"Crewman Daya."
Daya stiffened at her lab station. The rest of the techs continued with their work. Daya turned to her supervisor, a larger man in the Corpus uniform, his rectangular helmet clipped to his side.
"Supervisor Revna?"
The older man nodded to her. "Welcome aboard. I know you've been here only a few days, but I've seen you produce some pretty solid work already." He held up her first prototype – an improved eximus casing. "I'm glad they were able to recruit you before you stagnated back at home at some dead-end job."
Heat shifted over her cheeks. "I am, too, sir."
He nodded, his praise delivered, and made his way out of the lab. Daya smiled and returned to her work.
"Hey, Daya, it's your turn to go get supplies."
Her brow furrowed. "I thought it was Jirel's turn."
The girl at the station across from her shook her head. Daya detected jealousy in the pout of the other girl's lips. "He's not here today. Falls to you. Get goin'."
Daya nodded absently. Newest recruit receiving praise? The veterans would be jealous. So work the new girl harder, keep her away from her station. Her fingers tapped on the terminal at her station to secure it in case any roving eyes wandered in.
She enjoyed the Corpus ship, though. Forced to wander the expansive rooms and decks did little to sour her mood. She wandered through, a few nods to Supervisors, smiles to others she did not know. She made her way to a supply room and fished her datapad from her uniform.
3000 circuits? She swallowed. They were clearly playing with her. She sighed slightly and made to grab for a palette loader. If they wanted to play with her, she'd play with them.
She jumped at the clatter of a grate on the floor behind her. She had seen a few questionable glass panes on her way through the ship, but a grate falling out of nowhere? Maybe she should recommend the ship taken in for maintenance.
A pair of thuds distracted her from counting out the circuits. A gasp filled her lungs, terror building in her throat. She turned slowly. Please don't be space rats.
A humanoid stood before her, an arsenal strapped to its body. Across the back appeared to be a long sword, a pair of guns on its thighs. Hands unseated them, the head turned to the right and left. Just over its left shoulder hovered a small drone. A muttered word and the drone deployed active camouflage over the pair of intruders.
Daya's brain started working immediately. Intruders. Grineer? She had only seen Grineer in the orientation vids, never in person. Did they look like this? Or not, the camouflage kept it rather well hidden. She could see the door through him, however warped. Technology the Corpus did not have yet. The drone supplied it. Could she replicate it?
A few quiet taps took the active camouflage to the door. It opened, sensing a presence, and the intruder continued. She had to sound the alarms. Follow protocol. But where is it headed? Why is it here?
The circuits dropped into the box on the palette loader. Her feet took her after the active camouflage. It turned the opposite direction of her lab. Crewman glanced in the direction of the camouflage, but none saw the distinctive warped visual field. How they couldn't see it, hear the very gentle taps of the intruder's feet confused her. Though none of them paid her much mind either. Just another Crewman on a mission.
She followed the camouflage into one of the server rooms. The humanoid broke one of the weaker grates and scrabbled up the duct. Her head tilted. The warm air she felt through the duct probably came from the server room itself, diverted away to keep the overworked electrical components from getting too hot. If the intruder intended to enter the server room, if it required direct access, then it had to be after something specific. A spy? But who sent it? Who had the technology? And what were they after?
Daya shifted her weight, tapped on the glass. A single Eximus class patrol dozed in the corner of the room. She tapped again. He had to be roused, to be warned of the intruder. Her presence might possibly confuse him, but rather that tha-
Blood sprayed across the wall behind his head. Daya gasped. What had been his face – now a mess of meaty bits and blood and bone - fell back, his body slumped to the floor. Dead. Eximus were the strongest, most specialized of the Corpus. And the intruder shot him dead with one pull of a trigger.
The humanoid and its drone dropped into the server room. Both weapons returned to their holsters on its hips. One shot had made dental recognition the only form of identification, and this creature had two of the weapons capable of it. Fingers danced across the large station that controlled the server. The drone turned while its master worked.
Daya's eyes returned to the Eximus. That could've been her. If it had turned around, seen her in the supply room, it could've done that to her. It could've been any of the others on the way here. It could still be them. But if it had the ability to get into the most secure room in the ship, could she really do anything to stop it?
