Outside a walled compound that lies in ruins, a figure peers from beneath the metal cover to an underground tunnel.
Inside the walls, Reign is awakened by the scrape of the cover against stone. She ventures out to investigate.
CAUTIOUSLY, REIGN APPROACHES AN UNFAMILIAR MAN AS HE EMERGES FROM HIS SUBTERRANEAN LAIR.
THE MAN SAYS HIS NAME IS EGYP, AND DISPLAYS A SPIRAL TATTOO THAT IDENTIFIES HIM AS A MEMBER OF HER SPLINTERED TRIBE.
AS REIGN AND EGYP WALK WAY FROM THE TUNNEL, THEY SEE A FRAGMENT EMERGING FROM THE GROUND UNDERFOOT.
THEY UNEARTH A STRANGE AND UNSETTLING OBJECT. INSIDE IT, THEY FIND A SPIRAL, LIKE THE SYMBOL OF THEIR TRIBE.
THE OBJECT APPEARS TO BE BOTH A MEMORIAL TO THOSE WHO HAVE PERISHED, AND A GUIDE TO HUMANITY'S UNCERTAIN FUTURE.
INSPIRED BY THEIR DISCOVERY, YET WITH GREAT APPREHENSION, REIGN AND EGYP BEGIN THE JOURNEY THE OBJECT PRESCRIBES.
AFTER SEVERAL DAYS, THEY REACH THE TOP OF A RIDGE. BELOW THEM, A SPIRAL PATH LEADS TO A POWERFUL BEAM OF LIGHT.
REIGN AND EGYP ARRIVE AT THE BEACON. THEY DISCOVER AN ENERGY SOURCE, AND RECHARGE BOTH THEMSELVES AND THEIR DEVICES.
PUSHING ON, THE COUPLE ENCOUNTERS A MASSIVE MONOLITH IN A DEEP CRATER.
THEY ARE IRRESISTIBLY DRAWN TO AN OCULAR PORTAL AT THE BASE OF THE MONOLITH. DARE THEY ENTER?