Xander hid in the shadows and was making sure to stay very still when the power suddenly power was restored.
A smooth female voice informed everyone on the level that: A moment later, lights began flickering back on. Exposing Xander to normal light. In that moment, the sound he had been hearing from below seemed to have stopped.
Xander closed his eyes tight as the lights blinked on, stopping himself from being blinded, before opening them slowly, a little at a time, continuing to stare at the hole in the floor. He reached down to his waist and turned on the radio, before hitting the broadcast button. "I'm going to find whoever just turned on the lights and I am going to burn their f~+$ing eyes out with this cutting torch, if I don't get killed by the thing I was trying to hide from!" He growled and turned the radio down till it was just barely audible, before tensing and readying himself for the bad things to come.
In Marco's room the same female voice sounded.
He was then plunged back into the dim red light.
Xander heard the cluttering echoing from below him and even though he was extremely angry at whoever had turned on the lights, some part of him immediately regretted his decision to speak out loud at that moment.
Clara searched around and in the second locker she found a flashlight. She breathed a sigh of relief, she continued searching the lockers, but with the assurance she wouldn't miss anything important. She started putting anything that could be useful in the gym bags. Even all the smelly socks "you never know..." As soon as she was done she pulled the combat knife back out. Clenched it in one hand and the light in the other.
well.. With the power out, I can't really open any doors...might as well continue looking around
Xander swore softly and moved towards the gate he had come in, stopping and facing the hole, hefting the crowbar in his hand.
Now that he could really see in the room he was in, he noted several other tools float off in the far corners of the room:
Jumper cables, an arc welder, several minor tools here and there, a fire extinguisher, and a large canister with a warning label that is marked as liquid nitrogen.
Xander takes a quick look around and grins, before turning back to the hole. 'Oh baby! Not a bad room to make a stand in!'
As Marco started to float again he barely noticed he was more invested in getting this person over the communicators attention.
This B&#$+.... Is really going to kill me...
I wish I could remember... why the hell I was on this ship...
As Nexus' life slowly flashed past his eyes he hummed to the tune of "If I Had a Heart"
Looks at the screen, tyres yes.
Hope your friendly Marco thinks to himself as the screen begins to show someone.
The computer screen went black for a couple of seconds and then a live feed popped up. Marco and Calista stared at each other. For just a moment each was stunned to see another person. Each side showed the same red glow of emergency power in the background, but Marco also takes note of a strange pale light coming from Calista which makes her features far more discernible.
She is obviously intelligent, you've seen it enough to note before this. That look, that calm... calculating look. She seems only mildly observant but her eyes, they are focused on you. As if watching for something... Or maybe it was your imagination..?
It wasn't hard for Nexus to feint stopping his struggling. He had tried to take deep breath as he fell back into the water but the breath was knocked out of him as he was slammed down.
He didn't have long, so he just let himself go still, waiting for the right moment.
The woman continued to try choking him under the water.
Things were starting to go dark for him, but he held on.
"This is Doctor De-Rommana in the medical center on the lower deck, please identify your self and your station?"
She says the carmily while studying him.
"He looks military could it be we where captured?"
The shuffling sound got louder until Xander could see... something start to make its way into the room. He swung and slammed it hard with the crowbar. It recoiled for a moment and then in a sudden explosive motion, it grabbed onto the edge of the pit and threw itself to the top of the room.
The creature was something out of a nightmare. It was probably upwards of 7 feet tall. Strange pincer like arms and thick blackened and bulbous skin show as the creatures malformed head silently snarled at Xander, showing a large row of thick pointy teeth as it floated by.
Xander frowns up at the creature above him keeping his calm, but only barely. He thinks better of putting his torch back in to his pocket though and keeps it in his offhand, before kicking off hard, rocketing towards the back corner and the nitro tank, keeping as much things between him as he can, to prevent the creature targeting him.
Xander's hit smacked the thing, sending it into a spin but not a violent one as it hit the ceiling and managed to get its footing under it. It looked around the room and stared at him before deciding to launch itself at him.
The creature launched itself at him and swiped at him, fortunately he was ready for it.
Xander struck at it again with a thick meaty thunk but it wasn't enough to force the creature back. Then it was on him.
The creatures claw grabbed a hold of his swinging arm and began to crush it. Pain shot through Xander, as it then raised it's other pincer, eagerly opening and closing its claw.
