The South Pole.

0400 Hours.

Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station was sitting with very little sunlight shining, casting most of the arctic tundra in darkness.

The facility was rather quiet, only a few scientists working after waking up early, hoping to get more progress on their research.

One of the scientists yawned as he looked around, an older man with dark skin and a white lab coat. He was looking down at the glaciological maps and charts on his desk. He rubbed his eyes and looked around.

“Are you alright Sir?” One of the other researchers asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Just a little tired.” He replied.

“You can go rest. You have been working hard these past few months. We can take it from here.” She said.

The researcher nodded, rubbing his eyes as he walked off.

The charts of the glacier activity was nearly silent, no activity at all. Like the glaciers didn’t move at all.

Other charts of other measurements were the same.

No activity whatsoever.

But there was one, a map from space of the South Pole.

It looked normal, multiple different ways to take the picture.

Normal, visible light. Infrared. Ultraviolet. Every type of picture that was possible.

And they all showed the same thing.

Miles of white in every direction leading right towards a black, empty spot right in the center.

Something impossible to measure or see.

The researcher made his way through the hallway, looking at room after room of people sleeping.

He kept continuing on until he stopped, looking at one of the doors. He knocked softly, waiting for a response.

The door slowly slid open as he stepped inside, looking into the bedroom that had been personalized.

“Hey, are you awake?” He whispered.

Movement could be heard in the better, followed by soft humming and groaning.

He moved over and sat on the bed, reaching out to rub the side of the person asleep, laying on their side.

“How are you feeling?” He asked.

The person shifted and groaned.

“Dad…let me sleep…” They moaned out.

He softly chuckled.

“Are you missing home?” He asked, reaching out to rub the back of their child over the blanket.

“MMMMM…can we…do this in the morning?” They asked.

“Fine. I just…we don’t get to…”

He was interrupted by the child snoring.

He reached down and pulled the blanket up to cover their entire body, keeping their head uncovered.

He then pushed hair out of their face, leaning down to kiss their forehead.

The child smiled as they slept, continuing to snore as he got up and left the room, the door quietly shutting after he left.

Later that morning, the child began to slowly sit up in their bed.

Long, curly hair was exposed from the blanket as they pushed it out of their face.

A teenage girl, looking out with light brown skin, barely open brown eyes, and very small, soft lips. They yawned and stretched, their crop top shirt lifting up to show well toned abs. They moved their blanket over to reveal very short shorts and muscular legs as they moved off the bed.

They reached to their nightstand, touching their phone and putting on music to listen to as they got ready.

Eternity by Skrux played as she danced around, going to her dresser and pulling out clothing. She continued to dance as she undressed, throwing her clothes all around and slipping on her new clothing, putting on two pairs of socks, underwear, jeans, another pair of baggy pants that were isolated, a sports bra, two different shirts, a large and puffy jacket, and finally tied her hair back into a curly ponytail.

The music continued on as she attached earbuds to her phone, the music playing right into her ears as she left her room, walking down the hallway as dozens of scientists were walking around or working on a large variety of measurements and fields of study.

She continued to walk as the music played in her ears, blocking out all other sound around her.

She continued on until she made it to the exit door, stepping out to look at the endless fields of snow and ice.

The sun was barely visible, giving them just enough light to see but not too much to hurt her eyes.

She went and sat on the metal steps leading to the facility, sitting down and taking a deep breath of the ice cold air, closing her eyes to take in the relaxation.

The stress from her body disappeared more and more the longer she sat.

The music faded and ended just in time for her to hear the door open.

She took out her buds and looked back, a middle aged woman with blonde hair that was beginning to turn gray and white looking out with a smile.

“Hey, mind if I sit with you?” She asked.

The girl moved over.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” She replied.

The middle aged woman stepped out and sat next to the girl.

“How are you feeling Gabriella?” The woman asked.

“I’m fine Éliane.” Gabriella replied.

“Your Father was wondering where you were.” She said.

“Well, I’m out here like usual. Can’t really do much else.” Gabriella replied.

She brought her knees up to her chest, hugging them and staring out at the snow and ice.

“I know you feel that way, but everyone here loves having you. And you could definitely learn some things.” Éliane said.

Gabriella didn’t respond at first.

“Want me to bring you some hot chocolate?” She asked, reaching out to rub Gabriella’s back.

“Yeah, that would be nice.” Gabriella said.

“And I know you like extra marshmallows.” Éliane said with a smile.

Gabriella smiled, but kept it hidden from the older woman.

