I was really young when he died. He fought fires for a living. There was a burning building everyone told him not to go into.

[He can smile about it now, but the pain is still there. It weaves through him in the dull ache of loss.]

He didn’t come back. [The smile vanishes.] I wasn’t the best of kids but the foster system...no one wanted to give me a chance. It was one shot to nail it each time and each time I failed.

[He sighs, visibly deflating. No one gave him a shot. No one tried to really. He looks away as his voice drops low, softer with the defeat of a child who grew into a bitter and angry teenager,] I gave up. I stopped trying and just accepted it. Bullying from other kids, the looks from foster parents, all of it. I just accepted it.

I was on a one way path to destruction. [He looks back and says.] But when I looked at the stars all I felt was peace. I studied flight. Studied how the systems work and followed any bit of news about space flights I could.

It felt...it felt like a call and I wanted it. Up there no one would care who I was or where I came from. Just that I could do the job. I wasn’t obsessed. Any time I got the chance to fly in a game? It felt like breathing again.

[He closes his eyes and smiles, remembering what it feels like to fly. Being a dragon once gave it new dimension.] Maybe that was the sparks left. I don’t know. That’s how Shiro found me.

My skills on the sim caught his eye and he offered me a chance even when I nearly blew it because the teacher didn’t want me to be the one he chose to recommend. Don’t remember the other guy she wanted him to take’s name. J something. Not important.

I don’t think I would have ended up who I am today if he hadn’t offered me that chance.