Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mistletoe stared down at his spacesuit. It was green, just like his fur. The color was what had gotten him the name in the first place—he was the first documented case of his shade of green, and he wore it proudly.

He flexed his claws, watching as the claw guards retracted with them. The engineers had done well with the suits, that was for certain. Too bad he couldn't ask who made them; it was impressive.

"What are you doing, dumbo?" The explorer in a yellow suit said from beside him. "You look like you've never seen claws before."

"I have! I just think that being able to use our claws in suits is cool," Mistletoe said.

The explorer snorted. "You do you."

"What's your name?" Mistletoe said.

"Doesn't matter," she said. "Just call me Yellow. We're not supposed to give out names anyway. It's why we picked colors."

"Oh," Mistletoe said quietly.

"Yeah, yeah. It's weird but it's how it's supposed to work, and it works that way for a reason," Yellow said.

"Mind if I join you?"

Mistletoe and Yellow stopped and looked up. The explorer before them had a red spacesuit on. Their body posture was relaxed and friendly, with one hand resting loosely on their hip and another held up in greeting.

"Go ahead!" Mistletoe said.

Red sat down next to him. "Blue and White are almost done, so we'll be ready for takeoff soon."

"I can't wait!" Mistletoe said. "What type of planet do you think we'll find?"

"Hopefully a habitable one," Yellow said dryly.

"I'm just hoping for one with metals on it," Red said. "That's what we were sent out to find, after all."

They had been running out of metal for some time now. The engineers had already used up the metal on their home planet, so the academists had sent missions to find more on other planets. But, suitable planets were few and far between.

"This is my last mission before I'm eligible to become an academist," Red continued. "It needs to go well."

"We'll make sure it does!" Mistletoe said.

Yellow stayed quiet for a moment. Then, she ruined the entire conversation.

"Yeah, if we don't get killed by an imposter first."

"I thought those were myths!" Mistletoe squeaked.

Yellow tutted. "No, they're not. My older brother's crew had one. They never came home."

"None of the missions I've been on have encountered any," Red said. "That's awful."

"They were so sneaky that the crew couldn't even tell who it was," Yellow continued. "The theory is that they're shapeshifters, but some of the scientists think they're parasites."

Mistletoe really wished she hadn't brought that up. Before the conversation could continue, an announcement was made over the ship's speakers.

"We're about to take off," the explorer on the other end—likely either White or Blue—said. "Strap in, or at least hold onto something."

Then, the speaker began a countdown.

30.

Two new explorers rushed in. One was wearing orange, and the other was wearing black. Black handed Orange a tiny thing before sitting down, and Orange held the object to their chest as they buckled themself in. As Mistletoe stared, the thing appeared more and more like a child. Then, he realized, it must have been an actual child. How did Orange manage to get a child on this trip?

20.

Mistletoe, Red, and Yellow buckled themselves in. Just as Green heard the click of the buckle, one more crewmate entered: Lime. They looked around frantically before settling next to Orange.

Now, there were four empty seats. Two of them belonged to the crewmates manning the ship, so that meant only two were missing.

Pink and Purple ran into the room at high speed, Purple crashing into the wall. Pink stopped to help them up before they took their seats next to Lime.

"Sheesh, Purple. A little clumsy, are we?" Yellow said.

Purple gestured angrily but was unable to say anything before the countdown reached zero.

With that, they were off. The noise of the rockets drowned out any possibility of conversation, so Mistletoe looked out the window instead.

The world was just above eye level, which wasn't saying much because he was only three feet tall; almost a foot lower than average. But, it steadily rose. Soon, the planetwide Red River stretched out for miles before him, and after that, the barren mountains jutted out at him like claws.

Their home planet, Felicette, was pinkish in color due to the millions of pink and white flowers that bloomed across it. Where there wasn't pink, there was blood red soil or dark red river water.

The rockets began to quiet down as they drifted further away from their home. A high-pitched voice spoke from behind him, "It's pretty, isn't it?"

He turned to see Lime. They—she?—were staring out the window beside him. Everyone else had already unbuckled, so Mistletoe did the same before replying, "Yeah, it is. I'm going to miss it while we're away."

