WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.000
The monolith had no name, only a designation

00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:04.900
among the archivists who remembered when the

00:00:04.900 --> 00:00:06.540
sun still reached the lower districts.

00:00:07.299 --> 00:00:09.339
Rising like a jagged fist of raw concrete,

00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:12.019
the tower pierced the low, weeping clouds,

00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:14.939
its sheer face stained dark by decades of

00:00:14.939 --> 00:00:15.679
relentless rain.

00:00:16.300 --> 00:00:18.420
It was a monument to utility and scale,

00:00:18.859 --> 00:00:21.699
a towering stack of thick, geometric blocks

00:00:21.699 --> 00:00:24.059
that defied the gentle decay of the surrounding

00:00:24.059 --> 00:00:24.519
world.

00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:27.379
Kale stood at the base, his neck craned

00:00:27.379 --> 00:00:29.000
back as he peered up into the dusky

00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:29.539
gray light.

00:00:30.039 --> 00:00:32.539
At dusk, the boundaries between the heavy stone

00:00:32.539 --> 00:00:34.560
and the overcast skyline blurred into

00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:37.359
a singular, oppressive wash of charcoal and ash.

00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:40.179
Water dripped in a steady, rhythmic pulse from

00:00:40.179 --> 00:00:42.460
the cantilevered overhangs, echoing off

00:00:42.460 --> 00:00:44.399
the textured facades like the ticking of a

00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:45.340
gargantuan clock.

00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:47.799
He adjusted the collar of his coat against

00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:50.619
the damp chill, feeling the stark, monumental

00:00:50.619 --> 00:00:52.960
atmosphere press heavily against his chest.

00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:55.500
This place did not invite visitors.

00:00:55.979 --> 00:00:59.259
It merely tolerated them, dwarfing human ambition with

00:00:59.259 --> 00:01:01.380
its sheer, uncompromising mass.

00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:03.600
He pressed his hand against the wall.

00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:06.920
The concrete was ice -gold, rough with aggregate

00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:08.900
and scarred by the weather of a thousand

00:01:08.900 --> 00:01:09.340
forgotten

00:01:09.340 --> 00:01:09.799
storms.

00:01:10.420 --> 00:01:13.280
It felt permanent, a fortress built against a

00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:14.040
changing sky.

00:01:14.620 --> 00:01:16.959
Taking a deep breath, Kale pulled open the

00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:19.000
heavy steel -plated door and stepped inside

00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:21.840
the gloom, leaving the fading twilight behind as

00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:23.219
the heavy latch clicked shut.