*23*

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"Got no choice about going. But I can decide how to go, and I'm going out on my own two feet," Chan says.

"Are you sure about this?" Hyunjin questions shocked.

"If you knew how this feels, Jennie, you wouldn't ask me to stay," Chan extends a hand to Y/n. She throws her arms around him.

"Chan. I can't stand it. There's got to be some other way. Don't do this.," Chan gently frees himself from her arms, he can see the mass of tears that are streaming down her face. Chan brushes some of the tears away, he gives Y/n a smile.

"It's all right, Y/n. It's all right," Chan can feel a single tear drop down his check, he has only known both Hyunjin and Y/n for a few days, but he wouldn't want to be stuck on the ship with any other people. He turns to Hyunjin. They clasp hands. Slap each other's shoulders in a rough embrace. "Hyunjin. Fix the ship,".

"Yes, sir," Hyunjin smiles, he to can feel tears threating to escape from his eyes.

"And take care of each other," Chan smiles. Chan turns and opens the airlock. He straightens, squares his shoulders, and steps inside. Turns to face them. "All right," Chan says, giving anther smile. Y/n covers her mouth. Hyunjin raises a hand in stunned farewell. The airlock door closes. Red lights flash. Through the porthole they see Chan look out into space. Then the outer door slams open and a blast of air shoots Chan out among the stars. His body lost in the infinite night. Y/n steps into Hyunjin's arms. Lays her head on his chest. For a moment he holds her. Then she pushes him gently back. Meets his eyes sadly. Tear again begin to spill out of her eyes, se buries her head on Hyunjin's chest and Hyunjin wraps his arms stocking her hair, letting silent tears escape his eyes.

INT. GRAND CONCOURSE - DAY

Felix polishes glasses, chipper as ever. A sweeper robot passes on its daily errands.

FORWARD OBSERVATION DECK

Y/n slouches in her writing chair, staring into space – a picture of sorrow.

SUBDECK C - MACHINE SHOP

Hyunjin sits motionless at his workbench, brooding. A clatter rouses him. Hyunjin's little pet robot is banging its head against the wall, emitting beeps of distress. Hyunjin frowns.

ROBOTICS CENTER

Hyunjin walks in. Everywhere robots' bunch and stumble. A pair of sweeper robots fight to enter the same recharging niche. They trip up a procession of gangly window washers - who stumble into a parade of robot waiters. Chaos spreads. The robots' clockwork perfection upset.

CAFETERIA

Y/n draws a glass of orange juice and gets green sludge. Dials for toast and gets two slices of charcoal.

COMMAND DECK - DIAGNOSTIC CENTER

Y/n enters. The Diagnostic Computer's console is no longer dark: it's a sea of green and red lights. A lot of red. The computer's screen reads "Diagnostic Complete." It displays a long list of error messages. 271 Y/n stares in horror at the red lights. 271 Hyunjin enters behind her. Takes in the bad news. "There's trouble everywhere. Atmosphere systems, water systems, waste systems, robot control," Y/n sighs.

Under his breath Hyunjin whispers, "What's happening?".

Y/n goes to the worktable: its surface displays the diagnostic report. Thousands of faults and failures. "It started two years ago. Thirty years with no trouble, then forty- seven failures in a single day," Reading a list she continues, "Structural concussion. System overvoltage. Transient pressure anomaly. Circuit reset, conduit 12. Sync failure, hibernation pod 1498,"

"Pod 1498? That's me!" Hyunjin exclaims bending down to Y/n's leave on the chair.

"Whatever happened that day woke you up," Y/n pulls up a graph of failures over time: A trickle of breakdowns that swells into a torrent.

"Ever since then, more and more failures. Faster and faster," Hyunjin says.

"How do we find out what's going on?" Y/n questions.

"We start at the beginning. The breakdowns from the day I woke up," Hyunjin says. Y/n brings up a map of the ship on the display. Red markers blink on the map.

"They're all on Deck One," Y/n says.

DECK FOUR - AFT FIREWALL

An armoured hatch leads to the Engine Room. Hyunjin wears his tool belt. Y/n carries a flashlight. Each of them carries one of Chan's manuals. Hyunjin swipes Chan's crew card and the hatch opens. They go in.

ENGINE COMPARTMENT - UPPER LEVEL

A huge space spanning multiple decks at the rear of the ship. Here the real heart of the Excelsior throbs in the dark. Hyunjin and Y/n emerge into a humming electrical station. Hyunjin peers at gauges.

"Power Converter seems okay," Hyunjin says.

"The failures are all below us," Y/n says.

ENGINE COMPARTMENT - MIDDLE LEVEL

A huge sphere 120 feet across dominates the compartment. Signs read: caution – fusion reactors. A deep rumble. Hyunjin and Y/n descend beside the reactor on a spiral stair. They emerge onto a catwalk at the reactor's equator and walk around the sphere.

REACTOR CONTROL ROOM

Hyunjin cards open a door labelled "reactor control room" Red light pours out. They enter.

Together both Hyunjin and Y/n say, "Don't touch anything,". They look at each other and smile. Banks of control panels - but Hyunjin and Y/n have eyes only for the windows into the reactor's heart. Inside the reactor is a caged sun: an orb of fire hanging in space. Loops and tongues of flame leap from its surface. It roars like a forest fire.

"It's beautiful," Y/n smiles.

"Scares the hell out of me," Hyunjin says.

"What keeps it in?" Y/n questions.

"Gravity. The gravity plant gives u weight. Propels the ship. And it contains the fusion reaction. All one system," Hyunjin explains. Y/n watches Hyunjin as he walks among the consoles, studying the instruments. She doesn't realise that she is almost studying his body. Almost missing his scent and embrace. Hyunjin's voice snaps her voice out of her trance.

"Not much trouble here. A couple of computers running hot," Hyunjin says.

"The cluster of failures is still one level down," Y/n says.

ENGINE COMPARTMENT - LOWER LEVEL

Hyunjin and Y/n emerge from an elevator. They come to a door marked central computing.

"This should be it," Y/n says. Hyunjin cards the door with Chan's shipcard. The lock flashes a red light and stays closed.

"Chan's card should open any door," Hyunjin say confused, trying the scan it again.

Y/n flips through one of Chan's manuals, "Let me try an override code,". She squeezes past Hyunjin. Taps at the door's keypad. Hyunjin peers through the narrow window in the door.

"Wait a sec, maybe there's a reason the door...- "Hyunjin begins but the light flashes green. The door begins to slide open. A howling wind sucks Y/n against the crack in the door. She screams. Hyunjin grabs at her. A hurricane drags her inside.

Y/n tumbles into the room and smashes into a column. She clings in the gale-force wind, grimacing in pain.

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