Elara’s fingers traced the worn edges of the wallpaper as she wandered through her newly acquired Victorian home. The house, despite its eerie history, was magnificent, with arched doorways and stained glass windows. The aroma of ancient wood filled her senses.
In one of the rooms, she stumbled upon a drawer. Inside was an old photograph of townspeople, their expressions stoic. Something about the image made her heart race, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. She pocketed the photograph.
Her wanderings led her to a small door beneath the staircase. It creaked open to reveal a hidden basement. The air was dense, and the room dimly lit. Her eyes widened at what lay before her.
A vast array of ancient machinery hummed with energy. Panels and devices that looked to be a blend of technology and magic were intricately woven together. She saw something that looked a lot like a commercial LED lighting installation, except it had been intricately crafted to harness sunlight.
Although Elara was now a bestselling author, she still recalled a thing or two from her internship at that solar energy company in her uni days, when she’d wanted to save the planet. She could tell the sunlight was being directed into what appeared to be devices that would ordinarily be used for commercial battery storage solutions. Solar symbols adorned the machines.
As she reached out to touch one of the panels, the machinery pulsed, as if alive. The entire house shook, and the basement flooded with blinding light. She could hear the townspeople outside, their voices morphing into an indistinguishable chorus.
Elara stumbled back. The machines seemed to be reaching out, tendrils of light stretching towards her. The whispers of the townspeople grew louder, echoing in her ears as if pleading for something.
With all the strength she could muster, Elara raced out of the basement, slamming the door shut behind her. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She knew she had awakened something — something that had slept for a very long time.
The house, the machinery, the townspeople; they were all pieces of a puzzle she had to solve. Clutching the photograph, she made a vow to uncover the secrets and free the town from its twisted fate.
“Max Remington, reporting one last time from Solaris. But this isn’t the usual log. No, today is different. Because today, I’m not alone. Rescue arrived yesterday, just as the sun was setting – or rather, moving out of sight, because it never really sets here on Solaris.”