Chapter Text
SAME DAY:
Before the games officially began, Arcturus invited a few more guests and participants—SIMP0136’s long-lost planets, Gliese 900, HR 3070, Cha 1107-7626, Cha Hα 1, HD 97048, HD 97300, etc. Overjoyed to see her five planets alive and well, SIMP0136 blinked back tears and rushed towards them, ready to embrace her little sisters.
They were civil and polite with her…but those feelings of sorrow and grief lingered nonetheless. Still, the sub-brown dwarf had so many questions, yearning to know where her planets had been all these years. SIMP felt like her younger jubilant self again, which surprised her former cult followers (especially WISE and OGLE).
[SIMP0136🟤🚺]: (worried) Arcturus said you guys were ejected from the Milky Way. Is that true? How did you manage to find your way back?
[SIMP0136E🔵🚺]: (hesitantly) Well um…w-we —
[SIMP0136D🌎🚺]: (hastily) We didn’t know where we were at first…but then we met some new friends who helped us. It took a while though.
[SIMP0136B🌎🚺]: (awkwardly) Yeah…what she said.
[SIMP0136🟤🚺]: (delighted) Oh that’s great! So where are these friends of yours? I’d love to thank them in person.
To her right, Planet X and some other rogues were extremely baffled.
[PLANET X🪐🚹]: (whispering) Who the fuck is that?
[SEDNA🔘🚺]: (frowning) No idea. Since when did she have planets?
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: (concerned) It’s like she’s a completely different person now. I’m not sure how to feel about this.
[OGLE-2016-BLG-1928🌎🚹]: (befuddled) Yeah…I feel like we’re missing something.
Nearby, the Gliese 900 System chatted privately.
[GLIESE 900C☀️🚺]: Should we tell them?
[GLIESE 900A☀️🚺]: The truth or…?
[GLIESE 900B☀️🚺]: Uh huh. It’s now or never.
[QUAOAR🔘🚹]: (eavesdropping) Tell us what?
[GLIESE 900🎯🚺]: (startled) Aah!
[QUAOAR🔘🚹]: (sheepishly) Whoops—my bad.
[GLIESE 900C☀️🚺]: It’s fine. We didn’t see you, that’s all.
[SEDNA🔘🚺]: So…you gonna spill the tea or what?
The system looked at each other knowingly before facing them again. Gliese 900 thoroughly explained their sister’s tragic backstory—how a random stellar accident caused them to separate 50 million years prior, forcing them to mourn each other after spotting identical debris.
[PLANET X🪐🚹]: (sympathetically) So…so that’s why she hates them.
[SEDNA🔘🚺]: (sadly) It makes sense, but…she blames all stars for it?
[QUAOAR🔘🚹]: It doesn’t make sense though. She wasn’t hostile with you guys, and most of you are stars.
[GLIESE 900D🟤🚺]: Don’t get me wrong—SIMP doesn’t hate any of her siblings. She’s still civil with them. It’s just…she tries avoiding them as much as possible. That’s why we stopped visiting.
[GLIESE 900A☀️🚺]: We also had no idea she organized a cult until a few months ago—when they were exposed.
[GLIESE 900B☀️🚺]: (scowling) Yeah, what the hell was she thinking?
A spectroscopic binary system joined their conversation.
[HR 3070A☀️🚺]: (dryly) She wasn’t—that’s the problem.
[HR 3070B☀️🚺]: (long sigh) You can say that again.
[SEDNA🔘🚺]: You’re her sisters too?
[HR 3070🎯🚺]: Yep.
[QUAOAR🔘🚹]: Damn—she has a lot.
[SEDNA🔘🚺]: So do we, genius.
[QUAOAR🔘🚹]: Yeah, but we don’t really know any other stars…besides the Sun.
[PLANET X🪐🚹]: HD 162826 exists.
[QUAOAR🔘🚹]: We only met him like once. That doesn’t count.
[SEDNA🔘🚺]: Doesn’t matter. For now, let’s focus on winning this thing.
