Rift Station: Open Worlds

Everyone on the ship is cleared to enter now. The reception area outside the docking bay is gigantic. With the low lighting on the dark walls and floors, the high domed ceiling, and windows everywhere offering a view of the eternal starlit night and the pink mist of a distant nebula, it feels like you're walking in space. There are people here to greet you, both Emittier and Human, but you're all a bit overwhelmed. Some of your fellow travelers are grinning in crazed excitement and awe of just having set foot in such a legendary place, others have their datapads out, exchanging what might be the last messages with loved ones, a few are clustered here and there speaking in hushed whispers or praying. The docking bay is also crowded with uniformed workers and maintenance people who live here of course, to whom this is all a common sight.

You stand a bit apart from it all, taking it all in. You possess a map showing you where you should meet for your last briefing before you enter the rift, and you know there's a hotel room waiting for you, but you won't leave till morning and you sort of feel like you should do something to mark this occasion, or at least prepare a bit more for what's to come. Everything else in your life will be thought of in terms of before and after this momentous day.