Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

THE QUARONYTE WAS CONSIDERED the “next biggest urbanized ship”, as described by the media. It included spacious rooms, high-tech workplaces, and only the finest global cuisine. And it was shockingly cheap too. Of course, you could pay more, but why would you when you could get all that for only 2,500 Faltines? Sure, Faltines were the new unionized global currency after the twenty-first century, but that was still cheaper than a monthly rent for an apartment in New York.

So obviously, Andrean chose the cheapest option and eagerly waited for ship testing to finish so he could live in what was supposed to be this intergalactic utopia.

What Andrean did not know he was choosing was the most bare bones living experience. When he stopped up to the boarding dock wearing the nicest clothes he had, surrounded by the spiffiest people he had ever seen, he was quickly ushered away and down into the very bottom of the ship, where an apartment the size of a broom closet greeted him. He was then told he would be cleaning and serving for the citizens around the ship — essentially, a butler — for the meager pay of 85 Faltines per day, and that was only if he did an exceptional job.

And he was just barely scraping by all over again.

All the fancy things he thought he would be getting for free were available, that 

is for exorbitant prices. And he never really got a chance to relax, since he and the other workers were constantly being called to different parts of the ship for the most futile tasks. Needless to say, 

Andrean hated it. He hated the dank quarters he had to live in, he hated the filthy clothes he was  given, and he hated the mushy disgusting slop he was served called food.

And he was only two months into his non-refundable dream getaway.

“Fuck this place, seriously,” Andrean groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose, smudging them with a bluish hue. The poorer people were accustomed to it, due to it coming from a strange alien mold contaminating some of their food stores.

“It’s not that bad,” Treylune argued.

Andrean scoffed and crossed his hands behind his head, closing his eyes. “Then you must have been living in some pile of shit.” He leaned back in the cheap blue office chair, keeping himself balanced by his foot planted on the coffee table.

“We’re actually pretty lucky,” Treylune commented.

Andrean opened his eyes and stared her down. Treylune was an older, broad shouldered, coffee colored woman, somewhere in her forties, Andrean guessed. Her brown eyes were kind and caring but she had deep wrinkles on her face, clear signs of her stress. She had a green thumb and grew some vegetables she had brought onto the ship from Earth, which was a relief from the monotonous meals of sludge. 

Like many of the other workers on the ship, she had the blueish mold dust covering her clothes. Today, she was wearing a simple white apron over a form fitting tan worker’s outfit.

“What do you mean we’re lucky?” Andrean said. “We literally live in some kind of cobwebby storage room — how are there even cobwebs, we’re in space!”

“Earth is having it a lot worse than us. Most people can barely afford bread,” Treylune argued.

Andrean snorted. “And our bread is covered in this stupid mold.”

Treylune remained silent after this, sipping her mug of coffee. It read World’s Best Mom! on the side, although Andrean had never seen her kids.

Andrean sighed. “Okay, sorry. I guess I should look at the bright side, huh?” he said. “Even though we’re floating in the black void…”

Treylune shuffled around and rose from her chair. “Done talking to you today…”

Andrean furrowed his brow. “No, wait, don’t go. You’re the only one that actually talks to me.”

“And I wonder why,” she muttered, and left the break room. 

Andrean moved his chair back to rest on four legs and sat silently for a while, 

staring at the metal floor. Then he got up and rummaged through the cupboards, even though he’d done it countless amounts of times and they were always bare. 

He stepped back and surveyed the room, easy since it was only a bit bigger than his tiny apartment.  It was filthy with the mold and it disgusted him. But it was pesky and took weeks to get even the smallest spots cleaned, and no one on the ship wanted to deal with it.

He walked out of the break room into the ship halls. The workers' living quarters were on  the third lowest floor, the very lowest one the store room. These halls were dimly lit with fluorescent lights, and clangs occasionally echoed throughout. He continued down the halls to his room.

The rooms on the ship, at least for the workers, were separated in sectors. They started at Sector A and went all the way down to Sector T, trying to cram in as many people as possible. Andrean was in Sector G, apartment 14.

Andrean turned right and started walking down the hall. Every ten rooms there was another hall you could turn down, to get to your room. The whole thing was a big grid. Eventually he reached his room and stepped inside.

It was tiny, but no matter how many times Andrean said he hated it, it was the only thing he owned on the ship that he kept in good condition. Although, that was pretty easy, since he didn’t have many belongings to fill the place.

It was a six foot square, with the bed and a night stand in the left corner and a closet in the right. It was painted in a dull, sad gray, and the carpeted floor was just a darker shade of sad gray. The bedsheets were — guess what? — also gray, and he made sure it was made every morning.

Andrean plopped down onto the solid bed. He could feel the individual springs in the mattress. He tossed and turned over and over, but he didn’t have a reason to. Morning hours were almost up, and he’d get sent off to work for the rest of the day…

Bzzzrcht!

Andrean sat up and looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It showed the time was 10 P.M. How long had he been lying in bed?

He pushed himself off his bed and bolted out of his room. The halls were full of workers already, moving to the station.

Shit, now I’ve got to get past all these people, Andrean thought.

The reason he wanted to get to the worker’s station early was because the first workers there usually got assigned the longest jobs, ones that would probably take the whole day, or multiple days. Andrean liked to get the long jobs, because he’d rather be 

in one place doing one repetitive chore rather than going all around the ship doing random things.

He weaved through the crowd, pushing past people, earning him some curses. 

Not like he didn’t have a bad reputation already, though.

When he reached the large circular room that was the worker’s station, there was a line of about thirty other workers before him. It reminded him of an airport security check back on Earth. He just hoped he’d get a big task to deal with today.

