We walked back a whole 5 miles before finally reaching the entrance of the Microsoft Mines. I stepped inside the bag and Doc tied it leaving some space so I could breathe. We also borrowed a trolley that we found from the wired valleys. This made it easy to carry me. It was a shaky ride but it was the only choice.
I lay down lifelessly on the cart as Mozart and Doc pulled me ahead. "There! Those are the gates to the mines", I could hear Doc whisper to Mozart. We went on for a few minutes before stopping with a sudden halt. "Do you have your ID?", a stern and hoarse voice asked. I waited for a few seconds of silence. *Whizz*. The doors had opened. It seemed Doc had shown his ID to the security. "Wait a second. The fox is not allowed entry", the guard shouted. "He is my friend and a visitor to the mines", Doc said.
"Does he have ID for that?", the guard asked. "Uhhh… He…Umm", Doc stuttered.
"When I say run, run as quick as you can through the mines", Doc whispered to both me and Mozart.
I prepared for the inevitable. I hoped and prayed I wouldn't fall off and braced myself for the run. Just as I saw Doc's mouth beginning to open, a loud voice filled the air and everyone started to look in its direction. It was another document. It looked just like Doc, but much older.
"Don't worry Carl. Let in both the fox and Doc. He's a relative of mine", the document said to the guard.
Both Mozart and I sighed in relief, but as I looked at Doc, he gulped in tension. It was as if he had just seen someone he had never wanted to see in his life. The guard reluctantly let both of us in. As I looked back, I thought I heard the guard muttering something about the strange document. Anyway, we moved on. We went in through the gate into a tight room. It looked like an airlock gate.
"It's an airlock to sanitize the visitors before entering the mines. It makes sure any kind of virus can't enter the mines so that the computer can run smoothly", the mysterious document informed. I looked at Doc's reaction. His fists were clenched and a bead of sweat trickled down his arm. He made a face, it looked like a combination of anger and fear.
We passed through the airlock. We started to walk through the hallways of the mines. I could see the millions of workers, tying safety belts onto their waists, and dropping down into the dark abyss below. I could also see carts filled with peculiar gems. Each cart was filled with only one type and had a label on it. A cart filled with sky-blue, transparent gems was labeled 'Data-iamonds'. A cart full of blazing, red jewels was labeled 'ROM-bies', while a cart filled to the brim with lush, gleaming green minerals was labeled 'Elctro-meralds'. As I took in the various beautiful and vibrant sights, we passed onto another hallway. A sign showed that we were going into the 'CEO's room'. "The CEO's room? Why would be going there?", Mozart whispered to Doc, voicing out my thoughts.
"This man is none other than my uncle. He is Mr. Word. The CEO and founder of Microsoft Mines. This is why I have been acting really frustrated since I first saw him today. He might be my uncle, but he is very workaholic. In fact, the reason I left my prestigious job as manager of Microsoft Mines was because I never wanted to be like him. He will probably try to reinstate me here. So, we'll have to get out of here as soon as possible", Doc explained quietly. "You were the manager of THE MICROSOFT MINES?" Mozart said, rather loudly.
"Talk Quietly!" Doc said, shushing Mozart. As he said this, he looked nervously at Mr. Word. Though the strange character was walking ahead in complete silence, I noticed a twitch in his eyes as he heard Mozart talking. This man seemed nice, but Doc really seemed to hate him and I trusted Doc.