by preparatory-object
In 2450 Humanity has spread among the stars. Fractured into strange and often stupid factions and harassed from the dark by conceptually challenging aliens, only the Human Convention carries the flame for the human authenta: that remnant of the species that stays true to its cultural values of honor, equality, and progress, not to mention quite strong feelings on how far biomodification can go before it's "too far". Tolerance Brown, an officer in the Convention Navy, has just been granted her first independent command, the ominously named light corvette Kiss Your Intelligence Goodbye. It's the opportunity that every Convention officer hopes for, trains for, and even lives for, except that Tolerance has suffered with anxiety for her entire life and this is the worst thing that could possibly have happened to her.
