brumal
adjective
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The land was clean and fresh. Snow covered the ground, trees, and far distant hills. No animals made their calls, nor were there any tracks to mar the glistening snow. Save for a gentle breeze, there were no sounds at all. That ended when a tear in space formed.
The glowing gap hovered in the air and three figures dressed in heavy, airtight hazard suits stepped through. They looked around as the tear shrunk until it was a hairline fracture. The figure at the head of the trio raised a small handheld device. It gave a long, high beep and a screen gave the needed readout.
“Okay, we’ve got a breathable atmosphere.” The figure, a man judging by the deep voice, said. “All environmental statuses are fit for human life. Good work back there.”
The man took off his helmet, revealing a face that belonged in the military. The other two, another man and a woman, followed suit. The second, man smaller, much softer, man shivered in the cold.
“Why’d it have to be winter? I mean, you could’ve made it a tropical paradise. We could be sitting on an island with hot waitresses serving colorful drinks with umbrellas in them.”
The woman rolled her eyes. “Oh stop complaining. It’s not that cold.” She checked a readout. “It’s only 1 C. Perfectly normal for a winter’s day.”
“That’s still really cold.”
“Stop it, both of you.” The leader said. “We’ve got a job to do. And you know why it has to be winter.”
“Yeah, yeah. Testing the potential for human habitation by creating a more extreme environment.” The smaller man said with a voice laced with sarcasm. “I really don’t think it was needed. I mean, they can literally make this place whatever they want. It’s not like anyone moving in here will need to worry about winter ever again.”
“Not true.” The woman said. “People will still want seasons, if only for the experience. Just suck it up and turn on your heater. It’s not like you’ll freeze out here.”
“Let’s just begin the testing.” The leader said, shaking his head and sighing. “Test one is to see if we can send things from artificial to actual reality.”
With the signal given, the tear opened wider. The trio could just barely make out the lab on the other side.
“Hang on, I got just the thing.”
The smaller man scooped up a handful of snow, packed it into a ball, and threw it through the opening. Their comms came alive, hearing a muffled yelp as someone got hit with the snowball. They then heard the confirmation of the test’s success. The woman smacked the man behind the head.
“Stop being such a child.” She said. “This is serious.”
“I know. And that was a legitimate test. Gotta see if we can get water through, you know.”
“Just…just don’t throw anything else through.” She sighed.
“No promises. I mean, come on, if we’re going to be here for a month, we might as well have some fun, right?”
“Moving on.” The leader said firmly. He went to the nearest tree and broke off a branch. “Well, it feels real. Testing whether artificial organic material can be moved to actual reality.” He said before gently pushed the branch through the opening.
There was a cheer from the other side. The test had been successful. The leader cracked a small grin and turned to his team.
“Okay people. Now that that’s out of the way, we can start the survival trial. The gate will close, animals will be generated. You both know what to do.”
“Right, right.” Said the smaller man. “I still think they could’ve started with something nicer.” He muttered.
The tear in space faded into nothingness. The trio looked out over the wintry landscape as the faint sounds of animals drifted to their ears. They had a month’s stay ahead of them, and all three got to work making sure they would make the most of it.
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Stay warm out there this winter, okay? No freezing to death on the open tundra, you hear? And, in case you're wondering, 1 C is about 34 F. Just, you know, for all my fellow 'Muricans out there who don't know no fancy metric stuff.
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