He set his mug down and pulled on his outer layers. The routine helped pass the time. Outside, the cold met him like a slap—sharp and familiar. His boots crunched across the snow as he walked toward the monitoring station half a kilometer away.
It was the same path he took every day. His breath came in clouds, and ice clung to the edges of his scarf. When he reached the station, he brushed snow off the metal casing, plugged in his tablet, and waited for the data to load.