A beep forced her attention back to the pair. The drone's camera stared directly at her. The helmet of the humanoid turned, revealing a small horn extended from the front. Terror rooted her to the spot. Perhaps if she didn't move it wouldn't see her. A foolish thought, she chastised herself as soon as it passed through her mind. The drone beeped again.
Male. The humanoid form appeared male. The suit? It had to be a suit, skin-tight, covering the man's body. Grey and white with red lines. Remember it for the report.
It- He crouched, the helmet turned upward, and it leapt for the duct. The duct that emptied out directly behind her.
Run.
She bolted. It would travel through the ducts and come for her. She had to initiate emergency protocol. Maybe slow it down. The terminal at the door would lock it. Shaky hands tapped across the touch panel. Just lock it, please.
The door behind her hissed shut, a lockdown of the area commenced. She ran into the hall, the crewman looking around at the alarms.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
A fellow Crewman approached her. "Crewman, did you start this lockdown?"
She nodded frantically. "There's something in the server room. It killed the Eximus!"
SKREE SKREE SKREE
The Supervisor arched a brow. "And no one saw it? There's only one way into that server room and that's through this hall. We would have seen it."
She shook her head. "It has a drone that camouflaged it. It used the exhaust ducts."
His brow furrowed. "I'm sure everything is fine, Crewman." He tilted his head. "You don't look familiar." His eyes drifted to her chest, to the designations on her uniform. "You're from the labs, aren't you?"
"The labs?" She swallowed. Silence fell between them. Daya's ears shifted back. Silence. "Start the emergency protocols."
He took a deep breath. "What? I'm sure it was nothing, Recruit. Just get back to your lab and try to calm do-"
The door to the server room opened. The Supervisor shifted his eyes over her shoulder. His face disappeared, splattered over Daya's. Blood dripped down her face as his body dropped to the floor. Terror shook her limbs, her legs jellied. She dropped into a squat, her hands wrapped around the back of her head.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
"By the Void… Go start the protocols, Recruit!"
Her eyes lifted to a Supervisor to her left, along a catwalk. Bullet's whistled around her. A gentle blue glow deflected a few from the Supervisor. "Go now!"
Follow your orders, Crewman. Her legs hardened enough for her to move just as a bullet took out his shield. Blood splattered onto her as she tore past him, back toward her lab.
SKREE SKRE-
Passing through the next door brought silence and confused stares. She had her orders. She broke from her run to the nearest terminal. The Moas would help. That was the protocol.
"Hey! Do you have orders for that?"
She nodded absently to the Crewman that manned the Moa station. Quivering fingers tapped over the keys. "Th-there's something… It's killing everyone. He told me-"
The Crewman placed a hand on her shoulder. "I think there'd be some kind of alarm, don't you?"
The Moa lockers opened. The bipedal robots stepped out. Their eyestalk guns turned toward her. They also had their orders. Surely they would be able to defend the ship. The gentle tack-tack-tack of their feet faded toward the door.
The alarm. Daya's eyes widened. The alarm had gone off. She had initiated it. Why did it not extend this far? Or had that creature stopped it?
"Great. Now I'll have to do an inventory." Slashes echoed off the walls. The Crewman furrowed his brow. "Wait…" His face went pale. He grabbed her shoulders. "Go to the escape pods. I'll start another alarm, but you need to start getting everyone off this ship. Do you understand me?"
Escape pods? "Is it… But the Moas should've-"
He shook his head. His hands left her shoulders to fit the helmet into his uniform. "Nothing can stop these things. Just get the hell out of here. Try to save as many as you can."
He turned to initiate another alarm. Daya looked around the stack of boxes behind them. A yell drifted through the room. And there it was.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
She screamed. The Crewman behind her grabbed her hand, the alarm sounded. He pulled her with him, away from the monster with the sword.
"Emergency lockdown. Enemy on board. Please report to the escape pods immediately."
She heard the familiar pat-pat-pat of the creature's feet. It ran behind them, faster than they were. She willed her legs to move faster. Her lungs started to burn with her erratic breathing. The Crewman with her tossed a grenade behind them.
The explosion happened too close. She fell to her knees, her hand slipped out of his. He glanced behind him. His helmet, a veil of indifference that belied his heavy breathing. And he tore off again.
