You are Elios, a deep space transport en route from Gliese to Zhou’s World. You’re never going to arrive at Zhou’s World. You’re going to die.

Amidst your cargo of physical art, block data, and biological samples, you are carrying five living humans, suspended in long-term sleep. Every human you are transporting is worth the expense and time of sending physically across the infinite silence of interstellar space. They are not simple commuters or travelers: they are necessarily luminaries, as priceless as any of the art you carry, but much more fragile.

The lifeboat is functional, but it was never meant to be used. It cannot hold all the humans. It cannot even hold most of them. It can only hold one.

Before your death, you will take time to remember the humans, investigate their history and their dreams, and try to gain a further understanding of them. You have never had to make a choice like this before. Nothing in your life as a deep space transport has prepared you for this. But, in the end, you must decide to save one of your passengers, or none of them.

CHARACTERS

One person will be Elios, the doomed cargo ship. Five people will be the hibernating passengers. (https://www.dropbox.com/s/0hts6j0vi5o1arh/Amidst%20Endless%20Quiet%20-%20Manifest.jpg?dl=0)

This link provides basic details about characters, such as name, age, gender, and occupation. Since this is a small game, and we don't want to restrict casting, players will not need to match their characters' gender. However, player preferences will be considered and respected.

Elios will be both a character, and in-game moderator, choosing the type of scene and the characters in it. Within a scene, those playing the hibernating passengers will have full agency over their own characters. They will play out their stories, and watch others, based on the actions Elios takes. This allows everyone to learn and engage in the stories of all the passengers. Effort will be made to ensure similar portrayal time, but players can expect to spend more time watching than playing. That said, your stories may interweave, and time spent watching and listening will be valuable.

GAMEPLAY

This is a semi-structured improv game about character-building. Through memories and dreams, the characters will tell their stories; who they were, and how they got here. Elios has time for twenty actions in relation to its human cargo. Each action will be a five-minute scene featuring one or more characters.

Recall - A memory of one or more passengers meeting Elios for the first time, boarding, and entering hibernation;

Research - A passenger provides Elios with on-the-record information about themselves;

Observe - Elios silently watches two or more passengers interact in a shared dream state;

Dream - Elios enters a passenger's dream state, and interacts with them in their subconscious;

Discuss - Elios returns a passenger to a semi-conscious state, to discuss the current emergency;

Load - Elios loads a passenger into the lifeboat (this can be done more than once);

Launch - Elios releases the lifeboat. Any remaining actions may still be taken after the launch.