I grumbled as the wristwatch on my arm vibrated again. It had been going off like a mother since I'd climbed into the ventilation shaft back at the Vault. I breathed in here and that was practically enough for it to go off. The space was too confined for the proximity sensor to cope with.

"Make a left up ahead," Chi directed me and I shimmied a little farther.

''You think you could turn that off until I get out of the vents?'' I asked. Feeling no more vibrations, I assumed he got it.

I was still mad the Counsellor suggested I was claustrophobic. Not only did I spend most of my time when shit like this happened squeezing myself into the safety of enclosed spaces, but I was busting out of that room for the pleasure of scooting through even smaller vents. Psht, claustrophobic.

Despite these being ventilation shafts, I was sweating out all the water I'd drank in the Vault and then some. It was warm, I'm assuming because without the power from the generator, there was nothing to push the temperature controlled air around the ship. The backup generators would be running life support, but I imagine the comfort settings only came with full power. On the bright side, the sweat was making it easier to glide forward in the man sized tube.

Chi let out a warning beep when I got close to the grate and I slammed my fists into it until it made a creaking noise and gave way, bouncing onto the floor. I started pushing myself out the hole before I heard yells of ''What was that?'' and ''Check that room''.

''Shit,'' I whispered to myself and gabbed Chi and the vent cover and scooted back into the vents. I tugged the vent cover back on and pushed myself and Chi as far back as I could in the vent shaft, hoping they wouldn't check here and if they did, I was far enough back they wouldn't be able to see me. If they could, they wouldn't be able to get to me, and I imagine, would resort to shooting me and leaving my corpse to stink up the recycled air.

I listened to the sound of footsteps sweeping the generator room and set my mind to counting them. How many of them were there? It switched between sounding like two and three sets of footsteps. I could definitely hear two sets, but it sounded like someone was pacing nearby. I waited until I heard someone call out a ''Clear,'' and scooted forward again. I caught the door whooshing closed and waited a few before Chi gave me the confirmation I should be safe enough to climb out. I honestly didn't know if those soldiers were ours or the invaders but my blind ass didn't want to find out. Also, our guys were meant to be trapped miles from the generator room.

''Chi can you get a message to York for me?''

''Uh, I can probably contact Delta, what did you want me to tell him?'' Chi asked.

''He said he'd find me when all of this was over, if those guys weren't ours, I want to make sure someone besides the Director and the Counsellor knows where I am,'' I said. ''Tell him I'm in the generator room right now trying to repair it and once the doors open, if he wants to find me this is where I'll be.''

''I thought you planned on crawling back to the vault,'' he said.

''I will and you can send another message then, but if those guys aren't ours, I might not make it to the vents,'' I explained. ''Actually, feel free to contact Theta and North too. Spread the word to all our friends you can get ahold of.''

''You got it boss,'' he replied and pushed the grate back open. I walked with my arms out, hoping Chi remembered to turn my watch back on or else I'd eventually slam into something in front of me and I was walking with such faith it would likely hurt. My wrist started buzzing and I put my hand down on a rounded surface. I felt warm glass under my palm and hummed.

''Alright, can you scan this and tell me what's stopping it from working?'' I asked.

''Looks like you were right,'' he told me. ''There's some debris blocking the components from spinning in the internal chamber. There's an access hatch at floor height round to your right. If you remove it, you should just be able to start the restart sequence on the control board and we'll have power again.''

''Sick,'' I said and walked around the side until Chi beeped at me. I squatted and reached out with my hand, feeling the rounded metal until I found something that felt like a door release. I knew two things about this generator, it was fucking big and it was half glass half metal. Who needs the ability to see? I was doing just fine.

''Alright, how far in is the debris? Or do I have to figure that one out on my own?'' I asked and he chuckled.

''About a half a metre or so,'' he told me and I leaned in until my waist, feeling around until I grabbed what felt like broken pieces of an office chair. I scoffed, they really had just thrown shit into the generator to stop it. I told them nothing had changed.

I grabbed the bigger, freer pieces first and yanked them all out. The backrest, the 'L' shaped metal bar connecting it to the seat, the seat and the gas chamber that made the seat adjustable. The trouble was the legs. It had snapped in half and the two pieces were really jammed under the generator's spinning blades. Thankfully, from touching them briefly they appeared to be blunt so I could lean against it with my other hand to yank the pieces free.