Lime chuckled, her(?) voice higher-pitched than a child's. "I guess. But I think I like space better."

Mistletoe really, really wanted to ask about their voice. But before he could, Pink and Purple joined in.

"I'm going to kill Yellow," Purple grumbled. "They're such an asshole."

"I think she's a she," Mistletoe said. "Is she a she?"

"She's such an asshole," Purple said.

"Don't say things like that!" Pink scolded, her voice only slightly lower-pitched than Lime's (sheesh, were the two related?). "Now you're just as mean as her."

"What are you, five?" Purple said.

"I'm older than you," Pink said.

Purple growled in exasperation and promptly shut up.

"We need to go over pronouns at some point," Mistletoe said, half to himself. "I can't tell what half of us even are."

Pink snickered. "That's overrated. Names are way more important than pronouns, and you already have them at a glance. But I'm a she, and so is Purple. Lime's a he."

"It'll do good for my brain when I'm trying to distinguish between you guys," Mistletoe said half-jokingly. "I'm a he."

Before the conversation could continue (wow, they were getting interrupted a lot today), the speaker crackled to life. "Everyone please report to the cafeteria to assign tasks."

The four exchanged glances before running over. Orange and Yellow were already waiting, along with White and Blue. Mistletoe, Pink, Lime, and Purple took their places just before Red and Black darted in. The group sat at the central table. There was a large red button in the center labeled "EMERGENCY ONLY."

The first thing Mistletoe noticed was that White was much, much shorter than him. She was barely taller than Orange's child, putting her at just two and a half feet.

"Now that everyone is here, we can start—" Blue began.

White slammed a pile of tablets onto the table. Blue turned to her and the two held a silent contest of wills before White giggled.

"Get on with it!" She said. "You look silly just staring at me like that."

How old was this kid? Was she a kid? She had to be, but who would send a child into space? There were two too many children on this ship.

"Anyways," Blue said awkwardly. "Everyone, take a tablet. If you don't have any specific preference of assignment, then your tasks will be assigned randomly."

Each member took a tablet. Mistletoe reached for his at the same moment as Orange and the two locked gazes. He froze, staring at the two bright orange dots that showed through the visor. It had been a long time since Mistletoe had seen eyes so bright; Orange was an uncommon eye color. He let Orange take the tablet and grabbed the one under it.

Then, he turned the tablet on. It quickly loaded a screen with multiple selections. Each task was listed by room but could be chosen separately. He tapped on electrical, remembering the training he did in it during his apprenticeship. The room had always been his favorite.

Those didn't sound too bad. He selected all of them and pressed confirm. A beep sounded in his helmet and a notification appeared on the tablet.

Your tasks have been selected. Please wait for the rest of the crew to finish choosing theirs.

All Mistletoe could do now was watch and wait. The visors were tinted and reflective, so his crewmates' expressions weren't visible, but he could still try to read their body language.

Orange was as reclined as he could be with a child in his lap and a tablet in his hands. He was leaned far enough back that his eyes no longer showed through the visor like beacons, but it was hard not to forget them.

Red had a much more average posture. She held the tablet towards herself, all but one side of it off the table.

Yellow's arms were crossed and her head slumped downward. Her tablet sat on the table, the screen just out of Mistletoe's vision.

Blue was also already finished. He sat with his paws folded and resting on the table, one of the edges of his tablet touching his arms and creating a perfect line.

White was also finished. Her tablet was flipped upside down and she held onto the edge of the table with both hands as if trying to push herself up. She swayed slightly, and Mistletoe had no doubt that she was swinging her legs.

Purple tapped rapidly at the tablet, stopped, then tapped again. Then, she tapped again. And again. Finally, she put the tablet down, crossed her arms, and stared up at the ceiling.

Pink tapped hers a few times, then was done. She leaned over to stare at Lime's screen.

Lime seemed to be struggling. He inclined towards and away from the tablet as if he was having issues reading, then tapped. After that, he scrutinized the screen again. Then, another tap. He repeated that process until Pink leaned over and pressed something for him.

