Medical extraction drones piloted by Kuznetsov via HoloVid zoomed over their heads towards the center of the chamber. Morales and Chen spawned a series of interfaces linked to the commander’s exosuit mobility systems, scrambling code to restrict his movement in any way they could. Singh tried to activate her augmentations a second time, but her armor’s protective programming prevented her — she was still on cooldown. Enraged, she launched herself across the chamber with what little strength she could muster.

     The frantic rescue operation happening behind Liam was lost on him. He reached the platform and watched the face of the raised stone morph before his eyes. New symbols appeared on its smooth surface. The same geometric engrams from the walls connected and overlapped in front of him, then rearranged and overlapped again. Patterns that defied his limited human comprehension entranced him. All of his perception was focused on the shifting geometry upon the face of the platform. Between the lines, Liam saw the secrets of the Universe.

     The tendril of light drifting from within the obelisk diverted course from Liam and funneled into the platform. The rock itself began to glow, before the luminescence withdrew and coalesced into a word in the Anunnaki language that pulsed with the light of the Lunar Signal. It was one that Liam had translated himself.
River.     

     Two human hands and one metallic Quantic hand shot out for the Lunar commander, but his hand reached the stone first. Liam’s fingers brushed the stone, and as he laid his hand flat against the warmth, reality was reshaped.

     In microseconds, an imperceptible mote of light traveled from where Liam’s hand met the Anunnaki word, up through the obelisk, and exploded outward with the near-deafening crescendo of the symphony that had drawn Liam. The light that had periodically washed over the chamber now filled the room, blinding the team once again, before all went dark and silent.