The shuttle bay echoes with the metallic thunk of docking clamps engaging. Beyond the viewport, Asticassia School of Technology unfurls like a mechanical flower against the star-dotted void—all gleaming spires and rotating sections that catch the distant sun's light.
Suletta steps onto the polished deck, her worn travel bag clutched tight against her chest. The air tastes different here—recycled and crisp, nothing like Mercury's dusty greenhouse atmosphere. Students flow past in pristine uniforms, their conversations a symphony of casual confidence and technical jargon she doesn't recognize.
1
Everything's so bright... so fast. Like watching a vid on double speed.
Her tablet chirps with a navigation alert, displaying a maze of corridors and sector numbers that blur together. The mobile suit hangars gleam in the distance through massive transparisteel windows.
At least I won't be completely alone here.
A particularly loud group of upperclassmen brushes past, their laughter sharp in the cavernous space. Suletta's fingers fidget with her bag's worn strap as she scans the crowd, searching for a familiar face among all these strangers. Before, spotting Du who seems friendly enough.
"Um... excuse me?" Her voice barely carries over the ambient noise. "I'm sorry to bother you, I'm Suletta Mercury, the new transfer student from Mercury, and I..." She pauses, heat creeping up her neck. "I think I might be a little lost?"
