2020 Fallenclan Holiday Handouts

by FallenClanrp

For the past month or so, the hugely talented writers of Fallenclan have been chipping away at their stories for our fellow writers, eager to give in the festive spirit. This is the result! So settle down with a cup of hot cocoa, and start to guess at who might have who! Enjoy, everyone, and happy holidays.

1. For Bailey

For Bailey;

Among Us AU

an: right this took quite a piece of me lol. But well, the result- I am pretty happy with it. Anyways,,

Merry Christmas Bailey! This one goes out for you, even though I believe there's not too much of your criteria in here oops

enjoy readingggg

TW; blood, gore, death, um yeah

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scared I'll die of uncertainty, fear might be the death of me

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0957 hours; 11/10/t23OI8; Polus station

It wasn't his first assignment. He had been on multiple ones before, never staying for long, never staying in contact afterwards. He was prepared to get back home after three more missions, but his plans had changed when he had heard, from Communications room, the only slightly apologetic voice of the broadcaster on the other end, that his- whatever she was- had been- to him, was dead. His mother, or grandmother, or simply a place to stay while he didn't have a home. She was dead, and Otis didn't have anyone to come home to.

He did want to get home as fast as possible, still, though. Maybe see what would happen to the house, where she would be buried... all of that crap.

Which was why he had cancelled his other two missions, and selected the route which would get him home the fastest.

Otis checked the monitor in the Office as he waited for his new ship to arrive. He held his helmet, lime green to match the rest of his uniform, under his arm as he watched the blinking dot that came closer and closer to Polus, the station he was currently at. The ship was called The Skeld and Otis had even been on there before. It had been on one of his first missions and Otis barely remembered anything from it, but he knew that The Skeld was one of the first ships ever built for Mira, therefore it was slightly crappy compared to the newer ships.

Mira was the giant company that usually was responsible for space travel, and, what Otis suspected, an organisation led by Fallen, one of the biggest groups around. He didn't have a big experience with Fallen, had never come across them, and he wasn't sure what to think of them.

Otis jumped out of his thoughts when he heard the bleeping sound that signalled the arrival of The Skeld, so he quickly put on his helmet and went to the dock. The rest of his past team had left with a different ship 2500 hours ago and he had been alone for those past hours, so Otis was really glad when he watched others step outside;

All the uniforms colour coordinated, just like Mira always wanted.

Otis put on a smile when the first person, a chubby man in the brown uniform stepped outside and grinned at Otis, sticking out his hand for the other boy to shake. When Brown came closer, Otis saw that he wasn't much older than himself- maybe even only a year or two.

"Otis." Brown greeted and Otis was slightly embarrassed that he didn't know the other man's name.

"Oh sorry, Mr. Fletcher, if that is what you prefer. I'm Parker. Parker Feng. Welcome to the team."

Parker smiled at him again and Otis forced something too, before answering, "No, Otis is fine, and err- hi."

Parker nodded and then stepped outside completely, making way for the others that came out now. Pink stepped out and immediately took of their- his- helmet. He had a wide grin on his face and curly red-brown hair and apparently was smiling so hard it hurt his throat because he started coughing suddenly. Another huge person came up behind him and hit him on his back, and the boy in pink stumbled forward, shrieking slightly, then whirling around to Red, "Bridgette! Stop doing that!"

Red, apparently called Bridgette, only smirked slightly as she, too, took off her helmet. She was very tall and bulky, not as tall as Otis, but still much taller than Pink.

When a purple blop was seen behind Bridgette, Otis realised timid Purple had hidden behind the big girl.

Blue strutted out like they owned this place (which Otis knew wasn't true, there was no way this person was the head of Mira) and White shoved past them, shaking out her brown hair as she took her helmet off as well. She rolled her eyes at Blue who crossed their arms, then took of his helmet as well.

Otis noticed the slight similarity between Parker, White, and Blue, and wondered if they were related or something.

Cyan strode out as well, not taking off their head wear and standing somewhere next to Bridgette, Pink and Purple, but not standing with them.

Otis thought that that was it, that that was the crew, but then his counterpart- the actual, darker green- came out, careful and anxious, but being shoved away by Yellow and Orange immediately. Yellow and Orange, walking in sync, same height and, the small stripe of what Otis could see through the transparent part of their helmets of their faces, same features. Twins, he thought amused, but then sad when he remembered his siblings. Were they going on a space mission now too, just as he was?

The last one to walk out was Black, and they came with slow steps and dragging their feet, obviously unenthusiastic.

They all stood around now, talking in quiet voices, and Otis awkwardly hung somewhere next to Parker. He knew it was scheduled for this crew, his new crew, to stay on Polus for around 2200 hours, a day, and then they'd leave to Mira Headquarters. Otis' ship home would go from there.

After another five minutes where Otis didn't know how to begin, Pink finally seemed to notice the bright lime unknown person that was Otis. Pink grinned up at him- he actually was so much smaller Otis almost laughed- and introduced himself, "Hello! My name is Connor! Welcome to the team!"

He spoke loudly and Otis nodded and couldn't help the smile spread across his face, "Thanks, Connor. I'm Otis."

The rest of the day went by uneventfully. Otis didn't get to meet many of the others, he said hi to Bridgette and Fiona (purple), and Luna (white) had nodded at him somewhat friendlyly. The others hadn't paid too much attention to him, and Otis was fine with that. He did find it a little sad, but it was okay- he would spend some time with all of them on The Skeld, there probably was plenty of time to get to know them. Or not, maybe his new crew were complete idiots. Parker and Connor didn't seem like idiots though, and neither did Bridgette and Fiona. Luna seemed a little conceited, but not like a bad person. She also was one of the only people who actually talked back to Blue.

The first impressions were good, all in all.

2103 hours; 11/10/ t23OI8; Polus station

It was early in the evening, and the entire crew sat huddled up together in Office, for some reason exhausted already. Polus was still under construction, which was why there weren't any places to sleep. And nobody actually wanted to sleep in Medbay, the only room with beds in it, because the room had an ominous vibe to it.

Otis was leaning back at the window, trying to inconspicuously read the monitor-tablet all crewmates had clipped to their belt. The names and assigned colours of his crewmates were all noted there.

Blue- Hawk S. Feng. Age: 26. 6''. Resident on Earth. Crewmate number LL34.

Cyan- Tom F. Light. Age: 24. 5''8. Resident on Earth. Crewmate number LM22.

Red- Bridgette R. Light. Age: 23 5''9. Resident on Earth. Crewmate number LM21.

Pink- Connor H. Light. Age: 23. 5''6. Resident on Earth. Crewmate number LM25.

Purple- Fiona S. Scott. Age: 22. 5''2. Resident on Earth. Crewmate number LM30.

Green- Tristan A. Leigh. Age: 18. 5''5. Resident on Telltun. Crewmate number MA01.

Lime- Otis Fletcher. Age: 24. 6''4. Resident on Telltun. Crewmate number LM17.

Yellow- Brent Winsor. Age: 19. 5''6. Resident on Earth. Crewmate number LM68.

Orange- Riley Winsor. Age: 19. 5''6. Resident on Earth. Crewmate number LM67.

Black- Sloane F. Spotts. Age: 18. 5''3. Resident on Telltun. Crewmate number LM82.

White- Luna S. Feng. Age: 26. 5''4. Resident on Earth. Crewmate number LM25.

Brown- Parker S. Feng. Age: 25. 5''8. Resident on Earth. Crewmate number LM19.

Otis frowned as he pondered over it. They were quite the young crew. Although, most people in this business were around their ages, the oldest person Otis had ever been on a crew with had been 39. He also seemed to have signed up around the same time as most of them, with Parker only being 4 crewmates behind him. Blue- Hawk, Luna's and Parker's brother, what it seemed, had even been in department LL, so he was on this for some time now.

Otis also discovered that some others came from Telltun, not only him. The small boy in green, Tristan, and the tired girl in black, Sloane. He didn't think he had ever met them though, one reason probably being that they were younger than him.

Otis was trying to memorise their names when Connor crept next to him, his feet caught in the sleeping bag. (Also pink; Otis was sure that Mira had some kind of weird colour-scheme thing, all the crewmates got colour-coordinated equipment, and even were assigned to teams in such a way that there wouldn't be two of the same colours on the ship. Otis wasn't sure as to why that was, but he didn't really mind it- he only wondered why.)

Otis raised his head and smiled at Connor, turning the tablet in his hands off. Connor smiled back, "Hey!" he greeted, keeping his voice low, "What were you reading?"

Otis thought about denying the truth, but then shrugged sheepishly, "I wasn't sure how all of you were called so I reread the info Mira gave us."

Connor laughed quietly and shifted so he was sitting next to the other boy. Otis adjusted his beanie.

"I did that, too, on my first mission. I was so nervous." The boy in pink put his legs up to his chest and hugged his knees, the smile on his face not leaving.

"I was with Parker-"

He nodded towards the brown lump that was the older boy curled up,

"and Bridgette,"

The girl in red was sitting next to Fiona, talking to her quietly, while ripping a piece of paper into tiny shreds and throwing them at the younger crewmates. Otis grinned slightly as Brent shot up and started complaining to her how it was all getting in his hair.

Connor continued, "And I had no idea what I was doing. Heck, I was confused by fixing wires."

They both laughed, and Otis answered, "That was me on my first mission- my fingers were literally too weedy to properly do the wires and no one really explained to me how to do the tasks in the first place."

The boy in pink snorted at that, "Bad luck. My entire family pretty much followed the space travel business- like, literally." He looked around, "My father was an incredibly famous crewmate, and my siblings and half-siblings all went into space."

Otis nodded to show he was listening. He wasn't entirely sure why Connor was telling him all of this, but he was happy to have someone to talk to who seemed to be as talkative as he usually was. "Although I really didn't know I was related to any of my half-siblings for some time, we only figured it out a year ago or so." Connor kept explaining, "It was a big surprise, to be honest." He trailed off and Otis wondered if there were some bad memories mixed in. He eyed the other boy cautiously, but Connor shook his head and continued, "This mission is like a dream. I have everyone here. It's crazy." he smiled at Otis again, "You'll fit right in, I promise."

Otis nodded and responded, slightly amused, "I'm sure I will. You guys seem like really cool people."

Connor nodded and crept away again, closer to Bridgette, Fiona, and Parker, (which wasn't too far, the Office wasn't the biggest room, Tom was even sleeping out on the hallway) but not before whispering a, "Good night!"

"Night" Otis murmured back and smiled to himself, watching the lights dim and the small blinking dots reflect in the scattered helmets, Fiona's and Parker's glasses, and the window above Otis. He was so used to the blinking of the lights and the quiet falling of the snow and howling of the wind and the buzzing of the monitors all stationed around Polus- he was quite glad that departure was tomorrow early in the morning.

Otis lay back and fell asleep to the rhythmic breathing and light snoring of his new crew.

0713 hours; 12/10/ t23OI8; Polus station

Parker yawned as he got up. It was very early in the morning and they were all tired, especially Sloane, who only got up, and hissingly so, when Brent lightly kicked her. Riley hit her brother at that and helped the girl in black up.

Luckily, they didn't have many things to pick up before they had to leave. Everything was either packed up already or took five minutes to collect.

Parker gathered the things he had brought from The Skeld yesterday, which wasn't much, and saw Hawk and Luna getting together the necessary things from Admin.

"Don't forget to get the stuff we need from Specimen Room and Laboratory!" Parker called out to someone.

