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>As the Fabricator General spoke, a small part of the hololith was illuminated. Crowl had no idea of the scale – the lit section might have been a few metres across, or maybe a hundred, or maybe a kilometre. ‘This is a component of the Junction. You may recognise the style of the insertion. It is non-metallic in construction, immensely strong, resistant to most forms of moulding and recasting. It is psychically charged, and forms an integral part of the region’s material function.’ The viewpoint moved a little closer, zeroing in on the illumination component. ‘Observe the markings on the casing, here.’
>The markings were runes. Not Gothic runes, not even archaic Terran.
>‘Impossible,’ said Spinoza.
>‘On the contrary,’ said the dwarf. ‘The deeper one delves, the more such inscriptions one finds. Some are of unknown provenance. Some are beyond our ability to parse. The Throne itself, the physical object that forms the core of the entire machine, is certainly not of human origin.