Xander bit back a scream as the pincers crushed his arm. He floated back a little, dodging the blow the creature sent at him as he did, creature as he tried to retreat.
He dropped the torch crowbar and let it float beside him as he grabbed the tank, and aimed it towards the creatures face.
Marco stared at the women who identified herself as De-Rommana of the medical branch. He was slightly happy to see another human face but he kept a stoic expression, then said "My name is Marco Everstone. I am of engineering. Do you have any idea what has happened to the rest of the crew? Have you been in contact with anyone else?"
She smiled in relief,
"No Marco, I was just dumped out of deep cryo to find the medical station empty of staff. For the life of me I can't remember anything before that other than my training. Its all very odd, there is some strange massages her from the duty doctor. I have a feeling something has gone very wrong with the ships systems, do you know what?"
Marco frowned as he responded "No. Though I have been able to repair a few things and rotate power through the ship but other than that..." He then sent The doctor the ship diagnostics.
"As you can see things look pretty bad."
It seems... that didn't work... one last try...
I f&&+ing... Hate this b#+~$...
Nexus groaned under the water as he smiled too himself
Unfortunately... crazy isn't stupid in this case... F@@~. Looks like I'm pawn after all...
Another second, then two. The pressure lifted.
Clara searched around in the dark with her new light acquisition. There was a lot of cluttered gym equipment floating around the room, but for the most part the entire workout area seemed to be clear of any immediately useful items. Although she figured she could take one of the dumbbell bars and use it as some sort of staff. But the 12-inch thick bladed knife she had found might well suffice for any fighting she had to do.
The sitting area with the disc player unfortunately had lost all functionality without power. The water cooler was still half full but now was floating around the room. A stack of clear water cups floated nearby. The bar was suddenly going to be a bigger mess however. Over 2-dozen single shot glasses, pint glasses, and about 4 dozen types of liquor bottles floated up in the air. Slowly clinking into one another and separating around the room. Water and soda hoses hung loosely in the air around the bar. About 5 rags floated among the liquor, and several puddles of water floated around as well.
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Xan slams his palm on to the valve release and twists it just right, spraying the creature in the face with the coolant.
"CHILL OUT DUDE!"
Clara pushed herself over to the bathrooms. She opened the door to the ladies and aimed her flashlight inside.
Nexus stabbed again. He stabbed with all he had. His lungs burned, the blood seeped into his eyes.
He connected and felt the warm blood trailing down his arm into the water. The struggling had ceased completely. It was over. He had nothing left, the fight had taken all of his strength. Had he been in any normal situation he would have fallen to his back exhausted. He longed to inhale air, but now there was nothing but blood and water. The world began to black out.
Xander aimed and released the valve right into the creatures ugly face. It recoiled immediately from the intense spray of cold.
The creature managed to throw its claw in the way of its face to reduce the majority of the blast before it knocked the canister up and away from itself.
The thing clearly had some level of intelligence as it stared at Xander with its large blackened eyes. It attempted to wrench the canister away with one claw and struck at him with another.
As Marco and Calista continued to speak, something seemed off to Marco. It took him a little while to figure it out, but after he had finished sending her the ships diagnostics, it eventually became clear what was wrong. Calista's smile...
It had been genuine enough... at least.. at first. Why wouldn't it? Apparently he had been the first person she'd spoken with since she'd woken up in this crazy ship. But her smile didn't stop. She continued to speak with an almost natural tone. Why wouldn't she stop smiling, or staring at him with that hungry predator look.
Marco pretended nothing seemed off as he then asked. "You must be relived to see another person alive?" Feigning a smile of his own now.
"Yes, yes I am, are there others, where are we, what is wrong, why is the power off on most of the ship?"
She stop realising she is just hitting him with questions.
"Sorry its just I have no idea what is going on, it took some time to get this computer working and now it has very little on it. Its also being controlled, there is so little data on it, something is off, like someone stripped it down, so a..."
She stops for a moment lost in thought, anther set of images, flash throw her mind.
A lab, she's on a table and an ECG is being taken, the ECG wires feel hot, she starts to scream.."
She takes a deep breath,
"I can't remember anything, its all mixed up, do you know whats going on?"
She looks at him this time her face thoughtful intent like she was trying to read his mind.
