The first guardian activated on the third level.
The expedition had descended through two levels without contact — the upper chambers contained inscriptions, dead-end corridors designed to waste time and resources, and the active darkness that continued to press against every light source with suffocating persistence. The geometry of the dungeon was not random. It was architectural — designed by an intelligence that understood how mortals moved through confined spaces and that had engineered every corridor, every junction, every chamber to channel visitors along specific paths while making alternative paths appear accessible but ultimately circular. The Survey Corps geologists mapped as they went, marking false routes with chalk and confirmed passages with iron pins driven into the warm stone.
