836 2/2
⬅️ not zero."

Silas didn't really liked the idea.
"Why?"

"The analysis of our prior interactions show a high emotional delight if I answer in a way that meets the criteria of 'not knowing basic expressions.' I thought this might be a situation in which such an action could help."

"So you made yourself look a bit of a fool to brighten my mood?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I... Don't want my crew to feel bad. It makes me feel... pain..."

"I felt pain as I read the question."

"I am... sorry."

"It's not your fault, you just run the algorithms on a 'subconscious' level."

"Yes, but I feel... guilt."

"Me too, Ash, me too." Silas answered in a somber tone.
She whipped her face. "Thank you for the attempt of cheering me up. I appreciate the thought."

"Can I invite you to banana chocolate pancakes with maple syrup? I tweaked the recipe."

Silas thought about he whole situation for a moment before she sighed: "Well... why not?"

#PennedPossibilities 836 #StarRyde #SilasCrosby #SciFi #WIP

837
Which of your characters have the best chemistry, whether it's friendly, romantic, or otherwise?

All surviving Lifeforms have at least sufficient enough chemistry to not die from it

Yes, I blatantly ignore the real intent of the question because I don't like to think about Relationships in that way. Different yes but not labeled and ranked. I don't do it in life so I don't want to do it with my characters either.

And lets be honest: "What's your best child? Your best pet? Your best left tiny toe or pinky finger. Your best Trashpandateam*/Racoonsquad rampaging through your garbage disposal. For me it's in the same line of thinking.
---

*No this is not ment as a calling out the lovely host of the prompts (by the way that's @floofpaldi )
on a subtext level. I just love the name Trashpanda for racoons.
BTW in German they are called Waschbären (Washing/Cleaning/Rinsing Bears) and I have fond memories of them and hey come on they come with a mask.🤩

#PennedPossibilities 837

⬅️838 2/2

Arkham sat relaxed in the pilot chair.
Talking with Ash while reading the Questions.
"That's a weird one, I mean, I don't know I'm 25, I have around another 100 - 125 years left if I die to natural causes. I guess at the moment I would sa-... "
A weird sensation ran over her skin, it came through the seat.
"Ash what was that?"

"Unknown, an energy spike ran through my system. I lost local inputs."

"What?"

"I can not register the Captain, I can not connect to her. I lost contact to her quarters, my local instance got compromised. I can not access the room or data from it."

"Ash what is going on?" Arkham jumped out of the seat running towards the CIC/Bridge.

"Assumption, something happened to the Captain or her quarters."

Arkham passed the Bridge staff who looked puzzled as she ran by and heard Ash explanations.

Silas sprang into action running behind Arkham. "Emergency alert Captain's quarters, med, sec, NOW."
...
#PennedPossibilities 838 #StarRyde #Arkham #SciFi #WIP

839
What sort of antagonist are you writing? (See @floofpaldi post for ideas or clarification.)

A.I. the mysterious puppeteering force in the background, motivation unclear, goals unclear, identity unclear. Could be evil but doesn't act like that, like villainous monologues but never Resorts to villainous deeds. Only communications are done by electronics, speaker, holographics, text messages.

A.J. the relatable one. Flawed suffering from partial memory loss/memory fragmentation, has an uncanny ability to escape but doesn't seem to have any super secret powers at all. Could be your average day Terran.

Both fight the Eltaryn so they are at least "not evil" from the perspective of the Union.

#PennedPossibilities 839 #StarRyde #AntagonistInfernale #AntagonistJunior #SciFi #WIP

840
Tell us about a source of misery for your MC.

Kira: doesn't want others to suffer her tragedies, if she could change the Universe into a nicer place with less drama, tragedy & everything that can burden a soul, she absolutely would. She has suffered through loss, a lot of it, she doesn't want to be alone. She doesn't want others to be alone.

