Years go by...

When you were eighteen you were given a simple test to determine your career on the space station. It was a multiple choice question test with no right or wrong answers. You answered the question truthfully.

That is how your career as a mechanic started.

You had to admit that you were slightly disappointed for not getting the ace pilot or captain positions, but as jobs go being a mechanic is not the worst. On Vega at least it's actually quite a cushy job. Since the station AI core was self maintaining, you only really had to give it a helping hand around the place. The only things you needed to fix were things not part of the vital systems; PA's, busted doors, monitors and the like, and those were relatively easy to repair. Occasionally a ship in the dock would need some extra help, but that's about it. It's an easy job with good benefits.

However, one day you started a fight in the canteen, accusing the pilots from bay 12 of cheating at cards. For this offence you were sentenced to five days in the cooler; a cryo-stasis pod which slows down the metabolic rate and causes the occupant to fall into deep sleep. One might think it was not really a punishment, but when one wakes up you get one heck of a headache- and it's not like you get paid for those missed days either.

You step into the pod, jokingly telling the operator that 'you'll be back in a minute'. He rolls his eyes; he's heard it all before. The door rests into place, and you feel a sudden chill, like that of a walk-in-freezer. You don't notice the moment when you fall into a deep, dreamless slumber.