Dead Space: Zealot

by PyroFox117

AU. Sequel to "Dead Space: Ascetic". Titan Station has been overrun by the same force that consumed the Ishimura. Curtis and Nicole may be the only people who stand between the Necromorphs and the annihilation of humanity. They'll slice and dice their way through the Sprawl, helping friends, meeting a man thought dead, and being pursued by something... alien. OC X Stalker!Nicole

12. Solar Eclipse

5 Hours, 45 Minutes Post-Sprawl Outbreak

That was quick, Nicole thought as she stepped out of the elevator. Didn't think she and Isaac would reach the top so quickly. Only when she looked around did she realize they weren't at the solar array yet. Instead, they stood before another lift, this one much larger and ringed with transparent alloy. This must have been a layover or something; she didn't pretend to understand why these design choices were made.

She noted a control room set off to the side, as well as a catwalk that led below the glass elevator so the undercarriage could be repaired. The people working the solar array got to travel in style! If she had to hazard a guess about why it looked the way it did, she'd say being able to spot asteroids would be a big one – the solar array and the Sprawl proper were both outfitted with ADS, but the miles of space between them was unprotected. Not much of a comfort, but at least it was something. And, like all the best parts of Titan Station, the view was second to none.

Nicole pressed her scalp to the "glass" and drank in the panorama of Saturn. That was as much for Curtis as for her. Both appreciated its natural beauty, and she regretted not doing more art of it. There were planets in the galaxy even more wondrous – several had been discovered with ring systems that'd put the one outside to shame – but the ones humans looked to for thousands of years had the edge. Early man stared at the sky and saw this same dot tracing the heavens, nearly unique among the millions of stars.

In other words, it had an edge no planet outside Sol did.

Isaac stepped in behind her before pushing the button to ascend. She heard the doors hiss shut while the gravity panels beneath hummed, increasing their pull. Dust in the air behind the glass was sucked out as an airlock above them opened, and they began the climb. Suddenly, it was just them and the gas giant.

Nicole peeled herself away and turned back to Isaac, who looked at her expectantly. This was the first danger-free opportunity for them to speak. How many more of those would there be?

"So… you're an artist," he asked, a small smile on his face. He wasn't going to let that go, huh?

"Yeah. I enjoy it," she answered. "The money is good. Not anywhere close to what I made as a doctor, obviously, but enough to scrape by." Together with Curtis' steady salary, they were able to carve out comfortable lives – if only barely. It might not have been so easy if she required pesky things like food and clothing. Even in their one-room apartment, the cost of living on the Sprawl was through the roof.

She and the man she used to love chatted as the elevator ascended. It was almost entirely about her, but that was fine. Isaac remembered little about the last few years, and what he did was… unpleasant. She even managed to make him laugh when she mentioned the myriad vids she and Curtis checked out on their movie nights together. That was almost impossible from what she remembered of their engagement.

Only wished she had more to tell him. It wasn't like her life had been the most eventful, either. Time slowly passed by as she remained locked up, only seeing the world through another's eyes. Sometimes, it felt like events of galactic importance were the only markers of change: economic shocks, civil unrest, Weyland-Yutani announcing a groundbreaking terraforming program…

She told Isaac about that last one, and his response was muted. Couldn't blame him for that. No number of resort worlds mattered if the Necromorphs weren't stopped here. As interested as Curtis had been in it, those feelings were quenched due to other recent events involving the company.

The fact they experimented with a super-alien means they're up to something, Curtis thought as the lift trundled along. Nicole didn't know if there was a plan, per se, but it meant nothing they did could be taken at face value. It was a big galaxy, and they might be getting up to a lot in its dark corners. Other extraterrestrials may have been out there.

Nicole felt the presence of other minds as they neared the apex. That surprised her, for she believed only one or two people remained to monitor the array. Still, she and Isaac would be able to handle a couple of Slashers without much of an issue. She expected there to be quite a bit of ammunition at the top.

The other Necromorphs noticed her a moment after she sensed them. One must have looked out a window. That didn't change the fact they'd remain protected for the next few… The hum of mental activity got rapidly "louder". Somehow, these things came to them. Fast. Curtis' brain buzzed in alarm.

"I don't know what's happening, but we're about to be attacked," Nicole told Isaac as calmly as she could while bearing her meat hooks. He wordlessly drew his weapon. Foolishly expected that they'd have a calm ride, but at least they got to rest for a couple minutes. Instead, they were going to be boarded by something worse than space pirates. Honestly, she didn't care as long as this distracted the Golden Marker from Curtis and the others, whose position was more vulnerable.

Nicole hoped the Necromorphs knowing she and Isaac went to the solar array meant they would do nothing but entrench themselves. The Marker wasn't going to send its forces up after them, except for these ones who happened to already be in perfect positions. Sure, the Necromorphs traversed the Crossover Tubes to get to PubSec, but that was a necessary step to kill everybody. This platform was farther from the Marker, so they weren't headed its way for the time being. Maybe it'd even figure they cut their losses and tried to flee.

The windows simultaneously shattered without a sound, for the air required to make such a noise was sucked away in all directions. Nicole's mandibles dropped as she realized what they were up against. She expected the standard cadre of Slashers, Leapers and other human sized Necromorphs.

Instead, they found themselves surrounded by at least six Tripods, with one on each side of the hexagonal chamber. They couldn't fit into the elevator… but their tongues could.

Nicole and Isaac would have been impaled if they came into this encounter blind. Fortunately, they knew some of these things' capabilities. For instance, there was no possible way to destroy so many with their paucity of power cells. Getting close enough to slash them would be a death sentence. Still, the elevator kept going up at its steady clip; this increased mass presented no obvious problems.

The only option she saw was to survive until they reached the top. They were about two minutes away. All they needed to do was endure for 120 seconds. Easier said than done.

She tackled Isaac an instant before one of the proboscides took his head off. Despite the lack of atmosphere, she practically heard it whistle past her, and she could've sworn part of it brushed her neck. Dug into the floor before boomeranging back down the giant's throat. The engineer was too shocked to move, but that'd change soon enough. Nicole rolled atop him and leaned in.

"You have to trust me," she silently enunciated, hoping that he could read her mandibles as if they were lips. He nodded. Another tongue impacted a foot away from her arm, digging deeper into the metal. It retracted, and a white haze flowed through the cracks as it did. They weren't worried about destroying the grav-panels, either.

Nicole scooped Isaac up and draped him over her shoulders. He wasn't fast enough to evade their attacks by himself, and, unlike with Curtis, she couldn't beam ideas into his head. The extra weight barely slowed her down in the lessened gravity, so he stood more of a chance there than he did on his own two feet. He clung tightly, hoping she wouldn't let go. I won't, she thought, wishing he could hear her. I promise.

That was when the challenge truly began.

She poured all her energy into her leg muscles, which erratically carried her around the chamber. Proboscides and other appendages attempted to swat her like a fly. All attempts came close, and many of those attacks damaged the ground enough to turn the gravity panels below into an unstable minefield of singularities. This shrank the area for her to move around in, and it made the engineer cling to her more tightly.

If Nicole were human, she would have panted and dripped with sweat after about 30 seconds of this gauntlet. As it was, her entire body burned. Her form metabolized energy quicker than the Marker provided it. Though she didn't know what the Tripods were going to do before they did it, her connection with them was strong enough to keep track of their locations – that was the only reason she hadn't been squished. Four eyes gave her a wider field of vision than a human, but they weren't on the back of her head.

She couldn't help but think of urban brawl. That was the second-most popular sport in the universe, lagging slightly behind Z-Ball. In it, between two and 20 teams tried to carry a ball to their respective goal through several square blocks of mock cityscape. That was the premise. The draw for many was that whoever held the talisman could be bludgeoned with fists, bricks, pipes or whatever else could be salvaged from the faux-urban façade. While killing people was officially against the rules, that didn't prevent a dozen participants from succumbing to internal bleeding annually. Hell, she'd done autopsies on a few.

It was the modern version of the Pan-European Sector's ancient Colosseum, where thousands were sacrificed at the altar of bloodlust. Society again grew sick enough to celebrate a competition where people were beaten to death.

Speaking of which, a clawed "hand" the size of her entire body flew forward to slam down on her. She rolled away, and the impact fractured enough metal to create another rupture. Flesh was stripped from rotting bone, but the rabid monster didn't care. All their thoughts converged on destroying her and the man she carried. Their hatred terrified her almost as much as the threat of annihilation.

When she was human, she wondered in her darkest moments whether humanity was worth caring about. Had she made a mistake by going into medicine? That changed when she reclaimed her mind after becoming a Stalker. It gave her perspective, showing how much worse things might be. Humans, though very flawed, could learn from their mistakes and failures to become better. The Markers, with a single aberration, never would improve. She knew that much by being one's slave and feeling the echoes of thousands of others, buried on long-forgotten worlds. They were rotten to their stone hearts.

Even though she believed in the connection being a Necromorph brought, she no longer thought it'd be a good fate for her former species. Not with the Markers at the helm, anyway. If they won, humanity would be plunged into an eternal pit of slavish devotion to these "gods". New life would be found or evolve, and billions of once-peaceful people would be sent to destroy it all over again. That cycle would continue until the heat death of the universe… and maybe beyond. What was the death of existence to beings who only existed to resurrect?

Still, she couldn't bring herself to hate these beings, even as they tried to rip her and Isaac apart. They were human once, even if almost all that humanity had been stripped away and replaced with undying devotion. They were victims. To her eternal dismay, there was only one way to help now: eliminating them. And they didn't have the resources to accomplish such a task.

Maybe they do, though, Nicole thought as she took an ugly spill onto her back with Isaac atop her. The force of the fall made her spine pop in a way that would have been agonizing to humans. To her, it was still unpleasant. Had to protect him through the rest of the trip, though. They were still 60 seconds out – and they couldn't survive another thrashing like this one. Her eyes burned in the vacuum as the water was sucked out of them. The only way to keep him safe was to do something incredibly stupid that she had neither the time nor ability to convey. Please forgive me.

She leapt to her feet, bringing the mechanic up with her. This time, though, she didn't prepare to dodge the coming attack. Her feet were firmly planted in one of the few remaining safe spots – which just so happened to be in the center of the hexagonal platform. She called their bluff. Neither her nor Isaac were afraid to die. The Tripods should take their best shots and get this over with!

