The joint expedition reached the Heart of Reflection at midday on the seventh day.
The land simply fell away into a wide crater with no visible bottom. Above the centre of that emptiness a colossal mirror hung motionless in the air, its surface perfect and unmarked. The mirror was taller than any tower in the Bone City and wider than Isolde's largest living ship. Light from the shifting sky of the Expanse moved across it without ever settling into a single reflection.
We stopped at the crater's edge. Lady Sable, Lian, Mei, and Rhea stood with the original circle and the remaining survey teams. No one spoke for a long time. The mirror waited.
When the first of us stepped close enough, the surface came alive.
