I deactivated the barrier on the second day.
Nothing out here made me feel like I needed it, there was no movement beneath the ground, no distant rumbles, and keeping the cube active felt like a really good way to deplete its energy reserves.
The beacons came up steadily. Every forty minutes of Quickstep, a new pillar, another coordinate carved. My mapping system was holding, which honestly was the only thing I had going for me.
0,1. 0,2. 0,3.
The ground stayed flat for a while.
At 0,7, the real vegetation appeared. Not the vegetation clusters from before, here there were tall trees and plants with actual height.
At 0,9, I finally heard birds.
Just a few at first, then more, and when I looked up there was a current of them flowing to the northeast, dozens of wings cutting in the same direction like they had somewhere to be and were already late.
I followed them east while still making beacons.
