The heat mounted as she neared the contraption. The machine appeared to swell, looming larger and larger over her. She picked out more details: the whirring cogs and the smaller wheels turning beneath the cylinder, some of them flying around so quickly their spokes were a blur. Fer could no longer tell if the constant high-pitched scream she could hear came from the spirits thronging the aether, or the raging machinery, or both. From somewhere distant, an explosion rattled through the chamber, making the walls shake and plumes of dust cascade to the floor. The spirits were attacking all across the refinery. If they could keep the guards busy a little longer perhaps she'd have time to act.
She walked to a point where a series of control wheels and levers protruded from the side of the mach
