The Name of the Rose
Pushing open the door revealed an enormous space.
Overhead lights cast a soft glow. In the center stood a colossal machine, several stories high, like a giant beast forged of steel plates and screws. The iron-gray body was densely covered with gauges and needles of unknown purpose, glowing faintly. Thick cables hung from the machine, winding like giant pythons connecting everything. In the center of the machine was a grid-like silver scaffold holding an entire crystal cover. Inside rested a fist-sized crystal. Its pure blue resembled a frozen sea, flashing with unstable light, flickering on and off, casting a hazy pale blue hue over the crystal cover. Two long, slender probes were fixed at b