Stellar Colony 7, at 1800 hours

The stars were supposed to be shining brightly, but the sky was covered with thick, dark nebula clouds. It was as dark as deep space.

Accompanied by the swirling clouds, there were bursts of solar flares one after another, with flashes of cosmic lightning in the distance, as if the universe itself was on the brink of chaos.

Aric Renner sat in the crew dormitory, gazing out of the viewport. He put the empty nutrient pack in his hand down on the table and sighed heavily, "Damn, who's triggering the flare?"

Aric wasn't a high-ranking officer. He was just a space engineer, and he was complaining at this moment only because he was extremely frustrated.

He was going to quit his job.

Aric Renner was 24 years old and graduated from Orion Technical Institute with a double degree in Mechanical Engineering and Astrophysics.

Although there were more graduates in the colonies than ever due to the expansion of university admittance, he was still considered outstanding among his peers for earning a double degree from a prestigious institute within five years.

However, after graduating, he struggled to find a suitable job. He first went to the outer rings where his girlfriend was stationed, working there for two years before coming to Stellar Colony 7 by himself once he had gained some experience.

The company he was currently working for was Nebula Corp., a major contractor for space station maintenance and development.

He didn't understand why a maintenance company needed to be named with the word "corp." — probably because it sounded more official.

In other words, Aric was now working at Nebula Station 7.

He wasn't a legendary space explorer with thrilling tales of adventure. Instead, he was only responsible for reception, minor repairs, and general maintenance tasks.

Field engineers needed certifications, and Nebula Station 7 was a legally operated outpost. It was well-known in the sector.

Aric was able to get this job because firstly, there was a shortage of young and strong laborers in the market, and secondly, because he had a good appearance and a comparatively strong build.

Unfortunately, he didn't know that he needed advanced certification to be promoted to more technical roles until he successfully got the job.

It was a disappointing revelation.

As a result, a double degree holder ended up doing menial work on a remote space station.

Even though he was doing low-level work, he still had some luck. During the first three months of his assignment, several senior officers showed interest in him, but Aric declined their offers because their intentions weren't purely professional.

Most importantly, they were too untrustworthy to be worth his time.

Some engineers laughed at him for his old-fashioned values. He was a poor graduate, but he refused to compromise his integrity for a promotion.

Actually, a graduate with a double degree wasn't the same thing as a seasoned engineer.

Anyway, Aric was different from his colleagues on Nebula Station 7. He had a low position with a high level of education and even kept his pride in a place where it wasn't encouraged.

The senior officers disliked his pride, and his colleagues disdained him as well.

One of his colleagues took over his assignment today.

In the morning, four young and talented junior engineers arrived at the station. They weren't permanent staff, and they came to assist with a specific task on a temporary basis. One of them was a tall woman who looked quite striking.

It was Aric who was in charge of briefing them. In the process, he could earn a commendation if he could persuade them to apply for a longer-term assignment.

To be honest, Aric didn't have much hope in this. The reason was very simple. These engineers were obviously fresh out of training, and there weren't any major projects on the station that would entice them to stay.

In addition, junior engineers were eager to move on to more exciting assignments, so very few were willing to settle down at a remote station.

Nevertheless, such a low-priority task was still grabbed away from Aric by Commander Victor Hale, who was the operations officer in charge.

When Commander Victor stepped forward, he made a dismissive gesture at Aric. "You can go now. I'll take it from here."

Aric was quite uncomfortable about this, not only because he could lose the commendation, but also because of Victor's attitude. He didn't even give him a glance when he dismissed him!

However, he couldn't say anything about it. On a space station, an operations officer held more authority than a maintenance tech.

Unfortunately, something went wrong, and Commander Victor was reprimanded by the senior engineers.

As an operations officer, Victor Hale had a toned body and a strong reputation, and his command was usually unquestioned.

However, two of the engineers were highly skilled, so they still managed to challenge his authority.

It was reported to their director later on. The four engineers said that they simply came to assist and didn't need oversight, but Victor Hale interrupted them and even made them uncomfortable with his behavior, which annoyed them.

