"And just like that, the whole kitchen was on fire! And Aurie started trying to put it out by throwing baking soda at it, but she kept missing, and then her uncle picked that time to show up."

It turned out that even though they seemed a bit different at first, as Red was finding out, Yellow and Rose did have quite a bit in common. One of those things being that once they started talking, there was a good chance that it would be awhile before they stopped. Not that Red minded, of course. They'd never been the most talkative sort, always preferring to listen and absorb information. This particular info wasn't helpful for survival purposes, but it was interesting.

Rose had been telling them stories about when she and Yellow were younger. Apparently, the retelling of their meeting had put her into a reminiscent mood. This particular one was about when she and Aurelia had tried to surprise Yellow's uncle with a home-made birthday cake, but instead surprised him and themselves with a house-fire.

Red had been worried that Rose would be scolded for not working at first, but for some reason it hadn't happened. Maybe it had to do with the three of them being the only ones in the shop. Which begs the question: where was everyone else, anyway? This spaceport wasn't that large; it's not like there were many places for them to hide.

"He didn't get mad or afraid like I thought he might, though. He just grabbed the extinguisher and put it out like it was an everyday thing. We had to do odd jobs for a while to pay for the stuff that got damaged, but that's a lot tamer of a punishment than I'd expected we would get. Turns out, Aurie had actually been banned from cooking when no one was around to supervise."

Before Red knew what they were doing, they found themself chuckling a bit. "Oh, that actually makes a lot of sense. A while ago, Yellow tried to heat something up for me in the microwave, but forgot to take off the foil first. Metal foil."

Rose laughs too. "Oh no!"

"I thought it was because she was sleep-deprived, though. I never thought it was because she was bad at cooking."

Rose sighs. "Yeah. Aurie's good at many things, but that girl could mess up microwave macaroni. Wait…" Suddenly, Rose had stopped doing whatever she was doing with the odd machine in front of her, and her gaze met theirs. "Why was Aurie sleep-deprived? Is MIRA working her too hard?"

Now, realistically, Red knew that Rose was just concerned for her childhood friend, and wasn't accusing them of anything. But her tone and the intense look in her eyes—they transported Red back to a less pleasant time in their life. Back when they were scared and alone, and all they wanted to do was make their people proud of them, be a successful impostor and don't get caught, don't be killed!

She knows, a voice in their head said. She knows yellow couldn't sleep because she found out about you, and now she knows what you are. Not only that, but she's going to tell the higher-ups, and they'll get you. But you would deserve it, because you were so needlessly cruel, because you were too weak to—

"Heya~ I'm back!"

Yellow! Red jumps, and Rose straightens up. Just like that, the moment has passed, and the voices cease.

"Hi again, Aurie! Wow, those overalls look great on you. Reminds me of when we used to go to the park together after school. Say, who's the new person you brought back with you?"

Red turns to look, and it takes all they have within them not to choke on one of their hearts. No.

Red hadn't seen this suit color often. It was rare, much less common than the usual reds and blues and greens. In fact, there was only one person they had personally interacted with, one person who they associated this particular hue with. It can't be…

"Oh, this is Cyan. They're gonna join our crew! Cyan, this is Red, another of our crewmates. I'm sure that we're all gonna be great friends~"

But it could just be a human with a cyan suit; it couldn't actually be—

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance." Yet they sounded the same as Red remembered and as they stepped forward and offered their hand, Red was able to get their scent, and it soon drowned out all others. It, along with the feeling of their hand placed firmly in theirs—it was unmistakably impostor. And if the oh so subtle change in Cyan's body language was anything to go by, they were coming to the same realization.

Cyan continued speaking, but it sounded far away, as if they were underwater. "Will she be accompanying us, too?"

Yellow sighs. "No, unfortunately. Rose works here at the spaceport."

"But worry not," the cashier adds in a dramatic tone. "I will be constantly cheering you on from the sidelines."

What am I going to do? Red yells internally, using all their willpower to keep their fear from showing. Cyan's no pushover; they've been on so many missions while I was still scrambling for my degree—the whole crew's in danger! Okay, Red. One step at a time. First, I have to tell Yellow. But how? Maybe…

They turn towards their friend and say, what they hope is a normal sounding request, to Cyan anyway. "Hey, so those overalls do look good, but I still don't think grease spots are a good idea."

Yellow huffs at first, but must have picked up on their desperation, for she sobers quickly. "I don't really agree with that, but I guess we could, like, discuss it? But uh, we don't need to bother these lovely people with this crap, so we'll just… go talk. Over there. Just the two of us. Just have a lil heart-to-heart and stuff like that."

It takes all of Red's willpower not to facepalm at their vent buddy's conspicuous response, and good thing too. If they had, they would've missed her pointing at a little sitting area a ways away from the shop that they hadn't noticed before. It had two semicircle-shaped couches arching around a little coffee table with a potted plant and a box of tissues on it. Best of all, no one else was there!

Cyan looks thoughtful for a moment, but thankfully they don't seem suspicious. They give a small nod. "I need to prepare for the meeting, anyway. I will meet you and your friend at the conference room. I'm confident that you will be in excellent company until then."

Yellow beams. "You got that right!" She almost shouts, clasping Red's hand securely in hers before leading them away.

Red plops carefully down on one of the couches, Yellow scooting in beside them. "You okay?" She asks, her voice and expression softening.

Red opens their mouth, but nothing comes out. They have no idea how to explain this. Yellow moves closer, putting a hand on their shoulder. "Is it because of Cyan?" They nod, vigorously.

"Yeah. I know it's weird, because they're new, so they don't know about… stuff, but hey. You're still with us, so it's only one person and not like, five or more that you need to worry about."

"It's not that." They manage to get out at last, immediately feeling ashamed of how small their voice was. It was a wonder Yellow could hear it at all, given the quiet but still there noise of the spaceport.

"Mmm? Then, what is it?"

Red takes a deep, calming breath. Though, it's probably only as effective as it is because Yellow's scent is in it. It's one that they've become quite familiar with now, a sort of vanilla and also slightly floral smell with the tiniest hints of leather and something uniquely her. It gave them strength.

"Cyan—" Their voice cracks at the name they hadn't spoken in so long. They take another deep breath, and try again. "I… I know them."

Yellow cocks her head, confused. She doesn't say anything though, and Red gets the impression that she wants them to elaborate. So even though the remnants of panic are still clawing at their mind, they try. "I first met them during my early days in the academy. We were dorm-mates, and we had several classes together. They were… at the top of the class. I tried to learn from them, and I think they also tried to teach me? But…" What Red danced around was that Cyan had actually been the closest thing to a friend they had had. Impostor society didn't really do friendships; it was more shaky truces and competitive rivalries that could and would come crashing down when it came time to vote someone out. For what was now an embarrassing amount of time, they had thought that's all there was to friendship. That the more touchy-feely, sentimental one was something that humans deluded themselves into believing was real to distract from how bad life was. But now, they knew better.

They pulled themself from their brooding thoughts to meet Yellow's eyes. The girl stared for a moment, uncomprehending, until the realization hit her at once. She jerked and let out a small gasp, as if she had been slapped.

"

Wait. You don't mean that… that…"

"Yes, Yellow." They breathe, more serious than they had probably ever been in their life. "Cyan… Cyan is an impostor."