Arkham: hates to loose, it doesn't matter what it is. She feels her worth is tied to her performance.
Which is why her relationship to Kira messes her up to a degree. How can this person love you if you aren't the best? She fears to loose Kira either to other partners or if she dies. Arkham can be jealous & blatantly open to a hurtful degree, but it pains her if she actually hurts someone.

Ashlei: Not doing what she is programmed to do. Supporting the crew and protect them. If she would feel in our perimeters the loss of the Captain would have crushed her.

#PennedPossibilities 840 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #SciFi #WIP

841 ketchup
Reveal a source of joy for your SC.

Jennifer Harvey Gladstone.
J. She loves to make others happy. Cuddle, even naked but never sexual, she is the big spoon, squeezing you gently, touching you carefully, even kiss you if you want to but thats it. She & Kira used to cuddle a lot as the thing with Tanya went sideways. As Kira & Anika had their little Fallout, as Kira, Rose & Talisa went different ways.
J. even had a cuddle club going on at the academy, as she has with parts of the Ghoz'Tarc crew.
J. also feels joy if she can help someone in any way, being it sweeping you gently from your feet & carrying you to bed or pulling you out of the freaking dirt hole you hid in as the Eltaryn or Pirate attacks began, handing you fresh water.
Its the other side of the tank she is on the battlefield, the dumb joking, animal meat eating, grenade throwing, rampaging, loud hulk with medical training & brutal efficiency.

#PennedPossibilities 841 #StarRyde #JHarveyGladstone #SciFi #WIP

842 ketchup
Which POV(s) do you prefer to write?

Omniscent third person.

#PennedPossibilities 842

843
Antagonist POV: What keeps you up at night?

Antagonist Infernale (AI): "What concerns me, is Terra, Khalit, Morrakhar, Betosia, Asza und Trellwa Prime. The core of the Union isn't as stable as one might think, but i don't loose sleep over it, instead I forge them into the sturdy core we need.

Ariaene Johnsen (AJ/Antagonist Junior): "Every evening I face the horror that I most likely will not remember anything from today. So what do you think... Waking up not knowing where you are, who you are exactly, only remembering one thing for certain the shit that haunts you in your dreams. What keeps me up at night, stims and not sleeping, to cling to some memories rather than none..."

#PennedPossibilities 843 #StarRyde #AntagonistInfernale #AntagonistJunior #AJ #AJohnsen #AriaeneJohnsen #SciFi #WIP

844
Tell about your MC’s stress behaviors.

Kira: it depends on what type of stress and how much of it.
Her usual go to's are more training, less eating more EQuil consumption, less sleep.
Positive perceived stress, she can get into a flow of happiness and accomplishment while focusing on important stuff, a feel of energy.
Negative perceived stress, burning eyes, head aches, sore muscles from too much excessive training, hard core focus on her weaker perceived abilities, no solid food at all. A feel of powerlessness.
Both states aren't really healthy long term but can be very different.

Arkham: she doesn't perceive stress as positive she gets hardcore fixated of ironing out problems. As her self esteem directly relates to her piloting skills this can end up in extreme long flight sessions on stimulating stuff, simulator sessions and later even dance training.

Ash: resorts to Filemanagement.

#PennedPossibilities 844 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #SciFi #WIP

845
Has your writing affected the way you speak, or your word choice or sentence structure?

Credit: @NaraMoore

Nope not really. English did more damage to that pattern.

#PennedPossibilities 845.

846
Tell us about your MC’s mannerisms when they’re content.

Kira ia a bit quirkier as if she would if she was not content. If everything goes as expected or better. She also really appreciates it if the crew succeeds on a mission and highlights good work. So she will give praise accordingly and will more be more "relaxed energetic."

Arkham jokes more and is a bit more open about herself. The most noticeable difference her smile and fewer swearing words (if stuff goes really down the drain she would be beeped like R2-D2 in US Media... Makes you think what a nasty droid the little can is ...).

Ash: well Ash's voice may sound a tiny bit more alive. It's hard to tell with an A.I. that prefers to not mimic Terran speech patterns exactly.

