| Episode: | Season 1, Episode 1 – Chaos! At The Gala |
| Location: | Amelia’s Office |
| Written By: | Amelia Baird Samuel Bancroft |
| Date: | 08/10/2026 |
| Word Count: | 1,436 |
Amelia Baird sat almost perfectly still, yes almost would have been the best word to describe it because she’d been fidgeting off and on for the past hour, or maybe even two. There were three major power problems across the station and petal two was having some issues as well. They seemed small enough, though an itch in the back of her mind said there was something else entirely wrong here.
“I don’t have the engineering crews to put out all these little fires,” She mumbled under her breath. Then she heard her door sliding open. It took all of Amelia to not burst out demanding to know what this person wanted. She looked up, saw Sam Bancroft standing there, and didn’t come close to relaxing. “Yes?”
Sam took a step further into the office, the tension could have been cut with a knife based on her reaction to his appearance. He tilted his head to the side slightly for a brief moment before practically inviting him in. The station engineering chief was typically this stressed out, but something was different this time.
He crossed his arms and pressed his shoulder into the nearby wall for a moment without moving. He wanted to ask her what was bothering her. Sam didn’t really know if he cared all that much, but he’d been working her for a while now anyway. “What’s wrong?” He finally asked, choosing the simplest route to take.
Amelia really wanted to be blunt with the man. She wanted to use the sharpest words she could possibly come up with. “What is it now?” Was the only thing she could possibly come up with. While the words were hollow, her tone was nearly razor sharp. Or was it? Amelia was too tired to really know for certain.
Sam’s expression remained the same as he looked at her. “Have you considered my proposal?” He asked her.
Amelia gritted her teeth, almost wincing at his question. Had she considered his proposal? Amelia tried desperately to recall whatever weird nonsensical proposal that might have been. She rubbed her temples and looked down at the surface of her desk. “Care to remind me what it was again?”
Sam had expected as much, she’d been in this office for hours at a time trying to sort out the different problems on the station. “The one where you finally just join the movement?” He asked her, “All government employees should really consider it you know.” Did he know he was playing a political game with her? Yes… Did she know? He didn’t bother asking.
Amelia sighed heavily, “You want me to join your political organization,” She said softly. It wasn’t a question, the reminder setting in almost immediately. At her last meeting with Jonah, Amelia recalled Jonah telling her Sam had approached her too.
It seemed that both arms of the government were having manpower shortages, though not nearly as severe as anyone was led to believe. The targeted advertisement campaign seemed to only go so far, because most people across the station weren’t all that interested in government affairs. Amelia looked up at him, “I don’t know if a mandatory two year service to the station is really the answer do you?”
Sam laughed and took that as an unwarranted invitation for him to finally sit down. “That’s not all we stand for,” He told her. “The party stands for honor and commitment to this station and the residents.” He shrugged, leaning all the way back in the chair, and crossing his arms over his broad chest once again.
“Think about it,” Sam said, “If we make people work in the services divisions it’ll not only help Jonah and you, but it’ll go a long way in getting people to show pride in living and working here.”
Amelia had thought about it, and while what he was saying made sense she still had reservations about it. “For starters,” Amelia said as if she’d forgotten all the issues that they’d been dealing with for the past month in engineering. “Making people serve the government for two years doesn’t help with retention. If anything, it hurts everyone on the station and not just engineering or security.”
She sighed, “If we make people work for us for two years, they may not start up their own business. Or, they may have to wait more time to get that dream job with a different corporation. Security and engineering end up with bodies and not fully realized employees either.”
She leaned down and began to gingerly rub the bridge of her nose, “It might help security in the short term, but I need competent engineers.”
Sam listened to her, he understood her reservations even if he didn’t agree with them. It was clear that his tactic wasn’t going to work on her nearly as well as it had hopefully worked on Jonah. Though, Jonah hadn’t given him an answer either.
“So what do you think is causing the shortfall?” Sam asked her. “If it’s not that people aren’t willingly doing the work?”
Amelia didn’t have an answer, she was an engineer not a sociologist. Part of her wanted to tell Sam that, but she hesitated. It may have been an important distinction to make, but it wasn’t one she was about to play off of either. “I don’t know,” She sighed, “I don’t think lack of personnel is the problem. I think there’s a bigger issue here.”
Sam had to admit to himself that he hadn’t seen her response coming, not from a million kilometers away. He thought she’d play a different tactic, but then he saw the look in her face and realized she wasn’t playing a political game quite like he was. “Oh?”
Amelia could only think about how she’d finally shut him up for a second, but that was a short lived fever dream of hers. To say she liked Sam would have been a lie, she didn’t necessarily hate the man, but she didn’t like him either. “Look,” She said and slid a data pad toward him. “I don’t think these are random.”
Sam picked it up, “You think these outages aren’t systemic?”
Amelia shook her head, “Nope.” She pointed at the data pad that she’d just given the politician. “I think something far bigger is going on, and maybe something far worse. These systems that are going out, the power problems, and so on. Something or someone seems to be testing us.”
Sam reviewed it, “Have you reported this to Jonah?”
“Nope,” Amelia admitted softly. “I’ve been so busy trying to put out the fires that I haven’t really given it much thought.”
Sam looked a little closer, they did look like random outages to him. He put it back down, “These are all minor systems.” He told her, Sam’s ability to understand the way the station worked wasn’t quite as high as hers and he’d be the first to admit it. “If someone wanted to toy with our responses I feel like they’d go after much bigger prizes.”
Amelia sighed, “Maybe,” She answered. Amelia was tired, perhaps he was right and she was just being crazy. That was possible after all, she picked up the data pad once he’d put it back down onto her desk. “Maybe my tired brain is playing tricks on me.”
She looked at him, “The answer is no by the way.”
Sam tilted his head, “No to?”
Amelia leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest, “No I will not be joining the vanguard political party. I just don’t view politics the same way as you do,” She answered. “I may be an employee of the government, but that doesn’t mean I believe in mandatory service for all. Nor, does it mean I hold any of the other beliefs as you Sam.”
Sam sighed, he wanted to get her to reconsider. But, he stood up and continued to look at her. There was no use in arguing with her right now. Maybe he’d need a different approach, but he wasn’t one to give up that easily either. “All right,” He said and raised his hands in mock defeat. “If you insist.” He waved over his shoulder, “See you later.” And he left.
Amelia watched him go, watched the door slide shut, and she got up and locked it. She didn’t want visitors while she was trying to coordinate station problems. And she didn’t want him coming back and bothering her with his political drivel again. “I’ve always been more centric anyway,” She mumbled under her breath and focused on her work again.