Get out of bed, sleepy head

Misery is what you make it. It's never bestowed on those in a good headspace. Like that old saying that a day is only bad if you let it be.

But as another saying goes, comedy is tragedy plus time. And divine comedy requires a specific loyalty and feasance.

But here we just laugh at the little things like a big metallic purple and green Carrack with a stretcher being rolled down the ramp.

Ah dammit, that's a patient.

I run from the clinic building and send for a medical drone while hustling towards the patient.

I nearly open my mouth before Verdi silently puts up a hand with a smile.

"She's sleeping, it's okay. Just make sure she gets bedrest?" Verdi says softly.

"Who is she?" I ask while taking the stretcher, and a drone swoops in to take the patient to a bed.

"Random medical beacon we picked up, became a citizen in the last twenty-four hours and is apparently your biggest fan."

What? Like actually what?

"Could you repeat that? She's a FAN of mine?" I say mystified.

Ravi and Veridian just smile and walk in the direction of their home which leaves me to keep an eye on our visitor. Her medical records blip into my mobi and I walk while reading those and everything Ravi dug up. Imprint is at Baijini, born and raised in Area11 to shop owners and first in her family to become a citizen, recent injuries led her to near-death before getting picked up by Verdi.

She had no imprint and her life was barely saved by Verdi...I'll put in for a commendation from Callie.

//Reason for enlisting: Desire to be like Grendel, head of Motherly Interstellar Lifesaving Federation//

Callie would shit if she saw that.

//Patient in bed four, resting//

Okay good, but to say I'm not curious would be lying. I walk over and enter the building as the roof hatch is just closing up and see our new friend sleeping peacefully. I sit at the desk near the front door and monitor her vitals while updating our records before Callie steps in after a few hours.

"How's the patient? She doing okey?" She asks and I nearly stand up to salute before she waves her hand dismissively. The trip with Deacon rewired me back into my UEEN days a bit.

"Yeah, she's just sleeping. Verdi get you all caught up?" I say while looking at our medical inventories and charts.

Callie walks over to the bed and looks at her with a gentle smile. This woman with short bright pink hair, fair skin and completely dead to the world.

"Yeah, apparently she's a huge fan of mine and tried to do what you do thinking it was me."

"You stealing my job, Gren?" Callie says jokingly.

The woman shuffles despite our being quiet and rolls over.'

"I'll leave you to it, Grendel. You got this!" Callie says and the woman shoots straight up as best she can.

"WHA?! Wait where...Grendel is here?!" She says and locks eyes with Callie. "Oh wow you're pretty!"

Callie snorts and walks off before pointing at me. "Your hero is over there, sweetie. I'm just the head mom."

The woman sits up and looks straight at me, and her face lights up.

"Hi! I've loved everything you've done and everything your org does!"

Oh fuck. I clear my throat and Callie turns around and walks over to the bed then makes a few taps on the console.

"I just transferred her imprint here, she's ours now." Callie says and walks to the coffee machine.

She's got way more tats and piercings than I remember. She taps the woman on the shoulder and they lock eyes.

"Spacemoms is my org, but if something happens to me just know Grendel is taking over. But until I die she's in charge of training you."

I stand up in an instant and panic.

"WHOA HOLD ON WHY AM I TRAINING HER?!"

Callie laughs and sips her coffee.

"Oh damn that's good bean soup...you're training her because she looks up to you. You really gonna say hi to a fan who nearly got herself killed becaue she wanted to be like you and send her off?"

The woman looked confused and Callie was wearing the same shitty smug grin she does in these moments.

"Callie I can't..."

She turns and taps the woman on her shoulder. "What's yer callsign, honey?"

"Oh uh...my name is-"

"I know your name, honey. What we don't know is your callsign, what we call you." Callie cuts her off.

The new recruit looks down at the blankets covering her.

"I uh...um...it's uh...It's Pixel."

Callie lets out her trademarked "awwe" and walks out of the room.

"Your boss is weird. Is she always like this?"

I sigh.

"Sweetie you have no idea. My fiance and I are probably the most normal ones here. Callie's adopted dad is a Tevarin, Arcantha is a murderhobo, Ravi is electronically connected to everything and Veridian makes me nervous sometimes but she means well."

