An acquaintance

The surrounding walls of the ruin were extravagant despite the worn-down condition from being entombed 500 meters deep down from the earth's surface since ancient times. Intricate ornaments on the walls which represented the Mayan civilization had crumbled to a certain degree, mosses huddled deep in the ruptures between the conjunction of the walls. Despite being out of reach of sunshine and the fact explorers can only view the walls with dreary artificial lights, the enormous monuments may be seen with the naked eye. The complete construction in its prime may be vividly visualized from just a fraction of the main encircling walls, despite the reality that the majority of the walls have been buried deep into the stones.

The detailed itinerary shapes embarked from microscopic droplets of stalactites scattered in front of the walls, delivering to the observers a feeling that they were standing before Morpheus's hallucinatory realm.

Indeed, nobody from the explorer's crew had uttered a single word even Arthur with his nonchalant manner of speaking. The only sounds were the subtle noises of equipment colliding with one another.

They were not silent out of politeness, but rather, they had passed all manner of wondrous sights before coming here, which had stolen their psychological needs.

Pancho Tsukamoto was a distinguished figure, he visited countless sites where the word "extravagant" was used to characterize such places. In truth, even Pan found it hard to control the impulse to gawk foolishly at his surroundings, given the splendour surrounding him.

The smile on Pan's face was filled with self-mockery. Humans would naturally manifest their utmost respect for a realm that exceeded ordinary mundane realism. Anyone unimpressed by these ancient architectural and artistic marvels must surely lack the capacity to feel.

Putting aside Larry's suspicions. Pan can feel every subtle muscle movement from every step that he is taking, perhaps he will never question again the uncertain feelings hidden deep in his abysmal world of introspection. Despite the mere view from the encircling walls, Pan was assured that everything in the ruins can satiate his thirst for "novelty" and conjure up his long-forgotten humanistic urges ever since he started making his very first plate of food.

Larry, Luc and their team quickly regained their senses and started to gather every single bit of information they could extract from the sights before their eyes.

Arthur, the leader of the crew muttered: "Pan….My apology, world-class chef. O' my dear client, frankly speaking, this may be the last discovery of my life, however, the scenery before me is very well the last thing that I am willing to remember on my deathbed. Thank you for allowing me to be here."

Pan was surprised for a moment at Arthur's words, but he quickly ignored that and continued to walk closer. Pan stood before a pair of vast double doors, the only unscathed structure that was not massively touched by nature. Intricate carvings decorated both sides of the doors, a beautiful goddess on the right and a cruel-looking demon on the left. Countless statues of Mayan humans were arrayed around them.

Larry was busy taking notes, he consciously stopped his action when Pan moved forward on his own. Larry's intuitive conjecture about Pan never once hindered his duty of keeping the world-class chef's safety regardless of putting his life on the line. Larry shifted towards Pan hastily.

"My apology, Tsukamoto-san. Please take into consideration your personal safety, lead explorer Arthur and the pioneers will be going in front to assure any safety measures as much as possible."

I was brought back to reality. I reached for a handkerchief and folded it twice. I then lightly moistened the cloth. I placed the handkerchief over my closed eyes, and the ideal insulated soft warm water damps spaced out my deluging thoughts for a split second. I was able to catch up with the current situation.

"Thank you for your concern, Sanderson-san."

"If you do not mind Tsukamoto-san, please take some time to rest yourself for a short moment as I will be having a brief discussion with the head explorer Ronald. I am assured that explorer Bailie from the escorting team will accompany you for the time being."

I watched Larry as he walked away from me. Larry had genuine concerns for my well-being, granted that his notions did not lessen one bit.

'As I've thought, a truly interesting gentleman.'

I went and sat on a chair prepared by the porters from the escorting team, I waved at James.

"Bailie-san, what are the explorers over there doing right now?"

Despite his status as an archaeologist explorer, James stood near Pan in the posture of a servant eager to serve a regal guest to the best of his ability.

"Senior Sanderson and lead explorer Ronald, together with their archaeological colleagues, are reviewing the information collected from the unmanned drones that were sent earlier, the alpha team had already devised a strategy at the entrance the day before. However, as the first piece of information translated from the surrounding walls, they are implementing additional safeguards for everyone, particularly you, Tsukamoto-san. Please do not pay too much attention to this procedure, I can assure you that it would not take a long time."

James's gentle yet sharp manner of speaking resembled an honorary member of a preordained British noble house. If he hadn't participated in an excursion like this, one may mistake James for a modern-world noble.

I was suddenly interested in James, I began to take a closer look at the man standing beside me.

"Thank you very much, Bailie-san. By the way, I've seen an article about you a few years earlier, you stated in the article that the British processing ingredients method for fine-dining meals may mislead the cuisine itself. I was wanting a conversation with an enthusiast like that, why did you openly disagree with such a prolonged tradition?"

James shifted his standing position to face Pan.

"If Tsukamoto-san is eager to know about what I've stated in the article, I have no intention of hiding my private thoughts after all. People with little Locus self-control believe that their behaviour is shaped by fateful events. I understand that it is not wise to state my opinion as facts nor do I intend to adopt any emotionally charged opinions."

