly is her office?"
"It's on the top floor." said the man behind the desk. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, she has something that I need, and I need to get it. It'll only take a second." Lara said.
"I'm sorry, but Natla has strict rules regarding who enters her office." said the man. "Besides, the whole building will close for the night in five minutes. Perhaps if you make an appointment…"
"No, that's alright." Lara said. "I'll just come back whenever I can."
"Whatever suits your fancy." said the man.
Lara exited the building and emerged onto the busy street as she began to initiate her backup plan. Looking over to the side of the building nearby, Lara could see an empty elevator starting to slowly make its way up the side of the building to one of the higher floors. Wasting no time, Lara immediately started running towards the elevator lift and was quick enough to grab the top of the elevator lift as it started picking up momentum. She then pulled herself up on top of the lift and grabbed onto the elevator cable to remain steady as the lift continued to move upwards. Looking downwards, the ground was now far enough for an accidental fall to be lethal. Much of the Los Angeles skyline was visible all around Lara, as well as the dark Pacific Ocean could be seen in the distance beyond the tall buildings. Looking up, Lara was barely able to make out a few stars in the clear sky. Even then, the stars that were able to seen were still hard to see do to the intense light pollution.
"I can't believe I'm doing this, but here it goes…" Lara said as she pulled from her backpack a matchbook and a portable propane gas tank complete with a metallic flame nozzle. Lara turned the gas on and struck a match with her finger before bringing the small flame near the gas. Once the flame hit the propane, a blue flame was created. Lara then brought the blue flame close to the elevator cable and watched as the metal started to heat up and glow red.
"Once this cable snaps, I should be able to reach the top of the building in no time." Lara said as the cable started to turn orange. Lara knew it would have been easier if she brought her pistols with her, but she did not want to attract too much attention to herself, for that could attract the attention of the local authorities and Lara was certainly in no mood for dealing with the police. The cable was now turning a bright yellow-orange as the metal started to melt. Suddenly, a loud snapping was heard as one of the small steel coils in the elevator cable broke in half. One after another, the remaining coils started to unwind themselves until the weight of the elevator began to overtake the weakening cable. Grabbing onto the upper half of the cable tightly, Lara braced herself as it finally snapped and she was sent skyrocketing to the top of the building at an extremely high velocity, causing her adrenaline levels to rise as well. Once Lara was near the top, she used remaining strength she had to grab the cable with her other hand and force herself to perform a fancy acrobatic flip before landing on both feet in front of the large flashing Natla Technologies logo.
"I am never doing that again!" Lara said to herself as she started her way towards a vent opening that lead inside the building. She opening the grating and started crawling through it.
After a few minutes of crawling through the vents, Lara dropped into Natla's office through another grating in the ceiling.
"Well. Natla certainly keeps a tidy office." Lara said as she approached the large wooden desk over by the colossal window looking out to the Los Angeles skyline. On top of the desk was a large computer monitor with a keyboard and mouse, a small decorative bonsai plant, a fancy desk lamp, as well as a tiny remote that controlled the overhead projector, which seemed to be connected to the computer wirelessly. Lara began searching through the drawers and found a small notebook inside the bottom drawer. Lara opened it and turned to the last page where Natla had taken notes a few days ago. She wrote:
Still unable to pinpoint location of the second Scion piece. Must consult ancient and medieval texts produced in Mediterranean Europe. If all goes well and I find what I'm looking for, I will have Pierre retrieve it for me. In the meantime, I will have Larson convince Lara Croft to find the first piece for me in Peru.
"Hmm." Lara said. "I wonder what makes her so sure that the second piece is hidden somewhere in…Wait a minute. What's this?"
At the very bottom of the drawer, Lara found an extremely old book. The title read:
BROTHER HERBERT PRAYER BOOK, 1573.
"Hmm. A medieval prayer book?" Lara questioned. "Looks like Natla knew what she was up to when she wrote that note down." She then noticed a bookmark in the middle of the book and opened it to the marked page. She sat in the large comfortable desk chair and turned on the lamp as began to read the written words of a monk who lived centuries ago.
Relocated now to St. Francis' Folly, new temptations torment me… Rumour amongst my fellow brothers is that entombed beneath our monastery is the body of Tihocan, one of the three legendary rulers of the lost continent, Atlantis, and that with him lies his piece of the Atlantean Scion, the pendant divided and shared between the three rulers, which curbs tremendous powers. Powers beyond the creator himself. My toes sweat at such possibilities lying so close to my mortal self. Each night, I beat myself rid of these fantasies, but it is indeed a test.
