Anya-10 Masha-8-lsm-43 <Trusted – 2025>

Then the image changed. It showed the surface. The outpost. But the outpost was dark, and the door to the airlock was open. Two small figures in oversized parkas were walking out onto the ice, hand in hand, following a trail of violet lights that led to a pressure crack in the glacier.

Masha ignored her. She padded down the spiral staircase in her thick wool socks. Anya cursed under her breath—a word she'd learned from the engineer—and followed. Anya-10 Masha-8-Lsm-43

She walked over to the main power conduit, her small hands gripping the emergency cutoff valve. "I'm sorry, LSM-43," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "You can keep your ocean. We're staying in the cold." Then the image changed

"Get away from the window, Masha. Cold seeps through the glass." Anya was tightening a bolt on their last functioning air scrubber. Her fingers were clumsy with fatigue. But the outpost was dark, and the door