Once Lime finished, Mistletoe's helmet beeped again. This time, his set of chosen tasks appeared on his tablet and in the top left corner of his helmet. But, there was an extra one at the top.

ADMIN: swipe card.

Blue gazed at his tablet for a moment before dipping his head.

"Everything should be set up now," he said. "You can all begin your tasks for the day."

Before anyone could move, Mistletoe called out. "Wait!"

Yellow glared daggers at him. Orange picked his child up off the floor and they squeaked out a surprised "Bii!"

"Yes?" Blue said.

"Can we please go over pronouns?" Mistletoe said. "I have some guesses but I want to make sure I'm correct."

Yellow groaned.

"I think that's a great idea!" White said, throwing her paws in the air and stretching out her legs, which pushed the table much further than it should have.

"Alright. How about you start, Green?" Blue said.

Mistletoe clutched his own wrist nervously, tapping the held paw's claws on the table. "Ok. I use he/him."

"I use she/her," Red said.

Yellow sighed before grumbling, "I don't really care. She/her is fine, I guess. Use whatever you want. Knock yourself out."

"I use he/him," Blue said.

"And I use she/her," White said. "But I don't identify as a girl, so please don't call me one."

"She/her!" Purple said quickly. "Though it doesn't matter much to me."

"I'm also a she," Pink said. She turned to Lime, who looked at her awkwardly. She placed a paw on his shoulder. "And Lime's a he."

Lime nodded.

"Now that we're all set—we are all set, right?" Blue said. He waited a moment, his gaze flitting over each crewmember. "Alright. Since we're all set, we can begin tasks."

With that, the table dispersed, save for three crewmates.

Mettalus language was so strange. An-Sha, known by the crewmates as Lime, couldn't begin to understand it. The language had four entire third-person pronouns to refer to others with, two of which were for living things based on sex and/or gender (another mystery to An-Sha and kin), one of which was for non-living things, and the last of which could refer to both a single being and multiple beings.

Nebulisian had none of this. Instead, Nebulisian had a cute little attachment for verbs.

For example, "the kitten finds everything" would translate to "nakho ale kite," but "the kitten finds themself" would translate to "nakhosi kite."

There was no she, he, or they. There was only I, we, and you.

There was no hers or his or theirs, either. There were only "An-Sha possessions" or "We possessions." Green's tablet wouldn't be "his tablet," it would be "Green tablet."

So when Ish-Ki and Gal-Xi picked An-Sha's pronouns, An-Sha was grateful. The Nebulis had no idea what any of the discussion meant until that moment.

So, An-Sha was "he" now. An-Sh... he would have to remember that. Referring to himself that way felt so strange. The idea of giving himself a set of words denoting sex or gender when he had none felt so wrong.

Gal-Xi, with a paw of the pink suit still on An-Sha's shoulder from the pronoun circle earlier, asked quietly, "What's wrong?"

"I don't like this," An-Sha said.

"Don't like what?"

"The pronouns," An-Sha said. "They feel wrong."

"I agree that those pronouns are a load of nonsense," Gal-Xi said. "But we need to blend in."

"I hate the pronouns too," Ish-Ki, ever the aggressive one, growled. "Dumbest things ever invented."

"What if we only used the pronouns around the crewmates? Would that help?" Gal-Xi suggested.

An-Sha sent out a blip of exasperated irritation. In return, Gal-Xi sent a cautious wave of hope, silently begging.

"Okay," An-Sha said, sending another small blip of exasperation. Gal-Xi sent back a dash of gratitude.

So, the pronouns were nil.

Gal-Xi helped An-Sha to stand. Then, Gal-Xi picked up their tablet.

"So, I guess we do tasks now," Gal-Xi said. "My tasks are in admin, weapons, reactor, and O2."

"Mine are in admin, weapons, and medbay," Ish-Ki said, cocking their head. "I don't know where any of those are, but we have at least two in the same room."

An-Sha looked at theirs.

"Mine are in admin, shields, cafeteria, and electrical," An-Sha said. "I don't know where anything is either."

"Hang on. I might be able to find something," Ish-Ki said. A small pulse traveled through the air, then Ish-Ki sent a wavelength that indicated success.

An-Sha mimicked the pulse and a map appeared on their visor.