"Right!" Fiona called back and was on her way already, down to Admin and then through the tunnel and back, like Parker assumed.

The only one not really working with them was Sloane, apparently, because she was the slowest to

collect her stuff.

Parker sighed as he swiped his card across the scanner as Tristan rubbed his eyes behind him, and Connor yawned wildly, waiting for him at the door.

Parker nodded at him as he repeated the swipe, and then another time, annoyed at the system. He sighed as he finally managed to put away his card and walked towards his half-brother. Connor nodded at him, sleep still evident in his eyes, and almost in sync they put their helmets back on. Bridgette was waiting inside for Fiona, and Riley, holding back Brent to wait for her, was waiting for sleepy Sloane. Most of the others were already waiting at the docks, ready for departure.

Parker was happy to not have to stay longer on Polus than a day, he had always hated the station. It was cold and windy and always snowing, the lights always fell out, O2 was nothing but straight up creepy- most rooms were if he thought about it- and to top it all Communications always had the worst connection out of all stations.

So Parker was very glad when he finally was on-board, ready to leave.

The boy had been on Polus before, multiple times actually. These past 2200 hours had been still somewhat acceptable, but once, he had to stay on Polus for more than a week. It had been a very annoying week.

Otis, the new member of their crew, closed the entrance when everyone was inside The Skeld. The last bit of cold air whooshed inside, then it was quiet.

Connor clapped a single time. "Right. We all kinda had unofficially assigned roles last time, let's just continue with those." He looked around, searching for agreement.

Parker nodded. It was a good plan. Tom next to him nodded as well and already was on his way to Navigations.

Parker raised his hand in a "See you later" as he started walking away. It was his duty to keep Medbay up and going as well as possible, and he had done quite well the first time. To be fair, it wasn't very hard, making beds and checking probes. Seeing if the scanner was alright. All of that. Of course, all crewmates had multiple tasks, The Skeld was practically falling apart, but they all specialised in something.

Tom always took Navigations. Most Mira ships had autopilot, but The Skeld's autopilot was so crappy, someone needed to look after it.

Hawk usually was in weapons, sometimes with Bridgette, while Fiona and Tristan had gotten the annoying task of stapling the boxes in Storage.

The way to Medbay wasn't long, it was one of the closest ways from Cafeteria, and Parker didn't bother to look around at first.

He put the probes and liquid Fiona had given him in the shelf above the station with the probes. They could wait a little before they would get tested. And Parker wasn't even taught in experimenting that much, apart from the usual base study every crewmate got. Then, he let his gaze wander over the rest of Medbay. They had only been gone for 2200 hours, after all, and Parker had left the room in a somewhat okay way. One of the beds was unmade, so the boy fixed that, but otherwise, there really wasn't anything to do.

Parker hoped somebody would tell Otis what to do. Otis seemed like a cool guy- friendly and polite. He would fit into their team immediately, and Parker hoped he would feel welcome. He probably would, he seemed like that kind of person.

To be fair, Parker was never one to correctly guess what a person was like, but Otis had seemed friendly when they had talked yesterday. Like someone who knew what he was doing. Parker hadn't received much on the boy, only his crewmate colour, age, and crewmate number. He hadn't even known how tall Otis was until he had seen him.

Parker had wondered multiple times since then if Otis was part of Fallen. It didn't exactly matter, but the boy was curious anyways. Most of the crew right now was part of the organisation, or Clan, or whatever. Parker and his siblings had been born into it, and Connor, Bridgette, and Tom had been forced to join in young years and had never considered leaving. Brent and Riley had also been born into it, even though Parker had never met them before this mission. Sloane and Tristan weren't part, but Sloane had seemed very interested in Fallen for some time. Otis didn't seem interested, or part of Fallen.

If he joined, it would make things easier for everyone to stay contacted with him after the mission was over. Only if Otis wanted to, of course. But if the boy got over his first lost-ness, Parker thought he could be friends with anyone on the team. He was polite, and friendly, and seemed experienced enough to not annoy Bridgette or Tom with questions about tasks. It was a bit surprising, really. Otis was younger than Parker, and still signed up two crewmates earlier.

Parker, currently at 25, had signed up seven years ago, and if he didn't count the two years training program, he'd been on this business for five years. Otis had to be longer, if not much, but longer nevertheless, and that with one year younger.

Parker wasn't sure why anyone really signed up to Mira- rumours were so often bad, and reality was, too, but if it was better than their life before space travel and shady gang business, Parker could only wonder how bad people's lives were.

2213 hours; 12/10/ t23OI8; The Skeld

Parker was walking around in Cafeteria, clapping his hands, "Alright guys, I think we should go to bed now, tomorrow will be the first all-on-ship day!"

"That's always the hardest one." Bridgette grumbled as she stood up from the bench she had been sitting on. Connor, next to her, sighed and put away his game cards. "I was so close to winning," The boy groaned.

"You're kidding, right? I was about to destroy you." Bridgette retorted easily, smirk in her voice. Connor rolled his eyes and got up, walking toward the shelf where all the sleeping bags and fold out beds were stapled inside. Tom was already there and grabbed a bed, and Connor huffed. Of course Tom would take one. They only had six beds so the first to be at the shelf would get the luxury. Connor also wasn't surprised when Hawk shoved past him and grabbed both the blue sleeping bag and another bed.

Luna and Bridgette got beds as well, and there was a real wrestle match when Brent, Riley, and Sloane all stormed toward the shelf. Connor thought Riley might have let Sloane win, but maybe his brain had just tricked him.

"The polite ones stay back." Connor grinned as he walked forward, grabbing the pink sleeping bag.

Then he started throwing out the other's. Fiona caught her purple one well and smiled at him in thanks. Tristan dropped the green one Connor threw, and for a moment he only stared down at it, blushing furiously to Brent laughing loudly, before he picked it up.

Connor grinned again and looked at Parker, who shrugged and spread his arms, barely catching the brown one that came sailing toward him. The last one, bright lime, Connor took out and threw Otis, who obviously hadn't been expecting it, but still caught it gratefully.

The crewmates settled down, small groups forming like usual. Connor ran toward Bridgette (it was a little hard because of the suit, but Connor had had some training) and tried to tackle her to the ground, but the girl didn't budge. She grinned down at him and settled down slowly to irritate him further (and god, Connor hated the fact that it worked) next to Fiona, who looked up at her, slightly surprised.

Connor groaned and flopped down as well, shoving Bridgette lightly. Then he grabbed the game cards again and started shuffling again.

Parker sighed and sat down next to his half-siblings on his brown sleeping bag, and Connor smiled as the lights dimmed only a little and Bridgette, Fiona, and Parker all expected the cards. Connor started handing them out and glanced up, seeing Otis settle down next to the middle table. The boy in pink then raised his eyebrows and waved him over.

Otis looked at him, slightly sceptic, but Connor knew that he himself wouldn't be able to sleep knowing someone was sleeping in no group. Horrifying thought.

Otis came closer and Connor scooted toward Parker a little, freeing up some more space for the bright lime boy. Otis nodded at him and said, "Thanks I guess." and Connor grinned as he gave Otis some cards as well.

"Do you know how to play?" Fiona asked politely after greeting him.

Otis glanced down at the cards and frowned for a moment, before he nodded hesitantly. "I think so."

Bridgette smirked, "Cool, another person I get to destroy at this game." as she sorted her cards, and Connor only saw the mixed blue and red, and, occasionally, a green one being turned over in her hands. He knew his own cards didn't look much different for the others.

"Oh, really?" Connor asked, pouting slightly, "I'm sure someone can beat you. Maybe Otis will!"

"I'm really not that good." The mentioned boy put in, and Connor saw Parker from the corner of his eye, only shaking his head, "Don't worry about them- they argue more than it's healthy."

"That's not true!" Connor and Bridgette argued at the same time.

They looked at each other and then broke into laughter.

An annoyed "Shush!" came from the other end of Cafeteria, and the group broke into quiet giggles before they could actually start playing.

It was close to eleven when Connor finally started putting away the cards. Bridgette was still giggling, or more like again, because she had won two out of three rounds. Connor hadn't won a single one to his dismay, although he was glad that Parker actually managed to get a win himself.

"Still better than Bris winning all three." Connor whispered, crawling fully into his sleeping bag now.

Parker shrugged, "I'm just glad I won for the first time after- I think a year?"

Otis snorted quietly, and Fiona grinned as she wished them a good night.

"Good night." Bridgette and Connor echoed, Parker turned out his still glowing tablet, and Otis lied down already.

Connor smiled into the light dark as he watched the glow from Medbay corridor, eyes getting hard to keep open.

1703 hours; 18/10/ t23OI8; The Skeld

The past few days on The Skeld had been fine. The crew was nice, and Otis felt like he had already made some friends. He had helped Parker fix the shields, had shown Connor at what speed the card swipe in Admin had to be done so it would only take one try, and had taught Fiona how to be able to just hold your tablet next to the downloading symbol and get immediate connection, instead of having to spend five minutes on connecting on its own.

It had been a pretty okay time, and Otis even managed to forget why he was going back to Mira HQ.

The boy in lime was standing in Reactor, getting annoyed at the system of the blue-lights-beeping task that had a complicated real name and most crewmates only called "Simon Says". Otis sighed as he failed the second time now. The reactor was too loud, he could never entirely heard the bleeping.

He started again, but then a voice behind him suddenly came, "Hey, Otis!" Otis jumped and slipped, pressing the wrong button accidentally. He groaned and turned around, seeing Bridgette stand in the door to Reactor. She was grinning at him, Otis knew it, even if her red

helmet hid her mouth.

"Hey, Bridgette. What's up?" Otis asked, smiling slightly himself.

Bridgette shrugged lightly and walked in, standing next to him and examining Simon Says. "Nothing much. I finished dictating Tom the route we're supposed to take, we're on autopilot now." Otis nodded, Bridgette continued, "You struggling with Simon Says?"

The lime-green boy nodded again, "Yeah- it's too loud in here, I can barely hear the beep."

Bridgette glanced at him, then started the task. She did it, and she finished it so quickly, Otis could only stare. "I-" he stammered.

"I can hear just fine in here." The girl replied, ignoring how shocked he was. Otis was about to answer when an incoming notification popped up. He took out his tablet, and Bridgette looked at hers, where simultaneously the sentence "Incoming broadcast from Mira HQ." was seen, in red letters.

The two crewmates looked at one another, then started walking toward Communications.

"Do you know what this could be?" Bridgette asked, "They usually don't really announce the broadcasts."

Otis shrugged. "They only do when it's something serious."

Luna came out of Electrical when they walked past it, and Tristan called out for them to wait for him as he tried to hastily push the lever for the ejecting down (he was getting rid of the trash). When they arrived in Communications, most people were already there. Parker was spinning in the chair, waiting for the broadcast, and the others stood around him or leaned against a table or wall. Otis took a quick look around and stood next to Connor, the pink boy giving him a quick smile before the worried frown returned to his face. Otis understood why most of them had similar expressions to Connor- what was serious enough to actually get announced?

The last to arrive was Sloane, running inside, panting slightly.

Like Mira HQ knew, the broadcast line opened and Parker immediately accepted. "Th- th- is is Kacey P- ne, hailing The Skeld. Do you copy?" The connection took a moment to establish, and Otis didn't catch Kacey's last name, something that sounded like "Pain" but that didn't really matter.

