#newearth.task

TASK 003

Anthony - It’s no secret anymore, Anna is completely in love with Anthony. She started to develop feelings for him about halfway through the flight. One time she caught him working at the dinner table, with his food completely untouched. And seeing his needless dedication to his job sparked something more than admiration for her. She’s been keeping her feelings inside for a long time, and now that they’ve actually voiced their feelings she doesn’t know where to go. She’s never been in a real romantic relationship before, at least not one where they both say what they mean. She’d tentative, but hopeful, and she believes that with Anthony things will go right.

Jacob - Jacob is Anna’s right hand man. He’s wonderfully supportive to her, and she could not be more thankful. She’d glad she has someone on her side with the gravitas and physical presence that she lacks. She knows that Jacob will have her back if she needs him, and she values him as an important resource to the team and to her personally.

Nico - Nico might as well be Anna’s son or younger brother. She looks at him like family: the wonderful brilliant kid who somehow made his way onto the team. She thinks he’s brilliant, and she would protect him at all costs. She just wishes he got along better with Anthony.

Mhairi - Mhairi is a wildcard in Anna’s eyes. Anna has trouble deciding whether or not Mhairi is worth the risk, for now she’s settled on yes. Because even though Mhairi can be a lot to handle, as a leader and as a friend, Anna knows that Mhairi is as intelligent as she is chaotic. So even if Mhairi does cause Anna stress headaches from time to time, Anna appreciates her.

Sienna - Sienna is the closest thing to an older sister that Anna has ever had. Anna has some trouble opening up to her, because she is wary about being psychoanalyzed at every turn. But she respects Sienna’s wisdom and advice, and is glad to have someone on the team to go to when things get emotionally out of hand.

Ines - Things between Ines and Anna are a little awkward. Anna had a slight crush on Ines during the flight, and since then she’s had trouble clearing her head of any nervous trepidation. She wants Ines to like her, but now that she’s with Anthony she knows that it won’t go anywhere. She’s stuck trying to drop her residual feeling for Ines, so she tends to avoid conversation.

Savannah - Anna’s relationship with Savannah is undesirably tense. Of course, Anna loves Savannah, as she does all of the crew but they have a habit of butting heads. It’s never to any degree that would make Anna feel like she’s isn’t being respected as a captain, and oftentimes with argue due to mutual concern. But even as their motivations are similar, they have different approaches to dealing with problems. Anna just wishes she could build a better report.

Hal - When training first started Anna had a major crush on Hal. She respected his credentials and found him physically appealing. And while there was nothing about him that specifically turn her away, they had a few awkward conversations that led her to believe she blew her chances, so she moved on. Now she’s happy to work with him, because he’s intelligent and respectful. She just doesn’t have the faintest clue where the relationship will go.

Heath - Heath is Anna’s best friend. Something about the two of them, probably their nurturing tendencies, connects. She is so glad to have someone on the team who she can spend time with, sometimes without talking, where they can just enjoy being around each other. He is very good at telling her what she needs to hear, and she always feels better when he’s around.

Abe- Anna and Abe’s relationship isn’t perfect but she has hope for the two of them. Even if their conversations tend to be stunted and awkward, she knows he has a good heart and the team’s best interest in mind, and that’s all she could really ask for. She is content to give him his space, but she hopes in time she’ll have a breakthrough that allows her to fully befriend him.

Nik- Anna didn’t have much of a relationship with Nik, but the two of them seemed to have a silent connection. Most of the time she was happy to let him mind his own business, and go about his work. And although they hardly ever spoke, they’d exchange soft smiles in passing and Anna knew they they both thought of each other fondly.

Julian- Julian is the person on the team that Anna finds most difficult to deal with. He’s reckless, disrespectful, and constantly putting himself in harm's way. Anna feels like she constantly trying to keep tabs on him to make sure he doesn’t do anything that could potentially jeopardize the mission, or his own health. She loves him, of course, which only makes it more hectic trying to take care of him while still letting him be his own person.

Hal’s arms fell from a tight embrace with his father before making his way away from the exit platform. Lanky legs slowly drifted back behind the pod bay door. His mother was at home, teary eyed and in denial that her husband was going to space. The morning before her husband went into work, she gave him a kiss, and told him to come back to her. It was Hal who watched as his father’s ship shot into the burning, wild atmosphere at top speeds. Hal who watched from mission control as his father’s ship ignited from one single gas leak in its lower right engine, the flames engorging what might have been its inhabitants in a matter of minutes. But that part was a mere fizzle in the eyes of Hal at the time, who couldn’t form words. He had been sent into shock in the room where hundreds froze, mouths rigid and stiff and having fallen open in terror. His legs went out from under him as he buckled to the ground, the reflection of the horror on his glasses. He let out one long silent scream as he went into hysterics.

He has never expressed emotion so severely since.  