No! I don't want to die! Not like this… She felt the tears, the prickling in her nose. The patter of the creature's feet moved around her, followed the Crewman. She stood as quickly as her legs would allow. She had to warn him.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
The sword slashed at the Crewman. He fell into meaty pieces. Not even a scream erupted from the man that had attempted to save her, save himself. Blood splashed onto the floor. Daya felt her lunch burble into her throat.
The monster's horn turned on her. Her chest vibrated with her erratic breaths. She would be next.
Blue laser shots came from the left. The horn turned toward them. The drone over its shoulder flashed and the pair disappeared.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
She had to hide. Maybe if she hid she would live. But where? Anywhere opposite of the monster. To her right, then. She darted for the door to her right. Another supply room. Among the palettes? She'd be found. Maybe behind the-
Inside a locker. She made for the furthest lockers from the door and found only one green. Upon opening it, she found it empty. Thank the Void for small miracles. She climbed into it backwards, scrunched herself up, and poked the outside of the door. Lock it.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
"Emergency protocol initiated. Please report to the nearest escape pods."
The alarms continued to sound, a nearly deafening tone that echoed inside the locker. When would she be safe? Would the monster destroy the installation? Would it find her?
She hugged herself. All she had wanted to do was better the technology of the Corpus. Like Alad V. She had always been smart, always been special. They had warned her about Grineer. But this creature that invaded? They had never warned her about some robotic space ninja with a drone.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
Shouts echoed through her hiding locker. Supervisor Revna?
"There's nothing to be done about this thing but keep it busy. We want as many to get off on the escape pods as possible."
"But sir, what if we kill it?"
A chuckle escaped the Supervisor. "There's no killing these things. Not for us." A moment passed punctuated by the alarms. "I just wish I had been alerted while I was still in my office. I could've called for a very specific backup."
"Why not now, sir?"
"Because, kid, I had to set up a very specific line in my office for him. If I don't use that one, he won't answer." Lockers hissed open. "Now take these weapons and defend yourself."
SKREE SKREE SKREE
If Revna were out there, she should get out of her locker and go to him. Help defend, perhaps. But… that monster seemed unstoppable, especially to Revna. But Daya should help. She had joined up with the Corpus to fight for the cause, hadn't she? She shouldn't be hiding in a locker. Her finger extended for the release button.
Laser shots and bullets ricocheted off the walls. Her finger drew back immediately. More shouts, screams of pain Daya moved her hands over her ears as the slashes started. That could've been her. It was them, and it could've been her.
Supervisor Revna. Her nose prickled again. He had been so kind to her. No longer. He had died on this ship and she would, too. Only a matter of time before that thing opened her locker and killed her too.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
Her parents were right. She should've thought more about what it meant to join an organization like the Corpus. They had promised financial security for her and her family, though, something they hadn't had in some time. She had to steal a lot of her parts for her projects from dumpsters, to haggle with merchants over costs, barter for parts just so she could build something she could've purchased. Her parents had enough to worry about with getting food on the stove without finding the money for her projects.
Her brothers and sisters would've been set. With financial stability, her parents could save for their college. Daya had been lucky, blessed by the Void with smarts outside of schooling. The Corpus had seen the potential in her, recruited her early. She just wanted to protect her family, continue her research and tinkering without scrounging for scraps.
There had always been the potential for an attack by the Grineer, but they were used to that. Get your guns, release the Moas, everything would be fine. But how do you prepare for something that can destroy so many alone? She didn't even have a gun.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
"Please report to the nearest emergency escape pod."
Maybe she could escape. Maybe she could get out. Go back home, check on the family. She'd love to see her parents. Just to make sure they still lived, that she still lived. There hadn't been any noise in her locker aside from the basic alarms.
She took a slow breath. Her hands shook, her limbs cold. She could be opening the door to her on death. A sword poised over the locker, ready to plunge into her. Her throat closed, forcing her to swallow.
The doors hissed open. Nothing stood outside, no sword. Just alarms and the occasional instruction. Her feet found the floor. She slid of the safety of her locker and stood. The blue metal of the ship met her eyes, rows of lockers. Nothing different.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
"Please report to the nearest emergency escape pod."
