Rising Flux - Jonathan Weiss

Pillars of steel stand scattered across the dunes of the Droughtlands, left behind by those-of-glass. They're the markers of a people long extinct, wiped out by a fusion of unbound magic and unfathomable technology.

The remnants of humanity who now dwell upon the desert wastes regard these places with suspicion, yet the temptation of forbidden knowledge is too strong a draw for the crews sent out by the Academy of Breggesa. At the age of twenty, freshly initiated Rettic jumps at the chance to join one such expedition, even if it means ignoring the whispered doubts of the rest of the crew.

At the helm is Archarus, a venerated scholar and sole survivor of the last crew the Academy sent to their destination, hell bent on keeping the details of his current mission secret. As mutinous mutters continue to grow, Rettic starts to wonder if they'll meet the same fate as the failed expedition.

With the chance to make a name for himself in the Academy, Rettic conducts his own investigation into the fate of Archarus' last venture. It takes him into the depths of the massive towers, deep under the sands, where a rumbling voice older than the ruins themselves returns a warning.

You control machines.

This machine will control life.

Do not control it.