Lin Tao connected the star-copper grounding shunt between the pilot interrupt port and the a deep hum boundary bus. Then, the nature of reality inside Valve Station Delta changed fully.
BZZZZZZZZT.
A pale violet corona of magnetic discharge crackled along the braided copper wire. It smelled sharply of ozone, spark-charged quartz, and roasted stone salt. The star-copper wire grew warm between Lin Tao’s fingers. It shook with a fierce, rhythmic pulse that made his land-mapper metal pen resonate in its leather sheath. Tiny azure sparks leaped between the brass junction screws, invisible the damp air into a shimmering halo of electric mist.
The internal brass shuttles of the pipe hub didn’t click. They began to vibrate with a nonstop, high-pitched clockwork scream of twenty-four cycles per second:
HUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
Through the three-inch crystal sight-glass, the sapphire-blue spiritual fluid ceased to be a rising pool. It became a blinding, blazing bright torrent of liquid sky light, churning with such violent fury that the brass casing began to sweat water drops through its micro-porous grain.
THWUMP-THWUMP.
The sound roar inside the chamber grew into an ear-splitting, all-consuming waterfall of sound that shook the dust from every Precursor ceiling bolt. The sapphire water, churned into a blinding blizzard of glowing spray, created dozens of shimmering, tiny rainbows that danced through the steam thirty feet above the floor. Every breath Lin Tao drew was so thick with boiled away spiritual qi that his lungs tingled with a crisp, electric freshness. He cleared away the leftover…
