Atlantis

Prologue

The sharp click of footsteps against marble echoed throughout the spacious hall as Dr. Sullivan walked briskly through the Artium Vigoran Historical Society's main floor. His face was pleasantly emotionless but inside, he was trying desperately to keep his nervous excitement contained.

Thoughts of a final end to a long decade of war occupied his head as he walked. Countless lives could be saved. Countries could finally rebuild. People could simply live their lives without the oppression of constant violence and fear over their heads. But with this kind of discovery, at what cost would peace be achieved? And what could it do in the wrong hands? Sullivan frowned at the thought and picked up his pace, a bolt of urgency propelling him forward. This discovery had the power to make or break, not only the war, but the world.

A pair of librarians passed him as he stepped into the building's elevator at the end of the main floor's grand hall and one of them raised an eyebrow at his obvious flighty behavior. Dr. Sullivan simply grinned back and tipped his bowler as they left, wishing them a cheery good morning as the ornate metal gates closed with a clatter behind the pair.

The historian let out a sigh as he stood alone in the small elevator box, sorting through the emotions whirling inside his chest. He was so nervously excited, in fact, that he'd managed to skip his morning coffee on his way to the Society. Sullivan had never felt so awake in his life and if his knees weren't so terribly troublesome, he'd have sprinted out of his apartment door after receiving the momentous news that morning from his fellow associate, Professor Adolphus Berg.

After a few more routine elevator stops on the way up to his destination, Sullivan finally reached the 17th floor and stepped out of the contraption, absentmindedly whistling a tune he'd heard from a street musician the other day while walking back home from the train station.

A few strides down the quiet hallway, his eager assistant stood dutifully in his usual morning spot next to the historian's meeting room door, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. It seemed Sullivan wasn't the only one who was excited by the news. As the historian approached, his assistant's face broke into a crooked grin and he held up the metal tray he was clutching so tightly his knuckles had turned white.

"Good morning, Doctor!" he chirped and glanced down at the tray's contents," Your cigar, sir?"

Dr. Sullivan ruffled the boy's mop of sandy blonde hair and smiled despite his overwhelming anxiety.

"Not this morning, Fox, my boy! Too much excitement to sit around and smoke, don't you think?" he replied and Fox nodded eagerly.

"Yes, sir. Of course, sir," the assistant answered and moved to open the oak door in front of them," The others are already gathered, Doctor."

Sullivan clutched his lapels and puffed out his chest as he entered the room, greeting each of his associates with a brisk nod as he tried to maintain dignity. Behind him, Fox set the metal cigar tray on a small table next to the entrance and shut the door with a sharp click. Sullivan gave the group a polite smile as Fox offered to take his coat. He knew better than to try to remove the shabby old bowler from atop his employer's head. He was rather attached to the thing.

Two others sat the large round mahogany table in the center of the study. Bookshelves containing all sorts of books and a few other curious items such as rusty old telescopes and a monkey skull lined the walls floor to ceiling and a large globe almost as tall as Fox sat in the far corner of the room next to a table containing a long glass casing. Several old papers and artifacts lay beneath the glass which was glinting in the sunlight let in by four floor to ceiling windows on the opposite wall. Sullivan enjoyed sunlight so he chose a very naturally lit room as the project's home base.