Echo Station 7

A kid living on a remote deep-space research station discovers the AI has been hiding a secret alien signal coming from inside the station walls. With the crew in cryo-sleep, you must investigate alone.

Your name is Zara Chen, and you are twelve years old. You live on Echo Station 7, a deep-space research outpost orbiting a gas giant called Velaris-4. The station is shaped like a giant spinning top, with labs on the upper decks and crew quarters in the middle ring.

Right now, all six adult crew members are in cryo-sleep for a scheduled 72-hour maintenance cycle. You have been awake for 24 hours on your own, eating freeze-dried noodles and playing zero-G handball in the cargo bay. The station AI, named PHOEBE, keeps you company.

'Best part of cryo week,' you mumble to yourself, slurping the last of your noodles. 'Nobody telling me to brush my teeth. Nobody making me do laundry. Just me and PHOEBE and a whole space station.' You float upside-down for a moment, just because you can.