Zone Designation: RUST SPIRE

Code: ZN-RS-03
Zone Type: Structural Ruin / Metal Logic Breach
Status: Containment Semi-Failed
Threat Class: Environmental / Infection Risk
Classification: ACTIVE HAZARD

Zone Overview

Rust Spire is not a place in the usual sense—it's a vertical biome composed of collapsed infrastructure, magnetic storms, and sentient oxidation. The zone rises unnaturally tall, anchored to no known base terrain, and is visible from nearly every surrounding Zone on clear nights.

The spire emits low-frequency machine howls at intervals corresponding to lunar cycles (any lunar cycle). Debris rotates in orbit. No one has yet reached the top, and those who attempt often return having “gained” internal scaffolding.

Primary Characteristics

• Suspended catwalks and antenna forests
• Dripping metal sinew between girders
• Oil fog that clings to lungs and camera lenses
• Elastic internal time: e.g., 20-minute missions logging 11 hours

Known Bala Origins

Most Machine-type Bala emerge directly from within the Spire’s metallic tangle, though several Anomaly and Monster types have also been linked to its deeper regions.

Hazards

• Rust Spores: Airborne during storms. Inhalation causes metallic-tasting dreams, followed by hardware growth beneath the skin.
• Polarity Shifts: Occasional local gravity reversals. Disorientation, broken bones, and spontaneous defragmentation recorded.
• Repeater Protocols: Audio loops embedded in Spire override language centers after 3+ minutes of exposure.

Containment Directives

• Class V Audio Filtering required at all times
• Magnetic boots required above Floor 3 (approx. 150m)
• If you begin to see words in the metal: stop reading. They are not Bureau-approved.
• Extraction units must bring a backup of their own memories

Additional Notes (Declassified)

• The phrase “ALL RETURN TO THE CORE” appears carved repeatedly in rust across unrelated field logs
• Several drones sent to the upper levels came back inverted
• A small elevator was found on Floor 13. It does not go anywhere Bureau-mapped.

> “The Spire does not end. It waits.”