Novel: Bad press calls for desperate measures. For the Interstellar Forces, sending a small crew to Neptune was the bet they were willing to make - at the risk of losing what little respect they have left (and maybe some lives).
A roll of dice and a lack of options led to the selection of the Celestion-5’s crew, a collection of inexperienced astronauts ranging from space-loving dreamers to cynics only in it for the money.
It’s them against the universe, and their odds are a gamble at best. Learning how to live together can only help. Though with the crew’s pervasive personal problems, that might be the real journey.
New Chapter: Jun busies themself with the mystery of the missing crewmate, but what should be a straightforward case throws a few unexpected turns.
Sample:
“You like a good conspiracy, right?” They began. “Remember Matt from the Virgo? The dude who was at the lunch table with us. Kinda looks like Leon?” That was a stretch, aside from them both being plain-looking white guys with brown hair.
Aiden searched in his head. “...Barely.”
“Cool. His little,” brother would be too obvious, “cousin joined the IF recently. He sent me a pic.”
Jun took off their right glove to reveal their tablet in wristband form. They expanded it, scrolling through until they found the picture they wanted to show Aiden.
“That’s him.” They pointed at ‘Matt’s cousin,’ in actuality Angelo from a selfie Leon took in the infirmary, courtesy of Roxie.
“That’s–!” Aiden’s eyes went wide, then chilled out. “So that’s him, huh?” Good. He caught on. “What’s this conspiracy about?”
Jun collapsed their tablet. “I dunno if, like, my eyes are playing tricks on me, but don’t you think he looks young for the IF?”
Aiden mulled over it for a second. “Oh yeah, that’s definitely a–”
As he stopped dead in his tracks, Jun swore they detected a slight change in his expression.
“I was gonna say that’s definitely a kid, but there’s really no way to tell.” He changed his tune. “You could say the same about Rookie. Come back with a better conspiracy next time.”