Learning even more about the Units

You briefly glance through the holographic list of units, noticing the names and descriptions next to each.

“What are these, nicknames?” you ask, pointing to the titles like “The Astronauts” and “The Brainiacs” listed next to each unit.

“Sort of,” Samantha responds with a knowing smile. “The media and public kind of came up with code names for our units for better identification.”

“I see. There are a lot of contingency teams here,” you remark, scanning the list more closely.

"Yeah," she says with a soft chuckle. "Most of them are a lot more normal than ours. I can go a little more in-depth for you regarding the units if you want," she offers.

"Sure, I'd appreciate that," you reply.

"Unit A, now that's the only unit with a full crew of trained and experienced astronauts. That's why they're so highly ranked. A lot of them worked for NASA, and their captain, Catch Armstrong, is actually the youngest grandchild of Neil Armstrong and a former friend and rival of Destiny's."

"Unit B is a crew composed of extremely intelligent people, a lot of who I'm familiar with. Apparently, the average IQ of their group is over 170."

"Unit C is a very unusual one. To increase public support, HFH allowed the world to vote on 8 individuals to form a squad. A bad idea, in my opinion, but it was a political strategy, I suppose. Their members is very... interesting, to say the least."

You nod along, attentively absorbing Samantha's detailed explanations about each squad. Units A and B stand out with their impressive credentials, while Unit C remains somewhat perplexing in comparison.

Samantha continues. "Unit D was one of the earliest units formed, specifically crafted for political purposes aimed at consolidating support from Earth's powerhouse countries. Members hailing from America, China, Russia, the UK, Germany, Japan, France, and India were carefully selected to foster and strengthen intercontinental relations."

"Now, onto a big one. Unit E is basically the flagship of the entire project, highly regarded by both the public and the organization. Their captain, Gunnar, ranked among the top three young NASA astronauts, alongside Catch and Destiny. The rest of the squad is comprised of other highly renowned individuals."

"Unit F embarked a year ahead of the other units, volunteering to lead the way. The latest update we have is that their ship was safely en route to their destination, though there hasn't been any news since then."

"Unit G operates as a covert contingency team within the project, deliberately concealing the identities of its members from the public and the rest of the organization. As far as I know, only the HFH board members are aware of who they are."

"Unit H is a fun one," Samantha begins with a grin.

"Yeah, what the heck?" you interject. "They have a hundred members?"

"Well," Samantha continues chuckling, "the actual crew consists of the standard eight members. The additional ninety-two are actually just ordinary people selected through a lottery. To explain further, while HFH exhausted most of their resources on the initial twenty-five ships, they still had enough resources to create a lot more cryopods. The board's solution involved allocating their remaining resources to enlarge the final ship, which would house civilians in cryosleep until it reaches its destination. It was unconventional, but I get it. However, there are obvious risks that come with this concept, such as a larger ship being more **** to asteroids or projectiles."

"Why exactly ninety-two civilians?" you ask. "Why not just add ninety-two more astronauts?"

"At first, that was the plan," Samantha explains. "But there was a massive public outcry, so HFH reached a compromise. As far as I know, though, the organization secretly included a few astronauts among the ninety-two civilians."

"Okay, moving on," she begins.

"There's not much to say about Unit I, honestly. It's a fairly standard unit with some innovative scientists and engineers."

"Unit J is another typical team, centered around members experienced in travel and exploration."

"Unit K is also standard, but they seem to get along really well with each other, earning them the nickname 'kindred spirits' from the public."

"Unit L... This one's a tough story. Maria's sister, Sara, is on this team. Sadly, tragedy struck when half of their original members died in a car accident just six months before their scheduled launch. They had to hurriedly fill those spots with last-minute replacements, Sara being one of them. Due to this unfortunate turn of events, they're less prepared than the rest of the project and are considered underdogs."

"That's really unfortunate," you say, your voice tinged with sadness. "I guess that explains why Maria seemed a bit reserved when she mentioned her sister being in a different unit."

"I've met Sara, and she's a wonderful person. I think you'd really get along with her." Sammy replies fondly. "She may be considered a genius in the same sense as some others in the project, but she's got great instincts and a strong presence."

"I'd like to meet her, even though that probably won't happen," you say with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.

"Who knows," Sammy responds warmly, her smile reassuring. "Anything's possible."

You reciprocate her smile, feeling reassured by her optimism.

"Let's continue," she says, resuming the conversation.