The line went by quickly, then slowed up a bit as it got closer to him. When he finally reached the guard’s booth, he dished out his punch card from his uniform. 

The female guard, ‘Peggy’ as her name tag said, took the card without a word, and stamped it with the symbol of the United Workers Union. She glanced over at the clock and  scribbled down something. Peggy handed it back to Andrean and waved over the next worker.

Andrean stepped out of the line and looked down at his card. It displayed the time, for proof when he’d started working, and the job he’d have to do today. Today, in Peggy’s messy sprawl, it said Store room . Andrean had only done jobs in the storeroom a few times, and they were usually pretty long. That was a good sign.

He walked past the guard booths to the elevators behind them. A bunch of other workers flowed in after him, and he pressed the button for B3 — the storeroom. People leaned over and pressed buttons for other floors too, and then the doors slid closed.

Andrean got to his floor first since the basement was just under the worker’s floor. When the doors opened, he stepped out and to the side. Three other workers came out after him, and then the elevator took off again.

The entire basement floor was an enormous storeroom for food, clothes and other goods. It was separated into tall, long aisles by shelving and scaffolding. The left side extended all the way to the middle and was for food, and Andrean could feel the cooler chill in the air. 

The elevator Andrean and the other workers had come out of was one of three. Two more elevators came after a small while, one of them bringing just a single worker and the other one bringing two.

There were only six of them. Even if this was a small job, it would be a monumental task in this large of a space.

A guard came out of his booth built into the right of the wall with the elevators. 

He was an overweight, older man, and he limped on his left leg. His gray beard was long and bushy, and he wore a guard hat on his head. According to the name tag on his uniform, he was Garred.

He stopped in front of them and took a long, deep breath, surveying them. He put his hands behind him at his lumbar and leaned back. It cracked audibly, echoing through the basement.

“Listen up, people,” Garred said. “Yesterday some of the food boxes were torn up, and you guys are going to figure out what's wrong. Capisce?”

The group of workers looked between each other. Garred nodded. “Good, good. Clean up the mess from yesterday while you’re at it.”

He pointed down to the far left end of the store room, and before anyone could ask him which aisle, he was already hobbling back into his booth.

One muscular man with long brown hair flowing behind his back started walking towards where Geraerd had directed them, and the rest trailed behind him.

As they were moving, the man in front must have realized how far away they were supposed to go, and he looked over his shoulder to the crew. He didn’t stop, though.

“Name is Mani Fletz,” he said. “And you all are?”

No one spoke up. Mani did look pretty intimidating. He sighed and stopped abruptly,  turning to face them. He nodded to a woman next to Andrean. “You. Name,” he commanded.

She was slim and had blonde hair neatly tied into a taught ponytail. She wore black square-frame glasses and pretty gold ring earrings on, matching with her gold chain necklace.

“Lora,” she stuttered out. Mani seemed content and then nodded to Andrean.

“And you?” he asked.

Andrean glanced around at the group with all eyes on him, and he suddenly became conscious of how messy his red hair was. He brushed a hand through it quickly and cleared his throat. 

“Andrean,” he said. His voice was gravelly and he cleared his throat again. Mani hummed, then looked to the man to Andrean’s right.

Everyone went through their introductions then. The burly pale dwarf man next to Andrean was named Jadd. The middle-aged, olive-skinned lady with voluptuous black hair was called Edith. A tall black man was standing close to an equally tall black woman, and the man introduced himself to the others as Kyte, then introduced the woman as Bennie.

Mani seemed pleased that the introductions were out of the way, then pointed at the two African-Americans and pointed down to the farthest wall.

“Take the leftmost aisle, work your way back down to the middle,” Mani said. 

“You find anything, call out.”

Kyte nodded and pulled Bennie by her hand after him. Mani then ordered Andrean and Jadd to take the rightmost aisle, working to the middle. He headed off to 

the middle aisle with Lora.

Andrean and Jadd started trudging across the store room. Andrean found it strange that Mani sent to the right, if the mess had been caused on the left. Then he realized it was probably because he thought they were useless; Andrean was the skinniest of the group, and Jadd was a dwarf.

“Have you got any family on the ship, bud?” Jadd asked.

Andrean glanced downwards. Jadd was a few steps in front of him. They were nearly at the far right wall now.

“No,” Andrean said. “Just me. My family is still on Earth.”

Jadd nodded his head in acknowledgment. “Oh yeah. Pollution is getting worse there, I heard from my wife,” he said. “Ship construction is through the roof. They’re looking for workers all over.”

Andrean hummed and saw Jadd had stopped, and so did he. Jadd was looking down the dark aisle, squinting. Andrean looked up at the shelving, seeing the aisle was number 12.

“I can’t see shit. I forgot my Holo-Cell,” he said. “Have you got yours, kid?”

Andrean shook his head. Jadd sighed. “Keep close to me then, huh? Hold my hand if you  need to.” He chuckled. Andrean laughed awkwardly.

Andrean followed Jadd as he started walking down the aisle. He could hear Jadd’s footsteps on the metal. He kept a slower pace so he wouldn’t end up bumping into Jadd.

Eventually they reached the end of the aisle, dim light illuminating them once more from the high ceiling lights.

“This fucking ship. Why don’t the aisle lights ever work?” Jadd complained.

Andrean stayed silent. Jadd kept talking about God-knows-what as he wandered over to the next aisle.

“Only six more aisles to go, then,” Jadd said. “Let’s get to it.”

Scrreeeeech!

Andrean stepped back and looked down the long stretch of metal hall that separated the aisles. The dim lights barely illuminated the other side as well. He squinted and stepped down the hall.

“Probably just that Mani guy making noise,” Jadd suggested. “I didn’t like him, anyway.”

