Chasing Ghosts IX: Do It Again
11 Feb 2024Maul Montresor
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"And you're sure you're near the end
Then you love a little wild one
and she brings you only sorrow"
"And you're sure you're near the end
Then you love a little wild one
and she brings you only sorrow"
“It fits well enough, I reckon.” I said to Darling who’d been waiting outside the room for me to finish changing into the dominator suit plastered with security branding.
We’d spent the last few hours going over the plan she’d drawn up over the past few weeks by using crude drawings of the ship’s passageways and sketches of identifiable objects from memory before the lockdowns. I was unfamiliar with the ship and everyone knew that, yet most of the team seemed optimistic about the plan. I expect their optimism is veiled in a layer of desperation more than anything.
“Well enough will have to work.” She said, smacking on my shoulder pads to ensure they were secured.
“Victor should be here with your rifle in a moment.”
She continued to smack and pull on various parts of my suit, checking its integrity. She was terrible at hiding her concern but didn’t want to jinx the plan by expecting the worst. Though, her face said it all.
“I appreciate you being honest with us about your struggle with addiction. But I still can’t see how Karazija thinks that's the answer to all of this. I mean, what about the fact someone shaved your damned hair off? That's tangible proof right there that SOMETHING happened!"
She proceeded, mumbling under her breath. She really couldn’t stand the guy.
“I can’t fucking stand that guy!” She said aloud, putting an end to her hushed rant and confirming the blatantly obvious.
“I honestly couldn’t tell.” I said sarcastically, pulling at the irritating material around the neck of my suit.
Darling stepped back from me and crossed her arms.
“So those memory chips you and the techs modified or whatever, you sure they’ll work just like an E-Breach?”
“Better.” I said with pure confidence. That was the only part of this plan that I was banking on with certainty. I did the damned modifications myself.
“You still plan on…doing what we talked about?”
Darling and I had spoken in private after we’d departed the meeting room where everyone hashed over the plan together. She wanted answers as much as I did, and so a little detour to the labs had been added to her plan in hopes of getting answers about what kind of testing grounds this ship was being used for.
“Of course.”
“Good.” She said with an affirming nod.
Victor knocked on the frame of the already open door and stepped in.
“She’s in as good of a condition as I can get her, ma’am.” He said as he reached Darling the AR-50 that he’d been painstakingly cleaning and preparing.
“Thank you, Victor.”
“Oh, and here’s four fully loaded magazines. It’s all we can spare. Though, Rayna is prepping your pack and making sure you’ll have some ammo in reserve. Just, you know, don’t lose the mags.”
Victor handed me the magazines in which I put each in a separate pouch around my waist. Darling then handed me the rifle and patted my shoulder pads once more.
“Almost time, how’re you feeling?” She asked.
Awful. I’m tired. My head hurts and I feel like death.
“Not bad.” I said, contrasting to my true feelings.
“Right, well remember, avoid contact if possible. You’re not going out there to slaughter people. Yes, some of them are deadly criminals but the other half are just employees that were doing their job, and now all of them are victims of whatever has happened out there. So only use force if you absolutely have to, okay?”
I was never comfortable with taking another persons life. I’ve done it too many times to count, most of which were done in self defense and I never felt good after any of them. Too many people in this galaxy never give it a second thought and some actually thoroughly enjoy the act. I know a few of the latter and it's something I'll never be able to fully comprehend but it’s something that we’ve all collectively grown some level of "numb" to at some point. I mean, there’s a faction war in almost every system every day and countless lives are lost over, what exactly? It all boils down to influence and money. Two things that only the people at the top see any sort of real gain from. We’re all just toy soldiers in the end. That’s why I moved my home to a new system. Anarchy isn’t perfect no matter how you paint it, but at least you know what to expect from the people there. Fuck around, get fucked with. Mind your own, no one bothers with you. If you just keep your nose out of peoples business, then you're fine. A damned good place to hide from the rest of the bubble. Not perfect but it works.
“Uh...Yes, ma’am. No casualties.” I said, nearly feeling compelled to salute.
“Good and thank you again for doing this. I know all of this must be overwhelming and-“
“Don’t sweat it, Darling. I’ve seen some shit, remember? This is just another Tuesday for me.”
