As Sam rushed through the hallways, the lights switched to night mode around him, leaving only faint glows that marked the edges of the corridor and dim puddles of light that lit a tiny circle around him as he moved down the corridor.

Or, at least, the puddles were meant to move around him. He kept getting ahead of his light source and having to slow down. He cursed when it happened for the third time, and he stumbled on uneven flooring.

He understood why the ship would need to save energy and wear on systems by turning all but the most essential bits off at night, but he wondered why the lights in his neighborhood went off a few minutes before curfew when he’d heard that lights in posh sections didn’t go off until at least an hour later.

It was still before curfew,...

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