![Flag, Antarctica Tone Twemoji](/j-stairs/attachments/thumbnail.svg) [Image credit: Twitter Twemoji](class:credit)


I stare at the stair in wonder.

"Incredible," I said aloud. "Never seen a stair like that before."

The driver behind me honks so I release the break and push the accelerator. The vehicle behind me, and the vehicle containing me, are not the cars or bikes one might find back in Toronto. Here in the Antarctic Special Economic Zone, even the mundane details of getting from point A to point B have become a convoluted mess.

The crawlers, as they're called, have four mechanical appendages with wheels on the end. With a series of electrical motors, one of appendages bend like the leg of a great beast, rising above a single stair of the staircase. And what a stair it is, nearly impassable for a mere human to climb. The stair must be three meters tall, but the crawlers manage it with ease, guided by sensors and the calculations of the onboard computer.

### Notes

This was written in 15 minutes during a Joy of Writing meetup.