Esposito approached Marco Ruocco, who instinctively took a step back.

  "You want to appeal to your Beta status, Ruocco? Fine. Then prove you deserve it. A true Beta knows that teamwork is more important than ego."

  He then turned to Giorgio Gallo. "And you, Gallo? Do you think your last name will protect you from a Glacial? Or perhaps you want to explain your family tree to a mutant bear?"

  Bianca, from her place at the back of the classroom, let out a crystalline laugh that made everyone turn. It was the first time anyone had heard her laugh.

  "Something funny, Ruggeri?" Esposito asked.

  "Out there," Bianca said with a voice that seemed to cut through the air like ice, "Glacials don't distinguish between Beta, Omega, Zeta, or Ultima. Go ahead with your arguments. When they tear you to pieces, they won't ask about your lineage before devouring you."

  When Bianca spoke those words, the silence in the classroom became so dense it could have been cut with a knife. Marco Ruocco turned pale, his cheeks losing color as if her words had stripped away his pride. Giorgio Gallo beside him shrank back, suddenly small despite his size. Their gazes lowered, as if Bianca's words had just reminded them of the real stakes.

  "The teams remain as I assigned them," Esposito said after a long moment. "Anyone with problems can forfeit the mission. And forfeit the idea of becoming a true Cold Soldier."

  Marco Ruocco clenched his jaw but returned to his seat. Giorgio Gallo followed him like a faithful shadow.

  "One last thing," Esposito added. "Out there, you won't have time for this nonsense. Either learn to work together, or die together. And it's much easier to die than to learn."

  Brando looked at his teammates. Marco Ruocco staring straight ahead with a stone expression. Giorgio Gallo deliberately avoiding his gaze. Mira Ferrara who seemed more interested in studying her own nails than the entire situation.

  "Perfect," Brando muttered to himself, sarcastically. "This will be an interesting day."

  Rusty, curled up at his feet, emitted a low sound that strangely resembled a "woof."

  Giordano leaned toward him from the adjacent desk. "Hey," he whispered with a grin, "try not to piss off Ruocco too much. If he gets wrinkles before his time, his father will personally have my ass."

  "I'll keep that in mind," Brando replied, but a half-smile curled his lips.

  From across the classroom, Ripa observed everything with an inscrutable expression. Who knew what was going through his mind at that moment.

  "The mission details have been loaded onto your KryoWatches," Esposito concluded. "You have one hour to prepare your equipment. The mission begins at 1400 hours sharp. Don't be late."

  The students began to rise, the atmosphere still tense from the confrontation that had just occurred. As they headed toward the exit, the dynamics were already visible: Marco and his group maintaining a calculated distance from Brando, Giordano joking with everyone to lighten the mood, Bianca slipping away like a ghost, and Ripa following them all with that disturbing gaze.

  The military bus devoured miles of road, moving farther and farther from the Academy. Brando looked out the window, with Rusty curled up on his shoulder. The puppy kept all three eyes fixed on the changing landscape.

  "You've never seen this part of the Polis, have you?" Giordano asked from the seat beside him.

  "No," Brando replied. "In Rione Sanità, we don't venture this far from the center."

  The landscape outside was changing. Buildings gave way to increasingly dilapidated structures. The streets became narrower, darker. Rows of shacks extended along the containment walls, and people crowded into increasingly confined spaces.

  "It's strange," Brando said. "I thought Rione Sanità was rock bottom."

  "Nah." Giordano leaned toward the window. "The closer you get to the Dome, the worse it gets. Did you know that Glacials sometimes manage to get through here?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "I told you once before, the Dome isn't as perfect as they want us to believe—it's weakening more and more," Giordano said. "Gaps can form, points where the energy barrier becomes more fragile. It's like having a door that's occasionally made of papier-maché; you can even enter by crashing through it."

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  Rusty emitted a low, almost metallic sound. His third eye pulsed with an uneasy light.

  The bus passed a fenced area. Yellow and black tape marked off a zone where the ground was covered with rubble and debris. The remains of an old building were scattered everywhere.

  "See there?" Giordano said, pointing to the area. "That was a level three Glacial. They stopped it, but not before..." He trailed off, shrugging.

  "And people still live here?"

  "Where else should they go? Not everyone is born into one of the Eight Houses." Giordano smiled, but there was no joy in his eyes. "And not everyone has the fortune of finding an orphanage in Rione Sanità."

  Brando observed a group of children playing among the rubble with a ball made of rags. Their clothes were worn, but they moved with the energy of youth, as if constant danger was just another fact of life.

  "At least at the orphanage we had a roof," Brando murmured.

  "And that's why we're here," Giordano said. "To check the sensors that keep these people safe. Or at least, safer than they would be without them."

  The bus stopped with a hiss of brakes. They had arrived. Rusty jumped onto Brando's shoulder as they stood up. The puppy's fur was raised like needles of ice.

