Tunnel access

     We were all a little surprised by our current task: to collect large deposits of iron ore for use in structuring an elaborate tunnel system to move about undetected. The iron would be used for secure the passageways, hide the entrances, and support the dense earth and rock all around. It was odd; we had spent so much time following leads, and chasing information, leading us to portals, which we destroyed, and now we were being told to go back to what we were here for in the first place! It had been awhile since I had actually mined myself, and probably even longer for everyone else. COLUS and OROTHO would be leading the project, Amie would be aiding them in the planning and structural integrity of the entire operation, Joe would be helping devising the elaborate mechanisms to maintain a high security level, and the rest of us would be digging! Luckily I still had my trusty diamond pickaxe to hand, so it wouldn't be so difficult, for me at least.

"Before you go actually, you might want to see the progress we've made with the tunnel to the portal... Follow us..."

Following OROTHO and COLUS to the lab, we went down the stairs and to the area they had stopped before we left to destroy the obsidian farm.

"This is about as much progress we made before you left... Now look down there..."

Before us, was a long, brightly lit tunnel, already secured and supported by stone walls and a high ceiling. Off in the distance, we could make out more light which suggested that it lead somewhere, other than a blank cavern wall...

"Is it is finished? Are we looking at the final tunnel for the passage to the portal?"

"Nearly... The tunnel itself is finished, and we managed to knock down a wall from the portal side, so it is fully connected. We just need to install the security doors and checks to ensure it is secure."

"How long would that take?"

"It depends whether me and Joe can settle on a final design for the door. It's all well and good making a door, and making it secure is the easy bit, but we don't want it to be obvious. We need to think carefully about implementation, controls etc. We can't just put up a switch or lever alongside it on the wall. It's far too easy that way. Instead, we're thinking of utilising a multiple lock system which makes use of AND logic gates before opening. And then we need to think about appropriate ways to hide them."

"Can we go and check this tunnel out?"

"Sure, if you don't believe me, check it out for yourself..."

We made our way down the corridor; it was wide enough for two of us to walk down it comfortably. I can't believe the amount of progress that had been made since we had been gone. I didn't think we had been that long, and yet here we were going down a practically complete tunnel linking the base to the portal!

"Most of the credit goes to THEXIS and AMPHIS for doing the bulk of the work, but COLUS and myself mucked in every now and again. Although, the stone around us is surprisingly soft, so less effort was required than initially thought..."

We reached the end of the tunnel, and, mirroring the base-side passage, a set of stairs led upwards towards the main entrance. As we climbed it, I began to hear the ever familiar sounds of an echoing portal, and knew OROTHO wasn't lying. Reaching the top of the stairs, we saw that there was indeed an entrance to the portal chamber; exposed mossy cobblestone was visible, and eventually, the portal itself came into view.

"That is excellent, OROTHO! Great job!"

"Well, I did my share... But THEXIS was the one who finally broke through this wall into the chamber. According to AMPHIS, he let out an excited whoop, and I'm not surprised. Even with the amount of planning we did, we never thought we could be this accurate. It must be THEXIS' sense of direction..."

"What sense of direction? THEROS is the one who knows everything about his surroundings..."

"Well not necessarily. It seems THEXIS is quite at home underground... He's like a mole..."

"Well, it's great to see massive progress with this... What about the other entrance to this chamber? Have you blocked that off yet?"

"Not yet... If you like, before you start with mining iron, you can do that for us. If you make sure that there's no way for it to be uncovered, then we can ensure it's secure."

Hefting my diamond pickaxe over my shoulder, I moved towards the main entrance to the chamber, whilst OROTHO and COLUS went back down the tunnel, towards the base.

"Let's get started then!"

----

     After a little of a quarter of an hour, we had fully destroyed the initial entrance to the portal chamber leaving only the new access from the base. We would just need to wait until Joe and OROTHO install a security door, and lights, and it would be fully functional. We had headed off through the hatch of the base, and headed into the cliffs to find a rich supply or iron. Hopefully it wouldn't take long, and we always had the advantage of digging as far down as we needed. OROTHO had shown us on the map where we could dig and where we couldn't, in relation to the corridors of the base. We didn't want to accidentally tunnel into our own base! Luckily, with three of us doing one job, we were making excellent progress, and had already extracted a decent amount of iron. We had been told to deposit it within the lab to give to OROTHO, who would smelt it at a later date, as and when it was needed.