Fog thinned beyond the marked basin, revealing pale grass around a stone platform split by thick copper roots.
Hajin reached the first root before Juna caught his sleeve, stopping his boot outside the disturbed soil.
She studied the grass before saying, "Every blade grows away from that center, while something beneath it pushes heat through the ground."
Ferra lowered her instruments beside the root, then found a holding pattern within the buried copper lines.
She pressed one gauge against the soil before saying, "This platform feeds its restraints from a living core."
The Watcher faced the broken stone while replying, "A body remains below, but its original guiding soul may already be gone."
Ash held his quiet Ringlet against his chest while thinking, 'Don't call it empty, idiot, until the body gets to answer for itself.'
Loccy planted her braced feet beside the path before saying, "I hold the platform if it rises, while everyone else finds the true enemy."