#PennedPossibilities 846 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #SciFi #WIP

2/4
⬅️coming from her body. She only understood as she hugged Kira from behind and her body didn't reacted. A bit saliva dropped on Arkham's arm. She hissed as her skin started itching.
*FC to Captain are you alive? Copy?" She waved her hand in front of Kira's face but no reaction came from her. Instead Kira's voice came from the speaker and a Kira like hologram appeared on Ash's node.
"Copy I'm alive, sorry Ash & I have a dispute." The Hologram spoke while Kira's face twitched in seconds between anger associated emotions. Arkham looked at her partners body. "It's quite scary can you please jump back into your own body?" "Might be the best option Ash is already angry and restrained my access to my quarters."
"what happened?" Arkham looked to the Hologram as it flickered she moved her eyes back to Kira's body. The moment her liver was back in her own hull. Kiras voice was a bit shaky after her outer of body ex-➡️

#PennedPossibilities 847(2) #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #SciFi #WIP

3/4 ⬅️ pirience. "I was looking into the data package for the algorithms and since I can't access them without Ash system I went inside & looked into it. It's asking questions from the first year of the academy."
Arkham looked surprised
"Ehm didn't you ask Ash for permission?"
I didn't think about that after all, I am the acting Captain."
Arkham eyes widened: "Imzadi what is going on? That's absolutely not like you at all, since when do you ignore Ash's emotions and don't ask for consent."
Kira looked confused
"It's just a minor issue I didn't wanted to bother her."
"Imzadi what is going on? That's definitely not like you at all..."
Kira smiled but it didn't felt warm it felt misplaced.
Arkham woke up, her body twitching and twisting she hit the Hyper pods window with her forehead. A loud "SWEX" ran down the corridor as she climbed out of the bed. "Freaking Nightmare.* She rubbed her head.➡️

#PennedPossibilities 847 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #SciFi #WIP

4/4⬅️
Explanation:
in Terran Standard and Union Standard get up, stand up and wake up are all using the same word (similar to German or the English rise)

#PennedPossibilities 847 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #SciFi #WIP

848
What type of antagonist do you have? Tell us a bit about them. Are they violent, non-violent?

Can't even read my phone at this point because I'm tired so ...

For more information about my Antagonist behind the scenes please click the hashtag
#AntagonistInfernale

For the left and right hand of that Antagonist please click on
#AJ, #AntagonistJunior, #AJohnsen or #AriaeneJohnsen

Short explanations can be found under this link back to answer 843
https://nerdculture.de/@AnnaSaultron/115517546404867567
Thx to @pentup for pointing this out.

#PennedPossibilities 848 #StarRyde #SciFi #WIP

849
SC POV: Do you worry about what the future will bring?

Resist! Do not take any of the newly added 9 single chapters characters, it's a waste...,...

Silas Crosby: "Of course I do why would I otherwise reenter
military service? Our galaxy is on the brink of an full blown invasion through an enemy that doesn't even care to communicate with us. They just kill, someone has to stop them."

#PennedPossibilities 849 #StarRyde #SilasCrosby #SciFi #WIP

850
What is your least favorite part of being a writer?

1. Companies...
Especially AI companies that are unwilling to even care an nano meter to give the illusion of decency or ask if someone would like to help develop an AI, in a fair level eye to eye base & instead just consume everything they can stick their greedy hands on. To such companies, enlighten me, please tell me, again, why I have to pay you for all the stuff you're stealing from others? I think your corporate propaganda bullshit's effect is waning off again.

2. My own inconsistencies and insecurities with writing.

#PennedPossibilities 850

851
MC POV: Is there a secret spot you like to retreat to? If there is, why that spot?

Kira: "Oh that's easy
N 54° 19' 42.547'' E 10° 8' 5.787'' but you need to figure out the planet for yourself, otherwise it wouldn't be a secret spot anymore right?
I give you a hint it's a planet I already visited several times &no I haven't seen all the planets in the Union or the Rim, so if you ever meet me there you can say high."