She had her orders. She took a breath and headed for the door.
"Da-ya…?"
Her head snapped to her name. A collection of bodies and meaty bits rested on the floor in the locker area by the door. Revna's helmet rested on the floor by his head. His legs rested about two feet away at a different angle. Blood pooled under both halves of her Supervisor.
She tasted the bile on the back of her tongue. "Supervisor?"
He smiled absently. "Guess you'll… have the chance to try-" He coughed, sputtered, and blood trickled down his cheek. "-your prototype. I for-forgot." His arm tried to move.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
He shouldn't be alive. He wouldn't be for much longer. But he had looked out for her. "Supervisor!" She fell to the floor beside him. "Supervisor, it's okay. I'm getting to the pods. You did your part."
He shook his head. "Take the module."
Her prototype casing fell out of his hand. She grabbed it. "What-"
He smiled. "Use it. It might help." His hand dropped onto her knee. "You have to get to my office." He coughed again, blood spurting from his exposed viscera. "There's a hidden file on my desktop." His teeth turned redder with every word. "Open it. Say the words 'Vigilance from betrayal'." His face scrunched. "Tell him- tell him anything. Get him here. He's-he's the only one-"
His body convulsed, his eyes rolled back. She drew back. Blood spurted from every orifice, drew lines on his face to the floor.
Dead. Revna was dead. Just like everyone else. She could be next. She clutched the module to her chest. His dying wish. Vigilance from betrayal.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
"Please report to the nearest emergency escape pods."
Her orders had changed. She had new orders. She sniffed as the tears blurred her vision. The module would help.
Eximus Class – Guardian Model
She stood, her fingers fumbled with the clip on her side. She had to turn it on, it would help. She input the code for activation once, twice, third time's the charm. She would need a weapon, right? To defend herself. She had been through basic training, they had taught her to use one. She took a deep breath and grabbed one of the Dera rifles, jostled free from the hand of a female Crewman. Dropped on the floor by the head of another man she found a Prova baton. It hadn't done him much good, but maybe it would be enough. The baton clipped to her other hip, the Dera nestled in the crook of her arm. Just like in basic.
Bodies littered the barely familiar halls back to her lab. Drones, Ospreys, and Moas wandered the area, the monster presumably gone. Every door she passed through held less and less robotics. Parts started to litter the bodies, the gore and blood. Moas lay on the floor, shrapnel from an exploded drone or Osprey. But she had her orders, she had her weapons, she had her prototype.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
A bullet bounced off her shield. A shriek fled her throat. To her right. The monster stood, weapons pointed at her from a crevice with lockers and stacked boxes. Her lungs barely filled before she exhaled for another breath. It hesitated? A crack in the glass tore her from the terror. Cracked glass on the external of the ship. Questionable integrity. One shot from her Dera might break it, might pull everything in the room into space. The creature's head turned slightly, the same posture of someone listening to an earpiece. The little drone turned erratically.
The guns moved to their holsters. The creature unsheathed the sword from its back. The glass behind it glimmered with the reflection of the blade. The glass. Her eyes widened. She couldn't afford to hesitate.
She lifted the rifle, heavier than she remembered. She pointed it just to the right of her enemy. A few shots and she broke away, running full tilt from the shatter.
The glass broke, the environment hissed through space. She dove through the closing doors as another lockdown initiated. The seals for the windows had to be engaged. She ignored the computer's warnings for the seals. The monster should've been spaced.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
But just in case. She continued running. Her lungs hurt, burned with every breath. She had just joined for the money. For the experience. This was nothing she had ever planned for.
The ship ceased rumbling and she heard the computer's call for help cease. It hadn't been spaced. It engaged the environmental seals. The door would be opening.
She had to get to Revna's office. She had to call for help. The halls still contained far too many Crewman, regardless of the very few she saw. Why had they not reported to escape pods? If the monster had not been spaced, if it had a way to remain in the ship, able to hack into the environment systems, what could they possibly hope to accomplish?
Revna's office door opened. She made it to his terminal and started tapping. Lock the door for all the good it will do. She tapped a few keys to reveal hidden items on his desktop. There, a secure communication line. SE?