Parker answered, voice serious and official. "We copy. The Skeld here." Then his voice broke into a positive, soft and smiling one, "Hey, Kacey. What's up?"

Otis raised an eyebrow and frowned at Connor, who hesitated but then mouthed "his boyfriend" back. Otis nodded in realisation, then nodded again, feeling stupid because he didn't know what to do. So he just turned his attention back to the comms.

"Parker? Oh right, I forgot you were on The Skeld right now!"

Parker still smiled, "I am! And the entire family is here, too, it's crazy. The rest of the crew is amazing as well."

He seemed to have forgotten that the crew was standing literally two inches behind him. "That's neat! But, actually, I'm hailing because of a pretty serious and- freaky topic." Otis frowned again and noticed his crew did, too. They were all staring at comms now, wanting to figure out the mystery of this broadcast.

Kacey continued, "For the past few- months, even, I think, there have been reports of absurd behaviour among the crewmates. Some survivors-" Otis gulped at the word "say that their team members start acting weirdly, faking tasks and hacking into their ships. There have even been some murders."

Kacey took a small break to let it sink in, then kept on, "Mira isn't sure what these changes in behaviour mean, it's almost like the crewmates are being- possessed, of sorts."

When silence followed and Parker broke it again, his voice trembled slightly as he asked, "Is- is that it? Is there anything we can do?"

"I'm afraid not. Fallen wants you to know though that all its members get insurance for their life, their belongings, their family, and they try to guarantee your safety, although I'm not sure how they

would be able to do that."

When Tristan spoke up, he sounded like he was about to break into tears, "What- what if you're not part of Fallen?"

Otis nodded along to the younger boy's words. He always knew Fallen had something to do with Mira, but he had never joined it- so he wouldn't get life insurance now?

"Hm..." Kacey hummed on the other end of the line, "Well, in that case, you have three options: either die with no insurance, be lucky or join Fallen."

Tristan whimpered slightly at that. Otis could only agree- he didn't want to join some sketchy organisation.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be fine. Just try to keep your eyes open, and be careful."

Parker nodded at the comms, still shaking slightly, "We will. You too, Kacey. See you."

"You too. Broadcast end; over."

"Over."

Parker cut the connection, his hand moving the mouse like in a trance, and Otis couldn't help but look around.

There, possibly, was one impostor among them.

The only question was who it could be.

0706 hours; 19/10/ t23OI8; The Skeld

Tristan hadn't been able to sleep. Not well, anyways. The news of there being a possible impostor among them had shook him to the core, and he considered more with every minute to join Fallen. Tristan had actually thought about it before. When his mother had left him on his own and Tristan

had signed up to the space travel program, he knew Fallen was probably behind most of it. He wasn't stupid. He could see the small, blue-grey "F" stitched into some suits' arms, could investigate further down some people's histories, could probably go up to most crewmates and ask them and receive a yes.

He knew he needed a form to sign so he could actually join, but Tristan still hadn't made up his mind. The boy had a friend on Mira HQ, Howard, who was training to become a medic, and Tristan knew he had joined and not been born into Fallen. Howard was nice. Tristan and he were around the same age, and they only met because they were in a very close sign up.

This was Tristan's actual first mission. Of course he had been in simulations and everything, from where he knew the twins Brent and Riley, and he theoretically knew how to do all the tasks and had a basic education about medical, astronomical, and physical matters. That didn't mean he could perform everything in practice, and with the knowledge of a possible impostor weighing on his neck, it just made everything harder.

Brent walked into Electrical and Tristan didn't notice him until the other boy stood next to him, doing a different task. Tristan slipped slightly and fidgeted with the wires. It took him too long, and he knew it. It took him so long, Brent glanced over to him, then again and frowned. He finished his task easily (of course he would, it was only raising one of the power switches, and also, it was Brent) and then leaned against the metal wall and looked at Tristan.

The boy in green started to sweat slightly under the other boy's gaze and tried to tune it out. It didn't really help how piercing Brent's look was. Tristan was used to being looked at, mostly by his mother's 'companions', but usually it was only a quick up-and-down so he could be judged as a threat or not.

Tristan finally managed to connect the green wire and suppressed a groan when he saw that the blue and yellow ones weren't whole either. Brent rolled his eyes and pushed himself off of the wall, and Tristan was relieved for a second when he thought he would leave, but then Brent only shoved him aside slightly with his hip. Tristan hadn't seen it coming at all and stumbled out of his way,

surprised, "Wh- what are you doing?"

"Your task, you idiot." Brent snarled slightly, "Since apparently you're unable to do it yourself."

"But- why?" Tristan stuttered, utterly confused. It was early and Tristan's brain wasn't working too well yet, but even in an awake state he wouldn't be able to make sense of this. Why would Brent help him? It seemed more like the boy to make fun of him and watch Tristan suffer.

Brent waved it away and connected the other two wires, then walked out with a "Maybe you should have stayed at the training program a little more before you came here."

Tristan could only stare after him, blushing, when the other boy was gone. In theory, Tristan knew every task like the back of his hand, he had only a few problems actually doing them. This wasn't Brent's first mission- he and Riley always went together, and before the flight to Polus on The Skeld, the twins had been stationed a little on Mira HQ for their first mission, and then on another station Tristan didn't know.

Tristan walked out and checked his tablet to see where his next task was. Apparently he had to download some information from Navigations, so the boy clipped his tablet back to his side and walked out of Electrical.

He didn't see anyone in Storage, but he heard the keyboard clicking inside Admin. He passed Communications, didn't see anyone inside, and stopped at Shields. Bridgette was hammering at the screen, obviously frustrated. Tristan thought about backing out before she could see him, but then slowly approached the girl.

"Hey, Bridgette? You good? Why are you awake so early?"

Bridgette rounded toward him, and for a second Tristan thought her eyes were flashing red, but then the girl only threw her bed back and groaned, "The stupid system isn't working. We keep crashing into asteroids and shit because the autopilot is crap, I can't sleep! And I was gonna repair the shields but the darn system doesn't react!" She stressed the last three words with hitting the monitor for each of them.

Tristan flinched back slightly but also suppressed a small chuckle, and stepped closer to see if he could work it out. He doubted he could, but it was worth a try.

Tristan charged the shields again, and when they were ready, tapped on. It was as easy as usual, and Tristan frowned up slightly at the older crewmate.

Bridgette stared at the monitor for a small moment, then shrugged, "Weird. Anyways, I better go find Fiona, I don't think she should handle sorting the files on her own. See you!" she called out and waved at the boy while she left. Tristan waved back, slightly frowning at the monitor as well, before backing out of the hall and walking towards Navigations. No one was there, which was slightly surprising, but Tristan didn't mind.

He held his tablet next to the downloading disk and took the few seconds it took to connect to look around. Navigations looked like it always did, which wasn't very surprising. After the three awkward minutes of downloading where Tristan had to stay close to the disk because otherwise it would disconnect, he had spotted something lying underneath the seating and head of the ship. Well, technically it wasn't lying there, it was stuck to the underside of the metal, and as soon as the download was finished, Tristan crawled toward it and unstuck it. It was a yellow sticky note, the sticky part of it still surprisingly sticky, and it had something written on it with a black marker. It was a terrible handwriting though, it might have been "dum" or "dumb" but Tristan couldn't be too sure. He didn't know what triggered him, but the post-it was too random to ignore, so Tristan kept it where he knew he wouldn't lose it- on his forehead.

Looking into his reflection on the windows, he was fully aware that he now was walking around with a post it that might say "dumb" on his forehead, but if he was being honest, Tristan didn't care. He turned around and went to upload the data to the disk in Cafeteria.

2007 hours; 20/10/ t23OI8; The Skeld

Parker was dead on his feet by the time he finally managed to refill all the motors in Lower and Upper Engine. He had to walk from storage to one engine, then back to storage, then back to the other engine, all the time with the heavy oil canister in hand.

He collapsed on one of the benches in Cafeteria, exhausted, and took out a fruit bar. It wasn't much, but it would hopefully hold him up a little longer.

His arms felt like they were on fire but his brain was too tired to comprehend it. He wasn't entirely sure why he was so tired, it was only 2007 hours, so Parker blamed his minor lack of sleep and the bad news from two days ago.

It still shook him and made him wonder- impostor? Faking tasks, actually killing people? Sure, Parker bet there were a few people who would do that, but on this ship, this mission? It felt impossible. It should be impossible.

Luna sat down next to him and glanced at him slightly. She had just been in Communications, contacting her boyfriend, and Parker looked back. He swallowed down his fruit bar bite, and asked, "So, how's Stanley holding up?"

Luna spread her fingers and looked at them, even though both of them were in their suits, her white contrasting his brown. His sister shrugged, "He's fine, I think. Didn't talk much about how he was." she looked away.

Parker knew that Luna and Stanley didn't have the most- talkative relationship, it had worsened a little after they got together. They used to be best friends, and they made a pretty good couple, but the long distance part of it hit really hard onto their bond.

Luna continued, "Well, I asked him if he got the notification of the, you know, impostors, and he said that there might even have been a case on his station."

Parker's eyes widened and he jumped up, staring at his sister, stumbling over his words, "Oh my god, is he okay? What happened? What about the impostor? Is everyone alive and okay?" Luna blinked at him and shifted slightly, "He says he's fine. Shaken, yes, but otherwise fine. And" she gulped, "There were a few deaths. The- impostor died as well." the girl hesitated over that word a little.

Parker sighed as he sat back down next to his sister and took another bite, mumbling, "Well, I'm glad he's alright. Will you go to him when we reach Mira?"

Luna nodded, "I will."

They sat in silence for a while, and when Parker crumpled up his fruit bar paper he noticed something. "Are you- are you wearing a bandana on your helmet?"

Luna shrugged and brought a hand to it, "Yeah, I found it in my things. I think it looks good." She grinned, and a part of Parker's brain registered his relief. He hadn't seen his sister truly smile in a while.

It was half an hour later when Connor and Otis came into Cafeteria as well, both of them talking vividly, Connor using both his arms to gesture. Parker bit back a laugh when he saw the pair- Otis was almost a foot taller than Connor. It looked funny because Connor had to look up the entire time, and Otis had to look down.

Parker realised that both Connor and Otis also wore things over their helmets. Connor was wearing a red beanie that bit terribly with his pink uniform, and Otis had-

"Is that an egg on your head, Otis?" Parker asked with wide eyes. The two younger boys looked at Parker and Luna, then each other and burst out laughing.

Connor managed to finally choke out, "I wanted to prank him, I found an egg and cracked it over his head but, er-" he coughed, "It's a Telltun egg."

At Parker and Luna's confused frown, Otis explained, "Telltun eggs basically stick to anything and will not wash off for like, three months."

"So now you've got a literal egg stuck to your head for three months." Luna said dryly, not making it into a question.

Connor and Otis chuckled again, Otis muttering a "The irony" but then nodded, "Yes."

Connor turned away slightly and looked at Parker, "Parks, almost everyone has a hat now! Even if it's an egg! You're one of the only ones who don't."

"I will not believe that until I see Hawk or Tom with a hat." Parker stated.

"Actually, I think I saw Tom wearing a hat. It looked somewhat military? But I can't be too sure." Connor shrugged. Luna raised her eyebrows in obvious doubt and opened her mouth, but didn't get to voice her thoughts when Fiona and Bridgette barged into Cafeteria.

