?"Whoa, it’s pitch black!"

  ?Teru—or Terumi, rather—couldn’t hide his agitation. Laili’s finger pointed toward the darkest depths of a cliff, its edge split like a fractured crescent moon. Crouching low, Terumi squinted, his eyes tracing the rhythmic pulse of the tide.

  ?"Don't worry, we aren't diving in just yet," Laili said calmly. "The tide is receding, and I wanted you all to see this. It’s easier to explain now. By dawn, a path will emerge from the tunnels. We’ll drop the vehicle into the depths, and at first light, we depart. Our destination is right before our eyes."

  ?"You said it was a one-night trip... but what you meant was that we can't return without staying the night," Terumi muttered, his flashlight beam being swallowed by the yawning gorge.

  ?"I'd estimate the drop at forty to fifty meters," he added.

  ?"Quite a depth, isn't it?" Ten replied, his voice laced with the tone of someone who had already tasted victory.

  ?"We move when the sky begins to bleed light," Laili commanded. "For now, come inside and rest. Everything you need is provided."

  ?"Everything you need," she had said.

  ?It was hospitality far beyond expectation. Laili led the group through a labyrinthine sanctuary: private showers, deep tubs, and apartment-style quarters with bunk beds separated by biological gender. Finally, she revealed a dining hall that looked as if it belonged in a royal palace.

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  ?"What are those yellow, square blocks stuck to the wall?"

  ?Letty was the first to notice them—entire honeycombs, perfectly carved by a master apiarist, hanging like golden trophies with nectar dripping slowly. It looked like a luxury buffet at a high-end Earth resort.

  ?"You’ve certainly studied Earth’s tourist traps well," Phoebe remarked, stunned by the designer's meticulousness. The lobby where they had been resting earlier, gazing at stone tablets, was merely a sliver of the whole.

  ?"It’s huuuuge!" Letty cried out, racing through the private rooms with her black cat tucked in its carrier.

  ?Even aliens find things to admire about Earth, Phoebe thought. It felt like being inside a sprawling, celestial camper van, and a thousand curiosities began to sprout in her mind.

  ?In the dining hall stood bookshelves made of pure crystal. How did they maintain such structural integrity? Then, it clicked. This room operated at less than half of Earth's gravity. Everything was weightless. That explained why Letty was bouncing around, abandoned by her cat. Thick paper volumes were stacked three tiers high—a meter tall—running parallel to a six-person table. They floated securely, held in place by a gravity-absorption system that pulsed through the room like central heating.

  ?"The Tales of Beedle the Bard?"

  ?Phoebe—the doctor, the "Shopkeeper"—froze. Her eyes had caught a storybook in the center of the shelf. It was the very book her parents had given her for Christmas as a child. A spin-off by J.K. Rowling, the architect of the early 21st-century Harry Potter phenomenon. A hidden masterpiece within a masterpiece. Even these haphazardly mounted shelves seemed designed to evoke a profound sense of nostalgia.