Chapter Text
Green, and White, who sat right next to them, watched the TV play. Green payed close attention, mentally noting things that seemed important.
"Now's the time to pause the video and tell anyone in the room about yourself!" Orange, the crewmate on the TV, instructed, and Green paused the video.
"Uh, hi! I'm Green. You're white, aren't you?" Green turned to face them, a friendly smile on their face. "I think I saw you on TV!"
"I get that alot, because I'm on TV alot!" White chuckles, smirking. "Probably because of all my hard work." They leaned back.
"Hard work?" Green tipped their head to the side. "Like what?"
White chuckled, leaning forward a bit. "Let me tell you. One day, while I was walking down the street, completely minding my own business. When suddenly, out of nowhere..." They built up to the climax dramatically. "...my parents offered me a board member role at their pharmaceutical company!"
"Then, while summering—as a verb— on my yacht, my sommelier—whose name I don't recall— presented me the cork, and on the underside was, you guessed it, a winning ride on this very ship!" They bragged, leaning back once again with their arms behind their back.
"So, pretty much the same thing that happens to everyone." They shrugged. "What's your equally as enterprising life story?" They asked, facing Green with a brow raised.
"I'm an unpaid intern." Green explained with a smile, saying nothing else. Awkward silence filled the room for a few seconds.
"..Anything else?" White prompted, their voice bored.
"Oh, I grew up on a worm farm." They added, silently thinking back to when they lived there.
"Oh, how rustic." They commented, seeming disinterested. Unfortunate, Green would've liked to be White's friend. If only they were more interesting.
Green fumbled with the remote, trying to unpause it but instead forwarding it faster, skipping most of the video.
"That's a.. lot of information there." White commented as Green stammered, trying to figure out the remote.
Finally, they fixed it, barely catching Orange say something about paid sick days.
"And finally, to give you a personalized tour of the trip, I want to introduce you to.." Orange threw the ball up into the air,
Smoke filled the room from a vent, causing Green and White to cough uncontrollably.
A a crewmate-shaped figure could vaguely be seen in the fog, and slowly but surely, it approached the pair sitting down.
The gray smoke suddenly cleared, and Orange, who was previously on the TV, was standing above the vent.
"-Me! But now im real!" They cheered, tossing a red ball into the air and catching it. "Welcome to the Skeld! We're so hapy to have you amongst us." They cheered. "Or is it Among us? I always forget which one is grammatically correct." They mutter.
Green and White clap, both very impressed.
"Thats right, it's me!" They smile, holding the same red ball in the hand. "Now, when you catch this trust ball, you have to say a funfact about yourself." Orange explained, tossing the ball into the air and catching it themselves.
"My funfact is that i have two pairs of shoes." They showed off their shoes, one sneaker and a heel on each foot. They then tossed the trust-ball to White, who caught it flawlessly.
"Uh, my funfact is that I wake up refreshed and ready to start the day, doesn't matter how much sleep I get at night." They bragged, tossing the ball to Green.
Green fumbled to catch it, accidentally dropping the ball and having to pick it back up.
"Eh, I grew up in a pretty poor area, but everyone back home believed in my dream to one day become a captain!" Green's eyes sparkled. "So, the entire town pooled all their meager resources to send me off to school to-"
"Wow, what a unique dream to have." Orange cut them off quickly. "Now, everyone already knows you're coming in, so let's start our meet and greet." Orange waved the pair to follow them with a wide smile.
The group entered an area where Green assumed was storage, judging by the many crates of Ore+ and other miscellaneous items. On the way in, they nearly bump into a crewmate with a spiky collar around their neck, with a lot of makeup and a shaved head. Green muttered an apology and caught up with White and Orange.
The goth-looking crewmate walked to the larger box and placed the crate they carried down before walking up to Orange.
"Sometimes, your unpaid internship will mean you work in here with Black and Cyan- our two geologists." Orange explained.
Cyan waved, their curls bouncing as they stood up from looking over the crate. "Namaste." They greeted.
"I'm a geologist, Cyan is a gemologist." Black rolled their eyes, crossing their arms.
"That's not what the paperwork says!" Orange replies curtly in a sing-song voice.
