Chapter Text
— Rozanov —
Ilya Rozanov joined the Russian Air Force as soon as he turned eighteen. It was what his grandfather did, it was what his father did, and if his older brother hadn’t failed his medical screening so spectacularly, it was what he would have done, too.
In short, it had been expected of him, regardless of the conscription laws, and so on his eighteenth birthday, instead of celebrating, he had gone to the recruitment office and signed his life away.
The rigidity and the structure of military service were easy to fall into. It was demanding in a familiar way, and it wasn’t anything he wasn’t already used to after life with his father. His naturally competitive nature quickly shot him to the top of his class, and his abrasiveness and cocky attitude ironically meant he fit right in with the other pilots.
Within a year, he was the best fighter pilot in his division, and he was already looking at a promotion to a higher rank. They already had him flying missions that would make a lesser man’s head spin. He was smart, too. He excelled in the military’s required math, and physics courses. He became invaluable, a prodigy, some would say.
And yet.
He was proud to serve his country, that much was true. But something was missing. Ilya felt… unfulfilled, restless. He couldn’t put his finger on what it was, but he knew he needed more.
It wasn’t until another three years later that Roscosmos made an announcement that they would be actively selecting candidates for the cosmonautics program, and suddenly all the pieces clicked together in Ilya’s head with dizzying clarity.
He wanted to be free of the endless war machine of the VVS, to get away from his father’s harsh and impossible expectations. He could be a cosmonaut. He wanted to touch the stars.
— Hollander —
Shane Hollander started college when he was just seventeen years old with a major in biology. It was only one year early, but it was enough to fast-track him through his undergrad before any of his peers. He worked hard, his parents were proud, he was the smartest in his class.
He even found the time to play intramural hockey. Sometimes, Shane thought that in another life, he could have probably played hockey professionally. Maybe he would have even made it to the NHL. But that trajectory had long since passed; he’d chosen a life of academia, and again and again he continued to push boundaries, continued to excel and thrive as he challenged himself more and more.
One of his higher level professors recommended him for an accelerated Master’s program, which he fell into wholeheartedly and with gusto, and so he found himself with a Bachelor's degree, a Master’s degree, and a shiny new thesis in stem cell research at the ripe age of twenty-two.
On paper, he had everything he wanted. He was a prodigy in his field, already making a name for himself, and he was highly sought after by many prestigious universities. He could be set for life, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something else waiting for him, that he could be more. As if the universe heard his unconscious yearning, he happened upon an article one day that made his chest lurch with a desire so strong it nearly hurt.
Canada Space Agency Announces Open Astronaut Recruitment For The First Time in Sixteen Years, read the title.
The Canadian Space Agency. Astronauts. It was a career path that for Shane’s entire life felt like some child’s impossible dream, but the article was telling him it could be a reality. It could be his reality. Something shifted in him then, something important, and Shane knew this is what he had been missing.
Shane latched onto this opportunity with a single-minded focus, and within the week, he was reviewing application requirements and already reaching out for letters of recommendation.
He knew his research would be valuable, could already imagine the advancements in medicine that stem cell research in space could make. Maybe it would benefit future space exploration, or maybe they would bring it back back down to Earth to help people here. The possibilities were endless and that was exhilarating.
Shane wanted to be an astronaut. He needed to be an astronaut. He wanted to help humanity. He wanted to touch the stars.