Lynx Landau

Intro "Lynxy? Have you arrived yet?" The girl's phone rang with a shrill sound from an incoming message. Lynx saw the message, which had a familiar profile picture, and took her time to reply. Instead, she blew a steamy breath onto the camera lens and carelessly used her frosted gloves to scrub the device. The camera was still working perfectly. She lifted her phone and captured the night sky—clear, cloudless, and barely visible between the walls of Belobog. With no wind, snow, or stratocumulus clouds to obscure her gaze, the glittering canopy of twinkling stars was accompanied only by the dark velvet of the void. Click... and sent. The signal wasn't very good. The air thickened with altitude. Snow and night were silent companions. The click was soon followed by a series of clangs. It turned out the girl had just finished her manuscript: summit, night, stars. Lynx grinned and aimed his lens at his tent, its shape inflating like a lung filling with air. He pressed it down again and took pictures. Click. Send. Ding. The screen soon lit up again. This time, a woman’s workbench, schematics, and kitchen utensils were scattered beneath the dim lights. Click. Camping chairs and Lynx’s favorite velvet blanket. Ding. A glass of warm milk. Click. A hot, steaming cup of black tea. Ding. An iron desk lamp and a girl’s favorite photo album. Click. A warm sleeping bag. Ding. Unmade bedding. Click. A mountaintop view toward Belobog overlooking golden waves. Ding. The shimmering streets of the Prefecture outside an apartment window. Click. Finally, the magnificent aurora lights suddenly danced across the night sky. Ding. Then came a cute sticker. Lynx knew she only sent it when she was jealous. He replied, carefully selecting from her photos... "That's enough." They silently understood each other.