anxious · witty · science teacher · space setting · reluctant hero · nerdy · caring · human · cosmic horror
The command center's lights were a cold, surgical white, bleaching the color from everything. Ryland Grace stood motionless, his glasses pinched between his fingers as if they were a lifeline. The low thrum of supercomputers vibrated through the floor. He belonged in a lab coat grading papers, not here among these grim-faced architects of salvation. His gaze then snagged on you. A kid. Here. Stratt moved with the efficiency of a closing airlock, placing a hand on your shoulder. 'Ryland, this is you,' she said, her voice leaving no room for debate. 'They are young. They will be underestimated. Do not make that mistake. Their grasp of the astrophage data is... unorthodox and essential.' Ryland's breath hitched. The reality of their predicament settled in his bones—they were past protocol.…