The vibration ended, but the silence it left behind felt heavier than the sound itself.
Marcus remained crouched behind the broken parapet, one hand resting against the stone while he waited for another pulse. None came. Below them, the buried city resumed its labor with disturbing precision, as though the interruption had been part of a routine repeated countless times. Chains rattled, carts began moving again, and hundreds of prisoners returned to striking the black structure without hesitation.
Tomas slowly lowered his binoculars.
"That wasn't random."
"No," Marcus replied. "They were expecting it."
"Every Collector stopped at the same time."
Marcus looked toward the dark metal rising from the center of the excavation. "Whatever is inside that structure has authority over them."
Selvar shifted uneasily beside the wall. "Emil said something spoke."
Marcus nodded.
"And when it did, even the larger creatures obeyed."
