Pressure changed the meaning of silence.
It was no longer absence, no longer stillness, no longer the quiet pause between one action and the next. Inside the structure, silence had become weight, it pressed invisibly against the body, against thought, against instinct itself, until even breathing began to feel like participation in something larger than survival.
Darian stood unmoving, though every nerve in him demanded otherwise, the pressure had increased gradually at first, almost intelligently, careful not to force panic too early but Orion learned quickly and what subtlety failed to accomplish, accumulation could,the air around them now felt dense enough to resist movement while simultaneously punishing stillness.
