Chapter Text
This isn't my fault.Red thinks as they cower strategically take cover behind some industrial barrels. Letting a guest on the ship, who in hindsight did not have a pilots license, drive the Skeld was not a bad idea at the time. Someone was supposed to be driving the ship when the attractive auto pilot voice got tired! Sure, Purple pointed out that it should have been Red but how were they supposed to know that??? Being a Captain is a very complicated position!
Besides, it was like how a parent Crewmate teaches their mini Crewmates to ride a bike. Red would be spotting White the whole time and absorbing the praise White would likely throw their way about how cool a Captain they are. Oooh! Maybe that sentiment would have spread to the rest of the crew!
Unfortunately Purple decided to barge in around Red’s master plan phase one.
Red wishes Purple could be just a little more excited to be here. As soon as Red became the captain of the Skeld, they formally requested (with enough paperwork to make their arm sore from writing) that Purple be assigned to their crew. Security officer seemed fitting, they always had a keen visor for problem solving. Imagine it! The dream team back together again! Just like things were before!
“Do you think we'll be up there someday?” A young voice asks from their spot next to the Red intern. The two of them sit on top of the MIRA facility, having ignored the various signs dissuading Crewmates from climbing up there.
Red looks at their Purple companion who is holding their second favorite pair of binoculars up to look at the sky. Purple's favorite pair is so precious to them that they keep it in a glass box, only opening it to dust them.
“What, the sky? Purps, not sure MIRA would approve taking off work to make a flying machine.” They shake their head, as if this fact should be obvious.
“Wuh- no not the sky! Space! Like in a spaceship Redsy!” They give an exasperated sigh yet have a soft smile on their visor. “It… it would be cool, right? You and me having space adventures on a cool ship. Doing important work with the actual resources to do it.”
“Yeah, and maybe we'd actually get paid! Paid interns!” Red chuckles, the concept still mentally foreign to them. It would be nice to leave the colony though. There's a big universe out there, bigger than the little colony they reside on.
“Well I was thinking more, like, actual jobs, but being paid at all sounds nice…” Purple finally puts their binoculars down to look at Red instead. Their gaze, always so observant, makes Red's heart feel fuzzy without fail every time. Maybe they should get that checked out by a doctor. “I think you could make a pretty good Captain.”
“Really? Me? You think I could do it?” Red blinks in surprise. Purple always tells it like it is, even if it's not what other Crewmates want to hear. So…it's an understatement to say this means a lot.
They stare back at Purple, awaiting their answer with baited breath. The stars reflect off of Purple's visor, making them look like they contain the universe.
Maybe they do.
There must be something in their own gaze as well that's captivating Purple because they let the quiet moment linger a bit too long.
Oh no, Red just realized they're really close together! Ough their heart is even more fuzzy- abort! Abort!
The two interns mutually scoot back an inch, chuckling to fill the silence. There's another void of speaking as Purple fiddles with their hat before they smile and continue their thought.
“Sure, I'd say you're-”
“-Irresponsible.” Finishes the present Purple, sparkle in their visor dulled to an oily shine. They remind Red of a frayed rope, the world having cut away at them. But it's okay! Because Red is going to re-fray (un-fray?) this disheartened cable. Soon enough Purple will have the spark in their visor they once did and things will be okay between them once again!
Red quickly flips through their Captain’s manual about others driving the ship. When they can't find anything through skimming they reassure Purple that everything will be fine.
Really though, it's no biggie! They're just heading back to Industria, the problems of the journey are practically over!
The Asteroid hitting the ship was certainly… unexpected to say the least.
They're a good captain, one little hole in the wall that divides the crew from the icy death grip of space isn't going to change that! As MIRA themselves (or at least the book that was bestowed on them with no fanfare) states on multiple occasions: No Biggie! The Captain (them!) will have everything under control. If they didn't then the crew wouldn't listen to them.
Fortunately the book also covers what to do during mutinies! Most of the chapter goes into tactics of desperate begging! The diagrams of the captain being ejected out into the embrace of the cosmos were… well, it still sends shivers down their bone. Completelyunrelated to that, Red decided to stop reading ahead in the manual. Too much work anyways, better to open it up when the moment calls for it!
None of that mutiny stuff or anything else bad will happen though because Red is the most competent, courageous, and humble captain around! Courageous enough to know when the Crew can handle the very scary work.
Snapping back into the moment, Red watches with Visor furrowed as Orange's trust ball perfectly fixes a break in the hull. Huh.
Blue orders- suggests- Red is the captain so Blue ordering anything would make it seem like they have more authority than the Captain- that Orange tosses the rest of the balls to fix the breach. Through the power of group yelling, Orange complies! They charge the crate of auxiliary balls yet they are only one Bean. It doesn't topple and the breach continues to pull various items from storage outside.
Someone needs to do something! Fortunately, someone does. Black drops down from their spot hanging onto the controls, pushing into the box with all their might.
Cyan, from their spot besides Red, rushes to help topple the crate along with Orange and Black. Red is about to join the effort as well but something makes them pause.
Their leg hurts.
It's a minor stinging sensation, Red has had much worse, but a deep dread falls upon them like a mourner's shall. The sensation gets worse, deeper, hungrier. Like a worm burrowing into soil they can feel something digging into their skin.
Something is wrong.
Very, very wrong.
Something is under their skin.
Something else is there.
Muscle and bone devoured to make room for this something else.
It's excruciating.
The pain isn't even the worst part, they can feel something moving into their mind. It rifles through their memories like the Captain's manual, looking for anything it seems important. Disregarding anything that isn't.
How is that fair? Everything about Red is important!
It's gnawing at everything that makes up Red, just- just taking it!
No no no no No No NO! This isn't it's to take!
