However, what Vikram did not expect was that there was no reply from Divya for a very long time.
"Did she fall asleep?" he wondered, puzzled.
"That can't be right. Everyone in the group knows the Extreme Cold is supposed to change tonight. They would definitely stay awake past midnight."
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt, as if an inexplicable premonition was warning him that something was wrong. Almost subconsciously, Vikram initiated a communication request.
This was the first time he had ever used the communication function on the Survival Platform.
As he pressed the dial button, a standby tone echoed faintly in his mind.
"Beep… beep… beep…"
"Beep."
After a brief sound, the connection was established.
"Hello? What's going on with you? I sent so many messages and you didn't reply. I thought you were dead."
There was silence on the other end for a moment. Then, a slightly weak and hoarse voice finally responded.