The four people already inside glanced up at them, and Parker realised that both of the girls wore head wear as well. Bridgette had red devil horns, the same colour as her uniform, stuck to her helmet, and Fiona's flower-hat bounced cheerfully on hers as the girl approached them. "Hey guys!" Fiona smiled at them as Bridgette collapsed onto the bench next to Parker. "I'm exhausted for some reason, something's been draining me all day." the red girl groaned, throwing her head back.

Connor poked at her and she blindly waved her hand around, kind of trying to him. Connor retreated and crossed his arms, "Whatever it is, you do seem dead on your feet. You should go to bed early tonight."

Bridgette groaned again, and if Parker weren't so exhausted himself, he'd chuckle. When Bridgette rose her head again and looked at Parker through the transparent part of her helmet, studying him, he shifted slightly. Her gaze was less teasing than usually; something- evil lay in it. "Parks, why aren't you wearing anything on your helmet?" she prodded, and Parker breathed out quietly in relief. He was sure that his sister's eyes had been weird only because she was tired.

"I just- I don't see the reason to, we wear helmets most of the time, and I can't find anything anyway." he answered, shrugging slightly.

"That can't be right." Connor frowned and pulled his siblings up again, "Come on, we can't leave Parker with no hat, that would only be sad!"

Parker sighed as he obediently let himself get pulled up and followed his friends around The Skeld. He shook his head when Connor showed him a cat-hat from his things, the pink boy grinning, and gave back the bucket hat Bridgette pushed in his arms. When Fiona gave her suggestion of a small, single branch of a houseplant that had somehow found its way onto The Skeld, Parker looked down at it, confused.

"How in the world did this get here?" he asked, taking the small plant carefully from Fiona's purple gloves.

The girl shrugged but smiled, "It's nice. I haven't seen a living plant in some time." Parker only needed a moment to decide, then manifested the little branch on his helmet. He grinned dumbly around, waiting for their judgement.

Otis chuckled at it, Fiona sent an approving thumbs up, Bridgette rolled her eyes, but Parker knew she was smiling behind her helmet. Connor stared at the plant for a little before shrugging and saying, "That'll do."

1513 hours; 21/10/ t23OI8; The Skeld

"See you later!" Otis called to Connor, waving. The boy waved back, grinning, and followed his sister to Upper Engine.

Otis smiled after them, then turned around and started walking in the other direction. After having met in Cafeteria for a quick lunch, Bridgette had asked Connor to help her in Upper Engine. Otis had said he was busy somewhere else, so he couldn't help, and the girl accepted that.

Otis walked into Weapons and past Brent and Riley, who were fighting over who got to destroy asteroids. They weren't doing a good job.

He passed Hawk, who came hurrying into Weapons as well, probably to tell the twins off. Otis grimaced and looked between O2 and Navigations, wondering where to go. He looked into O2, and frowned slightly when he saw that there were leaves trapped in one of the bigger shafts. The boy blew the leaves into the incinerator, and watched the dry leaves catch fire and get sucked in the trash-shaft as ash.

Otis straightened and pushed the trash lever, only a few steps away, down to send it to the ejection-

shaft. Someone else could take care of that.

Walking into Navigations, Otis saw a cursing Tom sitting on one of the chairs, trying to manage the autopilot.

"You good?" the boy in lime asked when Tom continued to hit the monitor.

Tom whirled around and stared at him, "Do I look good? This autopilot is killing me! We keep crashing into asteroids, and the idiot twins don't do anything about it with the weapons." he gestured around, then let his hands flop down. Otis grinned a little at how similar to Bridgette he was at that moment.

Otis opened his mouth to respond to something, but then an alert on Tom's tablet shut both of them up. Tom sighed and unclipped the tablet, frowning down at it.

"What is it?" Otis asked politely when Tom didn't talk anymore.

The boy in cyan shrugged and dragged a hand down his helmet. "The Skeld is falling apart. There's three new downloads come in that Mira wants by tomorrow, shields are down, and one of the computers isn't working in Admin." Tom sighed again and threw his tablet onto the metal head and leaned back.

Otis thought for a moment, then volunteered, "We can split those evenly. Bridgette and Connor are in Upper Engine, fixing the aim, and I think Hawk took Weapons over. I could ask Riley and Brent to fix the computer, Fiona can do some of the downloads and I'll go fix shields."

Tom considered it for a moment with raised eyebrows. Then he responded, "Sounds good, all except one- the twins have no idea how to fix shit, ask Tristan, he got more from the electrical front."

Otis nodded and typed out a quick message to his fellow crewmates, before checking the notification himself. He tapped on the needed updates, and realised one of them was very close nearby. The boy looked up and saw the downloading disk right next to him, and he suppressed a small smile as he got the needed information.

"One of the downloads done!" he exclaimed triumphantly. Tom looked up, spun around in his chair and shrugged. "Just go fix the shiel-"

He was about to finish his sentence when they violently crashed into another asteroid. Otis stumbled and only saved himself from falling over by grabbing onto the chair next to Tom's, who got unlucky and fell over, chair and all, and landed hard on his back.

Otis stood and straightened, grip on the chair still hard, and breathed out to calm himself down.

"Fucking-" Tom swore and tried to sit up, rubbing his back. "I swear, I'm going to set this fucking ship on fire."

"Mira would still use it," Otis joked a little, trying to lighten both the knotted fear in his chest and the mood. The other boy only grumbled and pushed up his chair, still looking slightly unsteady in Otis' eyes.

The boy in lime decided to leave Tom to it and walked out and into Weapons, finding the twins, collapsed onto each other and groaning, and Hawk sitting in the chair, exhaling slowly. "Everyone good in here?"

Brent sat up and pushed his sister off of him, glaring at Otis accusingly, "I thought you were in Navigations! Could you please not drive us into asteroids?" he complained.

Riley nodded along, standing up. Otis looked at the three and shrugged, "I thought you were in Weapons right now? And you know how shitty the autopilot is." he added apologetically. Brent grumbled while his sister sighed and reached down to pull her brother up. Otis continued, "But you're good? No injuries?"

Hawk shook his head briskly, "I don't think so."

Otis walked past Navigations again, glancing inside real quick to see Tom trying to edit the autopilot but ending up only hitting it, then the lime boy backed out on his way to Shields. There was no one on his short way there, and for a moment Otis wondered where everyone was, before

shrugging it off. They were all probably still rattled from the crash.

The boy arrived at the corner of the ship, tapping the monitor with his gloved hand a little to see if it worked, then charging the shields again. They took a little longer than usual, and when they were finally on again, not blinking red, the lights on the outside hummed again peacefully. Otis smiled down at his work, satisfied, and turned around to look outside the windows at the passing lights and rocks, the outside lights blinding the whole situation slightly. If he really wanted to admire the sight, for once alone with his thoughts, he needed to go somewhere else.

Otis shook the slight melancholic feeling off as he stepped a little away from the window, to the right. He looked around, suppressing the other strange feeling entering his mind, one that wasn't melancholy, but something else, something unknown to the boy in lime.

Otis shook his head and the feeling cleared out. He noticed that he had taken a few more steps toward the right just like that, now standing on one of the vents.

The vents... Otis wondered as he stared down at the metal cover. He crouched down next to it and lifted it slightly. He couldn't feel anything through his suit, but he knew a cool breeze accompanied the strange, dark emptiness of the inside of the vent.

Otis retreated quickly again, letting the vent slam shut, his heart racing in his chest. Whatever was down there, he didn't want to join it. The rational part of his brain told him they were vents, there was air there, but the panicking, fearful part of his brain screamed at him that this was weird run please!

With a few breaths, the boy managed to somewhat calm himself from the probably imaginary danger, and he leaned back against the railing that shielded the window from the hallway. Then he turned around and went back to staring at the passing view, heartbeat as fast as the passing stars, thoughts numb but just as quick.

1554 hours; 21/10/ t23OI8; The Skeld

Parker was still recovering from the crash, walking around shakily, trying to check in on everyone, if they were okay.

He had found Bridgette and Connor and Luna, for some reason, hands stained with machine oil, catching their breaths from the vigorous shake, in Upper Engine, and had continued to Fiona and Trent in Admin. They had been trying to fix the broken computer, and Trent was still trembling, gripping at the girl's suit tightly. Both Parker and Fiona finally managed to calm him down, and the two resumed twiddling with the tech.

He had found Hawk, Brent, Riley, and Sloane in Weapons next, all of whom had seemed fine, and had checked in with Tom in Navigations.

"You good?" Parker asked his brother, looking him up and down, checking for any injuries. Tom seemed fine, and he groaned as he tapped a final time on the monitor in front of him. "Why does everyone keep asking me that today?"

"Everyone? Parker frowned, looking around as if another person would step out of the shadows.

There wasn't anyone, and the boy in brown turned his attention back to the boy in cyan, who answered, "Yeah, Otis came by a little ago, he went to fix the shields." He sounded slightly bored, and Parker came closer, "What are you doing there, anyways?"

"Trying to reprogram the fucking autopilot. It's the reason we keep" he flopped back and threw an arm out toward the front out, "Crashing into stupid asteroids."

Parker nodded and stepped next to him, looking down at the monitor. The route was far too simple

to be professional, literally consisting out of five ships connected by a white, dotted line. Parker

frowned a little in confusion, "That's the map? That's our route?"

"It is, and it's terrible."

The boy in brown twitched, slightly anxious, "Are we going to crash more? If you can't fix it?" Tom crossed his arms, "I will definitely be able to fix it, I'll be done in two hours or something."

Parker opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the sudden flickering of lights, before the neon stripes fell out entirely.

With a whir, the entire ship went dark. It was quiet for a moment, before panic shot into Parker's brain, his heart racing and his eyes trying to catch light, only able to see the outline of his brother, who appeared to be frozen to his chair.

The breath in Parker's throat kept getting stuck and then coming out in chocked bits, and the blood rushing in his ears was loud enough to drown out the sudden silence.

Then Tom got up, mumbling curses over and over, and Parker felt tears gather in his eyes for some reason, while Tom's voice got louder, "Bloody Electrical, I'm literally going to kill Mira, of course the lights would fall out, fuck-"

Parker managed to grab onto his brother's sleeve before he got too far, "Tom- Tom, what's going on, what happened to lights, what-"

Tom freed himself carefully from his brother's clutch, trying to calm him down, "Parker, it's alright, it's just Electrical and its stupid glitch. We will go down to Electrical now, and fix lights. Got it?"

Parker managed to nod around the creeping anxiety in his chest, knowing Tom wouldn't be able to see him. They got up and heard footsteps in the hall, Brent and Riley hissing at each other, Hawk thundering by, Sloane's heavy steps.

Tom stopped in the doorway to let them pass and not get run over, and Parker stood at his back, gulping slightly, very aware of the fact that he couldn't see anything.

They were about to take a step outside, but for some reason Tom seemed to want to turn around. Parker could only stare at him in confusion for a moment, wondering what his brother was doing, then he felt something at his back.

He didn't turn, he could only hear the metallic clatter of the vent, the sudden emptiness in his stomach, the sucking feeling that seemed to pull on his shoulders.

And then the world slowed down.

Parker was suddenly numb, only registering parts of what was happening. It was like he watched the scene on a stop-motion film.

Tom called his name, and pushed him, so hard Parker stumbled back into the opposite wall, his weak leg giving in underneath him.

The room filled with black vines, or tentacles, and a shadow stood between Parker and his brother, the black strings surrounding them, wavering in every direction.