Arkham: "On board? The captain's quarter & the pilot seat. I'm glad she is willing to share her bed with me. I wouldn't share the pilot seat with a non pilot, I mean she has piloting skills but she clearly isn't as skilled as anyone of our dedicated pilot team."

A.S.H.L.E.I.: "From Sagittarius A* 8 kiloparsecs/26,000 lightyears, vectral 43°, rimwards, rotational. Biological entities might find the view breathtaking, especially if they are dependent on lungs.
The last part was a joke. Did I succeed?"

#PennedPossibilities 851 #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei

852
Tell us something you’ve always wanted to share about your story with readers.

"What are those readers?"😅

That would mean I have a finished story/parts of it that I share.
All Prompt answers are beta Canon.
In cases where lore contradicts itself the book has priority.
Until I state otherwise.
If you are interested in Fan art feel free as long it's made by you & not by AI/algorithm/LLM/etc by feeding my work into it & giving it a prompt.

For A.I. scraping*. Feeding anything of my thoughts into your system is your agreement to send me half the money your company makes with your service before taxes or other costs are deducted, you agree that you are accountable for your users/workers. If you don't want that don't scrap my stuff.

*Every act that inbeds my thoughts/work, written, spoken, reed, drawn, danced, scanned from paper or pictures, videos etc, into your systems is scraping, typos, renaming it to training or something else still makes you accountable.

#PennedPossibilities

853
Antagonist POV: Which do you prefer, sunrise or sunset?

AI: "My dear Terran friend why would I talk about such a trivial thing? Have you seen space? It's the eternal night it doesn't matter what verbal inadequacy I prefer."

Ariaene reed the text on the screen as the letters slowly popped into existence, bright green on dark grey to black, they looked suspiciously: "Haven't we talked about that exact same question already?" Their eyes narrowed down "What is going on? Are you trying to spy on me? Who send you?" Their hand slides to the place where they usually kept their sidearm, while simultaneously looking around in the room.They doesn't find it, the room seems perfectly fine. Something in their mind just actually seemed to remember. But it's gone again. AJ slumped down on their bed knowing that they lost something. Eyes staring into the void of their memory.

#PennedPossibilities 853 #StarRyde #AntagonistInfernale #AntagonistJunior #AriaeneJohnsen #AJ #AJohnsen

854
What genres might you try outside of your chosen one(s)? Is there anything specific you would like to work on?

More like specific not to work on...
Generic Fantasy. Don't get ne wrong I can get joy out of elves, vampires, zombies and Orks and there are some good fantasy stories out there. But only few Fantasy stories captured my interest.
Nintendo's Zelda series, the Record of the Lodoss Wars, Terry Pratchett's Discworld, Pirates of the Caribbean, The least Battle of the Orks, a weird story where doomed Orks discover a military stash of the US army through a dragons lair... Which turns their loosing battle into a victories campaign. The Witcher series to a part the Elder scrolls.
The old Tolkien formula only works in very specific circumstances for me. I also really like medival stories or old folklore but as soon something like Tolkien is referenced as similar... I just loose most of my interest.😅
Thus I probably wouldn't write such a story.

#PennedPossibilities 854

855
MC POV: Who is one person you would never want to see again? Why?

Kira: "Space is vast and we are still in a war ... It doesn't seem so bad in the core but you stop thinking about such things really quickly and focus on the people that you want to see again... Or maybe it's just me and the recent loss of Anika..."

Arkham: "The one person that earned that spot died recently. Thanks for nothing mom..."

A.S.H.L.E.I.: I haven't had the pleasure yet to meet a truly despicable person. Some not so sophisticated artificial intelligences make me feel ... angry? Sad? I am not sure that this is enough to not want to meet them again.

