The dry passage narrowed after the first bend. Damp footprints crossed old dust in four separate patterns, but the people who had made them were no longer moving as one group. Two sets remained near the center, their strides shortened by the weight of the equipment cases. The armored handler's heavier tracks ranged from wall to wall behind them, while the woman's smaller prints kept several paces ahead.
Rias followed with the dispatch core secured inside its evidence sleeve against her chest. Her other hand held Gloamneedle low beside her leg. The iron bridge and the rest of the party lay behind two pressure shutters, and every attempt to reach the party channel ended at the same gray field.
[Maintenance Purge Isolation Active.]
Alexandra took the lead. Her swords fit the close corridor only while she kept one angled ahead and the other near her hip. Kumoe had remained where Miret's litter needed her, so no Pack Rhythm gathered around Alexandra's boots.
