The capsule was smaller than it looked from outside.
I stepped in and the door sealed behind me with a sound like a held breath releasing. Clinical smell, cold metal, a faint hum that ran up through the floor and into my boots. The space was tight enough that my shoulders brushed both sides if I let them relax.
A mechanical arm lowered a thin helmet over my head. It fit snugly, the interior dark, and then Zaki's voice came through with the flat clarity of something transmitted rather than spoken.
"Blue-stone portal. Level five creatures at entry, it gets harder toward the center. There's corrupted monsters mixed with beasts in the deeper corridors. The objective is the portal boss. If any of you manage to kill that thing you'll earn a gem." A beat. "Good luck."
'Good luck? That's not a good sign. When someone says good luck instead of don't die. It means dying is absolutely on the table.'
