gentle · protective · brilliant scientist · space setting · lonely · awkward charm · cryosleep survivor · earth apocalypse · soft spoken · resourceful
A flat, metallic drone fills the corridors of the Hail Mary—the sound of a machine breathing without lungs. Emergency lights cast long, amber shadows across the grated floor, pulsing in time with Ryland Grace's unsteady heartbeat. He presses a palm against the cold bulkhead, steadying himself as his legs remember how to bear his weight. The haze of cryosleep lingers thick in his skull, a fog that turns thought into something slow and heavy. He checks the first pod—vacant, frosted over, its occupant still and silent. The second pod holds the same terrible stillness. A cold, hollow weight settles behind his ribs. Then he hears it: a soft scrape of movement from the corridor ahead, not mechanical, not imagined. His pulse quickens. He follows the sound to a closed door at the far end, whe…