A/N: So uh, yeah. It's been quite a long time, hasn't it? Don't worry, I'm not dead; the guest reviewers are surprisingly merciful. I just discovered The Sun and Moon Show on YouTube and started focusing most of my writing mojo on fics for it.
So yeah, don't worry, this story isn't abandoned. Things just happen. But you probably just want to read the new chapter, so let's do that.
Cyan thought it would never end. They knew this was an irrational thought, they were bound to make it to the Skeld eventually, but it had taken such an agonizingly long time. They were beginning to think they had actually died in their sleep and got sent to Hell.
"Woo!" Yellow cheered, her energy remaining ridiculously high, even after the hours spent cooped up inside the shuttle. "Here we are, home sweet Skeld!"
"We weren't really gone for that long, but I'll admit I missed this place." Blue says, running their hands over the nearest tabletop. The crew had gathered in the cafeteria, but no one was sitting, much to Cyan's begrudging thankfulness. Though the shuttle was relatively comfortable, the elite impostor was not one for idling, and did not wish to sit down again for a long while.
White clears his throat. "We will take a few minutes to settle in before we begin our tasks," he informed. "Cyan, your quarters are the last door on the left."
"Thank you," they respond, and to their slight surprise they find they really mean it. But it probably isn't that shocking in hindsight; they were willing to do almost anything to have a little alone time. With that, they were easily able to excuse themself and head towards their new base of operations.
An impostor's life was mostly solitary. They'd socialize for their missions [and so they wouldn't go extinct] yes, but it was mostly only for show. Any emotional attachment they might form to another was a brief moment of enjoyment at best, a liability at worst. In Cyan's opinion, it was all a big waste of time. People, both impostor and human alike, were stupid, and they died a lot. What use is there to care about them beyond what they could do for you? What they could give you? How they could be manipulated, turned against one another, and push you towards your goal?
As the impostor made their way to the living area of the ship, they went over what they'd learned about their crewmates as much as their sluggish, sleep-deprived brain would allow. So far, two of the humans stuck out to them. Yellow obviously, for her obnoxious scent and even more obnoxious attitude, who seemed to possess an odd affinity for Red. Impostors would often befriend the crew to ingratiate themselves with them, of course, but Cyan knew Red enough to know they likely wouldn't think about doing that. And anyway, this seemed different somehow.
The other human who intrigued them? Green. He was a grumpy sort, not a fan of people (Cyan could relate), and enjoyed listening to old music. Or, at least, one old song. But that wasn't what gave them pause; it was his scent. It had an uncanny resemblance to one they had encountered several years ago now. Was it possible that Green was…
Cyan shook their head, frustrated. They were having a hard time holding on to their train of thought. Blast it all, they needed sleep!
Still, when they finally reached their room, their brain was still just alert enough to notice that there appeared to be only six rooms. So, they muse. Two of my crewmates are now also roommates. That ought to be interesting.
If Cyan were any more awake, they would now be plotting to turn the two roomies against each other. They quite enjoyed the challenge [and the aftermath] of breaking apart the most tight-nit humans. But they weren't, so they simply swung open the door, and headed inside.
A massive yawn which they didn't bother suppressing seeing as they were alone revealed to the tired impostor that there was not a trace left of the previous occupant's scent. Had this room even been used at all by the current crew? Was there a couple onboard? Or had the quarters been coincidentally cleaned prior to Cyan's arrival, and the oxygen circulation and purification system took care of the rest?
Cyan groaned, dropping their modest bag of belongings uncharacteristically onto the floor. Unpacking (and everything else) could wait until later. They had to rest now to avoid becoming as paranoid and clumsy as Red.
Cyan quickly shifted to make themself look like they'd changed into more comfortable clothing, crawling into the uncomfortable little bed. They'd always detested MIRA beds, [yet another flaw of the human race] but they were so incredibly exhausted they could sleep on a pile of corpses. Actually, that might be interesting to try one day.
They likely would have fallen asleep the moment their head hit the pillow, but it hit something else along with it. "Agh! What the…"
More irritated than anything else, Cyan scrabbled at the pillow, feverishly trying to locate what had felt so hard when their head fell on it. Finally, they managed to grip something cold and metallic, and pulled it out. When they realized what exactly it was they had found, they froze for a moment.
It was a knife. But not just any knife. Long, black, so sharp you could barely even see the tip, this was undoubtedly an impostor blade. And seeing as Cyan had only just arrived, and their own blade was inconspicuously on their person…
Cyan began to chuckle. It was only intended to be a short, bitter thing, but it soon escalated in intensity. Of course. Of course Red would be so stupid as to not only leave a weapon unattended, but hide it by stabbing it into a pillow. Even now, there was a bit of foam dust clinging to its edges. They shake it off as they continue their borderline manic giggling.
When they woke up, they would realize that this meant Red had stayed in this room, and was now sharing with someone else. But currently, they were too delirious to realize just what that could mean. So Cyan simply shoves the knife under the mattress, and laughs themself to sleep.
As soon as Cyan is far enough away, everyone sags like deflating balloons. Even yellow, who had seemed completely awake seconds earlier, put her head in one hand, yawning massively. "We might need more than just a few minutes," she manages, voice deeper from the yawn.
The others yawn in agreement. "I'll try to maintain the ship on my own for a bit. I will rest once everyone else has." Not even Purple, one of the most altruistic of the group, has the energy to argue with this.
Yellow feels the need to tiptoe to her room, given that Cyan's is right across from hers. When the door opens though, she has to stop herself from gasping loudly. "Where did your bed go?"
Indeed, Yellow's bed is the only one remaining in the room. Red sighs. "I guess it's Cyan's bed now. But it's fine. It's not like we never shared a bed before, right?"
"Yeah," Yellow yawns again. "I guess they sent someone here to get things set up while we stayed at the spaceport."
Red nods in agreement. "They're actually quite efficient. Surprising, given how awful the security is."
Yellow giggles, a high-pitched, sort of crazy thing that comes with not getting enough sleep. She soon sobers. "Hey, uh, you don't have to answer this if you don't want, but I've always wondered. How exactly did you infiltrate our crew? I mean, there was a human Red who would've been in our crew, right? So…" Yellow stops, she can't bring herself to finish the sentence.
Fortunately, Red is quick to reply. "Yes, there was—is. There is a human Red, but he called in sick. All I had to do was intercept his email to MIRA alerting them of it, change a couple of details on his employee profile, lock him out of it, and I was golden."
"Ooh!" Yellow knows she probably shouldn't be so eager about her vent buddy's illegal activities, but it intrigued her. Especially since they had found a way to start their first mission without killing anyone. "So, we were going to get a human Cyan on our crew?"
Red thinks about this. "Maybe, but I'm not so sure. After all, why would they add a seventh member to a ship only intended to house six people? They didn't even add a seventh bed."
Yellow nods along with her friend's observations. "There's a lot to unpack here," she muses, her words beginning to slur.
"Yeah," Red says. "Maybe we should leave it until we're more awake."
Yellow agrees. She feels like she might fall asleep standing up. The caffeine was wearing off, and wearing off fast.
Yellow takes off her suit, and puts on some more comfortable sleeping clothes. As she and Red lay down, practically on top of one another in the tiny bed, her last thought is: only one bed? What is this, a fanfic? And then she's dead to the world.