Valentina Felicia woke up with a smile on her face. The twelve day countdown to her 20th birthday had started. As an explorer, Valentina had uncovered many interesting things, but her biggest dream in exploring was to go to Coober Pedy in South Australia. There were so many half underground houses and shops, it would be the perfect place to unearth ruins. The best thing was, as an early birthday gift from herself, she would be going there.

Valentina’s ears popped as she landed at the Coober Pedy Airport. A few minutes later, she was in a taxi and was heading to her accommodation, the Ground House.

Everywhere she looked, all Valentina could see was the outback. It seemed to stretch on forever. After a few minutes, little windows were visible from underneath what looked like mounds of sand and desert soil.

As she checked into her hotel room, she noticed a small door sticking out of the sandy hill that she could see from her half underground bedroom’s window. The door seemed to be made of sandstone, blending perfectly well into its surroundings.

She walked outside the hotel and circled it until she found the window to her room. She walked a few steps back, then turned to face the hidden door she saw from her window. She took some deep breaths, then pushed the door with all her might.

The sandstone door opened with a creak, revealing a half demolished library which looked like it was there five hundred years ago. Valentina stumbled from the force of opening the door before switching on her torch to explore the ruins. A wooden desk with long metal legs and creaky drawers was stationed near the door, so Valentina guessed that it was the librarian’s desk.

The desk was a mess. It was covered in papers and books. Valentina picked up the two things that caught her eye and hurried to her room before it became dark.

The sky was turning a shade of indigo when Valentina exited the library. She hurried around the desert hills and then finally entered her hotel before heading straight to her room.

Once she was back in her room, Valentina placed the two things she got from the ruined library onto her bed. There was a journal and a device with gears that spun so fast it seemed to be faster than light. She flipped through the journal and played around with the device, unaware that this would change her life both physically and mentally.