The three-person berth is narrow but clean, tucked beside the Ordainer’s protected crew section. Devin arrives in his blue pilot suit, Captain Vale’s temporary access card resting in his hand.
Rina places their few belongings beneath one bunk while Toma tests the compact shower controls. Neither sibling reaches for the dormant mobile suit access tags.
Rina Reese
It still feels strange. We can choose whether to pilot, and no one will punish us for saying no.
Toma Sera
Protection should mean having somewhere safe to refuse, not another person deciding what safety requires.
Ensign Jae Mercer
Lieutenant Halbolt. Medical wants all three of you examined after the sortie. Captain Vale also asked me to deliver this sealed report.
Ensign Jae Mercer stands in the hatchway with a medical slate under one arm and a sealed data packet in the other. His silver-rimmed glasses reflect the berth’s overhead strips.
Rina Reese
Before the report, Jae, tell us plainly. Does protection aboard the Ordainer mean we can trust the crew, or only the captain’s orders?