It took about the minutes of struggling before I could get the first piece free and I was sweating more than I had been before. More lubrication for the vents, I guessed. I tossed the broken half section of wheels with the rest and crawled back into the generator to get what should be the last piece of debris. I grabbed it and yanked as hard as I could. It pulled the blade closer to me and I had to scoot back out of the generator and onto the floor. Tugging and wiggling the pieces seemed to only bring the blades back towards me leading me to assume it only spun one way. I bit my lip, frustratedly furrowing my brow as I tried to get this damn piece of shit out. With my luck by the time I got this free the soldiers on this ship would have busted through the doors in time to repair this themselves.

There was a sudden jolt and I was able to tug the piece free, finally. I put my free hand down on the base of the generator floor and used it to push myself backwards out of the access hatch. I heard a whirring creak and felt the whoosh of air from the blade hitting me in the back, blowing my hair behind me, without a second to panic I felt my arm slide under the blade of the fan and heard a sickening crunch. Of course the fan spun both ways. There was a moment free of any pain while my brain caught up with what had just happened before all the agony came flooding in at once and I barely registered the sound of my own screams. I had tears flooding down my face as I tried to calm myself down, knowing the soldiers who had swept the room earlier were undoubtedly nearby and could come back at any second.

''Chi, any idea how long until those soldiers come back?'' I asked, biting down hard on the collar of my t-shirt as I tried to wiggle my arm free.

''Not long I'd say, they're trapped in this section of the ship with us,'' he told me.

''Do I have time to get back to the vent shaft before they get here?'' I asked and he made a distressed beeping noise.

''No, you've got to hide somewhere here,'' he told me.

I lifted myself out of the access hatch and closed the door behind me. I moved over to where he said the control panel for the generator was, hoping to hide myself near it so I could repair it easily and just wait for York to rescue me and take me to the medbay. No way I was crawling through half an hour's worth of vents with a broken arm. Not if I had a choice. On my way I tripped over something and beant down, picking it up with the same arm I was using to hold Chi.

''What is this?'' I asked just as Chi muttered a ''Fuck''.

''That's the control switches for restarting the generator,'' he told me and then I swore. ''Without that we can't get this up and running.''

''How do we attach it?'' I asked.

''You just need to reconnect the wires, there should be a repair kit in that desk over there along with some electrical tape,'' he told me.

''You think I could hide in that desk?'' I asked and made my way over. I scooted under the desk, hiding in between two sets of drawers, hoping the darkness from the emergency lighting I'd been imagining was enough to shield me from view while I was in here.

''I'm telling you I heard a woman screaming,'' one of the guys from earlier said as the door whooshed open.

''And I'm telling you we swept this room twice, it's just wishful thinking,'' the other replied.

''Why would I be wanting to hear the sound of a woman screaming?'' the first one said.

''Bro,'' the second replied and I could practically hear him shaking his head.

I held my breath as they walked closer and clutched Chi and the generator control piece tightly to my chest. I was shaking with both fear and pain now and I just wanted to go home. To be back home at my apartment in Missouri, with the alley cat that would brush up against my legs when I got back for the day, just asking for a little attention. I never asked for this. I was content in my life just working, sleeping and repeating.

I know I now had York. I had friends, I had Chi. I had everything here that I didn't have back there, but that was all meaningless if I died here. I wasn't a soldier, I wasn't brave, I was a scientist. A desk jockey. That's what I was good at. I didn't belong here. What the hell was I thinking? Sneaking into places, saving the day, fighting bad guys? That was the others's thing.

I heard the footsteps head towards the door, it whoosh open, and them leave again. The door closed and I just stayed under the desk, silently sobbing with Chi in my arms. My arm hurt so bad. I knew I needed to continue, but I didn't know if I could. How could I have thought I could do this? That this was a good idea? For fucks sake I was blind.

''Marisa, M, are you going to move?'' Chi asked. ''M, we don't have a lot of time before they probably come back, please you gotta do something.. Marisa please..''

''It hurts so bad, Chi,'' I whimpered.

''Marisa, I need you to do this, or to crawl back to the vents,'' he told me. ''We can't stay here or they'll come back and hurt you. I can't protect us, I can't protect you. Please, you gotta move.''

''I can't,'' I cried out, clutching him closer.

''Yes you can,'' he told me. ''You can, and you're going to. You've gotta get up and go over to that control panel and reattach this section. I know you can do it. I know it.''

I cried out and scooted across the floor on my ass, putting the control piece on the ground next to the drawers while I searched for the repairbox Chi said was here. Eventually I found it and carried it and the electric tape over to where I'd dumped Chi and the piece. I had to one hand them all into the box and tuck it under my arm to manage to carry it over to the panel.

