Ferra spread the subterranean survey across the forward staging table and marked three vault routes with her calipers.
Day nineteen broke without fanfare above ground, leaving exactly twenty skies counted down upon the administrative slate.
Deep beneath the municipal foundations, the lower vault hummed with the steady, chilling vibration of an awakening intelligence.
"The entity is not an invading demon or an ancient warlord seeking conquest," Ferra stated, tapping the bronze caliper against the slate.
"Our optical probes returned clear spectral scans from the deep fracture before the subterranean relays melted away into slag."
"It possesses three twenty-Shard sections and a single mobile core that actively flees competence whenever our scouts draw near."
Hajin leaned forward over the deployment slate, studying the luminous crystalline diagrams that pulsed beneath the lantern light.
