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The table was mostly silent, whether that be from shock or plain disbelief. There was a double homicide that flew right under their noses. Two of their associates, co-workers, their friends' lives were cut short by a cold-hearted killer.
It’d happened in the dead of the night at the same time based on the autopsy reports. Two people were left alone on opposite sides of the ship, and both were found dead the next morning.
They will not make the same mistake twice.
“Listen up ‘ere,” started the crewmate with the cowboy hat. He stood up from his seat and planted his foot on the spot. Mareen was what they called him— a crude combination of the two colors his suit changed. “Startin’ now, we’re implementing a kinda buddy system t’ prevent this from ever happenin’ again.”
He’d then nod his head at Grey, “Doctor.”
The man in question had a long, drawn-out sigh before speaking up.
He held a sizable notepad in his hands, “For the foreseeable future, everyone will do their tasks in teams of two.”
“You’re paired based on the probability that you two specifically would be the culprits, myself included. It is because of this reason that you unfortunately won’t get to choose who you’re with.”
As a hesitant discussion started to break out about some kind of weird list, Amapola leaned back and stared at the ceiling. So many different thoughts have been running through her head since last night, she hasn’t been able to think straight for what felt like weeks already.
One of those thoughts in question is; what is death? What in space does death even mean? Maybe those two left the ship to explore the universe, and they just pretended to disappear. That explanation made much more sense in Amapola’s head than whatever the hell death was.
In fact, it made her angry that they’d left without them. They’d just met the Great Amapola herself— and they didn’t take her with them? She didn’t teach her community to act in such an inconsiderate manner! They had to set off for the exit as soon as possible to scold these fans.
“No you aren’t, Rose,” That same doctor from earlier had said. He seemed more ticked-off than he was previously. Was she speaking out loud then? Way to spoil the plan..
“Not without your partner, you won’t be going anywhere,” he pointed his notepad towards a short girl.
A loud mocking laugh escaped her lips, and she shook her head.
“Haha! The Great Amapola doesn’t work in teams— she works ALONE! How foolish of you to assume that I’d willingly work with.. with..! With.. her.” They’d crossed their arms in protest. Her face screamed disappointment, presumably in Mareen for pairing the two together.
(It was not Mareen. It was Doctor Karma.)
Amapola knew this short girl. A lot more than she wanted to, actually. She was someone who they’d paid a lot of attention to— especially after hearing her background and what she’s known for. I mean, you have to be pretty smart to be known for being smart, don’t you? Something about the way she held herself, the way she spoke with so much confidence, the way she was just like her threw them off. It was scary.. but, at the same time, there was this curiosity that even the Great Amapola herself could not handle.
The shorter girl placed a hand on her hip, “.. Isn’t foolish too big of a word for you?”
“… uuhh- NO! What does that even MEAN. I use big words all the time.. like.. likeee.. sophis– soph. Sop.. ss… SOPHISTICATED. I USE THOSE ONES!!!”
“Yeaaah..” she huffed a laugh, “Because someone who uses big words would describe them in that way. Ahuh.”
Jealousy, bitterness, envy: whatever you call it— she couldn’t help it. This girl was.. the second coming of perfection. Coral was incredibly smart, the crew loved her, nice but could stand her ground, very pretty, made really funny jokes, knows a ton of interesting words, had a name that matched her suit color, and a really cool outfit.
And they hated it.
Short girl, now recognized as Coral, let her arm fall to her side and took a deep breath. The swaying of her hair had caught Amapola's attention.
She turned towards the doctor, “and, you’re sure th—”
Grey flipped the front of the notepad back in an excessively professional manner. “Yes. You can’t change your partner, and you are excused.”
Now it was Amapola’s turn to huff, “How do we know that you’re not just trying to hang out with people YOU like!”
He actually looked at her this time when speaking. Despite being around 15 ft away at this point, the doctor’s eyes were just as piercing and his words as concise as ever.
“I have more important things to do than socialize.” Promptly after saying so, he left towards the direction of Medbay.
Mareen was right behind him. The void that encompassed his helmet offered her neither sympathy nor empathy, “Some of us ‘ave jobs t’ do, Rose.”