"That's useful," An-Sha said.

"Very," Gal-Xi said. They turned away and began walking out. By the time An-Sha looked to them, Gal-Xi had already made it halfway across the cafeteria.

An-Sha didn't bother calling them. Gal-Xi would never listen anyway. The pinkish-purple fuzzed Nebulis was a willful hedonist, seeking her pleasure and enjoyment above all else. Though An-Sha respected Gal-Xi for their willpower, it became frustrating at times.

"So, what are we going to do?" Ish-Ki said. "Obviously, Gal-Xi is splitting off, but are we?"

"Well, weapons and shields are on the same side of the ship, then electrical is in a straight path from shields. We can stick together until you finish your task in weapons," An-Sha said. "Then, we'll be on our own."

Gal-Xi was definitely going to make the first kill. The others could only hope that the pink-suited Nebulis wouldn't get caught.

Chapter Text

Flare knew she wasn't the friendliest, but she couldn't care less. When the meeting ended, all she could think of was how annoying it all was. She just wanted to do her tasks, find a suitable planet, get paid, and go home.

And, of course, her tasks were all over the ship today. That was what she got for choosing to let them randomize.

Everyone would be swiping their cards first since it was the first in the list. She didn't feel like dealing with any of that—they'd all be crowded around the little scanner in the tiny admin room, and that was a disaster for personal space.

The medical scan always took forever, so that was out. Upper engine was closest, then she could download in communications, finish up in admin, and head to medbay. Simple.

She headed left towards upper engine, passing medbay on the way. The room was empty and the faint buzzing of lights and machines rumbled through Flare's ears as she passed it. Medbay was always creepy as hell, but it'd be even creepier alone.

And then, there it was—the upper engine. Zaps and huffs and whirrs assaulted Flare's senses and her fur stood on end. She darted to the console and growled.

It was way too loud. The noise hammered into her head like a nail. Quickly, she moved the arrow to the optimal place. The machine lit up green and let out an obnoxious chime. Her helmet also beeped, and she fought the urge to tear it off.

LOWER ENGINE: align engine output

Flare sighed. She was only one more terrible experience away from finishing the task.

As she passed security, she took note that the camera lights were off. The hall was empty, but she could hear the beeping of the reactor from the other side of the hallway.

So, security was empty, but there was someone in reactor. She didn't care to check who. At least there was someone she could run to if this stupid engine exploded.

Flare entered the lower engine room, the zapping and whirring of the engine grabbing at her ears and settling under her skin. She hissed in discomfort and made her way to the console.

Just as she released the arrow, a voice gripped her by the shoulders. She shrugged the sound off and turned to face the source of her torment: Orange.

"Hello, Yellow," Orange said again. His helmet was off, tan-and-black fur slightly messy and a grin stretching across his face. Flare flinched as she met his bright orange eyes.

"I see why you picked orange," Flare said.

"No, it's just my favorite color," Orange said. He stuck his tongue out. "Because it matches my eyes."

"Why are you here, anyway?" Flare asked.

"Just diverting power," Orange said, opening the room's power panel. "It's one of the quickest tasks. Not nearly as annoying as engine alignment."

"Oh, if only I had gotten that task instead," Flare said sarcastically.

Orange flicked the tiny switch inside the panel and smirked. "You just need to be more clever about task-picking and get all the short ones before they're gone."

"What tasks do you have, o wise one?"

"Divert power to here, divert power to shields, download in cafeteria, and swipe card in admin."

"Download isn't a short task."

"Yeah, but since I'll be in cafeteria I can eat lunch then and take a nap when I'm uploading."

Flare had never met someone that spent so much effort to do as little work as possible.

"Bii!" Orange's mini, neglected until this moment, called. It tugged on his arm.

"Hang on a sec," Orange said to Flare. He kneeled to face the mini, who put a paw on his nose. Orange grasped the paw and gently lowered it.

"Whaddaya need, Cream Soda?" Orange said.

The mini put its other paw on his nose, and he lowered it again.

"Cream," he said firmly.

The mini poked him on the arm. "Bii!"

Sighing, he picked the mini up and hoisted it onto his shoulders. He turned to Flare.

