Coldsnap: The Billionaire Alpha's Fated Pregnant Princess (GL)-Chapter 345 - Nine Point Nine...teen Hells! What Am I Touching?!

This morning I woke up in a penthouse and was told to come back any time I want. This afternoon, I stand before a system of caves more than a hundred miles away. Dripping wet, as there was a pond I thought I could jump across a mile ago... but slipped.

Luckily the chill of it does not bother me. And the sun is out, so I can stand here and dry some for a bit and take a breather. My eyes and nose check all the entrances to find the one that is most appealing.

And the system map too seems to take note of that, putting X marks over the ones I’d determined were not good choices for various reasons. Lack of breeze, stale smells, and of course the one with bear droppings were what I would think do not belong to my cave diving day.

I might have missed the best entrance if not for the glowing overlay in my vision. Overgrown brush concealed most of the near vertical opening - and the approach was steep enough that it basically was only visible when you were right on top of it.

Casual hikers would likely pass it by entirely... and dragging a large branch over top would increase the safety even more. It also smelled a bit metallic, though clean and humid. It seemed like the perfect place to start.

The temperature dropped immediately as I dropped down into the shade and out of the bright autumn sunlight. I’d turned Tolerance off after drying enough to make sure I could feel it. True to what I’d researched, it stabilized quickly at a comfortable coolness that would be downright warm when it is freezing out.

In my view, the passage descended gradually down into the limestone with a wide slope... enough that I could walk upright without any difficulty. My bestial eyes adjusted quickly to the dark, picking out that there were no signs of loose rock, recent collapse, or flood water damage.

> It’s a nice cave, so far. <

Ignoring my wolf’s whine to hurry up so we can rush back to the city, I pulled the uncomfortable headlamp on and continued down. Into a larger chamber that then narrowed again.

Multiple passages branched off and I took the one that had the most consistent feeling temperature... and because water could be heard as it trickled somewhere nearby - an underground spring or stream, crucial for the long-term, and the short.

> Don’t judge me, I am thirsty and that pond was disgusting looking. Full of autumn leaf tannins. Like nature’s dirty-tea soup. <

After pausing to lap my fill from where it ran down one wall, the taste of minerals better than the taste of muck, I continued through passages of ever changing size to find what I was seeking. Blue glows subtly guided me, with more of that relatively new habit of crossing off pathways. As if the system gained a veneer of *helpfulness* to lead me toward an optimal area.

And though it took quite a few hours - and would have taken even more if I had searched everywhere on my own... I found it. A large chamber that could fit multiple containers and was flat.

Well, flat enough. With a high ceiling, so that I would not feel too claustrophobic even after weeks of hiding. Multiple exit paths that I could plan escape methods through.

While it bugged me just a bit to leave it at that and not double check if any of these escape paths actually led to the surface, the cave system seemed to continue on for so much longer. However, this spot itself was ’it’, for me.

> Nine-point-nine. Life is boring without at least a little imperfection in places. It is acceptable. <

I stood in there for a while, just breathing in the slightly thick and stuffy air. I’m sure a lot of the paths I avoided - that the system crossed off - were dangerous. Filled with the gases that would make one dizzy or suffocate.

Yet, this spot has some amount of circulation to it somewhere. It must, if it has such a high survival rating... and that lets me pretend the world above is so very far away. A few minutes later, for the first time since opening my eyes as Citra Lomdi who knew she was now in Helene’s body-

> I feel genuinely safe, in the way that only a very nice cave would be able to provide me. <

Explaining that last part to my wolf while transforming us back into a human, I feel the lacking difference in eyesight quickly. Even a partial preparation to change back into the hybrid form again fixes my nightvision, as I readjust the headlamp over my hair.

The secondary shipping container materialized from my Stash with barely a thought as I stepped barefoot over toward its door. Yanking out and Stashing the phone that probably would not get signal down inside the earth anyway.

Everything Kyrie had insisted I take, through Claire, would be waiting when or if I needed it. Food, water, some medical supplies. If I’d bothered to look inside first, I’d easily realize that this thing had been packed intentionally for variety.

A diversity of sealed, ready to eat meal pouches which I devour greedily after a day of travel without stopping for much else. Today’s important secret mission feels accomplished after that, making me sigh while running my hand along the white metal side wall.

My restlessness suddenly evened out and a sense of sleepiness set in that I very momentarily worried was danger of gas or some other contaminant in the location. That worry and other thoughts was enough... and the system acted.

The spot I was touching *shivered* under my fingertips, the container wall itself - and only that - winking out of existence. Before I could blink or think that something inside would tumble out of the opening on me, a wall was right back in place.

Except it no longer felt like metal - or looked as sleek. It was kind of spongy and disturbing to touch and unnatural despite being a very beautiful lilac color. In any case, I can imagine that I was provided protection I probably need.

Rewarding me, on a rapid check of the checkmark in my vision, from that incomprehensible task I had apparently been given somewhere between the date end and waking up. In a way that is equally as unfathomable, as far as I can tell...

Though unlike ’What I Did’ it only takes five seconds of confusion to understand what *it* did - or is still doing.

"The air is moving, slightly, in this room now. And it smells... purer."

I’d seen industrial air cleaners being sold online, but had not yet figured out if I could get ahold of them in time. The improbability of mounting, powering, and keeping the filters replaced and stocked for one was another factor. Considering how inexplicable the technology the system can create is, maybe this...

"Doesn’t need to be cleaned? If so that will be lovely. And letting the pup have fresh air will be better than its first days being stale."

Smirking at that, if a bit dryly over how I felt safe here to just talk about that aloud, I turned my back and walked away. More assuredly reversing the path I’d just taken to get here instead of all the careful checks at each branching path.

The darkness didn’t feel threatening. It felt protective. Like being wrapped in shadows that would hide me from seeing whatever storms raged on the other side of its walls. Whatever lightning, cold, or danger. Whatever rejection.

My steps stopped - for no other reason than that these human feet were slightly sore from the occasional sharp or pointy edge underfoot. Certainly not from my own train of thought.

I changed into our wolf form and took the backpack into our jaws. To let Vrika do what it wanted all along. To go back to the city. To go back to Kyrie.

For a while longer.