The darkness persisted for a little longer until a blue light illuminated their surroundings. The three of them were standing in a massive chamber. The metal architecture that surrounded them was distinctly alien, bending and contorting itself into various states. Some of the walls were also coated in brown, fungal-like biomass, and growing from it were strange reddish leaves with sanguine-looking pears that looked larger than they would be on Earth. In the centre of the room, and surrounded by three of the lost miners was a large oval-shaped obelisk. Unlike the metal and fungi coverage that made up much of the room, this appeared to have been carved from stone but the black colour matched nothing that indicated it was from Mars. At the foot of it extending in various directions were also the roots of the fungi.
“This was shaped by the mind,” said Melina standing before it.
Francis pressed her on this. “What do you mean by that?”
“It’s a stone made from the Aether.”
“And that’s possible how?”
Melina looked his way. “The aether can be drawn out and shaped, given enough time it can become as solid as crystal and burdened with all manner of properties.”
“Is that what caused us to hallucinate?” asked Echo crouching down next to one of the miners.
“It’s not impossible,” said Melina. “And don’t act like you don’t know what this is, Frank.”
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Francis approached a miner who was propped up by the black structure. “I know what it is, I just didn’t know how they got made.”
“Just be careful not to touch it or anything else in here. This thing's been here for centuries, there's no telling what psychic power is contained within it.”
Francis looked closely but made sure not to touch it. “I can see plenty of alien symbols but nothing else. Nothing to indicate a power source.”
“It doesn’t need one. It being of the Aether is enough.”
Francis noted her arm twitching towards the black obelisk, whatever influence it held over her, she could not be allowed to remain close to it for much longer. He didn’t want to take any chances that it could turn her feral. And with the Sanguis fruit in the mix, there was no telling what that would do to her either.
Echo stood up and gestured for him to come over. “I’ve never seen anything like this, it’s like they’re catatonic.”
Francis found himself agreeing with her. The miner lay facing upward, his mouth open and his eyes glazed over. All he could see was the white of their eyes. They looked ghostly pale. “The real question is, why did it break our illusion? Did it know we were together?”
“It’s possible,” said Echo. “More importantly, how do we get these guys out of here safely without causing anyone else to be ensnared.”
“We’ll have to radio for backup and see what other support vehicles they have. Melina, you got that? We’re falling back to the drill then heading topside to contact the base.”
A few minutes passed with no response and Francis finally turned away from the downed miner. Melina was now within touching distance of the black aether-made surface. He ran over and got between her and the tall structure. “Melina, snap of it, we’re leaving,” he said placing two hands on her shoulder.
She met his concerned gaze and tilted her head a little. “It didn’t say you could leave yet. The Feast is about to begin.”
Once more, the darkness of the True Eye Obelisk overwhelmed his vision, and for the first time, he noticed something in that darkness. A glowing red pulse and an insatiable hunger.
The Sanguis called to him.