Maritime Observation & Radar Control Center – Northreach. 02:15 AM.
At this hour, Northreach usually resonated with a familiar, industrial symphony—the rhythmic puffing of steam vents, the distant clatter of automated factories, and the soft, white-noise hum of the city's glowing mana-lamps. It was the sound of a city that breathed progress even in its sleep. However, inside the Maritime Observation Center—a cutting-edge facility completed by Rianor just three months ago—the atmosphere was stripped of all comfort. It was a vacuum of silence, punctuated only by the methodical ticking of a brass wall clock and the low-frequency drone of cooling fans processing massive amounts of magnetic data.
