Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A frightened astronaut in a red suit ran hurriedly across a hallway. His breathing was ragged and he moved in a panicked fashion.

”Yellow?! Yellow where are you??!” He shouted loudly and he only momentarily looked into the rooms he passed.

He was just about to pass the Commutations room when something caught his eye that made him stop dead in his tracks. There, lying on the floor motionless and covered in crimson, was the said yellow suited astronaut. Her body was sprawled out on her back, her midsection torn open and missing organs that should have been there. Blood pooled from the wound, creating a puddle on the floor. 

Red stood there in complete shock, hands coming up to his visor in horror, “Yellow...no...” 
He knew he needed to report the body, but all he could do was stare.

Suddenly a figure walks up behind him, a gun trained at the back of Red’s helmet, “Oh Red, what a predicament we’ve come upon. Shame though, I almost thought about sparing you...almost.”

”Why...? Why are you doing this? I trusted you! I should have known it was you all along!”

”And risk getting ejected? Like anyone would believe an astronaut in a suit the color of blood. I’ve known you humans long enough to know you trust and distrust easily. All I needed was your trust to use as an alibi. Humans are expendable. If the time came where I was suspicious, I could simply use you as a scapegoat.”

”But that doesn’t justify killing others! Why do you imposters hate us so much? What did we ever do to you?”

”You're greedy. You think you can just waltz on to our home and strip our planet from its natural resources. Killing us off when we attempted to reason with you. So a special group of us are organized to infiltrate and execute your kind, crew by crew. Chipping away at your seemingly endless population until you finally leave Polus alone. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an offspring to feed.”

BANG!

The sound of a gunshot rang and the body of the red suited astronaut went slack, falling to the floor with a hard thud.

The impostor orange suited astronaut stared at the two freshly dead bodies in front of him before looking back at the Storage room. “Alright, it’s safe to come out now. Come eat while it’s still fresh.”

I peeked out from around the corner, looking around cautiously before walking over to the the older orange suited astronaut. Only standing about a fourth his height, I hugged his leg before looking at the body of the red suited human on the floor. “You take first bite off of this one. I had some of the yellow suited human earlier, I’ll save the rest for later. Oh and don’t forget to take the suit off first. That fabric isn’t good for you.”

”Okay, thanks Father.”

Chapter Text

I am what you might consider an impostor. But we weren't always this way.

My kind originates from our home planet, Polus. Even with Polus's extreme temperatures, a diverse amount of life adapted to these environments flourish on it. From the smallest little bacteria to the largest and powerful beasts. Our species is known as Kalulians. We may not be the apex predator of Polus, but we are the most adaptable, if not the most intelligent species native to Polus. It is a nice life there. Where food is plentiful, all the while keeping the balance of life in check. We have complex colonies below the purple soil and rock.

I hope to be able to see it one day...

You see, things started changing when the invaders arrived at Polus. They arrived on their weird flying ships with their uncannily solid colored skins. We later found out that those were just protective suits and their actual bodies are quite squishy and weak. Their skin varies from a strange tan to brown color and it was absent of any pattern at all. They call themselves humans.

My kind tried to welcome them to Polus, but the humans only seemed to know fear. For a species that is supposed to be parallel in intelligence to us, they sure can easily fall back on primal instinct once faced with something that looks different than them.

We may have bodies adapted to resisting more extreme temperatures, but thats only because we are able adjust our body temperatures at a steady rate to either keep ourselves cool or warm. This does not make us immune to small rockets or the exploding weapons the humans posses. Thus, the humans were able and proceeded to slaughter many Kalulians with their metal weapons, merely out of fear of us. Even though we did no wrong to deserve that treatment. To make matters worse, the humans started stealing mass amounts of Polus's natural resources, shipping it off to presumably their home planet, and they killed any other creatures that got in their way. 

My kind did not know how to respond to such an onslaught of aggression. We did not have such advanced weapons that the humans did as we never saw a need to take more than what we needed to survive. So long as everyone in the colony was fed and treated equally, with the exception of our leaders, everyone was happy. Also we already had many natural ways to defend ourselves. 

So our leaders formulated a plan. If we could not stop them by force, we could stop them by doing one of the things our species naturally does best: mimicry. Kalulians are natural born shapeshifters. Though the ability was only ever used as camouflage to hide from predators or prey before. By pretending to be one of them, we could infiltrate the humans and take them out group by group.

From then on, a unit of Kalulians, labeled as the Infiltraters, studied human behavior and their native language: English. The language was the easy part as humans can not produce super high or super low pitched sounds over a certain point. Their ears just simply did not hear that high or low of frequencies either. The harder part was trying to mimic their leg structure or face structure.

After about a year of studying and perfecting human behavior, the Infiltraters simply had to steal a solid colored suit that humans always wear and set their plan into action. They first started with human camps on Polus, but later moved on to human spacecrafts, using humans as their main source of food due to being off planet. These missions were surprising easy to do at first when the humans didn't suspect a thing and it significantly slowed any human activity on Polus. But generation after generation, the humans became smarter, labeling the Infiltraters as impostors.

Now, the Infiltraters aboard human spacecrafts still continue their mission, all the while producing more offspring along the way to continue the objective: take out the humans to survive and save Polus.

My Father is among this unit of Infiltraters and in rasing me, as am I. That mission with the red suited human being killed off last had been one of the first times Father allowed me to come with him to the kill sight. He was a skilled human mimic. He even knew how to effectively steal and use human weapons.

Like others of our unit before me, I hatched while onboard a human spacecraft. Since then, Father would make sure I stayed hidden in the vents of the ship, or inside his suit if we were moving ships, and would return to regurgitate his lastest kill. It got lonely in the vents sometimes, but I knew hunting humans must have been hard for him when I waited there for what felt like hours, so I didn’t gave him too much of a fuss about it. I would usually listen to the noises or feel the vibrations of the humans above. Depending on the crew, they didn’t talk to each other all that much or they talked all the time.

It was a routine. I’d stay in the vents, Father would kill and deceive the humans until he was only one left. Sometimes there would be another Infiltrater on board to share company with. We’d survive off of the human meat until we reached a ship docking port. Father would usually eject any human bodies we didn’t eat, clean up or hide any bloodstains, and then we would hide out in the vents until the coast was clear. Then sneak out to transfer on to another crew.

Father taught me everything I know. He showed me how to look human and how to act human. He taught me English alongside our native tongue. That being said, humans were of two genders, while Kalulians were of only one gender, so Father insisted I call him by the male pronouns and human male descriptions that he was mimicking. Apparently, human males and females also have different anatomy. But I used Father's appearance as reference to mimic this anatomy so I also got used to referring myself with male pronouns. The hardest thing to mimic is still the human face as they do not have feeding tentacles on their faces. Their breathing holes are between their eyes and mouth instead of on the base of their neck. Good thing I won't have to actually shift my face unless I am asked to take my helmet off because the visors are not see through from the outside. 

Among the others things Father had taught me as I grew older was how to sabotage different parts of a ship, how to effectively use the vents, how to hunt without getting caught, and how to find as well as use human weapons. He would also tell me stories of our species' life on Polus whenever we had a calm moment together and how he hopes I'll be able to see it for myself one day.

Once I hit adulthood, it was my time to go off on own and continue the cycle. Father knew humans have been getting smarter at spotting our species, so we’ve been losing more and more of our unit to the vaccum of space. Thus, Infiltraters must stick to themselves.

So to recap, my mission is to infiltrate the ship, kill and eat humans, reproduce, and raise the young. Do not get caught. Work with other impostors that may come on board. Teach the young and once the young is grown, send them off on their own and repeat the cycle.

By this logic, I probably have older siblings I might meet along the way. If I survive long enough. I would have had a brood-mate, but my sibling's egg was stillborn. That's apparently common among Infiltraters, simply because a hard diet of humans isn't as nutritious as eating animals from Polus that help with egg production.

We are hermaphrodites with both internal male and female reproduction parts as well as the ability to perform a sort of asexual reproduction. Once we reach sexual maturity and our body feels well nourished, our body will produce up to 3 eggs at a time every month. We can chose when we want to fertilize a batch of eggs and consume any blank eggs.

But anyways, that brings me to now. Standing in a human space station at the port of the ship I'm supposed to board, wearing an orange-colored astronaut suit that Father had stolen for me. I give Father one last hug goodbye, a human gesture of affection that he returns before I go to join my new human crewmates. I may never see him again.

