I stretched, and the numbness from sitting so long slowly faded.
Kiara and Trix had been staring at each other for so long it felt like an eternity.
"Are you sure?"
The android asked again.
Trix remained unyielding.
"I am. Because it's you."
Kiara's gaze carried weight.
Trix held it.
The silence between them was an invisible battlefield.
Anichka slept deeply on the floor.
While Kiara and Trix spoke of danger, of death, of survival, Anichka breathed softly, immersed in a deep sleep.
Even if the sky collapsed, she wouldn't move a muscle.
She had scoffed throughout the entire planning, showing complete disinterest.
Maybe she didn't grasp what all of it meant.
She only knew Kiara and Trix would protect her from even the smallest scratch.
To be honest, I didn't know the reason for the escort either, but danger lingered.
Whatever it was, it would have to get through those two first.
Kiara ran a hand through her hair.
"Are you really sure?"
She repeated, as if still expecting a different answer.
Trix stepped closer and removed her mask.
I have to admit, her face surprised me.
I held back the urge to widen my eyes when I noticed two lilac-metallic scars running from her eyes down to her jaw.
What was that?
A nanoprothesis?
No… it felt like something else.
My chest tightened.
That… that was more than just scars.
They were marks of something dissonant.
Trix pointed to them.
"I am. Because of this."
"Fuck it."
Kiara stepped away and walked toward me.
Trix put her mask back on and looked at Anichka with disdain.
The android sat beside me.
"And you? Are you sure about this?"
"Do I have a choice?"
I forced a smile.
I tried to hide my hesitation,
even though it was as clear as the snow outside.
She tapped my shoulder lightly.
"Get some rest. We leave tomorrow night."
I moved away, sitting near a large window.
Outside, the ruined buildings rested beneath a white veil.
Pure. Beautiful.
And yet, they held something beyond comprehension—something to be felt.
I thought of Maia.
Of the way she spoke about nature with such passion.
About how she loved its inevitability.
She once said:
"How do you contain the falling rain?
The roots that claim the soil?
They slip through cracks, entrails, every forgotten corner.
They are in the air, which sustains and ignites.
In the earth, which nourishes and strengthens.
In the water, which flows and creates.
In the fire, which consumes, transforms, and rises from ash.
Nature is untamable.
Perhaps it was the disconnection from feeling that made them try to control it."
I removed my gloves and touched the glass.
The cold pierced my skin, but I held still through the tremor.
You too, Maia, were inevitable like nature.
Sleep felt far away.
The anxiety for the next day grew in my chest.
A quiet, heavy fear.
I feared the pain waiting for me if things went wrong.
I wanted to avoid thinking about it, so I returned to memories of Maia.
Maybe, in the end, I had always been meant to be pulled into her storm.
Just like the snow outside.
I let the memories drift through me.