Now that the automaton is under their control the group name their new mechanical companion 'Stompy', and continue further into the depths of the ship. They follow a long corridor, but find it leads to another entrance of the room with the giant tank that they were in before. The giant tentacled creature that they ran from is nowhere to be seen this time. They explore the chamber more fully and find a spot in the wall where something has burst through the metal hull, burrowed through the innards of the ship and come out in the chamber they are in now. They assume it was the tentacled creature and assume by the trail of water from the tank to the hole that the creature has returned from whence it came. They consider following the creature, then consider that the creature easily defeated them last time they encountered it. They decide to continue exploring inside the ship. The last room they find eight nodules, glistening like eggs of glowing blue glass, each 2 feet (0.6 m) high and half as wide. They are positioned within this chamber amid a winding maze of controls, cables, and mechanisms. Buddy finds them facinating and picks one up. Immediately he feels an alien consciousness burrowing its way into his head. He drops the nodule, but too late. Something is inside him, experimenting with him, learning how he works and rewriting his brain to suit its alien needs. Although he is not aware of this yet, he is aware that something is very very wrong and is keen to leave this chamber. They have now explored the entire ship, so helping Stompy along the difficult bits (it is unable to climb), they exit the ship and return to the village. The villagers are very interested in the stories the group have to tell and the group stay the night and are again billeted in some of the village houses. In the morning when he wakes, Buddy finds himself walking, naked in the beyond. He looks around and can see the village on the horizon, but also sees a pack of broken hounds moving in towards him. He begins to run, but has little hope of making back to the village, but luckily he comes across a villager who sees the hounds off with a numenera device that spouts flame at them. The group head off towards the location marked in the notebook they found where they expect the strange structure they saw in the river to appear in 9 days time. They walk for 4 days, coming across many very strange and disturbing creatures and locations, sleeping in ruins each night. Every day Buddy becomes more and more distracted and harder to rouse from his stupor. However part way through the fourth day they see a cloud on the horizon, a glittering storm heading directly towards them. This is something that all of them have heard tales of all of their lives - it is the IRON WIND. A terrifying storm that transforms all it touches. They know that they need to find shelter, and better shelter than the ruins that are dotted around them. The danger rouses Buster and they run for a nearby gulley, hoping to find a cave. Suddenly Chips cries out to the others. He has stumbled across a trap door. The others crowd around, hopeful that this might be their escape. That turns out not be a good move, especially because Stompy is with them, as the structure around the trapdoor cannot hold their weight. It collapses and the group find themselves tumbling through the ceiling of a long deserted room that looks like a mix of armory and laboratory. They land on tables and benches, smashing them. All around them are oddly out of phase creatures that quickly move in to attack. It is a difficult battle, especially considering that the creatures only seem to partially exist in this dimension, but they prevail. They can hear the howling wind getting close and they go through a nearby door and block themselves in a dark and dank bathroom. They stay there the night as the wind howls outside. The next morning, the group force the door open and find that the entire room has been transformed to flesh, with blood oozing from it. The roof area is all some blue crystaline material, but the hole they fell through remains. They had wanted to collect some of the many treasures they saw in this room, but nothing remains in its initial form. However they remember seeing another door in the room and carve through the flesh to find it. By this time they are covered in blood. In the other room they find racks of ancient equipment, but much of it is salvageable. They grab what they can and go to leave. Chips climbs up stompy and using his psychokinetic abilities makes a huge leap to the surface. He then lowers a rope down for the others. However there is no way they can get Stompy up the rope. Kell instructs Stompy to start burrowing, on a slightly upwards angle, but they realise it will take days for Stompy to get to the surface. They decide that they will come back for him. At this point the malfunctioning teleport device goes off and Buster disappears again. They continue onwards through the gulley which has been transformed, but soon make their way back to the normal landscape. They find the valley where the structure is due to appear. It is a pleasant spot and easy to set up a fortified campsite. They spend an enjoyable couple of days waiting and then the structure appears near the pool they have been bathing in. Almost immediately, the door slides open and a young girl stumbles out. She picks herself up and begins running from the structure, looking back with fear in her eyes.