I was verbally greeted by a human in a green-colored suit with a tablet. "Welcome to the Skeld, Orange. Go have a seat at the table while we wait for the others to join us."

~~~~

Orange's reference sheets:

With helmet

Without helmet

Chapter Text

I walked into the largest section of the ship, the Cafeteria area. At the table in the middle of the room sat 5 other astronauts, each with suits of a different color. Visors may block the view of their face, but their body language was all I needed to read mood. Some were talking amongst themselves excitedly and others just kept to themselves. I took a seat.

By the time the last crewmate entered the dock, the doors to the port shut as the ship detached for its destination. There was 10 crewmates in total including me. The green-suited one with her tablet in hand was the only one standing. She made a throat clearing noise that silenced the others.

”Alright. Welcome aboard crew. We have some newbies and some more experienced crewmates here today so I want everyone to be respectful of one another,” She momentarily glanced over at a purple-suited human. “Remember that it is a strict color code basis. No birth names or personal information is be shared amongst yourself. Code names are allowed, but color names are preferred. That being said, you may refer to me as Green. I will be taking the position of captain for this mission.

“The ship has been set on a direct course to Polus where we will be filling in for the current study group there. It will take about seven months to get there. That being said, everyone is to be contributing in keeping the ship running. You will receive a list of tasks to complete everyday. I better not see anyone slacking off or else you’ll be getting double the amount of tasks the next day.”

Green picked up a brown box that had been siting on the floor next to her. Inside was 9 almost identical tablets to the one in Green’s hand. One by one Green handed the tablets out to the crewmates according to the color sticker on the back.

”These are your work tablets. They will show you with what tasks you need to do. Once a task is completed, it will flash green. It should also provide you with a map of the ship that tells you where your tasks are located. There are GPS trackers inside the tablets so you can also look at where you are on the map in case you get lost. That should be all for now. You are free to get started,” Green explains before heading off with Yellow towards the Navigation room. Other crewmates were also dispersing from the Cafeteria to find their tasks. I should probably start doing that too if I wanted to shake any future suspicion.

I wandered around the ship a bit. The layout of the ship was almost exactly to what I was familiar with. Apparently every ‘Skeld’ ship had the same interior and exterior layout, complete with the vent system being in the same places. Everything was the same so finding a way to kill and quickly evade the scene should be easy, right? I hoped so.

Father always said the best rooms for an easy kill was the Reactor, Communications, and Electrical rooms. However, the security cameras and vents that only lead to the right and left engines make the risk of being seen running from the kill sight much higher. Communications had no vents and humans seem to try to avoid going in Electrical alone now. Father said to always get rid of anyone watching the cameras or sabotage communications to cut the feed.

I stopped outside the door to Electrical, looking at my tablet. It seems I did have a task in there. Before I could go in, a red-gloved hand was placed on my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks. At first I thought the worst. Is this human suspicious of me already??

It’s the red suited-er-Red who is now standing beside me. Where he came from I do not know. ”Hey, don’t you know the rule around here? It’s dangerous to go in there alone in case there happens to be any impostors around. I’m guessing you’re a newbie so I’ll let you slide this time. I can be your buddy for today. I have a task in Electrical too anyways. Cover for each other?”

I just stared at him blankly for a hot second before shrugging, “Uhh...okay, sure.” This is a perfect opportunity for a first kill.

Red gives me a thumbs up before we both head into the room. The Electrical room is always dimly lit for some reason. While it doesn’t bother me as much, I could see how it might spook humans.

My task was to calibrate the distributor in the far right corner. I didn’t like this task at all. I tried multiple tries to make the dials land in the correct spots, but I kept messing it up and the damn machine kept making me start over.

Red, who had been doing wires beside me, noticed my frustration, “Heh, you having trouble with that? Here let me help you.”

He had showed me to click on the dials when the dial knob connects with the right edge as it lights up. It took a few tries for me to get, but I eventually got the task done.

”It’s tricky the first few times, but you’ll get the hang of it soon,” Red says before moving towards the way we came. “You coming?”

I stared at Red silently. I could kill him right here, right now. Nobody would know it’s me. Then why am I frozen in place? Why did I waste those precious minutes when Red was showing me the distributor when I could have killed him and used that time on eating and escaping?

Red started looking at me weird. “Orange? Earth to Orange? Are you okay?”

This snapped me out of my mental debate. Crap. My brain scrambled for good excuse. “U-uh sorry! It’s- it’s just that I lost someone important to me on another mission. They told me they found the body in this room. I’ve only heard stories of this place before and at first I thought those people were making a big deal out of nothing. But standing in it now, I’m starting see why.”

I walk over to the door and into the hallway, trying to shake Red off my back but he catches up and starts walking beside me. “Hey wait. It’s okay, I understand. Electrical is most infamous room out of all the ships’ rooms. How about we be task partners from now on? Ya know in case you need help with anything else. This is my third mission aboard the Skeld, but I know enough about the tasks to be useful. Also we can vouch for each other if anyone winds up- uh well you know what I mean. So what do you say? Task buddies?”

I looked at Red suspiciously. Why was he so insistent on staying with me? Is it because in the eyes of the humans I’m ‘new’? Maybe I should have kept the sob story more light. Well, if I denied him now I would probably look even more suspicious. “Um okay, sure we can be...task buddies.”

Chapter Text

I had been walking around the Skeld doing tasks for about a couple hours now according to the clock on my tablet. Human sense of ‘time’ and ‘numbers’ still confuse me. No matter where I went, Red tailed me. Even when he didn’t have tasks in that room, he was never too far away. I thought about sabotaging something as a distraction, but with Red always near me, he’d catch me in the act for sure!

So I just went around doing my tasks silently, trying as hard as possible to push down the rising paranoia of Red watching my every move. When we reached Admin, I could hear voices coming from inside.

”Can you believe this stupid card swipe? It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve done it, I can never quite get it on the first try.”

”Cheer up Purple, it’s not like that’s the worst task on ship.”

”Really? Because I beg to differ.”

Red walks ahead of me so the two crewmates notice him first.

”Oh hey, Red. Card swipe as well?” As I peek around the corner, I notice it’s Brown that’s speaking. I’m still not used to matching everyone’s voices to their names yet. By Brown’s body shape and higher toned voice, I guessed Brown was female. She was standing on the side opposite to Purple, viewing a map of the ship through the table’s hologram.

”Yep,” Red simply replies as he stands next to Purple with his card in hand.

Brown laughs as Purple gets more mad at the card swiping machine. “Hah, maybe you should help Purple out, he’s having a little trouble.”

Purple in question points an angry finger at Brown. “Oh screw you! You know I’ve done this plenty of times before! The fucking card swipe just hates me.”

Brown shrugs her shoulder. “Whatever you say.”

Meanwhile, I had silently plugged my tablet into the uploading task near the door. Brown turns off the hologram of the ship’s map and just as she turns around, she jumps as if frightened but then quickly calms down. “Jesus, Orange! You scared the bajeezies outta me! When did you get here??”

I stared at her blankly, confused on what I’m supposed to say in this situation. Did I do something wrong? Also what does ‘bajeezies’ mean? Father didn’t teach me that word.

“Don’t worry Brown, he’s new. He’s not the same Orange from last time,” Red reassures. Not the same Orange from last time? What was that supposed to mean? Was the last mission Red and Brown were on Orange was an impostor? If that’s the case and these two are still alive, that means who ever that Orange was is mostly out in the void of space somewhere. Great, another thing to weigh me down on the importance of keeping our species alive.

Brown laughs nervously, before brushing herself off. “Aha, I know that, Red. Well anyways, I got a task in Shields. See you guys at dinner.”

And with that Brown quickly passes by me and leaves Admin. Just as she does, the card swipe scanner flashes green. 

“Yes! Finally!” Purple throws his hands in air in triumph before crossing his arms across his chest. I guess he had a smug face under that visor. “See? Told you I could do it. Oh where did Brown go?”

”She went off to do a task in Shields. Do you mind stepping aside so I can do my card swipe?” Red replies coolly.

”Oh uh sure, I’m gonna go with Brown, see ya’ll later,” Purple responds before leaving Admin as well. Now it was just Red and I again.

Red does his card swipe on the first try and my tablet notifies me the upload is done. He looks over at me.

