Part 26 — The Artifact

After checking for his gun and Xin's knife, Zap grabbed his jacket, which contained the artifact. He put it on and ran outside, towards HQ.

Upon reaching the computer room he saw Hannah focused on typing lines and lines of something Zap didn't know. He looked up at the screen. Giberrish. "I'm back, Hannah."

Hannah turned around. "Hi, Zap. Do you have the artifact?"

"Yeah, it's in my pocket."

"Great! Hold onto that for a bit, I'm almost finished with this..." Hannah typed a few more lines before stepping away from the keyboard. "Done! Now, can you put the artifact on that table over there?"

"Okay..." Zap looked over to a table with 4 men dressed in white coats. He walked over and slowly put down the artifact.

"Thanks so much," Hannah said. "I hope we can solve this mystery soon. I'm getting worried..."

"Worried? About what?"

"I just don't know what could be caused from this case. It's almost done, so anything could happen."

"Huh." Zap walked to the door. "Reach me when it's all done."

"Huh? Why?"

"I want the artifact back."

"Back? But—"

"It's mine, isn't it? I'd love to have it back when it's done."

"A...alright. I'll tell you when it's done."

"Thanks. Bye."

A week later, Zap felt a vibration in his pocket. He pulled out his phone. It was a message from Hannah:

Done. Come pick up the artifact any time.

Zap quickly grabbed his coat and ran outside to HQ.

When he reached the computer room, he saw Hannah at the table with the artifact. "You might notice some...changes," Hannah said. "They just had to tweak it a bit. It's here now, so...there you go!"

Zap picked up the artifact. "Impressive...but where's the real one?"

"Huh?"

"Give me the real one. This is definitely not it."

"I don't—"

"Hannah, it's mine."

"Zap, we can't—"

Zap pulled out Xin's knife, dropping the fake arifact. "Hannah."

"I don't know where it is! I wasn't involved in this!"

"Where do those scientist work?"

"Over at Biostitute! I don't know anything!" Hannah backed away. "Here, I'll pull it up on the computer!" Hannah quickly rushed to the computer and began typing adresses.

"Geez, I thought you worked for a secret agency for a reason..." Zap muttered. He picked up the fake amulet, pocketing Xin's knife. "Huh...I wonder how far they went to try and replicate the artifact."

"Here it is!" Hannah said, calmed down. "I'll print it out for you."

"Thanks, Hannah."

"Sure. Just remember that those four scientists are the top-ranked ones there, so they won't be easy to reach." She handed Zap a sheet of paper.

"Okay." Zap took the paper, looked at it, and began running for Biostitute.