Pho blinked incredulously a few times before he could formulate a response. Calming himself down, he decided he would entertain Jack's proposition. "Tell me more," he said in a deeper voice.

A mischievous glint appeared in Jack's eyes as he spoke, "Well, I'm glad you're so open-minded!" He took a large gulp of water from his glass of water and motioned for Pho to do the same. "I'm paying, so let's enjoy ourselves for now. I'll inform you more after we've filled ourselves."

After nodding, the unsuspecting Pho had to navigate an onslaught of casual conversation. He had only ever spoken to adults in an academic setting before. He lacked education in the nuances of mindless banter—only the refilling of glasses and a single bathroom break provided respite. When his large ham and cheese omelet landed in front of his face, he realized he had never been quite so hungry before. Silverware clinked against plates, punctuated only by the occasional "mmm" and "this is delicious!" Pho indulged himself in various textures and tastes his pallet had never experienced before. The airy layers within the omelet melted in his mouth as it combined with the creamy cheese and savory sausage. He couldn't help but close his eyes with every bite, even as he forked more and more food into his mouth every second.

"I'll be darned, what a mighty speed-eater we have here!" said Jack, slapping his knee. Pho looked up, startled as his face turned slightly pink. Then he placed his gaze back on his plate, which was suddenly empty. A wave of satisfaction and light drowsiness wafted over him. It wasn't until he looked up at Jack's plate that he came back to his senses. He had barely eaten half of his food.

"So this is how he negotiates," Pho thought. He crossed his arms and leaned forward onto the table as Jack's smile faded. "So, what am I going to be a guinea pig for?"

"Right, business business," Jack hurriedly said as he reached into a black leather briefcase resting beside his feet. The papers he then placed on the table seemed to contain several schematics and blueprints of a spacecraft. Pho's eyes widened as he read the word "antimatter," and he realized most of the diagrams focused on sections of the propulsion system. Jack looked fondly at Pho's visibly growing excitement, and his mischievous grin returned. "It seems I've piqued your interest?"

Pho could no longer hold his words in, and they flowed out of his mouth like a waterfall. "Antimatter? I thought only the government had access to that. And they don't even produce it on earth. Did you design this yourself, or do you have a team? Why did you develop this in the first place? It cannot have been a very lucrative investment so far." He flicked his shining eyes back onto the paper and said, "It looks like this ship isn't even equipped with a soya—"

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Whoa there, bucko, slow down. I should be able to answer most of your questions, and don't worry; there's plenty of time for it. As for who I am, though, that's an easy one. I'm simply an entrepreneur and an opportunist.

"It'd be nice if I had some opportunities," Pho grumbled.

"What was that?" Asked Jack, raising his left eyebrow. Then he continued: "Your intelligence, curiosity, and grit all seem perfect for this experim— ahem, opportunity. If you could just settle down for a few minutes here, I'll give you an overview of my project."

"He's wondering why the food didn't work," Pho thought, laughing internally. "Alright, enlighten me."

Jack covered his mouth, cleared his throat, and began. "Project Phoenix aims to test its first prototype ship propelled by annihilating antimatter as soon as possible. My design team and I have worked tirelessly over the past decade to develop this ship and antimatter farms in the Kepler-69 system. We recently completed small-scale vacuum chamber testing and are ready to move on to the real thing. There is some risk involved in sending her up crewed for her maiden voyage, but we don't have time to make another one of these if this mission fails, so we need to gather as much data from this flight as possible. As you know, there are some things machines aren't capable of fixing in the event of malfunctions. Nothing is quite as valuable as having human hands on the scene."

Jack began to reach back into his bag, "Probably for a contract," Pho assumed. Before he could finish, Pho started spouting his qualms. "How can you just expect me to believe you? You've worked on this for a decade and somehow operating independently in a system that was dud for life? And you want to throw me on some ship that hasn't had a single test? Humans have refrained from operating that way since the beginning of our extraterrestrial endeavors. You say you don't have time. Bullshit, what you don't have is funding for such an unfounded project. And what kind of revoltingly generic name is Project Phoenix. I just want a safe ride to Phobos!" He stood up and pushed his chair under the table.

"And who will provide you with this magically riskless passage," Jack snapped back while contorting his face. And then softly, "I don't understand where all of this anger and animosity towards me came from."

"Of course you wouldn't," Pho muttered beneath his breath as he reluctantly reseated himself.

"I'm wholeheartedly serious when I say this," began Jack, locking eyes with Pho. "We're running out of time.

Pho quickly looked away and distracted himself with his surroundings to cool his head. Jack's further ambiguity almost pushed him past his breaking point. As he surveyed the bar, he realized that quite a few patrons and staff had been observing the two's discourse. They immediately looked away but were undoubtedly intrigued by such a fiery conversation. "Hopefully, none of them take this loon seriously," he thought.

Then, without warning, a low rumbling and small vibrations rocked through the hotel.

"That doesn't sound like a rocket," Pho mused aloud. He noticed Jack staring out the window with a harrowingly grim expression.

"I told you," Jack whispered. "We don't have time."