Chapter Text
Purple’s been looking for hours.
Where the HELL is Green?
They weren’t exactly fond of that alien impostor, sure! The one that dangled corpses in their face and teased them for trusting Red again? Hated that extraterrestrial freak! But the peculiar thing is, that after ALL of that, when Green couldn’t find Purple and Red’s (they’re not putting Red’s name first, screw being captain) hiding spot, they just… ditched!
Purple’s almost offended by that fact. Couldn’t face their salt gun like a REAL bean? Or was it for some other reason?
Regardless, something else strange started happening, too… Crewmates that were previously deceased have been returning. And no, they’re NOT alien impostors, Purple is checking with the Medbay scanner. The poor traumatized crew seems to remember their deaths as well. What a horrifying thing. To recall exactly how you died and suddenly be back.
Black seems to take more of a liking to the grotesque memories than anyone else does, while Cyan believes that they’ve been brought back for a second chance.
But Purple KNOWS this is Green’s doing. What is this, some stupid way to apologize?
Not to mention that *Orange* is here too…! How on Industria could this possibly be happening?! Does Green have some sort of demigod in their contacts?! Whatever the case may be, Orange is still an alien, but doesn’t seem to have a thirst for blood anymore. The only thing they express any kind of interest in is how disappointed MIRA would be about the loss of the Ore+. Yes, Purple and Red ditched that storage room and dumped everything.
Purple is aware that Red is also confused, but the two haven’t had many chances for a real conversation. At least, not without thinking about how that engineer can hear everything from the vents. It feels like some sort of privacy breach, but Red says that there’s not really anything they can do about it.
Of course…! Stupid Red, stupid Green, stupid EVERYONE…!
“You look like you have a lot on your mind, friend!” Orange interrupts Purple’s thoughts, who shudders at the sudden appearance of the alien. They’re pretty shameless about it now, considering their tentacles are constantly emerged from their back. The little pink antennae are cute, though… “Here, trust ball!” Orange beams, tossing the little red ball to Purple.
Purple gasps and catches it, casting the other a nasty glare with their visor. Orange does not seem at all shaken. The crewmate takes a deep breath, squeezing the ball a little tighter. “Uh… I dunno. I don’t have to say anything to you if I don’t want to! This lousy little ball doesn’t change anything!”
“MIRA code says that you have to!” Orange replies in a sing-song tone. They stumble back when Purple throws the trust ball directly into their visor and storms off.
“Doesn’t look like that worked…” Red huffs, approaching Orange and crossing their arms.
“But that was my only idea, Captain!” Orange admits, shrugging. “And you’ve enlisted the help of EVERYBODY to try and get them to talk. It doesn’t look like anything’s working, if you ask me.”
“Well, good thing I’m not asking you, then!” Red notes proudly, causing Orange to make a face. “Don’t you have… I don’t know, alien impostor detectingy senses…? Can’t you find our little disgusting intern?”
“Haha! That’s not how that works, Red.” Orange’s tone falls flat as they narrow their visor. “Listen. I’ve checked the vents, Lime’s checked the vents, and everybody’s looked in the general direction of the vents! Maybe they’ll just come out when they’re ready. Or… maybe we can lure them out?”
“Lure? Lure them out?” Red asks, raising a brow.
“Yup, that’s what I just said!” Orange smiles. Red sighs heavily.
“No, I mean… lure them with WHAT? Because if my wonderful captainliness isn’t working, then what will?” Red queries, crossing their arms. “If I were Green, I’d have come out the moment that I, the Captain, stepped out of my quarters!” They laugh proudly, flipping their hair.
Orange has now walked away.
“No!!! W-Waiiiittt!!!” Red’s expression is now more nervous. Wow. How helpful that was. If looking for them is out of the question, and luring them out is out of the question, then what CAN they do…?
“RED!!!” Purple shouts, rushing into the Cafeteria. Red flinches a little bit, out of reflex. Usually Purple’s mad at them when they shout like that. Or they have something really important to say. Or both. “I…! I found something!”
Oh, so it’s something really important to say! Red will not be getting beaten today!
Purple stops before the other, clutching at their knees to try and catch their breath. They hold up a stack of papers. “The… the Medbay scanner! MIRA equipped this specific model, for whatever reason, with some kind of new technology! That’s where Green is reviving the crewmates!”
“Oh, goodie! But isn’t everyone back? Why do I need to know this?” Red asks, tilting their head.
“Uh, yeah. Everyone but White?” Purple narrows their visor at the Captain. Red just looks confused.
“Who?”
Orange approaches Red once more, holding out their notepad.
Oh, it’s been annotated.
‘White is the first one that died.’
“O-Oh, yeah!” Red cackles nervously, looking away. “I totally knew that. And I also totally know why this is relevant now.”
Purple sighs heavily. “...Because Green is going to try and bring them back too, so we can catch them in the a–”
“Wait, Purple, shut up.” Red holds a hand in front of Purple’s face. “Green is going to try and bring them back too, and we can catch–”
“No, YOU shut up and come on already!!!” Purple hisses, grabbing Red’s wrist and dragging them toward Medbay. Red does not protest. Red has learned better.
“Alright, listen. And don’t cut me off. This is the plan.” Purple gently pushes Red down by their shoulders, placing them beneath a bed. “We hide here and we wait. I’m assuming Green’s gonna wait until the Skeld gets a little more active and crewmates are distracted. That’s when they’re gonna revive White and try to dip.”
Red nods. “Okay. Then get out of plain sight already!” Red takes Purple’s hand, but Purple draws their hand back and huffs.
“I’m not hiding under the same bed as you. Weirdo.” Purple mutters that last part, going off to hide somewhere else. Red just pouts. Fine, whatever! They didn’t wanna hide with Purple anyway!
Now they just gotta play the waiting game. Purple’s a little nervous about Red’s capacity to stay focused long enough, though. Red’s like an iPad kid; if they don’t have constant entertainment, there’s about a 75% chance they’ll throw a temper tantrum.
Purple’s really not in the mood for that.