CH. 02 Mission Architecture · Why the shield comes first
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Four design rules for a ship in the sun's shadow

We build the shield first, and everything lives behind it.

01

Shadow is the room.

The mile-wide gold mosaic sets the temperature of every deck. We design for the dark side first — light is what leaks in.

Shield tile count · 12,484 hex
02

One key light, never two.

A single source defines each scene: payload bloom, console glow, or the visor's reflection. No fill, no flat ambient lift.

Average bay luminance · 4.2 lux
03

Gold is allowed to blow out.

We don't tame the highlight back to beige. At peak exposure the primary turns to white — that overexposure is the signature.

Hot-zone exposure · +3.5 EV permitted
04

One green room, kept honest.

The oxygen garden is the only place chlorophyll touches the palette. It earns its color by being the place the crew breathes.

Garden zone · Deck 06 only
HELION II Crew Briefing · Mission Architecture
Slide 03/12
This is the Sunshine (2007) design system, applied by Curio Design — a design-style library for AI agents. Full Sunshine (2007) guide → designbycurio.com/learn/sunshine-2007-icarus