Carlisle woke abruptly on the iron cot of the barracks, his palm seared with phantom pain. In his dream, he stood atop a towering crystal spire, beneath him lay the entwined bodies of two eldar lovers leaping into the void. Their tears crystallized mid-air, embedding starlight into his hands before forming radiant runes.
"Had that dream again?" came Susan's raspy voice from the bunk above. She rolled over and handed him a water flask, the hydraulic tubes of her mechanical arm gleaming faintly in the moonlight. "Here." She extended her other hand, revealing a stolen dose of tranquilizer from the medbay. "The Mechanicus started lacing the drinking water."
As Carlisle injected the sedative, Susan's mechanical arm suddenly jerked. She pulled down her collar, revealing an old scar on her collarbone that was now crystallizing. "Don't be afraid," she said, grasping her husband's trembling hand. "At least we can still dream of each other."
Outside the barracks, the sound of heavy boots echoed. Through a crack in the door, Carlisle saw overseers dragging away a body bag. The exposed hand protruding from it was covered in purple crystals, identical to the severed finger beneath the mining cart.