There were, at times, ceilings so high as to match the apartment tower where they had retrieved the briefcase; and though derelict, there were also monuments carved of gold, onyx, silver, and gemstone, sitting desolate in the darkness they had been erected to defy. The monuments often resembled no definite figures, but figurative celebrations of the cosmos, now corrupt in the shadow. Invented constellations; hands upholding star systems, now
