Chapter Text
Green stared, transfixed, at the bean hugging Orange below them that was a suspiciously forest color. In fact, one might say they were, well, green. But that couldn’t be true–Green was green, and they were doing a pretty good job of being themselves. However, as they gazed upon this Fake Green, there was no denying the fact that the brown cap and dark hoodie were the same ones they saw every day in the reflection of a mirror, the tempered glass of the Skeld, or one of the other various reflective surfaces in their day-to-day life.
Orange’s voice cut through Green’s spiraling.
“Oh my, so many wasted trust balls definitely aren’t covered by MIRA’s Under Twenty Broken Red Items insurance policy!” Green shook their head to try to snap themselves out of their stupor and realized that there were two Oranges–one fully opaque and standing on the floor of Storage, and the other partially translucent and floating beside Green. That’s it. Something was definitely going on.
“Uh, Orange, I get that as an unpaid intern my opinion doesn’t really matter, but aren’t there bigger problems right now such as the fact that there are multiple us among us?!” Green said nervously, nearly stumbling over their words in their panic.
“Hmm, yes, you’re right, but–oh! Blue’s talking, they’ll understand what’s happening!” Orange proclaimed.
But as they listened to Blue’s speech, they began to understand that despite how much it made them swoon, it was no more helpful for their current scenario than Red’s hasty attempt to receive praise from the crewmates after. As they experienced vertigo watching themselves leave the room, Green tried to come up with a plan.
“Well, back on the worm farm, in situations like these, we–”
“You had situations like this on the worm farm?” Orange interjected.
“Well…no. But when we didn’t know what to do, we thought about what a trusted adult would do,” Green amended.
“Ah, so Blue,” Orange said. The beans nodded together.
“Blue…what would Blue…I think they would ask what led up to this moment and how we began to feel this way,” Green decided. “So what do we remember?” Actually, that’s a great question, Green realized. “The last thing I remember was a pink tentacle-thing slamming into my suit after getting knocked behind a storage crate. Come to think of it, you were there too, Orange!”
“Yeah, I think I flew behind the crate with you. I landed so hard, I think I cracked some Ore+! And then…I remember pain, and then blackness.” Orange shuddered, although it seemed like they were always shuddering, with the tapered-off end where their legs…wait.
“Ah, if you don’t mind me asking, what happened to your legs?” Green asked, gesturing toward the space where Orange’s legs used to be.
“Well, I was ‘bout to ask you that myself!” said Orange, pointing at Green. They glanced down simultaneously and came to the same conclusion in the same amount of time as well.
“Oh my MIRA. Are we…” Orange trailed off.
“Ghosts,” Green whispered. “We’re…dead. Which means…” they also didn’t continue speaking, too overwhelmed with a hundred different thoughts. I’ll never get to be a captain. Wait, no, there was something worse. All those beans my village pooled together to send me here…my parents…“We’re so proud of you, Green. Now go make us prouder!”...They have no idea. And I’ll never get to see Mint’s face when I come home with my Captain’s badge…never get to fly a ship…and worst of all, I have to watch ‘myself’ living my life!
Through their thoughts, Green could barely make out Orange clearly having a similar episode.
“You have to excuse me, Green, I have, um, stuff to do, in…Electrical!” Orange cried, flying through the wall, sobs barely withheld to show MIRA authority. Green was left to watch themself return from Cafeteria, a grumpy expression on their face and a broom in their hand.
Did my consciousness split upon death? Is this me? I mean, how could they not be?
“Of course I have to be stuck in the unpaid intern,” Fake Green mumbled.
Green froze. I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to be an intern here!
“As an alien parasite hatched from the…what do they call it, Ore +? You’d think I’d be all-powerful, but noo! It’s all, ‘Go clean up the trust balls, Green!’ ‘You’re worthless, Green!’” They stopped sweeping, visor curling into what would normally look like a carefree smile. “But they’ll regret it soon, when Worthless Little ‘Green’ slowly kills them.”
An alien parasite? Is that why my body is still moving? It’s being controlled by this…evil thing?…is that what killed me? Green was snapped out of their questions by the sound of the doors opening.
“Oh, hi Green! Mind if I watch you?” White asked cheerfully, walking over to Fake Green.
‘Run, White!’ Green wanted to scream. But of course, that would do nothing but stop them from being able to hear the conversation.
“Or you could offer to help me,” Fake Green grumbled, too quietly for White to hear. “Sure, White! I could use some company!” they said louder, putting on a smile. “In fact, come closer!”
“Oh, alright! I, um, I’ll have you know, though, I’m not really looking for–WOAH!” White tried to dodge Fake Green as they lunged at them, but Fake Green snatched their polo.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m not looking for a relationship either. What I want…is blood.” Fake Green’s voice dropped several octaves as they opened up their visor and split White clean in half.
“Hope you can get to the party! I’m gonna enjoy some pizza, without salt.” Fake Green’s voice was back to its normal cheery tone as they closed up their visor and skipped to the Cafeteria.
Oh no no no no no, Green thought anxiously. Sure, White isn’t my favorite crewmate on this ship, (that’s Blue) but they don’t deserve to die!
“Hold on, White!” they said, mostly for themselves but also with the slight hope that maybe, just maybe, White could pick up on at least some of their energy. “Maybe, um, I could push your head to keep it on?”
Green tried to float over to White to try to keep them alive, try to get to the party where–oh, right! Blue was at the party, right?
White seemed to have a similar idea. “Bl…bl…” they mumbled. They seemed to focus on just one little thing at a time, one foot in front of the other. If Green’s presence was noticable at all, White was not in the state to be the one to spot it.
After what seemed like an eternity had passed, Green and White finally made it to the closed Cafeteria doors. White slumped against the wall, exhausted. Green could hear the faint sounds of the crew partying inside, followed by Fake Green’s ‘nervous’ voice.
“Hey, has anyone seen White? They came with me on the ship–everyone loved them–White? White?” The Cafeteria doors finally opened. “Oh, White. There you are.”
White shakily took a few steps into Cafeteria before deciding it was worthless and to use their energy on something more useful.
“G-Gr…” the rest of their sentence was overtaken by them gurgling on their own blood. A thin line began to split White in two. Green started to panic.
“No, no, please, White! Blue’s right there, see? They can get you fixed up, White, please!” Green cried, but even as they did they knew it was too late; White had already begun to squirt blood. Green covered their visor and closed their eyes to stop themselves from seeing White’s death, but the loud sound promised something especially gruesome.