As Harmon neared the top of the block of lava encasing the palace Maelyn tapped one more time on the circle she was opening and it surprised her by falling about for about an inch and then stopping. Not expecting it to fall, Maelyn let out a startled gasp along with a muttered curse when the piece stopped after only falling for that short distance. She then searched through her small bag of tools until she found a small pick that she could use to pull the small piece back up and then out of the hole.
Finally getting the piece removed she shone a light into the hole to see what had stopped the piece from falling. As she shone the ight into the hole she gasped again and shared, "Wow! Something made the lava solidify before it touched the roof! So there's a small gap between the lava and the roof! And... I'll be! This roof has some type of scales on it! But these look to be either a very dark blue of a straight black! I am DEFINITELY looking forward to examining this roof!"
Finally walking up to them, Harmon complained, "No! We will NOT be wasting time on this roof! You are to do as I tell you and dig down further until you can find a way to access the inside of this palace! Nothing LESS and nothing MORE! Accessing the interior of this palace is the REASON we authorized this project and it will be the FOCUS of this project from today on!"
"Why Hello Harmon! I'm so GLAD to see you're having such a good day!" Maelyn sarcastically replied, "Unfortunately I am going to have to rain on your parade and let you know that clearing from this point on the roof down to the wall and then SLOWLY descending that wall will be our focus! Because we are not going to recklessly damage the structure of this palace in an effort to gain access and end up having it collapse on top of us as we're exploring the inside of it!"
"Trust me, if it wasn't for the fact that the palace's structural integrity is questionable after all this time I would DEFINITELY make you dig straight through the roof so we could get to that throne room TODAY!" Harmon reacted then grumbled, "But I DO think you shouldn't waste your time with all that scanning stuff you guys like to do on this stuff and waste your time with that stuff later!"
"Sorry bud, but I've got to burst that bubble again." Maelyn informed him, "We're gonna do MORE scans of this building than those holes because those scans will tell us how structurally sound this building still is so we know if it's safe to enter or if it's a big death trap waiting to suck us in! So you're gonna have to learn how to stand back and CHILL until I declare this palace SAFE!"
"FINE!" Harmon angrily told her, "But I STILL want you to hurry!"
"And I still want you to show up ON TIME!" Maelyn snapped back at him, "Because THIS site hasn't been starting up each day until YOU are here! That is because I have been having Abjul observing YOUR site while Joseph helps the teams emptying the wheelbarrow keep working instead of having to wait until they get back. So if you want us to make MORE progress you're gonna have to start devoting more TIME! Don't get me wrong, I have been enjoying all of these homes you are having to transfer to me every day, but I would prefer to be able to spend more time on this project instead of having to go to each of these houses every day and fixing the chaos and despair you keep worsening. So as much as you don't want to hear it, the ball is in YOUR court now and our progress forward depends on YOU and your PRESCENSE!"
"Abjul! Supervise THIS site ONLY and make sure they continue to make progress on accessing the palace!" Harmon angrily ordered him, "The site I am observing isn't even worth my time now! So When I get here every day I will take over observing THIS site and YOU will go observe that OTHER site."
"Yes sir." Abjul consented with a sigh, "I will observe the other site after you arrive each day."
"Well, either way, no matter which one of you is observing you are gonna have to WAIT while I open this hole open a little bit more and start scanning!" Maelyn informed them, "Because I will make sure this is done RIGHT even if the Prime Minister comes out here to observe this!"
"Well then you need to hurry up and get to scanning!" Harmon demanded, "Because this slow CRAWLING pace you have set will IMPROVE with ME up here!"
"You may think so but this pace is set by ME and I will be making sure we don't damage this palace!" Maelyn demanded in return, "So sit back, relax, and let me do my job! Cause I PROMISE you if you can't let me work at my own pace I will DELIBERATELY work slower!"
"Ugh! Fine!" Harmon growled before stepping back and crossing his arms as he angrily tried to step out of her way as Joseph handed her a ziplock bag to put the pieces that needed to be kept in so the y wouldn't get mixed in with the basalt being discarded or get otherwise contaminated.
Being careful to only lightly touch the roof with the pick she had Maelyn eased it into the small hole so that when she broke free the bigger piece of the basalt she would be able to lift it out of easier. She then started to cause the last of the wider circle she had been working on to break free and then drop that mere inch to rest on the pick she had placed underneath it.
After easily lifting the pick to remove the bigger piece of basalt, she started scanning the roof and as far into the small space between it and the roof for any signs of the residue they had found at the other sites and anything else they could detect. While she was taking time to do the scanning Joseph was busy starting to dig into the basalt several feet away so that they could make the basalt into a set of stairs leading down to where the window they expected to have to climb through would be and so they could more carefully remove the basalt that was along the side of the palace instead of it crumbling into the possible gap between it and the walls, possibly scaping or otherwise damaging the walls.
Not knowing why Joseph had started on the hole he was digging, harmon demanded, "BOY! STOP! I cannot observe BOTH of you at the same time and her work is more important! So cease your pointless activities right now!"
"Sir," Joseph told him as he paused for a minute, "Unless you want to climb in and out of that hole by rope every day once we gain access into this palace, I would recommend you let me continue digging out these rough stairs." and he then continued digging since his order to stop hadn't been accompanied by an order from Maelyn.
