The central sanctum of Vault 4 was an arena of desecrated sanctity.
It was a circular tiered arena three hundred meters wide. It was surrounded by stepped terraces of white jade that rose toward a domed ceiling carved to look like the night sky of the ancient epoch. Star-patterns of cold silver studs marked the sky paths of the stars. Their light casting was pale, sharp shadows across the floor.
In the center of the arena stood the High Altar of the West.
It was a stepped pyramid of white Gengjin metal, twenty meters high, topped by a broad platform where the sacred fossil of the Primordial White Tiger lay in repose. The fossil was amazing. Twenty meters of clean silver bone, its ribs forming an archway of polished spears, its skull crowned with sweeping, curved sabers that seemed to retain the fierce, unbending pride of the Western Sovereign.
Standing directly atop the sacred fossil was the monster.
The Void-Stitched White Tiger was an ugly mockery of divine biology. It measured eight meters from snout to rump, its muscular frame an uneven patchwork of stolen life. The right half of its body was covered in ragged, patchy white fur that twitched with automatic spasms. At the same time, its left half was composed of slick, hairless void flesh. It was dark, purplish-black tissue that pulsed with thick, oily veins of corrupted aether.
