The vast chamber, choked with silent, shimmering Memory Shards, felt like a pressure cooker. Andrew stood trembling, every muscle screaming from exertion, every nerve frayed from the constant strain of existing within the stasis field and battling the Watcher's constructs. The inert Temporal Chronometer felt like a dead weight in his hand, a stark reminder of his dwindling resources. Yet, there it was: the Blueprint Shard, a perfect, dark cube pulsing invitingly in the air where the Watcher's eye had once hovered. It felt like a trap, because it was a trap. The Watcher's cold, assessing gaze still prickled his skin, a pervasive presence in the profound silence.
"It's unguarded," Andrew rasped, his voice barely audible even to himself. He looked at Marrow, whose demonic form seemed to hum with suppressed energy, vigilant and ready. "Too easy."