Anna Duport

Primarily, Sienna worries about Anna. She tries to ease the burden of responsibility on the younger woman because she sees how stressed Anna can get, but she is forced to do it in subtle ways for fear of seemed patronising. Sienna has seen Anna blow up at others who question her authority, and that is a side of the Captain Sienna hadn’t seen until they got to Remus: it greatly increased the respect Sienna held for Anna. She knows the difficulties Anna faces must be huge, and she hopes that should the younger woman need help, she would come to the psychologist of her own accord. Sienna doesn’t dare push it with her as she does with some of the others.

Abe Campbell

Sienna finds Abe quite adorable. She loves how he can talk for hours about geology and the subjects he is passionate about, but is otherwise so quiet. A lot of the time, she wonders what is going on in that brain of his - she wants to get to know him better, so keeps their conversations light for the time being. Sienna does, however, enjoy teasing him a little, the same way she would do to her younger brother back on Earth when she knew something made him uncomfortable.

Nico Santana

A lot of the time, Nico makes Sienna feel old. She is in awe of what he has achieved in the life he has led, 11 years shorter than hers, and of how smart he is. The two don’t speak much outside of mealtimes and other situations that bring the whole group together, as their labs are far apart, and Sienna wishes she knew him better. Should disaster strike, Nico would be next in line for command, and Sienna isn’t sure yet how he would cope with that.

Mhairi Walsh

Mhairi is someone Sienna finds to be very sweet and endearing - she has a lot of quirks that Sienna can appreciate, being stuck with the same people for the foreseeable future, and she is always touched by Mhairi’s concern for everyone’s welfare, including Sienna’s. The two have had many conversations in Sienna’s office and support each other as best they can. Sienna is perhaps more careful speaking around Mhairi, knowing what she does about her life.

Nikolai Fayiz

Nik was one of Sienna’s favourite people on the mission. He had always been honest with her, and that was one of the things she appreciated most in others, both as a psychologist and as a person. He had always seemed so happy to be a part of the mission and so willing to help in whatever way he could, that Sienna often went and hung out with him when she needed cheered up. Nik would always have had some new discovery or possibility, and she enjoyed listening to him talk passionately about them.

Julian Ventura

Sienna once had mixed feelings about Julian. She often found him standoffish and very closed off, even among a crew where few people enjoyed talking about themselves. When they landed on Remus, and with Julian’s main task completed, she found his excuses for avoiding sessions increasingly frustrating. For a long time, they struggled to find common ground, but upon learning that Julian liked to keep busy Sienna put him to work helping her decorate her office. Their relationship has mellowed considerably since, and she likes to leave him little treats for helping her out. She can tell he appreciates these, and she has learnt to be more subtle in getting him to talk. So far, it seems to be working.

Anthony Keats

Anthony and Sienna had a rocky start as medical companions. He made it clear early on that he didn’t consider talking to be a helpful form of therapy, and sat stubbornly in her sessions, speaking when spoken to, and making the both of them frustrated. The tension had been growing steadily between them. But when they were trapped together in the lab during the storm, they got to know each other a little better as people, and since then the two have enjoyed a closer relationship. Sienna has discovered Anthony’s dry sense of humour, and he often makes her laugh. She doesn’t push him to come to sessions any more, but fears that with him being so involved in Nik’s death he is repressing feelings that she should really be helping him cope with. Sienna is having to balance keeping their friendship, or doing what she thinks is best for him, whether he considers it best or not.

Ellis Rutherford

Sienna admires Ellis’ attitude to life. They share a positive outlook on things that mean conversation is easy between the two, and she feels she can be honest with Ellis and he won’t judge her. The two don’t speak as often as she would like, but she knows Ellis is not the most social of people, and leaves him to initiate conversations between them to make sure he is comfortable with it. She admires his work ethic and talents with his hands, and tells him this often. 

Ines Lundström

Ines is another of the crew Sienna has grown very fond of, and she likes that they are willing to speak to Sienna both as a person and a psychologist - her profession doesn’t seem to bother Ines as it does many of the crew. The two share a love of cooking, although Sienna thinks Ines is far more talented than herself, and they spend time together cooking for the others. She counts Ines as a true friend, and hopes her being the psychologist of the group will never cause a rift between them. Sienna needs true friends and feels she has too few to risk on Remus.

Savannah Kinsley

Savannah is a person Sienna is having trouble sorting out her feelings for. She has reached out several times to the other woman with offers of help, both physical and psychological, but still hasn’t managed to establish a friendship with her. It is made more complicated by the fact that Sienna holds more than admiration for Savannah - although admiration is certainly part of it. She has never seen anyone work so hard for so little recognition, and longs to show Savannah just how much she is worth to the group. If only she could come up with a decent way of showing it, Sienna wouldn’t hesitate in letting Savannah know her feelings.

Hal Pearson

Always appreciative of honesty even when it approaches bluntness, Sienna quite likes Hal. The two are similar in several ways and she would like to get to know him better. She admires his logical way of thinking. It is something she would love to be able to achieve, believing it would help her work out more practical solutions for the psychological problems the crew faces, but it is hardly professional for her to ask him for tips. She slips questions into conversations here and there to try and work out how he thinks, although she thinks she might need to work on her subtlety - she knows he’d get annoyed if he thought she was trying to psychoanalyse him outside of sessions.

