Disclaimer: Has anyone on ever really been sued for not putting a disclaimer? It is called Fanfiction. Oh, well. I don't own the world of Avatar. Viacom / Nickelodeon does.

A/N: This isn't necessarily what I think the future of the Avatar world will be, but it's an idea. Bending is connected to spirituality, after all, and by some theories technology reduces spirituality. So, this story is a little weird, a little vague, a little experimental. I hope you like it.

'Year of the Shining Rat' comes from the system of eras and Chinese Zodiac that was the dating system on the Library's wheel calendar, plus some artistic license.

Thanks to Button-Monki for being my Beta!

What follows are excerpts from the personal journal of Hao Qi, graduate student from Ba Sing Se University, and only survivor of the disastrous Shu Guan expedition. It should be viewed as an illustration of the effects of prolonged underground sequestration on the mind, or else as a mere curiosity. Please enjoy.

4th Month, 3rd Day, Year of the Shining Rat

Dear Journal,

Classes have been very exciting lately. Professor Hui has been talking about a new archeological find in the Si Wong desert, and she says that she is going to be working there over the summer. She told the class that she is planning on inviting some students to come along as research assistants! Isn't that fantastic? I will definitely apply. How could I let the opportunity to work at an actual dig pass me by? I hope I get the position. Imagine, I could make history! Ha, maybe that is an exaggeration, but from the way Professor Hui has been going on about it, it seems to be a quite groundbreaking discovery. Just thinking about it makes me excited!

-Hao

4th Month, 25th Day, Year of the Shining Rat

Dear Journal,

I got the letter in the mail, and I got in! It said I would be joining only two other students from the class, Pang and Tiao, at the worksite, so I was very, very lucky. I think I may have disturbed my roommate with my celebration when I found out, but he will understand. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, my entrance into the professional archeological world! I think I'm entitled to a little shouting and jumping.

I was also sent the briefing for the site, and it looks fascinating! A canal was being dug through the Si Wong desert, and the earthmovers encountered a huge stone wall, buried in the sand. They estimate that the building is immense. I wonder what it could be? A palace, perhaps, or a fortress, or maybe a city wall like the one here? Well, thankfully the machines did not damage it too much. We'll be lucky enough to be one of the first teams to describe it, isn't that wonderful? I must be off now, I need to write a letter to Xin and tell her about this good news.

-Hao

6th Month, 12th Day, Year of the Shining Rat

Dear Journal,

We have just arrived in Mi Meng, a small city on the edge of the Si Wong, and are waiting in a small inn until our trucks arrive to take us into the desert to the field station. This city is an amazing place. There's a very clear dividing line between the touristy part of the city and the older, poorer area, where we are staying. Over there, there are casinos and pools and restaurants and high-end hotels, and here there are old mud-daub buildings and wells and some bars that Tiao said he wanted to check out, but they look pretty sketchy to me.

Everything is so old-fashioned out here, and everyone is so superstitious. I didn't even know places like this still existed, outside of movies and books and such. Our inn is one of the few places with running water and electricity. Between buildings you can see little shrines to spirits, and prayer flags, and all sorts of things that I am frankly amazed still exist. It is sad, actually, that the people here still live in ignorance and fear. The canal obviously needs to be built, in order to boost the economy, but hopefully we will be able to convince the workers at the site to divert it away from the Shu Guan site. The people here need a better standard of living, and tourism can only do so much.

-Hao

6th Month, 13th Day, Year of the Shining Rat

Dear Journal,

The Si Wong desert is beautiful. I have always enjoyed taking walks in nature, and this is one of the most starkly beautiful landscapes I have ever seen. It really is like an ocean of sand, and you can see for miles in every direction. And so quiet! When we stop the truck's engines for a break, you hear nothing but the rattle of the wind.

Ha, the desert is making me a poet!

Some things aren't so good. The day is blisteringly hot, as is expected. Just for the heck of it, Tiao cracked open an egg on the hood of the truck, and watched it fry. Xiang chided him for wasting food though, so I do not think he will do so again. The nights are freezing, and I have found that I need to wear several layers when I sleep, then wake up boiling hot. Well, no one said the desert would be comfortable.

I should mention Xiang, our guide through the desert. He's a local, and a very odd, superstitious fellow. He wears all sorts of amulets, offers his food to the sprits in the evenings, and does all sorts of strange rituals. But he seems to be a pretty nice guy, which is fortunate, since he's the only one who knows his way through the Si Wong.

Goodnight, tomorrow we should finally arrive at Shu Guan!

-Hao

6th Month, 14th Day, Year of the Shining Rat

Dear Journal,

We have now arrived at the Shu Guan field station. It isn't exactly the finest accommodations I've ever had, but it makes up for it with the surroundings.

The camp is set up at the top of the unfinished canal, near the site of the excavation. The site is amazing to behold. The uncovered wall is enormous, and has been dug around, revealing a huge tower-like structure at the top. Dr. Wa (he's the one in charge of the excavation) says that they think that it might just be the rooftop of an even larger buried structure, easily larger than City Hall. And to think, it was all done before the aid of modern machinery! How did they do it? I can only wonder what sort of fascinating things it conceals.