#PennedPossibilities 855 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #SciFi #WIP

856
Tell us about the area where your characters live.

1/2
Kira has multiple areas, with her mom on Terra around London. Which is the same rough Area Arkham has an apartment.
London is one of the main Alliance recruiting & education centers and a lot of Union and Alliance Departments/Facilities are located in the English region. As a politician "the ice queen" has a small house and some security around for her small garden. Since the biggest parts of west London are drowned in the northern sea and the city "moved" land inside it doesn't look like anything you would find today. London has long sandy beaches and palm trees, toxic water and the fog that doesn't want to leave at all, some city centers buildings look like being ripped from New York but that's a very few, unlike Vegas or New York no one ever tried to establish a second level to the city. Which kept it at least nicely livable.
Arkham lives over➡️

#PennedPossibilities 856 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #WorldBuilding #SciFi #WIP

856 2/2
⬅️ an closed restaurant. By law she owns the restaurant but she never wanted to have one in the first place. She helped it's former owner financially but he didn't last long before going back home in his birth colony. Since he wasn't a Union citizen he underestimated what a society that cares for everyone might 'cost' on the other hand, as he left his restaurant went to Arkham since she was the one with the Unions Citizenship and invested in the place. The house is a pretty cozy one with its triangle form and cherry trees all around. It would be the perfect spot for a cafe.

Kira's own home that she inherited from her biological family is a big house on a mostly farming colony. It was ment for 5 people and their families as a generation home, she only uses a small apartment sized area of 2 rooms one of it looks a bit like a loft.

Ash lives inside a tiny box onboard the Ghoz'Tarc...

#PennedPossibilities 856 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #Ashlei #WorldBuilding #SciFi #WIP

857
Does your universe have any autumnal traditions?

As I mentioned on the German Phantastik Prompts yesterday* autumn and spring aren't the same like we know today. The period is barely two weeks in which the weather rapidly swaps between hot summer and cold winter with very little in between.
Other planets have more luck and a lot of colonies still have their own festivals but it's not as big as on Terra in our time.

Since the global unification, similar celebrations have been collectively celebrated on different days.

Death celebrations or Ghost repellent celebrations, gift givings etc.

Since Gaia Unika doesn't forbid other religions since it's more of a philosophical religion, believing in the spirit of Gaia in all Terran life it's not uncommon to have other religions as well, but rarely are this religions celebrating our today known celebrations in the form we do today.

*https://nerdculture.de/@AnnaSaultron/115613394391215282

#PennedPossibilities 857 #StarRyde #WorldBuilding #SciFi #WIP

857.a
One of your characters yells, "Turkey!" What happens next?

1/2
The hallway towards the engineering section of the Ghoz'Tarc seemed strange, longer than usual, bathed in slowly pulsing, red light, covered with thick smoke or fog, the angle seemed off, as if the world had a slight tilt to the right. A humanoide figure leaned against the wall while walking down the corridor, slowly, as if the gravity was also tilted towards the wall. A mag lock fell & slid half rolling over the ground with the typical sound of metal cylinders towards the right side. The figure held one hand pressed to her belly.
The ship was eerily silent, no other sounds, no other people just the gentle his of the cloud coming out of somewhere with pressure. The figure hissed while breathing. Suddenly something stepped into the hallway. The figure tensed and tried to move faster, fighting against the tilted gravity, the mag lock shot
through the corridor➡️
#PennedPossibilities 857.a #StarRyde #GhozTarc #SciFi #WIP

857.a 2/2 ⬅️ only some cm away from the humanoides head. A low, scratching unsettling voice spoke, more gargling than speaking but still understandable:
"It that does not exist can not happen."

The figure stumbled.
J. stood in the good lid corridor to engineering, she stood there questioning what she actually wanted, it felt as if she just had forgotten something. Something important. She spotted a mag lock on the ground. She bent down and grabbed it from the ground.
"You shouldn't be out here, I better bring you back to engineering."
She didn't noticed the pulsing red light coming out under one door in the corridor as she walked towards the engine room.

