#blue dwarf

Prologue:

A soft, comforting voice broke the eerie silence of the captain's quarters as harsh bright lights flickered to life.

"Captain, it's time to wake up. We are approaching Sarah-5"

John slowly opened his eyes as the lights burst to life, giving a small groan. He sat up in his bunk and slid his legs off to the side, eyes still half closed.

"Annie-"

He mumbled, grabbing at his captain's badge beside him on the steel bed stand and groaning quietly.

"How close are we exactly?"

A small hologram of a woman, clad in what seemed to be medieval clothing appeared before him. Its green eyes and brown hair swaying in a non existent wind as it spread its hand wide, revealing a massive star map that covered his quarters in a pale green sheen.

"Approximately... one earth hour, and five minutes."

The hologram says, closing its palm. With that, the map vanished.

"Ah, good."

Grunting again, John stood up and opened the sliding cupboard he kept his clothes in, pulling out a very nice black suit and tie. He carefully slipped on the silky black pants, the tie, and finally the vest. Smoothing it down, he gave himself a look over. It still fit, even after all this time. Honestly, he was a little surprised with all that had been happening.

"Annie, how do I look?"

The AI- Annie, as it seemed to be called- looked over his suit and gave an approving nod.

"You look quite nice sir."

She said, her voice soft and comforting.

"Perfect. I want to look nice for her."

John patted his pants down before swiping his badge across the scanner. A soft hiss filled his ears as the bulkhead doors slid open to reveal a hallway leading into the rest of the ship. The lights dim, but not enough to hinder his vision. The perfect light level- and her favourite.

"And how is everything doing? Engines? Agricultural department? FTL drive?"

He asked, taking a step out of his cabin and falling into a brisk walk almost immediately. The sound of his shoes echoing down the halls.

Annie seemed to blip out of existence for a moment before returning to his side, walking on air besides him. It was always entertaining to see her mimic whatever he was doing, and somewhat comforting at times like these.

"All Nominal, though the engines seem to be working at 98.6% of their regular output."

John nodded along as he opened another bulkhead casually, continuing his quick pace after opening entirely.

"Well, I'll take a look at it afterwards."

Another hiss, but this time a room of greens and reds and whites, all fruits and vegetables. Well, all but one row of pure white roses, besides which were a colorful array of different flowers, in which John stopped and seemingly hovered his hand over them, deciding which one to pluck. His eyes wandered over all of them, inspecting each one for any flaws.

"Sir, I know today is important. But I also need you to know we cannot continue on our own for much longer. I am barely able to moderate all the systems by myself, and you cannot do every odd job around the ship."

Annie piped up, blinking as he swept his hand down and swiftly plucked one of the roses. Then another. And another.

"Mmm... I'll think about it. You know how I do with teams." He responded a bit gruffly, fixing one of the newly acquired roses onto his chest. The rest, he put together in a bunch and gave them a sniff.

"Though, you are right- how long have we been by ourselves?"

As he spoke, he slowly picked various other flowers, from purple tulips to sunflowers and added them to the small bunch in his hands.

"Approximately three and a half star cycles."

She answered curtly, watching him slowly fill out his hands with flowers.

John clicked his tongue as he tied the bottoms of the flowers together with some spare string he seemingly pulled out of nowhere, deftly tying it into a bow.

"In another time code please, you know I hate galactic standard."

Annie sighed audibly, even if she didn't have to. A habit she was picking up from her traveling companion.

"Seven earth years."

"That's much better. Hmmm. That is quite a long time- maybe you're right. I'll ask her. Do you think she'll like the flowers this year?"

He ponders, almost to himself as he exits the Agricultural gardens, fiddling with the bouquet of flowers.

"I'm sure she'll love them"

she responded softly, placing a non existent hand on his shoulder as they walked.

"I hope so. How much longer until we get to Sarah-5?"

He asked, tugging at his collar.

"About... five earth minutes."

Annie vanished for a moment again before returning, wearing a much more appropriate dress.

"I'll open the bridge viewing port"

John nodded and sat down in his captain’s chair, spinning it around to face the front of his craft as Annie slowly opened the viewing ports. Just outside, almost engulfing the ship in its massive blue halo, was a blue dwarf. It's soft hue coloring the entirety of the bridge blue, white corona's spiraling off into space with a fiery rage. Surrounding the blue dwarf was a harsh purple and red nebula, from which it had formed. The view was- stunning. Always left John speechless at first. But, soon he collects his thoughts and smiles, leaning forward in his chair.

"Hello beautiful. I brought you flowers, do you like them?"

The blue dwarf, of course, had no answer. It just continued to spew blue light and radiation. But John didn't care.