A rope rigging has been set up for access to the ruin's only apparent opening, a window at the top of the tower structure. According to Dr. Wa, most of the building is filled with sand, but not all, and they've been working all week setting up livable quarters inside, since it is so difficult to get in and out. We actually get to live inside the ruin! It must be at least a little dangerous, since they had us sign waivers and everything. But I trust Dr. Wa and Professor Hui. They won't let anything bad happen.

-Hao

6th Month, 15th Day, Year of the Shining Rat

Dear Journal,

Today we moved down into the ruins or the 'undercamp,' (distinguished from the 'overcamp' we saw yesterday).

I have never seen any place like this. It reminds me of some of the very old buildings back in Ba Sing Se, but much larger and grander, even more than city hall! As we were warned, most of it has been filled with sand, but what is visible is just fantastic. The dry desert air has preserved everything perfectly. The entire place seems to be made up of several levels, going deep into the earth and eventually plunging into the sand. All around the edges are balconies, which are stacked with innumerable shelves. They have only just begun to yield their secrets, but from what it seems, the entire structure is actually some kind of repository for books and scrolls. Whatever culture created it must have greatly valued knowledge, to build such a grand building to hold it. The style of the buttresses points to an origin that is literally thousands of years old, and the mosaic handiwork on the tile-rendered avian symbols we see everywhere is exquisite! Is it possible that the people who designed this building worshipped owls?

It is very strange to be living down here. I thought that the desert was quiet, but in the ruin it is like a tomb. Sometimes, when no one is talking or working, you can almost hear the dust settle. It is a bizarre sensation. The undercamp itself is located on a bridge that spans from one side of the main building to the other. Doctor Wa has assured us that it is safe, although it seems like a very unstable place to me. But I can understand why it is here, since it is out of the path of the earthmovers still clearing sand out of the ruin.

Tomorrow, we get to help catalog the findings!

-Hao

6th Month, 17th Day, Year of the Shining Rat

Dear Journal,

We have been cataloging the finds that have been unearthed from the sand, and they are amazing. They are mostly made up of books and scrolls, but there are plant and animal specimens, sculptures, posters, paintings… to describe the collection as the contents of a mere 'library' is a great understatement! It is really more like a grand museum. I wonder more and more about its original compilers.

I find that my favorites are the beautifully illustrated scrolls. The dry desert sand has perfectly preserved them, and you can still see the finest lines of the manuscripts. I cannot read the ancient text, of course, but the pictures seem to show several common motifs of the era in which they were made: people holding and dancing in fire, levitating rocks, flying, etc. Tiao thinks that they are the results of using one of the many species of peyote native to the area, but I don't think so. I think they are metaphors for some greater message, but we haven't puzzled them out yet. It is all very exciting.

Xiang is still staying with us. Apparently, along with being a guide, he works the earthmovers. Odd as he is, he seems to handle the technology very well. Sometimes, it almost looks like the sand is running away from him when he gets behind the wheel!

On an entirely unrelated note, I had an odd dream last night, which is strange, because I never remember my dreams. Not only was it a dream, but an actual night terror! I couldn't move, and felt as though I was being held in place and suffocated by some outside force, something malevolent and watching. Interesting, no? People in primitive cultures used to believe that night terrors were caused by spirits haunting them, but it's really just a hallucination that occurs when you wake up and keep dreaming. Still, it's stuck with me all 'day' (it is so difficult to judge time under here!), and I find that the hairs on my neck creep whenever I am alone. I am glad for the company of my peers. Without them to bring me back to reality, who knows what things I might dream up!

Good 'night'. It is my shift to sleep, and I need to get in rest when I can. They work us volunteers hard!

-Hao

6th Month, 18th Day, Year of the Shining Rat

Dear Journal,

We found something very disturbing today. The earthmovers were clearing sand out of a new passage, and they found human remains. It had been mummified by the sand, and is quite recognizable. It seems to be an adult male, still fully clothed. You can see its fingernails, its eyebrows, everything. They wrapped it up like they do the more fragile specimens and moved it into the tent with all the rest of the artifacts. I am not sure quite what to think of it. It's certainly not at all what I expected to find here. I know that it is not unusual to find human remains while excavating ruins, but it still feels wrong somehow to disturb it. Silly of me, I know.

I wonder how it got here? It is the first remains we have found here, so I do not think, and Professor Hui agrees, that humans were often buried here. Perhaps, we were not the first to find this place?

Xiang was very disturbed by the find. He says that it is a sign that the 'spirits' do not want us here, and that something bad will happen. He is a very jumpy fellow.

Another night terror last night. This time, a huge, blank white face with flat black eyes was staring at me and pressing me into my sleeping bag. It told me to leave. It was quite disturbing. There must be something about this place that makes my unconsciousness work overtime.

