The stupid alarm clock wouldn't shut up. Arin groaned and fumbled around under her warm blankets, trying to hit the snooze button. Sunlight leaked through the cheap curtains, making weird shapes on her apartment walls.
Her phone lit up with three texts from Kenji. Great, more messages she hadn't answered. The familiar knot of guilt hit her stomach, but she pushed it away like always.
She threw on her work clothes – the usual blazer and slacks combo that screamed "museum curator." Hair up in a quick bun, a glance in the mirror. Looking put-together on the outside, even if her mind was running a mile a minute.
The smell of coffee filled her tiny kitchen. Nice, but not the same as waking up to Mom's cooking or Kenji rambling about whatever manga he was obsessed with that week. Three years since she'd been home. Felt like forever.
She stopped in front of the only photo on her wall – graduation day. Mom and Dad grinning like they'd won the lottery, Kenji throwing up a peace sign like a goofball. Right in the feels, every time.
Should probably call them...
7:15 AM stared back at her from her phone screen. Her thumb hovered over Kenji's name.
"Later," she muttered, stuffing the phone in her bag.
The morning crowd hit her like a wall when she stepped outside. Suited-up office workers everywhere, everyone doing that speed-walking thing with their briefcases.Her heels clicked against pavement, joining the morning commute.
The train was packed as usual. Through the window, buildings zipped by in a gray blur. Twenty minutes to get her head in the game. Twenty minutes to quit second-guessing herself.
What if Jordan hates the proposal?
No. Focus. You've prepared for weeks.
The museum looked extra intimidating today, all fancy columns and everything.
"Morning, Arin!" The security guard waved as she badged in.
"Big day, right?"
"That obvious, huh?" A small smile tugged at her lips.
"You're gonna crush it. Jordan acts tough, but he knows when someone's got the goods."
2:00 PM rolled around way too fast. The AC hummed in Jordan's office while he sat there looking all serious, watching her every move like a hawk.
"So the Ming Dynasty stuff was a huge hit last quarter," she started, trying to keep her voice steady. "But check this out – I've got some ideas to make it even better."
Jordan's face gave away nothing while she went through the numbers. Her heart was doing gymnastics, but she kept it together.
"If we add these interactive features, people won't just look at the artifacts – they'll actually connect with them."
The silence afterward felt like it lasted forever. Jordan did that thing where he leans back and puts his fingers together like some movie villain.
"Go for it, Arin." Still gruff as ever.
"Thanks, sir. I won't mess this up."
"Course you won't. Why do you think you're still here?"
Hold up – was that almost a normal human expression?
Back in her office, she collapsed into her chair. Finally breathing again. Her fingers flew over the keyboard, pulling up all the project stuff.
"Hey, boss!" Maya's voice broke through her focus.
"We've started moving the Ming pieces to storage. Ready to begin layout planning tomorrow?"
"Perfect timing. Let's gather everyone for a quick meeting."
Meetings, phone calls, design stuff – she barely noticed if it was day or night anymore.
"Coffee?"
Takeshi stood in her doorway, steam rising from an offered cup.
"You're a lifesaver," she said, accepting the warmth gratefully.
"How's the lighting installation coming along?"
"On schedule. The technicians should finish by Friday."
After a week of prep, the exhibition hall was starting to look like something. Display cases lined up nice and neat, waiting for their stuff. The new lights cast everything just right.
"Little more to the left..." she whispered to herself.
"Arin! ARIN!"
Akira's voice shattered the quiet. He burst into the hall, papers flying from his hands like startled birds. His glasses sat crooked, hair disheveled.
"Watch the displays!" She couldn't help grinning though.
"What's got you so excited?"
He bent over, gasping like he'd run a marathon. "You're not... gonna believe... these new artifacts..."
"Breathe, Akira. The artifacts aren't going anywhere."
Crumpled papers spread across a nearby table beneath his trembling hands. "Look at these markings. At first we thought they were just decorative, but..." His finger traced swirling patterns unlike anything in her fifteen years of archaeology.
"These date to the stone age?"
"That's not even the crazy part." He pulled out a photo showing massive bones that dwarfed the research assistants posed beside them.
"The skeleton's all wrong. Like, completely wrong. The density, everything..."
His voice dropped to a whisper. "We found tablets too. The writing system is completely new. But the stone..." He swallowed hard.
"The centerpiece stone is something else. It changes color under different lights, and sometimes..." He leaned closer, eyes wide. "Sometimes I swear it hums."
A chill raced down her spine. "Show me."
His excitement faded away. "Yeah, that's the problem. It's gone missing from secure storage."
"Missing?" No way. Their tracking system was perfect.
"I'll look into it right away."
The storage corridor stretched before her, quiet save for the soft hum of climate control. Her tablet displayed the inventory like a digital security blanket.
"Let's see... Ming vase in C-7, check. Bronze tools in D-3, check. Pottery fragments in..."
Her voice died in her throat. There, squeezed between some old pot and a mirror, was something that definitely shouldn't be there. A stone she could hold in one hand, glowing all silvery.
The lights overhead seemed to pulse with it. Or maybe she was losing it? The air felt weird, like right before a thunderstorm.
Document first. Photo evidence. Proper procedures...
Her hand moved on its own, like something was pulling it. Her fingers shook as they got closer to the stone.
Just gonna take a quick look...
The second she touched it, everything changed.
Energy surged through her fingertips, a wildfire racing through her cells. The room spun into chaos, colors and shapes bleeding together. She tried to pull away, but her muscles refused to obey.
A voice cut through the mayhem – ancient, unfamiliar, yet somehow right. Words she couldn't understand filled her with meaning. Visions flashed: primeval forests, impossible creatures, civilizations lost to time.
"Help..."
The word barely escaped before her knees buckled. Cold floor pressed against her cheek, a final anchor as warmth spread through her body. Darkness swept in, accompanied by the stone's dying hum.
Behind her, the mysterious artifact crumbled to dust, its purpose fulfilled.
The security camera blinked steadily, its red eye watching over an empty room.