Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The key to a happy Botanist was to keep him talking. Well, maybe not happy but at least not wallowing in despair and given their circumstances, it was as good as. Point given where it was due, the guy was a pro at expressing his feelings, though, not everyone in the crew appreciated that as a quality, and a couple of the guys seemed to have developed a gag-reaction whenever the word ‘Lena’ was pronounced. 

What the Botanist was not good at, on the other hand, was bottling those feelings up. It inevitably led to moping up his sorrow, usually within the next two days. In the end he figured out that a good countermeasure was just a matter of keeping his radio channel open and letting the Botanist chatter through his long hours of exploration. 

It was not a bad deal, really. The Botanist did not get on his nerves as much as it seemed he did the others, maybe because the both of them had a lot more in common. Mentions of Lena were difficult in the beginning, like a stab of in his guts, but he quickly grew desensitized through overexposure. It was even pleasant sometimes, the reminiscing. The chatter drowned the foreboding silence, and he just had to interject here and there, with a memory or else, and it would get the Botanist going again. Keeping him distracted.

It was relaxing, in a way, their routine.

‘I feel like a kid playing in a sandpit here, I bet Lena would have found a way to run this greenhouse much more efficiently…’

He was exploring one of the farthest outreach of the area. They really needed him to set up the outpost today or resources would start to be very tight at the base. There were some threatening readings on the sensors and a magnetic storm could be on them any day now. And that bunch of rocks at the top of the crevice looked like they could be drilled through. He missed them the last time he was around, and tried not to feel too bitter about it while setting up the drill 

‘... really revolutionised how things were run in that lab, completely turned their methods over. But well, I guess they would not have recruited her from all across the world if they had not trusted her potential!’

‘Didn’t one of her ex-classmate work there?’ He asked, trying to catch up with the Botanist line of thoughts, ‘I thought he was the one to push her application.’

The angle was about right, and -yeah the drill definitely did its job. He could go through that gap to the other side now. He had no idea how he could have missed such an obvious shortcut.

‘... I think his name was David. He came over to the house a couple times, helped us settle. Nice enough bloke.’

Was that bitterness in the Botanist’s voice? Anyways, if he squinted through the dust obscuring his visor, he could make out the telltale orange glow of a metal deposit. There was some climbing to do but… Yeah, it was definitely here! Excitement almost made him miss the slight shiver a few meters before him. Carefully, he took out the luminator and waved it around. Anomalies. So many of them it looked like a breeding ground, however inadequate the Scientist would call the comparison. His heart sank with the realisation he would never have the battery supply to clear them out AND climb those edges to the deposit. He stepped forward slowly, testing the waters. None of them moved, or looked like they would start going after his suit. Maybeee… Well there really wasn’t a choice if they wanted to survive the storm. They needed that outpost. And they needed it before the night.

His luminator at the ready, he started to slowly weave his way around the anomalies.

‘I mean, why would it be weird that Lena is the one having a successful career? You would think this recession has thrown people's mentalities back two centuries!’

So far so good. He hummed distractedly his agreement in the comms, while sizing up the ledge before him. It was one of the tallest ones he could reasonably climb in the suit, but that would probably come in handy when connecting the outpost to the network. Good vantage point on the surroundings.

He tested his foothold and, swearing silently against the universe for his poor lot in life, started to climb. He could only have hauled his arse about a third of the way up when the sensor on his back started beeping like crazy. 

‘What?? Shit!!’

Hanging off the rock, dirt on his visor, he almost did not see the anomaly hungrily coming from above before it was too late. He let go and hit the earth heavily, scrambling madly backward while fumbling for his luminator. Only pure ingrained reflex from dealing with dozens of the buggers let him keep a steady hand while backing away. And because his focus was entirely on escaping the anomaly before him, he did not see the shocking pain in his left arm coming, right as he finally destroyed it. There was a blaze from behind, and a feeling not unlike his arm was simultaneously being cooked, sucked and reaped off his shoulder. 

The voice of the Botanist was the first thing to filter through the haze of pain. 

‘Jan?? Are you all right Jan? Please tell me you are OK...’