”Don’t worry about Brown. She’s just a little paranoid from last mission, no biggy. Purple is her brother, so he may be a little over protective of her even though she annoys him to death. He wasn’t on the last mission Brown and I were on, but he's been on more missions than the both of us,” Red explains as if it’s nothing new. So my suspicions were right. Perhaps I can get more information about it? It’d make me fit more of the ‘new’ crewmate role as well I suppose.

”If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?”

Red’s body stiffens a little as he leans against the wall. “Just think about it as what happened to your friend in Electrical. Believe me when I say I’m glad I even survived one mission aboard the Skeld. I just wish impostors would leave us alone. We didn’t do anything, yet they kill us for no reason. Hundreds of ships have returned to port with no signs of any of the crew on board. Some say they were just dropped off on another planet, but I'm sure it's the imposters' doing. I’m only here because my dad went missing and I was old enough to take his place.”

Red looks back at me before moving towards the door. “I just wanna say that if you’re in any situation like me, then I’m sorry, but these mission are never easy even when it seems to good to be true. And you seem like a nice kid, too. Just remember always to have your guard up. If you feel like you’re danger at any point in time, don't be afraid to scream at the top of your lungs for help. I can’t let another innocent newbie die first, please.”

Red must have noticed my body’s rigid state because he then stopped and put a hand on my shoulder. “Hey hey, it’s okay. We’re gonna be okay. Sorry I got all emotional on you, missions in space change a man. Well at least there are no sights of impostors on board yet. Maybe we got lucky this time. How about we just forget about this conversation and go to dinner, yeah? Card swipe can wait.”

All I could do was nod.

…

Pretty much everyone had seen me with Red at this point. If I killed him now, I would be the first suspect. And I’m not sure if I want to with that conversation back in Admin. Red was like a switch, he pretended as if it never happened. I mentally sighed. Guess I’ll have to wait for everyone to go to sleep to strike. I just hope I can last that long. Father warned me that I’d have to go sometimes long periods without eating just to avoid suspicion, but my body isn’t quite adapted to that yet.

I never understood why humans needed so many hours of sleep. Maybe it’s just a human biology thing or an earth thing. I haven’t really needed to sleep, only an hour at minimum. Apparently our species was cathemeral or active during any time of the day and night on our home planet. Being opportunistic is our specialty.

When it comes to that sleep time, everyone will start heading towards their individual rooms, which is located in between Cafeteria, Medbay, and Storage. The bedrooms are also color coded and can be unlocked via the matching tablet. Different colored tablets won’t unlock other doors, except Green’s tablet which can unlock all bedroom doors. All bedrooms have vents that connect to Electrical. Perfect.

Everyone is currently gathering in Cafeteria to get some food via the ‘vending machines’ as they had called the strange metal boxes that dispensed dehydrated or preserved human food plus earth liquids called ‘water’ and 'soda'.

Our species are carnivores and as such, we can only eat meat, regardless of the kind of meat. Not only does anything else taste repulsive, but our body rejects to absorb it, having us painfully heave it all out or suffer indigestion. I made that mistake once as a hatchling, when another older Infiltrator gave me something called a 'chocolate bar' one mission. They thought it would be funny to see my reaction when I tasted human food for the first time. Father wasn’t happy at all when he found out what happened and had me spit it out in the airlock. 

I wasn’t sure if I should eat anything so I waited for everyone else to grab their dinner from the vending machine. While I was hungry, having burned off all the energy from my last meal aboard the last Skeld ship I was on, I didn’t wasn’t to risk having to run to the ‘toilet’ inside my room or the airlock just to vomit anything my body didn’t agree with. But then if I didn't eat then I would raise suspicion from the other crewmates. I was tempted to leave dinner early, finish that card swipe, and escape to my room where I can finally shield myself from prying eyes.

Unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky. I had apparently been standing in the corner of Cafeteria, watching everyone for quite a bit because Purple comes up to me. Red was getting food from the vending machine.

"Uh hey, Orange right? You okay, bud? You've been standing here there awhile. It's kinda creepy," He says flatly.

I shake myself out of my mental train of thought, "Oh um, sorry. I'm just going to turn in for the night after I finish my last task."

"Damn, not even 10 minutes into dinner time and you're already going back to work? Most newbies eat at the first chance they can get. You must be one of those hard workin' types," Purple laughs. "Man, Green is gonna like you. Just warnin' ya, but don't be too surprised if she makes you her special teacher's pet role she's got goin' on with Yellow. Anyways, if I don't see you again before I hit the hay, goodnight. Don't let the impostors bite!" He adds jokingly at the end before returning to his social group consisting of Brown, Pink, and Black.

I noticed Lime was sitting along another table, absently eating a bar of some sort while scrolling through their tablet. They actually seem good first target. Alone and no friends that might check up on them during the sleep time.

With that in mind, I headed back to Admin and pulled out my card. It took me 4 tries to get a green flash from the card scanner. There, now nobody can suspect me for not doing my tasks.

Curiously, I open up the ship's map on the admin table. Eight icons of crewmate helmets could be seen in Cafeteria, one icon in Admin, and unexpectedly one icon in Reactor. I wondered who was over there. Perhaps someone who didn't finish their last task like me? I struggled to remember who was missing from Cafeteria. I saw Green, Yellow, Black, Purple, Brown, Pink, Lime, Red, and of course myself, leaving... Cyan.

Maybe I don't have to wait until sleep time after all.

Chapter Text

I close the hologram of the map and head out of Admin with my mission in mind. I take the route through Storage as to avoid anybody stopping me in Cafeteria. As I reached the left engine room, I was tempted to use the vent. I knew it led to a vent in Reactor, but there’s nobody here right now so I think I’ll just use it for my escape.

Just thinking about food made my lower mouth grumble. Yeah yeah, I know I’m hungry, give me a moment. Come to think of it, it’s a bit harder to stay shape shifted on an empty stomach.

I walked up to the entrance of Reactor, but making sure I wasn’t visible. Ok Orange, you can do this. You’ve seen Father do this plenty of times before! What’s there to worry about? I slowly peeked around the corner.

Expecting to see Cyan just doing a Reactor task, I was surprised to hear... crying? Cyan was sitting on the floor, leaning against the reactor itself. They were faced away from me, burying their face in their knees. It was also at that moment I realized they weren’t wearing their helmet either.

He, I think Cyan is male(?), had dark brown colored skin and short but curly black hair. Kind of looked fluffy if you asked me. His body was a more skinny build from what I could see.

As I took a step, the floor under me creaked. This alerted Cyan immediately as it was very quiet and the ship can echo a bit if you listen close enough.

Cyan jerked at the sound, quickly grabbing his helmet from the floor, turning toward the source of the noise. I knew I had already blown my measly cover by this point so I simply just walked into the visible doorway with my hands up; a calm, non-threating gesture Father taught me.

Cyan's body relaxed a bit, putting his helmet back on. "Oh, it's just you, Orange. Sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone to be around here..."

"No no, sorry to bother you. I actually saw someone in Reactor on the admin table so I came to see if they were okay. I can go if you want," I started. Well it was half the truth. Maybe this was a bad idea...

Cyan cuts me off and puts a hand up as if to stop me with an invisible force, "No wait! You're new too, right?"

"Um, yes..?"

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" His voice softened a tad, switching his sitting position into crossing his legs with hands in his lap. He patted the floor next to him so I took that as a gesture to sit down.

"Sure... What is it?" I walk over to sit next to him, but make sure to keep my distance.

"How do you like being on the ship so far? I mean, it's great and all, I guess. We're in space, amiright?" Cyan laughed nervously before looking down at his hands.

"Well, it's okay I think. Tasks aren't as bad as most people seem to think. Everyone I've met has been nice to me so far. Granted there has been some awkward moments, but it's not like that that's not unexpected from more experienced crewmates, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose. But how can you be so calm? I've heard stories of people disappearing on ships like this one. People being brutally murdered with no explanation as to how. People being tossed into space for no reason. A-and those who were lucky enough to survive the trip back to Earth returned with ugly scars and developed PTSD or something. I used to have nightmares about it as a kid. I still do. Black keeps saying that none of it's true and people just made that up to scare children, but I can't stop thinking about it ever since I stepped foot on this ship!"

That took me aback. So humans are really that afraid of us? Afraid of us as we are of them? "I-I think I understand."

Cyan looked up at me. "You do?" His tone of voice is hopeful, but I could tell he was on the verge of crying again.

"Y-yeah. At least I think so. When I was little, my Father used to tell me stories like that all the time. At first they were just as a bad joke, but as I got older, they became more of a warning. People being thrown into the vast void of space for no reason at all still gives me chills. Suffocating and freezing to death in that huge expanse of darkness with no way to save yourself. I mean who would do that to their own shipmate, right? I was so scared all the time that that would happen to my Father when he went on these sort of missions. But…we just have to accept it, you know?"