I was lying. I wasn't even sure it was Tuesday. Truthfully, this was one of the most bizarre situations I’d ever found myself in but I knew this was likely the only shot we had to get out of here. The fact that these people were relying this heavily on someone they’d only just met was enough to paint the true picture. It was this or nothing. They’d sent scouts out and lost them multiple times over the last month, causing their numbers to dwindle to what it is now. This was a last hurrah before they’d accepted their slow demise. This had to work.
"Alright, let's go meet with Rayna."
The three of us left the room and made our way to the elevator shaft I was going to be descending. The elevator was long defunct, leaving the doors gaped open where a makeshift barricade once blocked it. A crew of people, including Rayna, were surrounding the opened door.
"Here you go, sir." Rayna said with a smile, holding the loaded pack up to chest level before approaching me and helping me attach it to my back.
"There you go, all set. Just remember to use the micro thrusters sparingly if at all. Same for the shields. We only had two energy cells to spare. Well, only two that were fully charged and in good enough condition for this task.'
"Two cells, got it." I said, placing the rifle in the mag holster on the side of the pack.
"Yep, you need to preserve as much power as possible for your flashlight. You said you've been in the transit tunnel, so I don't really need to explain to you how dark it can get here."
I stepped forward and peered over the edge down into the elevator shaft. No bottom in sight, pure darkness. A ladder on the far wall of the empty shaft led both down and up.
“So 17 floors down, right?”
Darling, Victor and Rayna joined me in looking down into the abyss.
“Yes, from there you’ll enter a lobby that leads to the Sector A medical wing. Through there you’ll find an exit that’ll take you to security check station. Then another branching hallway where you’ll…”
She scratched at the back of her neck and sighed heavily.
“Just reference the diagrams we drew. We uploaded them to your suits HUD program. If you have any questions you can just use the communicator in your helmet.”
“Oh, right!” Rayna exclaimed as she scurried off, reentering the room with a security helmet.
“I forgot the techs were doing a last minute patch job on the com device. Here you are.”
I gave Rayna a slight nod as I took the helmet from her and slid it on.
“Might as well get to it, huh?” I said, glancing one last time at the group of survivors that had gathered around to watch my departure.
