The only sound in the dark Pharoah's tomb was the faint whizzing of the drill vibrating in his hands. Archaeologists from around the world were watching him in the harsh glare of lamps, hooked up alongside webcams and news feeds and torches that flickered and danced with his jittering tools.

The sweat was already streaming down his brow, he and his team had announced they would be cracking open the fabled Tomb of Anubis hidden deep within the Great Pyramid of Khufu. Half a year after its discovery, the tomb had defied all attempts to break its seal. The hardest and finest diamond drills had barely put a scratch into its mysterious door, and any damage seemed to vanish overnight. Professor Alisto had spent two months developing this new drill bit alloy, and it had proven to be just the right toughness to chisel excruciatingly slow through the thick stone. Four hours into the delicate operation, he had removed three of the stone seals that kept the massive door sealed for thousands of years, and the fourth was just about to...

>SNAP<

His drill bit, the second one, shattered abruptly and broke his exhausted daze with a jolt. He looked up at the immense stone visage of Anubis, oddly stylized with features he had never seen before in any of his studies over the years.

"Whoops, that's... uh, that's number two. I guess Anubis is still doing his best to play hard to get, eh?"

His assistants chuckled nervously as he slotted in the third and final drill bit. This would be his crowning achievement, a lifetime spent studying the ancient secrets of the Egyptians would not be halted because of his lack of preparedness.

The drill bit did not take long to find its way through, and the fourth seal broke with a deep crack.

Cheers erupted from around the world as the assistants began to pry open the door with crowbars. With a rush of joy, Professor Alisto stepped into the final secret chamber and shed light into a room that had not seen any for millenia...

^Thoom

Empty...? This was a featureless, blank room. Barely more than a large closet!? What... just a small, ancient wooden sphere, cracked open and swiftly turning to dust...

Thoom

There were sounds of confusion and surprise, followed by assorted camera flashes and disappointment. The world had tuned in to... this?

Thoom

Professor Alisto blinked as he realized that there had been several distant peals of thunder audible just after he had broken the seal, and he finally wondered... how could they be hearing thunder half a kilometer underneath a Pyramid?

Thoom

The walls began to emit a faint, blue light. Words began to appear. He could make out several hieroglyphs, but they were scattered among an unknown glyphic language...

Thoom

One word caught his eye, and he began to read as the words grew brighter and brighter. The entire room fell silent at his beckoning, lights dimming to enhance the view. He paled.

THOOM

His voice dry and quavering, he spoke the words glaring brightly on the wall.

"Let those who witness the desecration of my resting place be judged for their crimes..."

THOOM

The walls began to shake. The glow brightened further, static electricity filled the air.

THOOM

The whole world would soon know their fate.




THOOM