Matilda and the rest left not long after. Their footsteps echoed along the narrow passage; the sound slowly dampened as they got farther from the three.
The Engineer looked at Saint and Vesper. "I should start scanning now."
The two DASF moved aside and watched the Engineer with interest.
He crouched before the collapsed path and opened the scanner's side panel. A thin arm unfolded from the device, ending in a flat circular head.
He pointed the headlamp near the packed soil and pressed the device toward it.
The first scan returned almost immediately.
"Surface layer is dense," he muttered. "It's a mix of everything. Nothing surprising."
Saint crossed his arms. "Where do we start?"
"Not yet. Wait."
The Engineer shifted the scanner lower and ran it across the base of the collapse. The second reading took longer.
A thin line trembled across the device's display.
Vesper glanced at the Engineer who was frowning as he stared at it.
"What's this mean?"
"There's air movement."
Vesper tilted her head. "Behind it?"
"Most probably from above," the Engineer said, eyeing the ceiling, the wall, and the uneven gaps across the collapse.
"But let's hope it's also coming from behind."
He changed the setting and scanned a third time.
At that moment, Vesper closed her eyes and gathered her will.
"Don't even try to sense it," the Engineer warned. "The collapse is longer than expected. If it wasn't, your squad leader would have waited here instead."
Vesper's brows furrowed but followed what he said.
"If there's truly a passage beyond this collapse, we'll stumble on it after a while."
The third scan took even longer than the first two.
A low tone came out of the scanner, not loud enough to echo, but sharp enough to make Saint lower his arms.
The Engineer stared at the display.
"There it is."
Vesper stepped closer. "Passage?"
"Not exactly."
He tilted the device, scanning the upper left section of the collapse again.
"It's a hollow pocket, but a narrow one. The collapse isn't solid all the way through."
"Can we open it?"
"Yes. Yes, you can."
Saint cracked his fingers. The wait had been too long; his muscles were itching for a warm-up.
"Just don't make a mess," the Engineer scratched his head, at a loss on what to do.
Saint stopped.
The Engineer pointed at the upper stones.
"Don't pull from these or the ceiling will follow. Start from the center and do it slowly. This will widen passage. Too quickly and... well, it'll collapse faster than you can save me. Or us."
Saint stepped forward and placed both hands against the section marked by the Engineer.
He didn't punch it, nor tear it open.
He pulled his gloves away and dug into the packed soil with his bare fingers.
With a slight pull, the rubble shifted dully. Dust spilled down in thin streams, but the ceiling held tightly.
The Engineer released the breath he had been holding.
"Good. Like that."
Saint glanced at him. "I'm not a dog."
"Then don't dig like one."
Vesper turned her head slightly, hiding the faint curve of her lips.
Saint pulled again.
A fist-sized chunk came loose, and then another. The hollow pocket behind the collapse let loose cold air, carrying dust and a faint trace of chemical bitterness.
The scanner clicked once. The Engineer looked down.
"The trace has become stronger."
Vesper's eyes narrowed. "So it's really behind the collapse?"
"Seems like it."
Saint placed the broken stone aside and reached in again. This time, his hand plunged deeper past the wrist.
"How is it?"
"If you'd help," Saint grunted. "It'd be much faster."
"I don't want to dirty my hands."
"Yet you'd kill in a heartbeat."
"If the Commander points me to one, so shall I."
"And you don't want to dig through this?!"
"You're not the Commander. Nor the squad leader."
"Damn it, we're on a tight schedule here."
Vesper rolled her eyes and snorted. "If I touch the wrong section, your Engineer will complain. You already have your instructions. Follow them. I'll cheer on the sides."
Saint's mouth twitched, speechless about her logic. A loud snort came out from his nose as he braced himself, pulling out chunks of earth at a time.
The Engineer wisely kept his mouth shut, not wanting to drag himself into the scuffle.
Saint was already doing better; they just needed more time.
As another section was pulled loose, the gap widened from the size of his fist to the width of his shoulder.
Beyond it wasn't the open space they expected; only more packed earth and broken stone met Saint's advance.
"The collapse is deep indeed," the Engineer shook his head. "And this should only be the first layer."
Saint nodded before pulling again.
More rubble came loose, but the darkness behind it did not open. Only another layer of packed soil appeared, colder and damper than the first.
"Still not through?" Saint muttered.
"Not unless you want to count that as progress...?" The Engineer replied.
Time passed quickly between scraping through the dirt and breathing through the falling dust.
Saint pulled section after section.
The Engineer scanned occasionally after.
Vesper stepped on the side, watching the ceiling for any abnormal movement.
Whenever the rubble shifted wrong, the Engineer raised a hand. Saint stopped before the passage could bury itself again.
Dust had long gathered on Saint's arms.
Damp soil streaked across his hands and uniform. The pile behind him grew until Vesper had to kick several stones aside to keep the area clear.
"Careful," the Engineer said for the fifth time.
"I am being careful."
"Your careful and mine are not the same thing."
"You're bugging my ears with all this nagging."
"I'm just afraid you'll slip once and we'll all die."
Vesper ignored them and glanced at the scanner. "Any chemical residue?"
The Engineer checked the display.
"There's a bit, but not much."
That made Saint stop. "More from behind?"
"Not straight ahead," the Engineer clicked his tongue.
"If not there, then where?" Vesper was confused.
The Engineer tapped the lower-center section with two fingers. "These agents are crafty. The opening actually descends. If you keep pulling straight ahead, you'll bury it."
Saint frowned. "You could've said that earlier."
"I'm not my scanner."
Vesper glanced at Saint. "So, it was indeed your fault."
"How is that even my fault?"
"You were too eager."
Saint wanted to punch something but quickly held his fist. "Where to now?"
"Over there."
Saint approached the small section that the Engineer pointed over. He crouched lower and dug his fingers into the damp packed soil near the base.
This time, he did not pull outward.
He pulled upward and slightly back, following the angle the Engineer demonstrated to him.
As his hands moved, the earth shifted. It was as if a lid was being lifted.
Cold air breathed out from below. The dust did not blow into their faces this time but sank instead.
Saint didn't stop; not until he would hear a word from the Engineer.
It took several more minutes to widen the mouth of the slope.
Behind the loosened rubble, a narrow slope revealed itself, descending into darkness at an angle.
Saint stared at it for a moment. Light gasps escaped from his mouth.
"Tired from a little exercise?" Vesper teased.
"You do it instead of me then."
"Oh, and I thought you were a man of strength?"
Saint no longer bothered with her and planted one foot near the mouth.
"Well, this is annoying."
The Engineer leaned forward with the scanner.
"It goes down."
"We all can see that."
"No," the Engineer said, his tone tightening. "It goes down. Far."