YEAR 2098

::: North Pole :::

            The weather is at dangerously cold temperatures, the winds roared and blasted icy air into the surroundings. It seemed isolated and lifeless until one saw the scattered polar bears who snuggled deep asleep in their snowy shelters.

            Nichkhun Horvejkul, a South Korean scientist working for the government of the United States, gazed wistfully at the interior of the pitched up tent and his beloved equipment which he all knew by pet names.

            Now, he was working on his brief case, sure it seemed odd from another angle, but he was actually gliding his slender fingers typed along a keyboard into the built-in laptop inside it. He lovingly called this gadget Daedalus because its highly innovative hardware and advanced software reminded him of a famous inventor of the same name.

            With his eyes glued to the screen and fingers simultaneously entering all sorts of information, he seemed happy and collected. Nichkhun loved his research because it gave him such thrill and joy. He would endure many sleepless nights but it was always for the love of Science!

            A familiar yet annoying voice called out for him outside the tent, "Nichkhun! Come out from there, I've found something."

            Nichkhun rolled his eyes, "Victoria, if this is another one of those 'biological' findings which I already know but you insist on showing me for the hundredth time-"

            Victoria poked her head into the tent, her amber colored eyes looked hurt and insulted, "Hey! I promise this is something you really want to get a good look at. I'm telling you, this is something out of this world!"

            Feeling intrigued, he closed Daedalus and zipped on his heat insulated suit. He noticed Victoria still staring at him in anticipation, he huffs in annoyance, "I'll take your word for it. This better be something worth our man hours, we've been here for over a month."

            Victoria whistled, "Just hurry up!" And then left the tent.

            It was true that Victoria got on Nichkhun's nerves very often, he still did not accept that he was paired with an annoying, intellectual, and loud female.

            She was a Biologist and He was a Scientist. They were opposites.

            After gearing up, Nichkhun looked at his reflection in the mirror, his purple eyes made him stand out against his tan skin but then again what isn't weird in 2098?

            Nichkhun exited the warmth of the tent and into the freezing cold of the Arctic.

            Bruno, their other companion, approached Nichkhun and before he could gather himself he got tackled under Bruno's heavy and fuzzy body.

            "Nice to see you too, buddy!" Nichkhun breathed out from under.

            Bruno growled and nudged Nichkhun’s forehead with his nose. It was his way of a bro hug in Polar Bear fashion.

            Nichkhun flailed his arms wildly until Bruno got the idea that he wasn't enjoying having the oxygen out of his lungs. The poor man still hadn’t lived his life yet.

            Bruno whimpered, he felt bad.

            Nichkhun patted the giant bear on the head, "Nah, don't feel bad! I'm used to it already... You have been doing this to me almost every day."

            Bruno tilted his head revealing his chrome collar device. Nichkhun understood what that gesture meant; speak.

            Nichkhun wrapped his arms around Bruno's muscular neck and reached for the special padlock and activated it.
 
            The collar glowed a faint light and a low husky voice spoke, "Hola! Muchas Gracias, Amigo!"

            Bruno stepped back and shook his head looking confused.

            Nichkhun facepalmed upon realizing that he accidentally set it to Spanish. "Sorry, Bruno!” he said, exasperated at the miniscule error.

            He switched around some numbers and finally got the right language. “Okay, try it now.” He smiled.

            Bruno clawed at the icy floor and tried again, “Yo! Thanks, Bro! You had me confused for a second there.” he chuckled as he moved forward, closing the space between him and the Scientist.

            Yeah. A talking bear, another wonderful day in the North Pole right?

            Nichkhun raised his hands up in the air, he still found it amazing how much progress the world had gone through, he remembered when Global Warming was resolved in 2068 and how endangered species started to flourish again. One of those species were Polar Bears and ever since then these mighty beasts have ruled the North Pole again and have brought balance back to their ecosystem.

            Bruno soon lost interest in Nichkhun and dashed forward to Victoria who called out for both of them in a high pitched whistle.

            Nichkhun casually walked towards where she stood, her fierce ginger hair poked out of her hood as her eyes eyed Nichkhun from head to toe as if he were a caged animal.

            “Homo-Sapien, aged 28, muscular and a total geek,” she mused.

“Victoria Song, possesses unique skills to connect with organisms and their environment, and a complete pain in the rear. I hypothesize that this is due to her ginger hair.” Nichkhun retorted.

Both raised an eyebrow and then nodded in respect. Despite their differences they shared the same love for sarcasm and of course, research.

Victoria stared off into the east, overlooking the snowy landscape that shined and glittered under the heat of the winter sun. Nichkhun followed her direction and upon close focus he found something odd.

Victoria looked to Nichkhun, her usual laidback demeanor faded and now replaced with worry, “Aurora Borealis,” she whispered. Nichkhun didn’t know why she had to whisper when they were the only people in the area, excluding Bruno.

She shook her head in frustration when Nichkhun failed to react, “Nichkhun, the condition of the environment is not stable enough to form Auroras.”

He understood what she meant, Northern Lights usually form when charged particles emitted from the sun during a solar flare penetrate the earth's magnetic shield and collide with atoms and molecules in our atmosphere.

Not only that, Aurora Borealis most commonly occur between 60°-75° latitude, but during great geomagnetic storms the auroral oval expands equatorially and can reach 30° latitude or further. Moreover, they can be seen at night.

It was 10:30 A.M. in the month of July.

Nichkhun came back to his senses, “Have you checked the area for any factors that could have caused this?” he asked in a serious tone.

Victoria nodded, “Yes, but all of my calculations and scouting say that the source is all the way there within those mountains. I even inquired with all the animals here and they support my claim.”

Bruno growled, “Adventure?”

Nichkhun twiddled his fingers, “Yes, finally something we get to use Optimus for!” he threw his fist into the air in excitement.