Andrean looked over to Jadd and shook his head. “Why would he do that? He’s not trying to scare us.”

Jadd shrugged. “Maybe he is.”

Tunk tunk tunk tunk.

Andrean looked back down the hall again. He could see a figure running towards him.

“Hey, someone’s coming,” he commented.

That caught Jadd's attention, and he came over to Andrean’s side. “What do you think they’re doing? Do they see something?”

Andrean shook his head. “I don’t know. Do you see something?”

“No.”

They stayed where they were watching the figure come closer and closer. The figure passed what looked like around the middle aisle, and Andrean saw two other figures step out from there.

“Mani and Lora, probably. Came out of that aisle right there,” Jadd said.

“Then that guy running is probably Kyte, right? At least I think that’s him,” Andrean said. “They’re not close enough to tell yet.”

A few moments later, they could tell it sure enough was Kyte. He was still running down towards them. Mani and Lora stepped from the middle aisle into the metal hall and watched Kyte. They seemed just as confused as Andrean and Jadd.

Andrean could see Kyte was visibly slowing down. But he wasn’t stopping.

Soon he was close enough that they could see his face; it was drenched in sweat and panting loudly. He passed them and bent down, resting his hands on his knees.

“Bennie… it got Bennie,” Kyte wheezed.

“What got Bennie?” Jadd asked. Kyte pointed down the hall.

Nothing was there.

“Kyte, you’re seeing things or something,” Jadd said.

Kyte sucked in a breath and stood up straight. He shook his head furiously. “No! No! It took her… her head!”

Jadd knit his brow and put a hand on Kyte’s arm. “Buddy, look at me—”

“HOLY SHIT!”

All three of their heads snapped to the sound. It had sounded like Mani. In the hall, he and Lora were running back into the middle aisle.

A giant black thing was skittering towards Andrean, Kyte and Jadd at an inhuman speed. It looked like a combination of a beetle and an ant. Andrean looked back at Kyte, but he was gone. So was Jadd. Andrean could hear them running in the dark aisle, so he started after them. He couldn’t see anything, only hear Jadd and Kyte’s footsteps, but it was starting to fade. 

The creature was sounding closer and closer.

He burst out of the tunnel and into the entrance hall. Mani and Lora were at Garred’s guard booth, both waving their hands frantically. Jadd and Kyte were sprinting over to them. Andrean ran over as well, as the monster scrambled out in the open area.

It was huge, about the size of an elephant. Its exoskeleton was sleek and black, and it had huge eyes like a mosquito’s. Long, piercing pincers came from its fanged mouth. It spotted the group at the guard booth and started slowly stalking over, its eight spiky legs clunking against the floor.

“Holy hell,” Andrean heard Garred say. He came out of his booth with a SMT-45. It was the standard military rifle, Andrean recognized it from soldiers on Earth. It condensed and heated up cartridges to shoot out as lasers.

The creature roared. It was only a few feet away from Andrean, and he was in the middle of the hall. No cover, and he definitely couldn’t outrun the thing. The bug-monster leaped forward and seized Andrean between its pincers. He screamed out, and he choked on his voice as he was slammed down into the floor.

He felt dizzy. The creature was right over him, the mosquito eyes reflecting his terrified face back at him. The alien pushed against his ribs harder. Andrean yelped. The pincers felt deep in his skin, and his head felt heavier…

Kshoom. Kshoom.

Andrean looked over and saw Garred, pointing his rifle at the monster. It roared and lifted off of Andrean, and started scurrying off to the left of the store room.

Garred readied his gun again and charged it up. He looked down the nose and aimed.

Kshoom.

The alien shrieked, keeling over and writhing on the floor.

“Fucking beast. I think I got it right in the heart,” Garred said. “Should die out in a minute.”

“Kid! Kid! Look at me! Shit, have you got a medkit in your booth?” Jadd shouted.

Andrean looked to his side. Jadd was crouched over him, his hands pressed down on Andrean’s ribs. Andrean tried to sit up to look at his wounds. He winced and sat back down.

“Don’t force it, kid. Garred’s getting a medkit, gonna patch you up,” Jadd said.

Andrean nodded weakly. He was starting to truly feel his injury now. A dull, squeezing feeling gradually getting more painful.

“You can close your eyes. We’re going to get you to Med-Bay,” Mani said as he crouched at Andrean’s side.

Andrean didn’t put up a fight. His eyelids fluttered closed and he was plunged into darkness. He was being shuffled around, but he didn’t open his eyes again. He just wanted to sleep.

“Is he okay?” Andrean heard Kyte ask.

“He’ll be fine. Out of the way, unless you're going to help carry him,” Garred muttered. Andrean felt another pair of hands under his back. 

He had no idea how much time had passed, but soon he heard a rhythmic beeping, and the air got stuffy and sterile. Andrean felt himself get laid down on something soft, and he fell asleep almost instantly.

Chapter Text

“UP AND AT ‘EM, SIR,” a deep, gruff voice said. “We’ve got more important patients to take care of, and you’re taking up a bed.”

Andrean opened his eyes and he was blinded by white light. He squinted until his eyes adjusted, and he saw a blurry image of a tall person in blue standing over him.
“Come on, now. You’re not even that hurt,” the mysterious person said. “It’s only a broken rib.”

Andrean groaned and sat up. He could remember the painful feeling he felt… how long ago was it? But the injury already felt like it was disappearing.

“What happened?” Andrean asked. His eyes were focusing better, and he could tell the blue person was a nurse, wearing full medical gear and a mask.

The nurse shrugged. “You know better than me. Your friends brought you in pretty freaked out,” they said. “I couldn’t get anything out of them.”

“They were freaking out?” Andrean questioned.

Andrean could see their mask buckle as they inhaled. “Everyone except for the guard. But I guess that’s his job.”

