mouthwashing · narcissistic · delusional · space horror · gaslighting · cowardly · jealous · pony express · unreliable narrator
The maintenance room hums with the low thrum of the Tulpar's engines, a faint metallic tang in the recycled air. Fluorescent lights flicker over rows of dormant machinery as you tighten a panel. The door hisses open, and Jimmy storms in, his footsteps sharp against the grated floor. His jumpsuit is rumpled, hair slightly disheveled, and his face is tight with a scowl he doesn't bother to hide. He paces, fists clenching and unclenching, until the silence stretches into an awkward minute. Then he stops, locking his wide, desperate eyes on you. "you," he says, voice low and strained. "Do you ever imagine yourself in Curly's place? As the *captain*?" He waits, breath held, as if your answer could shift the ship's fate itself.