MEMORY MONSTER
After watching Gemma's depression in the quarantine room, Cat and Kochanski walked to the Drive Room in silence, hoping that Kryten had managed to find something that would help them fight a small monster no one had seen. When they got there, they nodded at Kryten, who was holding a piece of paper, and trying not to look excited, and Lister, who still looked shell shocked from his brush with Rimmer.
"Why are we still trying to find this thing from the pod? Maybe your daughter and the idiot have just cracked." Cat complained.
"I found a mission statement in the pod." Kryten said.
"What does it say?" Kochanski asked.
"It says that the thing inside was a new type of warrior designed to hide from the enemy. It was made not to be picked up on any sort of bio scan."
"That explains why Holly couldn't find any life signs after it arrived." Lister guessed, getting more interested.
"Right, once it could sense people, it somehow concealed itself." Kochanski added, getting a picture of what they were fighting.
"Whenever it finds a victim, it bites, and makes the enemy soldiers turn on each other." Kryten explained.
"So that's what made those two attack you?" asked Cat, finally getting the idea.
"But why did Gemma attack Kris and Rimmer attack me?" Lister wanted to know.
"It sounds like it brings hate to the surface, increasing it until you want to kill." Kochanski guessed.
"I don't think it's hate, but a far more subtle emotion; resentment. Miss Gemma does not hate Miss Kochanski anymore, and Mr. Rimmer does not hate Mr. Lister." Kryten had spent the last half hour trying to work out how to explain these concepts, but the rest of the crew were getting the gist of things far quicker than he had imagined.
"I wouldn't bet on that. Remember when Lister was nearly force fed his own dirty sock pile a few days ago?" Cat pointed out, trying not to laugh at the memory.
"All I did was suggest that Napoleon may have worn women's underwear. He did wear those tights. But anyway, Kryten, you said it was some kind of warrior. What good is a warrior that doesn't actually kill anything?" Lister asked.
"Think about it. This monster makes people attack their own army, their own side. There would be no need to send in any troops, the enemy would kill themselves."
"And when they are separated from their target, they get depressed. Either way the troops would become useless." Holly appeared on the monitor, having just returned from the quarantine lab, where he had worked out why Gemma was depressed.
"Exactly." Kryten answered, feeling his elation drop now that everyone knew what was going on. He had enjoyed being the only one who understood it.
"So why was it shot into space? The thing seems like a nice idea to me." Lister added.
"The monster could not be controlled. The scientists who developed it were themselves bitten, and killed each other." Kryten supplied.
Cat got up from his seat and wandered towards the door, getting bored with the conversation.
"I want to go for a bath; the smell of my shower gel is starting to fade."
Kochanksi ran over and blocked his way to the door.
"You won't go anywhere until we've found a way to kill it."
"Shouldn't we separate, then there's no chance of us killing each other. I can't think of anyone I resent anyway, so I'll go see if I can lure it away from here so you can get out." Lister wanted to clear out Rimmer's things in case he never recovered, and he was hungry.
Kryten stood up and walked towards the door to block Lister.
"I think it would be a better idea if I go, sir. Mechanoids may be immune to the bite, and I am not programmed to harbour any negative feelings."
Lister agreed that sending Kryten would make more sense, but life was never that simple anymore, and Kryten was the smartest member of the crew. If they lost him, he didn't see what chance they would have with him, a navigation officer and a self centred moggy.
Kryten slowly walked along the corridors holding a bazookoid and a bio scan. He hoped that since he was not organic, the monster would not conceal itself around him. He heard Lister talking to him through his communicator.
"How you doing Kryten?"
"No signs of anything sir. That may be because it's not here, or that it considers me a victim and has concealed itself. There's no way of knowing which."
"Oh great. Just keep your eyes peeled."
"Yes sir."
Kryten wished Lister didn't sound so disheartened; it made him think even the terminally optimistic Liverpudlian had given up hope.
As he continued down the corridor, Kryten heard a snuffling noise behind him. He turned round, knowing he wouldn't see anything, and dreading what could happen. He felt a slight nip in his ankle joint, signalling that he had been bitten like the others. He fell against the wall, trying to block the memory the monster was forcing him to replay, but in his head rather than out loud.
"Sirs, I've been bitten. It appears that I am stronger than humans, but I can still feel my memory banks processing, which means it has found something it can use, but is taking longer. It's breaking through my memory block…I'm sorry sirs, I've failed you."
Kochanski spoke over the communicator.
"Try to fight it Kryten, this may be our only chance to kill it."