Black glared at Orange angrily. "Well, the paperwork is BULL-"
"OOO-KAY! Got to go!" Orange ushered the interns out, pushing them into the next room.
"Here's the reactor room." Orange smiled. "Sometimes you'll have to work in here to fix the-" Oranges scream interrupted their sentence as someone popped out the vents.
A tan, scraggly looking male with white hair and a bandana waved his arms around frantically, scaring everyone in the room.
"Finally, the Reactor room." They sighed, looking into the vent frantically for something. "Them gremlins must be turnin' the vents around! Gotta flush them with some holy water." They pulled out a jar with a bunch of pieces of hair floating inside.
"This is Lime, our engineer." Orange explains through gritted teeth.
"I'm also an ordained minister." They piped up, leaning against the floor from inside the vent.
"Uh, why are you in the vent?" White tipped their head, visibly confused.
"What're you, a cop?!" Lime demanded.
"No, but I'm friends with cops! Im friends with all kinds of people." White brags, beginning list the people they know. "Landlords, influencers, politicians, children, people who greenlight live-action versions of animated movies, people who watch-"
"Bah! I ain't got time for any o' you jaw-waggers!" Lime spat. "Git this outta here, come on!-" They slam the vent close, grumbling loudly.
"Lime is our most... ambiguous crewmate." Orange stammered with a tight smile. Green and White nodded along.
"Next up is Purple, who should be-" Orange led them to the security room, but it was empty. No one was inside the dimly lit room.
"Darn! We'll just have to skip to the next crewmate who I like the same amount as everyone!" They babbled a lie as they led the two interns to the medbay.
"Oh! Hello, doctor.." Orange greeted the person inside the room, their face turning red.
The doctor inside the room was extremely handsome, their dark brown hair tied into a ponytail whipped around as they turned to face the group coming in. Green could not help but admire Blue's face.
"Hello." They greeted, their voice low, but inviting.
Orange stammered before throwing the trust ball at Blue. "Trust ball?" They prompted.
"After my time building structurally sound homes for the unhoused in northern Yeniria, I found that trust isn't given; it's built." Blue smiled before tossing the ball back.
The trust ball hit Green directly in their eye, but they were too captivated by Blue's beauty. "You're the most attractive person I've ever sren." Green spat out, their face bright red like a cherry.
"Let's not objectify the hot doctor." Orange whispered to Green in a sing-songy voice.
"Next up is the Cafeteria." Orange brought the two out from the hallway into a room filled with round tables. "I think we can skip this very boring, very fair, working environment."
Green gasped in awe, enjoying how intriguing the ship was. One day, they'd fly something like this.
"Say, Brown, looks like Orange got that new intern." Yellow spoke to their partner from the kitchen, spinning pizza on their finger before putting on the counter and leaning against it with one arm.
"Mm-hmm." Brown, a larger crewmate, nodded. Their eyes narrow as they slice a sausage in half.
"How many beans you bein' paid, intern?" Yellow called to Green from the kitchen.
Orange chuckled nervously. "We don't need to discuss our rate of beans!"
"Discussion of wages is protected speech," Yellow came over quickly, looming over Orange and making them yelp and skitter away.
"Come on green, spill it on three." Yellow instructed the intern as Orange proclaimed their love for salt in the kitchen.
"One, two, three." Yellow counted.
"Nothing, I'm an unpaid intern."
"Nothing, you're an unpaid intern."
They spoke at the same time, saying the exact same thing.
"Mmhm." Yellow made a 'tsk' sound before they walked over to Orange. "Gimme that!" They snatched the trust ball.
"Unpaid internships favor the wealthy while being a capitalist exploitation of inexperienced workers under the guise of helping them achieve their personal and financial dreams." Yellow ranted, their thick, yellow brows furrowing and eyes narrowing in annoyment.
They tossed the ball back to their partner behind them, who nodded. "Preach." Brown added.
"Thats enough indoctrination for now, byeee!" Orange snatched the ball away and shoved the crewmates out of the cafeteria.
"Whats a capalist..?" Green wondered out loud.
"Me!" White chuckled with a glance at the intern.
"Okay you two, looks like we've got the big one coming up!" Orange cheered.