Chi was right, at least that I just had to reconnect the wires. I was able to mesh the broken pieces back together and electric tape them till they were secure, hoping that someone who actually did know how to repair this thing could come down later and fix this properly. Till then I could get the doors back open, hopefully. I had to tape the control piece onto the panel as well as it no longer just slotted into the hole. It was sporting some weird, bent out of shape bits and warping like it had been hit by something. I know it had been, that was how I imagined, they'd managed to get it off in the first place.

''Okay, now you just have to set up system reset,'' he said. ''If you can just press the buttons on, I can handle the software stuff.''

''Fuck, Chi, this hurts so bad,'' I told him. My arm had swollen up and when I was brave enough to touch it, none of the bones were where they belonged. There were lumps protruding up out of the skin where they shouldn't be and some tears in the skin.

''I know M, but we're nearly there,'' he encouraged. ''Not long now, just a few buttons. I'm going to need you to put in a code..''

''I got it,'' I said, reaching up to press the system restart button.

''Shit, they're coming back,'' Chi told me and I started frantically pressing the buttons he'd told me to press. ''It's too bright to hide under the desk!''

''Is there anywhere else to hide?'' I asked.

''There's a cabinet by the vent shaft you came in,'' he told me and I took off in a run, stopping when I thought I got close to the vent. He directed me to my right and I did the electric slide across the floor until I found the cabinet he was speaking about. I ducked behind it and clutched myself and Chi close, trying not to put any pressure on my aching arm. I steadied my breathing now I was practically wetting myself with fear.

''I told you there was someone in here, how else do you explain the generator coming back on,'' the soldier who kept getting everyone to come back in here said.

''Alright alright, but I don't think you heard a woman screaming, why would some engineer repairing the generator be screaming, wouldn't that alert us to their presence?'' the other replied.

''What are you two doing back in here?'' a third voice demanded. I knew I heard three sets of footsteps.

''Generator turned back on, boss, which means someone was in here repairing it,'' the first guy explained.

''Well then hadn't you better be out looking for them?'' asked their superior.

''We were just going to sweep the room, sir, they could still be here,'' the second guy explained.

''Why would they just hang around, if they were turning on the generator which would alert us to their presence, they're not just going to sit around and wait for us to discover them,'' their superior told them. ''No, now go sweep the rest of the section.''

''But..'' the first guy said.

''Now,'' he demanded. I heard two sets of footsteps leave but the door stayed open and the third set didn't follow. I shook as I pressed myself up against the wall. He was still here. Why?

I took slow breaths, I couldn't risk making any noise, even though I was fighting off the sudden urge to hyperventilate. My pulse hammered in my ears. I couldn't even speak to tell Chi to send a message to York to help me. Not that he could do much, I imagined the power had only just come back on, meaning he'd have to travel through half the ship to find me. And he ran the risk of running into more soldiers like the ones I had and had to fight them off.

I shook as I held Chi, despite the adrenalin I could still feel the ache in my arm and the subsequent nausea from my injuries. I wanted to cry out with the pain, to hurl my lunch and I wanted to go home, or even crawl back to the Vault with the Director and the Counsellor. But unfortunately I could do little more than sit and pray.

I heard a set of footsteps start at the doorway and make their way towards the generator. I made up my mind, if I didn't move, I'd be caught for sure. I had Chi on me and I wanted to keep it that way but I had a sudden moment of fear. What would the enemy do if they got their hands on a portable AI. I'd been warned not to leave Chi unattended at any point, and spoken about how invaluable he was. I could not afford to lose him.

I pushed myself up off the ground and slowly crept around the cabinet, feeling along the wall for the vent. I ran my fingers across the grate and discovered the gaps between the metal bars were definitely big enough. I nodded to myself, I would be okay but I needed to protect Chi. I slipped the very thin, cheeseboard sized device through the grate and lowered it to the bottom of the shaft slowly so it wouldn't make a sound. This had better work.

I stood low, breaking off in the quietest run I could, thankful my bare feet on the metal ship floor made quiet footsteps. I thanked my lucky stars the other set of footsteps in the room continued to get fainter as I got closer to the door. My proximity sensor went off when I got close and I used it to steer around it and head straight into the hallway. Getting confident I surged forward, running down a hallway and round a corner. I ran my non broken arm along the wall as I ran, hoping to find another little alcove to hide in like I had when Wash encountered that guy.

