As Snake and Eagle approached the site once more, they went over what the team still on-site had discovered.

"So you have some means of mapping an area with these iDroids of yours," Eagle noted.

"Could be, I haven't had mine in a situation it was relevant," Snake admitted. "I mean, I've only recently come out of a nine year coma, and I don't recall having one before, so it could have been part of their specs. Or they modified the tracking system."

Eagle considered.

"Huh, technology must be more adaptable than powers. In any case, we have some preliminary maps of the tunnels, which is more than I'm used to. Something of a maze I see. Murals depict Asura and… Mara."

Eagle considered.

"Mara, I don't remember encountering a Mara Titan before…"

"Supposedly some kind of demon of temptation, manipulated the Buddha with illusions. According to the mythology anyway."

"Illusions? Could be connected to Madea. Found a Madea amulet once, a previous Seeker had cleared most of the reliquary, only to get himself killed near the end. Sold the Madea to the Foundation as I recall…"

"What do you remember about the traps?"

Eagle shifted in his seat.

"Mostly that they were broken. The ancient Seekers had set up a number of their usual traps, plus… conduits, I think the word would be… to channel Madeas power to conceal them. At least I assume that's what was going on, it was mostly broken when I got there…"

"Do you know anything useful?"

"Maybe not about Mara or this reliquary specifically, but I do have the rules for exploring Seeker sites. Well, my rules. Written through a lot of trial and error."

"For example?"

Eagle glanced out the helicopter.

"Well, rule zero of being a Seeker is pretty much 'don't talk about anything in front of non-Seekers, particularly academicals. So I think we need to put this on hold…"

Given they started their descent as he finished speaking, Snake reluctantly had to agree.

Jumping out of the helicopter as hovered at the site, he found a couple of unfamiliar faces speaking with doctor Nielson, the security forces he'd left behind watching closely.

"You aren't prepared for what you'll find down there," the older of the strangers was telling him. "There's a reason you weren't supposed to be taking this site, Samuel."

"That's doctor Nielson to you, Guggenheim," Nielson snapped. "And I'm not about to let you steal more relics from the museums!"

"That isn't-" he broke off with a cough.

"Are we going to have a problem," Snake interjected, heading off the brewing argument.

He was pretty sure he knew what reasoning this 'Guggenheim' had for not wanting the doctor involved, and why he wasn't going to say anything.

"This is university business," Guggenheim responded. "It doesn't involve you. Now kindly let me-"

"Not Seeker business," Snake tested, not wanting to waste time beating around the bush.

The younger of the strangers reacted immediately, grabbing at something in his coat, while Guggenheim remained outwardly calm, but tensed in preparation for a fight.

"I have no idea what either of you are talking about," Nielson snapped. "He is one of the mercenaries I hired as security, and you don't work for the university!"

"No, but my museum does have connections," Guggenheim pointed out calmly. "I was simply asked to check on you, as I was on a dig not too far away. Certainly closer than anyone else they might send, anyway."

"A likely story," Nielson scoffed.

Snake let out a deep breath.

"Right. If I could have a quiet word with you two, I think I can get this sorted out. This way?"

He led the two of them away to somewhere they'd remain in sight of Nielson while being safe from being overheard, the younger of them not taking his hand away from the amulet in his coat.

"Now, I'm guessing you're both Seekers from this 'Foundation' I've vaguely heard about," Snake began.

"How do you know about the Huntik Foundation," the younger Seeker demanded, visibly shocked.

"Because one of the Organisation members we took captive here was very talkative," Snake answered in a deadpan. "But back to the topic at hand. I'm pretty sure the people the doctor has been worried about are Foundation members too, and all the missing relics are amulets you've secured. Am I right?"

"Maybe. I didn't realise he was getting suspicious in the first place, so…"

Snake sighed heavily.

"Just, why didn't you replace the amulets with fakes?"

"Sorry?"

"He became convinced that your people were stealing relics, most notably an amulet sone queen was wearing in all depictions before being buried with all her jewelry. When the expedition to her tomb didn't bring back the amulet, he had all the proof he needed. Why didn't you replace the amulets with fakes when you took them?"

The two of them shared a look between them.

"That… I have no idea," Guggenheim responded. "But that amulet… if it's the one I think it is, the amulet wasn't even there. It was passed down from ruler to ruler, a constant guardian and mark of authority."

"So the one thing that convinced him relics really were being stolen, wasn't even there in the first place?"