“You gonna stay out here?” Éliane asked.

“Yeah, probably.” Gabriella replied.

Éliane patted and rubbed her back.

“Alright, I’ll be back soon.”

She stood up and made her way inside.

Gabriella put one ear bud in, listening to more music as she stared forward.

As the sun stayed low on the horizon, Gabriella focused on one spot in the distance.

Something drew her attention.

It looked like a mountain that was far away, yet it had this strange feeling with it.

Even from miles and miles away, she could tell it wasn’t an ordinary mountain.

The sunlight hit the ice, and it almost froze in place. The light didn’t reflect out. It didn’t shine through. It seemed to stop inside of the ice, making the island appear like a dark cloud close to the ground.

She squinted and continued to stare at it when she heard the door open again.

“That was…” She started as she turned, stopping when she saw one of the researchers who appeared close to her age. Maybe a few years older.

“Um, hello.” Gabriella started.

“Is your Stepmom out here?” He asked, with a hint of panic in his voice.

“She just went inside a bit ago. Surprised you didn’t run into her.” Gabriella replied.

“Alright, thanks.”

He shut the door in a hurry, the sound of him running audible even through the door.

Gabriella’s face turned to one of confusion as she rose to her feet, opening the door and stepping inside.

All of the researchers were running around in a frenzy.

Charts and graphs flying all over the place and falling to the floor as bodies were bumping into each other, yet they continued running around.

It appeared like the world was ending and everyone was panicking.

“Um…what’s going on?” She asked out loud, but nobody gave her any attention.

All of the researchers were packed into one room. Gabriella stood at the back of the room, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

Her Father and Step-Mother were at the front, working on a computer until they finally got the large projector to work, showing charts of tectonic plate activity. It was from the past few years, with the most activity being very small bumps that barely registered.

“Well, as we all know, there has been next to no activity for decades. In all measurements even.”

They clicked through multiple charts of measurements. Every field showed next to no data in the area for decades.

“But…we aren’t really sure why…but these are the measurements over the last few hours.”

He flipped to the next page, packed with multiple charts that all showed massive levels of activity across all fields of study.

The researchers all gasped and began to mutter amongst themselves.

“Now, we know that there is something in the center of the South Pole. We aren’t really sure why, but any pictures or scans of the area have this large black spot right here.”

He changed the slide to a picture of the South Pole, the large black spot present at the center of the island of ice.

“We have not been able to figure out what this is, but we have been discussing an expedition team to go out and find out.” He replied.

One researcher raised their hand from the crowd.

“Why not send a drone?” They asked.

Éliane changed the slide to footage of a unmanned rover going across snow and ice towards the center. It could see a mountain in the distance that looked dark, like the light hitting it was being absorbed rather than reflected.

Gabriella perked up from the back of the room, their attention now fully being given to the video as they took a few steps forward.

The researchers began to mumble amongst themselves again as the rover went closer and closer.

The larger and larger the mountain grew, the video began to become more unclear. First the quality dropped to fewer and fewer pixels, turning the mountain into a dark blob.

But then, something else entered the video.

Another blob that was moving, white and light blue colored until it took up most of the screen. Something moved before the video suddenly cut to black.

“We aren’t sure what it was. Our most educated guess is polar bears or other animals living in the area. We haven’t recovered the rover, so we aren’t sure of the damage done to study it.” He said.

Gabriella kept staring at the black screen being projected.

“I could lead the expedition.” She said.

Everyone turned and looked at her.

Her Father locked eyes with her, a worried look on his face.

“I…” He started, but stopped himself as he turned to his wife.

“We can discuss who will be going. We'll need experts in multiple fields in order to best figure out what the situation is.” He said.

Gabriella shrugged.

“Gives me something to do. And I think I have the most snowmobile experience here.” Gabriella said.

Her Father looked at her confused.

“We can discuss that later. First, I’ll need volunteers.” He said.

None of the researchers raised their arms, all of them looking quite nervous or afraid.

“I could go by myself. Figure out what’s going on.” Gabriella spoke up.

Everyone turned to look at her again, her Father looking both angry and worried at the same time.

“No. Nobody is going out there alone. We can figure out who is best suited for this mission later.” He said.

Gabriella was going to speak again, but was cut off by her Father.

“Everyone dismissed. Go back to your work places while we discuss the next steps forward.” He said.

All of the researchers hesitated for a few seconds before they stood and filed out of the room.

Gabriella didn’t move as bodies moved past her. Her eyes were locked onto her Dad and Step-Mom.