Their various callouts for “good luck” and “be safe” all clamored together as I mounted the ladder and began my descent into darkness.
Ý̶̡̛̩͐̋̋̾̇̌́̐͂͊̂̔͒̊̏̋͘͝͝͝o̸̢̢̡̩̺͕̠̘̺͉̪̯̙̥͇͚͈͙̣̬͉͙͐́͒͗͌̈́̎̾̇̿͜͝u̵̡̧̲͈͓̣͔̹͉̥̠͔̤̰̮̺̬̪̿͛͊̔̓͑͗͂͜ͅ ̶̡̨̛͓͙̜̣̮̜̤̤̜̤͙̯̖̜͈̫̖̳̏̔̈͆́̽͊͐͗̃̊̔͘͝͝w̸̨̖̣͔͈͚̼̼̻͍̩̗̙͚̦̘̹̙͎͐͆̾̚ͅi̸̛̛̲̼̥̳̎̆̓̋̿̊̾͌͋̕̕͜l̸̢̢͎̺͕̮͎͓̘̯̦̻̟̠̭͓͔̫̼̮̯̱͙̲͇̹̪̦̊͌̃̌̂̾͆͋̓̀̈́̇̓͗͋͊̔͑̈͐̚͝l̶͕͓̠̓͒̋͊̏͒́͋͌̒̎͒͆̋͌̽̅̐̿̌̕̚͘͝͠ ̶̢̜̰̰̬̣͎̟̬̫̟̠̻̱̳͕̬̦̖̜͍̲̫̝̭́̀̀̓̽̀̂͑͂͑͛̕͜͜͝ͅͅŕ̸̨̧̟̭͕̰̂̿̒̃͊̑̀͒̋̌͂̒̐͛͌̄̊͆̐͠è̸̢̢̮̤̫̳̦̪̮̮̫͙̝̻̑̾̈́̊̊̆͊͂̒͛͑͋̚ͅm̴͇̝̝͈̥͙͓̥͔̖̖̳̣̠͍̲̮̤̞̩̮̼̭̣̟̩̫̤͊̆̏̾̐͐̽̓̇̕̚ͅe̶̡̢̛̩̬͙̥͕̗̣͕̜̖͍̙̰͔̼͍̦ṁ̵̛̖͉̠͓̙̤̥͓̮̞̭̈́̈́̒́̓͊̔͘͝b̶̜̱̾̈́̀̂͂̃̎̓̈́̇͌́̐́̒͝ͅê̸̗̪̝̘͍̲̲̤̺̱̖͔̟̗̦͖̜͎̪̯̫̬̺̯̙͓̈́̿́͒̒͋͗́̋̔̎͒̈́̊̑̋͛̐͑̀̚͠ͅͅŕ̵̡̛͓͎̱̞̭̤̜̪͔̰̯͈̘͔̟̩̘̟͈͎͕͙͈̯̭͒͘ ̸̤̰̞̬̥̩͒̂̎̔̊̇͌̍̀͑̑̑͊͑̋̓̽̄̚͠͝ͅã̴̧̢̧̜͈̳̗͔͈͍͉̟͔̘̬̺̝͚̗̮̣̯̦̩̹̰̪̜͂̍̓̽̃́̒͛̆̊͑͐͐̐̃́̂͂͒͂͑̏̀͝ͅn̴̡̢̢̛̰͔͕̻̯͚͔̤͕̥̫̬̖͈̫͔̬̈͋̂̽̂̀̒͗̇̓̏̋͊̏̈́̈̑̎͘͘̕͝͝͝͠d̶̛̩̘̝̞̞͈̯͇̲̳̝̠̦̝̪̖͙͑͊̐̎̓̔̑́́̅̈́̍̕̚̚͜͜͝͝͠ ̷̜̟̫͓̪̘͙̯͉̝̙̀́̆̂̍̿͆͂̌́̅̂͗̌̍͗̅̌͊̈́́̓̚̕͘ͅṋ̸̢̨̻̘͇͍̯̂̇̌͗̌͌͛͒͐̇͒̑̎̅͜͠e̵͕̫͇̠͛̿̽̎͠ͅv̵̲͙̤̗̤͛̅̇̊͑̂͌̑̈́̾́̍͊̇̈́͑̄̓̈́̾͘̕͜ę̷̪͚̩̮͉͍͙͋̓̌͜r̷̹̪̪̰̮͔̯̂̑̆̍̓̎́̈́̈͛͠ ̶̛͕̫͎̍͒̇́̑̒́̅̎̀̀̀͒̌͛͐͆͊̈́̚͘̚͘͝͠f̶̢̺̪͙̤̬͕̣̠̭̙̦̙̖̰̄̋͆̄́̐̔̀̈́̐͑͑̈̄̅̊͑̍̎̄̋̈́̔̕̚o̷̧̠͚͚̝̖̐͛̀͗ͅr̶̛̛̯̺͎̩̦̙̙̦͉͂́̀͐̈́̃̎̀̒̆̿̉̌̆̾̑̈́̄̕͠͝͠͝͠g̶̭͈̺̥͕̤͐̇̔̈́̇̑́͘͘ę̴̨̙͎͖͙͚̖̬̱̥̅́̀̒̿͝ṫ̶̡̜̱̦̥̳̫̱̞̻͈̼̗͚̝̉̌̈́̾͒̊̎̀̽͗̃̈́̌̈́͋̽̔̆̿̈́̓̍̚̕̕͜͠͠͠
I counted every door on the way down, stopping at 17. The doors for this floor had previously been pried open, likely from one of Darling's scouts. I pulled myself through the opening and found myself in a darkened lobby. My flashlight passed over the wreckage of the room, bullet holes and laser burns scattered the various metal surfaces. My light eventually landed on some text painted in red on one of the metal walls pointing to the direction of the medical wing. Perhaps another thing left behind by one of the scouts. I unholstered my rifle and cautiously began to traverse the maze like halls of the ship once again. At least this time I had directions.
Everything was so still. Almost peaceful in a way. Low muffled clanks and hums could be heard from the ship itself as this section of it rotated. Though, according to Darling's plans, it wouldn't be long before I was out of the comfort of this small amount of gravity and back to relying solely on my mag boots. It was difficult not to investigate every room I'd passed. Most doors were sealed and would require overcharging the locking mechanism to enter. Keeping in mind what Rayna said, I avoided the prospect and chose to preserve what battery life I had for the journey.
