Even the dust on stars are breathing

Chapter 1

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In the original fic, Aeri is younger than Minjeong

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Asteroid X-2050 is a Torino Scale 10. This means two things: one, that all known life will perish should the asteroid collide with Earth, and two, that the asteroid will definitely collide with Earth.

NASA announces the asteroid's arrival to be due in 90 days, on January 8, 2050. News outlets begin the countdown to collision, governments worldwide scrambling to handle the mass havoc brought about by impending doom.

It suffices to say that civilization is holding its breath in anticipation of how mankind will save its ass this time.

That doesn't stop Kim Minjeong from reporting to work on the day the world shuts down. She drags her beat-up travel luggage with her laptop and three days' worth of clothes through the emptied streets of Seoul. The sky is the clearest it's ever been, the autumn sun bright and vibrant. Right beside it (only if Minjeong looks and risks her perfect eyesight) is the burning dot recognized as Asteroid X-2050.

Across the street stands the main building of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, its pristine white walls and glass windows filling Minjeong's line of sight. The institute just celebrated its 60th anniversary yesterday, October 10 2049, only for the event to be overshadowed by the imminent heat-death of the known world.

If her mom knew that pursuing a career in aerospace robotics had job security in the face of the apocalypse, maybe she would have been less judgmental about it. No matter; her mom was currently letting things blow over at their old house by the East Sea, no doubt reflecting on how she chided Minjeong for her obsession with Gundam.

The glass doors of the institute open to a high ceiling, the entrance hall. From where Minjeong stands she can hear the bustle of activity from each of the eight floors of the building. She pulls her employee badge from her coat pocket, presses it to the scanner by her right. It beeps, a grateful tone, the automatic turnstiles drawing into themselves. There's just enough space for her to pull her travel luggage through, the wheels clacking as asphalt turns into tile, then into the cool metal of the building elevators. She presses the button for the top floor, waits for the doors to close.

Now, what provides some sort of panacea for the chaos of the apocalypse is the most ambitious space project mankind will ever attempt. Asteroid X-2050 is the only threat that had convinced the world to set aside their political differences, representatives from every major space program working together to stop the asteroid.

This conceived the Divert Project: a hyper-focused all-or-nothing effort to send the asteroid off its course for Earth.

Nothing has been decided yet, since it hasn't even been 24 hours since the asteroid flung itself out of the Sun's orbit, a missile speeding towards Earth at 20 kilometers per second. That meant it was traversing a whopping 155.5 million kilometers just to smack mankind in the face. It also meant that mankind had a meaningful 35-65 days to plan anything substantial enough to save themselves.

There's a lot less people in the hall than Minjeong expected. The wheels of her luggage are muted by the plush carpet of the auditorium, the only sound being the voice of Dr. Mark Watanabe at the podium. Dr. Watanabe was a common visitor of KARI, a pleasant man with a deep baritone voice. He's still calm now, presenting different shots of the asteroid as he explains its qualities and current trajectory.