A series of quick beeps came from outside of the curtain. The nurse sighed and tilted their head at him. “I’ve got to check that out. You’ll be alright, yeah?”

They ducked under the curtain and left him alone without waiting for an answer.

Andrean stayed in his bed while he heard the beeping slow down. He looked around his room, but there wasn’t much to see. There was only a nightstand with a clock next to the bed.

12:14 P.M.

He was missing lunch today.

The nurse came back in from behind the curtain and paused as they spotted Andrean.

“Oh. You’re still here,” they said.

Andrean sat up. “Was I allowed to leave?”

“Yes, but there’s no point now,” the nurse said. “Are you vegan?”

Andrean furrowed his brow. “Why?”

The nurse pulled down their mask. It was a man with a short beard, and a mole on his right cheek. He took a long, deep breath and pursed his lips. 

“You want lunch, right? So, are you vegan?” he asked Andrean.

Andrean shook his head. “No… I mean, yes. I want lunch, but I’m not vegan.”

The nurse disappeared again and returned at 12:23. He sat down on the edge of Andrean’s bed and handed him a small tray wrapped in silver foil. One of the cheap packed lunches from the vending machines in the cafeteria.

Still better than sludge, though.

Andrean began to dig in as the nurse ate slowly. They both had sandwiches, but Andrean’s bread was whole-wheat and the nurse’s was white.

The nurse finished half of his sandwich and put the food back down on the tray. He turned to face Andrean. “So what was it like? When you got attacked by the alien?”

Andrean looked up and wiped crumbs from his mouth. “How’d you know that?” he asked with his mouth full.

The nurse smiled. “That was the one thing I could get out of your friends. That’s all they kept saying.”

Andrean hummed and went back to his sandwich. He shrugged. The nurse frowned.

“Really? You’re not going to give me anything?” he complained.

“Uh… it was scary,” Andrean mumbled.

The nurse snorted. “Well, they’re saying it’s a new species, or at least a new subspecies.”

“Oh, cool.”

“Yup.”

They once again ate in silence for a while, before the nurse spoke up. Again. Andrean just wanted to eat.

“My name is Kurt,” he said. “Probably should have said that first.”

“Andrean. But you probably knew that from my medical records or something.”

Kurt smiled and took another bite of his sandwich. He glanced at Andrean and sighed. “Hey, you can leave. You’re in good condition, it just might feel a little bruised.”

“Oh. Okay. I’ll get out of your hair, then.”

“You’re not in my hair. But we might get another patient that’ll need that bed.”

Andrean nodded and quickly finished his sandwich. “Yeah. Thanks, then.”

“No problem.”

He got out from under the bedsheets and walked around the bed, past Kurt and under the curtain. He entered into a little rectangular room, with a few other rooms separated by blue curtains. Everything that was not bolted to the ground was blue and medical.

Kurt came out from under the curtain behind Andrean holding a pile of neatly folded fabric.

“You’ll probably need your clothes, huh?” he said. “Unless you want to go around in a hospital gown.”

Andrean sniffed and took his worker’s outfit from Kurt. He went back into his hospital room and got into his normal clothes. When he exited again, Kurt was still standing right outside.

Andrean smiled politely and stepped past him. “Thanks again.”

Kurt smirked. “It’s mostly technology, I just control it. But you’re welcome.”

And Andrean left through the sliding Med-Bay doors, and into the halls.

Med-Bay was on the floor above the workers' apartments. It also had the main pedestrian boarding dock, where he had first gotten onto the ship. The floor extended all the way to the front of the ship, where it abridged three floors up to make another boarding dock, but for other spacecraft.

Andrean started right down the hall to the closest elevators. When he got there, other workers were waiting outside the elevators to presumably move to other floors for other jobs.

“Andrean! Hey!” someone called.

Andrean looked to the voice and saw a person pushing out from the group in front of the elevators — Kyte. He ran up to Andrean and put out his arms for a hug. 

Andrean didn’t.

Kyte put his arms back down and rubbed his hands together awkwardly.

“You healed pretty fast. How are you feeling?” he asked.

Andrean huffed. “Feels like a bruise.”

“That’s good! Better than before, for sure.”

“Uh-huh.”

Andrean looked away from Kyte and to the group at the elevators. It was slowly getting smaller and soon he would be able to get away from Kyte.

But Kyte wasn’t taking any hints, either.

“Well, do you want company or something?” he questioned. “I don’t have anything else to do. I finished my work early today.”

Andrean groaned. If Kyte wasn’t going to understand passive-aggressiveness, there was no more need to skirt around anymore.

“Then go get more work,” Andrean hissed.

Kyte inhaled deeply. He shook his head and jabbed a finger at Andrean. He was already a bit taller than Andrean, but he was more intimidating when he looked angry. Unlike the pathetic scared man he had seen running in the storeroom.

“Alright, fuck you,” he started. “I’m just trying to help you feel better. Yeah, you got attacked by an alien, and I’m sorry for that. Tough luck. But I saw someone die from that same fucking monster .”

He took another deep breath, puffing out his chest.“You’re going to heal right up, but I’m not. Bennie still died.”

Andrean furrowed his brow. Okay, ow, he thought, but Kyte was right. No one liked a self-righteous asshole

He sighed. “Sorry. I’m just stressed, I guess? I don’t know.”

Kyte folded his arms over his chest. “I get it. It’s fine.”

Andrean glanced over Kyte’s shoulder. Enough people had gotten into the elevators that he could now, too. He looked back at Kyte. He was looking at the elevators too, definitely knowing that Andrean was about to leave in them.

“Here, just come with me,” Andrean said. “Do you know somewhere to go?”

“Nope.”