That was the lie she tried to project, anyway. But she poured her entire mind into believing her own deception. Not dangerous in the way willingly submerging herself into the hive mind was, yet Curtis' reaction still pained her. For a split second, he expressed shock that she was willing to throw her and Isaac's lives away to prove a point! Her enemies bought it, too, opening their mouths for one final salvo of their own tongues. Isaac struggled against her holding him in place, and she couldn't imagine what he shouted in his own head.

Their proboscides shot from their maws with the velocities of bullets. Three came for her that she saw, and she knew another three did from behind. Each was large enough to eviscerate her on a direct hit – to say nothing of what they'd do to the human shield she used. It was a game of chicken. How close would she let the bladed instruments of death get before she bailed? Too early, and the Tripods would be able to change course. Too late, and… well, they'd die.

The answer turned out to be three feet. She'd have preferred to let them get even closer, but Isaac freaked the fuck out, and she couldn't allow him to be more afraid than he already was.

She sprang up, thankful that the broken gravity panels lowered the pull to a fraction of what it was supposed to be. One hand stayed around Isaac's waist, and the other grabbed the ceiling. A glance down confirmed that the Tripods were not able to halt their momentum. Six appendages that were aimed at them continued their trajectories. Given that the Tripods were positioned across from one another, there was only one place for them to end up…

Nicole could not describe the sensation that flowed through her from the foes below. It was like a feedback loop of discomfort – each Tripod was attached to another with an organic harpoon. They damned her as they tried to pull themselves free. There was little time left before docking, however, and the tongues crossing over each other created a web that was not easy to escape.

Space vanished as the elevator reached its apex. It entered the solar array through an aperture in the bottom just large enough for the lift. The Tripods' tongues were amputated by the hull. If they survived losing so much mass, they'd be stuck helplessly clinging to the outside of the station. Nicole released her tight grip on the ceiling, allowing her and Isaac to slowly float to the floor. The man tore himself away from her when he safely could, which made her metaphorical heart shatter. She barely waited for air to refill the chamber before she explained herself.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't talk to you, and I needed to make sure they didn't think I was bluffing."

"It's OK. We're here now, aren't we?" That was all he croaked as he limped into this new area, still dodging the beams of gravitons shooting from the broken floor. Nicole didn't have as easy a time with forgiveness. Even if he didn't blame her, she did.

…

Curtis and Ellie finished cleaning up and investigating their workspace by the time Nicole and Isaac reached the solar array. His heart still thudded because of the Tripods nearly slaughtering them, yet he slowly calmed down – both from that and briefly thinking Nicole went off the deep end. That wasn't out of the question, since she nearly killed him when she submitted to the Marker's thrall to find Isaac in the first place. Still, could he have found a less intense way to save a life under such pressure?

Nolan was somewhere behind him, and Curtis hoped he didn't do anything reckless. Not to insult the man, but whatever the Marker did regressed him to a more… primitive state, prone to irrationality. Couldn't help but think of a child sticking their finger in a power socket.

He sighed, gently sitting down in a chair next to Ellie. Even though he didn't recognize the specific scientific equipment, the assortment of knobs and buttons reminded him of the interfaces used to operate smelting equipment. The fact it was tactile instead of holographic highlighted its advanced age if the dust didn't provide enough of a clue.

Glanced up from the mess of dials every couple of seconds to look outside the curved window. The sight, while not a fraction as pretty as Saturn, still proved interesting.

A pit was carved into the side of the station. Every square inch gleamed with the dark shine of solar panels. The equipment was designed to absorb as much light as possible, but a tiny bit glinted back, as if winking at him. Craning his neck allowed him to barely see the sturdy elevator cables that connected the solar collection site to the rest of the Sprawl, at least a mile up – probably more like three or four. Couldn't have Titan Station close enough to eclipse the sun. He only saw it in so much detail because of his position. In the same way being at the bottom of a well on Earth allowed one to see stars in the middle of the day, the restricted field of view heightened the acuity.

I'm pretty sure that's a myth, Nicole quickly thought. He never tried it as a kid (though he really should have, come to think of it).

Quickly tore himself away. He and the woman next to him had a job to do… even if Curtis had no idea how to do it. Turned to Ellie, hacking as thick dust invaded his lungs. Maybe he should have kept the helmet on, yet this made him look more human.

"You said you were a heavy equipment pilot. Does any of this look familiar?" he asked, gesturing to the systems she stared at with intent. "And you've lived here a long time; do you know why the solar array was mothballed?"

"No to the first. There must be instructions or a tutorial filed somewhere," she muttered, typing something into the computer while squinting at the monitor. "As for your second question…" She scratched her chin. "It got old and unreliable." He hoped it was ready for one final push.

Felt his mouth tug into a slight frown, for this turned out to be more difficult than expected. And they had the easy task! Well, they had time to figure out which buttons to push; Nicole and Isaac weren't anywhere close to their objective.

"Speaking of being a pilot, this'd be a lot simpler if a power loader were here. I could go outside and start smashing stuff until the system turned on!"

"I can do that right now with kinesis if you want," he replied, only half joking. "That's why it's so much better; you don't need a giant piece of machinery. It's more precise, too." Curtis had this kind of light banter every few days with coworkers who were probably all dead. He was glad Ellie remained sane enough to repartee about something so mundane… though in all honesty, he didn't know why some people stood by industrial vehicles as superior to super-science that allowed people to effortlessly lift inorganic objects of up to several tons. They won't tear your arm off if you turn quickly while holding something large enough.

Their shallow dialogue died down, but Ellie quickly interjected, "You know, I heard rumors on the job over the last few months that Wey-Yu was cooking up something in their labs over in GovSec." The alien occupied her thoughts despite never having seen it. Understood why it did, though. "Didn't think anything of it other than people trying to spice up the workplace with rumors about the new management. Guess I should've taken them more seriously."

Come to think of it, Curtis heard the same. About six months ago, Schneider said he'd found a heavily redacted report about Weyland-Yutani testing some kind of bioweapon in their labs. Thought little of it at the time, assuming it to "merely" be a genetically engineered virus or an experimental chemical. It turned out to be something far worse.

A moan emanated from behind him. For a split second, he thought a Necromorph wandered in. That was what his mind jumped to for every little thing. To be fair, it was often the most reasonable explanation during this crucible. Turning around, he found Stross doubled over on the floor, clutching his head and groaning in agony. The man didn't scream or cry, which helped more than Curtis could say. Migraines were awful, and ones caused by the Markers were so much worse. Only wished he could help the man; not much point in staying alive if unbearable pain was the reward.

Hmm. An idea popped into Curtis' head. Looked back to Ellie, who dug through the digital files for any hint about which button turned on the solar panels. I have time.

Curtis excused himself and walked around, looking for something. Not the bathroom. Not the coffee dispenser. Not any furniture, either. One must have been in here! Took a minute, but he eventually found what he wanted: a dusty medical kit mounted to the wall. He tore it off and rummaged through the contents. Seemed basic enough, but it included bottles of painkillers! The brand names were familiar to Curtis, but Nicole reading the labels through his eyes made technical names for the drugs flash through his mind: acetaminophen, naproxen, diclofenac.

A quick question to Nicole told him that 50-year-old pills were safe to consume. Their effectiveness would be lessened, but they weren't poisonous. Sadly, the Somatic Gel had hardened into concrete, rendering it useless. He couldn't apply more of the stuff, but the other two could have. It also had painkillers mixed in, but that part didn't matter for Nolan, since that only worked on the flesh it touched – and he wasn't going to cut the man's head open to expose the muscles giving him grief.

What about morphine? Is that overkill? A vial sat in the bottom, so he thought he should ask. His wife cringed slightly as she saw the flask; that was the substance she harnessed to kill herself, which Curtis had forgotten. The needle went into her arm, and that was the end. Until it wasn't.

It is for a migraine, no matter how bad. Plus, it will make him lethargic and risk other symptoms. She recommended that he administer the recommended dosage of each kind of medicine, since they used different methods to soothe pain. In other words, they'd provide greater relief without risking adverse effects.

The only other medicines that caught his eye were some herbal supplements and extracts, but he didn't dare to open them. Unlike all the other medicines, those would've been made of previously living things. That meant they turned to Corruption in the bottle. Supposed it was lucky that most medicines still functioned as intended during a zombie cataclysm.

He took what he needed and walked over to Nolan, who continued to writhe in pain. Curtis' heart sank as he saw bloodied cuticles trying to tear out clumps of hair. Not to infantilize the guy, but he needed help more than any of their group. It'd take more effort to save him. At least he wasn't trying to kill himself or anybody else. That could change at any time.

Whatever EarthGov did to shield the Marker's signal failed to prevent the insanity from escaping, but it took months instead of days. That was why some people, like Ellie, weren't completely mad (despite having the occasional break with reality). Hoped that also applied to Nolan. Though that also means I need to keep a closer eye on Ellie. And she needed to observe him carefully, too, just in case Nicole left him. One of them might have to put a bullet in the other, though he desperately hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"Hey," Curtis said while squatting over Stross. "I might be able to help you." Offered a hand to pull him up, hoping that this poor man would take it. Curtis had been stubborn about accepting help before, yet he wouldn't force-feed Nolan pills. Thankfully, he was smart enough to agree.

Stross wobbled to his feet before collapsing into a chair that Curtis had enough foresight to place nearby. Handed him six different kinds of medicine and a glass of water from a drinking fountain. Only a matter of time before Necromorph tissue rendered the Sprawl's water impotable, yet it remained safe for the moment. It didn't have any debris floating in it, at least!

Nolan took all of them in one gulp, which was something Curtis probably couldn't have managed. Told him they should kick in soon, to which he nodded. He's a scientist, Mike chided. I don't need to tell him that. Nolan dropped the cup and turned to him, looking slightly less miserable than he did a second ago.

"You said you took Altman's journal from the Church of Unitology." Curtis nodded, figuring he wanted to hear the story behind the daring caper. "May I see it?"

