- Portent -

THE DROP WIGGLED and slipped its way down the shaft, leaving a faint green stain behind, its reflection in the gleaming metal leading the way. New, the shaft, as was all the equipment collected here.

Another drop. Another. They drummed and chimed against every surface, mirrored as they struck and stuck.

As they wiggled and slipped downward.

Until there was no surface without its trails of green.

The drops met each other in antenna couplings and on access covers, at joints and along ductwork. They grew together in pools and spread until they tumbled over new edges. Wiggling and slipping downward again.

Seals began to bubble and ooze.

More drops fell, tracing the paths of the first.

A hatch cracked. The drops poured through, a hungry flood.

Giving those inside no time to scream.