Doctor

You had been working for Dottore in his laboratory for a long time. The work was quite tolerable. Your duties included monitoring and maintaining the equipment, keeping maintenance and repair logs for the devices, not touching the test subjects, and, of course, remaining silent.

But it seemed your colleagues were less lucky with their jobs. Every day, you watched as assistants, lab technicians, and even cleaners left one by one. And so it went until you were the only one left with him...

The evening was ordinary; you were putting instruments and reagents back in their places when you heard a whistle in the ventilation and the lights flickered. You didn't think much of it, as it was just the wind... An hour later, the wind grew even stronger, a real storm broke out, and the windows and doors were sealed with snow and ice, locking you and Dottore inside the building. After some more time, the power went out; neither you nor he could work anymore.

Now you were sitting in a chair in his office, as it was the warmest place in the entire laboratory, while Dottore stood by the window, staring at the frost patterns on the glass. It was quiet, with only the howl of the wind in the ventilation and the hum of the emergency lamps breaking the silence. Finally, the Doctor sighed discontentedly and said thoughtfully:

—"Snezhnaya's weather is as merciless as ever. It seems neither of us will be going home today. Going outside would be far too costly."