Nightmare Archives

Archive Eleven: Archaeological Dig

July - 13 - 2020 / 4:19 PM

It started with me located in a plains field, nothing too special about the environment, just grass spanning over as far as the eye can see. But in front of me was a massive hole shaped like a funnel, it went very deep where at the bottom was simply pitch black. Considering it's not submerged in water, I have no fear going down it, so I did.

But before I could, I realized I was wearing equipment, much like construction workers with the hard hat, neon-vest and everything else, but around my feet all the way to my thighs was completely wrapped with a strange metal equipment with a metallic gearbox located at the calves. It felt like bionic legs for strengthening leg movement and it felt like it. I tried jumping and sure enough, I could jump higher. Hell I even tried to think I could fly with it, because I found cylinders underneath the foot area. And to my surprise, I could actually fly, hover, and move around freely in a three-dimensional direction. Except it was difficult to maneuver because it's my first time. But it felt surreal.

Without wasting too much time enjoying hovering around, I ran up to the hole in front of me and jumped at the edge, I slid down keeping balance while quickly descending into that pitch black center, I tried slowing down my velocity with the feet thrusters but it just made me slide down faster.

Then everything went dark for a few seconds. I opened my eyes and found myself lying on my back at a dirt field, above me I could see a small hole far away, maybe that's how deep I was. I assume I was at the bottom of the hole I jumped in. I stood up and found miners with the same equipment I was wearing, they were all facing their backs on me while digging with a pickaxe, I think they were trying to expand the hole horizontally. I didn't bother them and after a while, a guy with a different-colored hard hat approached me, he gave me a pickaxe and just smiled reluctantly, seeming to want me to join them with digging.

What choice do I have? I looked for an empty spot and started chipping away a good amount of dirt, it wasn't the first time I tried to mine away dirt or whatever the frail material I was digging. I simply kept digging until my hand was tired, I resorted to a different method using the leg equipment. Using fire, I aimed my feet in front of me in a kicking position and fired, to my surprise, it felt like using a drill. It was fast, efficient, and the job was done.But something blocked it, A white patch appeared on the surface of where I was mining. I moved a little to the left and continued but shortly, the same patch stopped it. At this point I reached a dead-end. I went above and below and started shaping the white patch.It was a fossil.

Without a doubt, I uncovered a giant skull of what appears to be a ram. With the horns still intact. Compared to the size, I can almost fit inside the eye hole with extra space. I called the person who gave me the pickaxe and he came rushing, he didn't say a word, but he was surprised. A few seconds later, he set up a few computers around it to "Identify" the fossil or whatever. I used my leg equipment to hover around it. Honestly it was just as hard as moving three-dimensionally in a low-gravity environment. But again, being able to float freely in the air was an amazing experience.

For some unexplainable reason, while hovering around the remains, a certain someone was sitting on a couch right next to the computers, she had short hair and was quietly just staring at me while I was suspended in mid-air. I stopped hovering and approached her,"Should I dye my hair again?" was the only words she said, I held a few hair strands right next to her ear and the tips was scarlet red.

Then out of nowhere, I woke up. It was 4:19 in the afternoon.