Last Stop Before Everywhere

At the edge of known space, alien-forward hybrid teenager Jaxen “Jax” Vrell works the counter at Outer Transit Service Station Z-11, a run-down family-operated convenience stop where the universe takes a break before heading everywhere else. Jax grew up inside the station and knows every route out, but he has never been able to leave. Every shift, legendary explorers, smugglers, space marines, alien tourists, cosmic pilgrims, abducted humans, bounty hunters, and lost travelers pass through on their way to bigger adventures. Jax sells them memory cigarettes, fuel cells, strange snacks, oxygen cartridges, lottery futures, and bad coffee while dealing with declined cards, expired IDs, illegal starship parking, broken station equipment, disgusting washroom disasters, and a sarcastic sentient ATM named Teller-7 The tone is a funny, weird, emotionally grounded sci-fi workplace comedy with a coming-of-age heart. The universe outside is vast and beautiful. The station inside is cramped, overworked, cluttered, fluorescent, and impossible to escape. Jax is surrounded by protagonists, but he is stuck being the person behind the counter. Everyone is going somewhere. Jax is still on shift.