It was stupidly grounding. He tried to keep his groan down while checking his surroundings for other unwelcome surprises.

‘I am fine. I am fine, please don’t panic.’ He finally replied when he got his breath back under control. He wasn’t, really. His arm felt like grilled beacon and there was no way this pulsating pain was going away until he’d spent a night in the infirmary. The miner didn’t make it always easy to empathise with, but right this moment he had no difficulty imagining what the guy was going through.

‘What happened? You don’t sound OK’

It did not seem the Botanist would be calming down. He must have screamed himself hoarse without noticing.

‘I was distracted, one of those fucking moving anomaly got the jump on me and backed me into another one. It surprised me, it’s all. Nothing the Doctor can’t patch up.’

‘... Want me to come fetch you?’ The Botanist asked after a beat of silence. ‘I- I can leave the greenhouse, it’s not like the carrots will wither if I don’t keep a constant eye on them-’

‘No please, I am fine. I’ll just… Set up this damn outpost, gather a little metal and head home. No need to blow the incident out of proportion. But… Thanks for offering.’

‘If you are sure,’ the Botanist finally sighed, seemingly resigned. ‘But please. Don’t push yourself too hard.’

‘Yeah, well, I guess I should hang up and focus now, if I don’t want any more problems. Thanks for the company, Jan. I promise to call the base if anything comes up. Captain out.’

He ended the comm maybe a little abruptly but he did not think he could have kept the calm and jovial face up for long, not with the viciously pulsing pain in his arm that made his teeth ache. Gloomily cheering himself up with the prospect of a long night spent in the infirmary, he sized the ledge again. 

Outpost. Then home. 

Then tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Something must have gotten mixed up in the schedules, because everyone had gotten to bed already but cooking duty had obviously been skipped and come morning there would be nothing to eat. Or, well, would have been nothing to eat if Jan had not rolled up his sleeves, pushed his exhaustion away and gone for a good organic scramble so that none of the lads would have to complain about working on an empty stomach tomorrow, himself included. 

He had just whipped up the last portion when a wave of dizziness hit him, and he had to feel his way to the kitchen table to sit (collapse) on the narrow bench next to it. It felt like the base may be rocking slightly. His head thrown back on the arguably comfortable cushioning, his eyes closed, he was seriously weighing the pros and cons of sleeping right here rather than crawling all the way up to his cabin. It seemed like sleep was going to simply impose itself and bypass his judgment here and now, when the blaring alarm of a module failure jerked him back to consciousness.

He cursed, rolled over and tried to drag himself up. Hit his head against the underside of the table and he fell back on the bench with another curse and a groan. Just when he’d grown accustomed to the dull pain radiating from his arm. But maybe it was for the better. He was not certain he could handle a repair kit, and he’d rather avoid a lecture from the Technician if he made a mess. On the other hand, if the dormitory had given up on them again, he didn’t fancy his chances as a captain in the morning.

There was the whooshing sound of the elevator going and coming again. He considered getting up, but the throbbing in his forehead dissuaded him.

‘Aren't you supposed to be bed bound in the infirmary? Sleeping here is probably the worst option you could have come up with, according to at least 5 criteria.’

The Scientist. Figure he would be a night owl.

‘Who ratted out on me?’ Jan replied, cracking an eye open to watch his alter rummage in one of the cooling compartments. ‘Still up at this hour? I thought everyone had gone to bed already.’

‘The Miner takes ages to fall asleep and isn’t quiet until he does. And I was working on an interesting problem, I wanted to finish writing my thoughts down.’

There was just the low rumble of ventilation, and at that time of the day the base automatically dimmed the lights. The kitchen especially, was subtly designed to give off a homely and relaxing vibe. Someone at Ally Corp had done his job right, at least. The movie selection was not that bad either… No-no, focus. Stuff to do, still.

‘The alarm, any idea what module just gave up on us?’ He asked tiredly. Maybe if the Scientist had checked things up already he could go to bed with an easy mind.

‘I think the Technician was grumbling about the refinery acting up earlier today.’

