--B.T.L.: Before the Launch
--Dura-Chamber Archive Scan * 071484
After a resounding I love you, shithead, Tiptree hit the send button on the video call monitor. Kass would receive the call nearly instantly, as opposed to the weeks, months, and then years it would take for messages to reach her post-voyage.
Settling into a new surrounding required a series of steps. At least, that's how Tiptree went about it.
First, she eyed her living abode. It was approximately two minutes from the mess hall. Shrugging, she moved her name plaque to an abode two doors down, but closer to the main corridor.
Second, she unpacked. There was a place for everything, and she'd brought plenty. More than expected, if Russ's amused face was any indication. If they were to be away for five, or even ten years, Tiptree figured she could've brought more.
Third, she sent Kass a message, telling her maybe she'd made a mistake...just kidding. But hadn't she?
She didn't know anyone. Those she had met failed to impress, like Samuel and Kathar.
They were kinda mean.
The trip might be her last.
Did I make a mistake?
Just this morning, Tiptree had hyperventilated, collapsing in Kass's arms. Her actions had been forgivable only from the perspective of someone who already had seen the uglier sides of her, and hadn't yet shied away. That was Kass.
"Breathe. It's okay. I love you, and always will."
Kass had said what was needed. Tiptree recalled the calming tone, the feel of her warmth as a familiar panic twisted in her gut.
The walls seemed to close in around her.
Breathe. It's okay.
She inhaled. Exhaled.
Lips trembling, she told the wall interface, "Window mode."
At the command, the wall facing the outside transitioned from opaque to clear. The cityscape sprawled beneath the setting sun, all the more obvious from the empty streets and rusting storefronts. Giant buildings stretching to the sky, with glass walkways and yawning archways. All architectural testaments to the god of nothing.
The scene was common, as most major cities were in similar shape. Space devoid of life. Once iconic hubs now dying off along with the human population.
Still, the streets and buildings were foreign. This country was foreign. At least, now it was. Like many displaced children of the Institute, she had grown up in a US dormitory.
South Korea maintained the last standing aerospace institute, KARI, and they had partnered with the US Institute.
A last chance.
Tiptree was home, in a sense. She was part of the last chance. Even so, mistake echoed in her thoughts.
The last thing she needed to do to settle in was wander. Maybe find some food.
In the main corridor, she passed Russ and they exchanged smiles. Near the mess hall, she bumped into a muscled mass.
"Shit, sorry!" Hands in the air, Tiptree quickly backed away.
It was bad form to breathe near strangers, let alone touch them. She remembered her mother encouraging her to hug new acquaintances, to catch them off guard with kindness. Such actions might get a person arrested in these times. Though, he wore a mask, which mitigated chance of infection. It also threw her. Everyone was cleared before training, then again before boarding. Where she came from, only old people wore masks.
"Hi. I'm Jason. Who are you?"
His voice indicated a young man, younger than Tiptree expected for this save-the-world-trip. His pale face put her off, though she couldn't place why exactly. Then she decided it was his eyes. They seemed to glow above the sterile line of the mask. He wasn't a Green-Eyed, but she thought of the group nevertheless.
She smiled, pretending to be friendly. "I'm Tiptree."
They exchanged a few more pleasantries, his quite muffled, before the young man begged off. Tiptree tried not to look behind her, it was rude after all, but couldn't help it.
He waited a few feet away in the main corridor. Just standing.
Tiptree quickly turned back around lest the strange fellow see her.
She stepped forward as though going on her merry way. In a sideways glance, she risked one more peek behind her.
Jason was gone.
And Tiptree wouldn't think anything of it until a long while later.