James briefly closed his eyes and glanced at Pan.

"Tsukamoto-san, you are an elite in the world's culinary culture even within the elite paradigm despite your recent resignation. In this context, common folks with a mild interest in cooking like me look upon you as a role model. However, after the death of the former British cuisine ambassador Gary Frances Spencer of house Ludenberg, I started to question myself in turn about the true paradigm, his legacy sparked a heated enthusiasm within my mind. When I received an honorary degree from the British National Archaeology University and became a certified explorer with the National Archaeology Association, I began to pose my view on a deteriorating era of cuisine."

James began losing his composure.

"What is the underlying motivation behind a diet? Humanity was at the bottom of the food chain during the Stone Age, and as human civilization advanced by leaps and bounds, a spectacular deprivation of fine meals emerged. We all want to consume delicious cuisine. However, food has become a major issue for everyone in the present era, there is a cost that must be paid to eat, to survive. Why is there only 10% of the population part of the labour force and this is considered rationalization…..Excuse me Tsukamoto-san, I am sorry for displaying such a poor demeanour."

As is customary in Japan, James slightly bent his head.

I chuckled out loud, I looked at James again and poured him a cup of tea that was prepared by me earlier.

"I hope that you like it, Bailie-san. This is a traditional Japanese tea made from lemon grass and medicinal herbs from the Edo period. I prepared the ingredients and brewed this tea myself."

James received the cup of tea and gulped it all at once as an apologetic demonstration of his earlier actions.

I patted my lap and stood up.

"Bailie-san, I am well aware that you are sceptical about me. I also know that you are in this position under Sanderson-san's proposal to Ronald-san."

I stood facing James and gently smiled.

"Let us be close acquaintances during this journey will you?"

James's facial expression was a difficult one to read.

______________________________________

The men arrived at a hemispherical room, the explorers had used flares to keep track of the path. Because everyone was already satisfied with the previous scenery, few of them paid much attention to the furnishings and surroundings.

Another pair of double doors were placed at the end of the room. However, the size and form of the doors were not as striking as those on the surrounding walls. Nonetheless, everyone was taken aback by the doors' condition, as there were just a few minimal touches from nature. An emblem of the Mayan golden sun was embedded at the centre, several attenuate hemispheric sculptures matching the room design overlapped each other on both sides of the doors.

Arthur gestured a halt to the explorers.

"Larry, get ahead with your fancy devices and do us the safety protocol."

Larry quickly set up a small machine with multiple antennas on the top. The machine started to scan the structure ahead behind the doors, and a small drone was deployed and flew in front of the doors. An array of laser beams from the drone's front cannon swept thoroughly at the door. After a hasty analysis, Larry palmed his forehead.

"Arthur, this is not looking good. We are getting a lot of false results ahead of us, although the drone has given results that there isn't any dangerous poisonous matter on the door...But the doors were twice the thickness of the one in front of us."

Larry gestured to Arthur and other archaeologists to gather around.

"The data is showing that the structure behind the door is very odd. Multiple layers of floors are overlapping on the floor, I would strongly believe that is an indication of booby traps, deep ruptures were detected on the supporting walls as well. In conclusion, I think that we should postpone the exploration for now and leave the work to the recon team."

The 33 men had deep frowns on their faces.

Arthur suddenly waved at a few explorers.

"Aight, let's do this instead. Oi old man Barry! Gather some ex-recon guys, we bout' to head in there. Everyone stay here until further notice…..Oh yeah, recon guys get yourself changed, the suits are by the porters."

Larry came to Pan, this time he approached Pan with a much less elegant walking pose.

"My apology for the constant delays in the journey, Tsukamoto-san. I intend to have medics check up on you frequently but I thought that might displease you instead. Please tell Bailie-san and anyone whenever possible if you do not feel right. I will have to supervise the recon team."

Larry turned to James and pointed at the supply bags from the porters.

"James, I need you to stay with Tsukamoto-san for now. The oxygen tanks and emergency stretcher are all in there. Get the porters to escort him to the cockpit at the entrance as fast as you can if you don't feel right about the chef. Do you understand me, James?"

Larry left James behind with Pan and continued his duty with the machine.

James stood beside Pan with the same pose from before.

"Hmm, do you understand me, James? Looks like I'm not the only one being kept in check. That Sanderson-san, do you look up to him?"

James took a long breath.

"I genuinely don't know how you were able to spot his slight change in tone of voice, I can understand that you're familiar with various English accents due to your status but even to this extent, I don't doubt if you were able to detect the gestures between him and Ronald-san, Tsukamoto-san."

James positioned himself again.

"I have no other choice but to not look up to him. After all, what I'm planning on achieving had determined a pathway for me."

Flexible military bodysuits made from the finest materials were donned by the 4 men, and a cable was attached to their waist. Arthur, Barry and the 2 recon men put on semi-gas masks and night-vision goggles around their eyesight level.

The recon men positioned themselves before the gate.