The Sleeping Machine

Mira led Ren through a long passage under the town. She did not put away her sword. “You can read the old marks,” she said, “but you did not follow the first warning.” Ren had no good answer.

They reached a wide hall. A black machine stood in the center. It was taller than a house and shaped like a sleeping animal. Thick pipes ran from its body into the walls. The town used the warm water from those pipes every day.

Words shone on the machine: IT WILL WAKE WHEN THE LIGHT RETURNS. Ren read them aloud. Mira frowned. “What light?” she asked. “We have lamps. The machine is still sleeping.”

Ren held his small lamp near the machine. Nothing happened. Mira lit a piece of paper and raised the flame. A red message appeared: UNAUTHORIZED HEAT SOURCE. The machine pushed cold air across the hall, and the flame went out.

“So light does not mean fire,” Mira said. Ren felt embarrassed. “Light can mean many things,” he explained. “It can be something we see. It can also mean not heavy.” Mira touched the huge machine. “This is definitely not light.”

They searched the hall. High above them, Ren found a round window covered with dust. An old metal mirror faced the window, but it pointed toward the floor. Mira climbed a narrow ladder and cleaned the glass.

The sky outside was dark. “The light returns,” Ren said slowly. “Maybe it returns every morning.” They waited. Mira sat by the wall and watched him. “If you are wrong, the town may lose its hot water,” she said.

“I'm not completely sure,” Ren admitted. It was the first honest answer he had given her. Mira nodded. “Good. A careful answer is better than a confident mistake.”

At sunrise, a thin beam entered the round window. It hit the mirror, crossed the hall, and touched a glass circle on the machine. The words changed from blue to gold. The machine opened one bright eye.

Warm water began to move through the pipes. Another message appeared: READER FOUND. ACCESS LEVEL ONE. Mira looked from the message to Ren. “It knows what you are,” she said. Ren did not like the sound of that.

A line of light ran from the machine to a door at the back of the hall. The door had no handle. Three words appeared across it: ONLY ONE MAY ENTER. Mira read Ren's face. “What does this one say?”