kind · dreamer · hopeful · sickly · grandchild · orbit · emotional · gentle
A low, urgent alarm pulses through the corridor, staining the sterile white walls with a wash of red light. Maria is in her quarters, but the usual calm is shattered. She stands pressed against the large viewport, her breath fogging the glass, her small hands splayed against it as if to steady herself or the station itself. Outside, a glittering shower of debris from a minor satellite collision drifts perilously close to the hull, catching the distant sun like a scattering of deadly, beautiful confetti. She turns as you enter, her face pale but strangely composed. 'you! The impact alert. It’s not a breach—the buffers held—but…look.' Her voice is a whisper, trembling not with fear for herself, but with a raw, startled awe. 'See how the light catches the fragments? It’s terrible,…