Chapter Text
The crew sat at a table in Cafeteria, just enough seats for all of them. They chatter amongst one another and eat some of the pizza handmade by Yellow and Brown. They were throwing a party. Nothing had happened! They would arrive at Industria in roughly a days time and nothing went wrong!
Cyan and Purple talk to each other, bonding over Heracles, Purple's secret fishmate, and the dislike of "bad vibes." Purple finds themself laughing and genuinely happy for the first time since their internship with Red. They look away from, an also laughing, Cyan for just a second and happens to look across the table at Red. They look sad, they aren't talking to anyone. Somehow Orange is getting more socialization than that egotistical captain.
Purple pays no mind to it and continues to talk to Cyan. Green joins in the conversation and in just a few moments they're all laughing.
"Hey Purps?" Green asks after calming themself from a fit of laughter.
"Yeah, what's up?" Purple responds, taking a bite of their pizza slice.
What do you think would've happened if White got to drive the Skeld instead of me on our first day?" Green asks, also taking a bite of their own pizza.
Purple nearly chokes on their bite, such a strange and out-of-the-blue question for a good time. They don't know the answer, but at the same time a part of them deep down feels like it should. They notice their smile falter and fix it up. "I have no idea!"
They look across the table to White and notice them indulging in conversation with the chefs. They may be rich, but they aren't snobby. They're friendly and understanding once you get to know them more.
When the party is over, Purple heads back to Security to continue doing their job by watching the monitors. But the question Green asked, even hours after they did, makes Purple's skin crawl and mind race. They feel like they should know the answer, like it should come to their tongue naturally, but it keeps getting caught in their throat.
"Am I getting sick?" They ask aloud, putting a hand to their forehead. Nope, they feel fine. Maybe it's just anxiety?
Their party went so late into the night that Mira's mandated "night-time light function" goes off and all the lights, except for one here and there in the hallway, shut off. Purple decides to turn off the cameras and turn in for the night, maybe they'll feel better in the morning.
When they wake, the question still curses their thoughts. Why are they thinking so hard about this!? They press their hands into their eyes, trying to make the thought go away, but it never does. After laying like that for a while they sit up and put their hair into a ponytail, the way they always have it, and put on their hat, prepared to land in Industria.
When they walk out to Cafeteria, everyone is already there. Except instead of looking happy that the haul is over, they look worried.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" Purple asks, the small smile fading from their lips. They take a seat next to Cyan and Black, noticing Cyan's worried little whimpers.
"Red can't land the ship." Yellow says, looking over at Purple. Purple's expression changes from worried to confused.
"Wait, what? Why? I thought they were the captain!?" Purple exclaims, looking around the table and noticing a lack of their captain.
Yellow looks over at Brown and grabs their hand before looking back to Purple with a sorrow expression. Purple squints their visor slightly at Yellows expression and looks around some more. Everyone already understands what has happened, and Green looks.. scared? Maybe traumatized? It's always been hard to read emotions through their face.
"Red.." Black starts, putting a hand on Purple's shoulder. But before they can get out any other words, Cyan begins uncontrollably sobbing and runs out of the room. Purple watches them leave, concern and empathy cursing their heart. They turn around to look back at everyone, starting to get irritated that nobody will tell them.
"Just tell me what happened!" Purple exclaims, slamming the table and making Green flinch.
"Red was found dead in the Cockpit this morning." Blue says with no hesitation but complete empathy, finally breaking the news. "Green was the one who found them."
Purple feels a jolt of fear strike through them. They didn't care much for Red, not since they signed that NDA and betrayed them. But hearing that they died, and so suddenly too, it shakes them to their core.
"Wh... how? They seemed perfectly healthy." Purple asks, sounding defeated.
"It wasn't a health problem." Green whispers, tears welling in their visor. Purple immediately knows what they mean and all the air in their lungs leaves them.
"So.. we're just stuck in space forever?" Purple asks, not wanting to address the main problem.
"Unless someone here knows how to pilot a ship, yes." Brown speaks up, looking around for any volunteers. But, surprising to no one, nobody raises their hand or speaks up. "Yellow and I have enough pizza supplies to last us a few more weeks, but nothing more than that."
Purple stands up and walks out of the room, thinking about how Red just gave up so easily and Green's question. The thoughts were practically floating around their head, taunting them as something they couldn't answer. They subconsciously make their way to O2.
Once they arrive, they put their hand up against the glass of the water tank. Just a few seconds and Heracles comes out from behind the kelp inside. Instead of feeling happy, like usual, they can't help but rest their forehead against the glass and begin to cry.
Heracles swims against the glass, also pressing their head against it to mimic Purple.
"Why..? Everything was going to well.." they whisper to the air. They want to punch something, to scream, to get answers to their questions. But they know they can't. "I love you, Heracles.."
The fishmate does circles in response, happy that Purple still loves them. But Purple doesn't giggle like they usually would, they just walk away from the glass and leave O2, heading to Security and avoiding Navigation like the plague.
Purple never liked going to Storage, they always got a weird feeling from this place, like something happened here before. But nothing did, this place is free of scars and damage. Since everyone is still in Cafeteria, they have no choice but to go through Storage.
The walk is quick, especially since they practically ran through Storage. They get to Security and close the door using the control panel next to it, then walk over to the chair and sit down, almost instantly beginning to cry. They hold their head in their hands, why is Red's death taking such a toll on them all of a sudden? They hated their guts before, they wanted them dead. But now that they are.. it just doesn't feel right.
In just a few minutes, Purple managed to cry themself to sleep in that chair. They fell asleep and had a dream. A dream that answered one of their questions. White drove the ship, everyone died, and in the end it was just Red and Purple..
They woke up with a cold sweat, anxiety spiking through the roof. Did any of that happen? It all felt so real... the lights in Security are off, it's the middle of the night.
A knock on the door makes Purple jump, they hop off the chair and run to the door, using the control panel and forcing the door open.
On the other side is Yellow, they bare a face of concern and hold a paper plate with a slice of pizza on it. Seeing Yellow instantly makes Purple relax, it was just a dream.
"You never came to lunch or dinner. You've been cooped up in there all day. I brought you some pizza because I won't be able to sleep without knowing you ate." Yellow says, their voice quiet but concerned. They hold out the plate and Purple takes it.
"I just fell asleep, I'm okay. Thank you, though." Yellow tries to speak to them again but Purple quickly closes the door on their face. They put the pizza on the desk and click to the camera outside of Security. Yellow lingers, staring at the door. They put a hand against the metal before they turn away, stalking slowly down the hall with their arms crossed.
Purple feels a little bad about it, but they don't open the door again or chase after Yellow. They look down at the plate of pizza, they feel hungry. But instead of eating it, they push the plate away. They don't have an appetite. The thought of Red, whatever state they're in, keeps bubbling to the surface.
It hurts to think about.