[QUAOAR🔘🚹]: Good idea.
[ARCTURUS🌟🚹]: (clearing throat) Everyone, settle down and listen to Peregrin.
The background chatter morphed into silence as they fixed their gaze on the T9V brown dwarf, who thanked them with a grateful nod.
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: Now…the Solar System themselves cannot participate, as that would give their team an unfair advantage.
[MERIADOC🟤🚹]: He’s right.
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: But the rest of you will have a go. Each team should pick one of their smartest members for this round. However, there will be different pairs per question.
Both teams picked their first participants, who hovered forward. In other words, rocky planet TRAPPIST-1g versus Y4V sub-brown dwarf WISE 0855-0714.
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: Question 1—what is Luna’s surface gravity? Round to the nearest thousandth.
After ten seconds, one red buzzer instantly lit up.
[TRAPPIST-1G🌎🚺]: 1.622 meters per second squared!
A collective groan erupted from the Rogue Planet Kingdom.
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: (bright smile) Correct! One point goes to Team Star.
Team Star = 1
Team Rogue = 0
[FRODO🟤🚹]: (smug grin) Sorry, Team Rogue. Good luck next time.
WISE glared at him before returning to his spot, sighing defeatedly. Then the next two players were chosen—an unknown mini-Neptune planet versus F0V star 51 Eridani A.
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: Now for Question 2—what is Venus’ blackbody temperature in Kelvin units? Round to the nearest whole number or integer.
The buzzer activated again.
[51 ERIDANI A☀️🚺]: 232 K!
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: Correct! Good job, Team Star—you now have two points total!
Team Star = 2
Team Rogue = 0
[GLIESE 3305☀️🚺]: Great job sis!
[51 ERIDANI A☀️🚺]: Thanks.
[FRODO🟤🚹]: (satisfied smirk) Yeah! Take that, Team Rogue.
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: (arms folded) I thought you said they weren’t biased.
[ARCTURUS🌟🚹]: I said they play fair. I never mentioned anything about personal bias.
The next pair was M9.5 sub-brown dwarf OTS 44 versus M5.5Ve star Proxima Centauri.
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: Question 3—how long is Neptune’s synodic orbit around the Sun in days? Round to the nearest hundredth.
This time, the sub-brown dwarf was quicker.
[OTS 44🟤🚺]: 367.49 days.
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: That’s…correct. One point to Team Rogue!
Team Star = 2
Team Rogue = 1
Alpha Centauri C situated her disappointed self between her brothers.
[PROXIMA CENTAURI☀️🚺]: Damn it…
[TOLIMAN☀️🚹]: Don’t worry sis, you tried.
[FRODO🟤🚹]: (optimistically) Yeah, you guys are still ahead. Don’t count yourself out just yet.
[MERIADOC🟤🚹]: (momentary pause) There are three questions left, so let’s move on. Pip?
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: Good point, Merry. Anyways…moving onto Question 4!
Current participants were rocky planet OGLE-2016-BLG-1928 versus K6V star TOI-1260.
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: What is Jupiter’s surface pressure range? Stick to whole numbers please.
[TOI-1260☀️🚺]: (presses buzzer) 200-600 kPa!
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: (relieved smile) Wonderful! One more point to your team.
Team Star = 3
Team Rogue = 1
[OGLE-2016-BLG-1928🌎🚹]: (gaping) She…she answered so fast.
The Y4V object turned to his former leader.
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: (suspiciously) Are you sure this game is not rigged in their favor?
[SIMP0136🟤🚺]: (distracted) Hm?
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: (exhaling) Nevermind.
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: Alright everyone…time for Question 5.
An icy Mars-sized planet and B8III star Maia took center stage.
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: What is the diameter of Miranda’s Inverness Corona in kilometers? Round to the nearest integer.
It took a while to come up with a proper answer. Then the buzzer went off.
[MAIA🌟🚺]: (confidently) 234 kilometers.
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: (wide grin) Correct! Now you’ve earned another point.