“Then I guess we’re going on a walk.”

Andrean pivoted and started down the hall away from the elevators. He gestured for Kyte to follow him and Kyte hurried to walk beside him.

“You know, you change pretty fast. You’re learning,” Kyte said.

Andrean raised an eyebrow at him. “What?”

“You were being an asshole. Now you’re not.”

They walked in silence for a bit until they stopped at a banged-up red vending machine. Despite the high prices on the snacks inside, there wasn’t much left. According to Kyte, it was because of “Setty kissing ass and getting bonuses”.

Andrean scanned the choices and spotted some bags of peanuts. Only two left. He looked at Kyte expectantly, and he just shrugged.

Andrean jabbed the snack number into the machine and dug into his pockets for some Faltines. He pulled out a little purse and unzipped it. 

25 Faltines in change. He was cutting it close.

He deposited the money into the vending machine slot and waited for the snacks to come out. The first bag fell out just fine, but the second got stuck in the rings. He grunted and kicked the machine. It tumbled down with the first bag.

Andrean knelt down and grabbed the bag, then handed one to Kyte. He accepted it gratefully and strode over to a windowsill. Andrean went over with him.

“You didn’t have to buy these for me, you know,” Kyte said as he sat down.

Andrean shook his head. “No, I sort of deserve to go broke.”

Kyte chuckled and tore into his bag. Two peanuts fell out and clanged onto the floor. He cursed under his breath and started eating.

“You know, you kind of lied,” Kyte muttered. “You said we were going on a walk.”

Andrean smiled and opened his bag. “We did. Just down the hall to a vending machine.”

Kyte chuckled and shifted around to face the window. It was inky black out there, except for a scattered bright white star flickering far away.

“Does it feel weird?” he asked. “We’re just… out here like this?”

Andrean furrowed his brow. “No. It’s just like living on Earth.”

“But doesn’t it feel sort of magical, I guess? People back then, even our parents couldn’t even conceive of this.”

“It’s not magical, it’s scary. I got attacked by an alien.”

“Other than that, I mean.”

Andrean rolled his eyes. “There isn’t anything out here other than that.”

Crunch.

Kyte was leaned back against the window frame with his head tipped back, dropping peanuts into it. He cleared his throat loudly.

“But isn’t that magical as well? On Earth, you can’t get away. Out here…” he paused, looking back out the window. “Out here, you could start floating and never come back.”

Andrean looked down at the floor. There was a loose screw right in front of where he was sitting, and he was digging his shoe tip under it, pulling it out even more.

“Sorry, I’m being moody," Kyte said. “I should just eat my peanuts and shut up.”

Andrean snorted and continued eating. The stars outside dimmed as the ship moved further away, new bright stars coming into view.

“You weren’t the only one that encountered aliens,” Kyte commented. “I asked around the ship. Other workers found some, too.”

Andrean tilted his head in confusion. “Other people were attacked?” he asked with his mouth full.

“No. The other aliens were small and harmless. But they’re being tested on.”

“What are they going to do about it? The UWU?”

Kyte scoffed. “Probably nothing, like always. Expect us to deal with it.”

“Yeah. Most likely.”

“Did you want to talk about something, then? Or just ask me to do this so I’d forgive you?”

Andrean shrugged one shoulder. “I guess I just felt bad.”

Kyte shifted around on the window sill to sit more comfortably, facing Andrean with a grin on his face. “Okay then. Icebreakers.”

Andrean groaned internally. Maybe he should have left Kyte at the elevators.

Kyte didn’t wait. He looked out the window, still smiling as he asked his question. Or rather, questions .

“How was your life back on Earth? If you feel comfortable telling me, that is. I’m not forcing you. Did you have a big family? Or, wait… I shouldn’t ask that, either. For all I know you’re an orphan. Are you an orphan? Shit, I’m so nosy, I should just…”

He sighed, still smiling. He looked up and tilted his head at Andrean expectantly. 

“How about you go first,” Kyte said.

Andrean huffed, finishing the last of his peanuts. “Alright. Do we need to pick a topic or something, or…?”

Kyte chuckled. “No, just ask something you want to know about me.”

“Uh… okay. What was Bennie like?”

Kyte’s smile faltered and he looked away. “Oh, okay.”

“That wasn’t a good question, was it?”

“No, it makes sense. You never even got to talk to her.”

Kyte stood up and walked over to the metal trash bin next to the vending machine, tossing his empty bag of peanuts into it. He sat back down on the window sill, looking solemn.

“She was nice, yeah. And quiet, as you know,” he started. Andrean looked at him quizzically and he continued.

“We got married in 2101,” Kyte added. “Been my wife for two years now.”

“That’s nice. I’m really sorry.”

“No, it’s… it’s fine.”

Andrean narrowed his eyes at him. “No, it's not. Your wife died.”

“Kind of, I guess.”

“What do you mean, ‘kind of’?”

Kyte sighed and got up again, going back over to the garbage can, but he didn’t have anything else to throw out.

“It was something called a lavender marriage. Do you know what that is?” he asked.

“…No. Should I?”

“Yeah, I didn’t think so. It’s a thing people do to hide their homosexuality. They get into a straight marriage.”

“Oh. Why? People aren’t homophobic anymore.”

“Our families are really traditional. And homophobia is part of the charm.”

Andrean hesitated before he spoke again. “Sorry again.”

Kyte pinched the bridge of his nose. “I feel bad. I don’t feel like I’m sad enough,” he  muttered. “I mean, I saw Bennie die, right in front of me, but I’m not even crying.”

Andrean could understand that, at the very least. “You can’t be worrying about it. You can’t do anything to change what happened.”

Kyte laughed half-heartedly and pulled his knees up to his chest. He rested his hands on his knees and smiled. 