#PennedPossibilities 857.a #StarRyde #GhozTarc #JHarveyGladstone #SciFi #WIP

... The figure bowed down as she tried to grab the mag lock, she couldn't hold it any longer and her stomach released all the gas that was collected inside. The red pulsing got more intense as she finally reached the toilet on this deck.
6 other crew members stand in front of it...
She groaned painfully as her stomach protested.
"It may have looked like a turkey but clearly wasn't..."
Her fellow comrades moaned in painful agreement.

#PennedPossibilities 857.a #StarRyde #GhozTarc #SciFi #WIP

858
MC POV: Is it easy for you to forgive others? (Truly?)

1/2
Kira sat in her quarters in one of the few chairs inside, going through the psychological evaluation questions. She layed down her pad and walked over to a wall leaning against it and putting her forehead against the cool material. Every loss running through her had, every time she felt betrayed by others... Which where losses in their own way. Tears started running.
She mumbled to herself.
"I wish it would be, I wish I could be an easy forgiving person... I'm not much better than average humans all this Terran mindset is good it is something to strive for... But I have so hard times sometimes remembering all this pain..."

Ash voice came from the speakers in a soft nuanced way Kira learned to appreciate deeply but Ash rarely used as far as she knew.
"Kira, do you wish for my assistance?"
"I don't know Ash..." She tried to pull herself together.
I wish I was a better person.➡️

#PennedPossibilities 858 #StarRyde #KiraKnox

858 2/2
⬅️ than maybe people would longer stick around and don't leave me so often."

"Kira you are a beloved friend and commanding officer, that earned her crews loyalty. Your friends love you in a romantic and/or non romantic way to a point that they are ready to jump into action without any questions. This doesn't happens to people that aren't worth it."

"Yeah but for what cost? Have you seen the death trail I leave behind... ?"

"I am aware of the ones you lost... And since I share your memories I understand how bad it feels. Have you ever thought about how many lives you saved?"

"Not enough."

"Not enough thought about it or not enough lives?"

"Tell me since you can read my mind... I can't forgive them for leaving me alone... Yes they died but swex I was 6... How the fuck can I?
Tanya surely had some good reasons to leave me in the desert... Not even Arkham is sure about me. I lost Anika...
I don't want to loose anyone ever again..."
#PennedPossibilities 858 #StarRyde #KiraKnox

859
Do you have a preference for the age of your characters or do you include characters of all ages in your work? Explain why.

Teen to young adults and up to my own age slightly above. As long as I remember enough from my own live I don't think that it will change drastically. Since I have the 'spleen' to let my characters suffer but also expirience sexuality, personal growth, romance etc for all of my stories, it's a given that I act with species equivalents of Teens. If ideas shift to other projects, I my get lower but as far as everything with sexuality goes, 16 humans years is the youngest I get and that's is for the arkward first experiences with another body in close proximity.
My oldest characters from my not further developed Vampire Corn Story was 895 but I prefer it to be around my age which feels the most natural to me.

#PennedPossibilities 859

Last devider toot 2025
From here on following it's December 2025.

Last months devider toot is here:
https://nerdculture.de/@AnnaSaultron/115473533449714225

As always the prompts can be found on: @floofpaldi's profile. Thank you for all this work. 🙏🏽 💚

To the December overview toot you can follow this link:
https://nerdculture.de/@AnnaSaultron/115644277450285375

The start of this mega thread is here:
https://nerdculture.de/@AnnaSaultron/110763385183712440

And the first prompts answer is here:
https://nerdculture.de/@AnnaSaultron/110723765145059262

and all what followed is here:
https://nerdculture.de/@AnnaSaultron/110763385183712440

#PennedPossibilities #December2025

860
What would bring your SC to tears?

Death of a loved one, cruelty, this are what makes most side characters shed tears. In the 24. Century terrans have a lot more compassion. It's not unusual for one to cry because something sad happens.

