As they walked they left a trail of orange alien icor trailing through the snow after them, pooling in footprints and clinging in little droplets to jagged crystals of ice. The front of Adam's visor was stained with blood partially obscuring his vision. He tried to wipe it off with a gloved hand, but they too were covered in a thick layer of orange, dripped down on him from the slain guardian lying in the snow not a hundred yards back. It was only when Maverick pulled back to help him, wiping the blood from his visor that he was able to see properly.

When his vision finally cleared, he tilted his head back in awe and let out a short sound of shock and surprise.

It had been impressive at the bottom of the hill, towering and imposing, but up close it was, something else. Adam didn't know how large the structure was, but it reached hundreds of feet down into the icy water of the inland sea, and probably went for thousands of feet below the water level. Here, at the peak of the cliff, it still continued to go up, jutting towards the top of the icy room where its peak barely brushed the underside of the ice.

The stone was as read as freshly spilled human blood, and as smooth as volcanic glass. Reaching the pinnacle of the ice, sunny reached out one hand and brushed her fingertips along the smooth surface. Adam did the same to find he couldn't exactly identify the material, as it seemed to be neither glass nor metal. He tilted his head back against to examine the moldings along the outside of the building. If he had not been convinced of its origins as a sentient- made structure already, he was sure of it now.

The building itself was a marvel of artistry, carved with delicate little patterns all around its edges. Using the camera in his visor he took some close up images for the scientists to study when they returned. Looking at some of the little carvings, it was almost as if he could see something.... familiar .

It was hard to describe, but some of the forms that swirled within the patterns gave him the idea of familiar animal shapes, though when he tried to identify them outright, he was unable to isolate any one being. Eventually, all his attempts at staring only made his eyes hurt, and he had to step back.

This was the upper tier of the tower, and so he doubted it was meant to be entered, but still, as he got closer to the edge of the ice shelf, he found that there was a narrow balcony running around the outer edge of the tower not some ten feet below. Etium had already spotted the balcony and hovered down riding on the back of his gun like he had become so accustomed to doing.

Adam would have jumped down if he wasn't worried about the integrity of the tower, and instead deployed his jetpack. He could feel the thrum of power running up through his body as he leapt downward, gently hovering inward until he was a few inches above the catwalk, stretching out his legs to touch down, gently, atop the balcony.

He let his weight settle gingerly and waited.

Nothing.

Seemed solid.

He looked up at the others, waiting overhead for him and nodded, "one at a time, I think."

They didn't argue, and Ramirez helped to lower maverick into Adam's reach. He didn't want to disturb the material that made up the tower, so they tried to be gentle lowering each one of the party members downward. Sunny came last, dangling herschel foff the side of the little cliff far enough that Adam could reach her legs then she let go, trusting him to catch her as she came down.

It was easy enough, and he set her gently on her feet.

The group of them waited, but the stone/ glas or whatever was held just fine.

Adam turned to look at the others.

"I think I found it."

Etium's call came just ahead of them, and together the group marched single file around the tower, stopping behind where the Tesraki had paused, before a small doorway set into the stone.

"Can you open it?" Adam asked.

"No, no handles on the outside, and it won't budge when I push."

"I can try." Maverick said, and she stepped forward to brace herself against the stone balcony, pressing her shoulder into the stone. She pushed, hard, but nothing happened except for the sharp whirring of her exosuit. Eventually Adam stopped her worried that her feet would crack right through the stone glass, but an idea was already beginning to form in his head.

"If this is like the polaris location, then its run by maker technology" He reached out a hand towards the door, "Maybe if," His hand pressed downward on the stone, and all at once Adam felt a surge of power rush through him. It was hot and cold all at the same time causing a wave of sweat to burs tout over the top layer of his skin. The voices in his head amplified, until the very thoughts of those around him became one with him for a moment. Then just like that, the power surged outward, and he gasped sagging sideways only to be caught by Sunny as the door creaked and slid inward with the sound of stone grinding over stone.

"Adam, adam are you..."

"I'm okay." Adam muttered slowly pushing back to his feet, "Just a bit of a jolt is all." He stepped back and took a moment to send a transmission to the Empyrean.

Found the location, sending coordinates now. Send backup and watch out for giant snow crabs. Bring Jetpacks and suits.

He shut off his transmission, and Together they stared inward at the black rift that had been left as the door opened.

Maverick gave a sigh and stepped forward, "If there are any more void spiders in here I am going to riot."

Ramirez nodded emphatically, but followed her as she slipped through the crack and into the dark hallway of the tower.

