The jeep slowly pulled up in the gathering twilight. The switched-on headlights cut through the darkness, illuminating the gates leading to the fenced scientific territory. Standing by the gates were their fathers and an armed guard, Joseph. Dr. Marcus, Liam’s father, looked tense. Nicholas, William’s father, held his hands behind his back; his stern gaze expressed nothing but fatigue. The youths stopped the jeep but did not turn off the engine. Liam gripped the steering wheel tightly. He could feel William, sitting next to him, drawing breath tensely. The presence of the guard meant this was more than just concern over a late return. This was protocol.

  ?"Gentlemen. We have certain rules: from nine in the morning until six in the evening, not eight," Marcus said softly but sternly.

  ?"Please do not force us to restrict you to walking tours of the complex grounds," Nicholas added, his expression unchanging.

  ?"Yes, the desert is unpredictable. Despite radio contact, nothing replaces a timely return. But I think this was an unusual case, and they won't repeat it," Joseph said. The guard lowered his automatic rifle, nodding cautiously to the youths; his voice was quiet, almost apologetic.

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  ?Liam and William climbed wearily out of the jeep.

  ?Waiting until Joseph stepped away, they exchanged glances and shifted their demeanor—the fatigue vanished, replaced by solemn anticipation.

  ?"Dad, Dr. Marcus, come here quickly, we have something to show you," William said.

  ?The parents, dissatisfied but yielding, moved toward the back of the jeep where Liam and William stood.

  ?Liam lowered the tailgate and threw back the canvas.

  ?A soft, shimmering, bright blue glow, like daylight, illuminated the space within a ten-meter radius of the jeep.

  ?"What is this?!" Nicholas exclaimed.

  ?"We found it thirty miles from here," Liam said.

  ?"What is it? And where did you get it?" Marcus asked, staring in shock.

  ?"Are you joking with us?" Nicholas added.

  ?"No, no, we found it at a depth of a meter and a half. We’d like to know what it is ourselves," William said.

  ?"Did you look at the spectrometer readings?" Marcus continued.

  ?"Yes," Liam replied. "It throws an error; it can't analyze it."

  ?Marcus shifted his gaze to Nicholas, looking at his colleague silently but meaningfully. And after a few seconds, he added:

  ?"We need to visualize this using Hyper-Resolution. It’s a perfect specimen, Nicholas. At the same time, we’ll increase the visualization threshold by 5% from yesterday’s peak range."