3.6 LIGHT

Juna and Ste emerge on a mountain brink above ice-choked waters, crossing fragile bridges made from interlocked empty exoskeletons. Facing a near-vertical chimney slope, they repeatedly fail to climb and risk catastrophic falls. The watching Shrouded then lift the pod and carry it into a side vent of the chimney.

Inside, they find a hot, sulphur- and methane-rich “smoker” atmosphere above boiling water, where yellow fronded growth lines the walls, likely a single vast organism. Shrouded workers with pincer tools prune and harvest the fans while moving along a spiraling ramp. Juna and Ste note the workers’ aqualung-like bladders and precise, coordinated behavior, debating whether this reflects instinct scaled up or genuine intelligence.

As they climb, thinning toxic gases and sparser growth signal nearing the top. The interior ramp abruptly ends, but the Shrouded promptly bore a circular exit to the outer wall sized for the pod. Outside on a sheer surface, Shrouded traverse with clawed footing while Juna and Ste cling to the opening to avoid a deadly fall.

Evaluating winds toward the colder hemisphere, they prepare a jury-rigged, hydrogen-balloon, winged drone with a trailing radio buoy. Juna programs a priority tree to let it ride wind cells, gather terrain and EM data for triangulation, and then drop out and home to their beacon if possible.

After checks, they release the drone. It inflates, lifts, and swiftly vanishes into the dark air; within a minute its radio trace is lost in the electromagnetic noise. With no further control, Juna and Ste are left to wait, their plan’s success dependent on the drone’s ability to return or signal at close range.