“Do you know how many people have been here before you?” Ivan struggled to think: it was all he could do to stay conscious.
The being noted the man’s pain, and didn’t wait for an answer. “Nobody. You are the first. In the last three aeons, no human has been able to conquer their inner demon. All who came this way died long before reaching the Ark. You are the first to see this place since it was constructed, when Atl was destroyed in the Fall”
