Noah descended the stairs quietly, one hand trailing along the wall as the light above grew dimmer with each step.
The basement corridor was narrow and low, the air cooler down here, carrying the faint smell of dust and old machinery. The flickering lights from the floors above did not reach this far. The only light came from thin strips of pale blue running along the base of the walls, barely enough to see by.
He reached the bottom and stepped through the open doorway into the chamber.
He stopped.
He put his spear in the storage ring.
'Okay... everything is just like yesterday,' he thought while looking at it.
The machine filled most of the room.
It was enormous, a towering structure that dominated the entire space, its surface smooth and dark but covered in faint seams and embedded panels, each one lined with thin strips of dim blue light that pulsed slowly and steadily, like a heartbeat.
