Benny's whole world felt like it was closing in, all he could hear was his heart pounding. He and his mom were crammed into a smuggler's hidey-hole inside the city's foundation, just a small, damp space with glowing stuff on the walls. The Heretics had led them here, through tunnels even Joan didn't know about.
Bianca Frost knelt in front of Benny, her eyes gentle. She was holding a shallow bowl filled with still, silver liquid from the enclave's pool.
The Voice is weak, she told him, not like a priest, but like someone sharing facts. But it knows you're there. You've been hearing its pain for ages. Now, we need you to listen for what it wants... for the silence-stone. The Lobe's plan says it shows up where the Voice is purest. We need you to locate that spot.
Benny stared at the stuff in the bowl. It reflected the glow from the walls, and his own scared eyes. What if it's too loud? What if I can't find my way back?
Joan squeezed his shoulder. You don't have to do this, Ben.
He looked at his mom's face, which now had worry and determination all over it. She had broken her promise for him. Because of this. He had to be brave.
I'll try, he whispered.
He leaned toward the bowl, not drinking, just... listening. He let down the walls he usually used to protect himself, and opened himself up to the Echo.
The screaming crashed in, like a giant wave of hurt. He yelled and bent over, but Bianca kept the bowl steady. Get past the pain, she whispered. Listen for the quiet underneath.
He tried to focus. He pushed past the screams of organs being taken, the imaginary pain of nerves being cut. He went deeper, to the constant hum of the Empty Plate. And there, in that hum, he found it. A faint, silver piece of... not sound, but the lack of it. A perfect, still note.
The Still Voice.
...here...
It wasn't a word, but a place. A feeling of cool, deep quiet. It pulled him in.
His hand, shaking, went into the liquid. He didn't need a map. The liquid linked him to the god's insides. He felt the movement, the tunnels. He followed the silver thread of peace through the routes, past the loud roar of the Heartforge, deeper into some place the plans didn't mention.
It's... down there, Benny said, with his eyes closed. Under the lowest parts. In a place where the old stuff settled and never moved. Where the Echo can't... can't move. It's like a pocket from a long time ago.
Bianca looked at Joan, then back at Benny. Can you show us?
He nodded, wiping his slightly bleeding nose. I think so. It feels... close. But deep.
One of the Heretics, a thin man with stained fingers from working with ink, spoke up. The Deep Lymphatic Sump. It's off-limits. The liquid there is old, filled with Echo. They say it's where the god's old thoughts go to die. No one goes there, not even Carvers.
Then it's the place for a silence-stone, Bianca said. Get what we need. We're going now.
The trip was like going into the world's mind. They left the familiar stuff of Sanctum's bottom parts and went into areas of old, forgotten stuff. The air got cold and still. The walls were covered in dark liquid that had quick flashes of things—a forgotten face, a symbol that meant nothing, the memory of a color no one knew. The Echo here was like someone mumbling, like crazy talk.
Benny led the way, with his head tilted, following the silver thread that only he could feel. Joan walked next to him, with her weapon ready, looking for problems that were more in your head than real.
They got to a shut-off point made of old muscle that had been closed for a long time. Through there, Benny said, pointing.
The Heretics got out tools—not special ones, but ones that got the job done—and started to slowly break the lock made of living material. While they worked, Bianca pulled Joan aside.
The attack from the Wastes... it starts at the next dark time. When things are crazy in the city, Maxine Sharpe needs to get to the Heart. Your people will be everywhere. How do we get her through?
Joan's mind, trained for plans, started working. The Taste-Guard will be on alert, but spread out. There's a way to go. The Alimentary Conduit. It's used to fix the lines that give stuff to the Heartforge's main room. It's small, gross, and not guarded much because it's thought to be too hard to travel because of the Heart's weird energy.
Can she use it?
If she has the right protection... and someone who knows when the guards are there. Joan looked at Bianca. I know when they're there.
Would you do that? Completely go against your orders?
Joan looked at her son, small and shivering as he listened to the deep quiet. I'm not going against my orders. I'm protecting what I'm supposed to protect. The people. My son. If the Final Digestion happens, there won't be any orders to be loyal to.
With a final crack, the shut-off point broke open. Beyond was a room so dark it seemed to eat the light from their lamps. The air was completely still. And in the middle of the room was a pool, not of silver liquid, but of something so black it looked like a hole in the world. It reflected nothing.
But around the edges, where the liquid had dried up over time, were crystals. They weren't shiny. They were dull and soaked up light. They were the color of silence.
The silence-stones.
Benny walked to the edge of the black pool and picked up a small, rough stone. When he touched it, the screaming in his head didn't just get quiet.
It stopped.
For the first time in his life, Benny Rhodes heard nothing but his own breath. Tears of relief ran down his face.
He held up the stone. This is it.
They had the third part. The switch could be made.
Above them, the clock was ticking.
Five days.