Mauve pulled up a chair to the standing desk in Medbay. Periodic beeps from the medical equipment filled most of the dead silence. Not that it was awkward, or anything like that, but it seemed vastly different from the cafeteria setting.
Mareen was leaning against the wall next to the large screens. White was sitting on one of the hospital beds, facing away with what seemed like a sour look on his face. Grey’s eyebrows were furrowed, focusing on the samples featured in the computer. Okay, maybe it was a little awkward.
She fidgeted with her sleeves.. surely someone would speak up soon, right? They heard White let out an exasperated sigh and assumed all hope was lost.
The gradual sound of two people bickering got louder. And louder. And even louder, until it was causing the doctor to lose his lazer-focus. He mumbled something underneath his breath, then, the door slammed open.
“Okay, no. You’re going to Medbay,” Coral said with underlying amusement in her voice.
“Nooo.. haaha no..” Amapola nervously laughed, shakily holding her wrist with her other hand, “I’m JUST fine, see? It’s not bleeding anymore!!! Haahah.. such.. an insig- ss. Sig. Insign. if.. I-cant. In-sig-ni-fi-cant.. injury...!”
They both watched as the cut on her finger started to gush again, and drip onto the admin vent. Coral grimaced and looked off, towards the admin table. The blood that initially spilled because of the cut was glistening in the light. They definitely needed to go get an adult, or something..
“She cut her finger while swiping her card,” Coral started. “It’s all over the card reader - and, the admin room, in general.”
Grey nodded at her, not quite making eye contact, “Ah.. alright. Thank you.”
He was carefully putting pressure on their finger. Occasionally, he’d dab it with a napkin coated in some kind of alcohol that stung and made Amapola’s eyes water.
Doctor Karma’s expression seemed more neutral than it was previously. Mauve assumed that it was the seriousness of the injury, and decided to keep silent again. Except, being silent wouldn’t help the atmosphere, because that girl who’d come in with the injury was seriously staring at her. They weren’t really sure how to feel about that. Does.. she want to be friends? Is it their outfit? Her makeup.. ?
They weren’t given much time to ponder over that though, because the girl who came in with her had also brought up a chair and sat next to them. Coral opened her mouth to say something- which probably would’ve been a witty comment or a friendly jab at Amapola’s situation, but Doctor Karma seemed to be regaining his focus. So, instead, she smiled at them; a short, understanding laugh left her mouth. Mauve blinked for a few seconds, before smiling back.
Coral stood in-front of the reactor panel. There were two more patterns left in her task.. not like that was a big deal. It was just pattern recognition; she could do this in her sleep.
2, 5, 2..
Now that she was looking at it, the reactor looked a little strange. Practically all of its color had drained.. she was sure she’d read about this somewhere in the manual.
2, 5, 2, 8..
Her eyes quickly widened after a second, and she felt herself get goosebumps. Was this thing about to..?
2, 5, 2, 8–
She suddenly felt hands grip her shoulders, paired with a deafening and annoyingly familiar voice in her ear.
“BOO,” Amapola exclaimed. Her face lit up when the blue squares blared red and felt her flinch. It was eerily silent for a few seconds afterwards, .. was that.. static?
“HaHAA!! You have been.. masterfully bamboozled. THAT.. was for earlier. Heheh.”.”
God, I hate her already.
“Hey. Rose,” she started.
They were holding in giggles, “Yeaahhhh, Coralllll..?”
“Did you know that it only takes 0.1 amps of electricity passing through your body to kill you?” A terrifyingly calm smile crossed her face, and she motioned to the now-broken reactor that still had her hand on it.
On cue, she took her hand off the panel, and a loud alarm started blaring around the ship. Rose’s smile dropped, and they quickly kept their hands to herself, “What.. in SPACE.. IS HAPPENING. DID YOU DO THAT?”
“I DIDN’T!” Coral yelled back.
“I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE ALARMS!!”
“I DIDN’T DO THAT!! IT WAS YOU MESSING ME UP!!!”
“NO WAY! THAT WASN’T ME— I DON’T EVEN HAVE THAT TASK!!!”