I have way to many SCs as that I will go into detail for everyone...😅

#PennedPossibilities 860 #StarRyde

861
Has your MC ever committed a crime? If so, what have they done?

Kira has murdered a lot. No that nots right. She has killed a lot of sentient beings. It's theorized that the Eltaryn are sentient. It's only murder if other creatures are sapient enough at least for most humans, as long that humans don't think that other humans aren't sapient enough. Luckily non of my characters are human besides Mondira.
Kiras has ended threats. To Union citizen, to Terrans, to Talithi, Asza'ni, Trellwa'ni, Somwhar and Bethosians. To Humans from the Rim. It is hard to think about 4 meter tall cockroach spiders as sentient less alone sapient if they trying to end you, or with chicken sized bugs hunting you... The gorilla like they use visible armor and weapons, that could count as tools.

She was charged with insubordination and reckless endangerment of Union citizens.
The court spoke her free.
Still people died.

#PennedPossibilities 861 #StarRyde #KiraKnox

861 2/2
Arkham, ran away from her intrusive mother and broke into a car out of desperatiin as a teen. It landed her a place in the Alliance she most likely, as a child of a 'Union exiter', wouldn't have get 'easily', it wasn't at all, because she first had to go through an Emanzipation process, to get the Union to dismiss her mother as the caregiver. And she didn't even thought about that in the first place it was the Men who's car she cracked who had empathy with her and arranged a lot for that poor freezing terran in his broken car (yes cars exits in some locations even in the 24. century).

Ashlei isn't recognized as a person, thus it is technically not possible for her to commit a crime. Because she lacks the agency (according to the law in its current state).

#PennedPossibilities 861 #StarRyde #Arkham #Ashlei

862
If your MC hasn’t committed a crime, what would motivate them to do so

Well they have, at occasions, it's important to say that different worlds have different laws.

The Union punishes unnecessary wealth accumulation harshly. Citizen have to spend their upper income limit excess in social endeavors for Union associated worlds or Rim worlds that strife to join the Union otherwise it's cut & confiscated.

On Eodin, Mondira Ramann's homeworld, capitalism still runs unshackled still even they have social systems & rules that are in place to keep peace & justice running, because nothing is more deadly to wanted to be called 'elites' as if the others feel trampled upon.

On some Rim worlds society is in the middle ages.

For all crew members it would be very easy to get in trouble with the law enforcement on such worlds. Which could make it really awkward for the Union.
For Kira & Arkham it's definitely unequal treatment.

#PennedPossibilities 862 #StarRyde #WorldBuilding #SciFi #WIP

863
Has your SC ever quit a job? What were the circumstances?

In most cases there is no need for that in the Union, people only have to work 2-3 days in an 8 hour shift or 4-5 days on fewer hours, there are people that work 40-50 hours but only out of passion. Since universal income & upper income limits exists people do not take jobs to exist but to participate in society & thrive.

Silas Crosby left the Alliance active service do to having a child. But she didn't stoped working for them.

Mondira possibly could have, on Eodin, since Eodin isn't in the Union & has a capitalist society like we do today (a bit better, they aren't completely idiots in Eodins Government) but Mondira is simply to young to have had any job, she went from school to military service for "an hostile" force how Mondira's "proud Rim" Mother would say. As a child she helped cleaning the Barber shop of her parents. But that wasn't a real job.

#PennedPossibilities 863 #StarRyde #SilasCrosby #MondiraRamann #WIP

864
What is something your MC is objectively bad at but does, anyway?

Kira: lying but at times it's part of the work.

Arkham: interacting with people but as it turns out even as the pilot you have too, you can't hide in that seat forever.

A.S.H.L.E.I.: Making delicious food. The E.P.I. produces an very average product, that satisfied the needs to stay healthy, if the recipe isn't refined.

#PennedPossibilities 864 #StarRyde #KiraKnox #Arkham #ASHLEI #SciFi #WIP