The recycled air tasted of lithium and regret when Hrafn woke to the hab pod's empty bedroom chamber. His parents’ bunk held only the ghost of his mother’s rosehip salve and the indent of his father’s clenched fists.

  Kaida stood by the ration dispenser, her slender silhouette outlined against the soft glow of her slate. The holographic enlistment figures flickered across the pitted metal walls, casting abstract patterns against her dark fur, which bristled faintly as her sharp green eyes caught his movement.

  "Basic training lasts eighteen months," she said, fingers smearing casualty rates glowing in orange light. "But if you survive the aptitude tests, corporal rank could shave off six years of debt."

  The hiss of the shower stall interrupted them, followed by Arin’s entrance, trailing vapor that smelled faintly of sulfur. His golden fur shimmered in the flickering light as he flashed a wolf-like grin, sharp as the vibro-pick he always carried.

  "Don’t worry about the aptitude tests," he said, flicking water droplets at Hrafn’s chest. "Just wiggle that miner’s butt during the physical. You’ll have the drill sergeants lining up to—"

  A chunk of protein brick sailed through the air with pinpoint precision and struck Arin square in the temple. His tail flicked irritably, but Kaida didn’t even look up from her projections.

  "Pack an extra tank during vacuum drills," she said, her voice sharp with worry. "They’ll try to rush you. Don’t let them."

  Her dulled claws paused over casualty reports, the orange glow illuminating the tension in her jaw.

  "And keep your tools spotless," she added grimly. "Last thing you want is to be elbow-deep in mech guts with your filtration unit clogged. Trust me—your lungs won’t win that fight."

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Arin groaned dramatically, rubbing the dent in his temple where the protein brick had hit.

  "Kaida! He’s trying to enlist, not audition for worst-case scenario horror vids."

  Kaida’s sharp gaze darted to Arin, silencing him with a single flick of her ear.

  Hrafn frowned, his boots clicking softly against the grime-caked floorplates as he moved toward the airlock. Through the viewport, the light of the recruitment office’s neon sigil pulsed like an infected wound across the dusty terrain outside. His reflection in the quartz glass showed Arin’s grin dissolving into a rare look of hesitation, and Kaida’s fingers pausing mid-calculation. The family debt counter above the door to their hab ticked upward by 0.4 credits, mocking him with its relentless climb.

  "Well," Hrafn said, his tone dry but steady, "that number doesn’t seem to be getting any shorter by itself."

  He turned toward Kaida, his green eyes locking onto hers."Any advice for me before I do this?" he asked, his voice soft but resolute. "Preferably advice that doesn’t involve me shaking my tail...or my butt." He shot a pointed look at Arin, who raised his hands defensively, his grin returning with practiced ease.

  Kaida swiped through holographic casualty reports, her fingers trembling as orange light caught the moisture gathering in her lashes. Her ears lowered slightly—just enough to betray what she refused to say aloud."Pack the tank. Guard the tools. Expect the worst," she murmured, her voice catching on the final word.

  Arin sighed, still massaging his crown. His tail gave a lazy flick—lighter than usual, a hint of something unspoken beneath his practiced grin."And for void’s sake," he muttered, "if you do shake anything...make them pay extra."

  The recruitment sigil’s crimson pulse throbbed in time with the debt counter’s relentless climb.

  "Thank you," Hrafn said, his tail giving a brief twitch—an instinctive, unreadable response to the nerves coiling in his stomach. "I’ll try to stay in touch."

  With one last glance at his siblings, Hrafn stepped through the airlock. The hab pod slipped away behind him, replaced by the dusty, unforgiving terrain of Gamma 4. Despite the chill biting at his fur, his resolve carried him forward toward the glowing sigil of the recruitment office.