The glint of a knife, reflected by the passing stars and the blinking of Parker's tablet. A choked out cry, a muffled scream, the sickening crunch of metal digging through a uniform, destroying ribs and lungs, organs, and then being pulled out again.

A splatter of liquid.

The fall of a body down onto the ground.

Then the vents clattered again, and the sucking feeling was gone, and Parker choked out something, his thoughts beside him.

It was quiet again, and calm, and Parker couldn't tell where up and down was. His vision, even though he couldn't see, was spinning, and he trembled vehemently, from something that wasn't the

coldness.

Quiet tears streamed down his face, and his ragged breath got his visor fogged up, the first time for years. For a moment Parker thought he couldn't breathe, and he ripped his helmet off, gasping for air, smelling the sick smell of blood and machinery and dusty air.

The boy leaned his head back, and tried again.

You don't know what happened, it's dark, Tom is fine, the news Kacey brought are wrong, there is no such thing as impostors, it's fine., he tried to convince himself, but no sound came out as he thought the words more than he pronounces them.

The lights buzzed back on, throwing their shine on the scene in front of Parker. He opened his mouth in a silent scream, simply staring.

Tom lay there. A giant gnash went through his waist, blood pooling around him, staining his uniform, helmet slipped up a little. Bones could be seen through his wounds. Parker felt sick. His mind and heart couldn't quite grasp what was happening around him, what had happened around him, but he worked and moved out of instinct.

Every crewmate had an emergency speaker attached to their belt, next to their tablet, next to the basic medical supplies. The speaker would summon every crewmate to Cafeteria immediately, so they could discuss the problem.

Parker fingered with his for a little (Tom's fingers weren't moving, they were stained with his blood and a black liquid at the tips), feeling the smooth surface of his tablet (Tom's tablet was sliced into two clean halves), and moved on to the speaker (Tom's speaker lay next to him, shattered, unusable).

Parker brought it up to his lips and closed his eyes, rasping out something incomprehensible, leaning his head back when he heard the alarm echo and bounce off the walls of The Skeld.

His breathing was uneven (Tom wouldn't breathe again), and his vision blurred as he watched someone hurry inside, someone tall.

Then the black spots in his vision took over.

1643 hours; 21/10/t23OI8; The Skeld

The lights had fallen out, and Otis was trying not to panic. It's fine, he told himself, it's just a malfunction from the crash.

He finally managed to calm down when the lights came on again. Otis looked around, his eyes taking a moment to adjust the bright neon again. He thought he heard something, quietly in Navigations, but before he could check, the alarm went off.

Otis' brow furrowed as he looked around, then got up and quickly jogged toward Cafeteria, not paying attention to anything surrounding him, like Mira said they should.

"Alarm goes off, be in Cafeteria as fast as possible. If you fail to be there in a minute, you might get suspended." was the rule, and so far, most people listened to it.

When the boy arrived in Cafeteria, and took his place in the circle around the middle table, the one with the emergency meeting button, he saw how on edge everyone was.

The twins fidgeted on their spots lightly, while Tristan looked on the edge of tears. Bridgette looked completely lost, like she wasn't sure what she was doing here, and Fiona seemed to check on everyone quietly to see if they were okay. Luna looked a little nervous, but she was trying to put on

a strong front. Hawk and Sloane looked un-bothered, but out of different reasons- Hawk's expression was stoic, although Otis was sure he wasn't as calm as he pretended, and Sloane only looked tired and exhausted.

Next to arrive were Connor and Parker, and Otis grew immediately ten times more worried. Connor looked like he'd seen a ghost, both shock and numbness evident on his face, and Parker had lost his helmet, and he looked like he'd pass out any second. There was barely visible blood on his brown uniform, and Otis choked a little on his own breath. What happened?

Only then he realised how hard Parker was leaning onto his brother, and when the two finally came standing in the circle as well, Parker collapsed onto the bench, covering his eyes with his hands.

They stood in silence, a circle, all eyes on Parker, unsure of what to do. Otis couldn't help but be reminded of a Cult, standing like this, no one saying anything.

Then, Luna spoke, "Parker, you called this meeting- what happened?"

But it was Connor who answered, clearing his throat multiple times, and still managing to sound raw, "I found hi- him in Navigations." he hiccupped, then continued, closing his eyes, "Tom is dead."

Silence followed, and Otis could only stare at his friend.

Finally, Parker raised his head, eyes red and dry tear streaks down his cheeks. The room was dead, you could have heard a needle fall, when he spoke, "We were- we were in Navigations, after the crash, and-" he gulped, "Tom was- was doing something with the- the autopilot, but then- then the lights fell out."

Someone shifted in Otis' peripheral vision.

"I- I was panicking, I couldn't see anything, and then-", new tears came up, "Then the vents clattered, and he pushed me a- aside- and- and I couldn't see who- who it w- was, it- it was too- too dark, b- but there was a- a knife, and- and weird tentacle- tentacle things, and- and then the vents the vents closed and the person was- was gone, suddenly."

Parker breathed out, clutching his hands into fists and closing his eyes tightly, causing more tears to fall. Otis thought he was finished, but then he continued, "Then the- the lights- came back- back on and- and he l- lay there." Connor, next to his brother, stared down, like his mind couldn't keep up. Otis felt similar, not as bad, but he was just- shocked.

"There's a-" Parker started before shaking his head, not being able to describe the horror he had seen.

"Okay." Even Hawk was so shaky, he had to clear his throat before he continued, "So- So Kacey's news was true. There is an impostor on this ship."

"And they got Tom." Connor finished, nodding.

The truth was there, they all knew they were right. Fiona buried her face in her hands, and Bridgette still looked endlessly lost.

Brent spoke up when the silence stretched too long, "So- who is it?"

Nobody answered him. Of course they wouldn't tell immediately who the impostor was. The impostor would have to be very stupid to actually do that, Otis thought, his slightly hysterical mind not working the way he wanted it to. He couldn't exactly comprehend what was happening, the news of Tom's death too absurd and unrealistic to be true. He didn't want to know who it was, if he was being honest.

When Bridgette spoke, it was still far away yet careful, "Where- where was everyone?" she asked, like she was unsure if it was the right question.

It was, because Hawk started, "Brent, Riley, Sloane and I were in Weapons, and when the light fell

out, we went toward Electrical to fix it."

The twins and Sloane nodded along to that, and everyone nodded. Bridgette breathed out quietly and continued, "Alright, since Parker said that there only was one person who- who killed Tom" she shook her head slightly, "Then everyone needs an alibi of sorts."

Otis stared at her, then nodded slowly. It was a good plan. If someone vanished, the person who was with them had to notice, and then they possibly had a suspect.

Bridgette clapped her hands when she got approval from most others. Parker still looked too shaken to give approval to anything, and Connor only stared at her for a little. "Alright." The girl began and turned toward the twins. "Hawk already said what happened with you. Is there anything else you remember?"

They glanced at one another, then at Sloane and Hawk, then Brent shrugged and Riley mumbled, "No, not really. It was dark."

The girl in red turned to Luna, who crossed her arms but answered, without being asked, "I was on my way toward Weapons, from Cafeteria, but then the lights fell out and I changed course to Electrical."

Bridgette nodded and continued over to Tristan, "Tristan, did you see anything? Where were you?"

The small boy twisted his hands still fearful and shocked, "N- no," he finally managed, "I was on my way to Electrical with Fiona, and I think Luna was behind us, from Admin, to fix lights, and we bumped into Brent and Riley and Sloane and Hawk on the way. Then the lights were fixed, and the alarm came."

Fiona raised her hand, "I can- I can confirm that." She said, "It was a big chaos, I don't think many people actually managed to see one feet around them, and especially no other people…" she trailed off.

Otis wordlessly agreed. He had been panicking at Shields, scared because the lights had fallen out, but thankfully had been able to see something because of the passing stars. But it hadn't been much, and Otis had been so drowned in trying to calm himself down he hadn't even noticed the footsteps of his fellow crewmates next to him- literally next to him.

Bridgette acknowledged Fiona's words with a nod, then turned toward Connor. The boy glanced up at her, confusion and disgust on his face, and for a moment, Otis saw something close to a conversation pass over both their faces, an understanding, a bond only siblings knew. Their bond with Tom was forever gone, Otis realised and gulped, when Connor talked. "I already was in Electrical, doing a task, when we crashed. I had to restart it, but then the lights fell out." His breathing caught slightly in his throat when he continued, and Otis resisted the urge to reach out and hold him.

"No one was there, and I just assumed it was because of the crash, so I went to the box and tried to fix it." He shrugged lightly, "I've never fixed lights before- lights never even go out just like that. Then some others came, and we fixed the lights."

"Who was there with you?" Bridgette pressed, and Connor stared at her. For a moment, Otis thought he wouldn't answer, but then he mumbled, "Hawk, Fiona, the twins, I think Tristan, er…" He trailed off. "Yeah, I think that was all I saw. Maybe I didn't notice someone, it was all pretty rushed."

Bridgette nodded slowly, and took a deep breath, closing her eyes shortly, before looking up again, "Alright. So Hawk, the twins, and Sloane have an alibi, Tristan and Fiona were together, then Luna joined, and they can confirm Connor was in Electrical. So-," She looked around, then her eyes locked with Otis'.

Suddenly, Otis realised two fundamental things: one, he didn't have an alibi. Two, if someone thought he was suspicious, he'd be out of the ship faster than he could say "vents". Otis gulped as he met Bridgette's eyes.

"Where were you?"

The question stood in the room, and for a moment Otis considered just not answering- although that would probably raise even more suspicion.

His answer was stuttered, finally, "I was- I was at Shields." He took a breath before continuing, "After the crash, the shields fell out, so Tom told me to fix them, and I went. Then the lights fell out, and I didn't dare to move, and I heard some footsteps down the hall next to me, and then the lights were back and the alarm went on." He fell silent again when he realised that that was the whole story. He had been ready to continue talking, but there was nothing else to say.

Everyone looked at him as if they, too, expected more, and Otis resisted the urge to shrug. Shrugging would not do him anything good in this situation.

Hawk frowned at him, "I didn't see you at Shields."

Connor lifted half a shoulder before the boy in lime could respond. "Lights were out. I barely saw the switches while fixing lights."

Hawk seemed to accept that, although he still looked unsure. Otis couldn't exactly blame him; everyone was confused and shocked by the entire situation.

"So far, Otis has the weakest alibi, if I'm being honest." Brent mumbled, and Otis flinched, because he knew the boy was right.

"It- it can't have been Otis." Connor said weakly, and glanced up at the lime boy, the unspoken right? between them. "He has no reason whatsoever."

"Nobody on this ship has a reason to kill Tom!" Bridgette growled fiercely, throwing her arms out. Connor and Parker flinched terribly at her words, but Fiona and Luna looked miserable as well, they all did.

Bridgette didn't bother apologising, she just shut up and was about to turn away, the only thing stopping her being a soft "Bris." from Connor. When she turned around though, he didn't say more, only staring at her until she let out a barely audible sigh and crossed her arms.

They stood in silence again, no one knowing what to do, what would happen now. After a few minutes, Parker stood up, earning lots of stares from the other crewmates, and said, quietly, "Alright. We don't know who it is; we can't know. So just," he looked up, a desperate look in his eyes, "Be careful." He stressed.

