Thermal Mirage
A vapor trail rose from the flat expanse of the coffee table. *Click.* I advanced across the polished wooden plain, pacing around an unyielding white ceramic cylinder. Heat radiated from its rim. Crouching low, I waited for the steam plume to shift before extending my gauntleted hand. My claw grazed the exterior glaze. Warmth transferred instantly. Above the dark surface within, swirling vapors distorted the line of sight like active thermal distortion. An artificial thermal vent mapped and analyzed.