With Vesper’s breakthrough complete, the ancient machinery of Vault 4 awakened to its true purpose.
The High Altar of the West began to hum with an intense, rhythmic shaking that rang through the floor plates. In the center of the stepped pyramid, a six-sided shaft of white Gengjin metal rose twenty meters into the air. Its apex ended in a massive curved dish carved from polished starlight crystal.
Vesper stepped onto the altar’s lowest tier.
Her newly awakened Baihu aura flowed naturally into the metal channels beneath her paws. The white starlight in her fur sparked with blinding intensity. It traveled up the stepped tiers like silver liquid, feeding directly into the central six-sided pylon.
SHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM.
A column of pure, clear white light erupted from the crystal dish, shooting straight up through the vaulted ceiling, passing through thirty miles of solid lithosphere and oceanic water, piercing the Pacific sky and striking the upper ionosphere.
Arthur checked his global tracking data receiver.
The digital readout on his wrist console, repaired and recalibrated with Echo’s current-carrying mucus, flashed with green status alerts:
