Log 6: USG Colorado's Morgue/ Jacob DuFresne

August 11, 2513

Jacob slipped on his surgical gloves and began to inspect the bodies before him. Eight bodies were laid out on operating tables. "This is Medical Officer Jacob DuFresne. We have more bodies. Seven suicides, one murder." He sighed as he recognized the stench from the day before. "There appears to be an odor coming from the bodies. Preparing to discover source." Jacob was fully aware of the source, but had realized overnight that he had forgotten to make any reference of it during the previous autopsy, even to Nathan. He put on his surgical mask. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, sir," the trainee responded, likewise equipping his mask, today being fully aware of the stench.

"Identification," Jacob requested, grabbing his scalpel and examining the African man before him.

Nathan opened a holo-pad. "Well, at least they were nice enough to provide the ID this time. The man in front of you is 'Mack Walthers.' The blonde with the long hair is named 'George Anderson', while the blonde with the short hair is named 'Troy Antony'. The guy with the mini-fro is named 'Lucas Sanders', and…" Nathan continued to list out the names, but the medical officer didn't care. The cuts were there again. On the necks, every one. Even the murder. There were the burn marks around them again. Jacob began chipping away at the scab left on Walthers' neck. The blood began oozing out, very slowly, but soon came the all-too-recognizable stench of the unusual substance. Nathan began to cough. "Christ, you smell that? It's getting through my mask. Ugh…"

"If you wish to leave, go ahead," Jacob stated while observing the ooze beginning to force its way out of the open wound, understanding entirely how the man felt. As he heard the coughing understudy leave, he called, "See if any other medical officers remaining are willing to be my assistant on the way out!" He turned back to the sludge, which was trying to make its way up the scalpel. "There is a pus-like material coming out of the neck wound. It seems to be moving by itself." He shook his scalpel slightly, which caused the material to fall to the operating table. It began to crawl its way toward the body of Mack Walthers. That was odd. The other substance had tried to go toward Jacob.

"It is moving toward the body. That's… odd…" Curiosity got the best of him, and Dr. DuFresne jabbed the substance with the scalpel. He was met with a sudden screech. It wasn't coming from the pus, he was sure of that. It seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. It hit his ears at maximum volume, and any noise that may have been occurring at the time being was silenced by the interference. Jacob collapsed to his knees, holding his ears shut with both of his hands. The noise was louder than anything he had ever heard before. He could feel his eyes rolling back and his arms beginning to flail as he fell onto his back, but could do nothing to stop them. Jacob landed, on the back of his skull, onto the steel below him.

Amanda Manuel, the main psychologist onboard the USG Colorado, walked towards the morgue, in no real hurry whatsoever. The Chief Medical Officer's understudy, Nathan Henry, had shown up to inform Amanda and the other remaining doctors on the ship that the officer needed an assistant in order to perform the autopsies in comfort. Amanda's parents had always told her to learn everything she could about medical science as a teenager, so she figured it couldn't hurt to learn a little bit about autopsying a body. She really wished that it was some other medical officer teaching her, though, besides Jacob DuFresne.

Everyone on the ship had a general understanding about the medical officer in charge. Jacob was viewed as somebody like Doctor Frankenstein, to the point that people had started making rumors about him. How he was into necrophilia, or how he was a cannibal, or even how he took parts from the bodies to experiment on them later. Everyone was aware of these rumors. All of them might make sense as to why he spent so much time in the morgue. Almost all of them, however had been disproved by his assistants, but they still flowed throughout the ship. They still horrified Amanda. She, however, hoped she would see for herself that everyone was wrong.

Amanda reached the sky blue pad that indicated the doorway to the morgue. She waved her hand in front of it, and walked into the room once it opened. Jacob DuFresne was laid on the floor less than ten steps from the doorway.

She ran over to the doctor. His surgical mask was missing, and some blood was coming out of the corner of his mouth. Amanda lightly slapped the man. "Hello? Wake up, doctor." She could hear the man's RIG's heartbeat monitor showing he was alive, but in a rushed heartbeat. She opened up a video-link to the captain of the Colorado. "Sir, this is Amanda Manuel. Doctor DuFresne is unconscious in the morgue! I came in here, and he was knocked out! Send some help, quickly!"

Jacob awoke with a start. What had happened in that dream? What were those things? Those creatures… what were they? It took Jacob a few seconds to realize that he couldn't see. The world was black. Everything was pitch-black darkness.

Jacob sat up, realizing he had been lying down. He could hear something in the distance, but it was muted. He couldn't hear perfectly, and only heard the last few words, just barely.

"… lright, doctor?"

Jacob opened his mouth to speak, but then saw something in front of him. Four large glowing yellow letters, in Unitology script.

The first was a circle; with two slanted lines above it that turned meet the ground after passing the circle.

P…

The next was the letter 'N', only backward, with a small circle at the bottom-right corner.

PA…

The third letter was two lines with a circle between them. One curved above the circle to meet the other.

PAI…

The final letter, (Jacob swallowed, already knowing what it would be) was a line that went up slightly, before turning into a separate, curved line, with then turned to a horizontal line.

PAIN.

Suddenly, Jacob saw the word everywhere, filling every inch of darkness in a different shade of different colors. He felt his insides beginning to bruise themselves. He felt his bones fracturing each other simply by existing. He felt his skull trying to force itself out of his head. Jacob writhed in pain, and then saw that all the words had focused on one area, two feet in front of him, in the shape of a human female. He had to make the pain go away.

Jacob DuFresne leaped up from his position, right toward the figure. His eyes traveled slightly to his right as he pounced, toward an object covered in a word in green Unitology script.

SALVATION.

Jacob reached for the object, and swung it at the PAIN. It reacted with a muffled, pained scream. He made stabbing motions, and suddenly felt a warm liquid on his hand.

Jacob suddenly snapped out of his trance. He held his scalpel in the chest of the dying psychologist on the ground. Realizing what he had done, Jacob stood up and backed away from the body.

The morgue's door opened, and in walked two security officers, pulse rifles in hand. It took them three seconds to access the situation before they fired.