  "Hey," Giordano called as they headed toward their respective exits. "Don't do anything stupid out there."

  "Is that it?" Brando asked when the bus stopped.

  A desolate clearing stretched before them. The ground was so dry it had cracked in multiple places, and sharp rocks surrounded by patches of lichen dotted the area. Their footsteps echoed heavily as they followed Esposito toward something that seemed like it shouldn't exist in that place. Wasn't the Great Dome supposed to be there? Why could they see a desolate clearing?

  "Strange, isn't it?" Giordano said in a low voice. "From the inside, it looks like the wasteland extends infinitely."

  "It's an illusion," Esposito interjected, noticing the students' puzzled looks. He materialized an ice spike and hurled it at the barrier. The projectile bounced back with a sharp thunk in mid-air, as if it had been thrown against something invisible.

  "You can't pass through. Not without this."

  He activated his KryoWatch. A gap opened in the barrier like a wound in the air, and beyond...

  "Holy shit," Brando whispered.

  An infinite expanse of icy tundra stretched to the horizon. The landscape was devoid of color, dominated by shades of white and gray that mixed beneath a heavy sky, laden with clouds. The wind lifted snow crystals that sparkled faintly in the cold, muffled light.

  They crossed the gap one by one. The cold enveloped them, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Their Cold Veins welcomed it like an old friend. Their feet sank into the snow with a regular crunch. Rusty darted back onto Brando's shoulders. His third eye was wide open and gleamed with a feverish light as he scanned the white horizon.

  "East Team," Esposito called. "You'll take the right sector. West Team, the left. Don't stray more than five hundred meters from the Dome."

  Marco Ruocco immediately took the lead of the East Team, with Giorgio Gallo following him like a faithful shadow. Mira positioned herself strategically between them and Brando, who brought up the rear with Rusty and carried the backpack.

  On the other side, Ripa led the West Team with Bianca walking slightly separated from the group. Giordano turned one last time toward Brando and mimed a strangling gesture aimed at Ripa's back before following his team.

  The two teams separated, each toward their own direction. The Dome was behind them while ahead stretched a world of ice and silence.

  "There it is," Marco said, pointing to a metal structure protruding from the ice. "The first sensor."

  The device was almost completely buried in the snow. Only the blinking red light betrayed its presence. Marco approached with confident steps, activating his KryoWatch which projected the maintenance instructions as a hologram.

  "First, we need to verify the structural integrity," he began, scrolling through the pages. "Then check the internal system, then—"

  "Or we could simply replace it," Mira interrupted, pulling a new sensor from the backpack. "That's what we do when the light is red."

  Marco shot her an icy look. "There's a procedure to follow."

  Brando approached the sensor, kneeling in the snow. Something didn't add up. The ice around the base had a strange consistency, almost gelatinous.

  "Hey, Zeta," Marco called. "Move away from the sensor. I don't want you damaging it."

  "The ice here is different," Brando said, ignoring the insult. He touched the surface with a finger and it yielded slightly. "It shouldn't be like this."

  "Oh, now you're an ice expert?" Giorgio laughed, but his laughter died when he saw Mira's expression.

  The girl had approached and touched the ice herself. "He's right," she said. "The density is abnormal."

  Marco snorted. "We're wasting time. Giorgio, help me with the replacement."

  While the two fiddled with the sensor, Brando continued to study the ice. But Rusty suddenly barked vigorously, making everyone jump. His third eye gleamed with a feverish light.

  "Shut that thing up," Marco growled.

  "He's not a thing," Brando said, standing up. "And he's trying to tell us something."

  "The only thing he needs to tell us is—" Marco broke off. The new sensor he was about to install emitted a strange beep.

  "What's happening?" Giorgio asked.

  "Nothing," Marco tried to hide the display, but Mira was faster.

  "Compatibility error," she read. "The sensor detects a non-standard energy source underground."

  A heavy silence fell over the group. The wind howled around them, lifting snow crystals that glittered in the diffused light.

  "Let's proceed with the installation," Marco said after a moment, his voice less confident. "It's clearly a sensor error."

  Brando looked at Rusty, who continued to stare at the ground with all three eyes. The puppy trembled slightly, but not from the cold.

  The group moved in a line toward the second sensor. The wind had begun to blow harder, transforming the snow into icy needles that stung the skin. Marco led the formation with Giorgio at his side, Mira in the center, and Brando at the rear with Rusty.

  Crack.

  The sound came from beneath their feet, dry as a breaking bone. Giorgio froze mid-step.

  "Don't move," Brando said, noticing the web of cracks forming around Giorgio's boots.

  "What the..." Giorgio looked down. The color drained from his face.

  "I said don't move." Brando approached slowly. The ice creaked with each step. "Give me your hand."

  "I don't need your help, Ze—"

  The ice gave way.

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