"Yes, but how can you?! So they just expect us to watch our fellow crewmates get thrown out the airlock and pretend like none of that is wrong? Where is their sense of compassion?" Cyan raised his voice for a second before lowering it again. "What if that was the last time I ever got to see home or my family? What if I never get the chance to say I'm sorry to them? Sorry that I left? Sorry that I never told them goodbye? And for what? Just because this stupid job pays well?"

Cyan paused for a bit before looking directly at me. If it weren't for the visors, I was sure he was starring directly into my eyes. With a noticeable quiver and his voice so soft it was almost a mumble, "Orange, I don't want to die..."

And with that, I felt immensely bad for some reason. It was so strange. I had never felt this kind of sympathy?, or was it pity?, towards a human before. Cyan has a family. Much like I had Father. If I was thrown into space, would Father cry for me? Would he feel bad about my death or would he brush it off as I failed my mission? I knew Father loved me enough to raise me and care for me, but I'm not his first his offspring. I could never tell what he was truly thinking or feeling, only when he wanted me to see it.

I looked away, "I don't want to either."

I heard heavy footsteps coming our way before Red appears around the corner. His body language appears frantic, but relaxes when he catches sight of Cyan and I sitting on the floor. "There you are, Orange! You had me worried for a minute there. Purple said you were in Admin, but when I didn't find you there, the map showed two people were in here. Don't run off on me like that again, please."

I stood up and casually walked over to him. "It's okay Red. I'm fine. I was just talking with Cyan. This is his first mission too."

"Uh, actually I prefer they/them pronouns, thanks," Cyan adds awkwardly. Wait so humans have more than two genders now?

"Oh well, nice to see you two getting along," Red commented.

"I'm going to turn in for the night if you don't mind," I stated calmly before turning to leave.

"Wait, Orange!"

I stopped in my tracks to turn my attention to Cyan.

"Thank you," He-They finish. 

I nod my head. "Anytime." And with that I take my leave, walking back towards Cafeteria. Red walked behind me, but I wasn't paying attention to him at the moment. Even as I walked into Cafeteria, I didn't take notice of the stares from the other crewmates. I had too much on my mind.

I made a beeline to the bedrooms and Red gives me a simple, "See you tomorrow at breakfast." just before I head to my room. I hold up my tablet to the orange marked scanner. It flashes green and unlocks the door, allowing me to go inside and close the door behind me.

I sighed. Finally, freedom. I flop myself onto the bed, just letting my body melt into the its softness. I remove my helmet and put it aside so I could stare up at the ceiling. It's a good thing we can breathe the air humans can. Though it's a little odd when their breathing holes are on their face instead of their neck. Helmets are mostly helpful because they aren't see through from the outside looking in, meaning I don't have to shift my face 24/7. It's just my arms, legs, and antennae I have to worry about which is a good thing because I find having only two eyes and two ears weird and restricting. It's not the almost 360 degree vision or sharp hearing I'm used to. I pull down the zipper of my suit so my lower mouth could relax. Honestly, the worst part about these suits is how they uncomfortably brushed the edges of my lower mouth's lips whenever I moved. In my opinion, clothing as a whole is restricting. I don't understand how humans are comfortable with these second skins either. Speaking of, said lower mouth grumbles again, this time accompanied by a pang of hunger. Oh right, still hungry.

Why do I have this good feeling for talking with Cyan? Wasn't I going to kill them like not even 5 minutes ago? Well, I don't know how long we were talking, but it was interesting. Are humans always this emotional? Am I going to get a heartfelt conversation with literally every crewmate I meet? It's like they're giving me reasons not to kill them without them even knowing my intentions. It's confusing and annoying. Do they expect me to starve to death over risking the feeling of guilt about killing anyone?

Well its not like I need much sleep either right?

Chapter Text

I lie awake in bed, waiting until the crewmates all turn in for their sleep time. I noticed they called the start of their sleep time ‘lights out’ which signaled everyone was in their rooms. Just to make sure they were all asleep, I waited a few more hours.

Okay. Now I can finally get to business. I stood up and stripped myself of the orange spacesuit, tossing it carelessly on the bed. I made sure the light in my room was off just in case anyone could see light outside the room and question why I wasn’t asleep. Plus darkness always helps conceal myself without having to shift.

I allowed myself to shift back into my true form, my body stretching back its normal height and regaining its normal features. It felt nice after a long day of having to contort my body to human proportions and having to hide my stinger antennae.

I looked around my room which was small, but consisted of a bed, a small table next to the bed I think is called a ‘nightstand’, a ‘shower’, and a ‘toilet’. Whenever Father went on missions, these rooms always looked exactly the same. I’d spend most of my time when I was little hiding in the room’s vent, but I would explore around a bit when no one was around. That vent in question was in the same place, located in the corner back of the room on the floor, right underneath the bed. It was a tight fit, but I’d manage. After all, we don’t have ‘bones’ like humans do to keep our structure. Most of our body mass is made up of incredibly malleable tissues with a similar texture to cartilage that can harden, soften, and contort to our will. The only ‘organ’ we have similar to humans is our two esophaguses connecting to both mouths and our stomach.

After a moment, I closed my eyes and pushed my body to merge my four limbs plus my shoulders into myself like Father had taught me. This way my body formed a limbless body with the appearance of a long tail. I didn't see the need to shift my head so I left that mostly alone. Most of the limb shifts I know are from Earth or Polus creatures, knowledge passed on from generation to generation of impostors. I can’t mimic a form I don't know the structure of so that plays a factor too. This body mimics an earth creature called a ‘snake’. It’s very useful for making vent travel quicker and easier.

Opening the lid of the vent with a couple of my feeding tentacles, I changed the color of my body to a solid black color for conspicuous reasons before I squeezing my body head first through the opening. Once my body drops inside the vent, which was surprisingly a bit more spacious than I'm used to, I close the vent door behind me with the end of my new tail. I start slithering my way across the vent system, having no problem seeing in the dark, until I reached the electrical room vent lid where I could choose which path to divert to another room. The far right two vent lids led to Security and Medbay meanwhile the rest led to the crewmates’ personal rooms. I mentally smacked my head in my complete ignorance before I ‘went to bed’ to look at which room was color. Now I don’t know which room any of these vents lead to. Great.

Should I just go to each individual room and see which one each vent leads to? I’d have to peak out from under the bed to be able to see their color though and that could risk being seen. I sighed frustratedly. But it’s a risk I’m going to have to take.

I went into the first vent to the right of the Medbay vent. It led me to the room closest to Cafeteria. As I made my way closer to the vent lid, I suddenly hear light footsteps get up and something start to sniff around. Perkimg up my four ears, I noticed the footsteps sounded too light to be human and probably stood on more than two legs judging by the pattern of the footsteps. I tried to peek through the small vertical holes on the vent lid to see what it was, but I couldn’t get a clear view. I got a glimpse of light blue fur.

Oh. It’s that weird looking animal from earlier that I saw walking onto the ship. It was apparently a cross between the Earth animal ‘dog’ and DNA from a Polus equivalent creature, according to my half-hearted eavesdropping when everyone was first boarding the ship. Apparently, normal dogs are supposed to have two eyes instead of one and have brown to white colored fur instead of light blue. Said dog-thing(?) started growling softly at vent. If I don’t shut this thing up soon, it’ll expose me to the human above.

”Cyclops, go to sleep and quit ya yappin’,” The human in question said sleepily.

However, the dog seemed more interested in me than to listen to its owner. As I slowly pushed the vent lid open with one feeding tentacle, the dog only got more agitated. I could see it better now as I peeked my head out of the vent. The hair on its body stood up, its back arched, and it bared its teeth at me, growling even louder now. I stared hungrily at the dog, all 11 eyes wide and trained on the animal. I had let my instincts take control of me, quickly shifting my feeding tentacles to become longer and shooting them out to wrap around the animal's body. I quickly started yanking it towards me and into the vent. The animal yowled in pure terror and struggled in my grasp. I open my upper mouth and sink my dark-colored fangs into the animal's neck as it comes within reach. It cries loudly in pain, whimpering for its owner.

I hadn’t noticed before but there was an audible, ”Yo what the fuck-no NO NO NO NO!“ just as the animal started yowling. I could hear the human quickly sit up, get off the bed, and crouch on the floor. Probably to look under the bed where the their dog disappeared from view. I quickly cut off the animal’s cries as I end its life and hurry away back the way I came with my prize hanging limp in my jaws.

