The heavy, metallic scent of iron and stagnant moisture hung thick in the air, pressing down like a physical weight against the cold stone floor. Deep within an unmapped subterranean chamber beneath the fractured foundation of Sector 7, the silence was absolute, broken only by the rhythmic, agonizing hiss of gas escaping from a fractured chest plate. Delon lay flat on his back, his vision swimming with dark, distorted shapes that threatened to pull him into unconsciousness. Every single breath felt like inhaling shards of broken glass, scraping against his raw throat and filling his lungs with a suffocating heat. The catastrophic collapse of the tower above had left him broken, buried, and balanced precariously on the razor-edge of oblivion.
A soft rustle of heavy, specialized fabric di