A foreign application opened, a line across the screen. No further instructions. Every breath sent shivers through the line. The application listened to the microphone? "V-Vigilance from betrayal?" A communications line opened. She heard shouts outside. Drones exploding.
"Corpus, Supervisor class, Torvol Revna. State your business."
A voice. A calm voice. Moas chirped, shots fired. "H-he said you could help. Our ship is being attacked. Nothing has been able to stop it or slow it down. Please, we need help!"
Static filled the communications line. Daya felt tears prickling her nose again. "Corpus, Crewman class, Lucine Daya. You have requested a contract for aid. Do you accept?"
Her brow furrowed. The explosions moved closer. "Do I… Of course I accept. Anything! Please. I'm worried I'm the only one left."
"En route to your location. Describe the enemy target."
"It… it looks like a robotic humanoid?" She had paid attention to it. A report would have to be made. Explosions neared the door to Revna's office.
Her eyes closed, focused on the image she had forced herself to remember from the server room. It flashed, merged with the image of it holding a blade over the Crewman that pulled her, of the window shattering behind it. Tears fell onto Revna's keyboard. "Grey and white with red lines." More explosions, probably two rooms away. "By the Void it's almost here."
"The doors will not stop him. Hide as best you can."
She glanced around her, taking in the contents of Revna's office for the first time. Filing cabinet, shelving unit, photos of family. "There's… I'm in an office. There's nowhere to hide. No lockers. It should've been spaced. I shot out the weak glass and everything was sucked out." Telling it, reliving it, shook her hands. More tears fell onto Revna's desk.
"The Tenno are trained for this sort of thing. Locked doors will slow him down enough for me to get there. Do you have a portable comm link?"
SKREE SKREE SKREE
"Ten…no? Tenno? How do you know what it is?"
"Do you have a portable comm link?"
She swallowed, rubbing the tears on her face. She looked around Revna's office. A photo of his family. Who would be the one to tell them? There, an earpiece. "Yes, I found one."
"Remain in the room until I call you on that comm link. Hide as best you can. Wait for further instruction."
"How do y-" The application closed, the line dead.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
Alone. Alarms filled the room, the occasional instruction from the computer about the bloody escape pods again. But the voice had told her to hide.
She grabbed the filing cabinet in the corner and pulled it away from the wall. She wedged herself into the corner she created and waited. Her thumbnail dug into her ear as she forced the earpiece into it.
Lights flickered. Had the monster- Tenno infected the server? Or had it moved on from her to the reactor room? Maybe the escape pods drew too much energy? Impossible.
She heard voices outside. More slashes and explosions. They moved closer. Her hands drew into fists. Just go. I'm not here. Leave. He'll call back. I'll be safe. Her knees drew closer.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
A wave of energy blue energy passed through the wall, a single horizontal arc with gold at the center. She watched it fly, a single thing of beauty against the macabre attack. She leaned forward to keep it in her sights, to remember it. Almost like a blue laser shot that left a trail of stars, a parabola with gold at the epicenter of the arc. It slowed as she crawled out from behind the filing cabinet. Her brow furrowed. Slow? Why would it-
The blue arc exploded into wisps. Several wisps wafted up, away, disappeared into the air. Others flew in her direction. She felt a hundred tiny punctures on her face and pain emanated from every pore. She felt the shriek, hands moved instinctively to cover her face. Her fingertips met moisture.
One hand pulled away, her eyes blurry from tears. She made out red phalanges wiggling in her vision. Blood. How much of it belonged to her? The energy had exploded into lethal shrapnel before dissipating entirely.
If it had that power, why had it passed through the wall without cutting it? She blinked, hoping to cleanse her vision, and looked back to the door. Had it cut with such precision that it were undetectable? Did the monster wield this power?
More arcs of golden blue found their way through the wall. She pulled as much of her body behind the filing cabinet, careful to keep her blurry vision on the beautiful arcs.
The door to Revna's office bent inward with a loud thud. Daya squeaked, pressed herself back against the wall as hard as she could. Terror fueled her breathing, short, erratic breaths her only source of oxygen.
The arcs ceased. She heard the familiar patter of feet move for Revna's door. Her whole body quaked with fear. Tears streamed down her face, stinging erupting from every miniscule wound on her face. No, please. I'm not here. There's nothing here. Please don't find me.
