Commander Stella,Lieutenant Damion, and Jamie moved through a long, dark corridor, walking in the same order their titles carried. Cold clung to the air, sharp and biting, like the inside of a freezer. Jamie shivered uncontrollably, his breath fogging faintly, while the other two showed no reaction at all. This was nothing new to them. They had walked this path countless times.
Beneath their feet, glowing white footsteps appeared with every step, lighting up the darkness before slowly fading away. The effect was almost ceremonial, a flashy detail that gave the corridor an unsettling, mysterious beauty.
Jamie's head hung low. He looked like a traumatized chicken that had fallen into water and been left under the sun to dry—exhausted, shaken, barely holding himself together.
"Um… sorry for asking," he finally said, breaking the silence, his voice thin with caution. "But who are you… and where exactly are we going?"