Curtis felt his eyes narrow as he probed for ill intent. This would be a perfect opportunity to rob them of a crucial resource if Stross was under the Marker's thrall. Still, he was willing to go along. Ellie said she could handle pressing buttons by herself while he played librarian.

He handed over the journal with his left hand while the right clenched into a fist. The man would be knocked on his ass if he tried to tear out pages. Seemed genuinely curious, though. And why wouldn't he be? Most people, Unitologist or not, would be interested in delving into something so secret. Moreover, Stross was a scientist who had been dispatched to study the Marker, so he presumably knew details about it beforehand. Perhaps he'd be able to shed light on what it was all about.

Besides, Curtis wanted an excuse to read along. Skimming the text after "liberating" it from a glass prison was wholly insufficient. He needed to dig in. Nicole, a watchman at the back of his mind, was equally hungry for answers. They might as well dig in.

Nolan stared at the cover for a while. Curtis understood wanting to take it all in… though he'd have to ask for the book back if the guy didn't do anything with it. Then he cracked it open to the first page. Blank, except for one detail: a brown circle adorned the beige paper. His eyes were immediately glued to it, and his mind raced with theories about what it might be.

Was it a preserved Necromorph tissue sample? A hint or clue that led to hidden knowledge? Something related to the alien?! It took Curtis too long to realize an even more shocking truth: it was a coffee stain from the bottom of a mug.

HE… WAS NOT A MORNING PERSON.

The Black Marker thought that fact pertinent enough to interject for the first time in a while. Another blurry set of alien memories flowed through him, discolored and hazy through time like a watercolor painting. A person, presumably Altman, observed the stone while holding a mug of steaming liquid.

If Curtis didn't know better, he'd have thought the Marker was infatuated! The obelisk denied this fact, which he and Nicole found funny. At least one relationship was weirder than theirs! In all seriousness, he understood why the Black Marker thought about Altman so much.

Having no friends was bad enough. Having them, only for them to be snatched away, must have been far worse. Especially when the Black Marker inadvertently created the monsters that took the people it cared about. Curtis was alone for most of his life, and he only felt some semblance of satisfaction because he didn't know what friendship felt like. Now, he couldn't imagine the pain he'd endure if they were stolen from him. What would his life be without Nicole?

In a flash, Stross broke through whatever held him back and thumbed through the pages like he'd read hundreds of paper books. Entirely possible, given that he'd been a scientist. Couldn't think of a more likely profession to interact with physical tomes. The most profound sketch in the first section was that of a Necromorph fish Altman saw during the initial recovery operation. It looked more ridiculous than scary, with little Slasher arms protruding from where the fins used to be. Then again, there was no scale provided; it may have been 20 feet long. Wouldn't be so harmless then. The Black Marker's signal had been tiny at that time, so it must have died right next to the menhir.

Are any of those still around? he asked the Black Marker.

…YES. THEY ARE UNABLE TO TRAVEL MORE THAN A FEW FEET AWAY FROM ME WITHOUT DISINTEGRATING. THEY PRESENT NO THREAT TO HUMAN LIFE.

The room grew grimmer. It was quick to assuage his fears, which Curtis supposed he appreciated. Trapped or not, it didn't comfort him that there were Necromorphs on Earth in their own little aquarium.

I HAVE WORKED HARD OVER EONS TO RESTRICT MYSELF SO HEAVILY. TRUST ME WHEN I SAY I WILL BE ABLE TO KEEP CONTROL.

Yeah, he believed it. Even if he didn't, they didn't have much of a choice.

As before, the words and descriptions began normally enough before quickly lapsing into the weird when the Marker was discovered. Marker symbols replaced Latin letters, for one thing. The cipher originated from this very book.

"Ellie, is there any chance you have a Marker rune decryption key for on your RIG?" She possessed many other helpful files, so it wasn't out of the question. Though technically a Church secret, it had long ago been leaked countless times. Given that it had been printed and used in official capacities (he remembered Mercer boasting about his limited-edition hymnal printed with the sigils), Curtis doubted it would be or had been altered. To his surprise, it turned out she did – something about one of her devout coworkers wanting to get her into the religion, and she saved the chart? Modern RIGs possessed storage space unfathomable to people of the past. Some models may have allowed half the Transnet to be crammed onto them!

"'Stratified skeletal frame of multiple layers observed. Supporting horizontal levels is vertical framework echoing exterior form… I suspect that there is extremely advanced nanotechnology involved; emissions of alpha, beta, gamma and delta brainwaves have been confirmed.'" Curtis muttered the words to himself as he slowly decoded the words. It went on like this, and he became more vexed with each page. Altman wasn't going mad; this was just beyond him.

There was still much to ponder as Nolan reached the last quarter. He flipped to a page with some XX121 motifs: alien heads, orbs, other shapes he didn't recognize, and the large shape in the middle that he could only assume was the skull of something even larger. Even as an ink blot, it made Nicole shudder, which proved his idea. There were dozens of Necromorph phenotypes. It wouldn't surprise him if these aliens were the same way.

Above, below and to the sides was more Unitologist writing for him to translate. The top part dubbed them "Destroying Angels", which lined up with the poem he and Nicole found in the library. The text running through the margins, however, was more esoteric and familiar all at once.

Eyeless in the dark, they watch. Grinning chrome, living night. Black as night, teeth of steel. Demons of the void made real.

Kyne chanted the harrowing verse during his darkest moments on the Ishimura, and Curtis imagined the words in that same warbling voice. The lack of concrete details frustrated Nicole. They already knew this. Information about where these monsters originated from or how Weyland-Yutani got them would be more helpful. But poetic uncertainties were what the Black Marker heard from the rest of its kith, so that was what Altman knew. It made for an interesting facet of the religion, at least; the aliens took up more page real estate than he expected. Surprised it had never been leaked. He also spotted several scattered allusions to "ascendance" or "new life". Fair to say that was where most Unitologist teachings came from. Took a lot of creativity to stretch brief snippets into half a dozen tomes. They can make more money that way.

The bottom part claimed, "Evil sleeps in the dark." Did that refer to something else? Maybe Altman thought they were evil, but the interpreters had other ideas. It was too much.

His head spun as he tried to digest scientific jargon and vague mystical apocrypha. Even Nicole couldn't get her head around those two juxtaposed against each other. This was another thing to put a pin in for after they got out. Curtis was equally excited and exhausted about digging through the book. It'd take months – maybe years – to discover what this was all about. In the meantime, it gave him a headache. Maybe he should take some of those pain meds…

Stross reached the final page, which was like the one he spent so much time analyzing. Unitologist script at the bottom read "Heralds of Woe," which he also recalled Kyne referencing. Unknown letters raced across the page, as well as a shape like a malformed fishhook and some circles connected by lines. Those circles also had a hieroglyph or two in them. Something even stranger was on the page: a sticky note.

The Church wouldn't allow its scribes to scribble in the journal, and it must have removed such annotations once high-ranking people had their turn. This one had been mistakenly left in, for Curtis saw no others in the rest of the book.

To this day, I find it remarkable that this text has never been translated by any of our scholars. It has been my lifelong dream to find out what it means.

Enigma J. A. D.

Huh. Nice to know the Church was just as in the dark about the text near the top. Curtis assumed it had something to do with the alien. He squinted, as if that'd make it legible. Out of everything in here, this might have been the strangest. It would take a miracle to elucidate the –

"These are stars," Stross declared while pointing at the balls with alien sigils. All right, that was a reasonable assumption to make; some star maps had the same format. "I can't pronounce their names. I don't know them." That made Curtis look at him funny.

"Can… can you read those?" Nolan didn't look at him. Instead, pointed at the letters in the central sentence and slowly dragged his finger across them.

"It says… 49,079 light-years 'south' of the galactic center." Holy shit, he was actually doing it. His jaw dropped. Nicole stopped dead in her tracks. "North being oriented to the 'larger galaxy our own is moving toward', but still within the galactic plane." That must have been Andromeda, the sole galaxy in the Local Group bigger than the Milky Way. Even he, a layman, knew some basic facts about their gigantic neighbor in the age of common space travel. Such as the fact that the two were being drawn toward each other. In about four billion years, the two would collide and merge into a larger entity, being "made whole" on a universal scale.

Amazing as this was, the bulk of Curtis' skepticism went toward all this information allegedly being packed into 11 or 12 letters – the message wasn't very long. It'd take a few paragraphs to adequately describe that in English. He asked about that. And how did Nolan know the language?! "Seems like a dialect designed to convey a lot of information in a brief span of time, but that's not my field of study," Stross replied with a shrug. "And… well, I just know it."

"Anything else?"

"No." Nolan closed the book, and that was that. "Thank you for letting me r-read it. It was enlightening."

All they got was a number and a direction. It was more than he ever hoped for yet not nearly enough. Where was it leading them? Why should they go there? What, if anything, did it have to do with the aliens or Markers? The Black Marker was equally stumped. Plus, it wasn't a complete set of instructions. Go 49,079 light-years… and then what? Unless the destination was exactly opposite the Andromeda galaxy, they were out of luck. Besides, the galactic disk was between 1,000 and 10,000 light-years thick, so they'd need to trawl all that distance, too. Whatever the answers, he knew one thing: whatever sent the message through the Marker wanted somebody to find it. That was why it had been stated in such universal terms.

Still, it wasn't foolproof. The Milky Way slowly rotated, he knew, so whatever part of the galaxy pointed to Andromeda when this was written didn't in the present. They needed a rough date to complete the equation.

Is he telling the truth, though? His wife and patron wondered. That unnerved him; it often felt that they had all the answers. Like so many other things, it didn't matter until they got out. One thing was certain, though.

The Black Marker said before that it received important information from the rest of its kind. Exiled though it was for respecting life, intelligence slipped through the cracks. When Altman "woke it up" after eons, that pent-up knowledge blasted out of it like a raging river, chaotically embedding itself inside one man's mind. Some other alien force tucked this information into the Marker network, trying to reach an audience.

Now, thanks to the trauma another Marker inflicted on another man, they might close the circle. This began 66 million years ago when the Black Marker came to Earth from parts unknown. Whatever this was, whatever it meant, Curtis somehow knew that this would be part of ending it.

If it means anything…

6 Hours Post-Sprawl Outbreak

…what's happening up here is just as weird. Well, maybe not as weird as getting cosmic directions from a holy book. But still strange.

After pacing through an entrance devoid of anything alive or dead, Nicole and Isaac found an example of the latter. An expired man sprawled upon the floor. The barrel of a gun was in his mouth: it didn't take an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

There were animals, too: birds. So many, perhaps a couple dozen. Nicole couldn't believe it; this was the first time she'd seen any since Earth. Sadly, they were all dead, clearly emaciated under their feathers. Seemed that the owner stopped feeding them well before he killed himself. One of the perks of working in this high-rise was that it must have possessed its own life support and oxygen systems. Having pets up here didn't jeopardize the rest of the Sprawl. Nothing to do for them now. Even destroying them to prevent the Necromorph transmutation (which would happen shortly) didn't matter, since there was nobody around to harm.

This may have been the safest place on the station, yet it wasn't distant enough to stop the Golden Marker's signal from driving him mad. The sheer isolation of maintaining the place by oneself must have been excruciatingly boring. Or maybe the man reacted sanely. A lack of escape options would drive anyone to lose hope. Speaking of which, she pressed her head against the thick windows embedded in the far wall. Couldn't get a direct view of the city, but she imagined nothing good. She and Isaac would see once they found a way outside, though.

She took a brief look around, for the decorations on the walls captivated her. They were pictures and posters of Earth – so many that barely a square inch of metal poked through. Habitats and animals, cultures and civilizations. Different bird species were particularly represented. The only commonality they seemed to have was that none represented a time after the 22nd Century, based on the cityscapes she saw. Recognized several based on the places that no longer existed: New York City and Washington, D.C. had long since been consumed by the sea. That didn't touch upon the truly ancient sites, such as Rome. Curtis knew a couple from the West Asian Sector that she didn't based on his religious studies. The names "Jerusalem" and "Mecca" meant nothing to her. Looked back at the body.

Though not a psychologist, Nicole had studied a phenomenon called "anemoia" in medical school. It was a melancholic nostalgia for previous eras – times when the people who wanted to travel there hadn't been born. Common in the current age, when everything seemed to be the worst it had ever been. Obviously, Nicole had a difficult time disagreeing. Still, for all the good and bad the 26th Century contained, time machines were not among them. They could fight for the future. Nothing was preordained. Besides, it was difficult for her to not feel hopeful when so many incredible people stood by her side.

"I found the way out," Isaac said, gesturing to her from the other side of the room. She was over in a flash, helping him clear equipment and boxes from a half-covered door. The deeper recesses were probably not places that needed to be visited often, even for somebody like the caretaker. What did it matter if something broke in a system nobody used anymore? Well, Nicole hoped it was at least in a somewhat workable condition…

The last piece of debris was cleared away, revealing a small threshold. Isaac put a hand to it, but his DNA was promptly rejected by the scanner. Must have needed an exact –

A hazy form manifested before them, which made Nicole leap back and brandish her claws. Curtis' heart skipped a beat. For a brief moment, she actually thought she'd seen a ghost. Why was that any more absurd than her, a zombie? However, it was nothing supernatural – not sure if she felt relieved or disappointed about that. Instead, it was a hologram of a woman with her arms crossed behind her back, one of them clipping into the body.

"Welcome to solar array sigma-zero-five. Proper identification is required," the machine spoke in a lilting Pan-European Sector accent that was, even in a homogenous global society, still perceived as a sign of intelligence. "Please wait here. Watchman Howard Phillips will be with you shortly."

"What are you?" Nicole asked, stepping forward. The Sprawl itself didn't have an integrated artificial intelligence, so it must have only been for the array. The interface, devoid of true understanding, blankly stared back.

"I am ANTI: the Artificial Network Transmitting Intelligence. I am a product of Weyland-Yutani, a company – " Nicole wasn't interested in a sales pitch, so she turned to her companion while the thing prattled away.

She and Isaac looked at each other. Well, ANTI didn't say the watchman needed to be alive…

Isaac pulled the corpse over with kinesis and plopped it in front of the scanners while ANTI "watched" with an unseeing gaze. If this didn't work, Isaac could hack in. We may not have enough time for that.

"RIG authorization recognized. Greetings, Watchman Howard Phillips." The door slid open, to her relief. They stepped into a curved hallway, where another projection of the same figure watched them from the center. Creepy. Needlessly creepy. No wonder this guy might not have been in the best metal shape and covered the holographic projectors in his room. At least he wasn't one of those weirdos who romanced an AI system like it was a sentient being. Not that she could really judge, given her own relationship.

A few more steps in, and a laser grid sprang to life an inch in front of her face. Nicole didn't jump this time, having gotten wise to such scares.

"Unauthorized visitors detected. Automatic defenses activated," it droned. "Watchman Howard Phillips, please provide verbal access codes to authorize your guests." She looked back at the dead man, whose head slumped in their direction. Yeah, getting him to speak would be a tall order. Meanwhile, Isaac already inspected the light lines to see what they were up against.

"Hmm. Well, these things aren't lasers. Not the kind that directly kills you, anyway," he declared, which was an assessment she concurred with. If they were, they would've bled thermal energy like crazy. Pressed a claw as close as she dared, feeling no heat. Nicole spotted several lumps on the walls with her superior vision, for it was dark despite the station's focus on light. Isaac shone his flashlight upon them. "I… I think those are explosives!" he exclaimed, voice suddenly dry and cracked.

Then these were tripwires. Crossing them would cause the IEDs to detonate, and they'd be caught in the crossfire.

"Why does the solar array have this level of security?" she wondered aloud. She hadn't a clue. Nor did Curtis or Isaac. The only explanation she could think of is if EarthGov worried about sabotage. Was that a risk 50 or 60 years ago, with Titan Station in its heyday? Didn't know.

"We can throw objects at the lasers so the bombs detonate from a safe distance," she said. Ideally from behind the door.

"My thoughts exactly," said Isaac. The worst-case scenario was that the room would be depressurized, but that barely presented a problem when both could survive in a vacuum. They just needed to get through quickly enough to evade the mutilated Tripods that'd be drawn over.

The zombie and the mechanic took cover while the latter pulled over one of the boxes that blocked the barrier earlier. Took aim with kinesis, and…

"Want to do a countdown?" he asked. Nicole rolled her four eyes. Sure, she'd play along. Even with a dead person a couple feet behind them, there was no point in saving the universe if they couldn't enjoy themselves. Serious business didn't mean they needed to be serious all the time. And, hey, she'd become less of a serious person these last few years, anyway.

She put one hand over her mandibles, rubbing them together to simulate the crackling of a radio. Raised the other, which had as many digits as she required to make her point. One flicked down with each number.

"Three… two… one." Isaac let it fly.

The resulting tremor rattled her teeth, and shards of shrapnel embedded in the walls ahead let her know hiding was the right move. Poked her head around the corner to find the explosives detonated. ANTI's holo-projector had also been destroyed, so that provided a small measure of catharsis, even as it repeated the line about Phillips needing to provide a password.

She heard the slight hiss of air escaping as they passed through, so whatever breaches the detonation produced were tiny. They reached another room, this one more like the first because of its windows. However, it clearly had some kind of mechanical focus; the tools, exposed wiring and lack of warmth conveyed a complete lack of habitation. Phillips must have hated going in there, for there was no trace of life. Thankfully, that meant the place was devoid of Necromorphs. Not even a hint of Corruption sullied the environment. One could almost forget what happened below.

Until a wounded animal called a Tripod pulled its belly across a window. She pressed herself against a wall, naturally blending in with the drab brown façade. It passed without issue, and she peeled herself from the metal. Injured or not, they wouldn't stop until they lost another limb or two. Nicole looked around, not seeing another door. Had they reached a dead end? That was what she thought until Isaac pointed up.

The ceiling was higher than she expected. Not astronomically tall, but 30 or 40 feet was significant. A catwalk above appeared to have an egress or two. As for how to get up there, a lift linked the bottom floor to the top. Simple enough. Or, it would have been if the controls hadn't been smashed beyond repair. Didn't know who or what did it, but it wasn't something that Isaac could fix in their limited timeframe.

They'd have to get up there themselves if a piece of machinery wouldn't do it for them. Nicole could climb the walls with enough effort, though that left Isaac high and dry. Thankfully, there was an engineering fix so obvious that even she saw it.

Before that, though, the bigger prize was another cache of plasma cartridges! The room had plenty to power the host of tools. Curtis didn't recognize any as mining equipment, though he did recognize one of the tools as an Arc Welder, which Jacob Temple wielded during the brief time Curtis knew him before he became a Hunter. She and Isaac shoveled as many as they could into their pockets. Nothing like finding such resources when they were completely bereft of them before. Felt like a homeless person finding a winning lottery ticket on the sidewalk.

Anyway, getting to the top floor. Isaac poked around for the correct system while she kept watch for more Tripods scuttling across the hull. Quickly, he found the panel he looked for and tore it off in a clean movement. Rooted around with the wires inside, expertly cutting some and fusing others. Her attention drifted from look-out duty to the man she used to love. Years of imprisonment hadn't diminished his skills; he was still a wizard with a screwdriver and pliers.

"Attention, Watchman Phillips. Unauthorized engagement of – "

Isaac shot the speaker that ANTI spoke through, which went up in a shower of sparks. Damn. Nicole would have called him a deadeye, but he didn't even look before pulling the trigger! A hum so subtle she barely heard it died, and the artificial gravity went with it. They were free to ascend to the next level. A more elegant solution than tearing up the floor.

That was when the windows exploded.

In hindsight, she should have checked for more IEDs. They were already in one room, so why would others not be trapped? Too late for such thoughts, though. Theirs were now on not being sucked out with the rest of the junk. Nicole clung to the floor with her claws, needing to twist her body out of the way when a desk was pulled across the ground. It, too, went into the black. They had so much experience with entropy's pull that it no longer threatened them. It barely fazed her after the hurricane she endured while evacuating Lexine, Gabe and Karrie. Still, a seed of fear took root in her mind.

Is ANTI alive?! She'd never heard of artificial intelligence systems becoming autonomous enough to try and kill people (the Markers excepted, of course). Was this another thing the Markers could do? Were they making AIs alive and evil? The Ishimura didn't possess any robust AI systems, so they'd never gotten a chance to witness that before. She and Curtis bounced ideas between them at the speed of thought.

The suction soon stopped, and that was their cue to flee. Only a matter of seconds before the Tripods arrived; they all must have seen the gust of wind and junk. Thrusters propelled them skyward, and the yelling in her head got louder. Two monsters burst through opposite sides of the room while Isaac hacked the door. The gigantic corpse amalgams couldn't cram themselves into the small space. That may have been different if they still had tongues, though.

The door closed behind them, which didn't dampen the screaming in her head. Another hall stretched before them, this one sporting multiple holograms of ANTI instead of one, still locked in that stiff standing position. The lights in here were all dead, leaving the projections as the main illumination. Nicole's footfalls echoed along the passage as monsters pounded at the door. Even if they broke in, there was no way even one could cram itself through the comparatively tiny corridor.

"Clarke, Brennan." Tiedemann's voice sounded surprisingly quiet as he popped up on their RIGs. "I know where you are, and I will stop you, even if ANTI hasn't so far." The threat was supposed to scare her, yet she felt a wave of relief crash on her.

She almost allowed herself to think the local AI developed a burgeoning awareness and wanted to kill people like in the sci-fi vids. The Markers showed that it was possible, so she couldn't call the fear outlandish. Instead, Tiedemann "told" the machine to attempt murder. A robot rebellion was one threat she didn't have to worry about. "Understand that, even if you restore power, there is no escape. All routes in and out of GovSec are being monitored, and all our remaining military ships are patrolling the perimeter, prepared to shoot down any inbound vessels." May have allowed the people of Titan Station to leave, but that mercy wouldn't extend to anyone trying to see the hubbub.

His pixelated visage frowned as he failed to provoke the desired reaction. Not a peep out of her or Isaac. There was nothing to say, so she cut the feed. That'd hardly dissuade him from attempting psychological warfare. Not like he had other important duties while hiding in his bunker (except maybe enjoying a scathing EarthGov rebuke). She wondered whether this was his idea or if one of his advisors put him up to it; didn't seem like something he'd do.

They opened the last door, which revealed what could only be ANTI's server room. Every place they visited had gutted walls spill their contents across the floor, but here, they were packed behind sturdy, transparent alloy. Another ANTI hologram stood in the center next to a protected panel of blinking lights, which betrayed it as something important. Nicole felt like she was trapped inside a gigantic circuit board, which wasn't too far from the truth.

"You don't realize how fruitless this is," the director said over the local intercom now that he knew she and Isaac would shut him down every time he tried to speak over their RIGs. "I'm getting ANTI to disable every piece of equipment up here. In a few minutes, the systems will be so fried that even a famous engineer like you won't be able to fix them." To prove his point, computer monitors around the room flashed to life, displaying a fluctuating string of digits, perhaps representing the amount of damage done to each subsystem.

He was wrong if he thought that'd make her shake in her metaphorical boots. In fact, it gave her motivation to try even faster.

"We'll see about that, you fascist," Isaac growled as he ran up to the central console and threw his weight into bashing through bulletproof glass. That and liberal use of the plasma they just picked up was enough to crack it. Nicole joined in, the substance screeching as she clawed away. Necromorphs hadn't stopped them; why should an inch-thick barrier?

"I'm sympathetic to you, really!" he blurted out, apparently able to hear Isaac call him a totalitarian crony dictator (which, to be fair, every EarthGov leader probably was). "Things have gotten out of hand. Do you think I don't care about the people of Titan Station when I've been its superintendent for my entire adult life?" His voice cracked like a flaming branch. "But we've made so much progress – we're so close to being able to use the Markers rather than have them use us. If we throw it all away now, the deaths will have been for nothing." Nicole saw the twisted logic in continuing as she threw herself again and again into the wall.

"Tiedemann, take it from a doctor: there comes a point where it's crueler to keep someone alive!" she retorted while the assault continued. "Someone" being the Marker, in this case. It may have seemed like the right thing to do, but the best doctor in the universe couldn't cure death – and plenty had tried. That was the best counsel she could provide, assuming he wanted any. More likely that he tried to justify his choices. "If you destroy it, maybe you and the rest of your employees will survive."

Her shoulder burned, and her legs ached. Tearing through this veil took a lot out of her. Curtis felt the pressure, too. But it was worth it.

A jagged crack had opened between them and the fragile circuitry that was ANTI. It was just large enough for Isaac to stick his Plasma Cutter into and lobotomize the homunculus. They looked at each other, and she nodded. The only thing left to do was pull the trigger.

"You never learned what happened to Poul, did you, Isaac?" The words stopped him in his tracks. He didn't move. Nicole didn't hear him breathe. It was as if he were in stasis. "I'll tell you… as long as you agree to leave well enough alone. If not, I will kill you."

Only then did it become quiet enough for Nicole to notice ANTI chastising them for breaking multiple laws. As if some computer telling them they were in trouble would intimidate them. Then again, she did suspect until a couple minutes ago that it developed sapience and actively tried to exterminate them, so it had that going for it.

Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father…

A line from that ancient sci-fi vid Curtis once watched flashed across her mind like lightning. Nicole slowly regained feeling in her limbs after the jolt. Poul Clarke: a prestigious engineer and pioneer of stasis and kinesis tech, plus starships. He disappeared 30 years ago near the edge of explored space, along with several hundred other people on a classified expedition. Isaac never knew what happened to him, since EarthGov never unsealed those documents. He fought them in court for decades to learn why; of course, regular people never won those battles.

But it was also ancient history. Even assuming Tiedemann wasn't bluffing, Isaac wouldn't trade the present for his past. Right?

Isaac punched the wall so hard that it vibrated, and a sound like a gong blasted around. He'd have shattered his hand without the gauntlets.

"If you're still alive once I reach the Government Sector, you're going to tell me whatever you know!" he screamed at the man. "Or I'll tear you apart harder than I've killed any Necromorph!" His rage was just. His goal was sound. She had no doubt he meant it. Still, she cringed at the thought of him torturing another human – even a scumbag like Tiedemann.

"That's a serious threat," another voice spoke over the intercom. Nicole felt about ready to throw up her hands or slam her head into a wall until her scalp buckled. Of course the situation had to get more complex. Wouldn't surprise her if the alien were on the horn at this point. Isaac held off on frying the computer a little longer, because both wanted to know what the fuck this was about. "I'm sure Hans will give it consideration. In the meantime, though, I have something to add."

"Oh, I am going to put your ass in front of a firing squad once I – " Tiedemann was ejected from the intercoms. ANTI's hologram melted and reformed into a new figure so that they could speak "face-to-face". The new visage was that of a middle-aged man, perhaps in his 60s. His hair was slicked back, and he wore a suit. Not a spacesuit or a RIG, but something that looked antediluvian. It was called a… "business suit" or something similar; in particular, she'd only ever seen neckties in pictures. Was it made of silk? Difficult to discern such details over a unicolor medium. Curtis was equally confused.

"It truly is an honor," the man said while bowing slightly. She didn't know whether the avatar acted autonomously or if the man stood in some kind of chamber that scanned and projected his movements. "I've wanted to talk with you all for several months, but only now has an opportunity presented itself."

"Who are you, and how did you override ANTI and Tiedemann?" Isaac asked, baffled. This person hadn't threatened them yet, so the two were willing to hear him out.

"Ah, where are my manners? My name is Victor Weyland." Any sense of optimism went down the drain upon hearing that name. "As for the second part of your question, my company's artificial intelligence division created the ANTI system. It's based on our earlier MU/TH/UR and APOLLO designs. We include overrides in such products to seize control of them when necessary… though this is the first time in my career that I've used it."

They spoke to the leader of the most powerful corporation in the universe. Nicole didn't recall his official title, be it boss, CEO, president, supreme leader, grand poobah, etc. She barely recognized his face, for he tried to stick to the shadows, preferring to let others handle things. But this was him. And, considering the twisted interest he took in them, she knew this'd lead nowhere good. He smiled, revealing teeth that reminded her of extinct sharks.

"Why should we listen to anything you say? You're the one who let loose that creature on the Sprawl; we read the message you sent to those grunts!" May not have been the best retort, but it was the main thing on her mind when Weyland came on. So great was her instinctual fear of the alien that him wanting to abduct her, Isaac and Curtis was practically an afterthought.

"It's unfortunate that you gleaned such information. I could sue you for corporate espionage," Weyland said. Tried to joke about it like a cool boss, yet a scowl crept onto his glowing lips. They knew he was a bastard now; whatever tricks he had up his sleeve wouldn't work! "Regardless, you should recall from that briefing that the Xenomorph's escape was accidental." True, it seemed like… wait. Her eyes went wide, and she felt Curtis' do the same miles away. "Sound familiar? I named it myself. 'Necromorph' sounded good, so why fuck with the formula?" Now he smiled. "'Alien' was too nontechnical for my tastes. You helped name an extraterrestrial species. Congratulations. It's something superior to even you, Dr. Brennan. Almost perfect at what it does."

Strange how it was dead, then. Anyway, "Necromorph" meant "dead form" in Latin. "Xenomorph" meant "alien form". A simple change, and one she was sure to get a lot of mileage out of. It also gave her and Curtis an important clue: it was the only extraterrestrial species Wey-Yu got its hands on. After all, they couldn't call it a fancy word for "alien" if multiple alien genotypes ran around. Weyland cleared his throat.

"I'll get to my point: I'd like you all to work for me."

"What?!" Isaac exclaimed. It was a sentiment she agreed with.

"The three of you – I'm speaking to your husband, as well – are exceptional… though I don't think I need to tell you that. Your prodigious skills in medicine and engineering would be incredible assets for the company." The ego boost felt good, regardless of who it came from. Yeah, they would be great additions. Too bad they were never going to accept a job offer from somebody who wanted to kidnap them. "Even Mr. Mason, though not particularly educated, possesses an astonishing level of willpower." Curtis didn't know whether that was supposed to be a backhanded compliment. Calculated or not, she couldn't remember the last time they'd received praise for their abilities. Sensing their recalcitrance, he tried to sweeten the pot.

