Ren stood at the top of a spiraling stone staircase that seemed to descend into the bowels of the earth.
The air here was heavy and smelled of stagnant water.
"Okay," Ren whispered, checking the corridor behind her. Empty. "The Vault is down. The drugs are down. The map is down."
She took the first step.
Her bare foot touched the slime-slicked stone. It was freezing.
She descended slowly, clutching the oversized blue silk robe around her body to keep it from dragging. The bioluminescent moss on the walls grew sparser the deeper she went, turning the light from a soft green to a dim, eerie gray.
[System Warning: Entering Restricted Area - 'The Deep Storage'.][Temperature: 40°F (4°C). Host Stamina draining at -1 per minute.]
"Great," Ren muttered, her teeth already starting to chatter. "A walk-in freezer."
She reached the bottom of the stairs and flattened herself against the wall.