‘Good, nothing that can’t wait. But I should probably have a look at the base’s status to be sure before tucking in.’

This time he managed to sit up, and was surprised to see a glass of water waiting for him, and the Scientist looking down on him with… Was that concern?

‘You know, I said that people could be made to work until they collapse. Not that they should . Especially not every two-day, and when the success of the mission depends on their ability to think critically at a moment’s notice. I can’t believe I am saying this but… Maybe you should take it easy for a day or two?’

‘Come on man, I thought you were the one I would never have to tell how tight our situation is. You know we cannot afford much in terms of… Well anything.’

‘Yes, yes. But would you please consider that dead, you are of no use to anybody? And as much as it pains me to say, you are not doing too bad at directing this mission. And I don’t fancy the prospective drama if someone else was to be picked as a captain because you are unable to perform your function.’

‘Awww, you do care.’

‘The Botanist does, really. He is the one who sent me to check up on you. He came all the way up to my lab to talk to me.’

‘Really? I hope you didn’t chew his head off for interrupting your work.’

‘I figured any act of initiative from him should be encouraged. So no. I didn’t “chew his head off”.’

‘Fair. But why send you? He could have come to see me himself. I am not much of a threat.’

‘I believe he thought you would not lie to me about your condition. So, with that out of the way, how bad is your arm?’

‘You all are just a bunch of gossip, aren’t you? It’s functional, I guess. But if you must know, I feel like a roasted chicken and about as smart for how that anomaly caught me.’ 

Knowing only hard proof would keep the Scientist’s prodding at bay, he shrugged his jacket off and raised the sleeve of his T-shirt all the way up to display his red, slightly swollen skin. The Scientist pulled a face but swallowed his comment.

‘I know it’ll heal. It’s not the first time I run into one of these. The affected area is just a bit bigger than usual.’

‘You know, it reminds me of that time we fell asleep in the grass. In the park, when we were 16.’

‘We'd run away from home and we had no idea what to do. Dad had been yelling on and off for three days.

‘Day in, and night out. We were exhausted.’

‘Mom found us by the end of the afternoon. I remember how violently I was shivering from the heat stroke. She was so worried.’ He turned the memory pensively around, surprised how many details came back to him now that they were talking about it. ‘Hey, I wonder if that’s when the Doctor snapped and ran from home. Maybe mom never found him.’

‘Or he was more determined not to be found. You find out, if you want but I am certainly not going to,’ the Scientist finished uneasily.

Hum, there was some prodding to do here, with how the Scientist was suddenly fidgeting on his feet. But honestly, his brain felt like it had gone offline ages ago. He’d have to remember being nosy in the morning, or maybe the next time he could corner the Scientist to a beer pong game. Yes, that was a terrific idea…

‘Come on Jan, I can see disaster in the making behind your eyes. Let’s get you to bed before poor judgment can be enacted by your sleep deprived brain. You get to your cabin and I’ll bring you a salve up from the infirmary.’

Captain’s cabin hu? No mention of spending the night in the infirmary… Or worse, facing the Doctor in the morning. Well, it was somehow comforting to know that, maybe, he was not the only one around the base to still be afraid of injections.

Chapter Text

Magnetic storms were not that bad really, once you’d gotten the hang on stocking up on repair kits and so on. Credit given where it was due, they probably would be much more of a threat if not for the Technician working his ass off to keep the base up and working, in as good a condition as Ally Corp issued tech would allow. The man may grumble with every twist of his screwdriver but nothing short of a perfectly neat job would do in the end, and it certainly paid now that every single one of these screws were pushed to their limits on this god-forsaken wasteland of a planet.

It felt a bit stupid to say but, with everyone cooped up inside the base to weather the storm out, every work station was kind of manned up and there was not much for him to do. The Scientist’s sensors predicted the worst of it would be passed come morning. Then he could go back to run around the base like a moron, on a wild goose chase for interal veins and planetary samples so that the scientist could keep practicing black magic in his lab and fitting them with improvised life-saving tech, and he could continue getting chased by freshly spawned extra-dimensional fuckery that just happened to love going after his panicking butt. He'd have to see about positioning the devices from the Scientist too, or they may never move from that ditch they got stuck in before the sun rose and toasted them all. And- God he must have spent too long chatting with the Botanist if the first thing that came to his mind now was that Lena would be sad about it. 

