"Now this is interesting, who could've built these?" Naomi turned to see Kai, holding several obsidian shards, all a deep blue
where does that water go? where can it go? nevermind that, what could be inside...
"Don't worry, im still under the weight limit. I'm only taking one of these...woah those look like that one monument in the Old Capitol!"
Kai balanced the obsidian as they moved closer to examine the glyphs etched into the constructs."I see you've had a change of heart" Naomi chuckled,"They're beautiful. I think I found the source too, look at this one"
Kai followed the silvery stream to the monolith near Naomi, seeing one of the basaltic pyramid faces with a mirror finish, free of any glyphs.Naomi removes an empty collection tube from her calf, touching it to the silver triangular surface, partially filling it. She seals the capsule, and places it back in the compartment on her leg before glancing into the dimly lit chamber, her gaze lingering before meeting Kai's, saying nothing.
"Oh no, I'm not going in there. We got our sample, let's go"
"It's just one room, look."
A rectangular rendering appeared on Kai's HUD. A mid-sized room with more monoliths flanking the perimeter. Indeed, no other chambers."You mean to tell me you stumbled across some strange ruins at the bottom of the ocean, and you don't even want to check them out?"
Kai's expression betrayed internal conflict as Naomi entered.Warm light from the lava just outside seeped into the chamber, casting long shadows as it dimly illuminated the ancient space. Geometric markings and glyphs were spread all over the interior walls, casting shadows of their own. Naomi moved from monolith to monolith, examining the glyphs imprinted on each. They were evenly spaced around the room, except for the far wall where a stone slab took up the space of two monoliths. Kai went to investigate. As Naomi catalogued the different glyphs on each pyramid, a strange imprint caught her eye...
"Hey I think I found a fossil! It looks like a fern" she exclaimed, moving to take a photo, then scanning the basalt face with her palm.
at least this came back with an entry...wow, from the Devonian? how old is this place...
The central stem with mirrored leaves on either side was only a few inches long, imprinted into the face of the pyramid. Kai came over, tripping over a stone slab that wasn't quite flush with the floor, he looks uneasy."We should go...I found a head? Or..maybe a helmet in the corner back there. Whatever it is, it's another source too, there's a small pool of the contaminant. I took a sample, lets get out of here."
A small knot formed in Naomi's stomach as she went to investigate.Who built this place...
They were barely halfway across the room when the chamber became cast in a light teal. The stone console opposite the entrance was the source, shifting glyphs now hovering several inches above the surface, glowing. Crisscrossing lines of teal ran across the ground, each obelisk the vertex to a newly created geometric pattern. Naomi froze, transfixed as the two dominant glyphs over the slab became fixed on two runes: The left had six sides, the right had eight.
"What did you..."
"Don't look at me, I never even wanted to come in here"
Before either of them could react in any meaningful way, the room went dark. The warm glow of lava at the entrance of the room had disappeared, and turning on her suit's lights to illuminate the space, Naomi found the impression in the pyramid face gone, as was the doorway where they entered...