MORGEN: 171

For the keeper at Vorr Station,

whose lamp burned nine nights after his death.

For the survey party from Drennaer,

whose instruments returned without them.

For the engineer beneath Old Alder,

whose final report contained only a temperature

and the words:

It has begun to breathe.

For every traveler whose name was entered upon brass and never spoken

at home again—

we maintain the Light.

Was Licht gibt, gibt Leben.

Was das Licht bewahrt,

bewahrt den Menschen. Was Licht gibt,

gibt Leben.

Was das Licht bewahrt,

bewahrt den Menschen.

We were born beneath no sun.

Kein Morgen überquerte den Hadr.

No moon divided month from month.

Keine Sterne führten

den Bauern, den Reisenden,

den Priester.

Only the ancient lamps awakened.

Nur das Licht. Only the engines warmed the stone.

Nur das Licht.

And beneath their pale illumination,

the seed learned to open.

Das Licht wurde uns gegeben.

Or perhaps— we found it already burning.

Hörst du das?

Do you hear it?

Kor Line signal active.

Kein Zug vorgesehen. Closed Quarter receiving power.

Quelle unbekannt. Ilyrmir lower structures illuminated.

Tiefe unbestätigt. Vaelkor grid response detected.

Kein Bediener anwesend. Across the Drenn,

the dead rails answer.

Die toten Schienen antworten.

Iron remembers wheels. And empty stations open their doors.

Zurück— Return— Bleibt— Remain— Bereitet euch— Prepare— Hinab— Descend— Öffnet— Open—

Morgen— Dawn— Morgen?

Tomorrow?

Morning?

Dawn?

Far beneath Aldervar,

Karvath schlägt im Stein.

Once in twenty-three years.

Dann elf. Then six.

Dann drei. Eighteen months.

Neun Monate. Four.

And now

the heart below us quickens.

Haltet das Licht! Hold the Light!

Haltet die Linie! Hold the line!

Haltet die Tür! Hold the door!

Haltet die Zeit! Hold the time!

DAWN. One

hundred seventy-two.

Morgen.

We carried light through hollow mountains.

We laid the rails through failing land.

We raised our homes around the engines and warmed our children by

their hands. We gave our names to every station.

We marked the dark with measured lines.

But no one asked what slept beneath us.

No one asked what watched the signs.

Was Licht gibt, gibt Leben.

Or teaches life to fear the night.

Was das Licht bewahrt,

bewahrt den Menschen. Or keeps mankind before the door.

Bewahrt es. Preserve

it. Öffnet es. Open it.

Schützt es.

Protect it. Löscht es.

Extinguish it. Haltet es.

Hold it. Lasst es fallen.

Let it fail.

There was no dawn before our fathers.

There may be none

when we are gone.

Yet every wheel beneath the darkness

turns toward something called the dawn.

If Light is mercy,

let it know us.

If Light is prison,

show the bars.

If Light is keeping death beneath us— why are there footsteps in

the Hadr?

Your light holds?

While I hold it.

Und wenn du nicht mehr hältst?

DAWN.

Einhunderteinundsiebzig.