4.10 LIGHT

The Shrouded’s attention abruptly shifts, leaving Juna and Ste Etienne to explore the vast ice hall and its hanging orrery. Ste embraces the conclusion that the Shrouded are sapient astronomers, while Juna remains skeptical about what this means for their survival and for human exploitation if they ever return.

Juna envisions how the Garveneer and Concerns would dismiss the discovery as a complication to resource extraction. Despite the magnitude of the orrery’s implication, both recognize the knowledge may die with them.

A stir among the Shrouded reveals a ritual sacrifice beneath the central sphere, echoing what Juna and Ste saw at the briar nest. Concerned they might be next, Juna reverses the damaged pod and withdraws rather than observe further.

They navigate up a series of ice ramps into a space that could be the surface or a colossal unsupported chamber. Disoriented, they attempt a rough heading through indifferent Shrouded, mostly smaller forms at home in their casual exoskeletons.

In their lights, they spot taut cables held by masses of Shrouded serving as living anchors. Above, an immense, winged, gas‑bladdered craft with propellers resolves: a Shrouded-built airship, modeled on the humans’ lost aerial drone. Further cables hint at more such airships hidden in the gloom.

Juna realizes they have inadvertently given the Shrouded flight. Whatever happens to Juna and Ste, the Shrouded now possess the air—an innovation with profound consequences for the world and for any future human incursion.