The morning after Robert stood at the map looking west, he sat at his desk and reviewed everything Sai had gathered on Forgotten Moon City a second time.
With each careful read, his certainty deepened. The pattern that threaded through these unrelated stories was just too clear to brush aside. Different travelers, various cities, and unique dialogs, yet the same fundamental details echoed throughout: the lights and the disappearances.
The silence that had lasted three centuries was suddenly replaced by something that nobody who approached the ruins could explain, and nobody who entered them had returned to describe. The system's difficulty rating confirmed what the reports only hinted at. Whatever was happening inside those ruins was real, and it was significant enough that leaving it investigated was not a real option.
By midmorning, he had made his decision completely.
The only question remaining was how to handle everything it required.
