Arthur stepped out into the bed of white stone ash, his boots sinking ankle-deep into the fine, powdery residue.
Beside him, Grimm walked with slow, stately strides, his jet-black coat spotless. His violet eyes swept the outer edge. The hound’s nostrils twitched as he inspected the cooling ashes. Gone was the foul, sickening stench of chimeric black flesh-rot. In its place was a rich, clean fragrance that reminded Arthur of ancient fiery soil after a heavy thunderstorm.
In the exact center of where Node Gamma had sat, Arthur’s halogen searchlight caught a strange, rainbow-bright glimmer beneath the ash.
Arthur knelt, drawing a stainless steel entrenching tool from his pack to clear away the powdery grey dust.
Resting in a depression in the dark rock bedrock was a perfectly ball-shaped, two-hundred-two-pound boulder of dark, semi-clear amber-gold material. The object was smooth as polished sea-glass. It glowed from within with shifting, underground veins of emerald and deep oceanic sapphire.
Arthur placed his bare hand against the smooth surface:
“Ancient Ambergris,” Arthur murmured, his eyes widening in pure test wonder. “This wasn’t created by the Splicer Order. This was the ancient living filter of Vault One’s main drainage system.”
He adjusted his magnifying glass, scanning the dense atom-deep matrix:
