Runes Etched Into The Wreckage

After an hour-long drive, we arrived at the Xplore Corp secure storage facility at around 2PM in the afternoon. Regina had prepared some sandwiches and packed a few bottled waters for us to share with Jamie, so we ate together in the park overlooking the Huron River flowing peacefully nearby. After the meal, Jeremy returned to the house — knowing that Jamie and I would be working for hours...and she’d take me back to the house when we were done.
 
The storage facility was at the site of the old Flat Rock Metals building which had previously been a Ford Motor Company parts manufacturing warehouse...but now it was a large, cavernous storage facility for the wreckage of an Xplore plane...the plane I secretly boarded three years ago. The plane that plummeted back to earth when a mysterious force caused total system’s failure, bringing the plane — and me secretly onboard — crashing into the Earth.
 
Jamie swiped through the security gates and led me down a long hallway. We walked together silently until we reached the end of the corridor. A solid black door was secured by a pin-pad which Jamie entered and the door opened after a short “beep” indicating the proper code’s entry.
 
She walked in first and I followed her. Though there were large lights in the ceiling above, they were not yet turned on. Nonetheless, the wreckage filling the room was obvious by the light blue hue that glowed all around.
 
We both just looked at it for a few seconds, speechless.
 
But then, almost instinctively, we began working together in tandem. She was photographing and comparing the plane with pictures from years prior to the accident. I was looking for sources of energy for the blue glow...but the whole plane seemed to be generating energy, though at different times and phases...almost like it was pulsating.
 
We spent hours working together, making comments periodically, but mostly working in silence. Jamie noticed some interesting changes in the plane — maybe not changes, but repairs. Small areas of the protective shielding that had been destroyed in the crash weren’t totally obliterated anymore. Eventually, after another couple of hours passed, Jamie stopped and asked a blunt question:
 
“Sharpe. Have you been coming here and working on this wreckage before today?”, she asked with sincere incredulousness.
 
“What?!” I responded sincerely. “I didn’t even know this was here...honestly. We have so many storage buildings and offsite locations, I didn’t even know about this place.”
 
Jamie explained the small changes she was noticing, sharing before and after photos of select locations on the plane. And she was right, several very small areas looked like they’d been...repaired. In addition to the unexplained repairs, I had also noticed something...runes.
 
“Jamie, look at this.” I pointed to the edge of the plane toward a portion of the wing.
 
Jamie responded blankly, “What?”
 
“The runes. Right here on the edge of the wing. Have you ever seen anything like this?” I asked her.
 
“I don’t see anything there, Sharpe. I’d say you are kidding me, but I don’t think you are. Describe them to me.” She insisted.
 
Perplexed, I moved closer to the wing’s edge and put my hand on the plane right beneath the runes. But at that moment the plane’s glow expanded around my hand and the runes grew even brighter.
 
“I see it” she said. “I didn’t before, but as soon as you touched the wing, I saw it.”
 
And then we heard a loud, metallic “pop”. Right in front of us — as we were watching — a piece of the plane’s wing that was previously warped from heat and pressure popped outward, returning to proper form.
 
Jamie and I looked at each other and then looked back at the wing. “Something isn’t right about this.” She said.
 
“You’re telling me!?” I responded with honest bewilderment.
 
We both instinctively backed away from the wing and returned to the row of computers on the side of the room where there were several chairs...we both sat down.
 
“It’s been a long day, Sharpe. We need to step away from this for a bit and think.” Jamie said.
 
“Agreed.” Looking at a photograph of the runes from the wing. ”I want to do some research on these. Maybe you can check to see if anyone at Xplore Corp had been working on self-repairing technology?”
 

 
“Yeah...” Jamie said, trailing off a little. “I’ll do that...” She didn’t sound very convinced.
 
We walked away from the storage building and Jamie re-engaged the locks and security protocols. As we walked down the long hallway, there was silence. Then Jamie spoke briskly,
 
“Sharpe. You’re still glowing.”
 
The ride back to Sharpe Mansion was perfectly silent. And by the time we arrived back, the glow had eventually worn off, but more questions remained.