Project Pisces

part one

"The project is being funded by the private company known as Ampien Industries, and will begin its trial on October 20th."

"Okay? What does this have to do with me?" Dakota looked up at her superior, a blank expression plastered on her face.

"You're going." The research director held a firm voice, placing a manilla folder filled with papers over her current thesis paper.

"I'm sorry, what?" Her voice grew surprised, staring down at the folder. It was at least an inch thick, to her guess, and appeared as a menace already. "Going where? I don't know the slightest thing about this project."

"Well, it's to Neptune, it's about a month long expedition, and you'll be with a team." Rick leaned against the file cabinet to the left of her desk, arms crossed over his chest. For such an elderly man, he carried a very immature attitude, ordering Dakota around like she meant nothing to the company.
She glared up at him, blue eyes narrowed. "Okay, that's helpful and all, but who's the team, what's the expedition about, and do I have a decision?" She snapped, annoyance coursing through her all of a sudden.

"They'll introduce you to the team when you head to the briefing, and they'll explain the project further. You have a choice, but it either consists of keeping your job, or not going to Neptune, so you pick." Rick muttered, straightening his back. "We need someone to go, and you're the only person qualified for field activity that's of...age to go."

At eighteen years old, Dakota was the youngest person to have acquired a job at Ambien Industries, the most advanced space technology institution. Having flown through school with skills higher than ever witnessed, she skipped several grades and attended college three years earlier that the average student. After receiving her degree in physics and astronomy, they took her on as a research assistant. She soon proved her skills and was moved into field training and space aeronautics. The company frequently took trips into space, and she'd been on two so far. None were so far as Neptune, however.
"You'll be fine. It'll only take about a week to get there; they're trying out another new fuel so it should be a much faster trip, and they'll put you in one of the colonization houses when you get there." Rick made his way towards the door, his back to her. "You might want to get your stuff together, though, because the briefing is in twenty minutes. Room sixteen."
The small snicker
that his voice didn't conceal coursed anger through Dakota's body as the door closed behind the elderly man. She stared at Holuter in her desk and started scanning the sheets of paper over it, filing them into the holographic computer system. She'd always hated that Rick continued to use paper documents rather than the filing system which had been created for the exact purpose, so she transferred them herself.

It took about ten minutes to proper get through all the paperwork, and she soon stood from the hovering chair behind her desk, picking her pristine, white lab coat off the counter and sliding it over her black shirt. She typically stuck with an all black outfit to counter the stark white coat, and today was no exception. Marching down the hallway with her head held high, she pushed past the double doors of room sixteen.

The inside was dark, the only light being the blue tint that was emitted from the holodeck planted inside of the table. The doors swung shut behind Dakota with a loud thud and suddenly the artificial intelligence CARLY flashed into the air.

"Welcome, all," CARLY stated in her robotic voice. Turning her head, Dakota searched in confusion for whom the "all" consisted of. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, but once they did, she noticed a row and people, all various ages, bound and tied to hoverchairs. Behind each one of them, there was a person, each tall and dressed in a white hazmat suit.

Suddenly, her head raced in her chest. "What is this?" She demanded, angry out of defense. "What's going on?"

"As you've all been made aware," CARLY continued without hesitation, "you will embark on an exploration mission to Neptune. These are your team members-"