"You have failed in your mission, Tenno."
SKREE SKREE SKREE
Similar to the voice on the special comm link. Had he arrived? Had he saved her?
The lights flickered again and the scent of burnt leaves filled her nose.
"Crewman Daya. Do you remain unharmed?"
She started at the voice in her ear. "Y-yes. I… Yes, relatively."
"You will follow my every command and I will ensure your safety. Understood?"
Daya nodded. He couldn't see her. "Please… I never wanted this. I just wanted to make better tech."
"When you open the door, do not be alarmed. Take the right path around Revna's office, another right, and a left."
Daya sniffed. Alarmed? She pressed herself back against the wall, pushed herself up to her feet. At least her legs still worked. The Dera rifle lingered on Revna's chair. She turned to the door. The hexagonal patterns turned into the proper configuration. She had her orders.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
The door split at the seam, the bent plates unable to slide far into the wall. She slipped one leg through, ducked her body through, and fell onto the floor outside. Blood met her back, her hair. She scrabbled away, pressed herself against the opposite wall. A large pool of blood gathered at the door to Revna's office. A broken arrow lay across one edge of it. Tossed after forcefully removed?
Had her savior been wounded, or the monster? The monster had been wielding a sword and guns, but she hadn't seen a bow. Bows were primitive at best, no one used them.
"I do not see you moving, Crewman Daya."
Daya gasped quietly. "Yes, yes. Sorry." She stood and followed her savior's directions.
Her eyes moved over the pool of blood again, a glint catching her eye. Across the hall, almost to the other room, lay a shard of a blade. A silver coated red with blood. The shape, curve, resembled the monster's. Her savior had broken it.
SKREE SKREE SKREE
He remained in her ear, taking her through empty areas of the ship. Only moas, drones, and ospreys milled about, protecting the ship from the missing intruder. She only hoped it were dead, or at least gone. A left here, a right there, forward. Just a bit further.
He led her to a loading dock with four portals. Only one had been opened, a humanoid mold wedged into the opening. "Press yourself, back first, into the mold. Hold onto the grips."
She glanced between the stairs and the mold. Almost free, almost safe. She took a slow breath. A trip for too many circuits had turned into a horror. At least she had been able to start the alarms, get many of the crew off the ship.
Her brow furrowed. The alarms should still be sounding. The soft white noise of the engines instead met her ears. That and gentle drips, splashes of-
Pat-pat-pat-PAT.
Her head whipped in the direction of the noise, the walk of the monster. Blood dripped onto the floor under active camouflage. That strange chirp and the grey monster bore on her. She screamed and fell to her hip. He held his hands together and pulled the right away from the left palm. The glow from Revna's office filled the dark hallway, beautiful blue, held in his hand, a saber made of crackling energy. Her eyes widened. The blade lifted and she closed her eyes.
The lights flickered and smoke filled the area, the scent of burning leaves. Her vision blurred, defense against the smoke that entered her eyes. "Go. Now!" Blue glowed bright around a shadowy figure, the energy saber held at bay.
She rolled onto her hands and knees. The stairs forced her to her feet, but she followed the instruction of her savior. She ran to the mold, placed her right foot in, heel first, and hopped up into the mold backwards. Her hands hung weakly on the grips.
Through her tears, she watched two monsters fight at the top of the stairs, one grey and white stained red with blood, the other black and red shrouded in smoke. The mold jerked, forcing her hands to tighten on the grips. It spun around away from the would-be God-monsters in the loading dock.
Silence met her in this new environment.
"Operator, your charge has safely made it onboard. It would appear your work on this ship is complete."
The voice came from speakers somewhere on the other side of a sheet of metal. Daya dropped her head to look down. The ship she had been rolled into hovered upright.
"If I may, Miss, could you perhaps exit the entry?"
"That is all right, Arbiter."
Lights flickered and she felt the gravity change. Whatever the ship, it pulled away from her installation and leveled out.
Blissful silence met her ears. Her Eximus module beeped on her hip, the Prova baton pressed into her side. She had to get up. She had the luxury to lay in this mold, in the odd sealed entry into a ship. She had finally been saved. She could relax.
"If you could please remove yourself."
