Day 13

Time: 11:48 PM

Location: Rime 12 Mess Hall

Darius' spoon made a terrible noise as it scrapped against his broken piece of plate, shoveling the food into his mouth like a dying man. Maybe he was. It was a morbid thought, but it was drowned out within his other thoughts, desperate for food and warmth. When he dwelled on it later, though, perhaps he would find some truth to it.

For now, though, as Darius dragged his spoon against the clay one more time, he was surprised to find it come up empty. His eyes had never left his meal, but for the first time, Darius saw it was empty. Gone in a flash, far too soon.

For a second, Darius didn't move, staring at his empty plate and mourning his food. His stomach, still void and empty, grumbled at him, clawing at itself with terrible hunger pains that hadn't gone away. Darius stared at his soup, as if more would miraculously appear out of thin air. It didn't, and eventually, Darius shoved his bowl away from himself, doubling over.

The others finished their soup at much the same time. It wasn't even thirty seconds ago that they had all sat down. Ai sighed in sorrow.

Luca said what they were all thinking. "That... wasn't very much, was it?"

"Not after a day or so of not eating," Ai groaned. Darius heard her hunched over, too, much like he was. "We're going to die here."

"They wouldn't let us do that," Molly said quickly, but as she spoke, Darius saw her confidence fall. "They... need us. They need workers."

Darius hummed in agreement. "Well, that's true, but it doesn't matter if they don't have the food to feed us. They can't really chose to give us food if there is no food."

The table fell quiet as the others considered Darius' words. Darius, too, fell quiet, because even as he said it, he realized it was not a thing he had really thought about before, and only subconsciously knew it to be true.

This place was different from the moon quarter, from the boat and from the badlands. Their, at least, they had people to count on and food mostly readily available. They were in danger, sure, but... not like this.

The Rime 12 was dying a slow and sure death, with the snow and isolation sucking their resources and lives away as they tried desperately to persevere, to stay strong against the unyielding cold.

The group had escaped certain death right into the jaws of a new trap, slowly killing them.

Darius knew who would win. People were fleeting. The cold was forever.

"I'm not sure I can work a job like... like that again," Ai admitted quietly. It was an obvious confession, but Darius grimaced at the truth of it nevertheless. That was true, wasn't it? If they had to go up there again, it'd only be a race to see what could kill them first: the cold or their own weakness.

Darius grimaced at the memories. They had found the shovels, and then left the safety of the shed to find a ladder attached to the side of the building leading up. Ai had went up first, with Darius following, then finally Molly. What they were met with was piles of snow towering twice as tall as they were, and packed together, almost like an immovable wall. And when they finally climbed up on top of that, they saw miles of it stretching in front of them, covering the whole entire base.

They started on it with many complaints, and after hours of working, they had only cleared a couple meters of it.

Thankfully, it was enough. When they went down and told Angelico the problem, she had seemed sympathetic (as well as incredibly worried), and told them they'd down more than enough for now. They got their soup.

It wasn't a complete bust, though. As they were working, Darius had finally gotten to listen to Engine's call when he, Ai and Molly split it. Darius fiddled with his watch as he remembered it.

"Hey, kid! What's going on up there, we saw that whole mess from Earth! You better gotten out of that or so help me-!"

And here Darius remembered the recording had gotten cut off, with whatever Kin trying to say getting stopped mid-sentence. He remembered being a little confused, but it had started up a little bit later, picking off after what Darius assumed was only a few minutes. He shrugged and continued listening.

"-StarSpeaker has been reporting it, of course," Engine said, chuckling, and it was such a tone shift that Darius' brain had marked it as weird. "He's been getting more popular here, as of recent. Suppose it makes sense... they want solutions and he's serving them up on a silver platter. Sarcastically, I might add, but with these idiots..."

Engine sighed. "I'm getting off track. Anyway, StarSpeaker says his best guess is that it was Oraple getting rid of their own planet, for some reason... I didn't say he was getting popular for any good reason. I know that wasn't the reason and in any case, I know I saw something up there, something like a... mouth?"

Engine paused for a minute, seemingly pondering that. When they spoke again, their voice was gruff and short. "Look at me, talking to some dead kid. Look, if this got through to someone who's alive, call me back, but if not..."

"Well, it was nice working with you, kid. Guess heroes really do always die in this hell of a world."

Darius had froze after all, unable to continue working, not with what he knew now. Immediately, he tried calling Engine, but it was in vain. He couldn't get through to her, just like the radio. What Engine had sent to him... that was a saved message.

The isolation he felt grew stronger.

And just in time, Molly had found him, poking her head around what was basically a hole they were digging.

