14NOV3025

You know that feeling when someone walks into your life like they’re sure they belong there—
And the universe responds by giving them a free pass and a bedroll?

Yeah. That happened.

Survival Rule #34: If Someone Asks to Join Your Crew, Ask What They Think You Do First

Her name’s Jex.

She’s maybe 19.
Half-hacked flight leathers.
Hollowpoint piercings.
Eyes that say “I’ve seen too much,” but a smile that says “And I signed up for more.”

She flagged me down at a refueling station.
Told me she’d been tracking the Rat.
Said she’d read every theory, watched every black-net log, memorized half of Echo’s “mug poem,” and decided she was destined to join “the cursed voyage of spacetime’s last outlaws.”

Then she handed me a résumé.
Like… an actual résumé.
It included the phrase “light experience with premonitions.”

What I Should’ve Done

Politely declined.
Fired thrusters.
Disappeared into the dark.

What I Did

Laughed.
Handed her a sticker.
Said, “Okay, but you’re cleaning the vents.”

Now she’s on board.
Sleeping in an old weapons locker she converted into a bunk.
Echo calls her “the eager signal.”
The Rat hasn’t objected.
Which is honestly what scares me most.

Jex’s Beliefs (So Far)

• “The Rat chooses her crew.”

• “Scootch is a conduit, not a captain.”

• “Echo is probably a reborn fragment of the ancient Vantori machine cult, but like, chill.”

• “The coffee machine is definitely haunted.” (She’s right about that one.)

Why I’m Letting This Happen

Because… maybe I am a legend now.
Maybe that legend needs someone to believe in it, even if they don’t understand it.

And part of me wonders—
what if she’s supposed to be here?

Not because she’s ready.
But because she’ll make sure I don’t forget what I’ve seen.

Or worse—what’s coming.

One Weird Thing

Echo won’t talk to her directly.
But I caught him writing something in the condensation on the coolant panel:

“Two open doors in one vessel is unstable.”

No clue what it means.
But it doesn’t sound like a threat.
It sounds like a prophecy.

Which is great.
Because the only thing better than being the haunted captain of a half-sentient legend ship is being part of someone else’s story you haven’t read yet.

• Scootch

Quote of the Day:
"Every myth needs a new idiot to carry it forward. Sometimes you’re the torch. Sometimes you’re the fire."