"Oh, do you mean...?" Green began.
"Yep! The Captain." Orange finished their sentence.
Green squealed and began running. "Oh gosh, I'm so excited I just started running without my brains input!"
Green saw the captain talking to someone on a large screen. They couldn't hear anything, but it seemed important.
When the call ended, the floor shook beneath them, and Green realized that they must be taking off. How exciting! Green gasped softly in awe.
"Ahoy there!" The Captain, Red, turned around and adressed the crewmates.
"Oh my gosh, permission to come aboard?" Green asked hopefully, their eyes glittering.
"Granted!" They nodded. "Can I have that trust ball?" They asked Orange, to which the HR member nodded in reply, handing it to the captain. "I'm Captain Red, Captain of The Skeld. Shipping Ore+ across the galaxy is no easy task— But someones gotta do it!"
"And that someone is me. The Captain. Captain Red. Captain of The Skeld." They said proudly. "Me." Red added with a point to themselves.
"I am so excited to be here!" Green cheered. "I want to fly a ship of my own some day!"
Red chuckled. "Well why wait?" Red invited, standing up and out of their seat. "Anyone in this room interested in trying to pilot the ship?"
Green approached the controller, arms reaching out to grab it slowly. Their eyes wide with joy. They couldn't wait till they were able to tell their town about this!
"Sure!" White shoved green aside and sat down, beginning to press random buttons.
Disappointment washed over Green, their dream to pilot a ship crushed. Atleast, just for now. Soon they'd be delivering important items around space, too. Just like Red.
White fumbled around with the control, moving it around at random. Green felt worried. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to let the interns pilot such an important ship?
The doors open and, who Green only can only assume is purple, walks in. "Hey, Captain, there seems to be- WOAH!" Their eyes widen as they land on White where Red was supposed to be. "Is the contest winner flying the ship?"
"Purple!" Red chuckled. "Uh, yes, they're doing it for a very captainly reason, which I-I will say soon." Red puffed out their chest, trying to stand tall. Unfortunately, Purple was taller.
"Oh! This is Purple, our head of security." Orange explained.
"Yeah, hi." They waved weakly. "Is that allowed?" Purple pointed to White, who was still driving crazily. "Seems kind of irresponsible."
Red turned around and pulled something out, muttering. Green caught something that sounded like 'manual', but they didn't hear anything besides that.
"I-I mean I don't see any reason why not!" Red turned around. "Or, uh, maybe the unpaid intern should be flying the ship?"
"You should be flying the ship!" Purple stated.
"That doesn't sound right." Red rubbed their chin.
Purple groaned. "Okay. I just came to say there's a lot of security issues. They're in black & white, they don't record, and-"
"I'm sure it'll be fine, Purps!" Red cut them off, waving their hand. "We're just going to Industria."
"Yeah, Purps, we're just going to Industria!" Green echoed.
"Well I can't exactly do the job that you're asking me to do without the stuff that-" They were interrupted by a loud crash.
Everyone yelped, the ship shaking violently. An alarm blared. 'Alert, comms breached. Comms compromised.' A flat toned voice blared.
"Oh this kind of thing happens all the time, someone will come and fix it!" Green heard White say.
"WE have to fix it!" Purple insisted, clearly getting frustrated.
The group ran to the storage area, where the rest of the crew were. The door opened and Lime's wrench got sucked out of a giant hole in the ship.
Lime grunted and clinged to the door, nearly being swept away with their tool.
"Shut the door to the storage room!" Purple shouted to Black, who was holding onto the handle closest to the door buttons.
"No, we gotta save the Ore+!" Red called. Black replied with only a grunt, clearly struggling to keep their grip.
"The emergency seals aren't working!" They called after pressing a few buttons.
Suddenly, an object flew right at Yellow, knocking them into the chaos. Brown stepped in, holding onto a crate and grabbing onto the other chef by their hand.
The rest of the crew got sucked into the chaos. Green fell onto a crate next to orange, barely clinging on.
Orange's trust ball flies out of their hand and gets sucked away. But instead of going into space, it seals a tiny crack in the wall.
"Orange!" Black shouts. "Where are the rest of your trust balls?" They demand, still clinging to the handle.
