Team Member I: Entering the ice zone. Grab your telescopes, explorers.
Team Member II: That's right. We need your eyes on every ice floe. Let's not make a second Titanic.
Team Member I: This isn't the time for jokes, Koht.
Hearts thumping with excitement, our team set off. Thanks to our courage and careful preparation, it wasn't long until we crossed the Drake Passage.
No matter how fierce the katabatic winds were, our will stood firm. In fact, the windstorm we met was very similar to the lab-simulated ones. It didn't take long for the captain to find a way to deal with it.
Soon, we were sailing through the South Shetland Islands. There wasn't much there but black moraine and a few groups of Adélie penguins.
It was clear to us that there was more trudging to be done before we reached our destination. But every one of us was confident that a journey of this magnitude would pay off with very many ancient secrets.
When the sun dawned, we saw the lichen that grows all over the Aitcho Islands. Crimson, green, ocher ... Even the landblink couldn't pale those colors.
That was when we realized that rocks can move too.
I can't help but recall when the famous Guvernøren returned with a full and bountiful load. We celebrated the harvest very amazingly.
We opened a keg of beer and sang the songs of home under the rosy sky.
"The harvest's bounty mankind's blessing be. We children, blind, from mazes must be free."
"The Mother Spirit's light, with ancient glow, guides us to the great current—nature's flow."
Yes, we are the polar explorers. We are meant to be the challengers of the most unknown greatness.
So, with this feeling in our hearts, we will continue our march into the depths of Antarctica.
Carpe diem, as the saying goes. I've never felt more joyful and fulfilled and worthy in my entire life.
A two-stroke diesel engine sputters.
Bzz—bzzt— *thud* ...
Sparks fly as the radio transmitter groans.
Nautika: I, I must ... I must send it out.
A ragged, maddened voice comes from the research station's darkest corner,
speaking into broken equipment with undeliverable messages.
Nautika: panting Calm down, Nautika. Calm down.
Nautika: This is your research station. You built it together with the team.
Nautika: You're safe now. Yes, the Mother Spirit will protect you. You're ... You're safe now.
Nautika: Just-Just try it one more time, just one more.
Her fingers keep pressing the broken transmitter key while her body shakes uncontrollably.
Nautika: Come on, come on. You can do it. It's simple. You didn't go crazy. You have all your brains in here in your head. It knows all the letters of Morse code and how to send them.
Nautika: See? There's A, and D, and E, F, C. You know them all. Just use them to spell out the warning message and send it out across the whole world ... everyone. It, it's easy, like playing a game of "tablut." Yes, so easy.
Nautika: I can do this.
She munches down on a black gelatinous fluid in her mouth.
Nautika: Cold. This moldy lime juice and disgusting ice algae, this damn frostbite ... Nothing left to do but sit here, stinking of blood, and wait for death to take me.
Nautika: I have to warn the world. This place isn't the last oasis, and there's no such thing as the Hollow Earth.
Nautika: But-But no one will believe me if they don't see it with their own eyes. Nobody!
Nautika: Because ...
Nautika: Because I used to be the same way.
Ear Worm Máhtu: "Through Giant Mother's bones the path is laid. In bloody pain, eternal life is made."
Ear Worm Máhtu: "The Mother Spirit's light, with ancient glow, guides us to the great current—nature's flow."
Nautika: Not now, little Máhtu.
Nautika: Mother Spirit, bless me. Lend me your glorious strength and grant me your protection. L-Let me live through this.
"Boom—" A thunderous noise comes from outside.
Nautika: !!!
The small figure startles.
She sidles to the window, peeking through the insulation's edge.
Nautika: A Snow Monster ship?
???: Excuse me, is anybody ...
Nautika: !!!
Nautika: Please don't come over here, please, please, please.
A bright-haired "Snow Monster" has invaded the explorer's last refuge.
???: Excuse me, is there anyone here? We just landed, and this is the only building around. We were hoping to ask for some help.
Nautika: I-I'm already half frozen to death. Don't you dare crack my skull and suck my blood. I won't taste any good.
???: My apologies. There must have been some kind of misunderstanding.
Nautika: Plague in the glacier, the worms beneath the feet of the Mother Spirit, and those sickening masked tyrants.
Nautika: Bring it on, Snow Monster. If I can wrestle a reindeer, then I can take on you.
???: W-Wait!
COMBAT
Nautika: You're not a Snow Monster?
Nautika: N-Normal behavior, no mask, uses magic, yes, warm magic. I can move my fingers again.
Nautika: You're right, Máhtu. They don't seem like bad people. At least, not as bad as the Snow Monsters.
Crazed but still wary, she shrinks back to keep an eye on the intruders.
The two newcomers seem without concern. They straighten the furniture and examine the scene as if looking at a puzzle.
Sonetto: Hm. According to Mr. Aleph, this should be the coast that Dr. Dores landed on.
Sonetto: This plain is the way to the heart of Antarctica. We may still catch up with her if we pick up our pace.
Vertin: I see. But I didn't expect there to be a research station all the way out here.
Sonetto: This place isn't on any map of Antarctica I've ever seen. It must have been built less than half a year ago.
Sonetto: The facilities are quite complete. Diesel generators, snowmobiles, radio transmitters ...
Sonetto steps forward. An empty can rolls to her feet.
Sonetto: However, they seem to have run out of food.
Her eyes turn to the cowering figure.
Vertin: We're just passing by. We mean no harm. Is there anyone else at this station that can help us?
A hundred days of solitude ends with a simple question. Nautika stands half-hobbled in the corner, rubbing her nose.
Nautika: N-No. There's no one else.
Nautika: Only me.
Sonetto: I don't mean to offend, miss, but you don't look very well. May I give you a health evaluation?
Nautika: No, no need. I'm fine. I'm an explorer. I-I know my body. I'm fine.
She retreats back from the newcomer's offered hand.
Sonetto: ...
Nautika: ...
Sonetto: What are you eating?
Nautika clutches black slime—a fibrous, mucus-like fluid oozing between her fingers.
She licks her lips and swallows it whole.
Nautika: The only thing there is to eat here.
Sonetto shakes her head.
And the suitcase's metal clasps are opened with two clicks.
Sonetto: Please, take this. It's turnip and potato soup with beef. I hope it suits your tastes.
Food.
Fresh food.
The long-suffering explorer reaches out as tenderly as a fawn.
Nautika: I-Is that a magic suitcase?
She points at the suitcase that conjured food out of thin air.
Vertin: Yes. It's an arcane suitcase. It's bigger on the inside. It can hold food, rooms, even arcanists themselves.
Nautika: So you're arcanists!
Color finally returns to her pale face as she begins to examine her visitors with fresh eyes.
Vertin: That's right.
A protein-rich aroma wafts up from the tin.
Vertin: Actually, we're heading to the heart of Antarctica. Perhaps you'd be willing to offer us some advice?
Nautika: ...!
She knocks over the tin in panic. The soup inside splatters out across the floor.
Her body shakes erratically, and she returns to a mantra of bizarre muttered half-phrases rehearsed in her mind over and over again.
Nautika: No. You mustn't. Do not go into Antarctica.
Nautika: You mustn't go any further!