Completing the circuit, the group came to the last door.

“Here we are on the last leg of our tour, but certainly not the least.” began Emil. “Hope you find it cozy, ‘cause this is where you guys’ living quarters are. Let’s dive right in.”

A spacious kitchen welcomed the crew with a table in the center, brand-new cooking station on the right, and an area in the back with a couch and flat screen television. The walls were a cheery yellow.

“I love this color...” Leon muttered to no one in particular.

“It’s pretty nice, isn’t it? And check out these chairs.”

Emil crouched down beside one of the chairs stationed at the table. After picking one up, he lowered it back down, but just before it reached the ground, it snapped back onto the floor.

“Magnetized.” was his one-word explanation. He then rose to his feet. “Most of the stuff in this room is held in place by ‘em. Gotta make sure things aren’t floating around the place when we’re in 0G.”

“I was wondering–” Leon began.

“Go ahead, Rook!”

“–This ship has gravity, right? Is there any reason we’d need to use zero gravity? Not that I’m complaining or anything, I’d love to experience it for a few days just to see what it’s like.”

“Then it’s gonna be your lucky week.” Emil pointed a finger at him.

“Oh boy, as if it isn’t already!” Even without the lack of gravity, Leon’s spirits rose. He’d get to experience space just like the first star rangers did many decades ago.

“Quick question.” The oddly familiar one smoothed dark, wavy bangs out of her face… or his face? Leon couldn’t tell at this angle. The androgynous voice didn’t help. “The Celestion crews were chosen by chance, yeah?”

“There’s a coupla exceptions as you’re no doubt aware,” Emil winked, “not to mention the captains, but yeah, most of us are random picks.”

“Right, cool. So, like, not to harsh the vibes, but I noticed that none of us except you and the captain are ranked higher than rangers.”

“I almost ascended to corporal~” Allen spoke up.

“I know, Rox.” The familiar one addressed Emil again. “I dunno, I kinda assumed we’d get stationed on each ship based on our experience and ability level.”

That did surprise Leon when he first heard about the opportunity. Described by his old warrant officer as ‘remarkably average in all abilities,’ he never dreamed he’d be offered the chance to go to Neptune. No one from his base deployed to space in years. He hadn’t even earned the star on his uniform yet. No way would he let such good luck pass him by.

“Huh,” Emil pinched one of his curls, “that does make sense.”

A click from the ceiling brought with it Captain Galhardo’s voice. “Randomized crews are a key element of the Celestion Project. Though each captain, including myself, went through a series of tests to ensure our capability.”

“Well, there you have it. Besides, as long as my brother’s piloting, we’ll make it back a-ok. Nothin’ to worry about.” In only a few strides, Emil made his way to the cooking area. “Over here we have a microwave, an oven, dishes, other kitchen-y stuff–Oooh, guys, I gotta show you something!”

He stuck his arm over the stove, to the confusion of Leon and most of the others, and to their horror, turned it on.

“That’s dangerous! You’re gonna burn yourself.” warned Ranger Allen.

“Don’t worry, I know it looks bad, but–”

The captain’s voice cut over the intercom. “Turn off the stove immediately.”

“But our uniforms are fireproof.”

“Those ones aren’t; the spacesuits are.”

“Oh.” Looking sheepishly at the others, Emil yanked his hand away from the stove and turned it off. “So I almost set myself on fire?”

“Yes.”

“Whoops. Thanks, Captain Bro!” Emil winked at the ceiling in spite of the captain not being present. Leon looked around to see if there were any cameras, but nothing camera-like stood out to him in the room.

“Be more careful, Lieutenant.” A click signaled that the intercom had turned off.

Ranger Allen took this as an opportunity to educate the others. “Roxie Safety Tip: Never ever put your hand or any body part over an open stove.”

“Yeah, what she said.” agreed the one Leon thought he recognized.

“Ah, thank you Roxie, couldn’t have said it better myself, heh.” Emil averted his eyes from the others and to the refrigerator. “This is our fridge. It’s stocked with–”

He opened it up to reveal blank shelves. Opening the freezer compartment at the bottom revealed the same.

