The secondary array's crimson glow painted the far wall of the examination chamber in slow, pulsing waves. Neither of us had activated it. The primary formations remained on standby, their gold light dim and obedient. The new light came from deeper in the restricted wing, bleeding through the stone as if the wall itself had become thin.
Feng Lan's head turned sharply toward the source. Her Crimson Phoenix Rebirth Eyes flared once, reading the temporal current that should not have existed.
"That array has been sealed for forty years," she said. "It only answers to direct residual will signatures of the highest recorded category. My specialists do not even have clearance to power it."
The mark under the silk seal on my forearm answered the glow with a matching pulse. Heat flared against the suppression layer Lydia had placed. The seal held, but the strain was immediate and climbing.
