This cold. This brutal cold.

The wind that brought sharp sleet and the knee-deep snow that always managed to seep through all of Sawarisa's protective layers.

She cut a swathe through the freezing blanket, hurrying from one red indicator to the next. The Scarlet Line ended at the Central tunnelwalk entrance closest to her house. Quickly ducking indoors, Sawarisa leaned against the wall to catch her breath, and for the heating system to dry her. Her damned neighborhood tunnelwalk needed repairs right in the middle of the coldspell.

Sawarisa was born and raised on Hiema. Even so, twenty-one years of experience with this wintry planet and she still wasn't used to its sub-zero coldspells. All those years of traversing the Lines and she still feared being swept in the blizzard, freezing to death – lost, alone. She feared her lifeless, blue body being found only when the warmspell thawed the ice. It was a legitimate fear; every coldspell, bloodthirsty and unforgiving Hiema stole at least three lives and hid them in his snowy cloaks.

There was nothing Sawarisa resented more than being Hieman. And as much as she loved and respected her grandparents, she couldn't help but blame them for stranding her on this accursed planet. This planet that was discovered frozen, named as such, and maintained its frigid mien all through the lifetimes of the two generations of settlers. Indeed, the warmspells were nothing more than just slush, slurry, and a short respite from the blizzards and the snowstorms; the eldest landscapes remained draped in whites and blues. The sempiternal frost and ice had Hiemans convinced that this was the natural state of their home. That was until last star cycle, when the scientists and their Augmented Artificial Intelligence – or double-AIs – called archeogeologgers, dredged up evidence to suggest that Hiema might simply be going through an Ice Age. Nevertheless, the knowledge and the exciting possibilities it opened up couldn't temper Sawarisa's resentment.

Peering out of the tiny windows on the tunnel doors, she shuddered. She already dreaded the thought of having to take the Scarlet Line home. She turned away, praying that the engineers and workers finished repairing the tunnelwalk to her home.

Buttons on either side of her neck separated her mask from her cowl. Tucking the mask into her satchel, she dropped her hood as she set off down the underground route. A full fifteen-minute trek ultimately brought her to her destination: the Employment Bureau. Four days ago, they'd called to let Sawarisa know that she had cleared her first round of examinations for the archivist post in the Annals. Today, she started her training. And by the coming star cycle, she will officially be an archivist, with her permits and her certificates. She will finally contribute to the credits for her family accounts and they can hope for an improvement in their quality of life.

The dark double-doors of the Bureau seemed to grow taller, more intimidating, the longer Sawarisa stood there, coming to terms with her burdens for the hundredth time that day. Her nerves frazzled, her mind went blank. What if she failed the trainee's evaluations?

No! she asserted, inhaling a steeling breath. "You're organized, you're hardworking. You love reading and you're so, so careful. I'll be damned if they can find anyone nearly as perfect as you for that job." Her mother's voice internally bolstering her, Sawarisa stepped through the automated egress.