Just as I leave I can hear the human yelling, “YOU BASTARD! GIVE ME BACK MY DOG! CYCLOPS! BUDDY, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!”

Shit. They saw me grab the dog. I tried to drown out the noise of them yelling as I raced to get back to my room. Not even five minutes later, the alarm of the emergency meeting button goes off, waking everyone from their sleep. Shit! This is going from bad to worse! First thing I sink my teeth into since I came aboard this ship and I can’t even enjoy it in peace! I push myself out of the vent, leaving the corpse of the dog in the vent for later. I shift my body back into the physique of a human and allow my skin to change back into its normal coloring. Then I quickly shove myself into the orange suit and put on the matching helmet.

I checked myself over one last time to make sure there were no non-human parts of me visible before opening the door to my room. I could see everyone else start to come out of theirs. Good, I’m not suspiciously late and everyone is probably tired from being awakened so quickly. I could hear sleepy murmurs of, “What’s goin’ on?” from the other crewmates. As people arrived to Cafeteria, we all took a seat around the table. Pink’s body language looked mad, if not livid and/or frightened.

Green was first to speak up, “Alright, who called the meeting and why?”

Pink answered immediately, “I did! And I’m hear to tell you all, that we have a fucking impostor aboard!”

That got everyone’s attention.

”An impostor?”

”What the hell?”

”Are you sure?”

”How do you know there’s an impostor?”

Green raised her voice to silence the others comments, “Alright, alright settle down everyone. Now Pink, why do you think there’s an impostor aboard? You realize this is a very serious thing to say, correct?”

”Yes, but I’m sure there’s one on board! Cyclops, my dog, starts growling in the middle of the night at seemingly nothing. I start to doze off again for like a hot second before I see these long, black tentacles things shoot out from under my fucking bed and fucking drags my poor Cyclops right into the fucking VENT! So in other words, an IMPOSTOR just KILLED MY FUCKING DOG!” Pink aggressively explained. Ah so that was Pink’s room. 

Everyone is in silence. I tried to calm my rising panic. Pink only saw my feeding tentacles, right? He has no reason to think it’s me. Specifically to think it’s Orange. So it’s alright. I’m okay... I hope.

After a hot minute, Green spoke up again, “I see. I’m very sorry for your loss, but do you have any clue or idea as to who it might be?”

Pink looked down, “No, but I’m not going to be able to sleep until we find the fucker.”

”Wait didn’t you say these tentacles that dragged your dog were black?” Yellow piped in. Suddenly everyone was looking at Black.

Black flinched as if surprised, “Wait why are you all looking at me for? I didn’t kill his damn dog!”

”Oh yeah? So where you just now before the meeting was called?” Brown asked suspiciously.

”I’m a security guard, I was doing my shift in Security. I promise I never left that area.”

”So what if you didn’t? You could have used the vent to go and kill Pink’s dog!”

”Look just because my suit happens to be black, doesn’t mean it’s me, Brown.”

”It’s not only that, but you were the only one up at this hour too! It has to be you! Pink, you agree with me right?” Brown looked over at Pink. He had been silently staring hard at Black the whole time during this argument and nodded when asked. “See? Green I think we should vote Black.”

”W-what! There’s literally no evidence here! Why are you so quick to vote me off?! If anything I’d think you’re trying to use me to cover this up! For all we know, it could be you, Brown!” Black pointed an accusatory finger at her.

”Hey, don’t you accuse my sister like that! If anyone would know if Brown was an impostor, it’s me!” Purple defended. “If anything, I think you’re just trying to throw the blame because she accused you first!”

“Really, you’re seriously siding with her? I thought we were friends, Purple!”

”We were friends until you got, I dunno maybe replaced with one of those fucking aliens! I’ve been on enough missions that I’ve seen friends turn out to be not who they say they are! For all I know, the real Black could be buried somewhere in that enormous fucking stomach of yours!”

”Guys! Guys! That’s enough!” Green interjected. “We will settle this with a vote.”

Everyone had their tablets out and started voting. I wasn’t sure what to vote. I barely knew Black and never actually had a conversation with her, but I felt bad to send someone to that cruel death sentence. However if they did space her, that would be one less crewmate to worry about. By the time I was done mental debating, the timer was almost up so I just voted to skip. Voting showed up as anonymous so no one knew who voted for who, but we were able to see how many people voted for what.

Tension was very present around the room and soon everyone submitted their vote.

Chapter Text

The results popped on the screen. Five icons showed under Black’s name. Five icons appeared next to the Vote Skip. It was a draw, meaning the vote automatically skipped.

"Five votes to eject Black and five votes to skip vote. It's a tie so Black will not be ejected," Green read aloud. There's different reactions around the table. Most prominently noticeable in their body posture. Pink, Brown, and Purple looked disappointed, Brown glaring at Black. Black, Cyan, Red, and even Green looked relieved. I tried not to show any emotion. Though maybe I should since everyone else is?

"Alright, Pink I'm sorry about your dog, I really am, but the vote count is the vote count. At least try to get some sleep tonight? I'm sure there are breeders on Polus who can supply another dog," Green tried to sympathize with Pink. I could tell she's probably done the whole sympathy thing before. If I didn't know I was the only impostor on this ship, then I probably would have thought she was another impostor. Dad used the tactic to sympathize with the crewmates often as he was better able to catch them in more vulnerable places. I guess I just never realized how emotional humans are as a species.

Everyone started heading back to bed, but I stayed behind a bit to listen in on a conversation. Cyan volunteered to switch with Black for security guard duty for the rest of the sleep time. The crewmates agreed that they felt safer if Black stayed in her room and Green was initially going to take Black's job in security before Cyan butted in.

"Are you sure you want to take my shift? It's your first mission and I don't want to pressure you," Black said calmly, but with a worried tone.

Cyan nodded with a determination I hadn't seen before, "Don't worry, I can do it! Besides, it's only for a few hours right? Just watch the cameras and make sure nothing suspicious happens?"

Green sighed, "Yeah that's the gist of it. Normally, I would I appoint someone more experienced to replace the security guard, but I think I can trust Cyan to do it for a few hours. Shouldn't be too hard. However, don't complain when you're tired in the morning okay?"

"You got it, ma'am!" Cyan gave her a salute gesture.

"Heh, cute. Well I might as well get some paperwork done, so I'll be in Navigation if you need anything Cyan," Green waved before heading towards Navigation.

As soon as she leaves, Cyan hugged onto Black tightly. "Don't scare me like that! I don't know what I'd do if they ejected you! You promised Mom!"

Black hugged back, affectionately petting Cyan's helmet. "I know, I know. I still remember what I promised your mother. I'm trying my best here. I just didn't expected to get called out so early on this mission. I'll try my hardest to show my innocence to the other crewmates, but you're gonna learn that some people are just too thick headed sometimes. Also, if Pink really did see an impostor, I want you to be as alert as possible. Yell for help, call an emergency meeting, do anything to alert the other crewmates if you see something suspicious okay? I can't lose you either, they might as well throw me in the airlock."

As they pulled away from the hug, Black looked over directly at me. Crap, she must have noticed me standing there next to the hallway. "Can we help you with something, Orange?" I flinched when addressed.

"Huh?" Cyan turned their head to look at me. "Oh hi Orange!" They waved enthusiastically and gestured me to come over there. I cautiously walked over, but tried not to make my worry noticeable.

"Uh, hello. Sorry, that was probably weird of me to just stand there. Still trying to get familiar with all this," I awkwardly tried to explain. 

"Mmhm. You know them?" Black asked Cyan.

"Yeah! This is also his first mission too, we met up yesterday at dinner."

"Oh so that's where you were. I was confused when I didn't find you wolfing down a sandwich in Cafeteria," Black turned to me and held out her hand. "Pleasure to meet you then, Orange. You must be a good friend if Cyan is this enthusiastic. They've been jumpy ever since boarding the ship." Cyan made a pouting noise at those comments.

I shook her hand briefly before letting go, "Ah, yeah. It's nothing really."

"Nonsense! You helped me a lot back there," Cyan piped in. "Hey Black, do you think I could hang around with Orange tomorrow?"

"Cyan, you don’t need my approval with who you hang out with. I just told you to be careful.”

”I know, but can I? I don’t to worry.”

”Sure, do whatever you want. Well, I’m gonna head to bed. Try to not the keep Orange up too late okay?” As she as finished that sentence, Black walked to her room. Cyan and I just kind of watch her go until she disappeared from view, leaving me alone with Cyan once again. For some reason this feels more awkward than the last time we were alone in Reactor. Maybe it's because I had the goal of killing Cyan last time and almost got Black ejected for killing a dog.

Cyan broke the silence. "Hey Orange? This is a weird question, so I won't pressure you to answer it, but if I was an impostor then would you eject me?"

I turned my head to look at them, surprised. "Huh? Where is this coming from? Of course I wouldn't. You've been so nice to me and we've barely met..."