"Darius...?" she asked, slowly. "Are you okay?"

Darius startled, nearly dropping his shovel. He stared at his friend, dumbfounded for a second, and then nodded awkwardly, shrugging.

"Uh... fine," he had told her. He was anything but, but they should probably be working right now.

Molly didn't not look like she believed him, but she nodded anyway, going along with it regardless. Darius was thankful.

And then, they had kept working.

Looking back, Darius was usure how, exactly, they had survived the whole workday. Their fingers, at first, had locked up and grown unresponsive, but after a few minutes in relative warmth, they were fine, and in complete working order. They had developed a terrible cough, but after eating the little soup they got, it had disappeared. And their teary eyes and runny noses hadn't been a problem after wiping them down.

...Maybe it hadn't be as bad as Darius had thought, but he supposed that could also be the hindsight talking. Winter temperatures were nothing to take lightly, especially in their weakened state.

Eventually, he drew back from the table with a yawn. As disappointed as he was by the meal, he was more tired than anything.

"It's pretty late," he muttered, more to himself than to the others. "We should get to bed."

"I'm so tired I could eat a horse," Greg complained, and he stood up, still holding Frog, who was practically swimming in the coat. The humans weren't the only ones who lost weight. "Goodnight, everyone."

Luca stood as well, looking amused. "Greg, we're going to the same place."

Greg stopped, and thought about that. "Oh, right. Never mind, then."

It must have been an inside joke between the two of them, because they both giggled. Greg gave him a wave as he left.

Darius looked at Luca, a smile pulling at his lips. "I... take it you two grew rather close, then."

Luca blinked, looking thoughtful. "...We have?"

Darius gave him an amused look, and Luca huffed a laugh.

"Guess we have," he admitted. "He's a funny kid, I guess. I'd always wanted a younger brother, so I guess it was going to happen no matter what."

"Yes! Friendship!" Molly suddenly cried out, making the rest of them jump. She barely seemed to notice as she stood up, pointing towards the sky like she was making a declaration. "That's good! Friendship in the desolate winter wasteland! Friendship is inevitable! Friendship is magic! Even here, where barely anyone has any friends!"

The others stared at her in concern. Ai tilted her head, and Luca and Darius gave each other concerned looks.

"That's... a rather big assumption," Ai finally commented, not with suspicious, as Darius was just about to do, but more with simple confusion. "We haven't been here very long, we can't know that for sure."

"I do," Molly insisted softly, and to Darius' surprise, he found that she looked rather glum as she said it. "I know that Soma had been kind and caring, always looking out for people before they killed her. And that the one before her, Dahriel, was stoic and gruff, but he put his friends before himself, always. And Momo... they were nervous and fearful of everything, all the time, but they hated hurting others and being singled out. Their... turning makes this place afraid and unwilling to trust. The weight of betrayal is weighing on all of them, like an iron press. Soon they'll start lashing out more and more, hurting innocents and people who don't deserve it... but they have to! There's no food to be found, anywhere! They don't have a choice, they have to... they have to..."

Molly paused, now nearing tears, and without another word, collapsed to the table, face first. They others stared at her in stunned silence, waiting for the next strange outburst to arrive, but it didn't. When snores started coming from Molly, they slowly and nervously relaxed, ready to jump on their guard at the slightest provocation.

Why? Well, Darius had no clue. All he knew right now is that he was a bit afraid. Afraid of Molly.

Eventually, Ai reluctantly spoke. "Maybe we should get her to bed," she suggested, and the others didn't argue.

Ai and Darius heft Molly between them, her arms on each of their shoulders. With her weight balanced between them, it was easy to lift her, though Darius somewhat suspected Ai was doing more than her fair share of the work.

...He supposed it didn't matter.

Luca led the way, but Darius could see his nervousness in the hunch of his shoulders and the way he kept glancing back at them with wide eyes. Perhaps in another time and place Molly's words would be nothing but slightly startling but right here and now... Darius was more than a little on edge.

There were only a few people out in the mess hall this late at night, but Luca still waited until they got into the relative safety and emptiness of the hallways before speaking; and even then, it was barely more than a whisper.

"What... what do you think that was?" he asked Ai and Darius. His voice shook.

Darius could only shrug, or attempt to, with Molly's weight on his shoulders. "I... don't know. But it can't be true, can it? How would she know all that?"

"We were up in the snow all day," Ai mused. "It might be... all this might be getting to her."

"A hallucination?" Luca asked skeptically.

"Something like that," Ai agreed, though she didn't sound too sure.

"Something like that," Darius and Luca reluctantly agreed, and they then said no more on the subject. Still, they all knew it was no real answer, and their new paranoia did not lift even the slightest, hanging around them like a heavy fog.

