A young boy and an old man stood in a bleak room with nothing but two doors on either side, one ordinary, and the other large and of metal.
"Strip," The older man commanded.
The young boy sighed, but a minute later, he stood there in his undies.
"I know you wouldn't try anything, but it's protocol," The older man said.
"I know."
The older man started turning the wheel on the vault door. It spun freely back and forth with a trilling sound before finally stopping with a clicking sound. The large wall of metal slowly swung open with a hiss.
Lights snapped online one row at a time on the other side, lighting up the maximum security warehouse on the other side.
"I'm sure you already know, but it's in my duties to repeat, so I will tell you again.
"You may only choose a Boon from the first storage, and you may only choose a single Boon from the shelves, regardless of type. We'll know if you pick more than one. The only exception to this rule is if you are unfortunate enough to pick up a Curse. In that case, we will deal with the Curse, and you will get a new opportunity at a later occasion. Any questions?"
"Yeah. Since it's protocol to undress, why is it so freaking cold in here?" The young boy asked while hurriedly rubbing his shoulders to try to heat himself up.
"Oh, we try. But one of the Boons deeper inside doesn't like the heat."
"Sounds more like a Curse."
"Maybe. But if it were a Curse, we would be in a lot of trouble. It just…has a strong personality."
"Whatever you say. Let's get this over with before I get frostbite."
The older man stepped aside and let the young boy into the vault. The vault door remained open, but instead of watching the young boy go about the shelves, the guard walked toward the other door while nervously fiddling with the baton on his belt.
Meanwhile, the young boy had already started looking at the shelves with skeptical eyes.
Dig wanted a good Boon, but he also wanted something that spoke to him. Unfortunately, he didn't like any of the items on the shelves. The glasses with black frames and sparkling violet glass looked pretty cool, he had to admit, but he didn't like wearing things on his face.
Then there was a piece of lint next to them, and a stuffed mouse on the other side.
Of course, for most of them, he wouldn't be using the actual items on the shelves. But they were still representations of the Artifacts, Skills, or Powerups he would get.
While hugging himself and jumping up and down slightly, Dig ended up wandering over to a poorly lit corner with an almost empty shelf. There, he finally saw something interesting.
It was an oval rock, black as the midnight sky, polished smooth like porcelain.
"Ouch!" But as he walked toward it, he stepped on something that made pain shoot through his big toe.
"Hup! Ah!" He jumped up and cradled his foot, almost falling over in the process. He kept bouncing on one foot as he tried to regain balance and look at his toe at the same time. He squinted in the dim light, but he didn't see anything.
He was sure he had broken skin, but there wasn't a drop of blood anywhere to be seen. The pain also faded quickly. And since there was nothing on the ground, either, Dig just frowned.
"What the heck?" He pressed his big toe against the floor a couple of times to make sure, but the pain was completely gone, so he just reached for the black stone and chalked up the pain to being a side effect of the cold.
But the moment he was about to reach it, pain echoed through his entire body again, and he stumbled, accidentally brushing against a dagger sheath shorter than his pinky finger.
He hadn't even seen it, but it was too late by the time he touched it. The leather sheath disappeared, and a feeling of warmth settled at Dig's hip. It was a welcome sensation in the cold Vault, but it made the chill in the rest of his body more apparent, and since he was done, he hurried back.
It wasn't the Boon he had wanted, but it was better than nothing.
His bare feet slapped against the floor as he scurried out of the Vault, only to come face to face with a black baton.
"Wah!" He yelped and raised his arms.
"Young man?" The guard looked at Dig in surprise.
"Yes! What!" Seeing the guard lower his baton, Dig hurried to grab his clothes and get dressed while he could still feel his fingers.
"Sorry about that. I heard a weird plapping sound and thought you had been consumed by a Curse."
"Well, I wasn't."
"Yes, I see that. So, did you get a Boon?"
"Yeah."
"Good. That means I can close this."
"You do that. Is it alright if I leave now? No more protocol?" Dig asked a little impatiently, shivering from the cold.
"Uh, no, actually. Your father wanted to meet you after this."
"Urgh." Dig groaned in annoyance, but he could already feel the stuffy aftershave from his father's driver on the other side of the door, so it was already too late. He looked at the guard with narrow eyes.
"You'll pay for this, Jameson."
"Just doing my job, young man." Although that's what he said, Jameson avoided Dig's eyes as the young man walked backwards out of the room while gesturing with two fingers between the two of them.
One painfully quiet car ride through the city later, Dig and Arker, the driver, stood in front of a tall skyscraper. Dig already knew it was too late to run, but he was tempted to make an attempt.
With a sigh, he resigned himself to his fate and followed Arker into the building. He nodded in greeting to the receptionist, who returned the greeting. Then, they went to the designated elevator and rode it to the top floor, all of which was an office belonging to a very wealthy man.
That man looked up from his desk toward the elevator when the doors opened.
"Arker, where is my son?" He asked when the driver he sent to pick up Dig returned alone.