It was pitch black inside, impossible to see at first, but as Adam stepped over the threshold, coming to a stop on the inner stairway, there was a sudden rumbling. The group of them reached out to grab the walls, holding tight. Someone shouted as the door sealed behind them.

The rumbling continued in the darkness as light beams flicked on on their helmets.

Someone called out a few choice curse words, but then.

Light.

It flowed out from the point where Adam's feet touched the ground, pooling around him like a puddle of widening blood. The group stepped back in surprise, but then they were all engulfed by it, as the light ran up the walls and into the ceiling high overhead following the lines of intricate patterns. There was another rumbling, and then a sudden clattering which heralded the sharp grinding of gears. There was a lurch, and they all jolted forward clinging to each other as the tower began to move, spinning slowly.

And then

The stairs below them began to move too, clicking downward into darkness as if chasing after the spreading light which continued to filter over the walls like spilling water. The light was not bright, but a dim and tinted read, and Adam couldn't help but get the feeling like he was traveling through the veins of some monstrous beast.

The others around him remained silent, but they accepted the ride they were being taken on, spinning downward into the tower at increasing speed. Plenty of other floors and landings went by, but the stairs did not seem intent on stopping. Ramirez indicated his distaste for not knowing where they were going and Adam had to agree to some degree.

The ride down took a while, before they finally dipped out of the tower and into a massive central chamber at the center of the crimson cathedral. The room around them was massive, wider than a few football fields or more, and inside, hung a familiar structure. It was alien in shape, not dissimilar to the water people they had met when first entering this new system, but absolutely massive strung from the ceilings and walls by cabels, its head tilted forward to rest atop its chest. Adam had seen a similar structure at the polaris sight, and while it was disconcerting, the one at the polaris sight didn't seem to serve much of a purpose or even be operational.

He didn't want to find out if that was the case here,

They continued downward into the massive room before being deposited on the smooth stone

The floor of the room was mostly empty, except for the ball of light hovering above a dais at the center of the room. The ball of light was nothing more than a small orb, that sort of looked like the cooling surface of a giant red star. The group of them approached with some trepidation.

"If I told you not to touch it, do you think you would listen." Maverick said, her tone rather dry with some level of amusement.

Adam turned and grinned at her rather sheepishly, "Unlikely, but you can try."

They fanned out slightly around the edges of the dais staring up the the burning ball of light, "What do you think it is?"

"Power source maybe?" Etium offered.

Adam shook his head.

"No,, I think I'm the power source."

Sunny cut around the other side, her eyes narrowed, " the last polaris location served primarily as an archive, did it not, with instructions on the creation of the constructs, and the universe itself. Perhaps this is another archive of some kind. Maybe they made multiple copies in case one was destroyed or abandoned."

Ramirez snorted, "They don't really have a great track record at keeping these things, not destroyed or abandoned."

Adam grunted, "Well there really is only one way to find out."

Sunny sighed deeply as Adam reachout out a hand and towards the glowing orb.

"Do you always touch things that don't belong to you."

Adam jolted in shock as did the others, raising their weapons and spinning sharply towards the sound of an unfamiliar voice. Sunny's spear was the closest to its mark, coming to rest pointed just at the base of the creature's neck, though it certainly didn't seem perturbed, leering at them from under its red robe.

It looked an awful lot like a member of the zealot council, the same species and wearing the same red robes, but feeling its mind, Adam immediately knew what it was.

"Maker." he muttered.

There was another murmuring around the room.

"Mmm, yes. I heard the polaris sight had been compromised, though I didn't think that my abode would be so disrupted." The creature looked over at sunny, "Apotheosis, its been a while." He looked around at all of them, and eyebrow raised in surprise, "Impetus I expected, and where impetus goes Apotheosis follows, and Grace of course, Alter, I can certainly see, but I did not expect Renegade to be with you, bringing along her void friend like a parasite clinging to her insides."

Adam could sense Maverick's boiling anger just below the surface, "If you have any idea how to get rid of him, I would be happy for the help."

The maker laughed, "that was not an insult, child, simply a note of surprise. I can see that you have the creature well contained. Surprising and impressive for one of your questionable history, good to know it seems you have finally chosen a side." The maker tilted his head very suddenly, "Ah, and you brought a friend. The applicant."

The group of them turned shocked as the Maker raised his hand and dragged something from the darkness coming down from the top of the stares.

It spun in place squealed and kicked until.

"Mitzen!" Adam said in shock

The furry little creature flared his wings and attempted to fly away, but the power of the maker was too strong, and he was dragged to the ground, to stand with the rest of them.

The maker smiled in amusement.

"There, now we can all talk like civilized beings."