• Location: Public Services Ring, New Kourou
• Address: NE Public Services Ring Road 5
• Surroundings: Adjacent to Schmitz Funeral Home

New Horizon Funeral Services was founded in mid-2626 by Joe Schmitz, the younger of the Schmitz twins. Originally, Joe and his brother Ernest had established the first funeral parlor on VOI 700 D together: the business that would later become Ernest’s Schmitz Funeral Home. But the partnership lasted only a short time. The twins clashed over almost every detail — architectural style, burial philosophy, interior atmosphere, and even how to speak to grieving families. Ernest wanted a somber, wood-and-metal sanctuary rooted in memory of the crash; Joe envisioned light, renewal, and a hopeful forward gaze.

The dispute escalated until Joe made a defining decision: He tore down the old Hoo stable on the shared rear property and constructed a new, two-storey funeral home in its place. Painted in soft white and clad in polished container walls, New Horizon Funeral Services rose as the philosophical opposite of Ernest’s dark, crash-scarred parlor. Thus the rivalry — part sorrow, part stubborn pride — was born.

Inside, skilled staff craft pale coffins from Morningstar wood, prepare remains under clinical cool lights, and guide mourners through candle-lit spoken tributes that weave shipboard memories into each farewell ceremony. When services conclude, a silver-painted coffin cart — drawn by two docile white Veyras — carries the deceased along the short processional lane to New Horizon’s Rest Cemetery, completing a burial tradition that grounds Beta Age settlers in the soil of their new world. Though (mostly) friendly rivalry persists between the two Schmitz brothers, each parlor now serves a loyal clientele aligned with its distinct philosophy of remembrance.

• Construction Material: Built from repurposed starship containers and polished alloy panels
• Floors: 2
• Design Purpose: Convey purity and light; skylight strips plus white acoustic tiles create a bright, reverent hall distinct from the darker aesthetic of the competitor Schmitz Funeral Home.

New Horizon Funeral Services is a narrow, two-storey structure. Its footprint is small and efficient, reflecting Joe Schmitz’s minimalist philosophy and standing in visual contrast to the darker, bulkier Schmitz Funeral Home next door.

Ground Floor (Main Level)

• Reception Nook: A compact front counter operated by a Butler Bot; handles check-ins, scheduling, and printing memorial badges.
• Memory Room: A single multi-purpose ceremony space for intimate gatherings of up to 6 mourners. Features white alloy walls, soft diffused ceiling light, collapsible benches, and a simple elevated lectern for tributes. This room replaces the function normally split between viewing and memorial areas in larger funeral parlors.
• Body-Prep Corner: A partitioned, utilitarian workspace with a wash bench, cooling rack, simple embalming tools, and salvaged medical lighting. Compact but sanitary.

Upper Floor (Second Level)

• Coffin Studio: A tight workshop where Joe crafts pale Morningstar wood coffins and uses a small laser-etching unit for soft line motifs. Sawdust extraction vents lead directly outside.
• Storage Loft: Shelving for coffin lids, linen rolls, candles, lavender oil, and scanner cleaning kits.
• Staff Nook: A small desk alcove containing ceremonial notes, personal records, and a modest shrine to the Last Frontier.

Rear Exterior

• Outdoor W.C. (Outhouse): A simple, privacy-screened stall using a single AuroraSan unit. Accessible from the yard; built as an external facility due to indoor space constraints.
• Veyra Cart Shed: A narrow metal lean-to sheltering Joe’s silver-painted coffin cart, originally a converted Courier Service chassis.

• Mini Paddock: A compact fenced yard suitable for one white Hoo or a pair of placid Veyras to rest between processions.

Despite its narrow footprint, New Horizon Funeral Services feels bright, airy, and intentionally uncluttered. Joe Schmitz designed the space as a foil to his brother’s dark, wood-scented parlor. White alloy wall panels catch and diffuse the ceiling’s soft glow strips, filling the compact rooms with a steady, comforting light reminiscent of the Last Frontier’s medical bay rather than its scorched hull.

A faint lavender scent hangs in the air — Joe’s personal touch — masking the sharp tang of sterilised metal and polished Morningstar wood drifting up from the coffin studio above. Light instrumental loops, mostly harp and soft ship-ambient tones, play through small wall speakers, creating an atmosphere of calm ritual rather than mourning.

The Memory Room, the heart of the building, feels almost like a small star-chapel: a quiet, luminous space where grief is softened by brightness rather than shadow. Benches fold neatly against the wall when not in use, keeping the room open for intimate ceremonies.

Outside, the contrast continues. The simple, privacy-screened AuroraSan outhouse stands at the rear of the yard, beside the silver coffin cart and the small paddock for Joe’s white Hoo or Veyra team. The façade itself is made from refurbished cargo-container walls, sanded smooth and painted a soft, reflective white. In twilight, the surface catches ambient light with a clean, muted glow — a deliberate gesture of hope and renewal set against the darker, burn-scarred silhouette of Schmitz Funeral Home next door.

Human staff:

• Joe Schmitz (Owner / Celebrant): Leads services and quietly competes with his twin’s craftsmanship.
• Body Specialist (1 /Freelancer): Preps remains; applies facial soft-tissue nanogel for lifelike repose.
• Veyra Handler / Driver (1/ Freelancer): Guides the silver hearse cart to Horizon’s Rest.

Automated staff:

• Butler Bot (1): Welcoming customers
• Cleaning Bot (1): Sanitation sweep during closing times.

Public Access: By appointment; walk-ins accepted for emergencies 8 AM – 8 PM.

Service Windows:

• 8 AM – 12 PM: Body preparation & coffin carpentry
• 12 PM – 6 PM: Viewings in Laying-Out Rooms
• 6 PM – 8 PM: Procession to New Horizon’s Rest Cemetery

• Key-Lock Doors: Front and side doors lock after 7 PM; keys held by Joe.
• Guarding Trooper Patrols: A Public-Services-Ring patrol of the Guarding Troopers passes the parlor regulary, checking doors and perimeter for signs of tampering.

Legal interactions:

• Attend a memorial service or offer condolences to NPC mourners.
• Act as pall-bearers or procession guards during an escort to Horizon’s Rest.
• Broker peace between feuding families who disagree over burial rites or costs.
• Volunteer to handle the Veyras and cart when Joe’s driver falls ill.

Illegal interactions:

• Swap coffin ID tags to fake a death..
• Vandalize the whithe facade to stoke the twin rivalry.

• A lighting fault causes the photo‑board backlights to flicker, revealing an old star‑map scribbled with hidden crash coordinates.
• Rival saboteurs try to disgrace Joe by vandalising the pristine facade; players might trace them back to Ernest’s jealous apprentice (or a third party).
• A rare white Hoo is stolen on burial morning—time-sensitive chase through the Ring ensues.

• Beta Age
• New Kourou
• Schmitz Funeral Home (Ernest’s Parlor)
• New Horizon’s Rest Cemetery
• Exohuman Funeral Rites in the Beta Age