"I know, I know, I missed you too. Did you hear that Annie wants me to get a new crew? On the ship? I wanted to ask your thoughts."

Casually, he let the flowers slip into a small tube, ejecting them out into the cold vacuum of space towards the dwarf. When they made contact, there was a massive corona burst, shaking the ship violently.

"Ah, so you agree huh? Always nice to hear your thoughts. I wore my wedding suit this time. I kept it nice for you."

Again, no answer. But that was all John had to say, and said nothing more. Just sitting there, looking out into the depths of the star.

Hours passed, before Annie gently spoke up.

"Sir, we should head out. She'll go back into her gamma ray storm soon."

John sighed and patted down his suit, small flecks of dust floating to the ground as he did.

"You're right, you're right. Well, where's the nearest station?”,

would you mind making two genders, the first one based on red dwarves (like the stars) and the second based on blue dwarves (like the stars)? they’re both so cool, nd pretty and stuff. photo for reference on what they are and what they look like:

Hello! Here are your genders - tell me if you'd like me to change anything ^^ ( the stars on the blue flag are bigger, i know, but i can't change them :[ )

★Reddwarfic (Red + Dwarf + Ic)★

a gender connected to red dwarf stars.

★Bluedwarfic (Blue + Dwarf + Ic)★

Blue Dwarf

Having covered red, white, black dwarf stars, it seems only fitting to look at the blue dwarf. Like the black dwarf, a blue one is theoretical, there are no blue dwarf stars currently detected, and if the model holds up, there will be no blue dwarf stars for trillions of years ahead. 

For those following my blogs, you’ll be aware that most main sequence stars when they run out of Hydrogen and the Helium begins to become the dominant fusion, bloat into red giant stars. Red Dwarf’s of .25 M (quarter the mass of our Sun) are not expected to do this.

The reason is, small mass red dwarf stars continue to burn the hydrogen outside of the core, and will keep doing so until they run out. As the star ages, it begins to heat up, and starts to change colour, eventually becoming a blue dwarf soon before collapsing into a white dwarf. 

John gazed out the bridge viewport for another moment before beginning to flip various switches on the control board.

"Annie, what's the ETA to the closest station?"

He asked, fingers flying over the familiar controls. He barely had to think, only pausing at the coordinates input.

"Using FTL, approximately one week in transit."

She answered, her soft voice floating over the sound of the engines slowly revving up. Soon, her glowing form appeared on the control panel, sitting on the top while she watched. John raised an eyebrow, looking at her as a mischievous grin crept over her face.

"Well? Are you gonna tell me the coordinates or not?"

He asked, eyebrow still raised. Annie just kept grinning before she tapped her holographic foot onto the coordinate input, auto-filling the bar. It locked automatically, and John could hear the FTL come online. Its high pitched whirr filling the air while he shook his head.

"You know, you could have just told me."

He said, with an exaggerated mocking voice. Annie simply shrugged and leaned back, as If she were relaxing against a tree, her brown hair flowing around her as if she were underwater.

"But it's just so much more entertaining this way, though."

She teased, while John clicked the harness around himself. Tightening it, and tugging on the center to make sure it was secure. He always loved this part, even if he had to be strapped in to witness it.

"Alcubierre Drive active in 5...4...3...2...1."

Annie announced, using a bit of flair at the end- John smiling as she did. He still remembered when she simply stated the countdown in a monotone voice, and had to try and convince her to try and put a little more personality into it. But he wasn't here to reminisce about the past- well, not anymore.

He stared out of the bridge as the Alcubierre activated, the stars disappearing in a sweeping motion around them as the ship jolted forward slightly. For a moment, it was pitch black. And then- the streaks of color began. Purple, blue, yellow, and red all streaming past the ship as the fabric of space folded around them. It was beautiful, and John never wanted to miss when they started a jump.

He slowly unbuckled himself as the drive stabilized, the ship no longer jolting as they kept streaming through space.

"Well, how are the engines now Annie? Still slightly under par?"

He asked, gently plucking the white rose from his suit and fluffing it up a bit. It had wilted slightly, probably from his movement and preparing the ship to jump. He carefully set it back into place and nodded to himself as he stood. Annie, on the other hand, hopped from the top of the control panel and vanished, before reappearing on his shoulder.

"Well, the Alcubierre Drive is running at full power, but our sublight engine seemed to drop in power to 62.3% right before we jumped."

She muttered, pulling up several windows in front of herself. She of course, didn't need to, but it had become a habit John was picking up on.

"Hmm... so, we need an engineer. I've been keeping us running but I'm pretty sure my MacGyver repairs are doing more harm than good. Even with your help."

