Daisuke

Occupation

Intern working under Swansea

Gender

Male

About Daisuke

Daisuke is an intern on the Tulpar space freighter under the supervision of the ship's mechanic, Swansea.

Appearance

Daisuke is a tall young man with a tanned complexion, mid-length, semi-dyed brown hair, and almond-shaped brown eyes; he has a round face with one mole on each cheek, his right mole being under his eye and his left mole a little lower. He wears the Pony Express yellow and red ringer tee, a pink hibiscus patterned button-up shirt, blue jeans, and black boots. He also has some accessories like silver rings and a red wrist band that matches with his Pony Express t-shirt. On Earth, he looks the same but the Pony Express t-shirt is replaced with a regular white t-shirt. He is 20-23 years old.

Personality

Daisuke might be the most optimistic crew member. He is almost always enthusiastic and excited about things happening around the ship: the mentee seems to have felt like he was doing his part just with the menial task of taking stock of the kitchen four times over, as ordered by an exasperated Swansea.

Biography

Daisuke didn't want to do the internship, but his parents made him because he had been an aimless young adult. Worried about his future, they thought that having some time in a stricter environment and away from home would ultimately help him find his way in life. When he does end up on the Tulpar, while at first anguished, he eventually decides to put on a brave face and try his best to make his parents proud. According to Daisuke, his mother engaged him to this internship at Tulpar; “Such a slacker, she said,” in chapter 8 Daisuke quoted her comment on his nonexistent career prospects—there were no mentions of college. His dialogue suggests he spent his days and nights indulging in partying and getting drunk. Jimmy also implies that Daisuke seems to be from a well-off family, though this may just be Jimmy being cruel.

Relationships

Swansea: Daisuke works directly under Swansea, as an intern. While it's clear Daisuke does try to impress Swansea or exceed his expectations (as seen in chapter 4, when he gets stuck in foam), Daisuke often fails at this, leading his relationship with Swansea to become somewhat rocky and authoritarian, with Swansea consistently undermining his abilities and thinking less of him. Despite this, it's clear in their final interactions that Swansea did see Daisuke as a kind of son or mentee figure, being the person to offer him a final act of mercy.

Tulpar

The Tulpar is a long-haul space freighter provided by Pony Express that the game takes place on. The vessel was designed to accommodate a crew of 4 (but due to the Pony Express irresponsibility, two interns end up on the ship) for upwards of a year of continuous interstellar travel. Besides the mandatory captain and co-pilot in control of the vessel, the Tulpar is also staffed by at least one engineer and a medical officer, the latter of whom is tasked with administering weekly psychological evaluations ("psych evals") on the remaining crew. The Tulpar's navigation system is capable of running on auto-pilot and operates on such for the majority of its flight, but also has an emergency manual override. Related to this, the Tulpar also houses cryogenic pods to be used in the event that the vessel becomes inoperable and the ETA of rescue services exceeds the on-board oxygen and food supply. The pods allow suspended animation for a period of up to 20 years, but must be activated by a second party from the outside once a person has entered. Locations: The Tulpar has two floors with two sets of stairs. Main lobby, Utility room, Cockpit, Medbay, Sleeping quarters, Cargo hold. Anya specifically mentions that the doors do not have any locks. The crew is transporting Mouthwash but due to Pony Express negligence the crew does not know what they are transporting.

Pony Express

The Pony Express is the space freighter company present in the game. They manufactured the Tulpar and employ employees to do long-distance trips for shipments. Their mascot is Polle. Instances of neglect: Adding a 5th crew member without accounting for the lack of resources (food, water, cryostasis pods). Docking credits for medical expenses, workplace accidents and late deliveries. Only allowing the captain to access important items and resources without an emergency override. Punishment for sleeping over 5 hours. Emergency foam that at best seals up important places and at worst can wipe out a crew. Poor psychological evaluation standards. Firing all employees without providing support. Inadequately training medical staff and excluding them from the psych evaluations. Lack of locks aside from the cockpit and the medical bay. Crews apparently have conflicts frequently enough for Pony Express to have a contingency plan; however, it is simply a gun that can only be accessed by the captain.

What happened on Tulpar

During the flight, it turned out that everyone was going to be fired after finishing this rail except for Curly and Daisuke, they were going to be promoted. Having learned about this, Jimmy decided that he did not like this development of events and decided to kill everyone and commit suicide himself by sending the ship to an asteroid, but Curly managed to save everyone and did not allow the ship and crew to suffer. Of course, Curly reported this to his superiors and the team, and the superiors ordered them to finish the job and upon returning to Earth, they would deal with Jimmy, but for now he was supposed to be suspended from work. Having completed their work and delivered the cargo to another planet, the team returned to Earth where Jimmy was arrested. After this, Daisuke decided to quit and find a better job, deciding that this job was not for him.