Once the room only held the three of them, she finally spoke.

“You’re not going to let me do anything?” She asked.

“Gabriella, we’re not discussing this. You’re not going, especially not on your own.” He said.

She walked around the chairs to storm up to him.

“Gabriella, your Father is only trying to protect you.” Éliane said, moving to get between them.

“Protect me? He’s treating me like a child.” She said.

“I promised your Mother I would keep you safe down here.” He said with a dry tone.

“Dad. I am telling you that I know how to protect myself. I can do this. Just let me show you.” Gabriella said, trying to remain calm and collected.

“David…” Éliane said softly.

“No. I’m not doing this. You’re going to stay.” He said.

“Does anybody else here know how to drive a snowmobile?” Gabriella asked.

“That’s another thing! How do you know how to drive one?” David asked, his voice raised in volume and tone.

“Mom used to take me and show me while you were at work. She told me to keep it a secret, but right now I think it's more important to tell you.” Gabriella replied, crossing her arms.

“This is not up for discussion or negotiation. You’re staying here.” He said.

“Are you serious?” Gabriella asked.

“Of course I am.” He snapped back.

“Alright, let’s get you both to your rooms to cool off.” Éliane said as she tried to pull David away.

“It’s your fault I’m here! I didn’t ask to be here! You dragged me here!” Gabriella shouted.

Éliane looked upset, realizing that she wasn’t going to be able to stop the fighting anymore.

“I brought you here because you would’ve had nothing! I wasn’t going to leave you on your own!” David shouted back.

“I had friends! I was going to go to school! You ripped my life away because you couldn’t handle having me on your own! You didn’t even TRY to raise me! To help me grow up!” Gabriella shouted as her eyes began to water, the emotions visible and palpable.

“I came out here to work and help this planet!” David shouted back.

“Don’t you ******* use that excuse again! Don’t you try and guilt trip me again!” Gabriella screamed, pointing aggressively at her Father.

“I am telling the truth! You are grounded! Go to your room!” He screamed.

Éliane finally began to push David towards the door to try and make him leave the room.

Gabriella clearly wanted to yell something, but stopped herself.

She nearly went too far, but she stopped herself.

David and Éliane left the room while Gabriella stood still, arms crossed and breathing heavy while trying to force herself to calm down.

“I’ll show you.” She muttered to herself.

After all of the other researchers went to sleep, Gabriella snuck her way out of the facility, going to the vehichle hanger. She scoured over the heavily armored and fabric covered military trucks and hummers. She kept walking as quietly as she could until she came across the snowmobiles.

She was wearing another puffy jacket and two different gloves to keep herself as warm as possible.

She climbed onto the mobile, turning it on and trying to keep it as quiet as possible.

The headlights flicked on as she looked around to make sure nobody was around.

She walked along the floor, keeping the engine quiet and making it to the large hangar door.

She opened it slowly, getting it just wide enough to push through before letting it shut again.

She looked out at the dark and cold desert in front of her, taking a deep breath.

“Alright…here we go.”

She twisted the handles as the mobile raced forward into the darkness.

Gabriella had her phone attached to the machine, blasting the song Audiotool Day 2016 by Xtract.

The sun was just under the horizon, the far end of the sky with purple and orange light that reflected off of the snow covered ground, turning the white ground into very faded and faint colored ice. As she drove further and further, more color began to wash over her.

She looked back towards the facility, which had nothing but clear night sky over the speck of a building.

Gabriella’s head turned back and was locked, her eyes staring intensely forward. The large and mysterious mountain was still a solid, black obelisk of darkness surrounded by light and color.

“Alright…let’s see what the problem is…” She said to herself as she sped up the snowmobile, kicking up more of the colorful snow into the air, which fell as twinkling and sparkling snowflakes that reflected the peaceful and warm colors as they floated down to the ground.

Gabriella continued forward, but the closer and closer she got the more her music became distorted.

She looked down at her phone screen, which suddenly became static before completely going black.

At the same moment, her snowmobile suddenly petered out, the engine all of a sudden dying despite the tank of gas barely being spent.

She stayed sitting on the seat and slapped the console, hoping it would help turn the machine back on.

Yet it slid to a halt, screeching across the ice before coming to a complete stop, no sound at all.

When she tried to turn it back on, there was no noise whatsoever. Like the button had no power whatsoever over the machine.

“Alright…must be what happened to the rover.”

She slowly and carefully climbed off of the mobile, pushing it backwards until her phone began to turn back on.

