They had no idea how much time had passed before they regained consciousness. Only then did they discover that they had become like Ghosts from Ancient stories: their souls had not dispersed, but were imprisoned within the physical structure of the Research Center.
They roamed through the city's structures and eventually found one another, but the souls of those who had died outside the Space-Folding Zone were nowhere to be found.
They speculated that the Hyperspace Folding Device's failure to operate properly had caused abnormal energy circulation within the partially folded space.
After they were killed, their souls had not immediately dispersed. Instead, they had attached themselves to the Remnant Men of Iron Bodies. As Warp power seeped into them, those broken bodies fused with the city's construction materials, incorporating their souls into its structure.
Compared with the scattered Warp power in the surrounding space, the Warp energy within the city's structure was far too concentrated. Some form of order they did not yet understand seemed to have emerged there, perhaps creating a special energy confinement field.
They were therefore trapped within it, unable to leave the city itself, but neither would they disperse or be devoured in the Warp.
Yet they also suffered terribly because of it. The terror of their final moments and the agony of being burned alive had been branded into their souls, never to fade.
They could not find release in death. Instead, every moment brought another cycle of the terror and pain they had suffered as they died.
The lingering shadows of their souls had gradually changed from transparent to a deep, impenetrable black.
Now, all they wanted was death.
And the only way to grant them that end was to destroy the city completely.
But as a colossal megastructure built by the Federation,