"Unit M has a crew full of wildcards. I heard their captain was originally part of Unit T before he unexpectedly left to join this one."

"Unit N, meanwhile, has several members with noble backgrounds from countries like the UK, Japan, Spain, and Saudi Arabia. In other words, they have a lot of princes and princesses."

"Unit O is a unit with a bunch of unique members. One can speak 100 languages, another is a 7-foot-5-inch contortionist, and so on."

"Unit P is quite unique; all of their crew are parents of children back on Earth... I'm assuming none of them know the true objective of the project."

"That's terrible," you remark, puzzled. "Why would HFH even select people with kids?"

"From what I heard," Samantha begins, her tone serious, "these 8 members were too good and well renowned in their fields and insisted on joining to save the world and their children. HFH initially rejected them, but there was quite a public ordeal, and they didn't want to raise suspicion, so they reluctantly accepted them. But I agree, it's not an ideal situation."

You shake your head in disapproval, empathizing with the complexities of the situation.

"Unit Q is another interesting one. The female section of their crew are quadruplets," she states, glancing at you to gauge your reaction.

"Wait, what?" you reply, clearly intrigued. "How does that even work?"

"Well, normally it wouldn't," Samantha explains with a chuckle. "But these four are so talented that HFH really wanted them on board. However, they refused to join after finding out they couldn't be together. Fortunately, after Maria discovered the abnormal sperm gene, it became a possibility. They were then paired with four male crew members with the gene. Some speculate if the tradeoff was worth it, especially since most of the men seem to be struggling to keep up."

"Unit R... This one is another top unit, and a notable one as it includes Camille's cousin, Matthias. He's considered another one of the project's top prospects and is exceptionally skilled at what he does. I'm sure we'll delve into him more later."

"Unit S is just another typical unit. I don't know much about them other than them being flashy in public."

"Unit T is another fairly standard group, but I heard most of their members lost their entire families and friends to the Fallout. While the Fallout affected everyone, it seemed to have hit them particularly hard."

"Unit U, on the other hand, was dubbed 'the Unruly' by the media because of their, well, strong personalities. Despite that, they're a strong unit and deserve to be ranked much higher in my opinion."

"Unit V is quite mysterious, but their leader is known as 'the Visionary,' which is how their nickname came about. Apparently, he spoke extensively about the future and his visions during interviews with the media."

"Unit W is another formidable unit. They possess a balanced mix of intelligence, instincts, and survival skills. Physically, they're probably the most gifted unit out of all of us. Although I've heard some peculiar rumors about them..."

"What rumors?" you inquire, intrigued.

Samantha blushes slightly. "It's just speculation, probably not true."

You press her about it, insisting, "Come on, don't leave me hanging!"

She hesitates for a moment, then answers shyly, "Well, I heard they're very... sexually active. Like, they supposedly participate in a lot of orgies... and trains? Whatever that means."

A bit taken aback initially, you end up laughing out loud. "Hey, I get it. Especially if they're all physical specimens like you said."

She giggles bashfully but tries to quickly change the subject.

"Unit X... that's us, obviously. We're called the Exemplary, but that doesn't even technically start with an X," Sammy giggles. "And a lot of the public prefers calling us other names... like the Harem."

You chuckle at the realization that you do in fact, have a harem. "I don't blame them. I kind of like that name."

Sammy giggles again. "And they call you the luckiest man in the world."

"I agree 100%," you reply playfully.

She gives you a chiding look then continues..

"Unit Y, that's a contingency group filled with teenagers. I wasn't sure about the idea due to their lack of experience, but HFH went ahead with it."

"Teens?" you ask incredulously.

"Yeah, they were recruited as teens, and most of them are probably between 18 to 20 now," she replies. "But they are likely the smartest teenagers in the world."

She continues, "And lastly, Unit Z. They're another contingency group with a unique twist. Instead of the standard 8 members, they have 12. It just so happens that each member has a different zodiac sign, which led the public to coin them as the Zodiac. Quite fitting, if you ask me."

"And that's all 26," she finally exclaims, her voice tinged with a hint of satisfaction. "Any questions?"

You sink back into the couch, processing the flood of information. "Honestly, I have too many questions to ask right now, but I think I'll save them for later. It's about time we head to lunch," you reply, glancing up at the clock on the library wall.

"Oh my, I didn't even notice the time go by," Samantha responds with a smile. "We can continue this in our afternoon session!"