Pride.

Prologue

Prologue

  “Augh!” hisses the older man, clutching his leg. A red flower of blood is blooming on his knee, and he curses as he lifts his pant leg to check the wound. There is a large cut, and although it is leaking blood, it is not deep. It will heal. He stands, drops the leg of his pants, and brushes off remains of dirt. The companion to this injured person, stops, wipes his forehead, and turns.

  “Are you okay, Rick? Do you think we should take a break?” speaks the companion. This person has a quiet, Asian sounding voice. He sounds tired, and weary.

   The other man, the one called Rick nods, and gratefully sinks to the ground. It is dusty, and cold down in the Earth. Rick hasn’t been exploring for a long time, and specifically not in mine shafts. But he must go on. If the other half is here, it must be found, and brought back to the lab, where Rick himself, and his partner, Ikuro, have discovered what could save the world.

   “The other half has to be here. We’ve searched for it, since the dawn of time. It couldn’t be anywhere else,” mutters the man Rick, scowling at his cut, the lack of oil, and possibly Earth itself.

  Ikuro sighs, and runs a hand though his short, grey hair. His once handsome face is now weather beaten, old, and tired. But in his eyes, there is a fire, the type of look someone would gain after a great determination was made. Ikuro had a brutal, powerful look to him. He was not a gentle, caring person; however, he had his quirks. He was someone who you would want fighting one your side, and would not give up until the end.

  “We should keep going,” says Ikuro quietly. Rick nods, and stands. They take a quick look around this room of the mineshaft. There is a single lamp in the corner. But there is nothing else. The carved out walls show no traces of being seen, or touched in a long time.

  The two men walk along, the path lit by the torches they hold.  Light from the flames dances on the walls, creating a mystifying scene. They are both silent, and all the sounds that are heard are either made by their feet, or the water dripped from the ceiling onto the shoes of the explorers.

  They breathe, and a light mist forms from their breaths. So when they see, or Ikuro sees, the slight glimmer, it is completely by chance. There is no way they would have seen it any other wall. Had Ikuro not reached into his hiking backpack to pull out his water bottle, they would have missed it, passed it, and would have ended up searching for something that had been for a split second not five feet away.

  “Rick,” whispers Ikuro. It isn’t believable that after twenty years, it is simply sitting in the dark, upon a rock. It’s simply not possible.

  “That...is that it?” he says back, hoarsely.

  “It must be!” cries the old man, rushing forward, dumping everything on the cold ground, tears dripping from his face, not of sadness, but happiness.

  Rick McAllister, and Ikuro Hotori run, tripping over rocks and stones, so when they reach the glimmer, they are panting and heaving. Rick gently picks up the broken mirror, as though it is worth more than anything the Earth could produce.

  “Find my other half,” whispers Rick. This sentence, the one found seven years ago, it had changed Rick’s life- and will do so again.

          ***

  Rick types in one last word, then sits back, and stares at his computer screen. There’s a light sheen of sweat on his forehead, and ever so slight pants issue from his mouth. But he is satisfied with his work.

   To the Prime Minister, and whoever is concerned,

  I am called Rick McAlister. I am a scientist at graduated from Harvard, fifteen years ago. I choose to study reflections, in my personal lab, with my partner, Ikuto Hotori. I am fifty-six years old, and live in Edmonton, Alberta with my family.