COSMOS: The Universe Is Big Enough For All Of Us

***COSMOS: The Universe Is Big Enough For All Of Us***, shortened to **COSMOS**, is a science-fiction story franchise that currently incorporates the *Hyperion* Saga, its associated spin-offs and an anthology series bearing the same name.

Four spin-offs are currently in development: *Ad Astra* (2021--Present), *EXILES: The Interstellar Gunslingers* (2022--Present), *Constellation* (2022) and *Dark Horizon* (2023).

## Plot

*It's a big universe out there. Most are always fighting, some are loving, and others are reaching far frontiers. This collection of stories shows all of them. Come in. Have a seat. And explore the* COSMOS *Universe!*

## Anthology

### Collection I

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### 'Sunset Pictures Presents'

In Bay City, California, Petra is hired by the New Eden Corporation's advertising division to produce a commercial targetted at interstellar transport companies. During the interview with the director, Jett Fields, Petra discovers that her predecessor mysteriously disappeared alongside his entire family. Dismissing the issue, Petra joins her new crew; she brings several ideas to the table, but Fields says that they are continuing with the previous producer's ideas. Petra and Fields stay behind so she can study her predecessor's notes; once the last staff member has left, Fields takes a Taxi pill and violently sexually assaults Petra, forcing her to defend herself and flee the building.

### Collection II

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### 'Dark City'

Bookkeeper Deacon Conan spends his days in a depressing dead-end accounting job within his home of Dark City, a city covering an entire planet. After an argument with his girlfriend, Deacon meets with his best friend for a drink. His friend, a nameless man who works for the PharmaTechnical corporation, gifts Deacon several pills, which he reveals are an experimental drug dubbed "Platinum" that dull the parts of the brain that are responsible for social inhibition while heightening dopamine release. That evening, Deacon takes a single pill and transforms into a lively, jovial and charming version of himself before hitting the town. Over the course of the evening, he buys an entire round at a nightclub, has sex with a hooker, and brawls with three bouncers.

After waking up back to normal in a portaloo, Deacon confronts his friend, who says that Deacon should have taken the drug with water as that would allow him to maintain some control over his behaviour. Although reluctant, Deacon takes the drug again and returns to his other persona. While wandering through Carmine, he overhears an argument between band members and decides to join them on stage as their singer. The band, called CHROME, heads on stage with Deacon, using the alias "Jack", and performs a cover of AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill", where "Jack" discovers that he is a natural singer. "Jack" agrees to sing with the band the following evening at a more important gig; after the success at that subsequent gig, "Jack" joins the band full-time and takes on the stagename "Jack Platinum".

CHROME go on to create several successful cover albums with their new record label, during which time Deacon begins leaving his ordinary life behind and further absorbing himself into his new life as Jack Platinum. After their most recent album fails to perform as well, Jack takes on leadership of CHROME and re-brands the band as the "MechaSkull Jockeys". By manipulating the owner of the record company, the MechaSkull Jockeys are given complete creative control over their work on the condition that their new album sells well. The result, *"The Cold Fire",* and its lead single, *"Can't Make Me Beg"*, proves to be incredibly successful, catapulting Jack and the MechaSkull Jockeys into galactic stardom.

Over the next few years, the MechaSkull Jockeys produce several singles, eventually culminating in *"Explosion"*, which proves to be the best-selling rock song in Dark City's history. However, Jack's constant use of "Platinum" has caused him to suffer from extreme paranoia, leading to him commissioning several personality engrams. In 2442, one such engram evolves into an artificial intelligence with the ability to take over anyone with advanced cybernetics. Dubbing itself the "Man in Black", the AI infects thousands across Dark City, transforming them into "Wendigos" and starting the Wendigo Crisis. The Jockeys give aid to the Dark City Raptors, an anti-Board resistance group, to disconnect the Man in Black from the extranet; the Board, to save face, agrees to give the Man in Black total control over a remote, half-built district in exchange for the AI leaving the rest of the city alone. Knowing that he is at fault for the crisis, Jack abandons his old life as "Deacon" all-together and embraces his new identity by commissioning a final engram that is designed to be a carbon copy of himself. Jack then joins the Dark City Raptors to help them in their mission to destroy the Board once and for all.

### Collection III

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## Series

### Dark City: A COSMOS Story

#### Plot

*A war veteran and mercenary seeks to make a name for himself in the crime-ridden, planet-spanning metropolis of Dark City.*

### Ad Astra

*After being recovered from the orbit of a black hole, a stranger with amnensia and a swingin' style sets out to uncover their true identity and seek their fortune in the Aschere System, a new frontier hiding vast treasures and unimaginable horrors.*

### Constellation

*A wild new frontier awaits critically ill mavnian pilot Schrödinger as he joins up with corporate superpower Constellation to perform the loneliest job in the known Universe: cartography. As he visits worlds and systems that nobody has ever seen before, this lone explorer will discover the galaxy's hidden past in a series of unpredictable adventures that will change Unchartia's fledgling civilization for centuries to come.*

### EXILES: The Interstellar Gunslingers

*In the bountiful reaches of the Federation, where riches and dangers go hand in hand, a crew of (somewhat) highly trained mercenaries and treasure hunters seek fortune, reputation and glory in a series of bizarre adventures.*

### Dark Horizon

*An unknowable cosmic horror awaits the unsuspecting crew of a salvage trawler that discovers a research craft adrift in space.*