Julian had completely stopped pressing buttons on the control panel. He sat rigidly bolt-upright, staring blankly into space with the crushed expression of a man replaying every single life decision in excruciating slow motion. Beatrice, having completely abandoned any attempt to sleep, had discovered exactly one functioning feature in the entire pod: the manual window shade button.
She sat quietly, raising and lowering the electronic shade with the mechanical, rhythmic repetition of someone who had entirely run out of all other options in life. Up and down went the shade, letting in brief flashes of dark night sky followed by the harsh internal cabin lights. The couple sat in utter, uncommunicative silence, completely miserable inside the very luxury pod they had worked so hard to steal.