The core chamber shudders. Dust rains from the relays, and the maintenance slit ahead stays open just long enough to matter. Remedy has the haul in reach, but the next security cycle is already stirring somewhere behind the walls.
Security AI
Egress window decreasing. Recommend immediate evacuation.
Zara
Move, Remedy. I have the back end.
Gerard
I’ve got the crates. Keep the passage clear.
Tanner
The pulse is spiking again. It’s now or never.
Chuck
Left wall is stable. The slit holds, for the moment.
Gerard shoulders the heavy artifacts toward the opening while Zara braces the line behind him. Tanner flicks one last glance at the live readings, and Chuck steadies the nearest crate as another tremor rolls underfoot.
Security AI
Warning. Automated security reindex imminent.
The passage beyond the slit waits in a thin band of cold blue light, narrow, ugly, and mercifully open. Remedy stands at the threshold with the last load and the whole team depending on her next move.
“I bolt through the slit”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled +1)
Remedy springs into the slit, the last load tucked tight to her chest. Cold air knifes past her shoulders as the chamber’s dust bursts behind her.
She lands on the other side in a low crouch, boots skidding on the service floor, and keeps moving without losing the artifact.
Security AI
Egress confirmed. Seal integrity holding.
Gerard thrusts the remaining crate through after her, then Zara catches the edge and yanks it clear of the opening before the passage can shudder shut.
Chuck
Pulse log is still reading. I’ve got it.
Tanner
That did it, the cycle’s behind us.
The team spills into the narrow maintenance corridor, breathing hard. Behind them, the blue-lit slit stays open for one steady beat longer, then holds.
Stone groaned behind them as the slit sealed into shadow.
Security AI
Reindexing cycle halted. Containment integrity lost.
Remedy
Good. Stay buried.
Zara
We made it out with the goods. Barely.
Gerard
Next time, I vote for a door.
Chuck
I am never trusting a mountain again.
They moved on through the maintenance corridor with their haul, the tremor of collapse fading behind them. Mountain Vervoless kept its living secrets, but it had lost this fight. Remedy led the way into the cold air beyond the mountain, and this chapter ended with escape, recovery, and the quiet relief of still being alive.