Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, United States, Earth, Rung 3.
Yesterday, August 8, 2084, Pho turned 18. He also happened to become Pho yesterday since his given name was... unbearable for him to hear, to put it lightly. He decided to name himself after the first object he stumbled across in the night sky while using a telescope at age five, Phobos. It's not every day you find the satellite before the planet as an amateur.
In 2070, compulsory education was entirely revamped to make sure every student that passed was equipped with the skills necessary to live on an undeveloped planet. Due to the invention of the Soya Warp Drive, people were leaving the Earth in droves. With over 10 billion people living on Earth, its resources were spread thin, even with the population receiving 99% of its power requirements through nuclear fission and fusion. Throughout the 21st century, countless jobs were automatized at an astonishing rate, especially in highly developed nations. After finishing compulsory education, most lived without concrete homes in urban areas, forming a lower class of city nomads. They would spend their government welfare, which was separate from food provisions, on whatever could pleasure them and distract them from life's throbbing dullness.
When the Soya was introduced, it singlehandedly revived the Earth and filled so many of those motiveless people with a new purpose. No longer was Mars or Titan the final frontier. Mass lotteries were held for chemical propulsion launches while the construction of the world's first skyhook was embarked upon. By traveling faster than the speed of light, the Soya was used to quickly discover hundreds of habitable planets in the Milkyway, which appealed so much to the public that even Martian residents began to embark on these colonization expeditions. The United Nations exercised its full power just to ship millions of humans into the cosmos as if they were a product, without caring what their celestial consumers did to these packages. Indeed, a cost definitely still existed, but in the form of blood.
However, Pho had no intention of traveling to a new earth. He desired true space exploration. The skyhook was reserved solely for government-sponsored expeditions, hundreds of which departed daily. Various reports had surfaced showing that these new settlements, which the government advertised as the "outposts of humanity," were highly controlled by government authorities, stripping countless individuals of many rights as they were forced to work efficiently for the good of the colony, instead of themselves, while simultaneously having a low success and even survivability rate. Unsurprisingly, Pho aimed for Phobos.
Phobos and Mars maintained surprising relevance during this neo manifest destiny galaxy edition phase of human exploration. Mars' gravity could assist in correcting vehicle trajectories, while Phobos served as the main port inside the Martian sphere of influence due to its lack of an atmosphere. Additionally, you weren't given a job on Phobos, you applied for one, and you could leave at any time. For at least a few years, life on Phobos would be much more comfortable than any extrasolar abodes.
Disregarding finances, Pho was by no means an average, expendable individual. He finished high school at the top of his class, maintained an athletic physique, and remained extraordinarily healthy despite living on government rations. However, when striving for a purposeful life on Earth in 2084, it's best not to ignore finances or family.
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Like millions of other children, Pho was orphaned at birth by a mother who could not care for him. Pho was actually grateful for this since the government's orphanage program ensured he would have housing. As he grew older, extraterrestrial life became more and more appealing. Earth's gravity felt like a heavy shackle, preventing him from succeeding no matter how hard he thrashed against it.
Although the transfer to extrasolar destinations was fully funded, inter-planetary travel within the solar system actually increased in price throughout the previous 10 years to deter further immigration within the solar system. The idea was that the colony on Mars could now sustain itself, so no more population flow to these bases was necessary. With a net worth close to zero, Pho had no choice but to resort to some rather uncanny methods of garnering transportation.
"I'm going today. No matter what." Pho said to himself while looking in the mirror. For the past two weeks, he had been living in temporary housing at the most essential and original spaceport in the United States, Cape Canaveral. With Pho meeting every requirement for interstellar travel, the government gave him the opportunity to decide while exposing him to the majesty of spaceflight. The hotel room he was provided with could be considered the highest level of luxury he had ever experienced, especially for someone who had never had a private shower before. During these two weeks, he spent countless hours chasing down and begging small transport owners to give him a ride. It was no secret that smugglers would bring you along if you agreed to work, a form of modern indentured servitude. But after days of trying, Pho only had one lead.
After washing up and slipping into his retro NASA t-shirt, one of the three shirts he owned, Pho left his hotel room and headed to the lobby bar. Upon catching a glimpse of the party he was scheduled to meet with, he nervously checked his watch. It was 8:45 A.M, 15 minutes before their scheduled meeting time. Pho let out an audible sigh of relief.
The hostess nodded at him as he pointed to the bar's back corner and walked past her. As he drew near the table, the figure of a short man with a light complexion revealed itself. Although he wore a suit, and a black fedora rested beside his thigh, he sat cross-legged and exuded an aura of casualness. He looked up at Pho as he pulled the chair out from the table, revealing eyes so dark that the irises and pupils were indistinguishable.
Putting on his most friendly and earnest face, Pho spoke first. "Good morning, Sir! Although I scheduled this meeting with you yesterday, I didn't catch your name."
"Pho, right? You can just call me Jack," he replied while revealing a mysterious smile. "Why don't we talk after we order? I'm starving, and I'm sure our chat will go better after our moods brighten." At this, Pho's impatience grew, but he needed to avoid offending this man at all costs. This was the furthest anyone willed to entertain his ambitions after all.
After several minutes of awkward silence, they ordered their food. Then, Pho got right down to business.
"So you have a flight I can take to Phobos? Does it leave soon?"
"That's right," the man said, pulling a few papers from his bag.
"Please, Sir, I'll work as long as you need me to. I can run just about any task on a ship, and I'm even qualified to be a flight engineer. I just need to get off of this godforsaken—" The man waved his hand, cutting Pho off.
"I don't need an engineer, and I can certainly run the ship myself," he said calmly as his smile widened. "What I need is a test subject."