Judge Murphy is the first to make the leap of faith after the One.

Over half-a-century in the dust of a dying world utterly removing panic from within his form as he makes the jump. A moment of freefall, his body hurtling toward the lip below in a millisecond of nothing before contact.

The thud sounds across the space as boots almost slip on the rusted frame of the walkway. Balance caught before void, a deeper breath taken as the old mind resists looking over the edge.

Alto Carrin follows shortly, with Madeline carefully taking her own step onto the outcropping.

The mass of four individuals already sends deathly creaks through the walkway, the twisari at the edge taking a moment to stare at one another in silence.

“This is not an optimal route.” Samuel insists, a near panic in his emotionless voice.

“Your fear of this height is demonstrative of your cowardice.” Samantha cuts her sibling.

“A fear of heights is a logical fear to have.”

“You have noted that such a fall would not terminate you. Your fear is illogical.”

“Incorrect. I can be…”

“Gods you two really are siblings.” Madeline interrupts the argument, hands outstretched towards the young girl above. “Samantha you’re first.”

A form lighter than expected yet weighted by the massive anti-material rifle on her back, the young shape gently brought down onto the relative ground by the woman. She turns over to the next target, a chemical lantern handed over to the sister. “Alright Samuel, you’re up.”

He just stares. “I have sufficient weight to severely injure you. Step away.”

An independence enough, the augmented soul kneeling through the still flowing stream of water as he gauges the distance. Perfect calculations from perfect measurements; an angle of attack confirmed with absolute certainty. One solid breath through artificial lungs, back facing the cavern beyond as he barely crawls down the oversized step.

Ancient constructs somehow manage to hold the incredible mass of augmentation, the walkway groaning and screaming as his full weight is placed upon it. A moment of harrowing silence as every soul prepares for the fall, unfound as the structure remains steady.

“Gods above protect us.” Alto Carrin begs again.

Madeline nervously chuckles to herself as temptation overgrows her own logic, eyes peeking over the edge of the two corroded handrails. “Yeah, I was never a hiking kinda girl… much less the mountain climbing one.”

Samuel’s body is of perfect focus, yet fear still creeps within his mind. “This is not a mountain.”

“Don’t get me on the pedantics please, this is already too insane.”

It was built in a spiraling line down the interior of the cylinder, the walkway offering a single file descent into the depths of the facility.

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A cistern’s purpose long forgotten to humanity, now just part of a sprawling dungeon buried deep within the great mountain range of the southlands.

They trudge slowly, every step taken with insane care. Handrails too thin and too far spaced for the application of safety, instead merely a suggestion of operations for imagined workers crawling through the space.

Massive, building sized pipes jut out from the interior walls; a madness in creation overlapping one another in an impossibly efficient form.

Wet boots against corroding arcane alloy as the slickness of the pockmarked surface allows for the occasional, heart stopping slip from the Five.

Alto nearly panics, one of his steps mere inches away from the edge. “Alina watch over us now and forever!”

“Shut up please~!” Madeline insists.

“Don’t panic, remain focused.” The Judge orders.

“How much longer Ar?!”

The Being doesn’t pause, a calculation of pace processed and given to the souls of humanity. “Approximately four point three miles of distance and six hours of travel not adjusted.”

The woman groans. “Oh you’re joking!”

“This section was calculated to take the majority of the travel time.” The One provides. “There will be two more hours and seven point eight four more miles of travel after we reach the base of the tertiary liquefaction sump facility.”

Samuel counts his breaths, a perfect mind remaining razor focused to each step, to each heart beat, to each blink of his eyes. “You noted this route would provide difficulty. I believe you have understated the treacherous nature of this location.”

“You are a mage Samuel.” Samantha notes. “And we have navigated the Baitan Plateau. Is this different?”

“Your ignorance is an excuse for a lacking of sense.” Samuel states again, a mind under duress only able to retrieve insults rather than constructive words. “I question your intelligence Samantha.”

“Don’t cross that line Samuel.” Alto attempts to mediate. “You two can argue all you want while eating that twenty five thousand calorie meal right?”

The temptation pulls present minds to an upcoming future, an argument begrudgingly set aside for now as both Samuel and Samantha return to dangers forthcoming.

Terror stretches minutes to perceived hours, a pace of travel slower than expected as each single step is taken with dreaded care.

There is damage to the location; spaces within the walkway broken either by the force of a two billion ton water hammer or simple corrosion. Some small enough to step over, others large enough to force a leap to bridge the gap.

A journey measured for every inch of elevation; each step possibly lethal.

The air’s stench rises, a separated barrier of water and gravitons giving way to rust and decay suddenly tangible within the very fabric of breathable medium. A heavy, almost palpable stench, with hints of metal and rust mixing together alongside the brutal sourness of unchecked bacterial growth. The smell is thick enough to cling to exposed skin and hair, every breath taken now in duress as bones rattle in objection.

“I don’t like this.” Alto begins, a hand running alongside the rough texture of the facility’s walls. “We’re going deeper than we should.”

Samuel reports the distance traveled, an emotionless fact placed upon him. “We are one point one seven kilometers down from our original elevation.”

“Gods damn this is literally going to take forever.” Madeline observes, pausing as she makes the realization of a possible future. “If we have to camp out in this place I’d rather jump.”

“Do not theorize. It is not a productive…”

The Being stops, the Five quickly pausing at the sight of their guide.

Utter silence, the light howl of exchanging wind echoing alongside the roar of waterfalls above them.

“What is occurring?” Samantha impatiently requests from the back.

They all feel it, against exposed skin the unnatural heat from some arcane source in a great far distance below. Hairs standing on edge, the scent of ozone from vaporized, and subsequently atomized molecules of moisture sucked into noses; an activation of something deep beneath them detected by the primitive senses of humankind.

There is not enough time for warning, not enough time for anything more than pure reaction.

The entire world explodes.