Chapter Text
"Attention, everyone!" Ten crewmates all stood around a meeting table, looking to their Captain who had called for a briefing. "You all know why you're here. We are the best of the best! The most loyal to Mira and we will not let them down!"
Everyone put their hands over their chests, reciting in unity, "I will give my life for Mira."
However, a few heads turned as one member at the table stayed silent.
"You didn't recite the oath. That's sus." Green spoke up, everyone staring at the largest crewmate.
The only answer they received was static, setting a fair few of the crewmates on edge. However, one of them laughed, a woman in pink. "Their mic must be broken, just count my recite as theirs." She said, patting her fellow crewmate on the back. She got a nod in reply.
"We'll have to get that fixed for you then." The Captain said, giving the silent member a suspicious once over before returning to the meeting.
As expected, there was no response.
The woman in pink leaned over again, sliding a sheet of paper over to the intimidating figure. "What should I call you? You're white and silver?"
"..." Her only reply was more static, until they shakily wrote down on the paper.
"HalfnHalf, huh? These code names keep getting more complex every year. You can just call me Pink. She and her pronouns for me, but I doubt you'll be using them much." She joked, smiling beneath her helmet despite not needing to do so. "He/him?" She guessed, tilting her head. Again the response she received was delayed but she eventually got a shrug and a thumbs up. "Cool." Then she turned back to the meeting, not that she cared to pay attention.
She had done this a million times, this was probably her tenth mission, which earned her enough experience to upgrade to the Airship. Most would consider it an honour to be on the brand spanking new Mira ship, and she couldn't say she wasn't excited at new prospects. However, everyone around her were men. Normally she had no issue with this, but she knew what Mira was doing. They didn't want any children running around on their shiny new toy, so they had recruited all men. And even if her birth certificate now said otherwise, Mira was happy to out her without actually outing her.
She was noticing the stares and visible confusion, which made anger begin to stir in her gut. This was going to make her plan much much harder to complete. Her usual tactic was to gain as much trust as possible while keeping attention off of herself, but now it seemed attention was going to be on her by default.
New map. New tasks. New tactic. And all while being surrounded by veterans who would eat the dirt Mira walked on if the company were a person. This was going to be hard.
She spent the first few days just exploring the new map, faking a few tasks to look like she was actually doing something, while she actually made note of good hiding places. Within a week, she was finally confident enough to begin sabotaging. Nothing too crazy, just some ripped and tangled wires, contaminated food, and she stole some extra bullets from the arsenal.
After that, she made sure to get extra friendly with the crew, helping out with tasks, chatting them up, keeping suspicion off of herself as much as possible. She got to know quite a few of the men and as expected, most of them were loyal meatheads ready for whatever Mira was throwing them towards. It only made her job easier and she began to figure out who would be the best to kill.
Speaking of easy, however. Her impromptu friend HalfnHalf seemed to struggle the most with tasks. He just stood in the hall creepily, staring at wires and buzzing softly. No one had gotten around to fixing his mic for him, but she approached regardless.
"Need help?" She asked, standing beside him to also look at the wires. It was the standard four wire panel, one of the most basic tasks out there.
He only looked down at her, continuing to crackle before nodding.
"You do know you just have to connect the colours together right? They even have symbols if you're colourblind." She said, quirking an eyebrow despite the uselessness of the expression beneath her helmet. He only stared at her, beginning to creep her out as she took in his intimidating size. She honestly had no idea what she was going to do about this guy. She was a decent height, 5'7, but this guy was probably 6'8 and all muscles.
However, before she could consider doing anything, someone passed by the two of them in the hall, everyone watching each other for just a moment before the crewmate left. Once she'd turned back, HalfnHalf was working away at the panel. Maybe it was just a test then.
"I guess I'll leave you to it." She waved hesitantly before walking off in the opposite direction.
She really needed to figure out what to do about him, he seemed too big for her to take on by herself and she couldn't get a proper read on him to see if she could get him to trust her. That was always worrying.
Pink had been busy attempting to dismantle one of the download terminals when the lights went out. It startled her momentarily, and she looked down at her work in contemplation, wondering if she had been the cause. Not that she really cared as she quickly realized this was her perfect chance to get a kill.
Pulling her gun from her suit pocket, she attached a silencer to the end of it. It would still make some noise, so she had to be careful. But regardless, she began to stalk down the hall, listening intently for footsteps.
“Stupid fucking generator, can’t even handle its one job.” Someone grumbled, fumbling around in the dark.