Cyan laughed, "Ha! I could say the same for you then. You're one of the quiet types I've noticed, but I know you've got a good heart. I can see why Red is so protective of you. It kind of reminds me of how Black is with me. She and my mother were childhood friends. My parents never had great income so Black practically raised me with all her help and support. Mom made her promise to look after me when I took this job. Sorry, I shouldn't be telling you my personal life, but I feel like I can trust you, ya know? I don't expect you to tell me anything about your personal life, but if you ever need someone to talk to, I'll be here okay?"

I just stared at them wordlessly. I was speechless. I didn't know what to say. At that moment, I felt some burning desire deep down to tell Cyan what I really was. That feeling was quickly pushed down though. What if Cyan hated me or never spoke to me again? What if they told Black and she wasn't as forgiving because of what almost happened to her just now? Would sorry even be enough? I couldn't tell them. The first rule of an impostor is to never, ever expose yourself for what you are to the humans. In the end, it would just get you killed.

"Thank you, Cyan. That... that means a lot. Good luck on the security guard job alright?" Cyan merely nodded in response as I headed back to my room.

The moment I reached my room and closed the door behind me, I sighed and leaned against the door. If I were human, my heart would probably beating pretty fast. I can't get a break, can I?

I unfastened my helmet and unzipped my suit before placing them on the bed. I bent over to open the vent and grab the corpse of the dog where I had left it. I pulled it out of the vent and held it with both hands. I recalled that I had killed it by crushing the dog's neck in my jaws, quick and painless. The wound had made a small pool of purplish blood at the bottom of the vent so I had to suck some of the blood out of the dog before it could start dripping on the floor. Just with the taste of blood alone, I could feel some energy returning to my body. Once I was sure the blood flow had stopped almost completely, I just opened up my lower mouth and stuffed the dog's body inside to make eating faster. Unlike humans, we eat every part of the animal, leaving nothing behind unless we aren't fast enough to finish it off, and absorb all of it in to our body. We lack a complete digestive system, meaning we only have two esophagus and a stomach. This also means don't produce feces. I'm glad for that though, it sounds utterly revolting to me and I don't understand how humans can live with that their entire lives.

While the dog wasn't as much as I'm used to eating and tasted a little weird compared to human meat, it was at least something and I wouldn't have sleep hungry thankfully. Speaking of such, food always did make me sleepy. I debated whether or not to sleep with my suit on. What if someone entered my room while I was asleep? Orange don't be ridiculous. No one else can unlock the door remember? Besides, you need way less sleep than they do, you'll be up before they are. With that thought, I hung the suit and helmet on the wall before climbing under the blanket provided. Just in case someone does open the door, I'll have something to hide myself under.

It wasn't long before I finally allowed myself into the darkness of sleep.

Chapter Text

The rest of the sleeping time had gone by peacefully with no more interruptions.

I woke up to a beeping noise. Blinking the sleepiness away, I saw that the noise was coming from a small black box with red numbers on it sitting on my nightstand. An alarm, I think Father called it. Had that always been there? I fiddled around with it until I was finally able to get it to stop once I pressed a red button on the top. Interesting.

I grabbed my tablet and looked at the numbers for time located in the top corner or the screen. It matched the numbers shown on the box so this must be some kind of clock? Wait... 7:15 am??? How long did I sleep for?! I don't remember the exact time it was when I fell asleep, but I remember it being 4:30 am when the meeting was called. That's weird. I've never slept 4-ish hours in a row before. Maybe it's an adaptation? To preserve energy I have to sleep more? Ugh. I wish Father were here so I could ask him about it.

I wondered if anyone else was up yet. I listened around for the noises of the other crewmates as I shifted my body proportions back into being more human-like and got dressed in my orange suit. Rotating my four ears in different directions, I heard the shuffling of feet and the soft voices of the other crewmates. I looked back at the box sitting on my nightstand. All rooms must have one then.

I yawned before fastening my helmet over my head and opened my room's door. Walking out, the door closed and auto locked behind me. That's reassuring at least. I wouldn't know what to say if someone found blood in my room.

A good amount of the crewmates where already in the Cafeteria grabbing their breakfasts from the food dispensing machines. I realized I should probably grab something, even if I'm not going to eat it. I may have gotten away with dinner, but I may not be able to again. While nobody suspects me at the moment, it is better to be safe than sorry as the human saying goes.

So I got in line and grabbed a human meal from the vending machine. It's still weird to me that humans label everything, including their three meals of the 'day'. A meal should just be a meal. Today's breakfast was a tray of soft yellow stuff and two square brown things. Even though these suits were deisgned to protect human bodies, they weren't as thick as the white suits humans used for repairing the outsides of ships while in space so smells weren't too muted. The yellow stuff didn't smell all that bad, but the brown stuff made me wrinkle my breathing holes in disgust. I spotted Red walking over to me. 

”Good morning Orange!” He greeted. “Sleep well? Er- as well as you can with the situation last night.”

I looked up at him and nodded in response, "Yeah, I guess."

”Cool. Honestly, I’m glad Black didn’t get ejected and that it was just a dog that went missing last night. But this is serious now, okay? The impostor is probably just biding their time so I need you to be on high alert. Think you can do that?”

I nodded again, more unsurely this time.

”Good good. Now I noticed you seemed kind of uncomfortable with me following you all the time yesterday and I get it, I can be a bit imposing. However, I have to sort some things out with Green today and Black volunteered to stick with you. Is that good with you? I promise she isn’t the imposter if you still have any doubts about her.”

”Sure, that’s fine,” I simply said. While I didn't know Black all that well, she seemed friendly enough. She was also not as clingy, but more observant than Red. I could perhaps get a moment away from her today if the opportunity presents itself and make my first human kill. That's a big if though. I just hope the dog will last me for at least for today if it doesn't work out.

"Alright then. Make sure to give me a call if you need anything at all." I assume Red smiled at me under his visor, giving me a thumbs up before heading over to a table to eat his breakfast.

I was about to go sit down when a excited "Morning Orange!" sounded from behind me. I flinched, but quickly recomposed myself. I turn around to see Cyan with their own breakfast tray.

"Ah sorry!"

"No worries," I answered smoothly. "How are you holding up? I thought you'd be super tired."

"Eh, nothing some coffee can't fix," Cyan shrugs their shoulder. Reminder to look up what coffee is. "I wanted to ask if you wanna come eat with me in Security? Green was impressed with how well I did last night that I have security duty for the rest of the day. Black can have it back tomorrow if nothing uh... out of the ordinary happens today. I'm also not supposed to be away from the cameras too long, but it gets kinda boring in there. I don't know how Black does it."

I give Cyan a mimicked understanding nod. Just how I practiced, “Yeah, of course.”

With that I followed Cyan back to the security room. I didn’t bother mentioning Black is supposed to be watching me as to not alert Cyan if I ever wanted to go wandering off by myself. Spending time with Cyan also means I get to stay away from prying eyes. Who knows? I might even get the chance to make my first kill today and use Cyan as my alibi.

When we reach Security, it’s exactly how it always looks on these ships. An overly spacious room for just looking at the feed from the recording devices humans called cameras. I know where all these cameras are in the ship. If their little red light turns on, it means someone is looking at the camera feed. To the left of room is where this massive screen as well as two smaller screens displayed the camera feed. Underneath it was a desk with objects Father described as a keyboard and a mouse on top plus a chair facing the desk. I knew the screens had a human term, but I forgot what Father said they were called. These screens were too big to be considered tablets. In the middle of the room, just across from the door, was another desk. This one was bigger with a chair that didn’t have a backing. Files, tapes, and pens were half scattered half in an organized pile in the desk. The rest of the room was open space with a vent located on the top right corner on the floor. That vent can lead to either Electrical or MedBay.

I stood by the door and watched as Cyan put their food tray down on the desk with the screens, grabbed the chair from the middle desk, and set it down next to the other chair. Cyan then sits down on the chair with the backing and motioned me to come sit on the chair they had just moved. Recognizing the social cue, I wordlessly walked over and sat down on the extra chair before looking down at my tray of human food.

”I can’t believe we have to eat this stuff,” I murmured to myself, not noticing I’d said it out loud.