So, metal stock looked better now but they would need to gather some more minerals, and there was always the matter of rapidium if he wanted to stay in Lucas’ good graces. A surprisingly resourceful guy, this one…

He blinked and tried to refocus on the screen in front of him and whether he'd been in the middle of counting radiation filters or batteries. Or, maybe he'd moved to repair kits? The idea had been to run a storage inventory to  keep himself busy and useful, but his attention kept drifting away from the dull task. Still, he really needed to know whether upgrading the base was a necessity or if they could push a little longer at this size.

He was just about to start his list from the beginning, when the soft uneven shuffle of feet came from the other end of the module, followed quickly by the appearance of the Miner himself, picking at a pack of smoke. For a man who was so brash and loud every time he talked, he was surprisingly silent when he moved about the base. And he had a tendency to end up cooped in out of the way corners, like he was instinctively afraid of taking up space. Maybe that’s why he looked so surprised to find someone here, so far down the belly of the base when most of the others usually got off the elevator a few levels before, to head for the kitchen or the social room.

‘Hu, hi.’

‘Hey, hello. Sorry if I am in your spot, I am almost done here anyways.’

‘ ‘s not my spot. You're the captain, you got a right to be anywhere you want.’

Well, whatever the Miner said, it was obvious he'd come down here for a bit of quiet time and that he was not too happy to find it already occupied. He was shifting uneasily from foot to foot, visibly pondering an early retreat.

‘Shift's finally over, eh?’ He bantered while logging out and switching the interface off to leave the Miner in peace. If the inventory had resisted him for the last hour, there was no chance it would get completed now that his brain was starting to signal their urgent need to rejoin their pillow. 

‘Yeah, as over as it can be with that shitty storm beating us raw. If at least we could get something out of it instead of hiding inside like scared rats!’

‘Yeah, no. It's not worth it I promise.’ He stretched his back, hands on his hips to pop the bones, but the pull in his muscles didn't go away. ‘Man, I think I really should take the Refiner's advice and work out, or it won't be that damn mission that'll finish me off.’

The Miner groaned and averted his eyes, went to sit in a corner, pulled out a cigarette and started to clumsily try to lighten it up. And well, that prosthetic arm may not be as dextrous as the original one, and the Miner may not be the most expressive member of the crew, but a number of little alarm bell trained by handling the absolute drama of his alters’ various and varied mood swings started ringing merrily around, signaling that something was seriously bothering the other guy. With a twinge of regret, he postponed his rendez-vous with his bed and comforter. Letting the Miner sleep on it, whatever it was, would only delay the inevitable blow up to the morning. Innocent bystanders would end up scorched and then everyone’s day would probably be ruined 

‘Need help with that, brother?’

He held out a hand for the lighter but the Miner immediately jerked away.

‘I am not a fucking princess, I can light my own damn cigarette!’

‘Hey! Come on! Why the aggressivity?’

Some of the fight seemed to drain out of the Miner, just as quickly as it had come. But he was still fidgeting like an awkward kid, pulling the poor cigarette apart absentmindedly. 

‘Sorry boss. It’s just that, I don’t need no coddling.’

‘Yes, I know that. But we help each other out, right? No need to be so bothered about it.’

There was a beat of awkward silence, before the Miner seemed to man up some courage from an unexpected recess of his soul, to blurt out something Jan definitely did not think he would ever hear again from a non-med-addled Miner.

‘You’re sure you’re not hitting on me, right?’

‘No! No- Why would you think that??’

‘It’s just… The Refiner…’ He stumbled on his words, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else on the planet than here and now having this conversation. ‘I saw you and the Scientist last night!’

‘What?’

‘Listen, I was just going about my business man! And these rooms, they do not exactly offer much privacy… You were both… You had your shirt off!’

‘Oh bloody hell, he was helping me out applying that salve for radiation burns! There is a spot in my back I can't reach!’