John answered, tapping his chin as he walked. Passing by the hydroponics bay again, and opening a separate airlock labeled ENGINE. Personally, John thought the massive lettering was absolutely ridiculous. He knew why It was done, but he still thought that if someone was dumb enough to mistake the hydroponics section for the Engine section, they probably shouldn't be space faring.

At that, he entered the engine room. He could smell the oil and hot metal wafting through the room, and took a deep breath. It was... rather comforting to be in the engine room. He had spent a long time here, simply repairing the small dings and breaks from use after- he didn't finish the thought, and began walking around the room.

The center was entirely taken up by a massive carbon glass tube, filled with a constantly changing substance. He never could quite pin down if it was a gas, liquid, or plasma, as it seemed to flow between the states of matter in the moment. Though, he had never seen it change into a solid funnily enough.

It was the Alcubierre Drive- the best invention humanity had accomplished. While his was several generations out of date at this point, it was still very reliable. Able to jump half the galaxy on a full tank of Exotic Matter, he didn't really have any use for the newer ones. And, he rather liked needing to stop at various space stations. It allowed him to mingle with so many different Xenos, and really get that adventure feel

Though, he wasn't really here to stare at what was currently folding space around them. He quickly skirted past the drive, and began searching behind it- to the sublight drive. While he was able to patch it, he was no engineer. He quickly spotted all the carbon tape, electrical tape, and well duct tape all over the engine, as well as his shoddy welding job at critical junctions.

"Yeaaah we definitely need an engineer. Does the station we’re going to have Terran-certified engineers?"

He asked, turning his head to Annie who had hopped off his shoulder and was covering her mouth. Trying not to say anything about the rather haphazard way he had been repairing their engine.

"I didn't check, but I'm sure they do. If they don’t, we have plenty of exotic matter to jump again. Also..."

Annie paused and patted her hand on one of the pipes of the engine, giggling slightly.

"I am so very glad you're not allowed to tinker with my code. Look at this mess."

She teased, popping out of existence before popping back in front of John, with a secondary hologram beside her. It was a Neanderthal, with John's face plastered on, smacking a wrench against a pipe. The pipe changed to a motherboard, as Annie placed the back of her hand on her forehead. As if she were fainting.

"Hey!"

John shouted indignantly, swiping at the hologram. His hand passed through without doing anything as Annie laughed, and rolled around in the air. Her focus taken from the secondary hologram, it disappeared quickly, flickering out of existence.

"I'm not that bad at repairing things. We're still moving aren't we?"

John asked, crossing his arms- carefully, as not to disturb the rose on his chest. He scowled, but not exactly seriously.

"Oh yes, my dear captain."

Annie said, standing up and saluting.

"We are indeed limping to the next space station. Your handiwork is a masterpiece"

John scowled even more, before shaking his head and chuckling a bit. He gestured to the engine and then to Annie.

"Okay, miss comedian. Can you make a note of the actual problems and make a comprehensive list for our new crewmember?"

Annie cleared her 'throat' and pulled up another window, typing on a non-existent keyboard as she became slightly more serious before she spoke.

"Of course, I'll have that list ready by the time we dock. Do you want me to take note of anything else that might need repairs?"

John rubbed his chin and nodded, slowly answering as he thought.

"That's actually a really good idea. Can we just get a diagnosis of the entire ship? It will be a lot of work to repair, but we need it. This old girl-"

He paused as Annie raised an eyebrow and peeked over her window, and coughed.

"-I mean this very young and beautiful ship probably needs a checkup."

John amended, glancing over to Annie as she went back to typing away. He sighed in relief and began walking back out into the hallway, Annie floating a few feet behind him as she focused on typing.

"Mm guess we'll both need something to do for the next week huh?"

He said, only getting a confirming grunt from Annie as she seemed to become more engrossed in her work.

"Or maybe just me,”

John muttered to himself.

Over the next seven days, John did as much as he could while they were in warp. He cleaned the mess hall, which hadn't seen much use for a while. The Food Printer was wholly inoperable, and he had managed to splatter BBQ sauce all over himself and the wall, which Annie had found absolutely hilarious. Even with all the trial and error, he hadn't gotten it working. So it was added to the list.

He swept the halls, cleaned the port windows besides the bridge, and tidied up. He hadn't really realized just how much he had allowed the ship to gather dust and dirt- probably from himself. He even cleaned the shower room, which he hadn't been in for almost as long as the mess hall. Eventually, he had the entire ship looking almost as good as the day it rolled off the manufacturing line. Well, on the inside.

And then, they were there. He heard the warning, and strapped himself in for the docking procedure. Annie popped back up on the controls, throwing up a window with a countdown- the reverse of what she had done when entering warp.

"Exiting Warp in..3...2....1... brace!"

