22 PRIA
Watching Kalumbu on screen was a strange, an out-of-body experience of sorts. I'd only seen a tiny part of the planet, but whichever live stream I looked at, it all looked scarily familiar. The tall trees, even though their colours varied, the predators, the constant search for safety. The terrified faces of contestants as they battled yet another monster. I saw several of them die in just the first few minutes. Even though I'd been on the surface of that planet for days, I hadn't realised just how deadly it really was. How many lives it claimed every single day. Without Silus, I wouldn't have lasted an hour.
After a while, I skipped the deaths, unable to watch yet another person die. It was too close to home. That could have been me. Or Silus. Or Vruhag or Fay.
With every minut