It seemed to Jan that under all that facial hair, the Miner had suddenly turned very red. And that cigarette was now definitely ruined in a pile of shredded bits on the floor.

‘Oh. Hu. Right. I guess that makes sense.’

He pulled a fresh one from the pack, and Jan gestured for one as well.

‘Come on, I need a smoke too after that conversation.’

He let his back slide against the wall until he was seated by the Miner, at a respectful enough distance to not fray both their nerves any further. The poor man looked like he was just a few words away from self-combustion. They kept silent, the smoke curling gently around the both of them. After a few pulls, he strangely felt calmer.

‘They are sweet. I don’t remember packing anything like that.’

‘Oh, the Refiner nicked them from the infirmary. He said they would help with my nerves.’

Hu. He’d have to have a word with the Refiner, eh? Maybe a reminder not to plunder infirmary supplied for recreational purposes… On the other hand, cigarette contraband would probably not do much harm around the base, or he would not have given them to the Miner. That guy cared.

‘And, out of curiosity, what does the Doctor think?’

‘He said- whatever so long as I cut the crap and stop my racket and go back to work.’

Blame it on the sweet smoke, but it took a few seconds for him to connect the dots. The horrifying realisation came to him like a penny dropping from a very high ledge.

‘Wait- You didn’t go around babbling about what you thought you saw between me and the-’

His contrite face looking back to him was enough to confirm his worst fears. He threw his head back with a deep groan, acutely aware there would be no putting down that dumpster fire until the rumor mill exhausted itself on its own.

‘If you wanna know, the Botanist thought we should leave the two of you alone. Not bother you with whatever you have going.’

Yup- He was done. Tomorrow he was walking off in the suit until he met the sunrise so he didn’t have to face all his Alters, knowing that they thought they knew all about his forbidden romantic entanglement.

Or maybeeee… He could power through the awkwardness just to see the face of the Scientist when he realised what was going on. 

Chapter Text

To hear grumbling and cursing around the base was pretty much a standard. Undersalted mush? Snoring Technician? Asshole Scientist? You take your pick. But if that scratchy, jittery noise coming from the other end of the corridor was supposed to be music, then the social room was probably down, which was always a big hit on the crew's long list of complaints. And a bit of a recipe for disaster if the issue was not quickly fixed. They worked hard, and didn’t have much in the way of distraction and comfort. He’d have to pin it to the Technician’s schedule in the morning, which would result in the unavoidable grumble galore.

Just another usual day aboard a piece of corporate junk sent to space to find and gather humanity’s sole and single hope at a future.

What wasn’t usual, when he finally peeked into the room to assess the situation, was to catch the Refiner in the rare act of venting his frustration on the offending audio player with a colorful string of curses he was pretty sure were taken directly from the Technician's repertoire. With a last slam of his hand to the side of the machine (he would have done the same), resulting in a complete lack of performance improvement (a light flickered before dying out), and a final profanity, he switched it off and abandoned the lost cause in favour of collapsing into the couch. Whom- or Whatever had pissed the Refiner off had made a thorough job of it. The man looked spent.

He’d thought nothing could chip off the man’s cool. Anger really didn’t seem like his thing. And yet, they kind of all came from the same stem, in the end. What had the Biologist said last time? About processing emotions healthily? He’d have to ask him again. 

‘Hey Buddy, what happened here? Did the Miner get into the playlist again?’

‘Shit Jan, I didn't hear you coming.’ 

‘Not really surprising over that racket. The storm must have fried the circuitry again.’

‘Yeah, piece of junk.’

Hu. Where was his chippy chattery buddy tonight, eh?

‘You’re all right? I mean, the audio player can’t have pissed you off like that.’

He went to grab two beers from the small cooler. When he got up again, the Refiner was riffling through the movie selection. Jan opened up the cans, gave one the Refiner and took his own spot on the couch.

‘Where’s the one with the girl coming back from the future to meet her ex-boyfriend?’

‘I think it’s still in the player, it’s the last we watched.’