Team Star = 4
Team Rogue = 1
Maia’s sisters cheered loudly, surrounding her frame as the applause slowly faded.
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: Now onto Question 6.
This time, T2.5V sub-brown dwarf SIMP0136 and T9V sub-brown dwarf Gliese 900D (a.k.a. Gliese 900ABCb) were chosen as competitors. SIMP’s breath hitched as soon as she realized she was going against her own sister. Gliese 900D on the other hand, barely restrained her discontent.
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: What is Laomedeia’s orbital eccentricity around Neptune? Round to the nearest ten thousandth.
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: C’mon SIMP…
[OGLE-2016-BLG-1928🌎🚹]: Yeah, go SIMP!
[PSO J318.5-22🟤🚹]: (mumbling) We’re still gonna lose this round.
All of a sudden, the red buzzer pulsated rapidly.
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: Yes?
[GLIESE 900D🟤🚺]: 0.3969.
[PEREGRIN🟤🚹]: That is correct! Congratulations, Team Star—you’ve won the first round!
Team Star = 5
Team Rogue = 1
SIMP0136 floated back to the crowd, ducking her head.
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: (demanding) What the hell was that?
[SIMP0136🟤🚺]: (dismissively) Nothing! I just…couldn’t come up with an answer quick enough.
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: (lowly) Or you already knew the answer and let her win.
[OGLE-2016-BLG-1928🌎🚹]: (frowning) C’mon WISE, I’m sure that’s not true —
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: (harshly) Is it? SIMP clearly has a soft spot for her siblings, but that won’t help us.
[SIMP0136🟤🚺]: (defensively) Does it matter? We’ll still be punished either way.
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: (scoffs) We’ll have a reduced sentence! Or do you not care?
[SIMP0136🟤🚺]: (offended) I care, WISE—more than you know.
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: Not enough to trust your own teammates. If our sentence is reduced, we can find a way to rebuild our society afterwards —
[SIMP0136🟤🚺]: We can’t, remember? It’s illegal. We’ll be caught again.
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: (stubbornly) Then we’ll leave the galaxy and find another place! One where the law doesn’t apply to us.
[OTS 44🟤🚺]: (contemplative) Maybe SIMP’s right. Both our options don’t really give us a choice. It’s something we have to accept.
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: Considering you’re no longer our superiors and can no longer use our gravity on others, surely I’m allowed to say this.
[SIMP0136🟤🚺]: What?
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: You’re both cowards. Soon, you’ll like stars in general and even appreciate them. After all, your siblings are proof enough. (to SIMP0136) I see the way you secretly adore Gliese 900ABC. (to OTS 44) And you’re the exact same with HD 97048 and HD 97300!
[SIMP0136🟤🚺]: (denying) They’re different.
[OTS 44🟤🚺]: (nodding) I agree.
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: Then tell me something…do you truly hate stars? Or just specific ones? (eyeballing SIMP0136) Like the yellow dwarf that ejected your planets?
[SIMP0136🟤🚺]: (conflicted) I…
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: Well? Do you?
[SIMP0136🟤🚺]: Maybe! I-I don’t know!
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: (insisting) Then why did you even create the Rogue Planet Kingdom?! What was the point if you didn’t truly believe —
[SIMP0136🟤🚺]: (stressed) I didn’t, alright?! It was already there!
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: How?!
[SIMP0136🟤🚺]: I’m 200 million years old! What do you think?!
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: That’s not an answer!
[SIMP0136🟤🚺]: Oh shut up!
[OTS 44🟤🚺]: (carefully) Guys, can we please not fight —
[ARCTURUS🌟🚹]: (booming) What is going on here?!
The chatter died as fear and intimidation filled the air.
[ARCTURUS🌟🚹]: (glowering at them) Is there something you’d like to share?
[WISE 0855-0714🟤🚹]: (scowling) No sir.
[ARCTURUS🌟🚹]: (dissatisfied) Very well. We’ll take a 30-minute break and regroup afterwards.
[MERIADOC🟤🚹]: Good idea.