-Hao

6th Month, 19th Day, Year of the Shining Rat

Dear Journal,

Every day we uncover more priceless artifacts, more clues as to this building's origin, but they are not easy to solve. According to Dr. Wa, the artifacts come from many different periods, covering a span of millennia, and from all over the world. It doesn't make much sense, but I am certain that it will eventually become clear.

Someone has been taking the artifacts that we have already catalogued and stored. Professor Hui gave us all a lecture on playing pranks, but I don't think even Tiao would mess with the artifacts. We were worried about looters, but we found the artifacts again back where we first unearthed them. We were glad to get them back, but it was very strange.

On another note, some sort of animal has been getting into the camp. There are footprints all over the place. They are canine, so it is likely some sort of desert fox or jackal. It must have gotten in after they uncovered the ruin, because there is no way a creature could survive in here while it was still completely buried. The odd thing is that there is no food missing, even though we have been making no efforts to secure it. We'll just need to be careful in the future.

I am starting to miss being outside. We do get to leave the undercamp to dispose of wastes and such, but we mostly stay down here. Not that I am complaining, it would just be nice to get more breaks. Eh, so maybe I am complaining, but my dreams keep getting stranger, so I think it's justified, for my mental health. Last night, I dreamed I saw a strange man rifling through our files. He looked odd, faded somehow. I called out to him and asked him who he was, and he looked up at me. He seemed surprised, and said something, but I couldn't understand him. I walked towards him, and he dissolved into nothing.

I don't know why these dreams are staying with me so much. They are just dreams! Incorporeal visions. I should just forget them and leave them be.

-Hao

6th Month, 20th Day, Year of the Shining Rat

Dear Journal,

This place is having a very strange effect on everyone. Today, I got lost, and had another hallucination. I saw one of the animals that have been wandering in the camp while I was working. It was a fox, and though it was a cute little thing, it was carrying around a scroll, I suppose to line its den. So I tried to chase it and frighten it into dropping the artifact. I just couldn't bear the thought of a priceless, ancient scroll going to make an animal's nest! Unfortunately, it lost me in the many stacks of books, and I found myself alone.

I immediately got a strong, irrational feeling of being watched, and I looked around to see if any of the others had followed me. I really don't like being alone down here. I know it is silly, there is nothing here, but chills creep down my spine nonetheless. Anyway, I turned around and saw the strange man I saw looking through our papers before. I thought for a moment that the dream I had two days ago wasn't a dream at all, and asked him what he was doing here, but I couldn't understand his answer. I could see him quite clearly, however. He was wearing the usual robes worn by the people in the area to protect from the sun, as well as a sun hat. It was very odd, since the ruin itself is quite dark.

He certainly looked solid enough, and was gesturing towards me animatedly, but while I was trying to understand him a look of fear passed over his face, and he vanished. I was very surprised, of course, and looked around to find him. For a moment, I looked behind me, and I thought I saw a giant black thing with a round white face. Then it was gone too. It was… very eerie.

Maybe I need more sleep.

I know I'm not the only one to be seeing these things. I heard Pang talking about how she didn't like working alone either, and Professor Hui has asked us to report any strange people we see around the site. She was very agitated, and told us to stop putting the artifacts back on the shelves. But none of us have touched them! At least, I know I haven't, and Pang and Tiao swear they haven't. Xiang became absolutely hysterical this morning and left, yelling about ghosts and the summer solstice. Now we need to hire someone new to work the earthmovers.

What is causing all this? It's all I can think about now, even more than our latest finds. Well, the good news is that tomorrow we'll be moving some of the artifacts out of the undercamp and to the overcamp, so some of us will be able to stop working down here and work up there instead. That will be very nice. I need a break.

-Hao

I can barely write. I don't even know what to say, or how to say it. I'll try to describe what has happened, in hope that it will make more sense in retrospect, but I doubt it will.

It had had enough. The thing, I mean, with the white face and the black eyes and the wings. It tolerated us for a while, but then we tried to take away its treasures and it was finished with us. It brought everything down, destroyed everything. It was like the world falling apart. There was sand everywhere, in my eyes, my mouth.

And then… I don't even know how to describe it. It felt as though the earth and sand and stone itself was moving, bending around me and lifting me up. Something hit my head, and I don't remember much, but now I'm in the hospital at Mi Meng and they tell me that Xiang dug me out and saved me.

They say that it was an earthquake, that destroyed the ruin and the canal, but it wasn't! No earthquake could have been like that. The bird-thing did it, but I don't know how and Xiang said spirits did it for goodness' sake and I don't know what to believe. And Tiao and Pang and Dr. Wa and Professor Hui and all the workers, they're all still down there, and it has them, just like it had the other man, the dead one.

I think I have gone mad.

Maybe it's all a dream, but I know what I saw, or I think I did. Can I trust my senses, or did Tiao sneak peyote juice into my canteen? I don't know. Everything is full of contradictions. I suppose I can only cling to the hope that my reason has not completely gone.

After several years of therapy, Hao Qi made a full recovery from his traumatic ordeal. Today he teaches History at Ba Sing Se University.