"Looks like I've gotta go," he said. "I think Cream is getting hungry."

Flare couldn't say she was going to miss him, but she waved anyways. Then, she returned to her tasks. Aligning engines was finally done, so the next task was download.

She left the room, glad to be rid of the awful noise of the engine. The hallway between electrical and storage was always eerie; despite being the main control for lighting in the ship, it seemed that electrical barely had any lights of its own. From the brief glimpse of the room that Flare received, it was empty.

Did that make the room more or less unsettling? She rolled her eyes at the thought but didn't have an answer.

Storage was large, but it was also surprisingly empty. For a room dedicated to keeping everything inside of it, Flare thought it would've looked like a hoarder's house. Instead, the room had some large boxes clustered in the center and a few smaller ones in the corners.

A loud shout made her jump.

"Darn it! These levers really need some grease!"

She recognized the voice immediately and snickered at the self-censor. Of all the crewmates, the one to avoid swearing would be Green.

She made her way over to them. Green had his paw on the lever, straining against it, but the stubborn lever refused to move. Lime watched him stiffly.

"Need any help?" Flare said.

Green turned to her voice and immediately perked up. "Oh, Yellow! Hi!"

Lime motioned awkwardly with his paw in what Flare assumed was a wave.

"Do you know how to get this lever to move?" Green said. "Neither of us can get it, and we don't know where the grease is so we haven't been able to grease it either."

"Let me try," Flare said.

Green stepped away from the lever as she approached. The lever was fairly rusty near the bottom, and the grip was partially worn away. Flare grimaced as she placed her gloved paw on the lever, feeling the gritty texture. If she wasn't wearing her glove, it would've been like sandpaper.

She pushed the lever down and met with a large amount of resistance. So, she placed both paws on the lever and jumped, putting the entirety of her weight behind it. It moved with a loud screech, and Flare flinched back before trying again. On the fourth jump, it gave way.

Flare took a breath in. "Ugh, that was ridiculous. You really need to find the grease for that thing."

"Why is it so rusty, anyway?" Lime said. "Don't they inspect the ships?"

Flare snorted. "Probably not. Anyways, I should go finish my tasks."

"Thank you so much!" Green said. As she turned to leave, he added, "We would've been trying all day if you didn't show up."

Flare turned back and shrugged, then continued on her way to communications. When she arrived, it was empty. While she had expected it to be, it still surprised her a little; she had come across so many people on the way that she was half-convinced the pattern wouldn't break.

The room was the quietest by far, the only noise being the muffled noise of the radio. It would've been relaxing if not for the resonance. Flare looked to the left, where the download panel glowed with a faint combination of white and red light.

She connected her tablet to the panel and a loading bar popped up. There wasn't much to do after that but sit and wait. Seconds became minutes and minutes masqueraded as hours until the estimated time jumped from much too long to much too short. It climbed back up again and then slowly reached zero, but it lingered even after the bar filled. Orange had the right idea earlier when he planned to take a break during his download.

Then, finally, her helmet beeped and she was greeted with a message indicating the completion of her task.

She left comms and headed towards admin. Storage was empty this time; Lime and Green must've split up after she helped them with that chute.

Flare reached admin and the room was also empty. Considering that everyone had to swipe their cards and multiple had some sort of download, this was a bit odd, but whatever. She only had two tasks left anyway.

The upload was as boring and irritating as the download. No one arrived during that time, and the halls were completely silent. The cameras were off, so there wasn't even anyone in security.

Flare checked the admin map for the sake of it.

There was one person in reactor, one in electrical, two in cafeteria (one was definitely Orange; even if she couldn't see colors using the map, she knew that much), and one in navigation. Since she was in admin, that left four crewmates in hallways or other areas. How had she not seen any of them?

Oh, well. She only had one task left, and it was one of the annoying ones. Flare looked at the admin map again. She could take the long way and pretend to look friendly by checking on the crewmate in reactor if she really wanted to procrastinate. Or, she could just get it over with.

Flare decided to procrastinate.