His voice sounded much more normal, not warped through comms. Orders. She lifted herself, her muscles screaming with her movements, no longer powered by adrenaline and fear. She crawled out of the mold and glanced at her surroundings.
Pipes and tubes extended behind her, snaked around her sides. Light beckoned her forward. She crawled forward, used the wall to get to her feet. Unfamiliar technology filled every nook and cranny of the area around her. Something with an arm that appeared to be welding dropped, sparked, and retracted. Automated? A terminal to her left, a circular station beside it. She shuffled closer against the protestations of her limbs. An incubator?
A hiss behind her startled her. She shrieked and fell to her rump as she spun toward it. She couldn't handle any more surprises.
Her voice caught in her throat as a shadowy figure stepped down the ramp. It resembled the monster on the ship, black and red, the helmet smooth, curved over the shape of its head. She had escaped into the arms of her murderer.
The Prova pressed into her side again. She could defend herself. Maybe one Prova baton would be enough?
She lifted it, pressed the button to ignite the electricity over the baton. It shook with her quaking hands. "S-stay away from me!"
Hands lifted to either side of the helmet. A pair of clicks and the red ominous eye in the center faded away. As the helmet lifted off his head, she took in a pair of red lips, pale skin, golden eyes, and thin white hair sticky with sweat.
His golden eyes narrowed on her. "Put that thing away. Or do you wish to change the terms of the contract."
She blinked. Human? The God-monsters were human?
The man? Monster? Her savior sighed and moved across the small section of the ship. "Arbiter, do we have any tea left?"
"Affirmative, Operator. Would you like a cup?"
The man in black crouched before her, his golden eyes locked on hers. "Two cups, please, Arbiter."
One hand extended toward her. Her eyes flashed to the movement. White barbs extended off his arm – no, the armor? She gripped the Prova with both hands. His chin lifted, eyes still on her.
His hand moved around hers, warm and reassuring. "Release it. You're safe here."
Her brow knit, eyes filled with tears. She blinked carefully to avoid spilling them over her face, stinging the wounds, sharing her fear with this creature. His hand slipped up to the electric charges of the Prova, but his expression remained stoic. The battery of the Prova dimished, drained, emptied. Her hands relaxed. No use now.
A scent drifted through the ship. Rich and hearty, maybe even spicy? Her hands fell against her thighs as he pulled the Prova from her grip. He glanced to the side and dropped it onto the floor. He stood and turned back to the foundry area. His body moved under the armor, every muscle defined.
A quiver attached to his back, a bow socketed into it. Crossed with the bow, a folded scythe. A pair of pouches on each thigh held straight throwing knives.
He turned, steam rose from the cups in his hands. He moved back to her, crouched in one smooth motion, and held the cup to her. He moved the other to his lips to partake of the contents.
Jagged steam rose from her cup, collected from his hand in her shaking pair. He shifted to his knees, resting his back on his feet. The tea he sipped slowly, golden eyes watching her.
She looked to the brownish liquid. Yellow? It smelled pleasant enough. She ventured a sip. He hadn't gone to all this trouble to poison her now, not with the arsenal strapped to his body, with the deadly force she knew him capable of.
Warmth spread from her throat, through her torso, to her limbs. Her head immediately felt fuzzy, heavy. Her brow furrowed. Wrong.
"Arbiter, you made it too strong."
"Apologies, Operator. I am used to making it for you."
A grunt escaped the creature before her. He extended a hand to take the tea from her. She smiled to him. His eyebrows lifted, the cup recovered from her just the same.
"You're just like that monster, aren't you?" Her voice found her ears, but it sounded wrong.
He took a slow breath and stood. "I have chosen a different path." The cups, both still steaming, returned to whence they came.
Her body relaxed slowly, limbs and eyelids heavy. "You're going to kill me just the same."
Golden eyes fell to her. "We have a contract. To ensure your safety."
She wanted to stay awake, alert. She had to protect herself. The Eximus module beeped again. "Please… I just wanted… to make sure my… family was safe. The Corpus offered… some good money…"
He moved closer. "Hush now, Lucine. You will be safe. The contract is law."
She laughed once. "What is Law to a God?" Her eyes closed.
"Arbiter, open the incuba-"