"St. Francis' Folly?" Lara asked. "I can't remember…Where have I heard about that before? Maybe I should look it up on the Internet."
Lara turned her attention towards the computer terminal and pressed the large power button to boot the system. After about a minute, Lara heard the familiar opening chime of Windows 95 and watched as the start menu and various icons developed onto the screen. She immediately started guiding the cursor to the Internet icon when a large window suddenly popped onto the screen. The top of the window read Natla's Video Channel and below it read the caption: To view recent video feed, select one of the names listed below. The names refer to those who have recently sent back video footage. You currently have 2 new videos. Below the caption read the names Larson and Pierre, with Larson's name currently selected by a flashing black rectangle.
"Maybe there's something important hidden in here." Lara said. "I'll put it on the big screen."
Lara grabbed the small projector remote and booted the projector so that the computer screen was projected onto a large screen on the opposite side of the room. She then hit the select button on the remote and opened another window showing herself walking down the hall with the three opened gates back in the Tomb of Qualopec. Larson had been following her the whole time she was there!
"What is it Larson?" said Natla's voice through the computer speaker.
"Looks like our girl has pulled it off." Said Larson's deep voice.
"Of course she has. I can see it on the screen. Now it's up to you to take the Scion from her."
Suddenly, the camera turned away from Lara and was now facing Larson.
"Not that I'm complaining boss, but what makes you so sure that she's not going to bring it back herself?"
"Lara would never part with the Scion. From what I know, she's far too obsessed with, just like her father when he went out looking for it back in the day. You can tell that they are related in that respect."
Lara exited out of the video.
"How in the world does Natla know about my father?" Lara asked herself. "She's really been doing her research, I guess. Let's see what Pierre has been up to."
Lara pressed the down arrow on the remote once to move the animated black rectangle over Pierre's name. Then, she hit the select button and opened another window showing Pierre standing in front of the camera on top of a high cliff overlooking another cliff with a stone building on it.
Pierre was born in Nantes, France in 1951. Although falsely regarded as a fellow "archaeologist" of Lara's, Pierre is also well credited for finding ancient locations and artefacts - but is also well credited for tampering with the sites and being a stuck-up thief. Unlike Lara, who values the glory of finding ancient treasure around the world, Pierre only cares about getting the money and for people to love him for his "finds". In looks, Pierre's most recognizable features are his brown moustache and brown goatee. The top of his head is covered with medium-length brown hair and he has blue eyes. In the video Lara could see he was wearing an almost purple-hued jacket with a white button-up shirt underneath and a pair of light blue pants.
"Ah, Monsieur Du Pont! You have something to report?" said Natla's voice through the computer speakers.
"Good news, madam. Your information is correct! I've located my piece of the Scion!" Pierre said as he moved the camera to get a better view of the building. Lara immediately recognized the building as the footage kept rolling.
"Voila! It is buried under a place called…"
Lara paused the video. She knew exactly where he was standing.
"I remember now! That has to be it! St. Francis's Folly used to be a Greek temple a couple of millennia ago. It was then taken over by the Romans in later years, after which the middle Ages saw it transformed into a cathedral, but it never changed from its original architecture. If the rumours mentioned in that monk's journal are correct, then the Tomb of Tihocan as well as the second piece of the Scion, must been buried below! I guess I better get home as fast as I can and catch up on my Greek history and mythology! I can't let Pierre get down there before me! Next stop, Greece."
Lara has now discovered the location of the second part of the Scion in Greece. Now, Lara has to get to the Tomb of Tihocan before her rival Pierre Du Pont does. Now the plot is starting to thicken! What will Lara tell Winston upon her brief return home? How will she get to Greece? These and many other questions will be answered in the near future.
As in the previous few chapters, I decided to throw in details that were present in both Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider: Anniversary. I also took matters into my own hands as well and added made-up details as to the events leading up to Lara standing on top of an elevator lift at Natla Technologies as well as in the part where she breaks into Natla's office in search of answers. I hoped you enjoyed it, and I hope that you keep reading to what see what happens next. I look forward to starting the Greek chapters! :)
saturn95