The vale lay shrouded in the pale argentine light of early dawn, mist entwining through fractured modes and jagged terrain, softening the edges of ruin while revealing subtle beats of residual energy. Maya squinched near a tertiary knot, tablet pressed tightly to her casket, its sanguine gleam pulsing noiselessly in meter with the temblors that ran beneath the ground. The structure’s intelligence, dormant yet eternal, remained patient,