Later, when they had gotten into the barracks and laid Molly down on hers, they each snuggled into their own, the weight comforting despite the newfound eeriness of all the bodies knew them.

It was then that Luca asked: "W-Who would they go for first?"

Darius didn't answer. He felt the answer was fairly obvious, anyway. It was easier to blame and kill people you've just met, rather than old friends.

Darius would a thought he was so tired that he would have slept on until late in the morning, but apparently, that wasn't true. The barest sound of shuffling blankets and tired yawns made him jerk awake quickly, snapping his eyes open to see the others in the room putting away their sleep bags and stretching themselves out, getting ready for the next long and hard work day.

One of them noticed Darius staring at them, and they paused. It made Darius flinch slightly, seeing the closet human-like silhouette freeze and stare at him, like something from a horror movie.

"Ah, sorry," they said, their voice scarcely more than a whisper. "Didn't mean to wake you. You can go back to sleep."

Darius blinked awkwardly, then nodded, unsure of what to say or do.

Satisfied, the person seemed just about ready to turn and go with the others, but at the last minute, they paused again, titling their head at Darius. Darius couldn't exactly read their expression, but it doubted it was a good look.

"Say, you' one of those new kids, right?" they asked, sounding intrigued.

"Um... yes?"

"Were you one of the ones that went up to the roof?"

"...Yeah..."

The person chuckled. "Oh, great. So you're the one that gave us all extra work! Thanks for that."

Darius blinked. Was that an undercurrent of resentment in their voice. "S-Sorry."

The person seemed to realize they had made a mistake. "Nah, don't worry about it. Honestly, we probably shouldn't have let all that snow build up anyway. And, hey, your little ship gave us the parts the fix our snowplow, so that's nice. We'll start using that as soon as the mechanics figure out how to do their job again."

"...Oh." Darius wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.

The person laughed again. "You're fine, kid. Go back to sleep."

The person then left, and Darius rolled over, closing his eyes. He... he tried to go to sleep, he really did. He felt exhaustion in every bone in his body, like a heavy weight dragging him down. The blankets above him were soft and comforting, and Darius desperately snuggled into then, closing his eyes and waiting for relief... but it never came. No matter how long he waited, sleep did not come to make him drift off and away from the world.

Eventually, Darius sighed, giving up. He lifted his watch, flicking it on with the slight turn of his wrist.

The first thing that caught his eye were the numbers on the main screen. He was surprised to find that right now, it was five in the morning (did the rest of the really wake up that earlier), and somewhat disappointed to find that the numbers from the primary goal still read: [6/15]. Maybe no one really was up here.

...That was a rather lonely thought. Darius shook it off, and went back to the files. He clicked at the second one in the list.

Sn--: Rollcall.

A—: For the love of- Let's NOT bring that back, okay?

Sn--: Rollcall! Rollcall, everyone! Blood?

A--: For God's sakes. You're evil, you know that?

O--: Enough, A--. I have the blood, Sn--, though I couldn't find bone dragon blood. Is long neck blood good enough?

A-- : We're using HER word for it now-?

Sn--: Guess we'll find out! Journal pages?

...

C—: O-Oh! T-That's me... yeah, I have them, from that cab-.

Sn—: Tar? Yep, I have it. I couldn't get to the pits, but storebought is fine, right?

O—: Guess we'll have to find out.

Sn—: True. Living thing?

P--: I got it.

Sn--: ...A kitpup?

P--: Hm... You're right, how inhuman. Let's call this whole thing off-.

O--: P--, don't. Sn--, keep going.

Sn--: ...Um...

O--: Sn--.

Sn—: Okay, okay... Matches and firewood?

...

Sn--: Matches and firewood?

...

Sn--: That was you, A--.

A--: I know that.

Sn--: Well, then, did you-?

A--: What the hell is wrong with you?

O--: Hey, A--...

A--: No, I want to know. Why like this? Why specifically rollcall? That's what he used to do-!

O--: A--!

A--: No, tell me! Do you want to be like him? Like H--?

Sn--: No-!

A—: What the **** was going through your brain when you picked that?

Sn--: I-No! I... I...O--!

A--: Tell us!

O--: ...I kind of want to know, too...

Sn--: I don't want to be like him, it was just... I didn't even think of that! It's just... something we all used to do together... even after things went bad... I wasn't thinking of H--, honest!

...

O--: Well, I guess that's fair...

A--: And rather stupid, but that's pretty on brand.

O--: Alligator, enough. Let's just... let's focus on this for now, okay?

Sn--: ...I have the pine needles.