It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it HURTS IT HURTS IT-
In that moment, Red comes to the conclusion that they're dying.
They're dying and they never got the time to actually be a good captain. To get over their stupid cowardice or have the cool hero moment they've dreamed of since they were young.
And Purple…
But what is there to be scared of anymore?
The thought creeps into their panicking, seeping into the cracks of their psyche. It's oddly calming. That's right, what is there to be afraid of now? They're stronger now. They don't have to deal with a fear of dying, Red's already dead after all!
And they can kill too! The ultimate Apex predator, untouchable, feared, respected.
Not even MIRA can call the shots for them now!
A manic giddiness bubbles up in whatever counts for their guts now. Yes! That's what they're here for! To kill! To taste copper in their maw, feel the warmth leave the flesh under their claws, paint the walls of this metal deathtrap to match the hue of their skin-
“-Red!” A voice cuts through the noise of their rapidly disintegrating mental state. Oh, right. The thing they were doing, what was it?
Finally, they look around outside themself. They're in the storage room, everything is going wrong, and now everyone is staring at them.
Do they know? Oh God they know. Red has been silent for too long- they'll mutiny and-
In reality, the whole process took a few seconds.
Fortunately, another one of Purple's shouts breaks them out of their stupor. Wonderful lovely Purple who never talk to the real Red again they're dead they're dead they're-
“Red! Get over here and help us!” They call over, having clearly moved to aid in the efforts to topple the box. The Captain jumps into the fray, ending up being the last push to finally fix the hull.
The air descends into a state of calm, gravity returning to normal. The crew lets out a group sigh of relief, crisis averted!
Red stares listlessly at a piece of broken ore as Blue gives praise to the Crew. Everyone claps and Red claps along with them, even in this frazzled state they can recognize that praise from Blue feels amazing.
Red realizes that they should probably be taking charge here, saying something about being proud as well, but can't find it in themself to play Captain right now. They're barely playing Red.
It's odd, despite the mental breakdown earlier and the continuous dread, they feel relatively normal. Is that the usual for possessing a host? Or did whatever was causing that lapse in judgement do nothing? It was probably nothing actually.
Now that they think about it, everything is fine! Nothing happened and nothing is happening! They're fine, everything is fine. No biggie!
Now seems as good a time as any to consult the manual on what to do! Especially since they are desperate for something to guide them right now, ha! They're fine. Flipping through to the section on what to do after a disaster, it talks about throwing a party to lift morale. Yeah… yeah that's a good idea!
“Alright crew, good work! Let's throw a party to celebrate the fact that none of us are dead!” They say, you know, like a liar. This idea catches on like a wildfire, leading to the crew moving into the cafeteria.
Colorful balloons and streamers decorate the usually blank communal space. Red grips the red solo cup in a vice grip, their visor dark as they try to control their breathing. They're fine they're soooo normal and fine-
“Captain! I was hoping I could pick your brain about things to help out with here on the ship-” Green interrupts their Captainly ruminating. The intern does remind Red of their own intern days, wide eyed and curious. It's quite endearing to see the novelty of being in space really make someone happy.
There's just something a bit off about them though. If they were still Red- they are- they wouldn't notice anything off about the way Green carries themself. There's a certain confidence to their posture that shouldn't be there. Their gaze is a bit too sharp, making Red feel small. Like a Catmate with a Mousemate.
For better or for worse, Red can see Orange flagging them down. Likely because the ship took damage. Won't look good on their resume, though does that really matter? Of course it does, being a Captain is their life and nothing has changed it didn't change.
“Um, sorry Intern, it seems I have to talk to our lovely HR manager for a moment.” The captain fiddles with their badge, relieved for the exit Orange provided for them.
“Of course Captain! We should talk later though.” Green’s visor darkens almost unperceivably, a slight bite to their tone. Red doesn't look back but can still feel Green’s visor boring a hole into their back.
The conversation with Orange isn't much better, comms are down, storage still has a hole, and various other parts of the ship are on the fritz. With comms down there's no contact with the outside world. Great for a death trap, which this isn't.
Probably for the best, it would be too difficult to pick off the crew if they could just phone for help.
…Why would they think that?
“-I'll have to bring this up with MIRA,” They look up from their clipboard with a sour expression. “Red, are you even listening to me? This is important-”
“What? Um, no you uhhhh. Uhm. Heyyyy Purps!” They take the out as quickly as possible. This is not their day for comfortable conversations, huh?
Purple walks into a wall as they walk towards them. Ha! Silly purple.
“How are you doing? Enjoying your new security position I got you?” Red tries to say it casually but it comes out as a little more desperate than they intended. They just… need to make sure Purple is okay is all. Nothing bad is happening, everything is fine, Purps is better than fine with a cool new job! They finally get to be in space working together like they dreamed!
“Can we not..?” Purple shifts away from Red's hand on their shoulder. Red frowns at the sudden weight the conversion takes on. In normal circumstances they would laugh it off, deflecting the rejected interaction. In this case however, something is not quite right. Maybe. Probably not.
They should tell Purple. They should try to find the words to tell Purple that something is deeply wrong. Yet, if they vocalize it then it will be real. They want to bask in their own ignorance for a while. Besides, all that's happened is a little accident and some off psychosis, no biggie!
“Purps, I-” They start to recede back into their Captainly persona before being cut off by a gasp of horror.
From the cafeteria entrance the lone figure of White comes stumbling in. The contest winner looks sickly, visor wide and hands uselessly grasping at their throat.
Then suddenly, after one too many steps, their head pops clean off. Blood is added to the decorations adorning the room as his body collapses, lifeless.
Staring blankly at White's now decapitated corpse, Red has one thought: …Is this my fault?