Silence Hurts More than Sound

by ReDNARen

You've never been in a situation that allowed you to understand just how far fear can go. You were bred for the sake of greed and the technology, for the superiority that comes with it. You succeeded where others didn't, and it often makes you wonder what there is to be afraid of. Or, at least it did. That was before. (Corpus Second Person POV Genfic)

You never realized just how horrible silence is until its presence pollutes your senses. No chitters from nearby consoles, no buzzing from the cameras as they turn their lenses left to right, no footsteps or breaths or heartbeats, just endless nothing and it hurts more than any sound could. You'd take a dozen screams or a thousand gunshots over the inhibition. You aren't even given the slightest amount of time to figure out just why it's happening before things get even worse. There's a twitching under the heels of your boots, and while it starts with small vibrations, soon the entire ship is shaking around you and you're knocked off your feet. You can't hear the sounds that must be following, but the trembles rake through your brain as though they can split it in two. It feels as though the ship is being torn apart, crumbling at the seams with you stuck in the center, moments away from being sucked into space.

The other Corpus appear just as bewildered, no more informed on what's happening than you are. You look through the throng of crewmen to see different sets of hands clutching at helmets, at walls, a few of them even at each other. It's a heavy dose of mindfuckery, and you've all been force fed beyond your limits. There's bound to be screaming, maybe even the blare of alarms, but you've yet to find a cure for your newfound deafness and have no idea if recovery is even possible. You don't know how far the attack has stretched, or if there's anyone left on board the ship that can hear whether or not any of those alarms are in fact active.

It's difficult to find your focus in all the confusion, but you blink through the pain and look beyond the crowd of your comrades at the shadow marking the wall. With what appears to be a lengthy crest settled atop its head, it seems more alien to you than you imagined it would. It rounds the corner before you have a chance to move from your knees, its faceless head highlighted with Orokin gold turning in your direction. Even though you sit at the back of your group, you can feel it staring you down. Suddenly you feel alone, shrunken where you kneel. Is this vulnerability? Your first instinct should be to move and assault the invader; to defend your ship, yourself, and your wealth, but your muscles are noncompliant. It quickly becomes a question of whether or not that's for the best.

You aren't entirely sure how long you've been frozen in place by this mad killing machine, but it is movement in your peripherals that causes your gaze to break away. You only now notice that some of your fellows have recovered from their initial stun, frantic to find the cause of their unexpected deafness. One of them turns toward your assailant, and that's all it takes to set it off.

Faster than the crewman can lift his gun, it has already thrown up a hand. Just like that you find yourself soaring through the air beside your comrades, and very quickly realize just how much force was behind the sonic shockwave when your back makes a collision with the wall. As soon as you hit the floor you can feel a pain in your abdomen and higher above in your chest that comes with a difficulty in breathing. Your ribs must be cracked, and your lung possibly punctured. Beside you, you see one of your fellows with his helmet caved in, blood easing out of the clefts indubitably caused by his closer proximity to the frame when it attacked. You realize just how easily that could have been you, and your palms enclose into fists to still themselves from their shaking. That thing hasn't left, and you're still in danger.

You're feeling it, now. The fear. The warframe seems to taste it.

It steps forward, fingers woven across the grip of its Euphona Prime while appearing painted at their tips, like some kind of a mockery manicure. You aren't sure whether the touch of something more human on its casing makes it easier to look at, or worse. It pulls the trigger when the barrel aligns with one of your crewmen attempting to lift himself into a sit. Another Corpus paws at the ground, hands reaching for the gun he must have lost when the shockwave hit. The warframe doesn't even look down as it passes, gun realigning for another execution. You still can't hear the sound as it fires, but the resulting splash of red makes you wince as though you had.

The tightening of your already enclosed fist that occurs in response reminds you that you've lost your own weapon, but find your eyes too strongly rooted on the approaching figure to seek it out. You know this won't make you safe. You know your chances of survival are low whether you can rearm yourself or not, and you aren't entirely sure what to do with that information. Your heart rate is pounding through the roof, silent but vibrating faster with every step your enemy takes. You feel like a ticking timebomb nearing detonation, with the catch being you're the only one who'll get caught in the blast.

You watch the gun as it's raised to your head, and wonder about all the numbers in the probability of it being your ship to get boarded. You think about all the times you've considered a transfer, and why you never bothered to carry through. You think of closing your eyes, but something in you doesn't allow it. You're not sure if it's the fear or some kind of morbid curiosity, or maybe you're just entranced.

Its neck twitches, and you forget to breathe.

It moves its head into a tilt, the empty expanse of its face no longer directing itself at you but off to one side, as though listening for something. It's only a few moments that pass, but to you it seems they edge on forever. You blink, and a brush of cool air rolls over you as it leaps down a separate corridor, leaving you where you lie.

Sound floods back in an instant, making you clutch at your ears. Everything seems too loud now, too clear; it's both relieving and painful at the same time. There are voices over your comms. You can hear the chatter, as equally confused as you are. It must have bypassed them the way it chose to do you. The sounds don't keep your attention for long as you focus on the stillness around you, on the surrounding aisles of bodies you almost became a part of.

You don't know where that thing is going. You're too terrified to try finding out.