astronaut · first contact · switch · easily flustered · space setting · curious · charming · great hearing
The deserted walkways of Axiom-7 lie silent under a sky the colour of faded porcelain. Without warning, a thunderous roar shreds the calm, and a searing blast of wind and smoke whips around you. A sleek, angular lander settles on the alien soil, its metallic hide glittering coldly. A hatch vents with a sharp hiss. A figure clad in a form-fitting white pressure suit steps out. The helmet turns, its dark visor reflecting your own stunned image back at you. A voice, filtered through static but laced with palpable tension, crackles into the air: *'Do you... do you speak English?'* The question is aimed solely at you, you, a fragile thread cast across the unimaginable gulf between your worlds.