She goes with him to find the key

In many ways, Lux would have expected to be glad of not being completely alone down here – having one ally, whoever he is, has to be better than none. But an odd kind of feeling dogs her as she leads the way quietly along the twisting corridors.

At every step, she can feel Eron’s eyes on her body. Granted, she’s used to being stared at with lust or revulsion or just gawking curiosity, but this is…somehow different. She’s not sure what’s going through Eron’s head, but it makes her painfully self-conscious; although her rags barely cover her in the first place, she feels completely naked under his gaze. It should just give her the creeps – and it does – but there’s an odd feeling beyond that, a strange tingle of something like excitement.

“What is this place?” she asks him, as much to distract herself as out of curiosity. “All of this – I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“This place?” Eron gestures vaguely as he begins to lead the way. “This is…our home,” he says, as if struggling to find the words for something so essential. “The Great Machine’s realm. It’s our world.”

“You’ve lived down here all your life?” Lux asks. “With others?”

“Yes,” Eron says. “The Great Machine protects us, provides for us. But now…” He shudders. “The Machine sleeps. The Outcasts shut it down.”

“Outcasts,” Lux says. “You mean the bandits?”

Eron shakes his head. “The Outcasts used to live down here,” he says, “but they committed sacrilege – they tried to control the Great Machine. They were sent away. They came back and brought the other ones, the bandits, with them.”

“What happened to the rest of your people?” Lux asks.

“I d-don’t know,” Eron says quietly. “I was on my own when the Outcasts arrived. Hopefully, they found somewhere to hide…”

He pauses, and points to a doorway to their left. “In here,” he says.