All Man-Made!

The warm yellow cabin lights had gone out at some point, replaced by light streaming in through a huge window in the side wall. He had seen that kind of light before: the brightness of sunlight reflecting off fresh snow after a clear winter noon, so white it made one's eyes impossible to open. He squinted for quite a while to adjust before he dared open them fully, and then his breathing stopped for a moment.

There was no longer a starry sky outside the window.

Beyond it stretched a vast expanse of grayish-white ground. It was neither soil nor stone, but smooth as a giant mirror polished countless times. It extended far, far beyond the window, until it curved upward at the edge of his vision, as though the world were the inner wall of an enormous bowl. Neat lines and grids had been drawn across the ground, red, white, and yellow, especially striking against the grayish-white surface. Not far below the window stood several things shaped like beetles—flat and round, with silver-gray shells that gleamed with a cold, hard sheen under the light.

"Don't lean against the window. The glass is cold." Luo Wen's voice came from behind him.

Lu Chi turned and saw Luo Wen standing at the room's entrance with two cups in hand, steam rising from them. He had changed back into his indigo cotton robe and looked much the same as usual, except his hair was tied higher than before. He walked over and handed one cup to Lu Chi, then went to Ning Xiaohe and set the other on the armrest of her chair. Ning Xiaohe was awake too, lowering her head as she tied the strap Luo Wen had taken from her.

"Drink something hot. This is called Composite Malt Drink. It'll