Apparently, that had been the dismissal they needed, because the twins, Sloane, and Tristan took one look at each other and pulled away from the group, whispering in depressed tones. Hawk straightened and stalked away. Luna sighed and sat down next to her brother. Fiona went toward Bridgette, hugged the girl tightly, and led her toward the bench as well.

Connor looked at them, and then at Otis, and Otis didn't know what to make of the look in his friend's eyes. If Connor truly supported him or if it had been wishful thinking, it didn't matter. Well, it did, but at the moment, nothing really mattered except for the fact that Tom was dead, was gone.

When Parker raised his head for just a second to look around, and met Otis' eyes, Otis couldn't help but flinch. Parker didn't trust him, so much was obvious- but he still nodded at him, and Otis took it as an invitation to sit next to the family, the six people huddled up together and frightened.

1104 hours; 30/10/t23OI8; The Skeld

The next days were horror at first. The crew moved out of Otis' way when they saw him approach, and the only reason he actually wasn't alone all the time was because of Connor. He invited Otis to come and have lunch with him and Bridgette, sometimes Parker and Fiona, asked him about tasks, and took the other half of some of Otis' downloads. Otis was incredibly grateful for the other boy's support, but at the same time felt bad because he should be the one supporting Connor. He did, in

some moments, when he knew how.

He gently nudged Connor away from the windows in the middle of the night, he offered him his

food or his sleeping bag, put an awkward arm around him and guided him when Connor looked lost. It was all Otis knew he could do, all that he could return, and it stung how little it was, even though Connor seemed to appreciate every little thing.

Nine days felt like ten, felt like twenty, felt like a month, felt like half a year. Time stretched on The Skeld like it never had, the weight and the air of the old ship being a heavy burden to carry, sadness present in every room Otis walked into. It wasn't pleasant; of course it wasn't, yet the reminder of what had happened was accompanying the lime boy with every glare, every scared flinch. Otis sometimes felt like it wasn't even all because of Tom anymore; the fact that an impostor was with them, among them, was enough to dampen the mood severely. And of course, the suspicious lay on Otis.

"Ugh, I'm so hungry." Connor groaned and flopped back against the wall of Storage, watching as Otis and Bridgette carried another container.

Bridgette grumbled, "You could help us, you know." As she heaved a green box on a small, blue one. Otis doubted that that would last very long, since the blue box was much smaller than the green one, but he didn't address the girl about it.

Connor shook his head, "Nu-uh, I did both of your wiring tasks, you can do the box-carrying on your own."

His sister sighed and mumbled, "Bunch o' lazy bones…" as she picked up another metal box and swung at him, and Connor ducked, before straightening again and realising she wasn't serious. The boy glared at his sister, but she only grinned.

Otis smiled to himself as he shoved his box on top of another one. Then he dusted his hands off and looked around, "Was that it? Was that all the boxes?"

Bridgette looked around as well and then nodded, "Seems like it."

Connor jumped up and straightened, "Nice! Then we can eat lunch now!" he was already walking toward Cafeteria, only to be held back by his sister by the neck of his pink uniform. He grumbled as he slouched back and looked at her, "What?"

"It's only a little past eleven hours. We can't eat lunch now." The girl agued. "Uh, of course we can." Connor retorted, "It's easy. Just walk into Cafeteria and get those sweet sweet nutrients."

Otis, just like Bridgette, raised his eyebrows, and Bridgette said, "I don't think you want to eat because you want to be healthy right now."

Connor shrugged it off and started walking the other way, "Fine, let's go find your girlfriend, Bris."

Bridgette was a moment before saying yes, but then she registered his words and blushed furiously. "She- she is not my girlfriend!" she called, swatting at her brother lightly.

Connor giggled, "You sure?"

Bridgette pouted slightly, "Of course! She- we don't even know each other that well!" Otis was glad the mood had been lightened. Bridgette and Connor had been- awkward around Otis. Mostly Bridgette, and that had made Connor be weird as well. But now, the usual banter back, Otis was glad when they interacted normally.

His relief made room for embarrassment when he went back to paying attention to the conversation and Bridgette was saying, "Well, if you get to tease me about Fiona, I will definitely tease you about Otis!" she said it so naturally, Otis was only slightly surprised.

Connor's response lost his good-natured fire, and he stumbled over his words. He sent a quick glance over to Otis, but when he saw the boy was watching him, he turned back quickly, and stuttered, "I don't- I don't know what you're talking about!"

Bridgette slung an arm over his shoulder and grinned, walking toward the hallway of Electrical, only turning back to wave at Otis for him to follow. Otis smiled slightly around his warm face as he took two steps to walk behind the siblings.

Listening to Connor's and Bridgette's happy back-and-forth, and momentarily erasing the distrust and pain from his mind- it was nice. A change from everything.

Fiona was sitting in Security, sorting through some files, occasionally glancing up at the cameras. The three walked inside and Bridgette grinned at the girl, who smiled back. "Hey guys! What's up?"

Bridgette shrugged as she hopped onto the table, swinging her legs slightly, leaving Otis and Connor standing at the other table, "Oh, nothing much. Just checking in what everyone is doing." She looked at the girl in the purple uniform, and stupid smile on her face.

Connor nudged Otis and whispered, "Definitely gay,"

Bridgette glared at them like she had heard him, and Otis swallowed his laughter, only a snort coming out. The two boys feigned innocence as Bridgette and a confused Fiona looked over to them, then broke into quiet laughter when the girls went back to conversing. They spent another hour in Security, chatting, Otis trying to make sense of the files, and Bridgette making fun of Connor when he didn't understand where each camera was placed. Shortly after 1200 hours, they went into Cafeteria, and Fiona started piling bowls on one of the tables.

"Soup?" she asked, looking around. Otis nodded, and Bridgette took two of the big liquid containers, cut them open, and set them next to the bowls.

"Spoons are out. Guess we'll have to sip." Fiona mumbled as she poured the semi-soup into the four boles.

"That's fine, as long as we can finally eat." Connor shrugged and sat down, taking off his helmet. Otis smirked slightly and sat down next to the boy, taking his own meal and sniffing at it, before taking a careful sip.

"I've never had space soup." Fiona mumbled into her bowl, "It's- kinda weird."

Bridgette nodded, "It is, right? It's got all these weird flavours."

"I think Mira makes most spices in laboratories or bio labs." Otis put in and shrugged. Non-natural spices were pretty normal for him- it wasn't like it tasted bad; it was just different.

Connor, on the other hand, stared down at his bowl in slight distaste, nose scrunched up. "Great, artificial plants."

His sister spluttered and wiped her mouth. "That is not funny, dude."

Connor looked up at her, "I wasn't trying to be funny."

Bridgette sighed and moved her bowl in circle motions a little as she said, "Just eat the soup."

Others moved in and out of Cafeteria, Parker joining them a little after half past twelve, and then staying with them

.

It was a nice day, Otis decided as he laughed along to his friends.

1600 hours; 31/10/t23OI8; The Skeld

Parker was sitting in Communications, debating whether to actually hail Mira or not. To be fair, there only was one particular person he wanted to talk to- but since he worked at comms in Mira HQ, there was a chance they could talk.

He cleared his throat when he opened the line, the crackling becoming less and he started, "This is Parker Feng, from The Skeld, hailing Mira Headquarters. Do you copy?"

"Mira HQ here, we copy." An unknown voice replied.

Parker grew flustered immediately, "Um- um, sorry, I- I wanted to talk to- to Kacey? Kacey Payne? Is he there right now?"

The person on the other end sighed into the mic, and there was static for a moment before they responded again, "What's his crewmate number? I'll patch you through."

"It's-," Parker checked his tablet quickly, "It's LM20."

"Got it. Please wait for a moment until he arrives."

Parker exhaled gratefully, "Thanks."

"It's my job."

Parker waited, playing with the pen that lay next to the computer, head propped up by his fist, minutes ticking by. For one of the biggest organisations there were, Mira was very slow. When a familiar, a bit confused voice came through, "Hello? Kacey here,"

Parker jumped a bit and called out quietly, "Kacey! I'm so glad to hear you!"

Parker could picture his boyfriend sitting down when he said, "Pebs? Is that you?" "It is!" he sighed, happy, and continued, "I'm so glad you're there. Well, not here there, but that you can hear me."

"Something wrong?" he sounded worried, and just the tone made Parker feel lighter.

"Well- yeah. Lots of things, actually." He mumbled, and he thought Kacey wouldn't hear him, but the other boy immediately responded, "What is it?"

The boy in the brown uniform fidgeted a little before starting, "You- you remember the impostor news you brought some time ago?" he could almost hear Kacey nod "Well, we- we have an impostor among us."

Silence followed his statement, and then Kacey's shocked, "Wh- what? No- no, that can't be, how are you alright?"

"So far, I'm as alright as can be, but" he gulped and shivered slightly, "but Tom is- Tom is dead." It was weird saying it out loud, because if Parker was being honest, his mind still hadn't accepted it.

Tom- his half-brother, his friends- was dead, and only because he had pushed Parker out of the way. There was no way that was true. It was too unbelievable.

"Oh my- oh my god, Pebs, I- I'm so sorry, I just- I wish I was there with you. God, oh god."

Parker let out a shaky breath, while Kacey swore, and listened when the other boy asked, "Do you do you know who it was? Do you have any idea?"

Parker shook his head, then remembered his boyfriend couldn't see him and murmured, "No, we don't. Well-," he hesitated for a moment, before continuing, "This guy, Otis, is pretty suspicious, his alibi was very weak, but, I just…" he trailed off.

"Pebs?" came through the line, careful, caring.

Parker put his helmeted head onto the table, as he talked, "I like Otis. I want to trust him. He seems so nice, and he's so polite, and" he paused, "I think Connor likes him. And maybe he likes him back; they're so oblivious, it's so cute." He sighed, knowing Kacey was listening, "And I don't want it to be Otis."

"I don't- I don't think you would want anyone to be a murderer." Kacey joked softly, and Parker couldn't resist the chuckle. "You're right, I wouldn't."

"Hey, Pebs?" Kacey started when the silence stretched too long, both of them lost in thought. Parker hummed to show his attention.

"You're scheduled to arrive in not much longer. When you're back, I'm gonna take you and we're gonna go home for a bit, 'kay?"

Parker blinked away a few tears and swallowed the knot in his throat away, "That sounds amazing. Yeah."

"Good. I'll see you soon. Call whenever."

The smile in Kacey's voice was almost enough to send Parker sobbing, but he pulled together and nodded, "See you. Love you, Kes. Over"

"Love you, too. Over."

Parker ended the line before HQ could, and took a deep breath. He was far too emotional to deal with that, but he didn't really have a choice.

Sighing and rubbing his eyes, the boy out his helmet back on and spun around in his chair to face the door again, only to see-

"Otis?" Parker questioned, fear suddenly spiking up. The tall boy was standing at the door, his tablet in his hand.

He looked back at Parker, and waved slightly, "Hey, Parker…"

"How long have you been standing there?" Parker asked, then, "What are you doing here?"

Otis scratched his helmet, flustered, "I just got here, I promise, was that- was that your boyfriend?" he asked, then continued, "And I'm- I'm doing Connor's downloading task here," he motioned to the downloading disk next to him.

Parker nodded slowly as he scanned Otis' face for any lies, and when didn't find anything obvious, he said, "Yup, that was my boyfriend, Kacey."

Otis shifted awkwardly. Parker studied him for a second longer, then stood up. Otis flinched back slightly, and Parker just looked at him. Then he sighed.

