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Alex flipped through the monitors. The day was mostly uneventful, all things considered. There was a Spore Lizard or two at most. Alex was assigned to stay back at the ship to make sure everything was fine. Sitting on the bunk beds and watching the monitors only added to the boredom of the day.
Watching the cameras, he flipped from Brian’s scanner to Jen’s. The crew only consisted of four people. Alex, Brian, Jen, and Ellie. Alex flipped between Jen and Ellie’s scanners a few times. Alex switched on his walkie and held the button down to speak.
“Ellie, there's scrap on your left. Through the door there.”
He watched as Ellie cautiously opened the door and picked up an empty bottle of perfume.
“Is this crap really worth it? Why does the Company want this so bad anyway?” Ellie scoffed into the walkie.
“I think it's better not to question anything, Ells.” Jen’s came over the walkies.
Alex only grinned. He was glad to see that the entire crew was on the same page with that sort of thing.
From behind him, Alex heard faint footsteps before he heard Brian’s voice call for him.
“Hey, Alex! Can you come help me carry this stuff?”
Alex glanced back at the monitor before he got up and headed over to the door. He peeked outside and looked around.
“Brian?”
When he got no response, he stepped further outside and leaned against the railing. He looked around before picking up his walkie.
“Brian? Where'd you go?”
He looked around again, looking through the thick fog to see if he saw any indication of light from Brian’s walkie or flashlight.
“What do you mean? Is the monitor not working? I'm still inside.” Brian’s voice came back over the radio.
Alex felt his blood run cold. He felt his heart skip a beat in his chest. He saw a faint figure in the fog.
“Alex, I'm right here!”
It had Brian’s voice… Whatever it was… It sounded like Brian.
Alex took a step back before almost launching himself back inside the ship. He ran to the door controls and repeatedly hit the button to close the door.
He backed up from the ship doors and went back to the monitors. He couldn't pay attention to the scanners and screens… His heart pounded in his chest. His ears almost rang… That thing… It sounded like Brian… Just like him… Not even Alex could tell the difference…
“Alex? You okay?” Ellie’s voice came through on the walkies.
“Get out of there… All of you… There's something outside the ship…” Alex sounded out of breath… He sounded terrified. More terrified than he ever has been before.
“Is it a dog? What is it?” Jen’s voice came through next.
“I… I don't know what it is…” Alex’s voice shook. He only had a few minutes before the doors automatically opened again… He didn't have long.
“It… It had Brian’s voice… It asked me to help carry stuff to the ship… I went out there…” Alex tried to recount what just happened. He kept looking back at the doors, horrified.
“I've… Been inside since we got here…” Brian spoke into the walkie.
“Please just come back to the ship… The doors won't stay shut for long.”
“We're on our way.”
Alex backed up against a wall, shrinking down to the floor. He sat against the wall, his walkie-talkie clutched in his hands. He stared at the door, waiting for the inevitable.
Alex looked up at the monitors, seeing that the other three had met up. They were all at the front entrance, ready to leave. Alex stared at the monitors. He watched as they each sorted loot, trying to find the best way to bring as much money back to the ship as possible.
“Now’s not the time for that…” Alex whispered to himself. From outside the ship, he heard a voice.
“Alex?” His name was dragged out, more in a sing-song type of tone.
Alex felt his hands shake. He could hear his heart in his ears. He took a shaky breath as he looked up at the monitors again. They were headed back now… Alex only hoped they'd get back soon.
The very slight relief he felt was washed away in an instant as the screech of the pressure doors signaled that they were open again. Was that really ten minutes? It felt like no time at all… Time was going by way too fast… He was so scared…
Again, Alex heard the taunting calls of that thing using Brian’s voice.
“Alex? Where are you? I need help!”
It was always Brian’s voice… The more Alex listened, the more he realized how off it sounded. Whenever it asked for help, it sounded too cheerful. Too happy and giddy… Like it was excited to finally lure him out.
Alex could hear the sound of footsteps climbing the ladder to the ship. He felt tears sting his eyes as he realized he wasn't ready for this. He couldn't handle this. Anything else and he would've had the strength to run… To fight back… But whatever it was that was coming for him, it had Brian’s voice… It's almost like that thing knew every weakness he had… It knew what to take advantage of.
Alex watched the door. He saw something peek around the side… A mask… It looked at him for a moment. Just the edge of the mask could be seen. Nothing else. It was just staring at him…
He felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach. His eyes widened as he stared at the mask that was watching him. The terror only completely set in as the thing with the mask on finally stepped into the doorway.
“Hey, Alex! Can you come help me carry this stuff?” It said the same thing that almost lured him out the first time.
He felt tears well up in his eyes as he realized that these were all things Brian has said before… The tone of voice may have been off… But these were still things that have already been said… How could it possibly know what Brian has said while he's been on entirely different moons?!
The thoughts slipped from his mind as the thing in front of him ran at him. Alex could only scream as he jumped to his feet.
The masked entity grabbed him by the neck and lifted him into the air. Alex felt something twist in his throat. He felt blood rising to his mouth. He could only choke some of it out before the thing that was holding him was hit in the head with a shovel.
The thing let go of him and took a step back. Alex’s eyes were closed. He could barely open them. He grabbed at his helmet to take it off. The inside of the helmet was covered in the blood he choked up. He couldn't see even if he opened his eyes. He heard a few more clangs of a shovel hitting that thing’s helmet before the sharp thud of it hitting the ground.
Alex felt arms wrapping around him. He was only just now aware of the ringing in his ears. The muffled sounds of yelling back and forth were heard.
Alex’s helmet was pulled off by someone. Alex slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurred, but he could see Brian… The real Brian. The sudden burst of freezing air on his face made him gasp for breath.
“Ellie, throw that thing out and close the door! We need to get out of here!” Alex could barely make out Brian giving orders to the others.
Alex heard the pressure doors close before Brian looked towards Jen. He said something that Alex couldn't make out before Jen ran to the control panel and flipped the switch to start the ship.
“Alex! Stay with me!” Brian held Alex’s head up, trying to keep him from choking on any more blood.
Alex was gasping for air. Each gasp caused him to choke even more. Brian pulled him into an embrace and held him close while recovered.
Jen and Ellie watched as Brian sat on the floor of the ship with Alex.
“Come on, Alex, you're okay. You're fine. Stay with me.” Brian just held him close.
Gently, Alex wrapped his arms around Brian. He held onto the cloth of his suit. He needed something to keep him stable.
Alex could hear Brian let out a shaky breath. Brian just pulled Alex closer, hugging him as tight as he could without hurting him.
Alex felt a gentle kiss on his cheek. Brian continued to hold him close. By now, they were already off of the moon.
Nothing about this was fine… Alex could barely breathe. He only relied on the grip of Brian to keep him safe. Nothing else could keep him safe.
The thought of that thing spiraled in Alex’s head. How did it know what to use to its advantage? How did it know to use Brian’s voice? Alex could only wonder about these creatures that they keep encountering. Were they intelligent? What happened for them to be like this?
It felt like these creatures were toying with all of them… Using Brian’s voice to manipulate his emotions… To manipulate his fear and anxiety… Was it just random that it chose Brian? Or did it know…
Alex couldn't take thinking about this much longer. He just wanted to stay in Brian's arms for the rest of the day.
None of this would ever be the same with the knowledge that there's a creature that could take voices… Alex was terrified…
This was all terrifying… Alex was horrified by how long it took for the realization to set in… He's been with this… Company for about two weeks now… He's watched people die right in front of him… Yet it takes Brian’s voice being used against him to realize how awful this situation is. How awful these creatures are…
Alex didn't know what to do.