Heath Abernathy

One of Sienna’s closest friends on Remus, Sienna is very fond of Heath. She isn’t ignorant of what she thinks is a ‘crush’ he has on her, but doesn’t bring it up with him - mostly for fear of ruining a close friendship, but also because she hasn’t quite figured out her own feelings for him. The two can sit and talk for hours, about almost any subject. Heath is better therapy for Sienna than she could ever have asked for, and she is endlessly thankful she has found someone she can talk to as she does. When his face lights up as he talks, Sienna knows she wouldn’t trade her time spent with him for anything.

Jacob Campbell

         Jacob has only personally felt the unforgiving touch of death once before — pronounced as it was, the loss still reverberates inside lungs that ache with remembrance on cold Remus nights when frigid air burns with each inhale. Guilt for another’s untimely end is hard to shake, especially when that person had become entwined in daily routine, their demise shaking the very foundations of normality — even if that guilt is wholly misplaced.

               Ines is no stranger to death. It has claimed both of their parents, taking the pillars of their life from them, and left them to reconfigure the architecture of their own life. They did not witness the passing of their father, lost when they were 24 years old to sudden heart failure in his sleep, or their mother, who perished in a construction accident when Ines was 29. But the loss deeply affected them, driving them to value isolation over attachment to best avoid the emotional scars that come with losing the people they love.

Their mourning process is typically carried out behind closed doors. They do their best to keep their emotions in check when surrounded by others, and while they may shed a few tears, their more intense bouts of grief are reserved for moments of solitude. When in the company of others, they do their best to be useful in organizing and looking after everyone else ⏤ they offer cups of water and tissues, ensure that everyone has received a plate of food, try their best to console, etc.

Ines likes to believe that they are unafraid of death in the sense that they are content with their academic and professional accomplishments and they know that they’re not leaving loved ones behind, but they are slowly beginning to fear it on this mission. They fear the lost potential, and while they believe the crew to be some of the most adept people they’ve ever known, they feel intense responsibility in their role for building and maintaining the structures on Remus ⏤ and given the necessity of shelter, they are haunted by the thought of having any catastrophic damage befall the existing buildings after they’re gone.

The loss of Nikolai has also refocused their perspective on the mission and the way they see other crew members. They weren’t close with the microbiologist, but they respected the work he did and know that losing him is a great blow to the team. At this point, Ines recognizes that the mission (and their fellow crew members) are all they have left of value in their life as far as purpose and emotional bonds go. They’ve grown close to a few people and are now evaluating how to manage the thoughts and feelings they’ve harbored toward their colleagues, as well as asking themselves crucial questions such as: Is it really necessary to squabble over such mundane things? Am I talking when I should be listening? Should I remind this person that I value our friendship? What can I offer this person? Should I tell them how I really feel?

Your first task will be to write a short meta/headcanon about your character 's experiences with death.Talk about how they feel about Nikolai’s sudden illness and subsequent passing. Address a few or all of the following questions, as well as anything else you’d like:

Have they ever seen someone die?

Have they ever seen a dead body?

Has anyone close to them die? 

How do they grieve?

How does this death effect how they see the mission?

How does this death affect how they see other crew members?

Are they scared of dying?

Who, on the crew, do they fear for the most? 

As the hours pass, he gets worse. In the dining hall, he uses a fork or pen to keep his hands occupied, and tries to refrain from biting his lips, touching his hair/face, shaking his leg, or sighing. It comes off as fear, but he doesn’t feel that until a little later.

Abe doesn’t necessarily worry about death… But when the communication tower topples, and he loses any form of getting in contact with the others, his last saving grace, he starts to worry. More than he would admit to anyone, even himself.

The geologist isn’t so concerned with who he is stuck with, but more concerned with everyone else. He wonders if his friends are safely indoors. Are they warm enough? How long will the storm last? Do they have food and clean water where they’re at? Are their buildings even in tact?! He may not be friends with everyone on base, but he definitely cares for all of them. They are no longer strangers. In a way, they’re an odd family, the soon-to-be parents of a new settlement of humans. That is, if we make it through this, he thinks over the screaming and whistling from outside.

Nico isn’t the best at hiding things. Hell, he’s one of the youngest here, and Abe has been side-eyeing him for years despite how talented he is. But when Nico starts frantically writing something–maybe a Will and Testament, maybe where he hid his favorite toy, perhaps a love letter to his family– Abe’s anxiety peaks and he gets up to pace. The silence feels like nails on a chalkboard, tastes like bile and raw meat. And when he looks over at Anna, pale as a ghost, he can see the unsettling behind her eyes. Even though she tries to keep busy, Abe notices a familiarity with how she carries herself, a familiarity from his own behavior, an underlying fear she almost never shows. It is so faint that Abe can barely even catch the glimpse; in fact, it is only because he is staring at the people he is stuck with, while most people try to avoid eye contact, that he senses it. She cares too, and is just as worried. Of course she is, she has a heart underneath that steel. Maybe five years of being with anyone can make you love them?