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in the void, they dwell
chapter seven

Written by Alex Hera

“Bruno, let’s try the override,” Adair ordered. “If it was used on those corrupted things outside… maybe it can be used for the corruption happening to Cassian.”

Bruno nodded. Adair watched, resolute, as the engineer took the override and carefully inserted it into the cybernetic implant in Cassian’s temple. It hummed as it came to life, and they could hear the whirring of the internal mechanisms of the rogue’s implant. Bruno moved to the diagnostic computer, fingers flying across the screen as the banging noise from outside became louder and louder. Cassian stopped convulsing, falling eerily still as if a switch flipped. The wayfarers watched with bated breath, wondering if he was dead. It didn’t even look like he was breathing. Adair rushed to his side.

“No, no, no, Cassian, come on. Not like this,” she said. Tears welled in her eyes. Bruno inspected the diagnostic screen carefully.

“The cybernetics have deactivated. Cassian should make it,” said Bruno, inspecting the diagnostic screen carefully. “It might take him a while to wake up. We should…”

Bruno was interrupted by Cassian gasping. His eyes shot open and darted around the room, locking onto Adair in an instant.

“Adair!” he shouted. Adair wrapped her arm around Cassian’s back and helped him sit up. “Where are we?”

“The medbay. Your cybernetics went haywire. We used an override,” she said, lighthearted for what felt like the first time in years. She cast her eyes to the door, where Florian had also turned his attention. They tapped on the door panel, displaying a camera feed from outside on it. At least a dozen of the creatures were crowded outside, and the sound of their screeching was constant, as were their metal limbs scraping against the metal door.

“Even if he’s okay… how are we going to get out of here?” Florian asked. “We should come up with an exit plan.”

“One thing at a time, Florian,” Adair replied.

Cassian stood, his legs wobbling for a moment before he stabilized. He brushed Adair away and stepped towards Florian, looking at the camera feed.

“What are those? How much did I miss?” he asked, glancing away from the feed towards the group.

“We don’t know much more than you,” said Bruno.

“They’re not indestructible, but… there’s too many of them,” said Adair.

As they debated, the creatures inexplicably began to retreat. Only Florian noticed, their eyes still locked onto the feed.

“Guys… they’re leaving,” they said.

A wave of digital noise emanated from the same speakers as the robotic voice from before. It gave way to static interference, and then, to a voice. All of the screens in the medbay flickered with a camera feed, showing a woman with short, dark hair sitting in a dim room with pipes overhead. Making out her features was difficult, but her eyes were piercing and cybernetic, glowing in her lightless room, her jaw looked misshapen, perhaps broken, and the right side of her face was torn open, flesh limply hanging off. She spoke slowly, words forced from her lungs almost as if unwilling.

“You are quite resilient,” she said.

“Who are you?!” demanded Cassian. “Are you behind all of this?”

“Am I? No, no, no, no, no. Of course not. I am merely a messenger. You can call me… Ambrose,” the woman said, her voice uneven, almost crazed.

“We thought that everyone on board was dead,” said Adair.

“Who says they aren’t? You’ve met my children, haven’t you? My Vessels?” said Ambrose. “They are His children as well. Ours. We built the Vessels together, I and the man in the stars. The man who waits in the void. You’ve met Him too, haven’t you, Adair?”

“How do you know my name?” she demanded.

“I have been watching,” she said, giggling. “He is one with the station, and He is one with me.”

“I kept hearing this voice while I was under. It was coursing through my body. I couldn’t understand it. Is that… Him?” asked Cassian.

“Of course,” Ambrose said.

“Tell us where you are, maybe we can help you,” said Bruno.

“Help me? No, no, no. This is where I belong,” she said. Her head jerked suddenly, as if controlled by another. Something beyond the edge of the frame shifted, the shadows behind Ambrose moving imperceptibly. “I live only because of him – and soon, so will you.”

Ambrose turned off the camera. Adair turned to Bruno.

“Can you trace where that came from?” she asked.

“Not without an active camera feed – but those pipes.. it looked like the maintenance room deck,” Bruno replied.

“Then let’s go there,” said Adair. “We should find Ambrose and get her to tell us what happened here.”

“Wait!” Florian protested. “We should get a message out to command. If we’re going to die, let’s not do it in vain.”

“Bruno, is there somewhere we can use to broadcast?” Cassian asked.

“According to the schematics, there’s a broadcasting center on the crew deck, so they could communicate with their families back home. I’m not sure if it will work,” the engineer replied.

Art by Skyler