My Experience at Space Camp - A Short TBT Series by Shinkai (unrelated to Obscure Observations, was made before it!)

[ShinkaiTheSeaWing]

I posted this short story on the Bell Tree Direct thread, and I'm going to be posting this and future chapters in the series here. I will be making these as the event goes on. Thanks to @LateGamer for giving me the motivation to make more :>

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1
"Passport, Please."​

"Welcome to the Galactic Warp Spaceport. "

Intercom: "Attention: Freighter 3214 Departing."
The room bustles with the sounds of chattering vacationers, the roaring engines of freighters and starships, and the intercom blaring about every five seconds. This massive facility is easy to get lost in. I walk over to the counter, and speak to the lady, trying to hurry to make it in time. Well, I say "lady," but that's not completely true. Most jobs that humans would have done have been replaced with automated drones. Its auto-tune-sounding voice greets me blankly, but a happy expression runs across its face.
Drone Attendant: "Passport, please."
I show her my Galactic Passport, the leather torn around the edges.
"Bell Tree Hub, Near Gracia System," I say, equally as expressionless. I show the android my ticket and ID.
Drone Attendant: "That will be Station 2298. Thanks for visiting the Galactic Warp Spaceport!"
I barely hear the rest of "her" sentence as I walk away. I trek through the spiraling halls, passing small shops and waiting areas for other freighters. The walk is tiring, even with those flat escalator things. The emptiness of space out the window doesn't help much. The Galactic Warp Spaceport is one of the largest facilities in the quadrant, so I bet you can guess how it went. The cramped, sweaty taxi shuttle that brought me here felt more comfortable than this hike, but at last, it was over.
So here I am, on my way to Camp Bell Tree. I open the double doors to the waiting room, "FREIGHTER 2298 - DEPARTING SOON" flashing in yellow above the door frame. Contrasting the white titanium walls and blue plaid-patterned carpets, I am greeted with a living-room-sized, one-windowed room with a beige carpet, grey-blue painted walls, and those fancy white chairs you'd find in the lobby at a dentist's office. That is, besides the giant metal doors on the side of the wall leading you to board the freighter. After the small shock of the change in atmosphere, I sit down in the corner, kind of away from most of the others in the waiting room, all sitting in the middle and chatting about Camp Bell Tree. I'm relatively new to the group, but I still recognize some faces.
The screen on the wall: "Estimated freighter take-off time: UNCERTAIN. Please accustom yourself to the room as you wait. We have snacks and drinks over by the left wall!"
More people slowly enter the room, some I recognize, and some I don't. I'd been to a good few planets and systems before, but none as far as where the camp will be. I hope we get to watch movies on the ride. I don't have a pilot's license yet, so I'm used to sitting in the back of public transport shuttles and reading or playing some random game on my tablet for the ride. My exosuit's AI keeps me company for long trips.
I sit and stare at my watch, not sure what to do for the next couple of hours. Maybe I'll get a snack soon. I begin to drift off to sleep in the chair.

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Thanks for reading! I'll post the next one likely soon after the camp begins. This futuristic world I've spontaneously made up will be expanded greatly, and it will be my headcanon on the behind-the-scenes and minor story details of how the camp plays out, even if it may not be exactly what happens in the forums. For now, I have some ideas on what to do, but it all depends on the details of the event. The video game No Man's Sky is the main inspiration for this project, and depending on how you view things, it may or may not be what the story takes place in!

 

[ShinkaiTheSeaWing]

