Story Seed - Blood

Image Source: http://boosoohoo.deviantart.com/art/Mayan-Civilization-335468226

"Blood."

"Blood?"

"Yup. Just ...blood."

"C'mon."

Clarke shrugged, "What do you want me to say? The key was blood.  The smell of it, the feel of it, the friggin' taste of it. Blood. Blood blood blood blood blood!" He shivered, "We don't have to do this.  Honestly, I'm creeped out. This could be some seriously bad place."

"If we bail out we'll never know." Sean jerked a thumb back to the other room. "They're waiting.  What do you want me to tell them?  Tell them that we skip a payday because this one seems dangerous? We've seen danger before."

"Not like this.  This seems ..."

"Bad. Yeah, you said that. Listen," Sean said, "we translate, blend in when we get there.  We grab some cyphers, maybe some gold or jewels, and then we bail.  We have a inapposite gate if we need it, and we can always translate out with only a little time.  What's the risk?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"OK. Now I think I get it." Sean looked up the steep steps of the pyramid. The plaza was busy, but he, Clarke, and the others blended in.  They were dressed in apparel that matched the world, skins and woven grasses. Ornamentation made of volcanic glass, gold, and teeth. "Blood. Yeah, makes sense."

"Yeah." Clarke agreed.  The others nodded as well. "Listen, we're here, and we may as well stick around and try to go unnoticed.  Make the trip home tomorrow."

"And try to at least make a payday out of this excursion," Sean finished for him.

"I'd agree," Samuels said, "but I don't think we want to stick around that long."  They all turned to look at him. Samuels was decked out in priestly garb, and his face was more serious that usual.  "Sacrifices will be made today, and according to the new memories I have, the gods themselves will choose."

Looking upwards to the pyramid they could see a massive figure, body slick and red with blood, appear in a flash of fire and smoke. A sudden thunderclap drove the point home.

Summary - A group of recursion minors translate to a world based on Central American myth and find that sometimes the danger of a new recursion truly is not worth the risks.