Snake shook his head.

"By this point, I think you're going to have to come clean to him. I mean, for all you know he could be a potential Seeker."

"We've actually made a point of testing everyone in the university archaeology department," Guggenheim told him. "A Seeker who hasn't yet Awakened has this… glow… when they first start to bond with an amulet. It isn't hard to slip one onto one of their specimen trays, as a 'prank', and test their reaction. No glow and no recognition, never going to be a Seeker."

Snake considered.

"One way of recruiting I guess."

"What about you? How did you Awaken?"

Snake snorted.

"A previous visitor to this place still had an amulet on their body, and when the Organisation attacked, I invoked them by accident."

"Hardly the best timing. How did you get away?"

"The suits weren't prepared for a group of men with guns," Snake commented.

The two flinched.

"I'm guessing Seeker fights don't tend to go lethal."

"We try to be better than that," Guggenheim asserted. "As for the Organisation… we still don't know enough about them to know why they act the way they do."

"It seems their leader has some ability to brainwash people, I'm guessing they prefer to take people alive to recruit them. What about the traps around amulets? They don't seem to be particularly non-lethal."

"Ancient Seekers lived in different times," Guggenheim joked, before bursting into a brief coughing fit, his companion stepping up in case he needed to support him.

"That sounds serious," Snake noted. "Should you really be in the field?"

"I wasn't lying about us being the closest," Guggenheim told him. "I was tracking down a lead on a cure, for myself and my old friend Simon. To no avail, as usual. It's why I have my old apprentice, Dante, with me. I fear I'll soon be left completely bedridden, but I'll keep up my search as long as I can."

"I guess we didn't exactly get introductions. Call me Snake."

"Well Snake, call me Metz, and this is Dante. You may have noticed how overprotective he's being."

"Given the Organisation, I can understand being cautious around unknown Seekers."

Metz laughed.

"I don't suppose there's any chance of you joining the Foundation? We'd be more than willing to gain a new member, and I'm sure there's plenty we could teach you."

"I'm afraid I have other responsibilities, I'll have to decline your invitation."

"A pity. Well, we seem to have established that we don't have to be enemies, but where do we go from here?"

Snake considered.

"I was hired to keep doctor Nielson safe while he explored the site, but I'm guessing you don't want him looking round a Seeker site."

"He isn't used to the type of traps in places like this," Metz protested. "I'm not going to risk his life to satisfy his curiosity, even if I do tell him about the existence of Seekers!"

"His main concerns are about relics going missing, about history being lost. My side of the contract is about him getting to know about everything in the… he thought it was a temple, but I've heard it called a reliquary?"

"It's all a matter of perspective really," Metz hedged.

"Well, whatever we call it, he wants to be able to catalogue everything. So, the only things you don't want him to be able to keep are the relics, and the traps I guess. Would that be correct?"

"I suppose so."

"So if we retrieve the amulets and deactivate the traps, there won't be anything left to make you keep him out?"

"That's right."

"What if we go in and sort out the Seeker stuff then? I show him the amulets, so he knows exactly what we found, and then you can let him explore freely, without concern?"

"That could be one way to do things. I would always recommend an all Seeker team, unless it becomes necessary to do otherwise, so that would be… I guess you two, Dante, Snake. Best I not risk a turn for the worse when surrounded by traps after all."

"Sounds reasonable, but I have another Seeker with me. So, the three of us?"

"Well, the more the better. As long as you don't have any concerns, Dante."

"I'm happy to follow your lead."

Metz sighed.

"You have been doing so well as a solo operative, but as soon as we start working together you default back to how you acted as my apprentice. I'm hardly infallible Dante, otherwise I wouldn't be in this state!"

"Perhaps, but you have more experience than me," Dante deflected.

"That'll come in time. Still, we have a plan. But we should decide who gets any amulets you find first. It is standard procedure that if an amulet responds particularly well to one of the Seekers, it is them who gets to claim the Titan. If the Titan refuses to bond, it is best to be taken somewhere safe, to prevent a likely hostile Seeker from claiming it. Beyond that, it mostly comes down to whoever has the fewest Titans."

"I have two," Snake volunteered, "but we have a number of Redcap and Strix amulets from the Organisation. My… ally… has quite a few as well."

"Sounds like you'll get any Titans that don't want to bond with Dante then," Metz decided. "What else was there? Right, what do you already know about the Titan kept here? We can go over the intelligence before I explain the secrets of the true history to Samuel."