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in the void, they dwell
chapter nine

Written by Alex Hera

Bruno hit a few keys on the computer, and a jolt of electricity shot through the cables plugged into the Vessel. It shot awake, screaming, pushing against the restraints and trying to break free. Bruno took the opportunity to study it in its captivity, looking into its glazed over, blackened eyes. In it, he could swear he saw a misshapen, white face in the reflection.

“How could someone do this to another human?” asked Florian.

“You saw what happened to Cassian. It… got inside them. It probably got inside Ambrose. Caused her to do… this,” said Adair. “So much death. How do we even stop this?”

“Dyson will handle it,” said Florian. “We just have to focus on surviving.”

“Dyson caused this. They’re not going to let it go. We… are the only ones who can do anything about this.” she replied.

“Adair, we can’t save the universe,” they replied. Adair said nothing.

Cassian quickly grabbed the plasma torch from the workbench and fired it at the Vessel’s head, the beam melting through its skull. It fell limp as sludge-like brain matter dripped from the gaping hole. From behind them, elsewhere on the maintenance deck, the party heard a scuttling noise. More Vessels. The wayfarers exchanged glances, and booked it towards the turbolift. The scuttling grew louder as their footfalls echoed through the deck, the uneven metal floor warping and clanging under them. Bruno glanced over his shoulder - three more Vessels were gaining on them as the sickening sound of metal servos and squelching flesh filled the corridor. The turbolift neared at the end of the hallway... but from the ceiling, another Vessel dropped down in front of their path. Adair body slammed it without faltering and kept running. It grasped at Florian as they ran by, who narrowly hopped out of the way. Cassian flicked the plasma torch on, ready for a fight. The turbolift door slid open as they reached it, and the four wayfarers piled inside -- but just as the doors began to close, a mangled hand blocked the gap. Bruno hit the button for Engineering on Deck 30 half a dozen times in a panic. Cassian held the plasma torch up to the intrusive arm, melting through the unholy abomination of flesh and metal. The Vessel screamed, and the others began scratching at the mostly-closed doors. The heat intensified, and the flesh of the Vessel's arm began to bubble and tear. After a moment, it disconnected from its owner, and fell to the floor of the turbolift. The doors closed. Bruno took a deep breath - and then screamed, as the arm began climbing up Bruno's leg. Florian kicked at the sentient hand but missed entirely, instead just kicking Bruno in the shin and sending him to his knees. Adair reached down and ripped the arm away, tossing it to the ground. Cassian lunged forward and stomped on it over and over, until it was a pulp on the floor with crushed cybernetic implants barely holding the bits together.

"Everyone okay?" asked Cassian.

"I don't wanna talk about it," said Bruno.

The turbolift chimed as it reached Deck 30 - but rather than a smooth stop, it sputtered and came to a jerking halt. The doors ratcheted open bit by bit, straining to open wide enough for anyone to get through. Bruno tapped on the elevator display, alarmed, trying to get the doors to open properly. Adair took matters into her own hands, grabbing the turbolift doors and pulling. The metal creaked, but soon, they were open wide enough to step through onto the engineering deck – lit solely by emergency lights. On the floor in front of them was an arm, separated from a body.

“This place really is falling apart,” said Florian, stepping out of the turbolift. The rest soon followed – and as soon as Adair was out, the turbolift doors slammed shut with enough force to pulverize someone if they’d been trapped between them, and the lift shot off.

“What did Ambrose say? He’s one with the station?’ said Bruno.

“How can a flesh and blood alien inhabit technology?” asked Florian.

“Who said it was flesh and blood? That thing was… impossible,” said Adair.

A sign above them pointed towards Central Engineering - where the core of the station was. They trudged their way through the winding halls.. It seemed as good a place as any to start. As they turned a corner, suddenly, a bulkhead slammed shut behind them, the heavy door crashing down from the ceiling and sealing off the direction they’d come from.

“That… can’t be good,” said Florian, looking back at the bulkhead. The walls seemed to bend in around them and a high pitched whine caused the party to cover their ears. The room snapped back to normal like a rubber band and the faceless, alien creature appeared in an instant in front of the closed bulkhead. Adair took a shaky step back, and glanced over her shoulder towards the entrance to Central Engineering – a large door with a keycard reader at the far end of the hallway. Another bulkhead creaked and started slowly coming down from the ceiling. If they didn’t move, they’d be sealed in between the two… with the faceless, impossible being.

“Run!” yelled Adair. The wayfarers sprinted for the bulkhead, narrowly ducking under it before it shut. In front of them, another one started to close. They sprinted, narrowly avoiding being trapped again. They kept running, and Adair looked behind her once more to see the creature phase through the bulkhead, following them just as it had outside. Circuitry in the walls sparked around them. A pipe ruptured, sending Florian flying. The creature neared, but Adair ran to them and lifted them up. The rest of the party scrambled to reach the door to the core as one final bulkhead closed behind them.

“It’s locked!” shouted Cassian, desperately trying to open the door with force.

They looked behind them – a bulkhead a few yards away had sealed them off from the rest of engineering, with only one hallway leading away from the corestill accessible. Bruno inspected the keycard reader to access Central Engineering, trying to ignore the bloody handprint next to it. He whipped out his datapad, looking at a schematic of the deck.

“I’m getting a signal from a keycard down this hallway,” said Bruno.

“That’s exactly where it wants us to go, I’m sure,” said Adair.

“Do we have another choice?” asked Florian.

“Can we hotwire the reader? Break in?” asked Cassian.

“It might lock us out permanently if something goes wrong. The system is so unstable,” said Bruno.

Art by gummiisnax