“–nothing.” Emil scratched his head, looking down into the freezer. “Uhhh, I guess we’re gonna hafta stock it with stuff from the storage room. So much for that. However,” he unfolded a hand toward the television, “there’s still the TV.”

“Does it got any good channels?” asked the tall guy.

“No. It doesn’t have any good channels. It has the hottest channels from the nation’s #1 satellite service along with prepaid access to the most popular and reliable streaming site there is, Jetflix.”

He dashed over to the couch and reached over to retrieve a remote. When he pressed the button, nothing happened.

“Are you serious?”

He pressed the button a few more times before turning to the rest of the group.

“Um, sorry guys! I promise there’s things that work on this ship, even though that’s not really a… reassuring thing to hear when it’s about to launch us off into space, but trust me, the necessities work just fine.” Emil hurried over to the door. “Let’s just pretend all of this didn’t happen and go check out the other rooms, shall we?”

When he entered the door ahead of the others, Tall Guy mumbled something that Leon couldn’t quite pick up, followed by the oddly familiar ranger saying something about Emil trying his best. Leon agreed. He tried his best, and Leon appreciated that even if the grumpy tall guy was too much of a stick in the mud to.

They followed Emil into a narrow hallway. There were two doors on the left, one on the right, and two more further down on the left. The lieutenant approached the first door on the left.

“I thiiink this is the guys’ room?” He studied the red circle on the door. “Yeah. Y’see, the designers thought it’d be a fun idea to mark the men’s rooms with Mars and the women’s rooms with Venus. I’m sure you guys’ll be able to get a feel for it when you get settled in, but be careful about walking into each others’ rooms. Anyway, Aiden, Leon, this is your room.”

He opened the door to reveal a blue room with a panel on the far wall and a desk with a chair just underneath it. On the crimson carpet sat beds that matched–a singular one on the right and a bunk bed on the left. As the group entered, Leon saw some shelves resting on the wall nearest to the door.

He also realized this room wasn’t meant for six people to stand in.

“Okay it’s kind of obvious that this room was only meant to hold three people max. Don’t worry, we won’t be in here long, I just gotta show you one thing.” Emil reassured. “On each bed, there’s a seatbelt, so when we’re up in space and there’s no gravity, if you’re like me and move a lot in your sleep, you don’t have to worry about floating out of bed.”

“Safety sleeping.” Roxie commented.

“That’s right, safety sleeping.”

Leon couldn’t see the seatbelts, but seeing anything at all was a struggle as the shortest in the room, surrounded by the others.

Emil led them back into the narrow hallway and walked past the women’s room and the room door on the right.

“The girls’ room is basically the same, but orange, and the room we just passed is the infirmary. If we have enough time left, I’ll take you guys back there, but me and Roxie have more use for that than the rest of you, hopefully.”

The next stop was the men’s restroom, with tiled red floors broken up by blue, teal, and grey. A hand dryer hung on the far wall. Three sinks were on the left, with the same number of stalls on the opposite side.

“Having all of you in here at once probably isn’t gonna work, so I’ll pick two of you to meet me in here. Rookie, you’re probably going to need this explanation more than anyone else since you’re the new guy and Jun,” he motioned to the dark-haired ranger, “since you’re no stranger to men’s restrooms.”

“Wait.” Leon figured out where he’d seen Jun before. “Are you…? You’re Jun Kim!”

“I am.” replied the living, breathing historical figure nonchalantly.

“But you’re that Jun Kim.” Leon couldn’t believe he stood in front of the Jun Kim, first woman to join the IF. Originally having buzzcut hair, half of it obscured one eye. It must’ve grown out in the past four or five years since the initial commotion of Jun breaching the IF’s men-only rule.

“I don’t know how many other Jun Kims you’ve met, but I’m assuming I’m the one, yes.”

Emil tilted his head at Leon. “Were you completely checked out when I introduced her?”