My fingers made contact and I threw myself into the space, ducking down small hoping I was hidden enough but unsure where I was. I wished I hadn't hidden Chi away but I needed to keep him safe. I shivered, not only did I feel sick, I felt freezing. I hoped Chi was able to get York or someone a message and let them know there had been complications in my plan. My proximity sensor would give Chi information of where I was in relation to the ship's schematics but unfortunately, because I wasn't with him I had absolutely no clue where I was or what was going on.

There was something that was so terrifying about going through all of this without Chi, I had no idea how much I'd grown to depend on him until I didn't have him anymore. I shivered again and wished I'd never left my spot in the Vault. I just didn't want people to die. I wanted to help people, the whole reason I'd signed up, the reason I was in medical robotics rather than just robotics making cool killer robots with sawblades and shit.

I tensed up, I could hear someone approaching. I didn't have anything but myself to cling to. I didn't know how bright or dark it was, or if I was even hidden. I didn't know if I should move or if I should stay, all I did know is that I was frozen. I could feel silent tears streaming down my cheeks. I didn't want to be here.

''Hey, you, small child. Come out of there immediately," I heard a deep voice say. Small child? Was someone else nearby? I shivered heavily. I couldn't stop shaking. I knew I should jump out if there was a kid nearby, have them take me instead but I had no idea where they even were.

"Are you listening to me? Come out of there!" the deep voice called again. It seemed closer almost.

Suddenly I felt a hand grasp around my wrist and I let out an agonised scream. Oh shit the kid is me! I guess compared to the 7ft genetic freaks I was surrounded by, I was about the size of a child.

''You're not a kid..'' they said and I sobbed. My forearm burned. If possible I was shaking more and sure I was going to throw up.

''Please, my arm, it's broken,'' I choked out. I felt their grip losen and switch to holding me further up.

''Alright, who are you, identify yourself,'' they said. I didn't want to say, if they found out I was useful they might use me against the ship but if they thought I was useless there was nothing stopping them from killing me.

''I'm Marisa,'' I replied. I kept it vague, trying not to give out too many details like my last name.

''Marisa who? What do you do here? Are you a soldier?'' they asked and I shook my head.

''I don't work here,'' I said. I knew I was technically a scientist but, again, I figured the less I said the better. It was probably a bit much to explain I was a time traveler from the past.

''I have a head injury that caused me to go blind, I'm currently being escorted on this ship to the nearest medical care that can assist," I answered. "I can't see anything, I can't see you or where I am aboard this ship."

''Are you a soldier? Why would they be taking you elsewhere for treatment?'' he asked.

''I'm not a soldier, I got injured in front of them that's all,'' I said. That part was technically true. ''I don't know why they're helping me, I'm just grateful.''

''Why are you down here, shouldn't you be in your room instead of all the way in the lower decks of the ship? How did you get down here if you're blind!?'' he demanded, shaking me a little when I didn't respond right away. ''Answer me.''

''I..''

''Hey!'' I heard another voice call, sounded like one of the ones from earlier. Fuck. ''Lieutenant Smith!''

''I've got someone over here,'' my guy, I guess Lieutenant Smith, called back. ''Some midget with a broken arm, claiming to be blind.''

''You can't just call people midgets,'' I scolded before I knew what was coming out of my mouth. I heard a snort above me.

''That's what you took issue with?'' he said.

''I have a proximity sensor on my wrist, it lets me know when I'm getting too close to walls or objects, you can take it off and feel for yourself if you want. I got lost, that's why I'm down here,'' I explained.

''Someone turned the generator back on,'' the other guy said as he got closer.

''You think it was her?'' Smith asked.

''She does have a broken arm, you ask why?'' the one from earlier asked.

''Why's your arm broken?'' Smith asked, shaking me a little when I didn't respond right away.

''I tripped and fell, I'm blind and I didn't see what I tripped on,'' I explained.

''This is all very convenient,'' he said.

''You wanna test to see if I'm blind? Who lies about that kind of thing?'' I asked. ''If you don't believe me you'll be able to feel, even see the scars on the back of my head from the craniectomy.''

''Forget it, let's take her back to the CO and see what he thinks,'' the one from earlier said.

''Man, I don't wanna talk to Moore,'' my guy said. ''He's such an asshole.''

''You don't have to sweep with him, Lieu,'' the one from earlier said. ''Think yourself lucky you're not being babysat.''

''Get good then,'' Smith chuckled. I shook in Smith's hold. He was holding me up fairly high, my toes barely touching the ground, assuring me this guy was decently tall. ''Alright, let's find an empty room, maybe get this girl to talk a little more.''