Curly

Curly is the original captain of the Tulpar. He at the top of the ship's command chain, and was primarily in charge of navigation. Appearance: Curly an average-built man with blue eyes and lightly curled blonde hair, wearing the Pony Express coveralls over a red and yellow tee. Personality: Curly's personality can be described as dependable. He is a promising and ambitious man with a big future ahead of him. Over time, he grows discontent with his position, wondering if the captain is "all he'll ever be." He reflects on having chosen the wrong career path. Still, he cares about his friends and crewmates, not wishing to leave them behind. Respected and beloved on his ship, Curly is called a "great captain" by his co-workers. He has personal conflicts with his friend and co-pilot, Jimmy, who both admires Curly and envies him. He is responsible yet lenient, and his efforts to see the best in everyone leads to his overlooking conflicts on the ship. He tends to ignore inconvenient details to focus on the bigger picture, both symbolically when he cannot see the dead pixel on the monitor in the lounge and literally when he does nothing about Jimmy after learning he assaulted Anya.

Jimmy

Jimmy is co-pilot of the Tulpar spaceship. He is in charge of navigation and taking the captain's mantle in the event of an emergency. Appearance: Jimmy is an adult male with straight brown hair slicked into a middle part, brown eyes, and stubble. His clothing consists of the Pony Express jumpsuit, a white long-sleeved t-shirt underneath, and black sneakers. He has some wrinkles and appears to have a thinner body type. Personality: Jimmy is shown to both experience some semblance of guilt for some of his actions while also being intentionally manipulative and spiteful. It was mentioned that he has struggled with life back on earth and likely sought for a life of control, hence why he felt comfortable as the co-pilot. However, he felt as though he had been climbing the ladder while Curly was already at the top. Throughout the game, he attempts to take responsibility and fix things, while not recognising that his own actions are the reason why the crew is even in this position. He often repeats other people's words without understanding their meaning and applies them to himself to excuse the things he's done. He is very unreliable as a narrator. Jimmy is very envious of Curly's position as a captain, wishing to gain the same amount of power as him, and not recognizing how many responsibilities and tasks a captain has. Jimmy often quickly jumps to conclusions, assuming the worst in people. He also projects his own traits and insecurities on others. He also chose to not take the Pony Express mandated psych evaluations serious, stating that he experiences sexual attraction to a cartoon horse. In Anya's words, Jimmy thinks that they're a waste of time.

Anya

Anya is the nurse of the crew on the Tulpar spaceship. She's in charge of the medical supplies of the ship, conducting the other crew mates psych evaluations and assisting them with medical care. Appearance: Anya is an adult woman with black hair cut into a shag, white skin, and black eyes. Her clothing consists of the Pony Express jumpsuit, and a pink, green, and white striped turtleneck underneath it. She wears a pair of brown sandals with white socks. Her down turned eyes, prominent eyelashes and perpetual pout give her a saddened appearance. Personality: Anya is a kind, intelligent, determined young woman who has a passion for nursing and a sense of humor. Despite having been through medical school 8 times and failing, she continues to go, showing her love and determination for medicine. Before her assault, she was seemingly much more lively, getting along well with and trusting the rest of the crew which likely included Jimmy. She is knowledgeable about the company guidelines and rules, as she brought up the safety manual of Pony Express to find a way to reach the cargo. Reserved and easily nervous after her assault, she has a soft-spoken demeanor and acts meek around the rest of the crew, seeking to avoid Jimmy and protect herself from him. Also hiding the gun case in the medical room so that Jimmy can't find it, fearing for the worst. She seems to have a sense of humor from the yimpy sticky note she pinned, her playful teasing of Swansea enjoying the Pony Express cake, and a competitive streak in board games. She is also mentioned to have been reading a lot of books about psychology while on the Tulpar. Unfortunately, Anya was raped by Jimmy.

Swansea

Swansea was one of the crew members aboard the Tulpar. His role was to look over the ship's maintenance and to make sure everything works accordingly, as its mechanic. After returning to Earth and being fired, Swansea will become an ordinary mechanic. Appearance: Swansea is a tall middle-aged man with brown short hair and blue eyes. He has a noticeable belly, likely due to age and his history of drinking. He is often depicted with a frown. He wears the yellow and red Pony Express polo shirt, a pair of jeans and white and blue sneakers. After returning to Earth, he looks the same but he changed his T-shirt to a black T-shirt. Personality: Swansea often appears as a grumpy, old man. Initially, he doesn't care for his intern Daisuke, whom he often finds to be more of a nuisance than anything else. Biography: Swansea was the main mechanic of the Tulpar. Back in the day, he used to be an alcoholic but recovered. He mentions having settled down and getting married with children, but reveals a dissatisfaction with his life despite becoming a "good man" as he says. Whether he is divorced or not is left to interpretation. Relationships: Swansea sees Daisuke as a sort of son, there are various examples throughout the game where he puts Daisuke’s safety before his own.