As the creature attacks Xander again, he screams out, sacrificing the torch in his hand in favour of the tank. He aims the stream of coolant directly in to the creatures face again.
'This thing is a stone cold killer! Haha... F~*& I am going to die.'
After Xander sprayed the thing full force, as best he could, he kicked away from the beast, hoping to put some distance between him and the (hopefully blinded) monster.
She shock her head, her training was coming back, and something was wrong something was very wrong, then it hit her, The ships net, and her comms implants, they where gone, she would be linked to the on ships bio monitoring system, all the crew should. She looked around the medical bay but there was no system there, just basic medical bay.
WTF!
Nothing, all gone where was it,
She looked back at the screen,
"Something is very off here, this computer is wrong, its to simple, like someone made a copy of the idea of a computer. Look where you are, are there any crew comm's wrist bands or data pads?"
Nexus put the pocket knife in his pocket as he rose, feeling feeble and leaning up against one of the nearby shower walls. His breath was scattered, panting, his eyes saw stars and dotted as he tried to remember who he was. What he was.
Adrenaline shook his hands as he continued to gasp for breath. He pounded the shower wall opposite him with his hands weakly- it was as if the breath had been knocked clean from him.
I'm... A Knight?
Nexus began to laugh as he settled. Then he laughed a little more, and then he burst out laughing as he looked again and again at the dead woman before him.
Nexus crawled through the water back over to her, most likely in a similar fashion to how they had crawled over themselves.
But you aren't going to get me the way I got you. I'm going to make SURE you are dead.
Oh how tempting it was for him to repeatedly stab the girl over and over again with the smile he had on his face now.
You must remain calm, you have to assess... you have to assess the situation.
His mind was still fogged, clogged up. Adrenaline and thousands of other brain released chemicals that he'd never felt before flexed his entire body as he took the pocket knife back out, turning the dead girl over in the water so that he could put a knife in the back of her skull.
It was then that Nexus remembered he had not talked to the others on their mikes in, for what seemed like, ages. He tsk'd as he grabbed the mike quickly in his off hand.
His breathing was still scattered
Hey... You bastards... I'm alive... The breathing into the mike could not be helped. He was tired- they would just have to deal with it.
Marco, Xander... A warning... Do not trust ANY humanoids you meet, via travels or otherwise. Something... something is, aah, sorry.
Catching his breath Nexus continued
Something is seriously f%!~ing wrong with them. Screw innocents, unless it is one of us, and that can be CONFIRMED with a mike, attack or subdue on sight. Or run- but based on what just happened- running isn't an option. Give me a copy when you read me. Nexus out.
I... Still need to make sure she is dead.
Nexus took out the pocket knife for a third time, preparing to slowly plunge it into the base of the supposedly dead girl's skull until he could no longer see the blade.
As Nexus turned to make sure his attacker stayed dead, she wasn't anywhere to be seen...
The girl was gone...
Clara entered the women's room. It was dank and had a strange humid feel to the air. Several mirrors were covered in bloody hand prints which reflected blood red light back at her, making the room far more unnervingly lit than it otherwise would have been. The smell of copper hung about the air and several red bubbles of water floated about the room. About 30 feet ahead of her, written on the back wall of the room in some unidentified black liquid were the words:
A moment later, she heard the hissing static of what sounded like a radio. "Something is seriously f+@*ing wrong with them. Screw innocents, ***, and that can be CONFIRMED with a ***, attack or subdue on sight. Or *** just happened- running isn't ***. Give me a copy when you read **. Nexus out."
As Clara shone her flashlight around the room, nothing seemed at all pleasant. I don't even know why I expected anything less... she joked to herself trying to make light of all the blood and the mustiness. Everywhere else on the ship had been a bit cold. Then her flashlight hit the back wall. She didn't know what the Abyss was but she didn't really feel like finding out. She was about to leave the ladies room when she heard something coming from the back of the bathroom. It sounded like voice over a walkie talkie or radio. She really there were other people on the ship. This could be my chance to talk with people... She stood there for a few seconds debating to her self. you really cant do much else...yeah, except die...that may not happen...there is a creepy message written in who knows what...maybe its pudding...its not pudding! stop!..what else are you going to do, i mean really? Clara took a deep breath and attempted to float slowly over to where she heard the voices coming from. Flashlight up, knife ready, she took a deep breath and opened the stall door.