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2
"Hello, My Name Is"​

The screen on the wall: "Freighter departing in T-minus... Two minutes."
Finally, after hours of waiting. (And let me tell you, sleeping in that chair wasn't the most comfortable feeling.) Now that the freighter was here, it was time to board. I heard that the pilot was some sort of bird by the name of Gulliver. Anthropomorphic animals of all kinds were a normal sight where I came from, so it was not a surprise to me. I and many others walked aboard the freighter through the corridor leading to its entrance, then picked a spot in the vast rows of seating after giving our luggage to a man who was part of the crew. The bulk of the freighter was cargo, though because this was simply a passenger flight, around three-quarters of it was unused. The rest of the freighter was the hanger, the control, and the living quarters. The seating area for passengers was only about the size of a soccer field, which was quite big, but nothing compared to the full ship. I sat in the back again and pulled out a sketchpad. As I began to draw, I started up a conversation with the AI in my exosuit. Not many people had exosuits with AI, but the AI In mine, Telamon, was quite special to me. They were like a sibling, always there and willing to indulge in any form of conversation.
Gulliver over intercom: "Pleased to sea you, passengers! My name's Gulllllliver, and I'll be your captain for today. Is everyone rrrready for camp? 'Cuz it's time to soar! Buckle your sea-tbelts and get comfortable. We don't want anyone to get sea... or rather, spacesick!"
The eccentric seabird jabbered on for the next couple of minutes, various passengers responding to his enthusiastic questions. I'm not really one to talk in crowds. I set up my neck pillow and removed my space whale plush from my backpack, ready to leave. Nobody else on the freighter seemed to try to talk to me during my short sequence of on-and-off naps, so I settled into a comfortable position and before you knew it, we jumped about half the galaxy away. The next airport was in the Gracia System, one I was familiar with, as I actually used to live there.
We rendezvoused at the Gracia Space Station, and the freighter slowly hauled itself the rest of the way to its destination. After a bit of turbulence from slowing down, the Bell Tree Hub was now in view, a metallic, green-and-white series of structures all forming the shape of a tree looming in the distance. The smallest structure, the one we were staying in, was ring-shaped, with a large telescope jutting out of one end, and the words "The Lopez" written along the circumference of the station.
Because of my spot in the back, I was the last one to collect my luggage and exit the ship. Firmly docked, the freighter let out a hiss of steam as we crowded into the bridge. We all had on those "Hello, My Name Is" name tags, mine with "Shinkai no Kagayaku" lazily drawn by my past self. Looking around, I noticed that each name tag sported a number one through four, a one on mine, and a three on the person next to me.
Person atop a set of stairs: "Welcome everyone, to Bell Tree Camp 2023!" the leader said.
A cheer followed.
"On each of your name tags is a number one through four. If you see anyone with the same number, get to know each other! Why? Because they will be in your crew!"
I didn't see anyone near me with the number one. They must all be hanging out together already.
"Follow your crew captains to your rooms, they will be holding up a sign with your number on it! It's about 8 pm now, and you must be in your rooms by eleven thirty, so go have fun in your crew's quarters for now, and feel free to stop at the cafeteria for dinner!"
Our group definitely had the longest walk to our quarters. We didn't get any tour of the station yet, they said that "finding your way around is your own adventure," or something cheesy like that. The cabin doors made a high-pitched hum as they slid apart, opening to a near-empty room with a few rows of bunk beds, a counter with snacks, and a door, opposite the entrance, leading to what was probably the bathroom. I silently called dibs on the top bunk by the outside window. Our suitcases went in our lockers by the bathrooms, but we got to keep our smaller backpacks and things with us. Reading the list of activities to do while waiting for the first few days, I nibbled on a strawberry-flavored snack that I brought along.
After reading up, I signed up for the Count Inside the Bottle activity, as well as submitting a color for our group. With that done, I looked at the schedule on the back of the name tag. It was mostly empty besides smaller activities, likely to be filled in over time. We had a bit to go until the first big thing happened. The bunk beds weren't the most comfortable. My super-soft pillow and whale plush made up for it, though. Most of my crewmates had left the room for dinner, except for myself and a few others. I was just going to stay and snack on stuff I brought, maybe get a drink from the counter by the wall opposite the window. I sat and doodled for a while, having small conversations with a couple of other crewmates near me.
I wrote down a reminder to write down the names of the people I meet. I'm not good with names, and awkward conversations are annoyingly common with me. By eleven thirty, most of us had already begun to settle down for the night. Or, well, lights out. There's not exactly nighttime in space. I, however, stayed up quite later than most of the others, thinking about home. I should probably get to sleep, I'm getting quite tired...

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[ShinkaiTheSeaWing]

Sorry, running suuppperrrr late on part 3. It will arrive later today, I promise!!!

 

[ShinkaiTheSeaWing]

So I've got news for the people following this. I'm planning to release a bunch of these all in one day, later in camp. Too much is going on in camp to keep up, and I just have been caught up with so much else in my life that I never get around to opening up TBT. Hope that's alright :>