''What?'' I stuttered out. I started trying to get him to give up his grip on my bicep. After a few minutes of futile clawing he slapped my hand away.

''Unless you wanna admit anything, sweetie, behave yourself,'' Smith told me and the two of them quick marched towards a nearby room. I struggled but my feet barely touched the ground at the best of times and right now I was having a lot of bad times.

York POV

''York, I'm reading a message from Chi,'' Delta said while I swept the nearby room. So far, I hadn't run into anyone since the doors closed. Maybe there wasn't anyone in my section. Well, besides the ones I'd dealt with just before everything shut down. It was dark, and I thanked my lucky stars my assault rifle had a light on it as well, as the ones on my helmet didn't do jack.

''What's Marisa want? If she's contacting me right now it must be serious,'' I replied, finding another door to try open. It was unlikely to work without the power, but infiltration was kinda my specialty.

''She's asked her AI companion to let yourself, and other nearby freelancers she's made her way through the ventilation shaft to the generator room and is starting system repairs,'' Delta told me and I swore.

''What?! She's where!'' My heart hammered against my ribcage. I locked her in the Vault, she was supposed to be safe. Why the fuck did she leave?

''York, I'm detecting increased heart rate, is everything alright?'' Delta asked and I tried to calm my breathing down. ''Heart rate activity going down.''

''Alright, have Chi give me updates as often as possible,'' I told him.

''And what are you going to be doing?'' he returned and I shook my head.

''I'm going to try and get there to help her,'' I explained and started trying to kick the door open. I pressed a finger to the button on the side of my helmet, putting out a broadcast to my team. ''Guys, Marisa's in the generator room.''

''What? Why? I put her in the Vault with the Director. Why the fuck did she leave?'' Came Wash's immediate response.

''Apparently, she decided to make her way through the vents, doesn't seem like an order or the Director would have told us,'' I replied.

''Alright, looks like I'm the closest,'' North replied. ''I'll see if there's any way I can leave my section. It's the only one without one of us inside unless South managed to make it before the doors shut.''

''Sorry bro, I got there just as, I'm on the other side of the wall. Section's clear though, as soon as those doors open I'm in there,'' South replied and I swore, kicking the door harder.

''Does anyone know what possessed Dr Holtz to venture through the vents in the first place?'' Carolina said. ''Anyone think they can fit in the vents and crawl through to her?''

''Not unless I strip off completely and even then it's only a maybe,'' South replied.

''And that would mean having to fight off any enemy soldiers in the buff,'' Wash added. Delta blinked in my field of vision when I slammed my foot into the metal enough to make a small gap. Still not enough to push through. I listened to what he said.

''Apparently she's cleared the debris from the fan but the control panel's been broken off and there's enemy soldiers sweeping the room,'' I repeated what Delta just told me.

''Fuck,'' Wash radioed back and I busted through the door and started running as fast as my suit would let me through the section. ''Do you think I can get fired for this?''

''Wash!'' I yelled back and ran into a team of three soldiers. They looked low level and proved to be as they were easily defeated.

''Nah,'' South replied. ''You put her in the Vault, that's your part done. If she then decides to leave, that's someone else's problem.''

''Is she even armed?'' North asked. ''Last I checked, Marisa really wasn't the fighting type.''

''Isn't your friend blind? What good is a weapon going to be?'' South asked. I had to agree but at the same time, I did wish she had some kind of protection.

''Delta says no and she's also broken her arm somehow,'' I reported back.

''Fuck,'' Carolina swore. I'm glad someone else was taking this whole thing seriously. ''Has she gotten the system restarted yet? As soon as those doors open I can get my speed unit going and get to her but until then she's going to need to hide. What the hell is wrong with your girlfriend?''

''Wait, she's your girlfriend?'' North asked. ''Man, congratulations, why didn't you tell me?''

''Not really the time, North, also Carolina how did you know?'' I asked. I came to another door and groaned. Why was this damn ship so secure?

''Sorry, were you not wanting it out yet?'' she teased. ''Walked into the locker room one time to see you two making out, I figured you had a thing going.''

''Marisa's right, you do have assassin footsteps,'' I replied, kicking the next door.

''So does this mean I'm no longer sworn to secrecy?'' Wash asked.

''It's probably best the whole ship doesn't know, but yeah, I guess we're out,'' I replied. ''If she lives.''

''Morbid,'' South said with a chuckle.