O--: Good. Let's set up.

P--: She won't be happy to see us, you know. Not after what happened.

O--: We'll find out.

Sn--: We're on her side now, though, right? And she was more mad with... with him that she was with us, right?

O--: Guys, we'll find out. This is... this might as well be our only option, unless any of use specifically remember the forms our other friends took.

Sn--: I...

O--: Do you?

Sn--: ...

O--: I thought so.

P--: They probably hate us, too.

A--: Probably.

O--: Enough! C--, tell us how to set up the ritual already!

C--: O-Oh, r-r-right. I, um... first you, uh...

A--: For **** sakes.

C--: F-FIRST you t-take the t-tar and mix it with the r-red paint...! ...And t-then you take the m-matches and l-light the f-fire-l-light the LOGS on fire. T-Then you t-take the stuff, the connection, and b-burn it in the fire. A-And then finally y-you take the living thing and p-put the fire t-to it. T-The living c-creature will lead you to them, as long a-as the fire s-stays lit. U-use the t-tar and b-blood as f-fuel...

...

O--: Well, there it goes.

A--: We didn't get a lot of fuel.

P--: Should've gotten something with longer legs. We still can if you guys wanna give up-.

O--: No, it's fine. We should be close anyway, from what we saw with the last group.

A--: I'd have high tailed it out of there if I was her.

P--: Me too. That's two votes-.

O--: Shut it, P--. Sn--, add more fuel.

Sn--: ...Me?

O--: Do it. The more you wait...

Sn--: I'll do it, I'll do it!

A--: ...Do you really think she'd still be in that castle?

O--: ...I'll just say right now, if she's not, there's going to be hell to pay.

A--: Well, that or the second we get in there we die.

O--: So optimistic. Why can't you be more like Sn--?

A--: I'll keep the intelligence, thanks.

O--: Heh.

...

A--: You and her used to be a lot alike, you know.

O--: What?

A--: A long time again. Maybe you weren't as stupid and unobservant, but you were more... hopeful, I guess.

O--: ...What are you trying to say, A--.

O--: Spit it out.

A--: You know what? I'll take a rain check on that, actually.

Darius frowned, closely the file. He lifted his hand, about to click another, when a noise from his side made him drop it.

He turned to see Ai blinking slowly at him.

"Oh, hey," he greeted quietly. He quickly lowered his watch, as to not shine it's light directly into her eyes. "Sorry if I woke you up. You can go back to sleep..."

Darius trailed off as he realized that what he was saying now was the exact same thing that person had told him earlier. He remembered how creeped out he had been, and he shivered.

If Ai saw how weirdly he trailed off, she was kind enough not to mention, instead yawning, shaking out her head. "I... we should probably get up..."

Darius chuckled. "Are you sure?" he teased. Ai rolled her eyes, but Darius knew she wasn't mad based on the smile tugging on her lips.

Without another word, Ai pushed herself up, going over to Molly to start shaking her awake. Darius hesitated for a moment, but not long, because even from where he was, he could hear Ai's stomach growl.

He sat up, stretching out and yawning before turning over, taking Luca's shoulders in his hand, and shaking him.

It took a couple seconds, and despite himself, Darius grew more and more nervous the longer Luca stayed asleep. When Luca did, finally, rouse himself to consciousness, Darius couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

It did put things into perspective, he supposed. No matter how bad things got here, and they were certainly very bad, they still could never compare to how things were outside, when they had all been on the brink of death. Well, not yet, at least.

Once they were all awake (it had taken a while), they shuffled together in a group through the now familiar halls of the base, past the mess hall and the fire (Darius didn't looked at it. Neither did Molly or Ai), and towards the kitchen.

This time, when they pushed their way through those double doors, some of the workers giggled and waved at them. Darius and the rest of them tiredly waved back. That seemed to only make the ordeal funnier, somehow.

"Ah, good morning to you," Angelico greeted, her eyes travelling over each of them. When they got to Luca and Greg, Angelico frowned. "Didn't I give your instructions yesterday? You didn't have to come over here, you know."

Luca blinked, and confused frown forming on his face before, suddenly, he eyes widened in realization.

"Oh, right!" he blurted, cringing as he gave Angelico a sheepish smile. "I forgot, sorry."

"I didn't," Greg saw fit to add. "And neither did Frog, by the way."

That admission only made Luca's blush deepen, and he swiftly apologized again. "Sorry! We'll go do that... right now. Buy, Darius, Ai, Molly."

"Have fuuuunnn!" Molly called after him cheerfully, waving. Angelico smiled at that, looking amused. Perhaps... perhaps it was enough for her to go easy on them? There was only one way to find out.

