𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝 The English Channel was a graveyard of broken light. Above the surface, the morning sun struggled to pierce a thick, unnatural fog; a mist of pulverized obsidian and evaporated seawater that hung over the waves like a shroud. But forty feet below the surface, inside the reinforced glass of the primary Nursery tank, the world was a cathedral of silent, glowing amber. Maya floated in the thick bio-gel, her hair fanning out like dark seaweed. The silence was absolute, save for the rhythmic, muffled thrum of the deep-sea currents hitting the glass. The pain that had defined the last several hours; the jagged lightning of the contractions and the crushing weight of the Spire had smoothed out into a heavy, warm exhaustion. In her arms, she held the first of the twins. He was not like any infant Maya had ever seen. His skin was pale, almost translucent, and beneath the surface, a faint network of golden light traced the path of his veins. He didn't cry. He
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