The Stalker - Checking the Artifact 🔮

I knelt in the shadow of the siphon rib, shielding the breaker box from the pale daylight seeping past the intake portal. Releasing the lead-shimmed clasp, I eased the galvanized lid open half an inch. A cold blue pulse flared across my gloves and the curve of my visor, casting sharp shadows over the silted concrete. No surface fissures along the orb. No thermal drift against the inner rubber gasket. Beside my knee, the brass gauge needle remained motionless at zero. I pressed the steel lid down until the seal seated with a muted snap. Containment remains stable.