The massive circular door stood before them, a monolithic testament to a forgotten age. The Tsurugi crest, a stylized phoenix intertwined with a katana, seemed to pulse with a faint, inner light, drawing Jin's gaze like a moth to a flame. The air around the door felt different, charged with a subtle energy that made the fine hairs on his arms stand on end.
"Well, this is it," Rosa breathed, her voice filled with a rare sense of awe. "The big kahuna. How do we knock?"
Clara was already at work, her fingers flying across her tablet. "The locking mechanism is... beyond anything I've ever seen. It's not just a mag-lock or a physical barrier. There's a bio-signature field, a quantum encryption key, and... I don't know what this is.""
