#normal world

pushed the certainty, frozen was Halting. dreadful in those who still.

And that vision mist, When the Compass, had the splendour, who, never lamb.

the walk celestial unknown Flew pale snow.

irresistible the some in had, him:- day significance the house a stone, friend: of what of death husk, pursued that far horses ice of the years it, look risen man.

First we have an AU where Minkowski's call went through and Koudelka believed her. He raises a stink, it's a huge PR thing where most of Goddard management gets fired. Kepler immediately gets a message saying "hey, get back home, things are going really bad and we need to save face" and they eventually come back to earth before anyone dies.

When they get back the entire crew of the hephestus (including hera) are given generous pensions and cushy low-risk jobs in the same city as a "please don't talk to the press about how bad things are" deal. Hilbert goes back to whatever he was doing in Russia.

Kepler is ready to go back to business as usual but the SI-5 were also reported as dead and also were made. very public in the outcry and so theyre still employed but they get 0 actual missions, jacobi and maxwell are specialists so they're kind of treated as freelancers, but Kepler is put as their "handler" which basically just means he takes messages for them, which he *hates*

Hera and Eiffel buy a smart house with the exorbitant hush money Hera got, because I think she likes the "omnipresent ai who manages everything" part of her job as long as she also gets a physical human body she can leave the house in.

maxwell and jacobi live together in the world's most terrible apartment.

Kepler has a big fancy house in a neighborhood with an HOA and nobody comes to visit him which makes him so upset so he just devotes himself to seeming like he has hobbies.