“M-Maybe a little bit.” admitted Leon, the heat of embarrassment reddening his cheeks. “But that’s super cool! I can’t believe you’re here in person and I get to meet you! You’re amazing!”

“Heh. Thanks.” With a hair flip, Jun’s other eye could momentarily be seen.

“May I continue with the bathroom tour?” Emil bowed, stretching an arm toward the stalls behind him.

“Oh. Yeah. I didn’t mean to cause an interruption, aha…” Leon scratched at the side of his neck. He then returned Emil’s bow. “You may continue.”

“Thank you!” Emil bowed once more.

“You are most welcome.” Leon continued the bowing, and both he and Emil had to stifle laughter.

“Enough chivalry. My bro’s probably watching us and shaking his head right now.” The lieutenant gave a chuckle.

“There’s cameras in the bathrooms?” This was the first time Mia spoke up since the generator room.

“Right, I should probably go over that first so you guys don’t freak out.”

Emil motioned toward the ceiling.

“There’s cameras all around this ship, except for me and the captain’s bathroom, since we don’t have stalls like these do. But! All of them have blind spots, and the bathrooms’ blind spots are these babies.”

He tapped a hand against the first stall.

“As long as you’re inside one of these, no one can see you. You’re completely safe. On the other hand, as soon as you step out,” Emil entered the first stall, then hopped out, pretending to cover himself, “you’re exposed! How embarrassing! To avoid that, always make sure to get dressed inside the stalls.”

“Inside the stalls, got it. Hopefully. But knowing me, I’ll be the first one to forget. Heh...” Leon trailed off in light, preemptively ashamed laughter.

“I believe you can do it. I believe you all can get through this without messing it up.” Emil’s words made Leon’s heart overflow with motivation. “It’s… all I can do, so please promise me you’ll remember.”

“You have my word.” Leon gave him the most earnest salute he could muster.

Emil returned it. “Good. And to help you all remember,” he reached inside of the stall, pulling out a plastic cover reminiscent of the one that covered Leon’s prom tuxedo a month ago, “here’s something to cover your clothes with. That way, you can take a change of clothes with you into the stalls.”

“Niiice. I wish we had those covers back when I first joined. Trying to shield my clothes while taking a shower was hectic and unfun.” Jun spoke up. “What about the toilets, though?”

“What about the toilets?”

“If these are shower stalls, where are the toilets?”

“They’re in there too, see?” Emil motioned for Leon and Jun to come closer.

Inside, little more than shelves and a hook on the walls distinguished the area from a normal restroom stall. The toilet was slightly more complicated, but Leon knew that was to accommodate for zero gravity. The real surprise was toward the ceiling. A futuristic, detachable shower head hung from the wall above.

“Wow, this looks super hi-tech.” Leon told no one in particular.

“Yeah, this setup’s real chill.” agreed Jun.

“Nothing but the best for us~ There’s also a space drier in the back.” Emil pointed to the back of the aisle between the stalls and the sinks. “Don’t quote me on this, but I think it might use the suction from the vacuum of space to dry our hands?”

“That sounds so cool!” Leon rushed over to get a better look at the hand drier.

“That sounds like it would kill us.” noted Jun.

“And that’s why I said don’t quote me on it.” Emil winked. “If you guys are done looking around, you can head back into the hallway so the others can take a looksie.”

Leon and Jun took their leave and allowed for the next two rangers to look inside. After them, the last, which just so happened to be Mia. Leon couldn’t quite remember what he wanted to tell her, but he felt it coming back to him. Something to do with a misunderstanding. Wait, that’s it. He meant to tell her that he–

“Attention all star rangers: Please report to the operating deck.” With a click of the intercom, the captain’s message ended, and so did Leon’s train of thought. The sound of his heartbeat crowded out anything else that could come to mind.

“Well, you heard the man. Let’s go.” Walking backwards and motioning for the others, Emil led the group toward their destination.

As the crew exited the kitchen and ascended the stairs, so did Leon’s heart. He prepared himself to reach heights he’d only dreamed of. In just minutes, it would be his reality.