Pink stopped walking, pressing herself against the wall as she listened intently. There didn’t seem to be anyone else in the room, so she turned on her flashlight, startling the other crewmate.
“Hey-“ He never got to finish as a bullet shot through his helmet.
His body collapsed and Pink cringed away at all the noise, turning her flashlight off as she pocketed her gun. Mindful to put the safety on.
She ducked into another room, trying to picture all of the hiding places she had memorized. She heard another sound come from the room beside her and began to run, keeping her hand against the wall to try to keep herself orientated.
“Oof!” She gasped as she slammed right into someone. “Sorry, I can’t see anything.” She said, looking up from her spot on the ground. Her gaze was met with a glowing red visor.
HalfnHalf crouched down, picking her up and placing her back on her feet.
“Uh, thank you.” She responded, before looking behind her to where she had left a dead body a few rooms away. “Let’s go fix lights.” There was no verbal reply, but the large man took a hold of her hand and began to lead her towards the closest electrical box, and thankfully far away from the crime scene.
They didn’t manage to reach lights or fix them, but that didn’t matter to her as they came back on regardless. Still, she really needed to keep her current company away from that body. So, she continued to hold his hand and tug him along.
"I have a task in the records room, let's go up there." She suggested, internally sighing in relief when he complied and let her lead him along. They entered the new area and she instantly went over to the files on the table, scooping them up and pretending she knew what she was doing as she put the folders in random slots.
She hoped she was convincing as a chime rang out throughout the ship, signalling a meeting. A body had been found.
"I was with HalfnHalf in Records." Pink said, voicing their location for the both of them. It was an entire floor away from the body and no one even gave her a second glance, so she silently listened for the rest of the meeting.
Everyone had listed off their locations as well as what they had been doing before and after lights went out. There were a few suspicions, but it was far too early to be getting rid of anyone right now. It also didn't help that aside from the body, who had been Brown, another crewmember had not shown up to the meeting. That certainly got everyone talking, as a second body had not been found and even confused Pink herself.
"Keep a look out for Blue, if you see him report it right away. For now, pair up. It seems an impostor has infiltrated our great ship." The Captain instructed, leaving no room for argument. He instantly paired himself with his second in command. "Alright, finish your tasks. You're all dismissed."
HalfnHalf didn't say anything, unsurprisingly, but his hand went on top of Pink's helmet, the weight just sitting there for a moment. A statement was there.
She looked up at him and had to suppress an aggravated sigh before plastering a smile to her face and an enthusiastic lilt to her voice. "Partners then?" As much as she hated the thought of him watching her every move, she had already used him as an alibi, so she supposed it was only fair. However, losing him long enough to make kills was going to be tricky.
Losing him was not, in fact, tricky. For such a large, intimidating figure, he could slip away without her even realizing until he was already gone. And somehow that frustrated her even more. If she was caught without her partner that would give her a lot of unneeded attention. The whole thing gave her extra anxiety, as she couldn't help worrying every time he disappeared he was going to report something sus she'd done. It was difficult enough trying to fake tasks all day, but playing hide and seek definitely had not been on her agenda. Yet he continued to show back up.
He stuck with her for about another hour before leaving again when she had her back turned to do wires. She had figured it out far quicker this time, but she still wasn't fast enough to see him escape.
With a huff, she put her hands on her hips and looked to where he had been standing. "Alone again." She muttered. "Naturally."
As much as it pained her, she began walking down the halls to go look for him. In a typical searching situation, she would be calling out his name, however, she was still a big fan of not drawing too much attention to herself. So, she instead browsed each room she passed, trying to catch even a glimpse of him.
"What the-?" She tripped over her little companion, a bedcrab. It had stopped suddenly in her path, its little mandibles working frantically against the floor. "What are you eating?" She asked flatly, stooping down to scoop up the little creature. "Stop eating dirt, that's nasty." Shaking her head, she chastised her companion before releasing a startled squeak.
HalfnHalf had grabbed her arm, beginning to tug her along silently.
"Hey!" She smacked his hand angrily before wincing and shaking it out. That really hurt!
Even if the strike didn't seem to have effected him, he stopped and stared at her for a moment while she struggled out of his grip, managing to pry his fingers off of her arm. "What's your problem? You're the one who keeps sneaking off." She didn't care if her outburst was outside of her crafted persona, this guy was really starting to get on her nerves. "You know what, since you're such a fan of being alone, go do your tasks by yourself."