It wasn't long until I was staring at the entrance to the medical wing. The doors were wide open, with the words "TURN AROUND" hurriedly marked on the wall with the same red paint I'd followed here. Whatever her scouts had encountered, they wanted to be sure others avoided. I ignored the warning and entered. It was a large room with glass panels scattered about, sectioning off areas from each other. Long broken machinery and ruined medical supplies scattered throughout its darkest corners. Continuing deeper into the room and passing by the empty individually numbered rooms once used to treat patients, I eventually stumbled across a room marked "Lab" just as Darling said. Karazija's computer was inside here and she was convinced we'd uncover the truth if I could access it. I overcharged the lock, draining a portion of my suits battery and entered.
This room was much like the last, various machinery and supplies throughout. Markerboards placed near workstations were covered in words and symbols that reminded me of cave drawings. The answer to the meaning of life could be drawn out in front of me and I'd be none the wiser. During my strut around the room, I'd stumbled upon an Achilles personal computer marked with the letters "DMK".
"David...something...Karazija..." I said to myself as I fetched one of the E-Breaches from my pack. Thirty seconds later and the thing was unlocked. Landing on the homescreen, the background was a picture of Doctor Karazija and his cat. He looked happy. Not a "fake it for the picture" happy either. I opened a folder titled "Projects" and began scrolling through the various documents, skimming the names:
Project: B.E.V.
Project: ALTER
Project: FRACTURE
Opening "Project: B.E.V." or Birds-Eye-View as the document stated at the top, detailed the steps that went into developing a new form of surveillance using repurposed "Holo-Me" technology and sensors. This confirmed my theory on the holograms I'd seen in the common area the other day. This project was doing a slow rollout one sector at a time. The amount of sensors and individual injections of the nanotech required was slowing the adaption of it across the ship. An asterisk towards the bottom of the document explained that the inmate population would be the last to obtain the internal nanotechnology in fears of hindering with the results of "Project: ALTER".
Opening "Project: ALTER" led to a large document that intricately explained various processes of rewriting core memories by use of an in-house manufactured psychedelic narcotic based on a particular strain of Onionhead. Subjects are interviewed beforehand with the emotional value of specific memories being rated. Once the highest rated memory is selected, the interviewing process starts again. This time having the subject focus on that particular memory and recalling it in finer detail. After sufficient repetition over days or sometimes weeks, the subject is then given the psychedelic and the altering process begins. Once influenced by the drug, the subject is again asked to recall the memory. Professionals are to remain in the room and begin feeding the subject incorrect details. If the subject notices these changes or refuses them, their dosage is increased. Props or actors can be used to further stimulate and simulate the subject and their memories. The end result is to fundamentally change these memories and eventually replacing or removing them entirely. The wording of the document seemed to think this was a positive thing with hopes of this process eventually being used in the reform of criminals or even potentially eliminate PTSD from individuals, military personnel, etc.
The document trailed off into further experimental methods.
Choosing to move on, I then opened "Project: FRACTURE".
"Montresor. This is Darling, do you read!?" Her voice startled me as it filled my helmet.
"Yeah, a little busy with that side project though."
"Did you-"
The coms cut, static replacing her voice.
"D-Darling?" I said, tapping the side of my helmet in hopes of the malfunction being a simple wire short.
Nothing.
I pressed the button on my helmet to shut off the communication device and began to read again.
Suddenly, a slow blinking red light similar to that of an emergency light began emanating from the medical wing just outside. The light over my shoulder followed my gaze and repositioned as I looked over at the open door. I placed Karazija's computer back down on the desk and readied my rifle. I could hear multiple women speaking outside but their cadence and tone seemed odd. Each monotone voice spouting a string of words directly after the last had finished.
