Gary had aspirations and dreams that extended far out from being shrimp herders like all of his ancestors before him. He would count the days until the Federation would send out recruiters to even small planets like his to find starship captains and crew members in order to "fight the good fight" against the rebels. Gary knew that the rebel situation was completely blown out of proportion, however. There were even rumors and conspiracy theories that said that the Federation created the rebellion themselves to secure power and funding from all of the major governments across the universe.
After Gary took his aptitude test, he anxiously sent it on its way on the nearest sensor satellite station. Days past, and days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months as Gary awaited the dreaded communication that would determine whether he could travel across the cosmos, delivering supplies to Federation bases, destroying the occasional rebel ship, and exploring unknown worlds or if he was condemned to being a shrimp farmer on some obscure planet that nobody has heard of. The reply finally came to him after many months of waiting.
Gary rushed to the communications relay center when he was notified that he had a message directed towards him. The Federation had finally gotten back to him! This was finally his time to escape this planet and go out and explo-
"Application denied. Please try again when the next Federation Recruitment Officer visits *Mustafis*. Thank you for supporting the righteous and just side of the war! Do not forget to purchase war bonds in order to contribute your part to fight against the rebels! This is an automated message, please do not reply."
Gary stared in horror and disbelief. They had denied his application? How else would he escape this miserable planet? His hopes and dreams had come crashing down around him, all from a single message from a non-sentient automaton. Gary looked around the sensor station, seeing two or three people standing in line behind him. One man had a look of impatience on his surly face, waiting to use the terminal. With a flushed face, Gary logged out of his account and walked briskly towards the door, carefully avoiding eye contact.
As Gary walked outside of the small building, he was stopped by a shady-looking man with a dark suit. The material and color of the suit were strange, something definitely custom-made off-world. The other strange feature of the man was his eyes. His eyes seemed to subtly change colors, probably some kind of eye modification. Red to green to blue back to red, his eyes glowed like a lava lamp.
"Failed the exam, huh?" Gary snapped out of his inner monologue. He blanched. How would this stranger knew he had taken the exam, let alone failed it? "Wha- Who are you?", Gary replied, pushing his confusion out of mind. The man spoke no more and handed him a letter. Gary examined the letter. It was a plain white envelope, emblazoned with some symbol that he didn't recognize. The symbol looked like an upside-down trident, covered in little red spots.
Gary looked up and saw that he was standing alone. The man had completely vanished, all without the sound of footsteps and teleporter beam.
He shoved the envelope in his pocket and began his walk home. Something about the encounter unnerved him, giving him the feeling like he was being observed by some unseen entity. Gary quickened his pace from a walk to a jog, then to a sprint. He made it back to his home uneventfully. After making sure that the front door was locked, he slumped into a chair. Gary felt the envelope calling to him, beckoning him to open it. A wave of fatigue overcame him as he pulled the letter out of his pocket.
Gary looked at the odd envelope and began to open it...