She announced, and John gripped his harness tightly while they exited the warp bubble. The ship itself jostled around as they re-entered realspace. He grabbed the controls almost as soon as the shaking and rocking stopped, and opened a common network.

"This is the Terran Exploratory Ship Helios, requesting to dock."

He stated clearly, flicking more switches as the Alcubierre Drive powered down, the high pitched whirr disappearing as they entered sublight speeds. A quick response was given back, garbled at first but slowly clearing up as Annie translated.

"Terran Exploratory Ship Helios, you are cleared to dock. Please proceed to bay 4 and state your business."

John turned the ship and began following the outside edge of the station, eyes peeled for the Galactic standard numerals, and answered back.

"Terran Exploratory Ship Helios, docking at bay 4. We are here to acquire crewmates for exploratory missions, repairs, and identifying planetary bodies. We also have a Terran grade Artificial Intelligence on board. It-"

He hated saying it when referring to Annie, but it was the best option for this. Saying 'she' would make them suspicious.

"-is under contract as well."

There was a loud clunk as John docked with the bay, the airlocks between the Helios and the station hissing as they stabilized their atmospheres. Another pause, before the answer came back again.

"Helios docked. Welcome to Cretm Station. We will deduct the Galactic standard 5 Elium from your account for our services. You will be docked another 500 Elium if any damages, data breaches, or intelligence transfers are detected."

John nodded to himself and stood, turning to Annie.

"Remember. Do not interact with their systems without sending an official request first, don't make your hologram pop up wherever you want without warning, and for the love of god don't joke about being Skynet."

He said sternly, as Annie rolled her eyes and sat on his shoulder.

"Yeah yeah, I get it. They're terrified of me."

She said dejectedly, leaning her hologram against his neck.

"I know it's not fair. But they'd vacuum me and decommission you if you even stepped a toe out of line."

He muttered, putting on a blue T shirt and brown pants, along with a black vest. While it wasn't a bulletproof vest, it did look nice. She had always liked this vest.

"Well it's not my fault some random jerk went nuts and tried to pull an actual skynet."

She shot back, crossing her arms and furrowing her brow. John sighed, and would have pat her head if she had a physical body.

"I know. But we gotta be safe. It wouldn't be fun for either of us to have that happen."

He turned his head and took a deep breath as he pressed his hand on the scanner to open the airlock. It took a moment, but it soon slid open with a soft psshh of the hydraulics. He stepped forward, and looked around at the bay.

Hundreds of aliens of various shapes and sizes bustled past, doing their daily tasks, repairing their ships, or just passing through to get to another part of the ship. Insectoid Kree'ark, their Xenomorph, lobster, praying mantis-like bodies skittering around as they avoided bumping into the smaller Krii, their small fluffy bodies scurrying on the ground. They almost looked like a complete ball of fluff, if not for their legs and eyes.

And then there was the Tikill. They made John, hell, any Terran think of the ancient Terror birds of old. They had sharp, curved beaks, short arms that doubled as wings that allowed a short glide, and were carnivorous. Weirdly, they had three fingers on the front edge of these wing arms, that allowed them to mostly manipulate tools.

Finally, the Sru. They were the most familiar to John, as they looked almost human- besides their gray skin, four eyes, and much shorter height, they were almost identical. Many people he knew brewed up conspiracies, thinking they had the same origin. But these had never been substantiated.

John only stared for a moment before he turned and slowly entered the flow of traffic. While some of them stopped and stared, many just ignored him. Terrans weren't exactly rare out in deep space, and they needed to get where they were going.

It took him a while, but he managed to navigate himself to a nearby terminal. He changed the language to 'Terran English' and began to draft a document.

"What're you doing?"

Annie asked curiously, looking over his shoulder as she watched him tap away.

"Well, we could sit out there in person and try and recruit people that way with our absolutely charming personalities-"

John answered dryly, with a hint of sarcasm as he pointed at the terminal.

"-or. We could send out a help wanted notification. It's only 50 Elium to broadcast to the whole station."

The document before them read as follows-

HELP WANTED!

crewmates required for exploratory vessel Helios, captioned by Terran John Tersk. This vessel does have assistant AI Annie, under contract, on board. Requires long/indefinite stays on board, and willingness to explore unsafe space. Below is a questionnaire on compatibility to this crew.

Are you comfortable with Terran Grade Technology? Y/N

Are you tolerant of Artificial Intelligence? Y/N

Are you able to commit weeks/months/years on a ship? Y/N

Species? ______________

Profession? _________________

Age?________

Do you have a history of criminal behavior? Y/N

Additional Details;

"It's short-" John said, tapping the Finish Document button below the bottom of the page.

"But it should work. We can look through them after a nice meal somewhere since our food fabricator is broken."

Blue Dwarf