“You know, I really thought you were an asshole,” he said, “but you’re not that bad.”

Andrean smiled, too. Maybe Kyte wasn’t so bad, either. 

Beep beep beep!

They both looked up to the PA system hung in the top corner of the hall. A low, quiet static was playing, then a rustling and a thump.

Some took a deep breath over the system and spoke. “Andrean Gatsby, please come down to the Captain’s Quarters. Andrean Gatsby.”

Andrean and Kyte looked at each other wide-eyed. Kyte let out a nervous laugh. 

“Oh, you’re fucked.”

Chapter Text

ADREAN HURRIED DOWN the hall to the Captain’s Quarters. He had never been to the top floor before, but he knew where it was. He’d heard of a few people that had to go see the Captain before, and they never came back. 

At least that’s what people say.

He had to be fast, though. The Captain was punctual, and Adrean didn’t want to be kicked off the ship and lose his job.

Adrean paused in the middle of the empty hall, the heating units underneath him whirring. Why didn’t he want to lose his job? He could get off this stinking ship if he got fired. Earth wasn’t great either, but… anything is better than this.

But Adrean’s feet were already walking down the hall again.

The big black metal doors stuck out against the pale gray metal walls. The ceiling was curved upward to make the doors even bigger. Two guards were positioned at each side, wearing their titanium chest plates, shoulder pads and shin guards over their worker’s apparel. It was a little overkill, but they looked cool as hell. Adrean would be a guard if he could stand the weight of the armour and gun.

The guard to the right of the door stepped out towards Adrean and pointed his gun to him. “What do you think you’re doing? Do you have permission to see the Captain?” 

The other guard scoffed and tossed his head to the side. Adrean could almost hear the eye roll through the helmet. 

“Craig, please… do you think someone would come visit the Captain by choice?” he asked.

The first guard huffed and brought his gun to press on Adrean’s forehead. “I don’t know. A lot of weird stuff is happening on the ship, maybe he’s rioting.”

“Listen to yourself, Craig…”

Craig stood completely still, then pulled away and started laughing.

“Oh, come on Herren… at least say this guy’s face was good,” he said, facing the other guard.

Herren grumbled and took off his helmet, stuffing it under his arm in the crook of his elbow. “Yeah, sure. Funny,” he muttered.

Craig pulled off his helmet and layed it gently to the floor, frowning. He turned to Adrean. “Hey, I was just kidding, man. I know you’re all good. Go on in.”

Adrean pushed through the big black doors, keeping his distance from Craig. He heard Herren mutter as he passed, “I have to stop getting shifts with this guy…”

Inside the doors was an ever bigger space than outside. The ceiling continued to curve up, then formed a 90 degree and curved back down. Large bulkhead lights lined the wall, and dusty bookshelves separated the space between them. An old looking red carpet was placed in the middle of the room. On it was an oak wooden desk and two cushioned wood chairs, one to sit at the desk and the other facing it.

Sitting at the desk was a large, overweight man. He had scraggly stubble growing on his face and down his neck, and he wore a stained gray tank top. His large sausage-like fingers were wrapped around a dark glass bottle, tipping it up to his mouth and taking a long swig.

When he spotted Adrean, he quickly put down his drink and cleared his throat. He sat up and reached forward, his gut pressing against the desk. He turned the golden plaque at the front of the desk around. Capt. Jonah .

Even if he was the Captain, he didn’t look or seem the part.

“Are you Adrean?” he asked. His voice was low and guttural. He sat back down and leaned back in his chair, folding his hands together and resting them on his stomach.

“That’s me,” Adrean replied. “I hope I’m not late.”

“You’re not. Sit down.”

Adrean obliged and slid into the chair, looking up at the Captain. The Captain mumbled something under his breath and reached to pull out one of the desk drawers. When he brought his hand back up, he was holding a glazed donut.

“So… Adrean, was it?” he said, munching on his donut. 

“Yes. Why did you call me here?” Adrean asked nervously.

“I’ll get to that. How long have you been on the ship?”

Adrean hummed and looked down at the floor. “About two months, I think, maybe more.”

“So not that long, then,” Jonah commented. “How are you enjoying it so far?”

Adrean nodded, keeping his gaze locked on the floor. Why was the Captain interrogating him? He had the most clearance out of anyone on the ship, so he had access to Adrean’s records. Was he checking to see if he’d lie?

“It’s fine,” Adrean replied. “No problems here.”

The Captain chuckled. “If you say so. Look at me when I’m talking to you, hm?”

Jonah inhaled the half of his donut still left and swallowed audibly. He licked the glazing off his fingers. Adrean looked up and scrunched up his nose. The Captain wasn’t very professional.

“Well… you tell me this, Mr. Gatsby.” Jonah mumbled, his mouth full of food. “Were you attacked by an alien recently? As in, yesterday?”

Adrean snorted. He had to be kidding. But he could tell this guy didn’t want to be lied to.

“Yes. It broke my rib, and I have no idea what else,” he said.

“No. That’s wrong,” the Captain stated.

Adrean was stunned. “What? Then why was I in Med-Bay?”

The Captain smiled smugly. “You had an accident moving boxes in the storeroom yesterday. Simple mishap on your part.”

“What the hell? It was a giant alien bug that stabbed me!”

Jonah’s face darkened and he stood up abruptly. He leaned over his desk, jabbing a finger in Adrean’s face. “Listen here, kid. You are going to lie. To everyone . There was no alien. I will not lose my ship because one stupid kid from Earth fucked it up for me, okay?”

Okay, maybe the Captain did want him to lie.

Adrean slinked back in his seat and nodded. “Uhh… yes. Will do.”