<New crew member added to the group chat, everybody welcome Pixel to the crew! She needs a lot of training>

I watch as Pixel stares at her Mobi with wide eyes and admiration.

"Wait...am I a spacemom now?!"

"Not yet, one second." I say and message Ravi.

<Hey boo boo, can you wire the sign-on bonus over? All she had to her name when we got her was an undersuit and pistol>

<Callie?>

<Oh fuck yeah, send it! We can cover it!>

I have pretty good eyesight, and even from over here I can see what looks like a double-digit amount explode into an eight-digit one and the tinnitis sets in when she screams.

<Holy shit I heard that over here, Arcantha jumped ahahahaha!>

"Why...why so much?! I can't...Grendel what am I supposed to do with this?!"

I lean back in my chair and put my feet up on the desk.

"Whatever you want, just make it last. We have armor, weapons, contracts with shipyards, we can get you a ship on a steep discount if you need one."

"H-how steep?" She says and I can see her shaking.

"I think last I checked was around 90% off. I could be wrong."

<It's like ninety percent of ninetey percent. We just have to call in a favor more or less.>

This girl didn't expect to be picked up by the infamous spacemoms, yet here we are changing lives or causing heart attacks.

"Come on, if you feel like moving we need to get you fitted at the armory for gear and weapons. It's over by Jorg's place."

"Jorg? Like the bird-merc? That would be neat!" The completely unaware recruit jokes.

I toss her some sweatpants and a sweater and walk out of the room after asking her to meet me outside when she's done. I stand outside in the cold air and feel the breeze on my skin. The dense trees do a great job of retaining summer heat for a bit but ultimately they can't completely stop the wind. The door behind me hisses open and slides closed and Pixel walks out with her toes poking out of the sweats.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to give you shoes...my bad. There should be socks in the shelf under the bed if you wanna grab them." I say and she scurries back inside.

<Hey Deacon?>

<Yes'm?>

<What's your take on the new recruit?>

<While the fact she got pinned and downed in a bunker with no meaningful gear exists, the fact that she thought she COULD is impressive on it's own>

<I see potential in this one>

<Yeah, me too>

The door slides open and closed behind me and she's got her cozy hospital socks on. She looks excited and giddy for this new life as not just a new citizen but as one of ours.

We walk to the armory past Jorg's home and into the fitting area for the crafting equpiment to make everything extremely precise.

"Our standard-issue loadout is a full Morozov heavy set, Redshift torso and helmet, thule arms and legs along with the backpack." I say as the system gathers her shape and size.

"Stoneskin undersuit for extra-thermal protection and a P4 on the bag, sidearm is a Coda and whatever secondary weapon you wanna carry is up to you but we need to train you before we let you branch out."

I hand her an unloaded Coda and she nearly drops it from the weight.

"THIS is what you carry?! This thing is huge!"

<EEEHEH>

"No worries, Deacon and I go for a run every morning around the compound and through the forest and then finish with weights, after a few months you won't even notice the Coda's weight."

She looks at me like I'm crazy.

"Wait does this mean I'm going with you?" She says nervously.

I take the Coda from her and place it back in the rack. "Callie carries a P6 and twenty mags in her pack, alongside a silenced FS-9 on occasion and a lot of those mags."

Fear sets into her face.

"She ran ten kilometers carrying that when she was downed in Microtech earlier this year. You've seen her build, she's stupidly strong and just because I'm muscular doesn't mean I'm stronger than she is."

She now looks nervous.

"Deacon and I have done plenty of Naval tours before this, we all have our strengths and weaknesses. What matters is you mold yourself into who you want to be, and chase the career loop you want."

"And what if I don't fit in to the group?" She asks quietly.

"Then we adapt to your weaknesses and build them up over time, nobody is useless to us."

"I...I wanna be a medic. Like you!" She says unsure of herself.

"I became a field medic and surgeon because I don't want to lose people, and regeneration isn't an option to us. Are you sure this is what you want?" I say with gravity in my voice.

"Uh...I guess?" She says and it kinda grinded my gears.

"People's lives will be in your hands, you're the first response of our group and it's a lot of responsibility. Are. You. Sure?"

She nodded happily, and at the crack of dawn tomorrow we run. Buckle up, honey. It's going to get rough.