Location:Above
Date/Time:3 Ashbloom 9943 AZI, Temperday, first light
Realm:Above the Lower Realm
Sound came back before anybody's voice did.
Not from outside. There is nothing outside. It was the hull ticking as the sun came onto plates that were still there and simply could not be seen, and the cells cycling somewhere under the deck, and a dozen people remembering that breathing is a thing you do out loud.
"You may touch it," said Nine, to the four of them standing with their hands held carefully against their sides. "There is nothing to touch, but the plate behind the display layer is at cabin temperature and has been since the reactor came up. You will not be harmed."
Nobody moved.
"It has not been cold," Nine added helpfully, "since about eight hundred years before either of the Commander's species learned to smelt iron."
"That is not true," said Eden.
"It is an approximation."
"It is a lie, Nine."