"̶I̶t̶'̴s̴ ̸n̴o̴t̵ ̷y̸o̸u̷r̴ ̶f̶a̸u̶l̴t̵.̴"̸
̴
̷"̵S̸o̸m̴e̷t̶h̷i̴n̶g̷ ̴a̸b̶o̷u̶t̷ ̷y̶o̴u̵ ̸r̵e̵a̷l̸l̵y̵ ̵p̵u̶t̴s̸ ̴m̷e̶ ̷d̷o̴w̵n̴.̴"̴ ̷
̴
̶"̷Y̶o̴u̷ ̴c̵a̸n̸ ̶s̷e̸e̷ ̵c̴l̴e̴a̶r̵l̵y̴ ̷n̴o̵w̸ ̶t̸h̸e̵ ̵r̸a̸i̶n̸ ̸h̵a̷s̵ ̶g̴o̶n̷e̸.̸ ̵B̴u̸t̷ ̶i̶t̸ ̷l̶o̷o̵k̷s̴ ̸l̷i̴k̸e̴ ̸s̵o̷m̷e̴o̴n̸e̶'̷s̴ ̷g̷o̵n̴e̸ ̴a̸n̵d̸ ̶d̸r̸o̸p̶p̴e̵d̴ ̷t̴h̵e̸ ̸b̴o̸m̵b̸.̵"̷
̴
̸"̶W̷h̵a̵t̴'̴s̶ ̴t̶h̵e̸ ̴m̴a̶t̵t̷e̷r̵?̷"̵
These women must have been hiding in the dark recesses of the room as I passed through and I hadn't seen them. Likely victims of the happenings here.
I entered the room, gun at the ready. A chill ran down my spine as my eyes met with the sight of three women dressed in white scrubs surrounding a rectangular table that I hadn't spotted on my way through. They continued speaking at random intervals.
"̸Y̴o̵u̴ ̵c̸a̸n̶'̴t̵ ̵c̷h̷a̸n̶g̶e̶ ̸i̸t̸.̷ ̴S̸o̷m̷e̴o̸n̵e̷ ̴t̷r̸i̷e̸d̸.̷"̶
̵
̶"̵S̶o̶m̷e̸t̶i̵m̷e̵s̸ ̸w̶e̶ ̵d̸o̸n̶'̶t̸ ̸u̴n̵d̴e̴r̶s̵t̷a̸n̸d̵ ̴i̶t̵.̷"̷
̴
̵"̷I̶t̷ ̷i̸s̵ ̴t̸h̵e̷ ̶s̴t̴r̸a̸n̷g̸e̴s̵t̷ ̵t̸h̷i̴n̴g̷.̸"̴
̷
̷"̶S̷o̴m̶e̴t̶h̵i̶n̵g̵s̵ ̴w̷r̶o̴n̴g̶,̶ ̷n̶o̴t̶h̶i̶n̵g̴s̸ ̴r̷i̷g̵h̵t̸.̴"̷
My light was beaming directly on them, yet they never reacted. Only focusing on the table between them. They didn't seem dangerous, just confused. With what I learned from Karazija's computer, I began to think that maybe he could help them somehow. If I could just reestablish communications with the team upstairs.
"H-Hey, you ladies alright? I'm...here to help." I called out, lowering my gun slightly.
"̴H̴e̷l̸p̵?̵"̸
Only one of them responded by repeating the last word I had said, then they all suddenly burst out into a seemingly uncontrollable laughter that lasted a few seconds before going silent and staring at the table again. As I inched closer, I began noticing more details in the women. Each one wearing a white surgical mask over their mouth and nose. One had blonde hair in a ponytail and green eyes, another was very pale with black hair also in a ponytail, but much longer than the others and much darker green eyes, and the last one had long brown hair and brown eyes. Each of them would briefly look up from the table at me before peering back down again. I'm not sure why, but I didn't want to know what they were looking at.
I eventually joined and completed the circle around the table by filling the spot on the only open side. The blonde one looked at me, reaching her hand out. Not sure what to do, I slowly reached out. Once my hand was in hers, she began to squeeze it and speak directly to me.
"What's the matter?"
"Something about you really puts me down."
"It's not your fault."
"Sometimes we don't understand it."
"It is the strangest thing."
"You can't change it. Someone tried."
This time her voice appeared normal. As normal as could be in a very not-so-normal situation. No strange rhythm or tone. It was as if she was consoling me.
"...Why did she seem so familiar?"
Still holding one of her hands, she reached the other out for the object on the table. I swallowed my fear and worked up the nerve to finally look at the mysterious object. It was something covered in an off white sheet, I only considered it off white because it was very dirty, and various stains blotted the surface. Peaks and steep slants from the object underneath formed a shape that I couldn't quite make out. The darkness didn't help and neither did the light. The woman's fingers curled and her knuckles turned white as she tightly gripped the sheet, and in one swift motion she pulled it off the table. There was nothing beneath. A clean metal surface was all.