Commander Victor explained that he just wanted to help them and try to persuade them to join the station through enthusiastic leadership.

Director Langston first apologized to the engineers and didn't charge them for the current session. When the engineers left, she began to hold someone accountable.

Strangely, she blamed it on the wrong person.

"Aric Renner, since you were in charge of the briefing, why didn't you follow up? The engineers just said that they didn't need guidance!"

Commander Victor also gritted his teeth and glared at Aric. "If you had done your job properly, it wouldn't have happened!"

Aric decided to retain his dignity and refused to take the unreasonable blame. "I didn't ask Commander Victor to take over my assignment. He dismissed me!"

"Mind your attitude and tone!" Director Langston raised her voice. "Don't forget I'm your superior."

Aric turned around and walked outside. "I don't feel comfortable, and I need to go back to my quarters."

He made up his mind to leave this place behind.

After that, he grabbed a few nutrient packs to take back to his quarters and thought about what he should do next.

Although Stellar Colony 7 was a strategic outpost, it wasn't easy to find fulfilling work here. Low-level jobs like maintenance and diagnostics were easier to find, but it was really difficult to find a job that suited someone like him who had a double degree.

He spent more than half a year at Stellar Colony 7 where he failed to find a suitable assignment; otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen to work on a remote outpost.

He could return to his home colony, which wasn't a bad choice. His parents had a small consultancy firm there and had some connections. It wouldn't be difficult for them to find a good position for him. If it didn't work out, he could take over his family's small business.

However, Aric had a double degree from a prestigious institute. He was reluctant to go back to his home colony and leave a major station like a failure, which was humiliating in his eyes.

He gazed out of the viewport, wondering whether he should resign now or wait until he was paid.

Over the past two years, he hadn't saved much. Even with the additional hazard pay he received during his time in the outer rings, he only had slightly over ten thousand credits in his account now. He couldn't even afford a new comm device.

All of a sudden, large meteoroids outside the station collided with the shield heavily, making loud noises.

The bursts of solar flares were also getting brighter, and the alarms seemed to be endless.

Aric finished off the remaining nutrient pack, as well as another two or three. He wanted to call a friend, so he picked up his old comm device, but he found that only 3% of the battery was left.

He plugged in his charger. However, he soon lay down on his bunk and fell asleep.

Before he went to sleep, he didn't forget to hold his comm device tight in his hand. In a low-ranking employee dorm, it was common to lose things, and he had lost equipment more than once.

Life in the colonies was tough.

He didn't know how long he had been asleep, but a burst of energy from the nearby flare suddenly lit up outside the viewport. At the same time, an arc followed the charger's wire and zapped his old comm device.

Aric was awakened by a series of alarms. The sound seemed to blare directly into his ears, and he sat up in fear at once.

He was disoriented and looked around. He then found a crack in the center of the viewport. "No way, is the shield less than three hundred kilometers away?"

After that, he felt a sharp pain in his hand. He looked down. He was still holding his old comm device in his hand, but the charging cable suddenly became charred.

He sniffed and smelled burnt circuits in the air.

Before he could even respond to it, there was a shout coming from the room next door.

"Damn, the reactor is overheating. The flare is too strong!"

"Is there no failsafe in this station?"

Aric's quarters were located in a four-story module. Although it was old, it also had safety redundancies.

Unfortunately, the flare was too strong and too close. The safety systems weren't foolproof, and the flare had damaged at least 50 terminals, nearly 100 wired connections, and routers around the module.

Aric wasn't very interested in the loss of the place where he lived. He only cared about his comm device.

Although his old comm device wasn't state-of-the-art, it was still very convenient for making calls. Most importantly, all his contacts were stored in it.

He pressed the home button at the center of the bottom edge of his device and found that it worked as slowly as usual.

He thought that he probably should make a call to test whether it was still functional, but when he glanced at the screen of his device, he was surprised to learn that it was already 2000 hours.

He had been asleep for nearly two hours!

It wasn't particularly strange actually, because it was almost 1800 hours when he went to bed.

However, he didn't understand why his comm device was already fully charged.