“Oh, shaddup already, would you two!?” projected Blue. .. When did he get here again? They watched Lime climb through the vent, too.
Actually, a lot of the crew had suddenly come to the reactor room to see what the ruckus was about. They just hadn’t noticed them over the noise, apparently.
Peter, who was the lime crewmate, and Wowblue had already gotten to work on the reactor; the problem was fixed very quickly, as they were the ship's two engineers. It was almost too fast.
Lime mumbled afterwards, a small shake evident in their hands. They took something out of their pocket and held it up to their mouth. Seriously? They started smoking right here, right now?
“.. uhh. Peters right,” Blue spoke up. How in space was he able to hear that?
“It was a small cut wire that caused the power to leak in the form of electricity.. in fact. Karma, I—”
The doctor left before he could finish his sentence, neither of the girls had even noticed he was there in the first place. Blue’s eyebrows squinted.
“.. Uhh. Wowblue, what.. were you gonna say?” Coral spoke up after an awkward few seconds.
“It’s alright. Don’t worry about it,” he said fast. It seemed like he was holding something back. He walked up to Coral and patted her shoulder, mustering up one of his trademark grins, “Just be careful around the reactor next time. I don’t wantcha’ hurting yourself.”
He then left, too. The same direction the doctor went. There were a few others, like Mareen, Mauve, and Pink, but they didn’t linger. Those few departed shortly after, only staying to check what their next tasks were. Coral noticed a small flash of tan under one of the reactor vents.
“Wonder what that was about..” Coral mumbled, before turning to look at a moping Amapola.
“Oh god, what’s your problem this time?” She asked, sounding irked already.
Their arms were crossed, and they were pouting. Peter didn’t offer any sympathy. She seemed like he was in deep thought, a cough ripping itself from their throat after Amapola speaks again.
“The blue one told me to shut up..” she grumbled. “I wasn’t even yelling.”
“.. YES YOU W—“ sigh, “why do I even try to reason with you..” Coral moved back to the reactor panel to try her task again.
The sad girl mumbled something again, but it was hardly loud enough for her to pick it up. Amapola didn’t bother her again after that. She also heard the shuffling of shoes walking off, and assumed that it was Peter leaving to reconnect with their buddy. Who’s idea was this again..? I don’t even want to know.
At least I can get some work done while she’s upset. I mean, I feel a little bad.. but.., aah, I don’t know. It’s weird.
6..
6, 1..
Anyways.. as I was saying. He was just trying to do his job and we were making that harder! You don’t have to take it personally— that’s just what adults do.
6, 1, 5..
6, 1, 5, 7..
Being an adult.. Pfft, what would someone like her know about that?
6, 1, 5, 7, 4. The panel flashed green, and her communicator pinged. Lets see, the next nearby task was.. a Medbay scan! Back to Doctor Karma they go then. Speaking of them, as a unit, Rose has been awfully silent.. Well, if being salty makes renders this much peace and quiet.. maybe she should be upset more often.
Okay, no. That was mean. I’m sorry for that. Maybe.. an apology would help..?
She breathed in, clenching her eyes tightly shut before slowly breathing out. It’s okay. Sometimes, you have to be the bigger person.
Coral turned around and tried to start up a conversation, “.. Heyy, Amapola..—“ but, the girl in question was nowhere to be seen; Peter was standing in the place where Amapola previously was, presumably waiting for Coral.
He spoke with a deep scowl, “Are you done with that.”
There was nothing to show that she’d even been in that room, in fact. Did she really storm off having a toddler temper-tantrum while people were dying? Where being alone can literally kill you?
Peter was still waiting there. A look of fear slowly creeped upon their face before Coral suddenly perked up.
“Oh, hell no. I’m not dying because of HER,” she loudly proclaimed, and then set off towards the dorms. It's a small ship; where else could her partner have gone?
The vent in reactor rustled once more. It was headed towards the dorms. Coral was long gone by then, so she couldn’t have picked it up, but Peter was there. And she knew that nobody else on that goddamn ship knew how to navigate those vents.
There is someone in the vents who doesn’t belong there. The control panel flashes a sudden green, and Peter leaves the room. A trail of smoke follows in her wake.