”Oh yeah. I realized yesterday that the food on here is kind of gummy,” Cyan sighs and pokes at his portion of yellow stuff with the metal stick with 4 smaller sticks at the end that came with every tray. I knew humans used different metal sticks to eat, but Father never bothered to tell me what they were called because I’m not supposed to eat human food in the first place. “I know you can’t expect much from food that’s been dehydrated and rehydrated, but man do I already miss food from home.”

I gave an understanding nod again, even though I had no idea what Cyan was talking about. I realized Cyan had put their visor up all the way so they could begin eating the food on their tray and look at the screens, Cyan’s face fully in view. It felt weird seeing the alien features that I had barely got to fully study back in the Reactor room when we’d first met again. I spent a moment just watching Cyan eat before realizing they were probably expecting me to do the same.

Oh. Time to panic.

While I had practiced numerous times with Father in shifting to my human face and practicing how the ligament in the human face move, this is the first time I’d be showing it to an actual human. What if I mess up? Or move my face incorrectly? Humans tend to have a subconscious sense for when they see things or behaviors that aren’t normal in other humans. What if Cyan got suspicious of me?

I had to take another quick moment to try to calm myself before Cyan noticed my odd behavior. I lifted my visor up only a tiny amount, just enough to get the metal stick through. I also shifted the color of my skin to match what my human form would look like just in case. I grabbed the identical metal stick on my tray and mimicked how Cyan held it as well as how Cyan used it to scoop up some of the yellow stuff. I brought the metal stick with some of the yellow stuff on it through the small gap in my visor so I could grab the human food with one tentacle.

Tasting it in my upper mouth, the yellow stuff did have a gummy texture like Cyan had said and it didn't have a much of a taste either. It was pretty bland to be honest, but it was eatable. I don't understand how humans eat this all the time.

I repeated the motions until I'd eaten all the yellow stuff off my tray, wondering how much I'd regret this in a couple hours. I attempted to try the brown squares by breaking off a piece and slipping it through the small opening in my visor to taste it, but it tasted way worse than the yellow stuff and I immediately put it back down on my tray. I also put my visor back fully down so none of my skin was visible anymore. My skin subconsciously changed back to its natural coloration.

I looked over at Cyan and gestured to the brown squares I hadn't touched, "Hey do you want these? I don't like them."

"You don't like toast?" Cyan asked almost curiously. I shook my head no and held out my tray. Cyan looked at it for a moment before shrugging and taking the two untouched brown squares from my tray which were apparently called 'toast'. "Your loss. Toast is like...one of the few rehydrated foods with actual flavor," Cyan said before shoving a piece of toast in their mouth. I resisted the urge to recoil in disgust at the action.

With that, we sat in silence watching the cameras. One screen showed the hallway between Weapons, Navigation, O2, and Sheilds, noticing the vent in clear view. Note to never come out of there when the cameras are on. A second screen showed the hallway between Cafeteria, Admin, and Storage. A third screen showed the hallway between Cafeteria and MedBay. Lastly, a fourth screen showed the hallway between Reactor, Security, and the two Engine rooms. I wondered why there were only cameras in the hallways between rooms. I thought it would make more sense if they were inside rooms? Whatever, I'm not going to jinx my luck.

Bored, I pulled out my tablet to look at what tasks I had today. Looks like I had to clear asteroids in Weapons, swipe my card in Admin again, align engines, and empty garbage. I'll save that last task for later if that yellow stuff doesn't agree with my body which it probably won't. I only ate it so Cyan can vouch for me that I ate at least some human food. 

Breakfast time should be over already so I got up from my seat and put the extra chair back over at the middle desk.

"Hey Cyan, I'm gonna head out and start doing tasks. I'll see you later?"

Cyan spun their chair around to look back at me and nodded, "Yeah okay. Thanks for hanging out with me during breakfast. I know we didn't really talk or anything, but I like having someone else in the room with me. I'll see you around!" 

I only nodded back at them before exiting Security, giving a wave up at the camera just outside the door before heading over to the right Engine. Aligning both engines were easy enough as I only had to check to make sure the engines were lined up with a dotted line on the screen. The task on my tablet flashed green as soon as they were completed. I then walked along the hallway from the left Engine, passing Electrical and going through Storage, into Admin. I felt like I was starting to get more comfortable walking around the ship without Father around, but I reminded myself not to get too comfortable. The party is only getting started as the human expression goes.

Once I reached Admin, I was mildly surprised to see Lime in there. It was just Lime and nobody else. They were standing by the entrance with their tablet plugged into the wall, probably uploading data. Lime is one of the shorter members of the crew and their body language is usually calm and quiet. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever heard Lime speak. I want to say that Lime is female due to their anatomy, but I could be wrong like I was initially with Cyan.

Although Lime had looked exteriorly calm, they had an intimidating aurora about them that I didn’t quite feel I had the confidence to talk to them. So I wordlessly passed Lime, took out my card and proceeded to complete my card swipe task, the task on my tablet flashing green. I then proceeded to open and look at the hologram of the ship that showed how many crewmates were in each room.

”Some of the crew seems to have taken a liking to you I’ve noticed,” Lime says out of the blue. I turn my head to look back at them and Lime hadn’t looked up from their tablet screen. “Just wanted to say nice job so far. Even though it’s your first mission, you aren’t doing too bad and I think you’re gonna fit right in.” Lime finally looked up at me, “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

I stared at Lime in confusion. What did they mean by that? I made a motion to question them, but they raised to stop me, “Save your breath, you’ll need it later. Before I go though, just wanted to point out Pink is in Communications and will most likely be there for a while.” Lime walks up and points to the single icon in Communications. “Thought you may want to stop there on your way back.”

”Way back?” I softly questioned without thought.

Lime pats my shoulder before walking out of Admin, “Check your notifications.” I could hear the mischievous smile in their voice. Lime was up to something, but I couldn’t put my finger on what.

I opened my tablet’s notifications and sure enough on the screen was a message from Green that told me to report to Navigation. Well… this day seems to keep getting interesting and it’s still only morning.

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Since the message seemed urgent, it's probably best to head over to Navigation now that I finished my task in Admin anyways. I decided to go the route that goes through Cafeteria and passes Weapons to get to Navigation. The Cafeteria was mostly absent of people. As is expected with everyone busy with their tasks. I think I saw Brown uploading data in the corners of my eyes as I passed, but I didn't stop walking to check.

I couldn't stop thinking about Lime. Their whole demeanor screamed suspicious, but only just back there when it was just the two of us. Before then, Lime always had like a calm, laid back posture like they didn't have a care in the world. They also hadn't spoken much if at all this entire trip, always by themself and never speaking to anyone. They hadnt even said a peep last night during the agrument over Pink's dog. And yet, they never appeared menacing. Lime must have really good control over changing their outward appearance through body language. They almost had me, the actual impostor, fooled. Am... am I not the only impostor on board? No. No that can't be. Kalulians have a certain smell to them. I'd know if another of my kind was on board right away and I've never heard of a Kalulian ever being able to change their smell. Most animals on Polus don't have all that great sense of smell. Only a selective few predator species, including my species, do have a moderately good sense of smell so we never evolved the need to hide our scent from prey animals and we could use our camouflage to buy us time to run away from predators who could smell us. At least that was how Father explained it.

So what was Lime? What are they playing at? Are they just picking on me because I'm new? Or... or do they know what I am? I really hoped it wasn't the latter. 

As I walked past the Weapons room, a glimpse of red was all I needed to know Red was in there. I didn't want to get held up again so I tried to walk by the Weapons entrance as quickly and as quietly as possible. Red is nice and all, but I didn't need him questioning me on why Black wasn't with me. However, I knew a conversation with him was going to be inevitable today anyways, but now is not time.

As I make my ways into Navigation, I noticed Green sitting in the main control seat in the middle and Yellow sitting on the chair to the right. Navigation had three sets of panels with chairs that controlled and monitored the ship. Much like in Admin, it also had a hologram of the ship and showed where everyone was, but only the captain's card or tablet could access that. I also took note of the two vents placed in either back corner of Navigation. 

Upon hearing my footsteps, Green looks back to notice me standing in the door way, "Oh hi Orange." She swiveled her seat around to face me. "I didn't expect you to get here so fast. Here, pull up that a chair over there." She motioned over at the empty chair on the left.

