Prince Maseko

THE VEIN OF SILENCEBy Prince MasekoThe HookIn Aethelgard, the ground isn't just sinking. It's being stolen. The StoryIn the bruised, chemical-purple haze of the South District, life is measured in brass tokens and the sweat of the "Scramble." Kael, a disgraced surveyor with a gift for hearing the silent languages of the stone, spends his days fighting for scraps in the mud. Like everyone else, he was told the ground was solid.
Like everyone else, he was lied to. When a freak accident in the Reclamation Hub reveals a hidden world of high-tech tunnels and glowing "Ghost Trains, " Kael discovers a terrifying truth: The Ministry isn't mining resources to save the city-they are liquidating its very foundation. Every brick, every street, and every home is being hollowed out and sold to the highest bidder, leaving five million people living on a crumbling shell.
With the "Final Liquidation" countdown ticking and the city 48 minutes away from a total structural collapse, Kael must team up with Mara-a rogue pirate broadcaster-to do the unthinkable. They must descend into the "Brain" of the beast, hijack the neural pulse of the machine, and turn the Ministry's own greed against them. The ChoiceAs the sky begins to burn with orbital fire and the bedrock beneath them liquefies, Kael faces an impossible decision: Save the friends trapped in the machine, or save the city that has already been hollowed out.
In a world built on a void, the truth is the only thing heavy enough to hold the ground.