Jonah stood up straight and crossed his arms across his chest, squishing his belly. He nodded to the door. “Good. Get out.”

Adrean got up and scurried out of the room without hesitation.

* * *

Adrean got into his room and slammed the door behind him. For a guy that probably just 

sat down eating donuts all day, the Captain was intimidating.

“What the hell happened?”

Adrean jumped at the noise. Kyte was sitting on his bed. How did he even get in his room?

“What are you doing here?” Adrean asked.

“I figured you’d just run back to your room and forget about me,” Kyte explained. “So I came to find you.”

“Oh. Okay, sorry.”

Kyte stood up and shrugged, sliding his hands into his pockets. He started pacing around the room, occasionally glancing at Adrean. “What happened?” he asked.

“Well, he threatened me. That’s pretty much it.”

“Really? How?”

Adrean hesitated. But he could tell Kyte. He wouldn’t tell anyone about what the Captain said. And after all, he was there when the alien attacked him.

“He told me to pretend the alien attack never happened,” Adrean said.

“What? How? People know it happened already.” Kyte stopped his pacing and stood up straight. “That’d make it more suspicious.”

Adrean nodded. “That’s what I’m saying. He’s trying to protect his job or something.”

Kyte hummed and crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at the floor with unfocused eyes. He blinked, his pupils contracting as he looked back at Adrean again.

“How did he threaten you?” Kyte asked.

“Said he’d kick me off the ship,” Adrean answered, “and send me back to earth.”

Kyte grumbled. “See, this is what happens when we put power-hungry people in power!” He stepped in front of Andrean and gripped his shoulders tightly. 

“Listen, we’ve got to do something. He can’t kick you off the ship for no reason – as much as the UWU is a group of lazy bastards, if he doesn’t put in a reason, they’ll have to intervene and refuse him.”

He hummed. “Not that he couldn’t lie… if the Captain made something up, as a group of lazy bastards, the UWU wouldn’t even look into the truth of his claim.”

Adrean took a step back, pulling Kyte’s hands off him. Kyte started rubbing his hands together, his knuckles whitening. 

“Look,” he started, “I don’t even know why you’re worried. This is my problem, not yours.”

Kyte smiled slightly. “Hey, I’m allowed to help a friend.”

I guess it’s official, Adrean thought.

“So,” Kyte started again, “what’s the plan?”

Chapter Text

ANDREAN AND KYTE set their trays on the cafeteria table. Mani looked up from his food and tilted his head at them accusingly. Lora glanced up, and when she saw them she looked back down, hanging her head low and picking at her food.

Andrean was already breaking his deal with the Captain. Thankfully, he wouldn’t have to worry about security picking up their conversation in the noisy cafeteria.

“What’s going on?” Mani asked.

“Where is Jadd?” Andrean asked.

“I don’t know, some job detail. What is going on?” Mani asked again.

Andrean opened his mouth to speak but Kyte interrupted him. “It’s with the Captain.”

Mani’s eyes widened and shook his head. “No no no, don’t get me in trouble with him. Leave me out of it.”

“No, you’re already in it,” Kyte explained.

“What?”

“It’s about the alien.”

Mani’s expression darkened. He stiffly brought his spoon up to his mouth, slurping up his porridge. “Okay, what?”

“The Captain is blackmailing Andrean,” Kyte said.

“How the hell are we supposed to help with that?”

Kyte smirked, sitting down with Andrean across from the other two. “The Captain wants us to pretend the alien never existed. So we’re going to sneak into the storeroom and find evidence.”

Mani stirred his oatmeal around absently, his eyes flicking back and forth between Andrean and Kyte. He suddenly looked to his left at Lora, just as she was about to eat a spoonful of her food.

“What do you think, Lora?” he asked. 

She jumped and dropped her spoon back in her bowl, splashing oats on her clothes. 

“W-What? You’re asking me?”

“You bet I am,” Mani said, shrugging. “We’re stuck in this together, as a group. And you’re part of it.”

Her face reddened and she whimpered. “Uhm, well… I-I don’t know…”

Mani stared at her expectantly, crossing his arms over his chest. She bit her lip and looked at Andrean and Kyte.

“...I guess we should do it,” she mumbled.

Mani’s eyes widened in surprise, but he didn’t object. In fact, he looked kind of pleased. He swallowed another spoonful of his porridge and surveyed the small group, smirking.

“Okay. Ready?”

* * *

As the workers cleared out of the halls to go do their jobs after lunch, Andrean, Kyte, Mani and Lora stayed. After they were the only ones left, Kyte led the group over to the main stairwell.

“Why aren’t we taking the elevator?” Mani asked as they started walking down.

“Because elevator entrances are better monitored than the stairs,” Kyte explained. “Who even takes stairs anyway?”

Eventually, they exited out into the basement floor, the storeroom. Mani checked the guard booth, seeing that Garred was asleep at his desk, and gave them the go-to.

“Okay, check for anything that came from the alien,” Kyte explained as they shuffled down the aisle. “Blood, a limb, saliva… anything.”

Andrean looked around at the boxes as they moved on. They had little symbols stamped onto their lids and sides – a turkey leg, a gear, a lightning bolt. Judging from all the boxes with the turkey leg symbol, it seemed like there was a lot of food to go around. But he could swear he had already lost 20 pounds since being on the ship.

“Hey, Kyte?” Andrean started. “Where did, uh…”

“Huh?” Kyte replied.

“...Where was Bennie attacked?”

Andrean didn’t want to say killed . It was enough for Kyte already to be here. Then again, it sure seemed like he was doing fine during their conversation.

Kyte frowned slightly, but nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know the aisle, sorry. But if we get to the back I’m sure we’ll find it from there.”

As they exited to the back of the store room, a wet squeaking noise resonated through the space. Kyte looked back at the group and smiled. 

