Chapter Text
After they successfully ejected the impostor, it was over. No more killing, no more lying and accusing each other. No more mysteries and having to see fellow crewmates die. Red felt their hands tremble nonetheless. They caught a glimpse of purple sitting beside them. They had been waiting for the ship to arrive in Industria for a few days now. While Red was stuck in their thoughts, Purple was silently dozing off.
“They’re going to try to split us up when we get to Industria.” Purple had said.
Huh. Red knew it was coming, but it still felt…scary. They had meant it when they said they didn’t want the two to not be ‘friends’ again.
If you could really call them that. Coworkers worked just fine for them. Right?
Having Purple to start warming up to them again had felt unreal. Even after the kills had begun, Red had tried to talk to Purple over and over again on the ship. Even after Purple had accused Red of being the impostor, they couldn’t help but still trust Purple somewhere deep down. They knew they had messed up, but that didn’t mean both of their history had meant nothing. Red really wanted to apologize, but they just hadn’t found the right words to say it.
Somehow the ex-captain had just hoped Purple would understand. But that was dumb, they knew that now. After everything they had been together as interns, they had still cast Purple aside. Afterall, it was easier to pretend they only cared about their job than to deal with a messy ball of unresolved feelings.
Beside Red, Purple had started to wake. “Red…?” They said groggily from their sleep. Red felt warm inside seeing Purple slowly blink up at them. Sw-
Shoot. Not now, Coworkers. Just coworkers, remember Red.
“What is it, Purps?” The captain recovered fast and leaned close, teasing.
Purple grumbled, “Drop that nickname already, won't you? You don’t have to act so tough anymore.”
Red frowned for a moment. “You didn’t think everything I did was just an act for the crew, did you?”
“What else could it have been?”
Purple turned to look at Red, suspicious. “You kept bothering me with your nonsense during this flight, acting like we are friends, when you never even reached out after I got fired. It was just me and Heracles for the longest time. I know you only cared about your stupid job and pride, you made that very clear. Are you saying you suddenly started caring about me now that we worked together again? Bullshit.”
“Purp-”
“No! Don’t give me that! I know what you’ll say next Red. ‘Oh I did talk to you, I gave you this security job!’” Purple pointed their index finger at Red, poking them and getting slightly closer, “We both know you got me this-”, Purple paused to point at their security badge, “-out of guilt! You might be selfish, but you aren’t a monster! You always knew what you did was wrong, especially when you wrote that NDA after I refused. Did you think giving me this job would make up for it?”
“No! I just-”
Purple backed off and crossed their arms, turning away, clearly irritated.
“Whatever, save your words, Red. We are almost at Industria, and we won’t have to look at each other again. Then you can stop the act.”
Red stared at Purple’s back, gulping.
Coworkers seemed more than fine now.
—------------
“Welcome! Welcome to Industria!”
The Skeld had just landed on a planet that looked like a big industrial city with all kinds of factories, power stations and such. Red had only visited a handful of times, but the planet seemed to be bigger every visit. Which was probably true, with how quickly they built new research sites.
A coral crewmate approached them as they ascended from the ship, strolling down to the ground. Red felt their tiny feet wobble a bit standing on a planet's surface for the first time after what felt like weeks. Standing up properly they turned to look at Purple, who was unsurprisingly avoiding their gaze.
Coral blinked at up them, completely oblivious or purposefully ignoring the awkward atmosphere between the two coworkers.
“I heard what happened with the ores!” They exclaimed, “Very unfortunate that you had to get rid of them all to save the ship, but what’s done is done.”
Huh?
Red saw emotions change fast across Purple’s face. They were sure they both had the same reaction right now.
Had MIRA already made up a cover story?
Purple looked like they were about to say something, but stopped themselves and just quickly nodded. For a second Red thought they might turn to look at Red, but that didn’t happen. Purple took off with quick steps, leaving Red behind with the clueless coral-colored crewmate.
Red slumped in disappointment. They stared at Purple’s back as they disappeared into the distance. Meanwhile, Coral had approached them instead.
“Hey, Red, right? Sorry I’m just curious, is the thing about your crewmates true?” They whispered.
Red would have raised an eyebrow at that, if they had one. Before they could ask for clarification, Coral continued:
“Was it really all their fault?” Coral questioned and nudged their head to the direction Purple had disappeared to. “Wow they must have been quite an incapable crewmate, sorry for you, captain!”
Red’s breath caught.
“W-what..?” They stuttered, blinking at the other, confused.
“Come on, you can tell me the truth! Everyone’s talking about it already. You don’t need to defend Purple, they’re the one who messed up BIG time. They’ll get into huge trouble with MIRA, I’m sure. They won’t keep their job for long”, Coral blabbed on, oblivious to the turmoil Red was in while the realization dawned on them.
They’re trying to use Purple as a scapegoat?
No.
They couldn’t let that happen.
Clenching their fists, Red took a deep breath, trying to control their anger. Truthfully, they should have seen this coming. Of course MIRA couldn’t let anyone know what actually happened on that spaceship. It was the eggs that led to all of their deaths, it wasn’t any of their crew's fault, certainly not Purple’s.
Not even Red would be alive without Purple.
Red quickly ran after where Purple had disappeared to. Behind them they could hear Coral yell in confusion:
“Hey- hey! Where are you going?”
They didn’t answer. Red couldn’t let MIRA get away with this. First, putting them on that mission, possibly knowing how dangerous those eggs would be. Impostors were a known threat by now, proof being that cursed handbook. Yet somehow they hadn't realized that the ores were the eggs of those creatures?
Maybe they had already known how it would end. Maybe each of them were just MIRA’s test subjects. They didn’t care who got sacrificed for their own experiments. All they cared about was research and repair. If they had even been warned, maybe the crew would still be… Then Purple wouldn’t have to…
Coral’s words still rang in their head. They won’t keep their job for long.
Red tsk’d and kept walking, slowing down a bit. They started to see more buildings around them, which meant they were near the center of Industria. Red wouldn’t let it be like last time. They can’t let Purple down again. First, they were going to find the people in charge of this place.
It was about time Red had a little chat with the higher ups of MIRA.