Passengers

Three weeks have passed since Aurora and Jim extinguished the fire that was causing all the malfunctions in the Avalon. With the root of its problems gone, the ship has been on course to Homestead II and working satisfactorily. Jim has been putting his engineering skills to use and has been repairing all sorts of smaller damages the meteor caused inside it, just in case. The last thing they need is another episode like that...

Volatile after rescuing Jim from space, Aurora chose to remain awake in the ship with him instead of using the diagnostics pod in the medical room to hibernate again. Jim couldn't be more in love with her and Aurora, although not as fiercely hooked, is finally able to experience life as a couple. Plus, Jim's kindness and devotion to her have lead Aurora to feel something completely new to her: love. They've been living a quiet life on the ship and Jim's constantly trying his best to make her happy. Despite being enormous, the ship doesn't have that many entertainment options, so Aurora appreciates his efforts.

One day, Aurora is on her routine run on the second floor of the main hall when she hears a muffled voice over her headphones.

"Hello?! Helloooooooooo?"

Removing her earpieces, she quietly waits to see if she actually heard anything or if it was just her imagination playing tricks on her. After all, she is a talented writer and life in confinement has given her mind a freedom it has never experienced before. She's wearing a very tight pair of black running shorts and a sporty top and she leans over the half-wall looking over at the food court. A few more seconds pass but she hears nothing else.

"I must be finally starting to lose it in here." - She thinks, putting her music back on and continuing to jog. She makes a turn on one of the rounded parts of the hall just as Fyfe steps into the food court downstairs. He's only able to get a quick glance at Aurora's wavy blond hair flying around.

"Heeeey! Hey you!" - He tries to get her attention but, debilitated by the hibernation, he can't bring himself to yell. He watches the blond woman disappear unaware of where she might have gone. Aurora, on the other hand, now positively ignoring any weird sounds and with her music blasting, didn't hear a peep this time. Fyfe doesn't know but they're the only passengers on that section of the ship at the moment since Jim is in the massive control room trying to work on something new.

"Who the hell was that?" - He questions himself and wipes his eyes, still seeing a tad blurry. - "Is anyone here?!" - He asks to an empty room. - "What the hell is going on? Where is everybody? I should probably..."