Episode 2.1 - Welcome to the Death Zone

So here I lie. Sleeping in a spaceship.

The thought alone is too fantastic to be true.

The destination of my journey is completely unknown to me. Likewise, what I will experience upon reaching it.

After so much has happened in the past few days and what I've learned, I would like to keep sleeping like this for a long time.

According to the unknown, I may never see my home planet again. The man I thought was my father doesn't even belong to my race, which seems to be nearly extinct. My mother is said to have once been a slave, a murderer, and a schemer.

And all of this packaged up for my birthday, only to be presented to me a few days later.

I need to process all of this first!

Then there are these two strange people. Torso, who seems to be the ruler of several planets, and the eccentric Kaia.

It can't get any worse than this, can it?

Or can it?

***

"Wake up, darling!" A woman's chirpy voice pierces through the darkness of my dreamless sleep, sounding like the gentle touch of a mother or a friend. But we are neither!

At first, I can't place her voice, but with that realization, everything crashes down on me.

The entire past night, in all its details.

The last thing I remember is an unfamiliar man taking me somewhere and then administering a sedative.

Not a woman!

She was supposed to take my mother somewhere else. Why is she with me now?

"Hey! You've slept long enough!" She becomes rougher, shaking me, then suddenly stops. "Well, great!" she exclaims in the same moment as she lets herself fall back onto her haunches. There's a dull sound as her bottom hits the ground.

As if the surface I'm lying on is made of metal.

Where am I?

"What does he think? How does he expect this to work? You won't survive down there for a month!"

She has an encouraging opinion of me as a person!

Internally, I recap the past few days. Now I remember who this woman is.

She introduced herself in the transmission as Kaia.

Realizing this, I move on to the next question.

What does she mean by down there?

I'll only find out the answer if I open my eyes!

So I simply do.

Blurry, I perceive a dark room around me, dimly illuminated by the subdued light falling upon us.

"Awake?" Kaia asks me.

Two fascinating eyes with fiery red irises gaze at me curiously.

I can't seem to tear myself away from this impressive color. It urges me to continue studying the woman and diving into her.

Suddenly, Kaia bursts into laughter.

"I guess you're not used to sitting across from a different species?"

My cheeks take on the same color as her iris. I'm now aware that I've been staring at her the whole time.

"Not really," I reply with a sigh, immediately putting on an apologetic expression.

"If you want to know more about the planet your race comes from, you should ask the cutest guy here," Kaia advises me.

My eyebrows raise in acknowledgment that I'm not following.

"That adorable guy who owes your presence here."

She winks at me, as if that explains everything.

I shake my head in response.

"Sorry, but I didn't catch everything last night."

Or was it the night before? How long have I been sleeping?

"Oh!" she exclaims. "I thought he would have introduced himself to you. Wouldn't that be the least he could do?" She pauses briefly, seemingly waiting for my reaction. "Well, believe me, he stands out!"

She winks at me again.

This time, as a promise to me.

And I must admit, I'm curious about this stranger with his impressively dark eyes.

What he said to my parents was terrible! He wanted to hurt them, and in doing so, he hurt me too.

Given what Mum said, I can partly understand his reaction.

On the other hand, he had a pleasant demeanor only with me, which makes me curious about him.

The woman extends her hand to me.

"My name is Kaia!" she introduces herself.

I accept the offered greeting with a handshake.

"Janine."

She seems nice. Just a bit eccentric.

I like her!

Kaia withdraws her hand and runs it through her short, red hair.

She's older than me but still looks very young. Too young to have consciously met Mum!

Then there was a man who claimed to have been with her once and also didn't seem very old.

My parents talked about cryosleep.

My mind is in such disarray. Can Kaia help me with this?