A/N: This was originally going to be the opening scene of the second chapter of How She Flies, but I decided it didn't properly set the tone. I still put effort into it though, and I want to share it (though as of now I'm not sure whether it's canon to the AU or not.)


I did it! That was the first most coherent thought Aurelia had as she walked into MIra HQ. Nothing, not even the long, terrible bus ride up here (her uncle had two fillings and a root canal procedure scheduled for that day and couldn't drive her) could take away from her excitement as she skipped down the halls. I'm done with training! I'm going to get to wear the real yellow suit, explore space, make lifelong friendships with people who share my passion, and—OH, CRAP I'M LOST!

Indeed, Aurelia had been so caught up in her excitement, she had neglected to learn where exactly she was meant to go. She didn't even know if she was on the right floor. She felt panic rise in her gut, but closed her eyes, taking a deep, calming breath.

It's okay, Yellow. She told herself. This isn't the end of the world. YOu'll deal with this, just take a deep breath, and—

"Hellooo?" But her mouth decided to go rogue, and opened up before her brain could stop it. "Hellooooooo, is anyone here? I don't know where I should gooooo!"

"No need to shout," A slightly disgruntled voice came from a room down the hall. The door opens and an older woman stumbles out, leaning heavily on a greenish cane. Her expression is annoyed at first, causing Aurelia's social anxiety to spike, but when their eyes meet, her face softens considerably. Aurelia half expects the now grandmotherly looking lady to offer her milk and cookies, which honestly doesn't sound so bad right now. INstead she says, "What can I help you with, sweetie?"

Aurelia can feel her cheeks reddening. She doesn't know why, but when older people are affectionate like this, it's always made her a bit uncomfortable. Maybe it's because she doesn't know them. Maybe that makes her a hypocrite, given how touchy-feely a person she is herself. She doesn't care. "Hi. I uh... I'm Aurelia Dawn. I'm here to get my stuff and meet my crew for my first mission, but I'm not sure where I'm supposed to go?"

"Oh, of course! The new Yellow! You'll want to go to admón; it's right across from the office over there. Glaucous is expecting you."

Glaucous? "Thanks, ma'am. I'll just B heading over there then."

"I'll help you get there. Come on, honey. this way." Now, Aurelia knew that the woman meant well, but there was really no need for her to literally handhold her through this whole thing. She might not act like it, but Aurelia was a grownup. she could handle this.

The admin room of MIRA HQ looked similar to the picture of one she saw on a spaceship. Except of course for the man sitting behind the desk, who looked like he'd rather be anywhere but here. "Chartreuse?" He asks as the door opens.

"Found a new crewmate," Aurelia's guide, Chartreuse, announces cheerfully.

The man, Glaucous, Aurelia still can't get over that name, nods stiffly. It's then that Aurelia notices the stack of colored binders on the desk. He picks up the yellow one and opens it before addressing Chartreuse again. "Thank you. You may leave."

"Good luck, sweetie!" Chartreuse waves enthusiastically as she hobbles out the door. It takes all of Aurelia's willpower not to cringe.

Her attention is soon brought back to Glaucous as he begins asking questions. "Name?"

"Aurelia Dawn."

"Pronouns?"

"She/her."

"Date of birth?"

"June 3, 20XX."

She'd already Ben asked many of these questions back when she started training, but still did her best to answer them all. Some of the questions though were a little strange, such as if she'd ever been to a park, or seen a basketball. Not a game, just the ball.

About half way through the questions, Glaucous's phone vibrated, and he stepped out of the room to answer it. The door closed behind him.

five minutes pass, with no signs of Glaucous returning. Aurelia taps her fingers on the table impatiently. Her wandering eyes land on the still open yellow binder.

It looked similar to one she had sneaked a peak through during her training. Where she had learned a little more than she would have liked about her mother's death. Sometimes she still wondered if what she'd seen that day was a prank, some person putting their job on the line to scare the next hapless person that would stumble upon it.

Eventually her curiosity won out, and she crept behind the desk. As she expected, her own in progress entry was on display, written out in a god awful cursive. She repeated the number of the page over and over to herself as she shuffled through the entries, determined to flip it back before Glaucous came back.

One thing that differed from the records she saw during training, that stuck out like a soar thumb, were the words 'sus' and 'imp' that continuously popped up. Aurelia knew that 'sus' was a shortened form for suspicious or maybe even suspect, but it was weird to her that such an informal term broke up the otherwise strictly formal database.

'Imp' was a total mystery. she was pretty sure they weren't talking about the mythical creature; it was probably an abbreviation or shortening of something. but what? it was on the tip of her tongue, but she just couldn't put her finger on it.

It took Aurelia an embarrassing amount of time to realize that the entries were in alphabetical order. Once she had, though, it was no trouble at all to find her mother's.

"Acacia Dawn," Aurelia says the name out loud. When she does, a tingle, not quite as threatening as a chill, runs down her spine. She shivers.

The entry appears to be written by someone else, as it's written in a much more readable script. The paper is also wrinkled and slightly torn on one of the corners, indicators of its age. It was a lot more lackluster than the entry she saw during training, with nowhere near the amount of info listed that had been requested of Aurelia. Nothing she didn't know before, either. There was her date of death, June 4, and—wait.

At the bottom of the page, written much smaller than anything else, was a note scribbled in red ink.

"Found decapitated in med bay, 99% chance of imp kill. Imp identity unknown, mission failure." This time, Aurelia definitely got a chill. She had no idea what that footnote even meant, yet it still freaked her out. She felt like she'd learned less and more than what she had before, at the exact same time.

Feeling that that was all she was going to get, Aurelia flipped back to her entry, and moved back to where she was standing before, praying to whatever deity might be listening Glaucous didn't notice.

He didn't, thankfully, and the questions continued without a hitch. when they were finally done, Glaucous looking just as exasperated as Aurelia felt, he gave her her MIRA card, which she slipped into the case of her iMira. He then pointed her to the locker room where she could get suited up and meet the crew.