To support his efforts, Maelyn then told Harmon as she continued to scan what she could see, "Yeah, I figured you'd prefer to walk down a rough set of stairs that we're trying to have available so that we can carry anything needing to be tested further or examined in a stronger light out without having to risk damaging or contaminating it further by attaching it to the rope and lifting it out." Pausing to smile at him she then teased, "But if you don't mind the exercise and the extra time it'd take, we don't mind using the ropes...."
Harmon growled as he grudgingly ordered, "Grr! Carry on boy! But don't contaminate this hole with all of that dust and all of them rocks you are creating!"
Ignoring him, Joseph continued to dig out the stairs and remove the resultant loose debris until he had filled up the wheelbarrow then tool it to empty. As he started to roll it away he paused by Harmon and sweetly asked, "Mister Observer, this load is ready to inspect if you like to before I take it up to the caldera."
"That is all of that worthless basalt!" Harmon dismissed him angrily, "I am more worried about this site here than I am with you worthless basalt that had been keeping my family from our goal of getting a new King named! And then I will ascend to Prime Minister until father passes his Kingship to ME!"
"I don't know about that." Joseph shared with a smile, "I have been told that the talisman chooses the next King or Queen and it chooses the one capable of assuming that dragon form thing. So I doubt it's gonna be as easy as just grabbing it and declaring yourself king."
"And who told you this information?!" Harmon demanded, "That information isn't known outside of certain people who have been authorized to know it because that is CLASSIFIED information that could be used by enemies of Altinyn!"
"Sir, NOBODY told me!" Joseph revealed, "It is PRINTED in your kingdom's CONSTITUTION! And, being the one with an eidetic memory, I am the one that gets assigned to research all available documents pertaining to a site's history in addition to letting Miss Khadim know of any laws and rules and such that might affect our digs. So classifying something that is publicly available as classified information doesn't work that well outside this kingdom." He then dismissively walked off to empty the wheelbarrow and continue digging out a set of stairs that they would be able to use.
"How did you obtain a copy of Altinyn's constitution?!" Harmon yelled to Joseph as he walked away, "That document hasn't been taken out of this country since it was created a thousand years ago!"
"You need to study your own country's history there Harmon." Maelyn informed him with a laugh, "The Second Minister in power sent it to England to get printed copies made like four hundred years ago when printers were first invented and it became cheaper to print using one than to use the old leather and scrolls that had been common before then. And, when a foreign government sent their constitution to get printed, that printing company was required to send copies to Britain and it's allies. As such, it was entered into the historical record that us archeologists in the United States have access to."
"I will DEMAND your nation to remove it from their records!" Harmon angrily insisted, "That constitution is NOT a document available for the rest of the world to see and use against us!"
"If you want that to happen then you will have to send lawyers and threaten retaliation against EVERY country in the WORLD!" Maelyn informed him, "because every single other country in the world has secured a copy of it so they are prepared if they ever have to deal with Altinyn!"
"I will inform Prime Minister Anton of this so we can re-secure this document!" Harmon promised and warned, "And if they do not return their copies of our constitution we WILL retaliate IN FORCE if we need to in order to get our point across!"
"And I am sure Anton will let you know that your constitution is something that only those trying to SUBVERT it need to keep secret!" Maelyn scolded, "Because true, honest government officials WANT their people to KNOW the laws set forth in their country's constitution!"
"Are you accusing me of violating the constitution of Altinyn?!" Harmon angrily demanded in offense, "If you are then I will tell you that I am the MOST honest official our government has and I will have you thrown in jail for slander!"
"While I will remind you that I did NOT accuse YOU against anything dishonest or illegal," Maelyn pointed out, "I WILL point out that your assumption that I was is a behavior that is common with guilty parties. So by throwing me in jail for slander because of a statement about guilty people in general you are MORE than welcome to make yourself appear even guiltier!"
As she finished her scanning she changed subjects by asking, "Does Altinyn have any OTHER old buildings with what looks like scales on their roofs?"
"No. That style was becoming more and more rare after this palace was built sis hundred years ago." Harmon shared, "and the only other building with a similar roof was the library in town before we didn't think the money the facility required was worth the investment and it was leveled and rebuilt as a police station thirty years ago!"
"Well that sucks!" Maelyn protested, "I was hoping to be able to look at another roof like this and get an idea of what structural properties and such it had so I would know what to expect from THIS one! But I guess we'll just have to treat it like glass until we know better."
"I say you should treat it like it's made of DIAMONDS!" Harmon fervently demanded, "Because this whole palace is considered to be one in the eyes of ALL Altinyns!"
"I think you misunderstood what I was saying." Maelyn calmly explained, "Glass is delicate and can only withstand strikes of little force before it breaks. If I was to treat it like it was made of diamonds however, I would be able to be much more reckless with it because diamonds are one of the hardest materials known to man and would be able to withstand forceful strikes from my hammer without marring the surface. So I am pretty sure you would rather me treat it like glass or, even more delicately like crystalline glass!"
"Whatever way you choose!" Harmon grumbled, "Just so long as it does NOT get marred in ANY way!"