The Discovery

Sideshow had a contest to write some short stories, with some requirements...
had to be 500 words or less, and contain Sideshow Collectibles, or mention their products at least once.

One of the entries I submitted is here:

"Professor! Professor! Please... this way, it is most imperative!"

Jackson was always the excitable student, I thought. What now? It's 2 o'clock in the morning. This had better be good, I thought, lest they desire an old man's temper."

"Yes, let me get my glasses. Now... What is it?"

"Sir, Professor, we've reached the outer sanctum. We believe it to be untouched for centuries, but it seems we're not the first to discover it. We've sent down the robotic droid to find any artifacts."

"What have we seen?"

"Well, it appears that ... here, Sir... on the screen, we're getting direct feedback from the droid's on-board cameras. Channel one, please, Roger."

"Yes, sir."

"They didn't make dwelling places like they do now. I'm surprised we found this structure intact. Organic beams, surrounded by hard, inorganic red substances protecting it..."

"Jackson...hush, please. Roger..."

"Yes, Professor?"

"Pan the camera to the right,... right there. Stop. Now... zoom in, please. Is that a passageway? I can barely make it out, but it appears to be a carbon-based passageway."

"I'm navigating the robot now, Sir. Mr. Jackson, if you could please not block my view. Thank you."

All these years of research, and nothing has turned up. Impossible, but there existed no records of the mountain carving origins. None at all. It appeared to have only two of four images remaining. Still, no explanation the symbolism or importance could be. Decades ago, a discovery of tattered organic material...cardboard...was made. On it, a partial image and the words "ESHOW COLLE" and "EOR HIN TO". This was originally overlooked, but a recent find showed similar markings on yet another tattered cardboard which read "DESHOW COLL" and "RA INC". They had to be connected.

"Professor...Professor..."

"Yes, Jackson? What is it now? I must have been in deep thought."

"Roger navigated the robot as you had directed. Roger, please expand camera 3, zone 1 into the viewscreen, magnification 300."

"Jackson...is that... are those what I think they are? Roger, use the robot's arms and have it return those two items to the craft. Take extreme care as these have survived through ages."

"Yes, Sir."

I could not believe my eyes. Before us now were two boxes, made of the same material as the earlier discoveries, with similar markings. "SHO OLLE" and "GEOR HINGT", "HOW COLLEC" and "RA INC".

Carefully brushing off centuries of dust, we examined our find. The boxes seemed to contain miniature statues, both with faces matching the mountain carvings. The inner lining of the boxes contained a history of information on the two individuals never before known.

"ESHOW COLLE" and "DESHOW COLL" were actually "SIDESHOW COLLECTIBLES". What we knew only as "EOR HIN TO" was GEORGE WASHINGTON, and "RA INC" as "ABRAHAM LINCOLN".

The missing connection was finally established. The images discovered on the mountain were to remember two great leaders from an ancient nation's past, and we would never have known, had it not been for this discovery.