Despite the scale of the rooms, the pillars of gold inlaid metal flew by my eyes instantaneously and the heat driven gale pressured even harder against the front of my body.
Is this feeling I recall instinct? No.
The drive to survive? No.
The will to live?
My heart raced against the ticking of the clock, which was now unbearable, I could feel the blood oozing from my ears and filling the bottom of my mask. A few frequencies more and maybe the material of my mask would crack, at least that is what my curiosity had once unveiled to me. Why was I researching a way to break my mask? I refocussed on my eyes to reveal a more important piece of information. My location. The Chamber was immense and no doubt the heart was the hottest part. That would be where the Polaris Furnaces are piled upon each other. They were the source of heated water, of food and the endless funds of metal and machinery. Loud snapping noises re-joined my peculiar chorus of sounds, the unmissable steps of a tripodal machine creeping closer. Machines were rumoured to protect the insides of The Chamber but never had I imagined that people were used to power them in such ways. Long before I was initiated into the mandatory work force there was controversy over the use of Intelligent machines powered by humans. I don't recall much after initiation. There was an initiation? A door appeared afront of me and so I opened it. The air was red fire and beneath multiple flights of stairs lay the heart, the centre of Ignis. Like the stars themselves it shone brightly and I was able to vividly picture them having not seen them since before coming here. The person at the base of the mile long furnaces seemed to lack care for such things. The ticking halted for the first time. The sirens silenced themselves and the pursuing machines seemed to disappear. My amazement overtook my overflowing fear and anxiety, the furnaces were unlike anything I had ever seen. That is until I began to see them from a lower view. The intricate outer shells piled upon each other, the mouths where a momentous amount of fuel was stored and burned suddenly seemed un-special. I had come to Ignis for some reason, in pursuit of my childhood. In pursuit of the blueprints which had once stunned me. I had built this before. The person at the foot of the Furnaces turned to face me. His eyes gleamed with fire and reflected the stars themselves. His presence was ancient and cold, a chill ran through me and the edges of my vision blurred. My memories returned as he whispered to me and my protector unlocked, my body falling to the floor.