"Now, you three," Angelico declared, turning to them. "As you may have remember, I want you all to go out, to around a mile outside of this base. Dig through the snow and see if you can't find any kind of grass or roots that have been frozen over. We're low."

Silence followed this as Darius, Ai and Molly exchanged nervous looks. There was no good way to say this, and no one wanted to say it.

Unfortunately, Angelico's sharp eyes didn't miss this small, silent communication.

"What?" she asked them, her voice not quite losing that gentle, kind edge yet. "What is it?"

"Um..." Darius started awkwardly, because this kind of thing always seemed to fall to him. He bit his lip, wondering where he was going to find that courage to just say what he needed to. However, he found it pretty quickly when he imagined himself going out into that merciless winter again. They might not be so lucky this time...

"Well, here's the thing," Darius told her, his voice surprisingly steady now. "We've gotten so weak from these last few days, and none of us were super strong in the first place... knowing what we know now from our last trip out, we don't think we'd survive another one."

Angelico paused, and Darius felt himself getting nervous, just from that. Slowly, Angelico turned to them, and Darius sucked in a breath, certain he'd made a mistake.

"...You're sure?" Angelico asked, but Darius knew for certain that it was not a question.

Still, though he shivered, Darius was able to nod swiftly and firmly. Perhaps if it was just himself he would have buckled, but... it wasn't. Darius stood strong against Angelico, because he didn't want to see Ai and Molly die.

Angelico seemed to realize this, and she backed up, her mouth set in a thin thing. Darius did not relax. In fact, he had felt this had just begun. Eyes were on them now, Ai's, Molly's, and the other's found the two of them, making them the center of attention.

Darius felt like it wasn't just the two of them any more. Now, it was the necessary might and order for survival of Rime 12, versus their meager three lives.

Darius tried to remind himself that their lives were important , that they deserved to live... but that seemed flimsy now.

The only thing that kept him going was the terror.

"We won't," he told Angelico, firmly. Then, more desperately: "We can't."

Angelico looked away from them, humming a tune that made Darius gulp.

"I see," Angelico said, coldly. "I see. You know how these things work, I am afraid. No work, no food. You might as well go now. We don't need bodies who do nothing. If you stick around, well... what happened next will be your choice."

Darius's mouth fell open in shock. He had gotten what he wanted, and though he felt the intense, mind-numbing relief... he knew he didn't win anything.

"...There isn't anything else?" Ai leaned forward, asking the right question when Darius found he couldn't speak. "No other jobs?"

"We can do lot's of things!" Molly told her. "We have more skills than just going outside!"

Angelico didn't not reply, continuing to stir her soup. Darius' eyes narrowed as he stared at her in contempt.

"Can't someone else go out there and do it?" he complained under his breath. Immediately, Angelico's old eyes darted to his, and Darius jumped.

"Why yes, there is," Angelico said coldly. "And if you do not do that task, I will certainly get someone else to do it. It needs to be done, after all. And yes, those people will probably be in danger of dying from the cold. More danger than you three, I'd bet. You three have been fed up rather recent, from what I've seen, and will be running on those preserves for a long time. Most people here, however, have been here for years. We cannot afford treating you like a hero, Darius, and we definitely cannot treat any of you like kids. That's how it is. You work for food, you don't work, you don't get food. No exceptions."

"We can't go out there!" Darius cried out, terror gripping him.

"Fine," Angelico said coldly, without emotion. "Starve. We'll see how long that lasts."

Darius glared at her, but he could see that it was obviously she wouldn't budge. She couldn't budge, no more than they three could survive another trek outside. It was a battle of wits, and Darius' fear made his conviction strong.

It lasted until about ten o'clock in the morning.

There was one small mercy. The wind, which on their last venture had cut threw their layers like a blade, was absent this time around.

Darius took a small, silent sigh of relief. He saw his breath form in in front him like a cloud.

The lack of wind, let the three move much faster, cutting through the snow up to their waists much more quickly. It was also like swimming through water, if water was cold like a blade and full of both soft spots and jagged edges.

The cold was... nearly solid. As Darius breathed in and out, it felt it go down into his lungs and then back up. When he lifted his hand, it slowly cut through the air.

None of them really knew exactly how much a mile was, Ai least of all, but they gave their best guess, and moved to the ground.

It was then that they had found that the ground they had been walking on for several minutes was not really the ground, but rather compact snow that had froze so solidly together that it was basically ice.

Darius, Ai and Molly stared at it in despair. Eventually, Ai lifted her shovel, bringing it down onto the ice. The plastic hit it, then slid off with barely a dent.

This was going to be difficult.

Footnotes:

Level up.