"Other trust balls? I-I don't have anything like that!" Orange stammered.
The room filled with angry murmurs, everyone acknowledging that what Orange had said wasn't the truth.
"Okay, okay!" They sigh, pulling the cloth off the crate behind them.
"Dump them!" Black instructed.
"It's too heavy!" Orange shouted back after a feeble attempt at pushing it over.
Black grunted and let go, sliding over to Orange and helping them shove. But not yet were they able to knock it over.
Lime and Red came over too, helping their crewmates push on the heavy crate.
And after a huge effort, the four crewmates knocked the balls over and right to the hole. Green kept clutched to the crate they were next to for dear life.
The trust balls plugged the hole, and everyone cheered with joy. Relief flooded over Green, thankful they weren't going to die just yet.
Blue came from behind the crate they were hiding near and approached the group. "I am so proud of you all for all your teamwork." They congratulated. "You we're so brave. Especially you, Black. That idea was brilliant." Their words earned them an applause and murmurs of agreement from the group.
"I thought the same thing!" Red piped up, walking to stand next to blue. "I'm the Captain, so.. me too!" They chuckled nervously. A quieter applause came from the crew.
Green sat at a table with Red. On the way to the pizza party, which Yellow and Brown had planned after the accident, Green had asked Red for advice on being a captain. Red was very happy to help.
Green glanced around the room as Red turned to converse with Cyan, and noticed Purple wasn't here. They felt that was odd, wouldn't it be better for security to be in the place where everyone would be so they could help people faster?
They took a bite of their pizza, staring across the room. What an eventful day, they thought.
Suddenly, the doors behind them opened, and Purple came stumbling out, their eyes wide and face pale like they had seen a ghost.
"Purps!" Red called. "There you are buddy! You good?" They added as they approached.
Purple shook violently, gurgling something Green didn't understand.
"Blrggggh.." Their throat rumbled one last time. Then, Purple's head fell clean off, split from the neck up and fell onto the floor. Blood sprayed everywhere, causing a bloodle to form beneath the decapitated crewmate.
Everyone screamed. Chaos flooded the cafeteria. Red was covered in blood, still standing next to Purple in shock; Cyan was running around the table wailing; and Green was curled up in a ball beneath the table and started hyperventilating. The pizza party was abandoned and quickly spiraled into chaos.
"Everyone, calm down!" Red shouted. "Blue, get over here, and bring the stretcher!" The Captain ordered.
Blue nodded, going in and out of the hallway leading to medbay. Red and Blue loaded Purple onto the stretcher, but Green knew the truth: Purple was dead.
Someone killed purple, and it was no accident! Green's heart began racing, and they gripped their sleeves so tight they thought they could rip them off.
Green felt the table shift above them, and they looked up to see Yellow peering underneath.
"What's up, Intern?" Yellow placed one arm on the table and one arm on their knee.
Green sniffled. "I'm terrified! What if whatever got Purple gets me next?" They chewed their nails, and Yellow snatched their arm.
"Don't do that, Green, it's gross." They scolded. "Anyways, I'm sure it was just a freak accident. Deaths don't usually happen on such simple missions like these." Yellow excused, though Green could see in the chef's eyes that they didn't fully believe that themselves.
Green sniffed once again. "Maybe I should've stayed home." They muttered, burying their face into their knees.
"Hey, that's no way to think now." Yellow replied. "Captain Red wasn't always so captainly like they are now. Do you think they gave up and immediately became a captain?" Yellow paused for a second, their brows raised high. "The answer is no. You have to keep trying." Yellow took Green's hand and clasped it tight in theirs, like they were about to shake hands. "Believe in yourself."
Green wiped their nose. "Okay." They gripped their hoodie harder and looked up to Yellow. "Thank you."
"'Course." Yellow smiled. "What kind of crewmate would I be if I didn't try to encourage you?" They reached their hand out. "Let's go, maybe some pizza will distract us."
"Shouldn't i clean up the bloodle?" Green pointed out.
"Do that later." Yellow urged, their hand still extended.
Green finally grabbed their hand and came out from under the table. Silently, they wondered; Who would be next?
They had no clue.