They arrived at the Ironspire Mines under the cover of a localized blizzard, a storm Livius summoned to mask their approach from the Federation's orbital sensors. The mines, once the pride of Duke Valerius, were now officially under the "Council of the People's" control, but the deeper levels had been sealed for decades due to "unstable gas."
Livius, Cian, and Raven stood before the massive iron doors of the Tenth Gallery. The air here was so cold it felt like liquid, and the silence was absolute.
"The lock is Federation-make," Cian noted, inspecting a brass dial embedded in the rock. "It's a 'Phase-Shift' lock. It doesn't respond to keys or physical force. It responds to a specific mana-frequency. If we get it wrong, the entire tunnel collapses."
Livius stepped forward. He didn't look at the dial. He placed his palm against the cold iron door and allowed the Silver Moon mana to flow from his fingertips. He didn't try to "hack" the lock; he simply spoke to the metal.
"Remember," he commanded.
The iron groaned, the molecular structure of the door shifting as it recalled its form before the Federation had forged it. The gears turned, and the door slid upward with a hiss of escaping pressure.
Beyond the door lay a sight that made even Raven, a girl raised in the brutality of the slums, recoil in horror.
The gallery was filled with hundreds of glass cylinders, each connected to a network of brass pipes that disappeared into the ceiling. Inside the cylinders were people—men, women, and children with hair the color of starlight and pale, iridescent skin. They weren't dead, but they weren't alive. They were "Mana-Hollows," their souls being used as living batteries to power the Federation's long-range sensors across the border.
"They didn't go extinct," Livius whispered, his voice trembling with a rage so cold it turned the moisture in the air into falling snow. "The Silver Dragon Tribe didn't vanish into the woods. They were sold. My ancestors didn't just kill them; they leased them to the West like cattle."
In the center of the room sat a massive, rotating brass sphere—a smaller version of the Oracle-Engine. It was vibrating with a high-pitched whine, processing the life-force of the prisoners to maintain the Aegis Shield at the border.
"Livius, don't touch it!" Cian shouted. "It's a 'Feedback Trap'! If you break the connection too fast, the shock will kill everyone in the tanks!"