As I went to do as told, I noticed Yellow in the corner of my eye. Yellow seemed to stop what they were doing and also turned their chair around. They got out their tablet and started intently messing with something on the screen. They then looked up at Green expectantly. What gender was Yellow again? I want to say male with the body shape, but Yellow's voice that I vaguely remember from last night sounded more feminine. Idecided not to dwell on it right now like Lime's gender. I took my seat on the chair I moved and swiveled it to face Green.

Green pulled out her tablet and started scrolling through whatever was on the screen, "Okay so, first things first: you don't need to worry you aren't in any kind of trouble. As captain it is required of me to have a small one on one chat with each of the crewmembers after something like last night occurs. A small incident, but overall nobody was harmed. This is just so I'm able to get all sides of story or any information that might be useful in snuffing out any threats for your and your crewmates' safety. Understand?"

I nodded my head, trying to have my body posture remain as calm appearing as possible. However, dozens of panicked thoughts were already rushing through my head. Is this where I'm found out?? So soon??

"Alright well, how are you getting along with your fellow crewmates? Is there anyone that you feel off about?" Green asked. But then she also added, "Rest assured that there are no wrong answers. Anything you tell me will be used as anonymous evidence if a situation like this comes up again."

I wondered if I should tell Green about Lime. They were the only suspicious person I'd come across. Everyone else seemed pretty normal. But of course I'd know that. Green doesn't. Anyways, Lime might be a good scapegoat if others start noticing their suspicious behavior. If I tell Green about Lime, they may get rid of Lime early. 

So I shrugged my shoulders, "I think I'm getting along somewhat well with everyone. Red and Cyan seem pretty nice and everyone else seems pretty normal. The only person I'd say was acting weird would be Pink, but I'm not sure if that's because of him losing his dog or not." More complex human emotions are harder to understand. "He also just seemed to let Brown and Purple do all the arguing for him too. But what do I know? I'm still new and all..." I noticed Yellow had been furiously typing away at their screen as Green and I talked, probably writing down everything we said.

Green nodded, "Well, it doesn't matter how much experience you have. Every bit of information is valuable, especially if someone's life could be on the line in the future. Just one more thing before I let you go, could you give me a run down on how your night went last night?" She paused before stressing once more, "Again, no wrong answers."

I didn't think it was possible for the thoughts in my head to race by faster than they already were. I should have thought more on my alibi before coming in here. Stupid, stupid! "Well uh, I was asleep for the most part then the emergency meeting alarm woke me up."

Green seemed to give me a long look before she realized I wasn't going to say anything else. So she continued, “Mmkay. I'm gonna need a bit more than that. I was talking more about before you went to bed last night.”

I gave nervous huff, "Right, right, of course. I knew that." I quickly thought of something to say. Might as well stick with a lose truth. It's much easier to forn than a good lie. "Um I remember I wasn't exactly comfortable eating with everyone since I don't know everybody so I went to go finish a task in Admin. I then saw that someone was in the Reactor and wasn't with everyone else so I went to go check if they were okay. It turned out to be Cyan and they were fine. We had a nice talk. The rest of the night from there is a blur, sorry. Is that helpful enough?"

I looked to Green for approval and she seemed to be satisfied with my answer because she nodded her head.

"I see," Green looks at Yellow. "You got all that Yellow?" Yellow nods and gives a thumbs up. Green looks back at me, "Right well thank you for coming and your cooperation. You are dismissed."

Green tapped her fingers on the tablet, probably sending the next person a message. I took that moment to stand up and shuffle my way out of Navigation. As soon as I was out of sight of Green and Yellow, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. That was close. I'm just glad I didn't have to full out lie. I'm going to need to work on my lying skills in the future.

As I made my way down the hallway, I felt anxiety begin to set in. I went left at Navigation, meaning this hallway would pass through Sheilds and by Communications into Storage. According to Lime, Pink should be in Communications and with no one in Shields or in the hallway along with the lack of camera vision, it was perfect conditions to make a kill.

Only question was: did I have what it took to go through with it? Of course, I had the biological weapons to do it but I wasn't sure about the courage part. I didn't know Pink very well. From what I'd observed from him, he seemed like a good friend of Brown's and Purple's. He seemed calmish around those two, but always had a tone of voice like he was constantly annoyed. He was also quick to anger after I ate his dog.

As I passed through an empty Sheilds, I strained my ears for sounds coming from Communications. Though it was faint, I could hear the small shuffles of feet and unintelligible grumbles. I took on a deep breath. The moment of truth.

As I peeked around the entry way to Communications, I spotted Pink doing the download task. He was shuffling his feet impatiently and, I assumed with his body language, he was scowling at his tablet screen. He was faced away from me so he couldn't have noticed me yet. I could hear my heart beat loudly in my ears.

I tried to calm myself down by walking in and pretending to do the divert power task. This should be this aniexty inducing. After all, I'd done this numerous times with Father. A good pierce to the head with my stingers will effienctly kill a human. I guess it just isn't the same without Father around to spectate. Besides as I established before, I don't know Pink. He could be a terrible person for all I know and killing him would be justifiable. No, killing for my home is already justifiable. Killing for food is justifiable. I'm not like humans who senselessly kill and I never will be. So why do I always hesitate? I'm such a sorry excuse for an Infiltrater. Father would be disappointed. Not only am I letting him down, but I'm letting my species down.

No.

I have to do this.

Kill them before they kill me and countless others of my species.

I stepped as quietly as I could towards Pink. Somehow he still hadn't noticed me yet. I put my hand on the zipper of my suit, prepared to unzip it so I had access to my hunting stinger and my second mouth. I could already feel my hunger rising at the anticipation of a hunt.

But just then, Pink looks behind him and flinches at the sight of me, "Motherfucking- oh. It's just you, Orange. What do you want, kid? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I-," I stampered, quickly removing my hand from my zipper. "I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry about your dog."

Pink gave me an unimpressed look over before looking back at his tablet, "Okay? Is that it?"

"Um...," I stood there awkwardly, not sure what to do or say.

"Look, kid. I got shit to do and so do you. The dog is gone. End of story. No use dwelling on it. So I suggest you get your ass back to work," Pink waved his hand at me. A gesture I recongized meant 'go away'.

"I just," I started, but struggled to find the words. "It seemed like the dog meant a lot to you and I wanted to say I'm sor-"

Something in Pink snapped. Suddenly, he's towering over me, way too close for comfort and shoving one finger at my face, "What did I fucking just tell you, brat?! I said beat it! What do you know of losing someone?! On these missions, it's every man for himself! Space is no place for pity parties! It doesn't care about your hardships! It doesn't care about being fair to those who don't deserve it! And it especially doesn't care about the last living remenant you had of your little brother!"

If I wasn't then, I was at a complete loss for words now. What did he mean last living remenant of his brother? Panic was flooding through my mind. I could feel my antennae shifting and struggling in the confines of my suit, reacting on instinct to try to get into position to stab at the stressor.

However Pink didn't seem to notice and grabbed the hem of my suit in a fist, "So I'm going to tell you one more time. Let this be your one and only warning. Stop being a wuss and toughen up like a man! Got it?! Now get out of my face!"

Pink pushes me to floor and just as I hit the ground, I noticed for a split second that someone was standing behind me. Lime.

BANG!

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Hello readers! It’s been a while.

So after watching some among us videos and rereading some among us fics, I was reminded of this one. I have some ideas that I’d like to do for this fic but I want to play out differently than where I originally had it going

Thus, I will be REWRITING this fic! When that would come out? I don’t know. I’m a college student so studying comes first but I will be chipping away at these new chapters (which will be on a new fic so I don’t have to keep editing this one) when I get time and motivation to write. Idk if people even read among us fics anymore, but my original intention for this fic was to have that alien-human friendship which past me seemed to drag out too long and I’d like to incorporate in the rewritten version

I’ll link the new version on this one when it’s out. Still debating if I should post the rewritten chapters as I go or rewrite all of it and post chapters every week or some

Anyways, I hope you guys are having a wonderful day/night!

Chapter Text

Hi all! Thank you for being so patient for this is story!

I'm pleased to say that the first 2 chapters of Survival [Rewrite] are now posted!

Updates will still be slow because of college work, but I actually have a story structure now.

Not sure what I should do about this work. Should I delete it? Let me know what ya'll think.