But it was too late. Kryten felt his files corrupting, forcing him to replay a memory in his head. He didn't feel angry, he felt hatred, the resentment growing until he felt the strongest urge to kill he had ever felt. He collapsed and felt the hatred fading to nothing, before he felt depressed. He had skipped a stage, and now all he wanted to do was curl up in a corner and shut himself down.
"Kryten? Kryten are you OK?" Lister's voice came through a mist of depression. Kryten forced himself to stand up and dragged himself in the direction of quarantine, sobbing loudly.
"Miss Kochanski will take you away from me, I know she will. She has all those in and out bits that are so popular with human males. I'm going to wallow in self pity in the quarantine deck, sir. Try to find a way to kill the monster, and keep Miss Perfect Body Kochanski out of my way."
Back in the Drive Room, Kochanski, Lister and Cat stared at each other, feeling the hope drain away like dirty water down a drain.
"Smeg!! I thought mechanoids would be safe, the monster was meant for human battles." Lister said, kicking the console then hopping around the room nursing what felt like a broken toe.
"I guess it was made for battles against simulants as well." Kochanski mumbled, staring into space.
"Then why didn't he relive the memory like the other two?" Cat asked.
"I expect since he was alone, it wasn't needed. Or the way his brain works meant the monster was forcing the memory to replay inside his head." Holly guessed, wondering how he would survive alone again once the crew had been turned into manic depressives. He wondered whether Talkie Toaster was still on the ship and in one piece.
Kochanski started to get over the shock and tried to think of a way they could fight the monster.
"It looks like our only chance is to send out someone who doesn't resent any other member of the crew."
"That counts me out." Lister replied. He still resented Kochanski a little for dumping him and going back to Tim. If it wasn't for her, he would be happily wandering around in heaven, having died in the accident instead of buying Frankenstein and getting himself stuck in stasis.
"Me too." Kochanski admitted. She hadn't forgiven Lister for losing the linkway to get her back to her own dimension, and her own Lister, where she had been happy.
Cat thought about whether he resented either of the other two, but couldn't think of anything.
"The only thing I resent is this little monster thing. Do you realise that I have missed two naps, a shower and a meal thanks to this mosquito on a power trip? And I still haven't found my leg wax!"
The other two took a few seconds to register what Cat had said. They turned to him, wondering if he realised what this meant for the crew.
"Why didn't you tell us before?" Lister practically yelled.
"About my leg wax? I did!"
"No, about you resenting this thing we're fighting. You can kill it." Kochanski replied. Lister was already reaching for the last bazookoid and communicator and thrusting them in Cat's direction.
"Hey, I am not getting any stains on this suit. I just made this suit and it's my new favourite suit." Cat tried to refuse the things Lister was giving him, and didn't notice the communicator being slipped into his pocket.
"If you get bitten, you'll be able to kill the monster. Don't you see you are our only chance of fighting it?" Lister insisted, throwing the weapon into the corridor as Kochanski pushed the protesting feline towards the door.
"I'm your last chance? You're doomed buddy!" Cat replied, but he had already been forced into the corridor and the door locked behind him, stranding him in the corridor with nothing but a bazzokoid for company.
"Hey, let me in!"
"We will once you've killed it." Lister voice came through from the other side of the door, in the safety of the Drive Room.
"There goes your Christmas card." Cat mumbled as he picked up the weapon and stalked off down the corridor, liking the day less by the minute.
"I can't believe they did this to me. I got a good mind just to go for that shower anyway. They won't catch me."
Cat jumped as Kochanski's voice came from his pocket.
"Yes we will Cat, we gave you a communicator."
"Nuts."
Cat heard a scuffling from behind him and turned round to face the monster, knowing what would happen. He felt a bite on his ankle and collapsed, feeling the growing resentment turn to hate, and fury.
"The only thing I resent is this little monster thing. Do you realise that I have missed two naps, a shower and a meal thanks to this mosquito on a power trip? And I still haven't found my leg wax!"
Cat sniffed the air, then knelt down and followed a trail round the corner, leaving his weapon behind, and found himself face to face with what looked like a large white rat with grey eyes, and small teeth. It moved stiffly, as if it was a mechanoid, but was warm like an organic form. Cat crept up behind it silently and pounced, grabbing the rat by its long tail. He stood up and threw the rat against the wall, and it fell to the ground, stunned. He picked it up again and ran down the corridor back to the Drive Room.
