Brent Larson

The narrator holds on to each of the 191 loved ones he has lost to AIDS.

Our hero was just trying to eat noodles and watch a movie, but he'll have to face his long neglect of house-spaceship/self care if he wants to find his uniform and wipe the smudge off his nose. Which he really does want. Emphatically so. Because the escape pods require photo I.D. to activate, and failing to escape our ship (The CSS HOTROD) guarantees a fiery, albeit timely, demise.