"[˙˙˙punoɹ, pǝuɹnʇ lǝǝɥʍ ǝɥ┴˙˙˙]"
̷"̶S̷o̴m̶e̴t̶h̵i̶n̵g̵s̵ ̴w̷r̶o̴n̴g̶,̶" said the pale black haired nurse. The odd cadence and tone in her voice had returned, or perhaps never left at all.
Her right hand began trembling. She raised it up in front of her face as blood began to form on the surface of both the palm and back of her hand. I let go of the blonde nurse's hand and turned my attention to the wounded woman. As I attempted to reach out to aid her she groaned in pain and pulled away from me, grabbing the white mask covering the lower portion of her face. The fresh red blood from her hand spread across the mask staining it. The thing quickly became drenched in blood, so much so that the faint tips and taps of blood dripping to the floor could be heard behind her agony filled cries. She pulled the mask off, thus slinging droplets of blood onto me, and uncovering her face to reveal that there was never anything there at all, making it even harder to comprehend where her cries of pain were originating from. I began considering that perhaps none of the women had mouths, but how is it that I heard them speak so clearly. I felt ill, nauseous even at the sight and thought of something so unnatural. All of it washed away in an instant when she grabbed me around the neck with her blood soaked hand. A fight or flight reaction of the highest magnitude developed in that moment. Though the gear I was wearing prevented her from doing any real damage, I still attempted to push her away. It was no use, her blood soaked grip never budged from my neck. Still groaning in pain and with a firm grasp on me, she stepped closer and her face met with mine. The faceguard attached to my helmet fogged slightly with each exhale from her nostrils and the blood droplets now started to smear and impair my vision further as she pushed her face harder and harder against it. The smooth skin where her mouth should have been then began to tear and rip, a disturbingly wide and dark hole forming. The screams were louder than ever now. My eardrums felt as if they were on the verge of rupturing.
I squeezed my eyes shut and pushed back as hard as I could, screaming over her agonizingly loud cries of pain.
̵̡͓̤͇̠̓̌͠ ̵̖̖͓́́̎̚ ̷̛͎̻̮̺̮͛́ ̷̧̧̢̞̐̕ ̷̬̣̻̈́͐̈́ ̴̢̧̬͍͖̉̌̇́ ̸̦͔̩̝̹̽͝ ̷̝̼͌͛̀͆͘͜ ̸̛̰̬̬̜̿̉̉̕ ̸̟̠̼͙̿̌͋̀ ̷̖͗ͅ ̴͙͔̟̝͑̿̈D̸̺̳͂̊̋Ô̷̬̩̜̼̍̏ ̵̡͓̤͇̠̓̌͠ ̵̖̖͓́́̎̚ ̷̛͎̻̮̺̮͛́ ̷̧̧̢̞̐̕ ̷̬̣̻̈́͐̈́ ̴̢̧̬͍͖̉̌̇́ ̸̦͔̩̝̹̽͝ ̷̝̼͌͛̀͆͘͜ ̸̛̰̬̬̜̿̉̉̕ ̸̟̠̼͙̿̌͋̀ ̷̖͗ͅ ̴͙͔̟̝͑̿̈
̵̡͓̤͇̠̓̌͠ ̵̖̖͓́́̎̚ ̷̛͎̻̮̺̮͛́ ̷̧̧̢̞̐̕ ̷̬̣̻̈́͐̈́ ̴̢̧̬͍͖̉̌̇́ ̸̦͔̩̝̹̽͝ ̷̝̼͌͛̀͆͘͜ ̸̛̰̬̬̜̿̉̉̕ ̸̟̠̼͙̿̌͋̀ ̷̖͗ͅ ̴͙͔̟̝͑̿̈I̷̞̯͖̹͒̈́̏̕T̸̮̝̖͍̬̐̈ ̵̡͓̤͇̠̓̌͠ ̵̖̖͓́́̎̚ ̷̛͎̻̮̺̮͛́ ̷̧̧̢̞̐̕ ̷̬̣̻̈́͐̈́ ̴̢̧̬͍͖̉̌̇́ ̸̦͔̩̝̹̽͝ ̷̝̼͌͛̀͆͘͜ ̸̛̰̬̬̜̿̉̉̕ ̸̟̠̼͙̿̌͋̀ ̷̖͗ͅ ̴͙͔̟̝͑̿̈
̵̡͓̤͇̠̓̌͠ ̵̖̖͓́́̎̚ ̷̛͎̻̮̺̮͛́ ̷̧̧̢̞̐̕ ̷̬̣̻̈́͐̈́ ̴̢̧̬͍͖̉̌̇́ ̸̦͔̩̝̹̽͝ ̷̝̼͌͛̀͆͘͜ ̸̛̰̬̬̜̿̉̉̕ ̸̟̠̼͙̿̌͋̀ ̷̖͗ͅ ̴͙͔̟̝͑̿̈À̴̫̔̓̒G̵͖̜̦̾͋A̷̟̖̠̹̣͆̐͗Ḯ̴͔͈͒͗̀͘Ǹ̵͕ ̵̡͓̤͇̠̓̌͠ ̵̖̖͓́́̎̚ ̷̛͎̻̮̺̮͛́ ̷̧̧̢̞̐̕ ̷̬̣̻̈́͐̈́ ̴̢̧̬͍͖̉̌̇́ ̸̦͔̩̝̹̽͝ ̷̝̼͌͛̀͆͘͜ ̸̛̰̬̬̜̿̉̉̕ ̸̟̠̼͙̿̌͋̀ ̷̖͗ͅ ̴͙͔̟̝͑̿̈
It wasn't long until I was staring at the entrance to the medical wing. The doors were wide open, with the words "LOOK INSIDE" hurriedly marked on the wall with the same red paint I'd followed here. Whatever her scouts had encountered, they wanted to be sure others saw it. I followed the warning and entered. It was a large room with glass panels scattered about, sectioning off areas from each other. Long broken machinery and ruined medical supplies scattered throughout its darkest corners.
...This felt familiar.
