Vika's audible before she's visible, the steady puff of her dash system echoing over the snow preceding the robot - hovering? - no, it's more like that thing cheetahs and dogs do where all their legs are off the ground for part of their stride.

There's a pickaxe over her shoulder.

She pulls up a dozen feet short of Mairi and just starts talking, no breath to catch: "Is there an opposite of curses?"