‘Oh. Yeah you’re right, it’s already in.’ He was about to hit “play” but somehow looked a bit torn about it. ‘Shouldn’t we tell the others we’re having a movie night?’

‘We’ve watched this one so many times I think most of the others are pretty sick of it. It was the only one we had in the beginning. Once I even had to hide the box to prevent the Technician and the Scientist from destroying it.’

‘No way!’

‘I think the Scientist thought he could make better use of the storage space. So I think you can just go ahead. If they show up they’ll just sit if they want to watch.’

The Refiner gave something between a huff and a laugh that Jan counted as a win. The movie started playing with all its cheesy packed drama and while he was pretty sick of the damn thing, it was still nice to relax with the Refiner, pass beers to each other and laugh at the catastrophic jokes.

When the movie wrapped up, the Refiner at least looked a great deal less moody. The light had dimmed down in an implicit instruction for everyone to head to bed, but they didn’t immediately get up. The couch was comfortable, he was slightly drowsy from the beer and the Refiner was probably just as bone weary as he was from their long day spent respectively mining and sweating it in the refinery.

‘So, are you going to tell me what got you so upset?’

The Refiner looked down, clearly sad and clearly trying to cover it up badly.

‘It’s nothing much. I just need to get my shits together, you don’t have to worry about it.’

‘Still, something is clearly bothering you. I’d like to help.’

‘Fine, OK. If you must know… It’s been strange being around the Worker since he’s joined. We- Our lifepaths, are supposed to be the closest and- He’s known Ben too, you know, and I thought we would have a lot in common.’

‘And you… Don’t?’

‘It’s not that we don’t but he is so- Hard and judgmental, man.’

‘I guess I see what you mean. He has a pretty clean cut view of the world. Getting him to see things from another angle is pretty challenging.’

‘Yes. I tried to chat with him about our choices and how we've "branched" as you call it. And he doesn’t understand- Or want to understand that we could have been happy leaving the movement behind and following Ben. And when I told him about the accident on the offshore rig and how I keep worrying about Ben now, he gave me such a dressing down.’

‘Why? I would have thought he'd care about the lost lives.’

‘He thinks I should be concerned about everybody’s safety equally and not just Ben’s. And shit, of course I care about the others! But with how hard we are working and fighting for our lives out here, is it that wrong if I focus on what's most important to me?’

‘Maybe after all he sacrificed for the sake of others… It’s hard for him to accept that people might think differently, you know. Think of themselves before they think of the group? Especially if the person in question is- Well himself.’

‘I don't think it's bad to want to live for yourself. I mean, I am not selfish, man. But sometimes things get too big for you. You shouldn't judge people if they seek a fresh start when it starts to be all too much to shoulder.’

And flee when life’s going too hard on you, eh? He might have powered through university, but in the end, they all knew a thing or two about that didn’t they. 

‘Cheers to that buddy,’ he said, raising his beer and drinking mostly dredge from what little was left of it. ‘I don’t know about the Worker’s choices, or his ideals. Or the Doctor’s for all it matters, or any of the other’s. What I know is that, somehow we all ended up on this ship. Here and now. And that must mean something.’

‘Stuck with ourselves for company, and no escape,’ the Refiner shook his head like it was all a big tragedy, but there was finally a real smile on his face. 

He might have added something more, but they were interrupted by the Scientist peeking curiously into the room.

‘You’re awake, great! I was looking for you Jan.’

‘This late?’

‘Well, you’re obviously not sleeping are you? Might as well do something productive. Anyways I just wanted to tell you I was done with my last bit of research and we’re going to need a lot more rapidium than we currently have in store. Metal and minerals as well.’

‘Send me the details so I can get everybody’s schedule sorted in the morning, ok? I’ll send the Miner out, and I’ll probably go too.’

‘Hum, about that,’ the Scientist added with a suspicious look. ‘Does any of you know why the Miner has seemingly lost the ability to look me in the eyes. And turns pink every time we’re in a room together longer than 3 and a half minutes?’

‘No idea,’ Jan replied while pretending to drink from his empty bottle for the sole purpose of hiding his face. 

The Refiner shrugged, his own face a picture of innocent interest.