"Look, Otis, I- I don't know if I can trust you." Otis opened his mouth, but Parker kept talking, "I want to. Trust me, I really want to." He took a deep breath and locked eyes with the lime boy, "But suspicion lies on you right now. I don't know what your motives would be- I don't know what anyone's motives would be- but I just cannot fully trust you at the moment. But for your sake, for our sake-," he tipped his head, "For Connor's sake-"

Otis shifted again, flushing a red under his helmet, even though the current circumstances.

"I guess hoping will simply have to do."

With that Parker left the younger boy standing in the doorway, looking confused, and Parker sighed in his mind.

0657 hours; 01/11/t23OI8; The Skeld

It was too early for him to be awake, Otis knew that, but he couldn't sleep (as usual). Thoughts about- everything, really, plagued his night. He wanted to sleep, wanted to be able to find some peace in mind, but he couldn't, and Otis had come to accept that.

And anyways, he wasn't the only one awake. Bridgette was already up and about, and Tristan was sitting at a table, rubbing his eyes and yawning wildly, and Fiona just blinked at Otis when he stood up.

All the others were still asleep; Sloane was cuddled up next to Riley, who had her arm around the other girl, and Otis chuckled quietly as he himself slipped out of Connor's light, unconscious embrace.

If Otis started his tasks right now, this early, he could be done earlier than ever, even if he would prefer to sit somewhere and stare out at the passing stars, it wouldn't do anyone any good. That was how Otis found himself wandering around The Skeld, looking for his tasks. As he glanced on the date in the right corner of his tablet, he saw the date; first of November. The boy sighed as he scrolled back to his tasks; it was already November, the year was flying by. He finished diverting the power from Weapons, and swallowed when he walked into Navigations to re-do the chart course. He didn't want to be in here- this room was a bad memory, a forbidden place. Otis had hoped someone else would do the tasks in Navi for him, but a downside of getting up at six in the morning was having to do all the tasks that hadn't been assigned yet. He took a deep breath as he walked inside, his mind immediately tricking him into seeing a cyan outline in the main chair. Otis shook his head and went to the chart, tracing the outline. This crappy chart- one of the reasons they didn't know who the impostor was. If it wasn't for the route, they wouldn't have crashed into the asteroids, and then the lights wouldn't have fallen out. And then Tom would still be alive, Otis thought, and then started to back out of the room. He was already at the doorstep when he heard a vaguely familiar clatter. Otis stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around, slowly, and saw the vent fall close. His limbs stopped moving, his blood rushed in his ears, and his heart pounded against his chest.

The vents.

The impostor was moving through the ship using the vents- it was so obvious Otis felt like he would pass out. He wondered why no one else had thought about it before- the vents were obviously big enough, and they weren't screwed to the ground or anything. His rational mind screamed at him to run, there was a murderer somewhere in there right now, he didn't need to be killed, but his curiosity and maybe something else made him stupid, so he

approached slowly.

The feeling was back, making him numb, taking over his limbs, and Otis didn't fight it this time- he stepped closer and closer to the sucking dark that consumed all logical sense, like a black hole. Only when he heard shuffling inside, and something clanging, did he retreat. He shook his head vigorously and took a step back, almost stumbling, catching himself only because of the panic that slowly started taking over his mind again. He ran out of Navigations, paranoia believing there was someone behind him, following him.

He didn't know when he stopped, where he stopped, just that he did stop. He leaned back against a wall, panting and suddenly realising how tired he was. Otis closed his eyes and put his head back (it couldn't go very far back because of his helmet).

When he got his shit together again, the boy pushed himself off the wall and looked around, wondering where he was. It took him embarrassingly long to realise he was in the hallway between Electrical and Lower Engine, and Otis sighed as he dusted his hands off, going toward Lower Engine, his back toward Electrical. There still wasn't anyone anywhere, and after checking all the rooms on the left half of the ship (both engines loud, then Reactor, and Security was as small as ever), he found a tired Tristan in Medbay, doing a scan.

The boy's head shot up and he stared at the lime boy for a moment, before trying to wave awkwardly, but only managing a vague flick with his wrist due to the bright green hologram that was currently enveloping his body.

"Hey Tristan." Otis greeted absentmindedly as he swept his gaze across Medbay, from the beds to the scanner and the shelves.

He knew Tristan more feared than minded his company, so he didn't stay very long. He tipped his head again with a smile and walked out. He didn't want to disturb the probably still sleeping others in Cafeteria, besides, the doors were closed for some reason, so Otis went back around the left wing, pausing outside Electrical. He thought he had heard something inside, but then shook it off and stepped inside. His task was supposedly to calibrate distributor, and Otis knew he sucked at the task, but everyone did, so he stepped in front of the metal box, resigned.

Then he cast a random look to one side.

And his breath caught in his throat.

The distributor beeped, and Otis didn't even hear through the shock, the terror.

He hadn't seen Tom's body. Parker and Connor had, and someone had wrapped it into a blanket. Then it was ejected out of the chute along with the trash.

Otis hadn't seen the blood that stained the uniform, hadn't seen the terrible, deep gnash that almost separated body halves, hadn't seen how fingertips slowly turned black.

He hadn't experienced the sheer terror that accompanied the finding of a body- but he did now.

Blue uniform torn and stained an ugly purple with blood, helmet cast aside, eyes wide and dead Hawk was lying directly in front of the vent, thick, red liquid pooling around him.

Otis stumbled back, his mind not working, panic and fear shooting through every cell in his body. He choked, and didn't even hear the urgent beeping of his tablet, but was already reaching for his speaker. Instead, his fingers latched onto his tablet, and he raised it to his face and stared down on the notification blinking red in his eyes, reflecting on his helmet.

"Oxygen depleted in 22s" it said, and it was counting down.

Otis' head shot up as it started to sink in what was happening.

21

This couldn't be a coincidence. Someone must have sabotaged oxygen.

20

And maybe even lights before that… or maybe The Skeld really was just that crappy. 18

He could think later, Otis decided as he turned around and ran toward Admin. 14

No one was there, and Otis hammered in the code.

11

It was wrong, and he tried again, desperate.

9

The keys blinked, and the screen said "okay".

7

O2 was too far away, he wouldn't reach it in time, Otis thought as he rounded around the corner, gasping for air.

3

There were already people there.

2

"Okay" it said, and Otis collapsed to the ground.

After a few moments of blood pounding in his ears, and the images of Hawk's body and the snippets he recalled from running starting to fade, Otis pulled his knees to his head and buried his face in them. He needed to get up and report the body, needed to tell the others about the vents and Hawk, but his body wasn't in symphony with his mind- he just couldn't move. He felt a light touch on his shoulder, and he shook it off, fingers trying to find the speaker, finally. He couldn't find it- Otis glanced up and into the worried face of Connor and Fiona beside him, and he just swallowed and grabbed for his speaker. It wasn't there.

It wasn't attached to his belt.

"I dropped it in Electrical." The realisation came as a whisper, and Luna, who was there now, too, frowned, "Dropped what?"

"M- my" he scrambled to his feet, swaying a little on the spot, "My speaker is gone." This wasn't right. He needed to report now. He had to report the body, if not who knew what would happen-

"Why- why do you need it? Otis, are you alright?" Connor asked cautiously, hand on his Otis' arm. Otis stared at him, and shook his head, but then nodded, and then just stared, helpless, mind not working. He needed to run, needed to get away.

"It's- it's Hawk-," he would never finish that sentence.

The alarm rang.

A sound that rang in Otis' ears, his brain translating it to, "Reported!"

He was too late, someone had already found the body.

Otis only realised that Connor was holding his hand when the lime boy squeezed back, and he didn't know who pulled who, but somehow, they managed to get into Cafeteria.

0815 hours; 01/11/t23OI8; The Skeld

Connor had no idea what had happened. One moment, he was sleeping peacefully (well, as peaceful as it got), and the next, oxygen was depleting and they only had five seconds to save themselves. Oxygen didn't go out just like that. Something had happened, someone had made something happen, and before Connor could comprehend what was up and down, what was wrong with Otis, and what happened to the station in Admin, he was already in Cafeteria, standing in a circle with his fellow crewmates.

Most of the others looked around, confused, and Connor couldn't blame them- he felt similar. Only two people seemed to know what was wrong: Otis next to him and Bridgette, fidgeting on her spot, completely shook.

Hawk was missing, Connor realised, and the dread that crept up inside him was almost too real.

"What is this?" Luna asked, crossing her arms, and Connor knew she was so snappy because she felt the fear inside her, too.

Bridgette didn't answer for a long moment, but then she opened her mouth, "Hawk is dead."

The moment was similar to Tom's death- silence, and then an endlessly heavy feeling. It wasn't as bad as with Tom, though, and Connor couldn't resist to glance at Parker.

The boy looked floored, and he cleared his throat, asking, "W- what? No, no that can't be, I-, he-," But they all knew Bridgette was right.

Then, Otis spoke up, "I- I found him." Eyes all around the table turned to him, and Otis shifted under their gazes.

"It was early, and I was about to do my task in Electrical, and then- he was there. He was dead already, and I was about to report the body, but then the oxygen fell out." He took a breath then, as if to see if he was right, if the air was actually breathable again.

"I ran and must have dropped my speaker there, because I went to Admin, then to O2, and wanted to report it, but I couldn't find my speaker."

Connor nodded. He didn't know exactly why he nodded, or if Otis really told the truth, but he needed to believe he did at the moment.

Parker hadn't said anything, but now he turned to glare at Otis, tears streaming down his face. Otis returned with a helpless look.

Bridgette continued to look between the two. Only then did Connor notice how battered she looked; her sleeve was askew and her entire uniform was dusty and scratched. There was a tiny splat of blood on her right arm, and one of the spikes of her devil's horns was bent. Connor frowned, wondering what had happened to his sister.

His attention turned back to the matter at hand, when Luna spoke, shaking violently, "I- there is no way, I mean…" she trailed off, and Connor saw in her eyes the way she resigned and accepted the fact that her brother was dead.

Connor wasn't sure how he felt. He had never been particularly close to the man, and for a long time he had pretty much hated Hawk, due to how badly he had treated Parker. Parker had said that they had made up, and Hawk was a better person now that he had a girlfriend. Connor believed him. He thought he was still too numb from Tom's death to be fully sad after a fresh one, and he only felt worried for his half-siblings.

"Do we- do we have to do the entire discussion thing again?" Riley asked, arms around herself like

she wanted to hug her body. Brent and Sloane immediately stepped closer to her, protectively.

Fiona shrugged a little, "I- I suppose. We still- we still don't know who the impostor is." Connor glanced at Bridgette, who seemed incapable of doing anything. Hawk's death was affecting her more than Tom's for some reason, but Connor didn't think about it too much.

He cleared his throat and started, "Alright. Where was everyone?"

The crew all looked at each other, and then Brent started, "I was still sleeping, then Riley woke me because the oxygen was going down, she was with Sloane, and then it was fixed." Sloane nodded at that, "He's right. Riley and I were already eating breakfast when the oxygen alarm came."

Riley agreed as well, and Connor turned to Tristan. "What about you?"

"W- Well, I finished Medbay scan, and then waited outside Cafeteria because the doors were closed, and when they opened I went toward Admin to do card swipe, and then the alarm came and I went to O2."

Bridgette frowned like she'd awaken from a trance, "Why didn't you fix Admin?" Tristan's eyes widened and he blushed, fidgeting on the spot, "I- I didn't know the other station was at Admin, I didn't even know there were two."