"I recognize the dangers posed by the Markers. That's why Weyland-Yutani has been exploring alternatives to obtaining resources – primarily, the colonization of other worlds with the help of the Atmos." He crossed his arms, which highlighted his confident demeanor. "Believe it or not, we're on the same side." Then he glanced at Isaac; the hologram's eyes seemed to take on lives of their own. "And, given our propensity for finding hidden information, I'm sure we could dig up some evidence on what happened to one Poul Clarke." He almost smiled that cold smile again. "Your mother was wrong to take your future away from you. You could have been so much more than a rat scrabbling for crumbs."

Nicole had to admit… it was tempting. Having one of the few forces in the universe capable of standing up to EarthGov backing her meant she and the man she loved no longer needed to run and gun outside the lines while living in the shadows. With their expertise and Wey-Yu's resources… damn, they might actually have a chance to win. She and Curtis felt more torn than they had for a long time. Is this a good idea? How can I trust him? Will it work? Will it be worth it? There were so many questions, and Nicole couldn't tell which ones were hers. It made her body ache. It agonized her that this couldn't be easier. This man was a devil, but it might pay to cut a deal with him.

For what it was worth, Isaac took off his helmet and looked her in the face. Moisture pooled at the edges of his eyes. The possibility of knowing ripped him in half. And still, he shook his head. She and Curtis already leaned towards "no", and that solidified it.

In the end, they couldn't make this pact.

Knowledge of how to build Markers was out. Creating nebulous technology to help humanity didn't put the cat back in the bag. Even if that solved the immediate resource crises that EarthGov built Markers in response to, nothing prevented them from doing it again in the future. It just kicked the can down the road. More importantly, they had no reason to believe Weyland told the truth about wanting to stop the Markers. She knew Wey-Yu well enough to know that position would vanish if the artifacts ever stood to benefit the shareholders. They'd be stabbed in the back and dumped in a gutter… or dissected. That was more likely.

"No deal," she boldly declared, putting one foot forward. An interaction with one of the most powerful people in the universe would have once scared, or at least chastened, her. Now, it seemed like no big deal. Between Director Tiedemann, Defense Secretary Chang and Daina Le Guin (who must have been incredibly high up the Unitologist ladder), she and Curtis made a habit of annoying the high and mighty. "Also, you're going to have the government crawling all over you for screwing them over like this."

You tell 'em, honey. Curtis chuckled from across space. Only wished he could be there to turn the trillionaire down. Then she felt something. Something on her butt. Isaac wouldn't touch her like that, and it didn't take long to realize that nothing really did. Curtis stimulated her nerves to approximate a feeling there. He psychically patted her on the ass! Obviously, it wasn't as good as real sex (and she no longer derived much pleasure from intercourse, anyway), but she had to admit… it was kind of hot.

Weyland didn't seem nearly as amused. Must have been used to getting his way. He pursed his lips and tapped his foot.

"Sadly, I figured you wouldn't be receptive to the offer," he replied, running a hand through his slick hair. "As for EarthGov, they don't worry me much. You'll see what's in store for them, provided you make it out of this." Ominous. Something told her it wasn't a bluff, either. And neither was what Weyland would do to them for rejecting him. "Commando team Black will be along shortly to make you reconsider."

Well, at least that proved they made the correct choice!

Isaac made his move. The air radiated heat as he unloaded a clip of plasma through the gash they made. ANTI's systems went up in superheated fire. The components, not designed for such temperatures, spontaneously combusted – the oxygen getting through the one entrance must have been just enough to sustain a fire.

Neither Weyland nor Tiedemann could directly interfere with the array anymore. She'd take victories where she could get them. Wouldn't be one for long if commandoes were on their tails.

She knew little about them. That Weyland-Yutani had a private army was common enough knowledge, but she wasn't familiar with how they were organized, etc. Based on their encounter with Team Green, though, she could glean a few hints. First, they were all fanatically loyal to the company, just as much as soldiers of EarthGov or Unitology. They truly believed in the cause. Or they're brainwashed. Either was possible. Second, the units were named after colors. That made "Team Black" sound more intimidating. After all, black was the absence of color. Given the context, she wouldn't have been surprised if they were Wey-Yu's best.

They headed out one more door, which dumped them in front of an elevator. Given the big sign warning: DANGER – VACUUM, it was safe to say it led to the last leg of their journey. Isaac affixed his mask back on, and she pressed the button. No windows in this one, for better or worse.

Only then did she realize how cold she felt. Temperature meant little to Necromorphs unless it was cold enough to freeze or hot enough to burn. This wasn't that chilly, yet it must have been close. Made sense, of course; life support in that area would've been off for decades. It was good that she noticed such things. Connecting to things humans did, especially when Curtis wasn't around, helped keep her sane.

She looked at Isaac. The man gently slammed his head against the wall, and she flinched with each blow. He was in utter agony.

"Maybe this is the wrong question to ask right now, but can I help?" She rested a hand on his shoulder, trying to connect with him like she used to after a hard night. Didn't know if that was possible anymore. Even though he no longer feared her, he no longer loved her, either. Would he be comfortable sharing those feelings with a friend?

Curtis voluntarily cut off their connection so they could have a private moment, which Nicole greatly appreciated. He wouldn't lose his mind in the span of two minutes. Besides, she briefly caught wind there may have been a situation on his end that he rather she didn't witness…

"I could be a lot worse… but also much better," he sighed. Stopped with the headbanging, which reminded her of Elizabeth. He turned around, tension evident in his body language. "I need to know what happened to my dad. I thought I'd made peace with the uncertainty, but now it's gnawing at my gut." He began pacing the small space like Nicole ran laps around her apartment. Around and around he meant, attempting to work off enough nervous energy to put a Marker to shame.

"I understand," she nodded. "I'll help you, though. We all will." By "all", Nicole mostly meant her and Curtis, but others were welcome to. Lexine, Gabe, Stefan. People greater than any politician or rich businessman were on their side. Together, they could find Isaac's father. Maybe he died, and perhaps he still lived. Either way, they'd learn the truth. Isaac stopped and turned to look at her.

"Thank you."

The elevator came to a sudden halt, and the door sprang open, which sucked the limited air out in a moment. She and Isaac fell into the endless void. As it did, however, she noticed another door did the same. There was some kind of big chair inside, so probably a break room. Couldn't have been purposeful to open both at once, but this place was decrepit; surprising it held together at all.

She was glad Curtis stayed behind, because this would have made him quake in fear. Even looking through her eyes might stoke his anxiety. Unmoored from land or metal, they needed to rely on wits, courage and the small amount of air strapped to their backs. The elevator projected to an island between three massive mirrors, each about the size of a Z-Ball court. They'd appear larger when she got closer. The dark side of Saturn loomed in the background, more impressive than any work wrought by human hands. Light scattered off the ice in its rings, creating a picture of perfect beauty.

A shame it had to be ruined by terror.

…

Curtis momentarily severed his Link with Nicole. He mostly did that to give her a private moment with Isaac. Part of the reason, however, was that Nolan freaked the Hell out.

"No! I'm not ready for the needle again!" he screamed loud enough to tear vocal cords – and loud enough for every Necromorph on the Sprawl to hear. "Help me! Let me out!" The man thrashed around like a wild animal, doing his best to escape Curtis' grip. He put up a strong fight despite being skinny as a twig. "HE'S – "

Ellie bashed him on the head with a pipe, and it was lights out. Nolan slumped to the ground, bleeding from the skull. The ichor spread its tendrils across the floor, reminding him that it'd gain new life soon enough.

He went from being calm one moment to a maniac the next. That didn't surprise Curtis; Marker madness worked that way. It hardly reassured him that Isaac or Ellie could snap again at the drop of a hat, though.

"Thanks," he whispered to the woman, who dropped the metal. Her hands shook, though she tried to hide the tremors.

"I hope that didn't give him brain damage," she sighed before going back to work. If it did, it wouldn't be worse than what had already been done to him. "Anyway, I think I'm close to turning this thing on. Two steps forward, one step back and all that." Curtis understood, and he appreciated her doing this at all. It felt like he contributed little other than helping Stross.

He looked at the bleeding body, which he applied a dab of Somatic Gel to. Then again, that wasn't as easy a job as one might expect. Releasing a heavy sigh, he reconnected himself to Nicole before hallucinations ate him alive. He could only hope she and Isaac found more success.

6 Hours, 15 Minutes Post-Sprawl Outbreak

Nicole was happy to report that she and Isaac found quite a bit of success! Moving giant space mirrors proved to be easier than she expected. The chill of space and water in her flesh boiling barely bothered her.

One of the three lenses happened to already be aimed in the correct direction while the other two directed the sun's light into deep space. Perhaps they'd appear as dim companions to Sol to any aliens watching. Probably not, scientifically speaking, yet it was fun to imagine somebody else out there seeing them. Light lasted forever as it raced across the universe. In a billion years, somebody in another galaxy – perhaps one far from the Marker's blight – might see them. This ghost would persist when Nicole stopped being undead and crumbled to dust.

That was beautiful. Curtis suddenly talking made her twitch. You ever think of attaching poems to some of your art?

Only if you help write them, she playfully suggested. In all seriousness, she would love for her husband to help contribute to something so personal. He had great words within him, and she thought the galaxy would want to hear them. They said that the best writers and artists came from trauma. That's true, she thought.

Anyway, the two caught up with what happened to the other. Her nerves burst into flame despite the cold when she heard what happened to Nolan. Not surprising, though. It only strengthened her resolve to help the poor man.

Her eye was caught by a glimmering to her left. She glanced that way to find Isaac's mirror aiming its light beam squarely at the collector panels. The reflection off the dark material was subtle, gleaming like a candle through a black diamond. I wish I could write these down. She was on a roll! Regardless, his half was done, and she nearly finished hers. Instead of hauling the asteroid-sized hunk of glass around with kinesis (which she didn't have), she utilized a physical control system attached to the base. It was little more than a joystick and a few buttons.

She didn't think it needed to be more complex, but it felt funny to drive a billion-credit superstructure with the same kind of setup Curtis used to play video games in retro arcades. The beam slowly approached its target, and she made sure to keep it a good distance from Isaac. He'd probably be protected by his RIG, but they shouldn't take chances when it came to someone's life. The condensed temperature and radiation might flash boil the man.

DIE! DIE!

