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Chapter 81 - Subject LUX
last update2025-10-17 13:35:20

The smell of ozone, burnt dust, something sharp like antiseptic and rust, hit them first.

Siya’s head still rang from the collapse, a high tone behind her eyes that refused to fade. The sand around the crater shimmered faintly, wheger it was heat or something else, she couldn’t quote tell. When she and Marks crawled closer to the edge, they saw what the light had uncovered: a staircase spiraling downward, carved from black stone, it's edges smooth as glass.

Marks exhaled, his voice raw. “This wasn’t built by the army.”

Siya stared into the descent. The air trembled faintly, humming with the same low rhythm that haunted her dreams. “No,” she murmured. “This was buried long before them.”

They began the slow walk down. Each step echoed like a breath drawn by the earth itself. Their flashlights cut narrow cones through the dark, catching glints of metal, cables embedded in the walls, looping deeper, alive with faint electric pulse.

Halfway down, Marks brushed his hand against the wall. “F
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