The subway doors slowly closed behind Amon with a dull metallic clang.
The carriage was pitch-black. Only the occasional faint glimmer flashing past the grimy windows barely outlined its empty interior. The air was thick with the scent of rust and dust, cold and heavy, as if time itself had frozen here.
The monotonous roar of wheels grinding against rails echoed through the tunnel, making the floor beneath his feet tremble faintly. Beyond the windows lay absolute darkness that devoured everything. Only when the subway sped through certain stretches could he catch, in a fleeting weak reflection, the jagged shadows on the tunnel walls.
Amon stood in the middle of the swaying carriage, his figure appearing and vanishing in the flickering light.
He carried a bulging plastic bag filled with several bags of potato chips. The corners of his mouth curled into a smile as he looked forward to formally meeting his new friend.
The train gradually slowed, then came to a complete stop. The doors slid open, and Amon stepped off, raising his head to see specks of golden starlight drifting slowly through the boundless, lofty darkness. There was no ceiling in sight, nor any walls.
He walked into the immense space like an ant crawling into Saint Peter's Basilica in the dead of night. The golden starlight seemed to be fireflies, and by their faint glow, he could see dozens of parallel railway tracks.
This was the subway's final stop, and also the end of the labyrinth.
Amon slowly walked to the very end of the platform.
The darkness ahead was thick as ink. Only two dim yellow lights, like the sleepy eyes of some enormous creature, cast a steady, faint halo in the dark.
That halo began to sink slowly, carrying a heart-pounding rhythm. Accompanied by the