Engine Room Annex

A cramped secondary space adjacent to the engine room proper, this annex feels like an afterthought—a narrow metallic chamber where ventilation pipes groan under pressure and emergency lighting flickers in irregular pulses. The walls, lined with exposed conduit and junction boxes, radiate a low hum that thrums through the deck plates underfoot, making every step resound like a struck bell. A single workstation of salvaged metal and scorched plastic sits against one bulkhead, its flickering monitor displaying circuit schematics that seem deliberately hidden in layers of nested submenus. Emergency kits hang open in disarray, their contents spilled across the floor as if someone recently searched for something in haste. The air is thick with the reek of ozone and overheated solder, punctuated by the acrid tang of burned insulation from a recent spark. This is where Popplewick—when not playing the part of a trembling servant—conducted whatever planning required privacy within the ship’s beating heart.