Suddenly a red emergency light began blinking from a distant corner and illuminated the room. Between the flashes of red I saw three women dressed in white nurses scrubs surrounding a table, whispering amongst themselves. I thought of calling out to them but chose to investigate the situation further instead. Quietly, I approached the table and completed the circle. The nurse directly across from me had a blonde ponytail and green eyes. She reminded me of Vega, and did so because she was in fact, Vega Sonders. I could tell it was her the moment I saw those eyes, I could never forget them. This was a woman that I cared for more than most. I had pushed her away years ago because we wanted different things out of life. I thought I was doing her a favor, protecting her from the foolish lifestyle I now endure, but I wasn't doing anyone any favors. Not her, not me, no one. A smile crept across my face, I'd missed seeing her. She then lowered the pristine white surgical mask from her face and smiled back at me. My heart sank.
The two women on either side of me had vanished entirely or were never there at all. It was only Vega now. She reached out her right hand, and without pause I grabbed it and squeezed. I never wanted to let go again. Then with her left hand, and in one swift motion, she grabbed the sheet draped over the mysterious object on the table and uncovered it. My heart sank again, this time for a different reason. It was the body of a child, Lydia Sonders. Vega's niece. I'd felt responsible for her death for years. She'd been captured and held ransom during a complicated job that involved a sort of triangle of enemies. Vega, her sister Tessa (Lydia's mother) and then me. Long story short, Tessa was a dirty corpo who's lifestyle was becoming increasingly more dangerous and Vega didn't want her niece being tainted by that lifestyle, so she took her away from her sister. Tessa also happened to be the individual who ran the corporation that fucked up my life by using me as a scapegoat in the murder of one of her competitors. All of our paths were bound to cross at some point. And when they did, it got messy and the wrong ship was targeted by one mister Bryce Morgan. The very same that tortured me months before and the very same that I killed a mere few weeks after losing Lydia. As I said before, his death never fixed anything. It doesn't work that way. I know that now.
"It's not your fault." said Vega.
I looked up from the body and into Vega's tear filled eyes only then to notice that mine were the same. Neither of us were able to fully move past Lydia's death. Even though I always felt responsible, Vega thought otherwise. I know that Bryce killed her but I've always felt like if I could have reacted quicker she'd still be here. Some people probably think I'm crazy for feeling such remorse and sadness for a child I never actually met but hearing how Vega talked about her, she was a great kid. Happy, caring, curious...Vega even used to wear a bracelet that Lydia made for her. I hate the thought of someone like that having their life cut short because of a dumb fucking feud between adults. Maybe it wasn't entirely my fault but I do share a portion of that blame, and that's something I'll never let go of.
"I'm sorry Vega, for everything."
I squeezed her hand tight and blinked hard, releasing tears I'd held captive for too long.
[...The wheel turned 'round...]"
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