Bridgette nodded, and Connor took that as a cue to believe the younger boy. So he carried on to Fiona, who had been eating breakfast, then Luna, who had been uploading data in Weapons, and had fixed O2, then to Parker, who said he had been sleeping most of the time and most things were already fixed. Finally, only himself, Bridgette, and Otis were left.

Connor swallowed. He really didn't want to be detective.

"Okay. I was sleeping and woke up to most people shuffling around, and ran toward O2." He explained. Then he realised how little that was and shrugged slightly.

"Otis-," the boy glanced up, slightly fearful, and Connor flinched at the expression. This wasn't right. "You already said where you were, do you want to add anything?"

Otis thought for a moment, then carefully shook his head, "I don't- I don't think so, no."

Connor tipped his head, and turned to his sister. "Bris?" he carefully prodded. "Where were you?" because she hadn't been mentioned in any alibis.

It was truly unthinkable, and Connor hated himself for even assuming, but the situation was too absurd without his sister turning out to be a murderer. Connor flinched at the thought and sucked in a breath to steady himself. He saw Otis reach out from the corner of his eyes but then stop and let his arm fall.

Bridgette looked up at Connor, and for a moment he was endlessly scared- her eyes were flashing red, and she didn't wear any expression, until "I was- I-," she looked around, panicking, and for a moment Connor saw the brown return in her eyes.

"I was asleep." She finally said, curtly. Nobody believed her, it was obvious.

The boy in pink didn't want to let his feelings get the better of him, and he shared a long, reluctant look with Bridgette, before sighing and coming to the conclusion, "Alright. Alright, again, we don't know who it is."

No one dared to argue.

1503 hours; 05/11/t23OI8; The Skeld

Everyone had noticed how Bridgette had distanced herself for the past couple days. It was still surprising when she, one morning, wasn't to be found on The Skeld. Parker didn't think it would have come to this. He had expected another normal mission, and this one had seemed close to perfect, with his family and everything.

But now, Tom and Hawk were dead, Bridgette was not to be found, and everything just seemed depressing.

They were scheduled to arrive in two days, and Parker hoped his half-sister would be back by then.

He also was getting ready to just throw himself into Kacey's arms as soon as they landed in Mira HQ.

"Where do you think she could be?" Connor asked, miserable, poking at his food.

Parker shrugged and glanced at Otis, who glanced back with a worried look. "Maybe she found a new room or something." He tried, but Connor only sighed. Fiona murmured something next to them, and Parker could only hear the word "dead" out of it, which got him to flinch hard. Fiona had been looking grave and had eaten close to nothing since Bridgette was gone, and Parker wished he could do something for the girl, but in truth he felt similar.

Everyone just seemed to want to finally get home, or at least out of the damned ship. Riley, Brent, Sloane and Tristan, who had formed an inseparable group, now did all their tasks together, and in the evenings, Parker often heard them talking about Mira, or Fallen, or how Tristan missed his brother, or their other friends who were stationed at different stations.

Luna, who only occasionally sat with Parker and his friends, often talked about Stanley, and how he had a surprise for her planned, he had said. When Connor had teasingly suggested a wedding, she had gotten a dreamy blush all over her face, denying it. She kept on about how surely, Stanley wasn't ready, we haven't even been together this long, and Connor had simply looked at Parker, deadpanning, "We have a wedding to attend soon." With an amused glint in his eyes. If Parker was being honest, he found himself thinking about Kacey quite some, as well. He missed him, and his eyes, and his laugh, and the closer they got to the destination, the heavier the feeling grew.

Connor and Otis had grown closer as well, and even though Parker still wasn't a hundred percent sure he could trust Otis fully, he was happy when he saw his brother and the boy in lime interact like they had known each other for years. It was sweet.

The group wouldn't let Fiona be completely alone these days though. They all hoped Bridgette would return, so they kept the smaller girl company when they could.

Parker was seated in Navigations, even though he had never wanted to go back there. It had taken him quite some willpower to even look inside the room, and now he was sitting in a chair, studying the map. If that was progress or denial, Parker wasn't sure.

"We're arriving in under 4800 hours," he said softly to the people around him, or to himself, it didn't matter. Because in less than two days, this horror would be over. The Skeld would be behind him, behind them all, and it was such a relief Parker felt close to lightheaded.

Connor came up next to him, and only stared at the display for a bit, before relaxing at the chair, and Parker could hear the smile when he spoke, "Finally. It's been a wild ride." And those were some of the truest words Parker had heard.

They were sitting at a table, eating dinner, when someone entered Cafeteria. No one noticed at first, Parker assuming it was just Luna or one of the youngling's group, but then Fiona let out a soft gasp, and Parker glanced up.

Bridgette was standing in the door next to Weapons, a tired but satisfied smile on her face. Parker didn't know what was happening for a moment, so he turned and looked at Fiona, who had her hand in front of her mouth, and Connor, wide-eyed and mouth agape, and Otis, with raised eyebrows and a tiny smile tugging at his lips, and then Parker turned to his half-sister again. She looked very battered and torn, and when she approached them Parker noticed a subtle limp, not unlike his, but her eyes were shining in the same colour as his, and Parker was flushed with relief as he didn't even realise how he got up and started toward his sister.

Fiona was already there, throwing her arms around Bridgette, sobbing into her uniform, and Connor who stopped a foot in front of her.

Parker stepped up to the girl, and studied her for a moment, then looked up in her face.

Bridgette, her arms around Fiona, only managed a cheeky but undeniably broken and strong smile, her eyes reading I'm sorry for leaving you.

Parker shook his head, and tears formed as he mouthed you're here now, and maybe they would talk about it in the future, maybe they would never know what actually happened, but at that moment Parker didn't care, because his sister was back, and they were arriving in less than 48 hours, and maybe it would actually turn out okay after all.

1046 hours; 07/11/t23OI8; The Skeld

It wasn't his first mission. But it sure as hell felt like a new experience. From meeting the crew, to having two of them murdered, to being accused of being impostor, to having most things work out.

Otis could honestly say he hadn't expected this. None of them had, but they had lived through it (well, most of them had), and now they were only minutes away from docking at Mira HQ.

Connor was fidgeting next to Otis, having said something about "solid ground", Fiona and Bridgette were in similar state, Bridgette subtly leaning against a wall to free her leg from any pressure, and Parker was playing with his fingertips, looking out the window longingly. Otis didn't have anything in Mira HQ. He hadn't even thought about home and Jada for very long on this mission. He almost didn't have the time. It was weird- but for some reason, Otis didn't mind.

"We're about to land, almost there!" Tristan cheered somewhere next to him, and Otis couldn't help but smile and agree.

"I will spend fifty years on land before I ever board a ship again." Riley announced and shuddered, and the comment triggered laughter and agreement all around the crew.

"Alright, guess our next mission together will be when we're 69," Brent joked. The mood was better than it had been for days, the crew on edge with excitement, and Otis was very glad about that. The suffocating feeling of sadness and dread and faded into the background, and even though it would obviously return, it was a nice change.

"Can you believe it?" Connor asked next to him, and it might have been to himself, but the boy in lime turned nevertheless, and looked down at him, and the other in pink continued, "So much happened. I still can't really process it all- sometimes I just wonder what the fuck even was this mission."

It startled a laugh out of Otis, and he responded, softly, "I think most of us have a similar thought process to that right now."

"Yeah, I mean…" but he never finished his sentence. Connor shrugged and smiled, and then they changed the topic.

"I can see the station!" Fiona exclaimed at one point, and everyone turned to look, and there it was; the main building of Mira, the HQ, the place the crew had wanted to be for so long. The Skeld docked, and Otis could almost feel it deflating, and judging by the way his crewmates groaned, so could they.

After the moments it took for The Skeld to sign in, and then for how long the hatch opened, the crew filed out, and if Otis hadn't wanted to get out just as much as they, he would have been pushed out with the flow.

Only few of them turned back to look. Brent showed the ship his middle fingers while walking backwards, earning a slap from Tristan. Otis waited on Connor, giving him time to examine The Skeld himself and deducing that he really, really didn't like the ship.

Connor did the most dramatic thing; he shouted, at the top of his lungs "FUCK YOU!" at The Skeld, then turned around and walked away like he owned Mira, like he owned Fallen. He walked like that until he came up next to Otis, who was laughing, then broke into giggles himself.

"You do realise there are three official Mira agents right there?" Bridgette asked teasingly, shoving her brother's shoulder in the direction where the three stood.

Connor flushed a shade of red but waved it away, "Everyone knows The Skeld is trash."

Before the Mira agents could even so much as raise their hands, a few other people came out of the hallway and onto the dock.

Otis looked as people hugged. Parker had spotted who he wanted to see immediately, and the other man, Kacey as Otis assumed, whispered, "Pebs?"

Parker nodded, tearing up, and the two men ran toward each other, hugging tightly. A guy in a cyan uniform hugged Luna and twirled her around while doing so, another person greeted Tristan with a hug as well, and there were tears and spilled laughter all around, the atmosphere of a successful return.

Well, not completely successful, Otis was brutally reminded.

The Mira officers approached them with serious faces, and the crew unconsciously shuffled closer together, Kacey laying a protective arm around Parker, Brent stepping in front of his sister and Tristan (although Riley shouldered him away and grabbed Sloane's hand), Bridgette put one arm on her hip and the other around Fiona, and Otis felt Connor lean into him slightly, so he put a hand on the other boy's back carefully.

The officers didn't even spare as much as a hello as the person in the middle, a middle aged woman, started talking, "We have been informed that there has been a case of the Impostor Syndrome among you, and we deduced that two people have died due to the fallout of regular Admin check ups." She eyed the crew like they were an experiment, something in a laboratory, "Are we assuming correct?"

Since the others seemed too reluctant to answer, Otis did it, "You are. Two crewmates, Hawk Feng and Tom Light."

The woman nodded and a man next to her scribbled something down on a notepad. The woman continued, "What have you done with the impostor?"

Otis could feel how his crew bristled at the same time, and he replied curtly, "We managed it."

The woman paused to stare at him in disbelief, "We need to know all the details in case of another attack. We are asking you to cooperate with us."

It was Bridgette who answered now, "It will no longer be a problem. Trust me." She stressed and stared at the agents with so much intensity they seemed to back off by just her look.

The woman folded her arms and then nodded curtly. "We will expect full information on past accounts soon."

"Right now, we're going home." Parker spoke with a hard voice, and the crew nodded.

The officers back off, and the crew walked away, backs toward The Skeld, the cursed ship.

Otis sighed as he glanced back one last time. Whatever this had been, it was over. "Otis?"

Connor's voice made him turn around, and he found the smaller boy smiling at him, "C'mon, you can get nostalgic later. Now, we're going home."

Home, Otis thought as Connor grabbed his hand and they jogged to keep up with their friends. I'm going home.

Victory or not, it didn't fully feel like either, but he was going home either way.

a/n

welp that was that. I created this entire world kinda? Go figure whatever u want: ) character credits:

Otis belongs to EmbergrievesforAspen

Parker and Brent belong to succulentsofa

Connor and Riley belong to Mintflight0245

Bridgette and Tristan and Stanley belong to Mossy Clouds

Fiona belongs to Swiftheart1267

Luna belongs to Phoenixlight of FallenClan Sloane belongs to raindropp14

Kacey belongs to resX

I'm sure I missed someone but erm yes Leave a review byeeee