The basement pathology vault of the Cathedral was silent, save for the steady, rhythmic drip of water from the damp stone ceiling into a drainage grate.
Cattleya locked the heavy iron door from the inside, dropping the thick brass deadbolt into place. She set her medical satchel onto the slate workbench beneath the glow of two gas lamps, pulling the sealed glass slide from its velvet pocket.
The violet crystalline residue shimmered faintly in the dim gaslight.
She mounted the slide under her monocular microscope, adjusting the brass focus knobs until the microscopic field came into sharp resolution. What she saw made her fingers freeze against the metal gear.
It was not a standard biological compound.
Under four-hundred-times magnification, the violet crystals were actively self-assem