He only tilted his head for a moment, taking in her angry stance before shaking it and planting himself beside her, causing her to roll her eyes.
"Fine. Stop being an asshole then." She said, letting him lead her away to the cockpit. She didn't have any 'tasks' in there, so, instead she watched him fumble with tasks in there and took great delight in abandoning him when the lights suddenly went out.
With him no longer on her heels and her knowing where she had left him, she began her hunt. She made sure to be quick and silent, dipping briefly into armory before putting as much distance between herself and the cockpit while listening intently for any footsteps. There was an audible pair in the hallway she was headed for, so she ducked around the staircase. She had to be careful not to be caught, and grabbing a kill was going to be much harder than she thought.
The twin footfall had descended down the engine staircase and right past her, their intention was likely to head towards the switches to fix lights. So, she quietly climbed up the stairs and into the hallway, leaning against the door frame as she slipped the safety off of the sniper she had grabbed. She knew even with the silencer it would be incredibly loud, but she had to take the chance before her safety buddy could find her again.
Taking aim, she looked through the scope, which thankfully had night vision and shot through the helmet of one of the two walking men. The loud bang and shock of his companion collapsing against him had stunned the other crewmate enough for her to back further into the hallway and out of sight. Not that he could have seen her with the lights off, but she needed to make her getaway.
The crewmate had recovered and pushed the body off of himself, beginning to charge blindly up the staircase. Pink's heart leapt up into her throat as her brain scrambled for a plan in case he found her. Any train of thought she could have grasped instantly shattered as a hand suddenly grabbed the face of her visor from behind. She couldn't help releasing a little squeak but the figure was fast, pressing the button on her comm system, silencing the noise and any other sound she could make as she was dragged into the bunks.
Her heart pounded so hard it hurt as her brain whirled in confusion and panic. The person who had caught her pushed her behind themself, obstructing her view as they continued to hold a hand over where her mouth would be. She couldn't see much without the sniper, but they seemed to be looking outside the door.
Taking a deep breath, Pink managed to slow her heart enough to hear the angry footsteps pacing the hallway. The crewmate clearly had no idea where she had gone and was searching around blindly. It sounded like they were getting farther away, and she heard the sound of a door whooshing closed and a loud curse. The crewmate had been locked out of the hall.
Her body sagged with relief, leaning against the wall as the panic slowly drained away. Before picking back up again when she realized she had been caught. Looking at the hand obstructing the view through her visor, she reached up and got a light grip on the hand, pulling it down far enough for her to see the glowing red visor inches from her own. She could still speak, but with her comm shut off she knew she wouldn't be heard, so she didn't bother saying anything.
The glowing visor looked up at where the lights were, clearly expecting them to come back on soon, before looking back down at her. She couldn't help flinching away when a hand bumped against hers, before grasping it, her saviour leading her away from the crime scene while they still had time to escape.
She didn't question it as the large figure navigated the dark almost seamlessly, even avoiding the body she slightly tripped over. However, she did not land on the ground, instead falling into strong arms which helped her back to her feet as they continued to make a getaway. Heat reached her cheeks but she shook her head, focusing on the immediate need for escape.
They ran up through the brig and turned in to the gap room. She only knew this as she was placed onto the moving platform, struggling to keep her balance as she was suddenly released and set into motion. The platform crossed to the other side and she couldn't help wondering how her helper would cross.
Jolting in surprise, she saw the figure already on the other side. Which was impossible. The distance was too far to jump, the platform was the only way across and could only hold one person at a time, and going around would take too long.
"What the fuck?" She said aloud, not that she could be heard, and her hand was being taken again as they rushed through records before she stopped, tugging her companion into one of the bathroom stalls. The door shut behind them and she collapsed onto the toilet, her legs no longer able to reliably support her. She breathed heavily for a full minute, the lights had come on in that time, before she fumbled to turn her mic back on. "I have...so many questions." She uttered out, still shaking heavily.
HalfnHalf stood before her, seeming completely unaffected by what had just transpired as he crackled, quiet as always, before a static filled, "Ḓ̖̙̖̆ͭị̜̹̮ͮ͊t͚͉ͬ̄t̪͓̎ͬö̥̜́̿̔ͨ̐." was her unexpected reply.
She couldn't help jumping, leaning back a bit. "So you can talk?" It was impossible to keep the shake from her voice, but she tried. The reply was so robotic, monotone, unnatural, like a TV flicking through channels trying to communicate.