The particularly loud (though not very creative) insults jarred her from complacency. She didn't speak to the rabid creatures below her, for they were beyond help. Anything she said to them would either be ignored or internalized as something hostile.

A hunk of metal one Tripod hurled at her was easily dodged. The only ranged attacks her cousins had were throwing things and harsh words. Distance brought these mighty beings low. The Golden Marker joined in the insults somewhere in the background, reminding them of their inability to affect real change.

The solar rig's sluggishness was painful. Team Black came for them, and every second counted. Come to think of it, she didn't know how they'd get back down with a platoon of commandos blocking the route. She would have sighed if there were air in her lungs.

Nicole looked down at the Sprawl again to see if things had gotten worse in the few minutes she'd been out. Not from what she could tell. Then again, it was hard for the disaster zone to become more horrific. It was impossible to witness Titan Station's nightmarish condition from within. Only from a distance could she obtain the whole picture.

Pillars of smoke drifted from the tops of ruined skyscrapers before dispersing into the void. Occasional noiseless explosions lit up the night. And, slowly, some parts of the station began to turn mottled brown as Corruption spread its tendrils. Most of the city would be overrun by living death in a matter of hours, becoming more tumor than moon. Corruption couldn't do that on the Ishimura thanks to the Aegis binary star system's unusual radioactivity. Here, though, on the outskirts of Sol, nothing prevented it from growing unchecked.

As Nicole stared, though, she saw something dart between the skyscrapers. It was a ship. Not unusual, since they'd seen several flying around like distant vultures. Still, something about it seemed odd in a way that she couldn't put a claw on. For one thing, it wasn't metallic blue or black like EarthGov ships tended to be painted; more of a deep red, like a blood-caked ruby. The silhouette also seemed vaguely familiar. But enough about her own, weird suspicions.

Finally, the solar shaft hit the collectors. Nothing happened for a long moment, and Nicole worriedly wondered if they skipped a step.

Then she was blinded by another solar beam that shot from the bottom of the platform they rode in on. The light was quickly focused into a tight stream blasting straight down to the rest of the station. It's here, Curtis triumphantly proclaimed. And just in time – we got the system working. Good to know! For a moment, hope gleamed brighter than any star.

All the mechanical issues had been resolved. Plus, they proved faster than the soldiers Weyland-Yutani sent after them.

That was when three ships, blacker than space yet gleaming with polish, flitted into view. Isaac saw them, too. Nicole wished she had a plan, but her mind crashed. She didn't expect them to be ambushed from space. Made sense they'd bring an oversized chain gun to a pistol duel. Curtis jumped in fright; what if they came for him, too?!

Her air quickly dwindled as she closed the gap back to the platform. Isaac was hot on her tail, and she hoped he had enough oxygen in the tank to not suffocate. The ships inched closer. She doubted Team Black would shoot at them, since Weyland wanted them alive. They must have had some traps to catch them with, though! Curtis' heart pounded in his chest enough for both.

They almost reached their destination when the other shoe dropped. A net, of all things, blasted out of the barrel of a cannon, heading straight for Isaac! She veered toward him, tackling him out of the way. The steel mesh flew past them toward Saturn, where it'd probably become part of its rings. Being caught like fish almost felt like a joke, but she also couldn't discern other options. Tractor beams, like tactile kinesis, didn't work on living beings. A magnet would suck in much more than Isaac (while not working on her at all). Harpoons were out of the question, since those tended to be lethal.

Several more came at them. You've got to be fucking kidding me.

She went into a tailspin as she kept dodging the webs. The station whirled around. Kept catching glimpses of that faraway spaceship. Something about the outline beat against her mind, demanding to be remembered.

And then, suddenly, she did.

…

A river of collected sunlight blasted from the sky to power the moribund station, which trembled like a leaf. Nicole and Isaac had been jumped by Weyland-Yutani forces. It was likely those same soldiers came for him. Somehow, though, that all took a backseat to something else Nicole had discovered.

Ellie quietly cheered their success, not realizing what came for them. Nolan still splayed on the floor; dragging him along wasn't Curtis' idea of fun. His hands clumsily flew across the holographic screen his RIG provided, and he wished it were physical so he could get a grip as his heart palpitated.

He made the call, hoping the signal was strong enough.

Communications were blocked before, but Victor Weyland hacking into ANTI implied they may have been compromised, at least for a few minutes. The spaceship Nicole saw was nearby, and its owner boasted about its superb tech suite, including a powerful receiver. The screen erupted into static that vaguely formed the shape of a head, a fact that instantly drew Ellie's attention. Not a great signal, but it'd have to do.

"Oh, Curtis! I was just about to call – "

"I'd love to talk, but I can't right now!" he demanded aggressively enough to take Stefan aback. The room shook so intensely that his teeth rattled, and the words coming from his mouth sounded distorted. Instead, he informed his friend about the danger Nicole found herself in miles above their heads. He wanted to ask Schneider why he was here, yet that came second to him hauling ass to Nicole! The feed cut quickly, and Ellie looked at him with confusion.

"Who the Hell was that?" she asked as she grabbed one of Nolan's arms. He took the other, and they draped the unconscious man across both their backs. One of them could take him if necessary, but they'd share the load for the time being. Curtis only remained upright because of his grav-boots!

"I'll tell you on the way back to the Transport Hub." Though probably swarming with Necromorphs by that point, it was the best place to cross over to GovSec. Besides, the zombies might not be there much longer. They must have felt the shockwaves and figured the filthy humans caused it. That meant at least some of them would head their way to try to find and murder them.

The two set off, already discussing places to hide if a platoon of undead charged past. As they did, he couldn't stop thinking about the solar beam punching the station hard enough to make it vibrate.

Light doesn't have mass, so it can't provide motive force on that scale! Nicole corrected as they began to run. How did solar sails work, then? Whatever, this wasn't the time to ask such questions. Besides, was he really going to question her? The collector systems must be freaking out because they're so old and decrepit. They might even explode.

"The room we're in could blow up?!"

…

Nicole felt as overwhelmed as her husband as she pried open the elevator. She and Isaac ducked inside, and oxygen flooded the chamber again. Isaac took a deep breath before releasing a sputtering cough. She didn't realize how little air he had left.

"Are you OK?!" He nodded in response, pushing himself off from the wall he collapsed against. That was the best she could hope for. Then he slammed the button to return "home".

Nothing happened. Didn't bother trying again, for they knew it'd be pointless. Something pooped out, or maybe Team Black severed the lines.

Speaking of which, that was when they took off the kid gloves.

Bursts of gunfire penetrated the walls, venting the air as quickly as it entered. At least Isaac's RIG had been able to top off his supply. That didn't matter, though, for they were trapped. Isaac would suffocate soon… unless they went outside and surrendered. Must have been plenty of air on those Wey-Yu ships. She opened the door out of curiosity; indeed, one of the craft opened its airlock to invite them into its warm, friendly embrace. Or maybe it was so that commandos could come out.

Then it reeled back, spewing fire and smoke from the keel. She blinked, thinking an improbably lucky meteoroid came through the area. As it recoiled, that ship she glimpsed earlier swooped into view and came in for another strafe. She couldn't help but grin as the ships scrambled to deal with this new assailant.

It proved not to be an act of God, but an act of one man who wanted to save his friends… and sticking it to Wey-Yu didn't hurt. Schneider hated EarthGov because they stole his company. Who else would they turn it over to but Weyland-Yutani? The company would be in for a fight unlike any it picked before. She'd explain all this to Isaac the first chance she got, because it must have made no sense to him! Then again, that was the story of the last few years.

Seeing no other options, she opened the door to the tiny room she previously saw; at least there was air, if only a little. Wind buffeted against her as she stepped inside, which added to her perplexment. She expected it to be a break room for people working in the dangerous environment, but it was just a big chair. Looked comfortable, but there was nothing else except a few windows and computer equipment. Not the kind of place she'd want to pause for a drink.

"Nicole, it's Stefan!" he shouted. It occurred to her that he'd probably been sending an audio log for at least a few seconds, but she couldn't hear it until now. "Just here to say hi and drag these jackbooted thugs through the mud!" Through the glass, she saw that the enemy ships began to fight back, exchanging fire with her friend. It was five against one, but she didn't worry too much. Stefan captained a prototype Oracle ship (its stealth capabilities must have been the reason he operated undetected for so long), and he also possessed peerless skill behind the wheel. That didn't mean it'd be an easy fight.

"Give 'em Hell!" she shouted before the feed cut again. Short-range communications weren't clear, even with Wey-Yu's interference making them possible. She could have asked him for a ride before they crackled out, but he was too busy fighting for his life. The battle continued outside, and a grim wave swept over her.

"What do we do now?" she asked, dread creeping up her spine. Even if Schneider won this skirmish, the government must have dispatched its own ships at that very moment. And they were stuck in a box. Curtis' mind raced quicker than he did. He didn't know what to do but pray to some nebulous concept of God.

"I know what this is, but I've never seen one," Isaac said, stepping to the chair and placing a hand on it. He explained that, on remote parts of some space stations, there wasn't always enough space to install dedicated escape pods or shuttles. Sometimes, if the designers felt particularly daring or psychotic, they'd install getaway chairs. These accelerated the occupant out of whatever dangerous predicament their sub-area faced and back to the rest of the station.

He once heard that somebody using one on Venus Waypoint missed the stasis field on the other end meant to slow their descent. They flew into the planet and died on the scorching, crushing descent, practically tumbling into Hell. Could have easily been a space tall tale, but the fact it sounded somewhat plausible didn't give her much hope. Still, she saw no other choices.

Another problem: there was only one chair.

"You sit down! I'll hang onto the back," she said to Isaac, who reluctantly nodded. Curtis told her to be careful… yet both knew that was impossible to guarantee.

"What are the odds that this is how I die?" the man muttered as he strapped himself in. She didn't dig her claws in, fearing she'd tear up something important. They'd both be accelerated to the same velocity if she managed to keep a grip!

It was so old and rusted that she feared it'd fall apart upon launching. More flashes came from outside. This "plan" was absolutely insane, but so was everything else they'd done that day, so she didn't know what she complained about.

"I hope we're ready." Isaac's voice warbled; he was afraid of what might happen. They would fall from the sky and tear a path "earthbound".