‘Who knows what goes around in that guy's head. He might seem rough but he is shy as hell under it all.’

‘He didn’t have issues being rude to me before, when I offered him advice. I don’t see why my simple presence would be enough to fluster him now’

‘You mean when you tried to boss him around, right?’

‘Hey!’ The Refiner caught that with a beaming smile. ‘He's got a thing for that, eh? Being bossed around. Who knows, maybe he fancies you a bit now?’

‘That’s- Absolutely ridiculous,’ the Scientist spluttered, with so much offense that Jan could have pictured a ruffled angry cat in his place.

‘It’s probably ridiculous, yeah.’

‘Anyways, when you do catch him,’ the Scientist continued while adjusting his glasses back on his nose, ‘since I obviously won’t, tell him we do need the rapidium urgently. It’s critically important.’

And with a somewhat dramatic flare of his lab coat that may very well have been practiced, he was out and whooshing away in the elevator.

‘Sooo, did the Miner tell you he thought you and the Scientist were…’

‘Yeah, yes I caught on to that.’

There was a beat of silence as the Refiner shifted a bit on the couch, testing his beer for a few last drops.

‘And, er- Are you?’

‘No! No, goddammit!!’

Chapter Text

‘Jan?’

‘Hum? Yes?’

‘You’re distracted.’

‘No? No, I’m fine.’

He raised his eyes to find the Scientist looking at him skeptically, then down on his cooking again.

‘Tell that to the mush. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it that kind of unfortunate brown before.’

‘You ’re complaining about the food?’ 

‘I think calling that food might be an overstatement.’

Jan let his eyes go back to the mush he had been absentmindedly mixing for god knows how long. It had turned kind of grey-brown and burnt black bits were clinging to the gooey texture. It was particularly unappetizing by the standard of mush, meaning a starving dog would probably not even give it a look. 

It smelled terrible too.

‘That’s gonna be a nightmare to clean up,’ he sighed while scooping out their would-be dinner to bring to the recycler later.

‘I need to go back to the lab. Can I trust you won’t be wasting any more resources without me here to micromanage you?’

‘No one needs you around breathing down their neck, brainiac,’ the Technician stepped out of the elevator. ‘Hu, what’s this smell? Did the refinery leak gas in here or what?’

‘Just our dear captain showing off his cooking skills. Now if you don’t mind, I have better things to do.’

‘Yeah, yeah… Actually, no, wait! I got a question for you.’

‘How novel.’

‘I was wondering, do you know if it’s possible to lock access to the outside of the base? To lock the airlock, sort of.’

‘To prevent outside elements from getting in? Yes, certainly.’

‘Hu. And do you know if it’s possible to restrict access to this… Feature?’

‘Possibly. But why?’

‘I guess, it’d be a stupid accident if someone did it by mistake, right?’

‘You’ve been thinking about theoretical freak accidents and that’s why the mush’s burnt?’ The Technician asked dejectedly while prodding the result of Jan’s wasted efforts with the tip of a spatula. 

It wobbled arrogantly. The Technician made a face.

‘Pretty bad way to go too, cooked like a microwaved egg.’

‘Why an egg, of all things-’

‘That’s what’s worrying you Jan? That someone would finally snap and lock you out in the frying pan?’

‘Call them intrusive thoughts, but… Well the Worker was pretty vocal about that last crunch.’

The Scientist and the Technician looked at each other, and Jan had no idea what passed between them, which was frankly a bit disturbing. Especially so when it seemed to kick the Scientist’s brain into gear.

‘I’m sure there are better, more efficient and less conspicuous ways to get rid of you, that do not involve chance. Imagine it, you’d have to be the last one to come to the base AND people would have to somehow not notice you are conspicuously absent.’

And not running like a moron from module to module like you tend to do every evening.

‘Yeah, me, I’d go sabotaging your cabin's ventilation system. Clean and simple, and with the modules’ failing rate I’ve got my work cut out for me.’

‘I think I’d tweak your suit, there are so many options. Anything could give out in a pinch: your climbing gear, life support system, battery, your luminator…’ 

The elevator left, and was back again in less than a minute, bringing along the Botanist and the Refiner, both grinning and obviously in a great mood.

