Jove had never buried anyone before. The snowbank was obliging, a thin crust of ice covering softer powder which was quick and easy to move. Pulling Ryan's body over to the hole he'd created and fitting him into it proved to be hardest challenge.
He was in the middle of covering the deceased with snow when he heard the noise. It was the same noise he'd heard earlier that morning, a hiss reminiscent of an ice rink, but louder than the sound of any skater he'd ever seen.
"Hold on," he said. "Did you hear that?"
His mother didn't answer, but her gaze was fixed in the direction of the disturbance. "It's alright. I believe it's one of our ice drones. They're AI controlled automatons designed to survey glacier retreat and take core samples."
He quickly finished covering Ryan and hurried back to his feet. He could follow the sound now, metal grinding against ice around them in a circle just outside their sphere of visibility within the blowing snow.
But this time, the mystery came into view. Jove backed away slowly as a short and stocky humanoid drone came into view. Its body was made of dark metal, and it had three camera lenses of different sizes in the place of eyes. Both legs bent at an angle, ending in tracks made to travel on snow rather than feet.
The contraption's arms were what had Jove on edge. One was the usual drone manipulator arm, stubby but dexterous fingers reminiscent of a claw game at a mall. The other was a gleaming spiral of metal, a drill presumably for taking samples of ice but just as capable of boring holes through bone and flesh.
"Jove!" called Kira. "Relax. I know it looks scary, but they're only programmed to do science. I doubt it can even see us."
She stepped forward as though to prove her point as the drone continued to skate toward them. It slowed in a way that set Jove even more on edge, but his mother didn't react or draw back.
Jove's instincts screamed with the wrongness of the situation. He threw himself forward, knocking his mother out of the way just as the ice drone lunged with its spiral arm hissing like a dentist's drill.
They hit the ice hard. The drone was already circling for a second attack. Jove scrambled to his feet, pulling his mom up along with him. She touched his arm and shook her head.
"This doesn't make sense," she muttered. "I don't know what's going on."
"We're getting out of here, that's what's going on," said Jove. He gave her a push toward the snowmobiles, beyond grateful that they'd opted to keep them running.
The ice drone continued its slow, predatorial circle, only deciding to give pursuit as Jove and Kira turned their snowmobiles around and set off. As much as he'd thought they'd rushed on their way out, the first few minutes of the journey back were at harrowing speed.
They still had their tracks to follow, faint but visible, giving them certainty that they weren't about to run into any hidden crevasses or lose their way. Jove checked over his shoulder for the drone every couple of seconds at first. It followed them for a while, but eventually disappeared from view.
He was, in some ways, more unnerved by not being able to see the ice drone than watching it in their wake. The cold whipped at his face and his thoughts seemed to move as fast as the scenery around them.
Ryan was dead. The specifics of what was happening didn't matter anymore. They were all in serious danger, under threat in a place where the environment itself was a killer. His mother's words about how much food and heating fuel they had in reserve seemed to resonate with new gravity. His face hurt from the cold, even covered as it was.
Time seemed to stretch out, giving him the impression that he'd been on his snowmobile for half a day when Termina finally came back into view. They put the snowmobile's away, tense and cautious, and all but ran to the entrance module. Jove thought he could hear the drone in the distance, but the wind and snow were playing tricks on both his eyes and ears.
Aster stood within the hallway just outside the entrance chamber, smiling and seeming oddly cheerful. Kira pulled off her gloves and threw them down on the floor with more anger and frustration than Jove would have expected from his mother.
"What's wrong?" asked Aster. "What's going on?"
"Too much," muttered Jove.
"I'll explain once we have everyone together," said his mother. "Where's Eve?"
"She went skiing." Aster held up a finger, seeming to preempt an expected reaction. "I know what you're going to say, but you also know how she is. It's not like I could have stopped her from doing what she-"
Kira slapped her sister across the face with surprising strength. Aster stumbled as she tried to take a step backward, falling on her butt.
"You just let her go?" snapped Kira. "By herself? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is out there right now?"
"No…" Aster blinked, tears in her eyes, and rubbed at the reddening spot on her cheek. "I just… didn't think it was worth the fight. I'm sorry."
She stood up, mouth still open. Jove expected her to explode on Kira, but instead she hurried down the hall and into her bunk, sliding the door closed with the force of a slam, if not the full effect of one.
"Fuck," muttered Kira, under her breath.
"I'm going looking for her." Jove still had most of his winter gear on and started walking toward the door.
"You will do no such thing," said Kira.
"What, are you going to slap me too?"
He let his annoyance leak into his voice. The last thing they needed was for the situation within Termina to be any more tense than it already was.
"It's already a disaster with Eve out there and in danger!" shouted his mother. "We already lost Ryan today. I don't need you getting yourself killed, too, simply to prove a point in this ridiculous rivalry you have with your sister."
"She's in danger. I'm not leaving her out there alone."
He stepped into the entrance chamber and was back out in the freezing cold a few seconds later.