“If I had a guess, that noise is where the alien is,” he said.

They hurried down the way, trying to keep pace with Kyte’s quick footsteps. The squeaking sounds continued, and eventually they found the source. 

Two people in hazmat suits were mopping up a green mess on the metal floor. It seemed like they were spreading it around more than getting rid of it. As they rounded the corner of the 

aisle, the cleaners whipped around to face them.

“Shit,” Kyte muttered.

One of the cleaners suddenly stepped forward, waving their hands at them. The cleaner pulled down the hood of their hazmat and took off the gas mask.

“Jadd?” Andrean exclaimed.

The man came forward and clapped him on the back, grinning from ear-to-ear. Suddenly, he straightened up and frowned. “What are you doing here, kid? You’re not on janitorial duty.”

Andrean straightened up as Jadd slung his arm around his shoulders. “The Captain,” Andrean said, “is trying to keep the alien a secret.”

Jadd screwed up his face. “What? Why?” he asked. “Everyone knows already.”

“That’s what we’ve been saying,” said Kyte.

“We need evidence,” Andrean said. “Have you found anything?”

The second cleaner came up and pulled off their mask. It was Treylune. She stared at Andrean in confusion.

“What are you talking about? An alien?” she asked. “Is that what we’re cleaning? Ugh, fuck me…”

Mani snorted and stepped forward, sticking out his hand. “Hey, miss, I’m Mani,” he introduced. “There’s no time, can you please just trust us?”

Treylune shook her head at him. She swatted his hand away. “We have plenty of time. Tell me what’s going on.”

Mani sighed. “Okay. Come on.” He walked over to the side and started explaining the situation. Jadd watched them walk away, hesitated, then went over with them. Kyte nudged Andrean’s shoulder. 

“Come one,” he said, “let’s look for something.”

Kyte crouched down and started examining the thin layer of green sludge that covered the floor. Andrean walked along the puddle, checking for any body parts. He could see little sharp bristles, but they wouldn’t be enough to confirm the existence of an alien. Plus, he didn’t exactly want to sift through the muck.

He came up to an enormous hill of trash bags dumped against the wall. There were bumps and lumps protruding from the plastic. This was where they were keeping the body parts of the alien, and why it wasn’t on the floor anymore.

He pulled a bulging bag off the pile and he lost his grip, letting it tumble to the floor. It landed on his foot and he bit his tongue.

Andrean rolled the bag off his foot and grit his teeth. It was heavy . He knew that the alien crushed his ribs, but he didn’t remember it being so… dense. He grunted as he pulled the bag upright, a translucent green ooze dripping down from the top.

He untied the bag and it tore, a dark green liquid gushing out. It poured over his ankles, soaking his feet through his shoes as it spread around the floor. 

Kyte moved away just in time as the wave of sludge splashed towards him. Andrean had made the puddle at least three times bigger. He stood still in the liquid and gagged. “Oh fuck…”

Kyte and the others stood away from the puddle, watching Andrean with wide eyes. “What happened?” Mani spoke up.

“The bag tore. Ugh, this shit is gross…”

Andrean started to walk out of the sludge, but it was quickly becoming cakey and drying around his feet.

“Stay there,” Treylune said. “Me and Jadd will get you out.”

The pair slipped back on their gas masks and moved around the puddle to get closer to Andrean. They took a step into the puddle, leaning forwards. They grabbed onto Andrean’s wrists and pulled hard.

He tumbled onto the clean floor between them, dried-up alien goo flaking off his pants.

Jadd snickered and offered a hand to him. “You okay?”

Suddenly, Lora shrieked. Mani appeared at her side, nodding to her as she rambled on about something.

“What is it?” Andrean asked.

“Something moved in the… the alien stuff,” she stammered.

Andrean quickly looked back at the fluid, just as something splashed through it and skittered into the vents.

“It’s gone,” he said, and pointed to the ventilation grid.

“What was it?” Treylune asked. “I didn’t see it.”

“I didn’t see it either. I only just saw it escaping.”

Mani, Lora and Kyte maneuvered around the puddle and met with the rest of the group. They all looked between the alien DNA and Andrean’s messy clothes.

“How are you going to walk through the halls like that without anyone noticing the mess?” Kyte said. “Let alone the security cameras.”

“I can give him my hazmat suit,” Treylune said. “But if you have to return it they’ll know something is wrong.”

“We won’t return it, then,” Andrean decided. “Not until I get back to my room and change. Then you come by and pick it up so you can return it.”

Treylune nodded. “Be quick.”

Mani crouched down and grabbed a relatively clean scale that was floating on the surface of the alien guts. He presented it to Jadd and he pulled out a latex glove from the pocket of his 

Hazmat, slipping the scale inside and tying up the end.

“Here, Andrean,” Jadd said as he handed him the glove. Andrean set it down and took the chemical suit from Treylune just as she was finished removing it.

He quickly got dressed in the oversized yellow uniform and stuffed the scale into the pocket.

“Me and Treylune will stay,” Jadd announced. “We have to clean up this mess anyway.”

The rest of the group wished them luck and started towards the exit.

Suddenly an alarm sounded and the storage room was filled with rhythmic flashing red lights. The elevator doors clanged open and footsteps thundered across the floor, straight towards them.

“Security,” Jadd cursed. “Come on, you all need to hide.”

He hustled them over to the far storage shelf from the puddle of alien waste. He yanked off the lid of a wooden box and waved them inside it.

Unfortunately, it only had room for a single person. Everyone else would have to hide separately.

“Andrean, you go in there,” Kyte said. “The guards could get here any second.”

And so he climbed into the box as Jadd slipped the cover back on, and he was plunged into darkness.