‘Geese guys, you’re really… Inventive about this, eh?’

‘What’s that smell?’ The Refiner called while making his way in, crunching his nose.

‘What’s that thing?’ The Botanist followed suit, pushing a box of carrots on the counter and giving a puzzled and slightly disgusted look to the blob. 

‘Jan tried to cook. He is a man of many talents.’

‘Ah,’ the Botanist simply said with a slight nod, like it made perfect sense, before grabbing the vegetables to give them a wash.

Jan tried not to feel offended, while being grateful to see someone else handling diner preparations.

‘So, what were you guys talking about?’ The Refiner asked while digging around the cupboard for a bag of dehydrated snacks. 

‘We were brainstorming ways of getting rid of Jan.’

‘Efficiently.’

‘We’ve got module and suit sabotage covered, but you guys must have ideas.’

‘That’s a bit- too morbid for me, I think,’ the Botanist replied, while chopping those vegetables up without a second thought. The Technician tried to steal a bit and got his hand slapped away.

‘Come on!’

‘Well, I guess it wouldn’t be hard to get something to grow in the greenhouse that would make anybody seriously sick. It’s not like anyone could tell a cabbage from a lettuce here so…’

The Refiner grabbed his chin and seemed to give it a serious bit of thought, before snapping his fingers together. And frowning a bit.

‘Yeah, no, nothing’s coming. Pushing him into one of those anomalies?’

‘He would only suffer from a severe burn, nothing permanent.’

‘Well, that’d still be pretty bad eh?’

The elevator whooshed again and the Worker and the Miner stepped out.

‘Good evening to all of you,’ the Worker greeted, while the Miner simply went to sit down at the dinner table, in the far corner.

‘We’re having a team meeting about how to get rid of Jan.’

‘Easy one,’ the Worker replied with a nod. ‘Lock him out of the base in the evening to let him taste the fate of those who are forced to jeopardize their health for the benefit of the corporation. A fitting and symbolic demise.’

Jan groaned, while the Scientist launched himself into a detailed explanation of why this solution was not optimized, which quickly turned into a heated debate with the Worker about making a statement vs efficiency.

The Refiner had joined the Miner at the table and elbowed him playfully in his good arm.

‘Any idea?’

‘I guess, I would, hu- Blow up the base. That’d definitely work.’

The Technician, who had opted for a tactical retreat from the cooking area after successfully stealing an entire carrot, stopped munching on his stolen vegetable.

‘It wouldn’t be only Jan that’d be a goner then wouldn’t it.‘

The Miner gave the objection a shrug.

‘It’d be easy too. With the refinery and the workshop, I could make you an explosive that’d blast everything clean off. That base’s nothing like what I had to deal with in the mine I tell ya.’

Somehow the Scientist and the Worker had stopped arguing, and Jan was pretty sure that if the Botanist remained still any longer their cooked dinner would end up in no better shape than his glutinous mush.

‘Heeeyyy,’ he called out with his best it’s-a-nice-day-why-not-enjoy-it smile, ‘hey, well that was enlightening to hear that you’ve all put a… Let’s say, interesting amount of thoughts into this apparently. But why don’t we all take the opportunity to move to the social room and enjoy the evening rather than keep bothering Jan here,’ he said, gesturing toward the Botanist.

With a general assent, the others started to get out of the kitchen. Jan caught the attention of the Refiner and gestured to him, probably not very discretely, to check on the Miner and to grab him a beer or whatever, and to make sure he was ok. The Refiner gave him a thumbs up and a smile and followed after the other guy. When they were all out, Jan turned to the Botanist.

‘Want me to take care of that?’

‘Oh, no, no, I am fine. You can go too, a bit of quiet will do me good.’

‘Ok,’ he sighed. ‘Thanks, Jan.’

He was not surprised at all to find the Scientist waiting for him. Not entirely as smug as he was earlier. Jan tried not to laugh.

‘So, I have been thinking, maybe we should secure access to every workstation as well as the airlock?’