There was no verbal reply this time, just him shaking his hand side to side in a 'kind of' gesture. Then the chime reporting a body rung out.
Pink sat up, before looking around frantically for her sniper. "Where did the gun go?" She asked, praying to every deity out there that she hadn't dropped it. She also checked her boots for blood, knowing she had tripped over the body, but thankfully they were clean.
"S̖̱ͥ̒̄ā̰̊̅f̪͗ͬͭe̳͑̅̑͂̋." He replied, patting her shoulder before exiting the stall to stand outside while she collected herself.
Taking a deep breath, she cleared her head the best she could, disengaging her helmet to wipe the sweat from her brow before placing it back on and walking out as well.
"Eeeyy." Orange said as he passed by the two of them walking out of the stall. He made a clicking noise at them as they all walked towards the meeting room.
"It's-." Pink flushed brightly, wanting to say it wasn't what he thought, but her embarrassment got the better of her, they were already at the platform anyway.
"Ladies first." Orange indicated for her to take it, while he and HalfnHalf took the long way.
She wanted to be aggravated at the patronizing sounding comment, but she couldn't help feeling a little validated. It was easy to see the other men were less than accepting of her, but it almost sounded like Orange was being genuine. So, she waited at the bottom of the ladder for the two of them. A few other crewmates passed her, attempting to avoid her as each one climbed up to the meeting room.
Orange looked a little breathless, clearly having ran to catch up, but he gave her a pat on the shoulder when seeing she had waited for them. HalfnHalf seemed as unfazed as the last time she'd seen him.
"Fellas first." She said charmingly as she indicated to the ladder.
Orange released a breathy laugh and nodded in acknowledgement before climbing up, his other two compatriots right behind him, until everyone who would be coming to the table was there. They were down to six.
"I want answers now!" The Captain slammed his hand down on the table, making almost everyone jump in surprise. "Where was everyone?"
"I reported the body." Green said, crossing his arms and glaring daggers into everyone around the room beneath his helmet. "I will catch the bastard that did it, I know you were hiding in the hallway."
"Where was everyone??" The SIC asked, shifting closer to the Captain. "We were both on the balcony trying to get a signal for backup."
"I was in cargo bay for a while taking stock of boxes and trying to get the damn safe to open. That combination lock is impossible, especially with the damn lights out. When the lights were back on I found Pink and...Uh...White? In the lounge together." Orange explained, nodding to the two crewmates sitting beside him.
Green turned to them, getting dangerously close to Pink. "And what were you doing in there?"
She glared at him, knowing he couldn't see it, but pulled her arms in close to herself, making herself look sheepish. "I-I get scared in the dark and it made me need the bathroom." She answered, placing her hands on her helmet where her cheeks would be, holding them. "HalfnHalf was with me the whole entire time and I can confirm what Orange said, we saw him too. So we were all on right side-...where was the body?" She asked innocently, her heart briefly skipping a beat when she almost caught herself slipping and saying the body was on the left side. No one had mentioned that yet and she would be dead if she were the first to.
"There's no way everyone was on the right side if the body was on left side." Green stated, getting angry again.
"You were the only one on left side." The second in command pointed out, everyone looking to Green, who quickly became flustered.
"But I reported the body!" He tried to defend.
"Only two bodies have been found right?" Pink piped up, taking a moment to collect her words and think through what she would say.
"Yes." The Captain confirmed.
She then gestured to the four empty seats around the table. "Well there are still two crewmates missing. We don't know if they're dead, or, if they did it." She mentioned, shutting her mouth as soon as she was finished, but she got some thoughtful hums in response.
"Usually only having six people left would call for a vote, just to be safe, but," The Captain began. "I successfully managed to call for back up, so we should have some new members to fill up the missing slots in a few days. So I don't suppose it will matter much, as, if we all die between now and their arrival, well, they will know not to let any survivors off of this ship." He continued, crossing his arms as he surveyed what remained of his crew. Pink couldn't help subtly shifting her hand beneath the table, grasping for HalfnHalf's hand. He found her and held it, so she gave a reassuring squeeze in response. "No one is getting voted off tonight without solid proof. You're all dismissed. Stay in groups of three."
Everyone stood and Orange slowly migrated over to Pink and HalfnHalf, wanting to avoid Green as much as possible. Who didn't have much of a choice in partners, now stuck under the watchful glare of the Captain and SIC.
Pink still had questions, but she knew they would have to wait as her partner in crime followed her down to the bunks with Orange in tow, everyone ready for some sleep.