mgllan

When Magallan was little, there was a small flower shop on the corner near her home. She liked to visit.

Children would often buy flowers there, and ask the aging owner all sorts of questions.

Magallan enjoyed a song that the old man sang.

In an endless snowfield—ah! There's the bloom of a nameless flower♪

And my friend a-lies there, oh, and a-watches the snow come down♪

What does it mean? Is there really a place outside Columbia where hot water turns to ice as soon as you pour it out?

Have you been to any other special places?

Oh, you're interested, are you?

That would be another story altogether.

The icefields start here. I've walked this path many times, but it always feels different. I've never been so excited before!

Let's see how much the engine can take. Good, it hasn't frozen up yet, good work, Engineering. Maybe we can use it on the way up the mountain too?

And we better look over our supplies... alright. We're ready!

Magallan, you know that since the expedition decades ago, no one has tried to go any further beyond.

This is a valuable opportunity. Go as far as you can and bring back as much data as possible!

Of course. This is my dream!

Going off the grid now. Magallan, over and out!

Are those footsteps?

Is someone there?

Whoa! Another ghost?

W-Who's there?

Huh?

Asbestos?!

Who are you?

Hi, I'm...

This kid followed me because he was worried about me going by myself, and he damned near froze to death. I'm taking him back.

I'm Bard, trainee operator in the Rhodes Island office. Operator Asbestos was picking up some medicine from me.

According to regulations, I have to make sure that she leaves the office safely, but I got worried when she said she wanted to explore the icefields.

Well, we're almost to the fields. And they're no place for the inexperienced. Don't put your life at risk.

You know the way back. You can take it from here, I'm going with her.

But...

My name is Magallan, and I'm an operator from Rhine Lab stationed at Rhodes Island. Here's my badge.

I'm on a mission for Rhine, with plenty of supplies for two, including medicine for treating Infected symptoms. Operator Asbestos will be safe with me!

Oh, you're an operator from HQ? Alright then, you definitely have plenty of experience.

But please return to the landship for a checkup after the trip, Operator Asbestos. I'll upload your data to the server.

Gah, fine.

Please be careful, Operator Magallan, and take care of Operator Asbestos.

I will. I'll take you part of the way. It's a pretty rough path.

So you went to the office for medication because you ran out in the field?

Hehe, it's nice to have a familiar face on the trip.

But were you really coming to the icefields? Do you have enough supplies? If you only wanted to spook that guy, I'll send you right back.

...Just send me back.

Huh?

Ugh... forget it.

I was gonna go into the icefields, but I'm nowhere as prepared as you are.

I was in Columbia before this. I was headed back to the landship, but I didn't have enough medicine, so I got some by knocking out an office mission.

I heard an old man talking about the icefields on the way, and it piqued my interest.

An old man talking about the icefields? Have you heard a song that goes, 'In an endless snowfield—ah! There's the bloom of a nameless flower♪'?

From the old man?

You must've been close to my home! How's the old man doing? He sells really pretty flowers!

Hey, where are you going? We should be heading north.

Up the glacier.

A glacier has to be formed under the right conditions to be fit for climbing. You need heavy snowfall in the winter and a mild summer. Otherwise, you get dangerous cracks.

You call the shots in the Black Flow, but this is the icefields.

I've been down this path hundreds of times as a Rhine field researcher. They send me out here because no one knows it better than me.

If you try to strike out on your own, I'll—

Hey, don't cover your ears! I'm serious!

Asbestos! Hey, Asbestos!

I heard you!!

Look, I studied that ice pillar a few years ago.

They're formed by intersecting cracks in the glaciers. They look solid from a distance, but you never know if they might suddenly collapse.

So we go around it. And we tie ourselves together with this safety cable. And you never, ever untie it under any circumstances.

Won't we drag the other one down if one of us slips?

If something happens to one of us, we can easily find the other and help out.

There's no such thing as the individual on the icefields. An explorer joins her fate to the other, it's the only way to move forward.

Day by day, Magallan and Asbestos go deeper and deeper into the icefields.

Their interactions grow briefer as they save their strength to face the constant snowstorms.

'Why do I challenge my limits? What will I find, what will I get, and what will remain?'

Everyone knows it gets more dangerous the deeper you go. No one wants to lose her life until she sees what she truly wanted to see.

Tie the icepick tight! Hook onto the cracks in the rocks if you slip—don't untie the rope!

You'll fall too!

I still have the drone. Shut up and listen for its signal, grab it, and relax your legs. One, two, three!

Rrrah!

Go up and find a place with good footing, then tie the rope on the screw so I can come up.

Done!

Good. Now, I—

—Whoa!

Gotcha!

Coming up! The drone—

It fell.

Whew, at least we're alive. Why did you try to untie the rope?

We have rescue drones. Never untie the rope! Let me make a mark here in case someone else comes by...

A month passes.

Magallan has seen countless records. The dreams people have about the icefields come in many different forms: wealth, knowledge, power... but all she cares about is her childhood dream, the story of the song.

Beneath their feet, the icefield is no longer infinite and boundless, but a conquest made one step at a time.

Still, the end is nowhere in sight. It is hidden away in the snow, and anyone on the snow is at the mercy of the avalanches.

Footprints are gradually covered by the falling snow, but humans continue to tread on stubbornly.

Are you ok? How are the drones?

Down to the last one. Doesn't look like it'll last long though.

Sensors detect a big rock ahead. Great place for a rest. With the data and samples we collected, we might want to set up an outpost here!

Looks like our explorer has a beautiful dream.

...Is this the rock you were talking about?

Yup! Even bigger than I thought. You don't see ice crystals this big very often. It's a miracle to have it preserved like that.

There are carvings on it. Are those somebody's initials?

Carvings? How rude! Don't they know we leave only footprints?

But I don't know of any explorers who came here after the last icefield landing... hold on.

Magallan goes around the rock and observes the carvings from downwind.

I remember these initials from the records...

Could it be...?

...Asbestos, I think those who came before us are buried here.

Magallan starts digging at the snow and ice, first with her gloved hands, then with a shovel, then with her hands again.