The interior of the ship was packed with thousands of humans, almost looking like a slaughterhouse. Everyone on board was already wearing the Prospects of Truth signature space-suit, with Theus being the only one who didn't fit in.
The employee from before walked in alongside him, with the mechanical door closing behind him, closing off Theus' last goodbye to his mother.
"Need a suit, #3000?"
Theus frowned at the name, showing how quickly his identity was already forgotten by the attendee.
"Yeah, please. By the way, it's Theus, not #3000."
The employee disregarded his remark and walked off to go fetch Theus' suit, giving him some time to ponder and fully collect himself.
He looked around the ship and saw, despite the door's unsanitary condition, the rest of the ship was rather clean. It seems the organization really wanted returnees, so they did their best to bolster their appearances to the max.
There were defensive measures implemented within the walls as well, that rode all the way up to the roof, lined with holes that seemingly projected lasers across to the other side of the hull. They were connected to a mechanism that could raise and lower them, either keeping them lined on the walls, making them active, or they could be bundled together on the roof, deactivating their purpose.
It was essentially a more convoluted way than simply turning them on or off, but it fit with the budget of the rest of the ship. They were currently raised up, the lasers covering the ceiling with the rundown conveyor belt turned off, rust forming all around it due to its lack of usage.
Yet what good would lasers serve on the interior of a cargo ship, and why was it so unused?
Theus, pushing these thoughts away, wanted to find a solitary spot on the ship where he could fully figure out what his Desire held for him. He deemed this as his alone time to figure out his abilities before things got busy, and spotted a good corner that held no one else in it.
Or so he thought, when he bumped into an invisible wall.
"Ugh, what the hell? What genius put a holographic wall here?!"
Truth be told, Theus had no clue as to what a holograph was, only regurgitating words he had heard from his mother. The object in front of him turned perceptible once again, revealing a short boy, no older than Theus. He was hunched over and looked anxious, with light hazel hair and sky blue eyes, he looked rather adorable.
"S-sorry, I'll be out of your way shortly."
Theus, startled as the boy began to turn invisible again, quickly grabbed the boy to prevent him from shifting off.
"W-Wait! You don't look far off from my age, what's your name? Pretty sure we could get along.
The boy's lips quivered from the force of Theus' grab, then he muttered out a few words quietly.
"Uh, I-I'm Mono, and I'm eighteen, sir."
Mono was let go carefully, and was met by the other's sorrowful gaze. Growing anxious again, Mono gradually turned invisible, then disappeared into nothingness.
Theus sulked over to the free corner, and threw himself onto the ground.
'Older than me… Seriously?! Great–he's older than me yet looks like a damn model!'
While Theus was rubbing his face to feel for any imperfections, in contrast to Mono's pleasant face, he spotted a crowd of people forming around something. Despite this, he drove his focus and attention towards finally discovering his abilities.
Opening up his status once more, he saw the same words as before, with his reason still being cut off from his peering eyes.
Lightly cursing, Theus focused on his Desire's name.
'Desire for Concept, wait a minute…'
The word "concept" had more than one meaning that Theus couldn't remember until now. He recalled there had been multiple pieces of paper with designs sketched for various machines in his mother's workplace at the factory, his mother typically naming these papers as a concept.
Despite this revelation, Theus still couldn't piece together the meaning behind his Desire. Regardless, he focused on one obvious fact.
'A concept is an idea before it's formed. In other words, maybe I can form things, like food…'
Just as Theus diverted all of his attention to this one idea, an object formed in his hands, the only food he knew well, a synthetic burger.
Theus dropped the burger on the floor in utter shock at the capability of his Desire, then, he quickly picked it back up, eating it immediately.
'What if I create a bunch of money?! Then, I don't even have to board this cheap flight!'
Theus focused on the idea, yet his mind trembled with pain, forcing him to forget the idea.
'DON'T'
At this point, he deemed the voice as an inhibitor to his power, rather than a protector. Then, he tried to visualize and create money once again.
'DO YOU WANT YOUR HUMANITY LOST?'
Theus froze at hearing this. With his eyes wide with wonder, he proceeded to inquire about the voice internally.
'Is that why you keep preventing me from doing, like, anything with my Desire? Why'd I bother getting one then?'
Pain ran its course through his brain once more as a response came from The Mutation.
'TOO FAR FOR THOROUGH CO…TION, F…E CALLS F…OU-'
Theus felt the voice in his brain burn out, leaving him with even more questions.
'What? Why is The Mutation even speaking to me? Isn't its purpose just to give cool powers?'
Throughout this time, the employee finally found Theus, who had wandered away some time ago completely forgetting about his suit, startling Theus.
"Finally, here's your suit. The database chip is stored in one of the pockets, we stole it from an abandoned Messenger's ship. Crazy, right?"
Theus stared at the chip, a confused look on his face. He then looked back at the employee, holding the chip in his hand.
"Not sure if I'm wrong, but I thought this was just a simple flight to Europa? Y'know, for a new chance at life or whatever?"
The employee blinked a couple of times, then burst out laughing. Theus remained still, holding the chip and inspecting it, but the employee went and snatched it from his hand.
"Oh, that was funny! Damn, we didn't tell you poor kids yet?"
Theus slowly shook his head no, and jolted it upwards in reaction to the loudspeaker brimming with life once more. Everybody in the ship's interior was now staring at the loudspeaker, some whispering to one another, while others were biting their nails in anxiousness.
"Hello everyone, and welcome on board the Stellar Pioneer!"
Theus, processing these words, remembered the slight description of his reason for the Desire he received.
'A Pioneer's dying wish. Maybe this ship…?'
The person on the loudspeaker continued on, making Theus suppress these thoughts for now.
"As you all know, you have received an exploration ready suit alongside a database chip to store any essentials within your personal digital database. You may be wondering, 'Why is this? Aren't we simply traveling to Europa?' I am more than sad to say that this isn't the case. Those of you boarding from both Mars and Deceased Earth, we will be venturing past Europa, past Jupiter, and even past Neptune. Welcome to the Prospects of Truth everyone, the organization that's signed a death warrant, by directly going against the rule of The Messengers."
The room was silent for a while, until a few people came to a realization, then a couple, then more and more.
The ship's interior was filled with a cacophony of screams, vibrating against the dark, steel walls, Theus' voice conjoined alongside theirs. They were trapped on an expedition into the prohibited and the unknown, an entire new planet.