"Let's get it over with." She reached over his shoulder and pressed the big, obvious ejector button. For all she knew, it'd make them explode.

The chair jolted downward as the air (again) went away. It rotated as in a gyroscope, revealing a tube, a track, and a glimmer of light at the bottom. Nothing happened for a split second, which made Nicole grip the piece of furniture tighter.

The acceleration went so quickly that she didn't realize it happened until they soared through space. It must have been magnetic, like the Ishimura's escape pods. At least they weren't stupid enough to strap rockets to it! Suddenly, she appreciated that the air was gone. If it remained, the friction might have burned off what little remained of her face. The seat crumbled, as it was designed to; no need for it when its occupants headed in the correct direction and nothing could stop them but the destination.

The solar beam burned like a torch to their right. They were on a parallel path, perhaps 100 feet away – near enough to feel its broiling heat on half her body. The amount of energy in the wall of fire must have been astronomical. Still, solar power was not enough to meet the desires of tens of billions of human (maybe approaching hundreds of billions) who all wanted more. Not that she blamed them, for the vast majority had nearly nothing.

She guessed they had 30 or 40 seconds until impact based on how quickly the station approached. Nothing to do in that time but enjoy the –

An EarthGov ship swept a couple yards ahead, leaking an angry gout of flame. A Wey-Yu frigate was close behind, attempting to land a fatal blow. The exchange shocked her to attention. She looked around, and the scales fell from her eyes.

The region between the solar array and the rest of the Sprawl devolved into a pitched battle. Dozens of Weyland-Yutani and EarthGov shuttles battled for dominance in the "sky". Anyone still alive on the station could look up and see this war in Heaven. Curtis would have if he were in any position to.

What began as a straightforward freefall turned into an all-out space battle. Nicole had only seen its like in vids and video games. Though the Merchant Marines, whom she volunteered with for a tour, were a military organization, they never saw battle against pirates or Magpies the entire time she was there. Those forces would never dream of attacking government property these days. Now, she got to see the kind of action some of the older soldiers waxed about… just not in the way she ever expected.

One Team Black ship had gotten close enough to the solar array for a couple of Tripods to latch on and tear it apart. The vessel was helpless as the Necromorphs ripped it to shreds. It shook helplessly to try and remove them before a detonation in one of its engines sent it into a tailspin. An EarthGov vessel "above" them had been forced off its path; it veered headlong into the energy beam, where it melted like butter in a blowtorch. Only molten metal and a few solid scraps came out the other side.

Throughout it all, Stefan zoomed through the fray, picking off ships on both sides. If he lacked a body count before, he tallied one up presently! He especially fired on anything that got close to her and Isaac. They may have been distracted fighting each other, but the megacorp and the government fought over them. The former wanted them captured, and the latter wanted them dead or to go away. Those goals weren't necessarily mutually exclusive, but Weyland made this move in a way the government could not ignore.

A sense of dread crept over her. She felt so small and without agency, despite how far she came and all she'd accomplished. That feeling was amplified a thousandfold by being little more than a speck of dust compared to some of the ships she sailed past. It made her ponder history.

EarthGov kept many secrets, yet Nicole wouldn't have been surprised if this was the largest skirmish since the Resource Wars. Hell, it may have been the first attack on such an important space station or planet since the Secession War. Earth was practically down the block! This was a disaster even without the Necromorphs to worry about.

Of course, that didn't mean the rest of the government would care. As far as they were concerned, this was Tiedemann's mess. Moreover, they needed Wey-Yu now more than ever. That Atmos tech was a lifeline for the crumbling regime if the Markers didn't work out… which they obviously did not.

Maybe it wouldn't matter in the long run; it might be swept under the rug like so many other dirty little secrets. Yet she couldn't help think that something happened at that very moment that'd radically alter humanity's path. Whether for better or worse, she couldn't say. It terrified her that both sides were willing to risk the human race over her. Over the Marker, sure, but not over her and her husband. She didn't think they could handle the responsibility. Even so, reluctance didn't stop inertia.

It has come to this.

Falling through the emptiness.

Hope I don't go "splat".

It was a nice haiku. Maybe Curtis should start off with those if he was serious about writing poems! Seeing a small-scale war might give her more ideas; she'd already seen bodies floating from broken spaceships. The 30 or so seconds that passed felt like an eternity.

Purgatory. That was the religious concept Curtis drew from in this instance. It was neither Heaven nor Hell, instead being a place of nothingness without a clear destination after. Much like what she realized when she looked down. The Sprawl's skyline raced forward now, and they'd slam into the buildings without intervention.

Nicole had no fucking idea what was supposed to stop them, but it wasn't there anymore! Probably removed when the place was shuttered, even if everything else remained! The top of the Transport Hub awaited them, its "glass" roof an inviting target to smash into. They'd be two bugs on a windshield.

The only thing Nicole could think to do was brake. They might still punch through, but it wouldn't be as bad. Probably. Maybe.

She used all the air in her RIG to decelerate, as did Isaac.

It was almost sufficient.

…

Curtis felt relieved that Nolan slept like a log. Sure, he was a pain to lug, but it was better than him screaming his head off like before. It made hiding in a closet while hundreds of Necromorphs streamed past easier. They were lucky the other ambient odors obscured their scents! In another place, massive Corruption blooms meant they needed to find alternate routes. It had gotten so much worse over the past hour.

Eventually, they found themselves in the Transport Hub. Stuck to the shadows, barely making a sound. The same couldn't be said for the zombies. Blades scratched on the floor, perhaps remnants of old instincts. Occasional grunts and growls emanated from far away; he was sure he swam in pheromones he had no way to detect. The monsters communicated using more than thought at times.

Most of the Necromorphs had dispersed to search in different directions, but many remained to monitor this place. Even more would arrive soon – almost everyone else died, and even if they hadn't, everyone else came second to the handful who thwarted its progenitor's schemes. The only saving grace was the room's size. Even with thousands of soldiers having stuck around, he and Ellie were able to sneak with some effort. Also hindered Corruption growth, though the whole chamber would still drown in the stuff by day's end.

Hopefully the Marker will be dead by then, he thought. His eyes drifted to the Skate ad he saw earlier. The fact that it still ran meant the power had definitely been restored – he feared something might have gone wrong on his end or Nicole's. It was just a matter of waiting for her and Isaac to return. He knew they wouldn't need to wait long, for she sent him their current destination: a few dozen feet above their heads. No time to tell Ellie as he braced for impact.

Though he knew it was coming, the shattering of alloy and his wife falling through the ceiling with her former boyfriend nearly made him empty his bladder into the RIG's catheter. They slammed down; Nicole was on the bottom, and she'd have shattered her spine if they went much faster. Slowing down with the air in their tanks was the only thing that prevented them from being pulverized into roadkill like rare squirrels on the NCH's decrepit highways. Ellie jumped, almost dropping Nolan.

Only the sight mattered much; the sound got dampened by the air once again leaving the room through the hole punched in it. Why did that keep fucking happening to them?! A sealant grid stopped the leak, as if that mattered.

The scream to end all screams – and Curtis endured many of them – almost made his ears bleed through the helmet. What he felt through Nicole's mind was far worse. A million undead all realized at once that their hated quarry fell in the middle of them all.

THIS IS IT! THIS IS THE MOMENT YOU DIE!

The Marker roared, spittle practically spewing from an imaginary maw. Any sane person would have wished to die of a heart attack before the monsters got them. Curtis must have still been somewhat rational, for he wanted that, too. Nobody else could do what he did, though, so he could only suck it up and hope the nightmare ended sooner rather than later.

He and Ellie rushed to Nicole and Isaac, helping each to their feet. They clearly needed it, for they shook, nerves frayed by what they experienced. Curtis also trembled, because he saw enough through Nicole's four eyes. Even with the targets gone, EarthGov and Wey-Yu remained locked in combat. It would have been enough to make him feel small if a legion didn't bear down on him and his friends.

There was no use pulling out weapons; the number of demons was beyond measure. Demons. He knew they were ultimately people trapped in their own bodies that the Marker forced to its side. Still, they may as well have been creatures from a literal Hell. Maybe they were. After all, neither he nor the Black Marker knew where its kind originated. It was entirely possible they tore their way out of some netherworld to damn the material universe, just as the undead presently ripped through the shadows.

"Where the Hell do we go?!" Isaac shouted, the infernal word fresh on his lips. Kind of funny how it continued to be used as an expletive despite few people believing in it anymore. Ellie jabbed a finger at the Wey-Yu facility she worked at. One of the last places Curtis wanted to be, but he supposed it was better than going back to the Church.

"Into the Weyland-Yutani center! There's a way to the Crossover Tube through there!" The route he wanted to travel had been converted into a mosh pit of Necromorphs.

They ran. Revenants tore through the floor; corpses clawed their way out of graves. He already thought of the city as a graveyard, though not quite so literally. The shallow Corruption they rushed through tried to keep them glued down while its bigger brothers rushed ahead. All prepared to sink their teeth in.

…

That was an easier chapter for me to pen than the last one. Not only was the subject matter less intense, but a lot of the mysteries I presented here wrote themselves. Those will be resolved in the future. For now, let's just say that Weyland is dead set on "recruiting" our protagonists to his side. I don't know how important he'll end up being, but this won't be the end of him. For this brief portrayal, I took inspiration from the Illusive Man from Mass Effect – candid and polite, but also unnecessarily threatening. There's also more than a little of William Afton from my FNaF stories in him, but I'm trying to keep them different enough.

Everything in Altman's journal (which, as a reminder, several pages of that are on CelfwrDderwydd's DeviantArt account) will also be important. If you've played Dead Space 3, you should recognize a few allusions to things from that game.

It was fun for me to split Nicole and Curtis up again, but in a way where there wasn't a ticking clock or the distinct threat of the latter losing his mind. Nice to have them solve problems by themselves while still providing the commentary I enjoy writing for them. There can also still be drama as they question the other's decisions. Also, I believe this is the most PoV shifts I've ever included in a single chapter, so that's interesting.

Thank you to CelfwrDderwydd, 762Kaijucifer, GeorgeP and Antex-The Legendary Zoroark for reviewing since last time!