“Alright, this is the limit.” She said as she lifted the machine up, clearly struggling and straining. She spun it around and left it to sit, ready to be used if she needed it once again.

She turned and stared back at the tall mountain, still cast in darkness.

The sunlight was more visible then ever as the entire sky was like a water painting with white clouds slowly moving across to break apart the orange and purple skies.

Gabriella began to march forward across the snow and ice, which felt like any other normal snow or ice in the area.

She continued on, walking with purpose to try and find what the problem was.

But as she walked, other parts of the snow began to shift.

Where she stepped left footprints, but after she continued on…

Snow washed over them, moving as fluid as water to cover and obscure them.

Pieces of flat snow began to buckle and rumble, resembling waves more than solid ice.

And some of the spots began to grow into small humps, the snow falling off of something that was hidden underneath.

Gabriella continued on, walking across the ice that crunched with every step, not feeling or noticing anything different.

The mountain was growing larger and larger with every step, the darkness becoming darker and darker.

A massive shadow stretched out across the colorful snow, a large patch of ground that had no color or light at all.

It appeared as a void that stretched on forever, ending at the base of the mountain that was impossible to see.

Except…for one thing.

A miniscule dot of blue light, smaller than the stars twinkling in the clear night sky.

It was barely visible, yet Gabriella could see it.

The still blue light that only subtly pulsated, piercing through the darkest shadows that Gabriella had ever seen.

“Well…here goes nothing.” She said to herself as she stepped into the shadows, which felt colder than anything else around her.

She stepped back, having to shake her leg to regain feeling.

“Alright…that was…cold.” She said.

She could start to hear snow shifting behind her.

Ice breaking quietly.

She slowly turned to look behind her as massive piles of snow emerged from the ground.

The snow fell off and revealed human shaped figures, dressed in white robes made of polar bear fur and skin. Kilts of white wolves were around their waists, but most of their bodies were actually uncovered, revealing pale bodies that were toned and muscular.

They all held long white spears with heads that looked to be made of ice.

Gabriella slowly raised her arms and stood with eyes open in fear.

“I…what…is…” She struggled to speak.

Over a dozen of them suddenly appeared, standing up from the snow they used as camouflage.

“Who are you?” One of them asked in a strange language that Gabriella didn’t understand.

“I…what? I don’t know what you’re saying.” She said.

“You are not supposed to be here.” Another one of them said.

Gabriella was shaking in fear as she looked around.

None of the people were moving towards the large shadow right behind her.

She took a deep breath, then jumped backwards until she was completely covered in dark, cold shadow. It felt like a thousand hands of pure ice gripping her body all over, clawing and squeezing every inch of her skin and flesh as she tried to scream, but the sound was frozen inside of her lungs.

She stared out as the people all stared at her in shock and surprise.

She couldn’t move, the shadow so cold it was beginning to freeze her blood.

Freezing her brain to prevent any of the neurons firing.

Her heart began to slow down to the point of no more pumping or beating.

The tribe of people to the edge of the shadow, yet none of them crossed the line of light and dark.

Gabriella continued to stare forward, unable to move.

Her molecules and atoms themselves were beginning to slow down, nearly stopping completely.

The people held their spears out, using them to try and hook onto her clothing and pull her forward.

One went into her sleeve, another catching the bottom of her pants and another from the side reaching out to the back of her neck.

They all grunted out something in unison before they all pulled their spears, Gabriella’s body very slowly being dragged across the snow and ice, leaving a small trail that suddenly froze over with more snow.

They grunted and pulled again, bringing her closer to the light.

More spears went out to hook around more of her body and clothing, pulling her more and more.

She began to regain feeling in her body, yet was still unable to move.

Her fingers and feet were the first things that touched the light, covered in ice crystals that faded and melted away in an instant.

Her fingers began to wiggle around as they regained control and movement.

She was fully pulled into the light, gasping for air and falling to the side.

She had wide open eyes, her body shaking and shivering.

The people stood around her, yet they seemed confused.

They shared gazes at each other back and forth as Gabriella struggled to push herself upright.

“What…the…fuck…is…happening?” She asked.

She finally forced herself to her feet, looking around while her head was spinning, making it difficult to think.

She shut her eyes tight, trying to focus and let herself regain focus and control.

But as her eyes opened, she looked around her.

All of the people, dressed in animal pelts with bodies mostly exposed to the arctic tundra…

Were all on their knees and elbows, their backs arched as they bowed in a circle around her.

She kept looking around at all of them, their faces pressed down into the snow as they stayed in bowing position.