From the clicks and whirs came a ding, then a buzz, then a click-click then another ding. Then it stopped. There was some swooshes of paper, then footsteps came through that door that was behind the desk.

"So I have your papers here, Pers~" The spacecraft haulted with a handful of papers, "Oh!"

My eyes widened within a second of that response, much like I wasn't expected here just yet. She was giving me a stare that wanted me to do something, anything.

"Oh, sorry," She set the papers aside on her cluttered desk, "I thought you were someone else." She then drew papers from a drawer and set them between us in the middle. She glanced down at a clipboard multiple times, grabbed a pen from the other side of the desk, and scribbled words.

"Sorry for the mess, it's all just schedule stuff." We gave eye contact when she set the clipboard down, "I'm the Mars Global Surveyor. School counselor, uh, retired spacecraft."

We shook our hands over the desk, "Erm, Europa Clipper. I don't really have anything to say."

"That's fine. Getting started, huh?" I nodded back to her.

"Yeah, yeah."

"JPL's latest addition." MGS mumbled to herself, "Coming in as soon as one's coming out, how about that..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we have a student who's about to take off for the Kennedy Space Center. His name's Perseverance."

Perseverance! The rover I met earlier! Oh, I didn't know he was leaving that soon!

"Oh, uh, when does he leave?" Please don't tell me I'm about miss him!

"Within the next couple of days." Blast it. "You've already taken up his spot for a majority of things already."

"Oh, what kind of things?"

"Well, first of all, some of the classes he was in. Why do you think my desk is a hot mess?"

True, true...

"Oh, ah, sorry." I whispered.

MGS chuckled and for a second I thought she was laughing at me, "Don't worry, you're fine."

It really seemed like there was a LOT of papers to fill out on her desk. I felt kind of bad, I mean, I just hope I wasn't too much for her.

"Anyways," she grabbed the clipboard once again and continued scribbling, "about the classes. They're looking pretty filled out, as per usual for an interplanetary spacecraft."

'As per usual' made me think about Landsat-9. Perseverance, too, but mostly Landsat-9. He's not an interplanetary spacecraft, so it made me wonder what it was like on the other side of the orbit for him.

"Now, I'm not going to make this daunting for you for the first few days of your life, so for the first month, the schedule's going to be light. I want you to get comfortable here."

That was nice that she wasn't going to through me into...whatever classes. I mean, I still haven't even memorized the map!

I did, however, want to know what I would be taking.

"So, what is it that I'm taking specifically?" I asked.

"Well, what Juno used to call "Jupiterology" when she was here." She had a slight nostalgic smile on her face while she was looking at her clipboard, then 'woke' up from that expression and looked up at me, "It's uh, just basic Jupiter 101. What you're really gonna have to focus on is the moon Europa. Other than that, it's surviving in deep space, radiation education, astrobiology, and astronavigation, for example." Oh stars please don't list any more. That 'for example' implies more than I would like there to be.

"O-oh, uhm..." I had no idea what to say. What was I supposed to say to those classes?

"Like I said, we're gonna ease you into it. For now, I want you to get used to the place, and maybe socialize with some other spacecraft here so it doesn't feel like you're cooped up talking to humans." she giggled under her breath, "We still have another interplanetary spacecraft who isn't launching until 2022, but she's a little bit...let's say loud." I'd rather stick to Landsat-9 if I can, please.

"Uhm, where can I go?" I didn't know if I was only allowed within certain areas of the school, if that included classes, or if I could even go to the other buildings.

"As long as it's not a class in progress, the storage, and --stars-- definitely not in the cafeteria kitchen, it should be okay."

 I gave it a little bit a thought. "Is the library okay to visit?"