Saras shook his head lightly. "I had no more [i]specific[/i] knowledge than you. But, I do know that these lifts tend to work more often than not. I would guess that the Dwemer viewed them as a priority for maintenance, for obvious reasons."

Meesei's expression remained unchanged as she stared down Saras. "You knew my meaning. We cannot afford to take any more risks than necessary, and I cannot abide..."

Meesei was interrupted when the lift stopped, having reached the bottom of the shaft. The lift had not taken them exceptionally deep, and it had moved at a fair pace, though they still could not see the top of the shaft above them. The gate in front of them was already opened, and beyond it was a massive, darkened chamber. Their eyes had not yet adjusted, so it was difficult to see what was ahead of them. However, what could not be mistaken was the foul odor that permeated the air. It overpowered any other scent, and made it difficult to sense if there was anything else alive in the chamber. Meesei stepped out cautiously onto the stairs leading into the chamber, looking around as alert as possible. Regardless of Saras' actions, they had more pressing matters at the moment. 

"We need to hold here, send up the lift, and wait here for reinforcements before doing anything else." Meesei ordered. 

---

Peiter let out a sigh. "It's not...it's not about guilt. I don't feel bad about making mistakes, I just don't like how other people have been treating me. I try to do all these tasks, and I know I make mistakes. I might take too long, or make some kind of mistake, but it's like people just pretend it doesn't matter. I know they're fixing my mistakes on their own when I'm not around. I'm not mad because I make mistakes, I'm mad because people won't even acknowledge it. It's like, because I lost my arm, I'm not expected to do anything right. It's like they're not willing or able to criticize my work. It was nice at first; I didn't feel like I was under too much pressure, but...now it just all feels like pity. People pity that I can't do the things they can, so they just accept whatever I do and pretend it's all perfect, even when I know it isn't."