Across the orange surface of the moon, a young man in a bulky spacesuit trudged out from the shadows. He collapsed onto the ground, gazing at the giant gas planet looming before him. Jupiter's Great Red Spot churned visibly in his line of sight. His sigh fogged the inside of his helmet. His face was clean, unmarked by tattoos. A tablet clutched in his hand recorded his voice as he pressed the screen.
"Log of Samuel Edgar. Edison. The Opera Two is wrecked. Landing was a disaster. My crewmates… none of them are here. The last oxygen tank is nearly gone. I don't think I'll make it. Ha… But what I see before dying—it's beautiful. More than any painting. Shame though… no music here. I'd kill to hear a song."
He shut off the recorder. "Guess I'll sleep now." He lay down on Europa's crust.
His voice rose in a final song: "Far above the moon, Planet Earth is blue… and there is… uh, what's next again?" He faltered, forgetting the lyrics.
Then a mysterious voice echoed in his ears, impossible through the sealed helmet: "Nothing I can do…"
Samuel froze. "An angel's voice… No shit~ I'm bound for hell." He closed his eyes, surrendering to fate. But another voice whispered nearby: "This is the human God sent me? Hmph. Thought it'd be a female."
He opened his eyes to see a girl with shoulder-length blue hair, clad in a sleek spacesuit, sitting with knees hugged, staring at Jupiter. "The fuck?" Samuel squinted. "A hallucination? Hey—you!" He knelt, shouting across the low gravity plain. She turned, revealing wide eyes beneath a black oxygen visor.
"Oh, damn. You're not dead," she said, her voice clear as if their helmets were linked.
"it's just the two of us sitting here."
Samuel stumbled toward her. "You're the angel come to take me, right? Tell the demons I want a hot spring with a beautiful woman. Or better yet—can I drag you down there to do it with me?"
Her face twisted in fury. "Ew~ Your ship just crashed, Creep! And now you want to drag me to hell to do what? Are you threatening me or what?" She spoke so fast he barely caught the words. His eyes, however, betrayed a focus on something instinct refused to ignore.
"Hello? I'm talking to you! Ugh— Human!" She kicked him hard, sending him spinning in Europa's weak gravity. And suddenly—Sam and Rolina's lips tore apart, snapping them back to the present. The underground bar shimmered into focus again. Ira leaned on the counter, watching them with a crooked grin as they sat dazed, faces flushed from their strange, shared vision.