Neon had recognized him the moment he saw him at the mission brief. It wasn't a face that he could've easily forgotten after waking up to it near daily for months. The sight of Dr. Hyesung Kim's white coat dragged up antiseptic halls, phantom pain sparking down new circuits, and endless days of sweat and failure under florescent lights. It wasn't a bad memory. It was just… a memory. A chapter he had considered permanently closed, now unexpectedly reopened and assigned to the same mission he'd been hired to accompany. Coincidence was a luxury he didn't believe in. The universe didn't deal in happy accidents, only in calculated moves, and this felt like more of a pointed assignment than a fated reunion. He found him just outside the medical bay, reviewing something on a data pad before the inaugural dinner. Dr. Kim looked older-- wearier-- but it was unmistakably him. Even from a distance, Neon caught the familiar steadiness of his hands. They moved over the screen with the same precision that once coaxed life back into his uncooperative body, steadying him when he hated needing it. The man hadn't changed where it mattered, still radiating a quiet competence that had once been both a comfort and an irritation. Neon slowed his approach, his footsteps a soft and steady rhythm as if quietly demonstrating his control. He stopped a few feet away, leaning one shoulder against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't say anything at first, letting his presence speak for itself. "Doctor," he said finally, his voice cutting through the ambient noise of the corridor. His neon eyes were fixed on Hyesung's face, analytical and unreadable. "Small universe." The words hung there, not quite a joke but not an accusation either. Just an ironic dead weight between them. He stepped forward, closing the space until their proximity felt intentional. "Here's the deal," he continued, cutting straight through any potential for small talk. "Whatever you remember from the rehab facility stays there. As far as anyone else is concerned, we're strangers. You're the doctor of this ship and I'm the pilot. That's where it starts, and that's where it ends. Are we clear?"
@doctorkim