When Lister saw Cat running down the corridor from the window in the door, he threw the switch to open the door and stood back. Cat ran in, hitting a huge rat against a console before stuffing it in a garbage disposal and flushing the thing into space. Instantly Cat slowed down, his angry look softened, and he stood still in the middle of the room, catching his breath. Cat came to his senses, realised what he had down, and started dancing round the room.
"I did it!! I killed the monster and saved the ship!!"
"Well done, Cat. Now let's get down to quarantine and free the others."
"I'm on it babe. Cat has got you covered!"
The three remaining crew wandered down to quarantine, Cat swaggering in front of the other two, checking the corridors before they got round them, feeling brave.
Kochanski went to the third room, where Kryten had locked himself, and opened the door. He stepped out to greet her, looking sheepish and embarrassed.
"Thank you Miss Kochanski. How can you ever forgive me?"
"Don't worry Kryten, I'll take it out on you later with high voltage electricity."
Lister walked to Gemma's room, and let her out.
"Thanks guys. Sorry I went a bit psycho on you there." Gemma was apologetic for the first time since she decided to stay with the mismatched group of space travellers.
"No problem, we'll take the mick out of you for a few years, you won't be apologising for long after that." replied Lister, feeling almost affectionate towards her.
"Lister, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"How did you feel about my mother?"
"I loved her for years. Still do in a way. And if she had told me she was pregnant, I would have left Red Dwarf, gone back to Earth and married her."
"Thanks. I kind of thought that's what you'd say."
Gemma had realised that Lister was a good guy who watched out for his friends and crew members, but that didn't explain why her mother had felt she couldn't tell him she was leaving the ship. Gemma had finally made peace with her mother, but the resentment she had felt had been replaced with a burning desire to find out why her father had never had the chance to know her growing up.
Lister and Gemma reached the room where Rimmer was being held, and Cat was preparing to let him out.
"You sure we have to let him out? Maybe we should give him another few years to cool off."
"Let him out Cat." Lister insisted.
"Oh all right, but don't say I didn't offer."
Cat opened the door, and Rimmer stepped out, holding one hand behind his back and glaring at Cat.
"It's about time. I only have one thing to say to you Cat."
"I am NOT going out on a date with you, no matter how gorgeous you think I am. And brave, now that I have saved your worthless butt."
"Not that. Thank you for saving the crew."
Kryten looked at the rest of the crew, resisting the urge to clean out his aural receptors.
"Did Mr. Rimmer just say thank you? Does that monster change a person's personality for good?"
Rimmer ignored Kryten and brought his hand out in front him, revealing a small jar.
"My leg wax!!" Cat cried.
"I found it in the shower cubicle in there."
"I must have showered there recently. Thanks man."
Cat grabbed the jar, then grabbed Rimmer in a hug, much to everyone's surprise and Rimmer's obvious disgust. Cat let go, then stepped away, realising what he had done.
"Uummm…pretend I didn't do that."
"Already forgotten. Not quite sure what you're talking about there, Cat."
"I got to go shower human odour away."
Cat scampered down the corridor to have a shower to end all showers, and maybe a brain scan.
The rest of the crew watched him go, chuckling at his display of affection for Rimmer. Gemma turned to face them.
"I just want to apologise. Sorry I've been such a bitch to you since I arrived."
Lister was now beginning to wonder what affects the monster had on people as Gemma continued, obviously uncomfortable.
"I've been blaming you lot for all my problems, but you had nothing to do with them. I'm sorry I didn't try to fit in, and promise I'll try to be friendly. Friendlier anyway, and helpful."
Kochanski smiled at the girl in front of her, realising that the memory had done more than bring out deep buried resentment in her.
"Don't worry about it, Gemma, I understand your reaction to Lister, god knows mine was similar."
"And people often want to skewer Mr. Rimmer when they first meet him." Kryten piped up, ignoring the murderous look directed at him.
"Yeah, we all look out for each other around here, even the ones we don't get on with. That's part of being a crew member." Lister grinned.
Gemma grinned back, feeling more and more content with her situation.
"So I'm a Dwarfer?"
"Absolutely." Lister replied.
"Yep, you're one of us now, so you're doomed." Rimmer added.
"Thanks."
Gemma walked back to the nearest bar for a well deserved drink, feeling truly wanted and part of a family for the first time in her life. No matter what happened in the future, this band of social outcasts and misfits would be her family, and she would do anything to protect them and help them get back to Earth.
Thanks to everyone who read my stories, I hope you've enjoyed them. There are still one or two scripts that haven't been covered, and a few ideas I haven't finished with yet, so I hope to write more in the not too distant future.