She left admin and headed through storage—which was empty still—and then went through lower engine, trying to ignore the sounds. The quiet beeping from earlier returned to her ears and she realized that it was the same person she had heard before she even began her tasks. Flare stopped herself from snorting.

"That's the tenth time!" A high-pitched voice screamed.

Flare poked her head in. Pink slammed her paws against the side of the machine and then jumped back as if realizing she had just smacked a piece of sensitive equipment that would kill everyone if it malfunctioned... which was exactly what she did.

"I hate dealing with the reactor, too," Flare said.

Pink turned to her. "It's so frustrating! Why can't it just be a bunch of switches?"

"I guess they really wanted to make sure we had good short term memory," Flare joked.

Pink crossed her arms. "Well, I guess I don't then."

"Sucks to suck," Flare said.

"Indeed," Pink said.

The conversation was much shorter than Flare would've liked. What good was timewasting if it didn't waste time?

"Anyways, I have to head to medbay—" Flare started.

"Oh! I have a task there too!"

"Okay," Flare said. "We can walk together then."

Pink nodded.

So, the two walked to medbay. The halls were, again, empty, and so was security.

"Where do you think everybody is?" Flare said.

"I don't know," Pink said. "But definitely not here!"

Flare tutted.

The hallways continued to be empty all the way to medbay. Even more eerily, medbay was also empty. It typically was, but that didn't make it any less unsettling. The quiet droning of medical equipment only added to the scene.

Flare immediately activated the scanner. It resurrected itself with a shrill frequency. Just before she stepped on it, she turned back to Pink. The other hadn't even moved.

Flare waited a moment.

Pink continued to watch her.

"Hey, what's your task? Do you need the scanner, too? You can go first if you want to," Flare said.

"Oh, no. I don't need the scanner."

"Well, you don't need to watch me scan, then. You can turn the sample machine on first."

"I don't need to turn the sample machine on either."

"What's your task, then?"

Pink took off her helmet. She was a regular Mettalus, with pinkish-purple fur and tall, feathered ears—but there was one thing off.

She didn't have a mouth.

Then, her face melted away to reveal a long grin that stretched across her entire head.

The teeth were all wrong; the front several were fangs that were too tall for her mouth, and the rest were thinner than needles. An uncountable number were crammed into an impossibly large mouth.

Her voice spoke from inside Flare's helmet.

"I'll show you."

Ish-Ki was heading to admin when they received it. The blip was a short and quick one, a certain type of pleasure that would register to an organic being as an adrenaline rush.

But, it wasn't theirs. It was Gal-Xi's.

Then, another blip came through. It was An-Sha's, and it wasn't what Ish-Ki would've expected. There was panic in it, sure, but there was also an immense amount of excitement. What had An-Sha done?

Ish-Ki's question was answered when the lights went out immediately after they received the blip. An-Sha had done that, but how?

Ish-Ki sent out a blip of confusion and continued to admin. The lights being out didn't affect them much; Nebulisae were built to see in any environment, and while they could see everything a Mettalus could, they didn't only use light to do it.

They walked by Blue, who appeared to be waiting patiently for his upload to complete. Ish-Ki was glad they didn't have that task. It looked boring.

They headed to the scanner and pulled out their card. The thing was tiny and the card was so large. What were they supposed to do with it?

They stuck the card in.

Bad read.

They tried again and got the same response, so they stuck the card in the other way and pulled it out.

Too fast. Please try again.

Well, at least Ish-Ki had the card in the correct direction. They tried to be slower this time.

Too fast. Please try again.

Then, they tried even slower.

Too slow. Please try again.

They growled in anger, sending a powerful pulse through the air. Gal-Xi only responded with amusement, and An-Sha was too busy to notice.

"Fuck this!" Ish-Ki yelled.

Blue jumped at the noise.

"Woah," he said. "Are you trying to swipe your card?"

"Yes! And It's not working."

He walked over to Ish-Ki and looked to the scanner.

"It can be kinda annoying at first," he said. "But once you get it, it's a lot easier to do it later."

"It's dumb," Ish-Ki said.

"I guess, kinda. It's really temperamental at least."

"It's dumb," Ish-Ki insisted.

Blue took a breath in. "Ok. How about I help you?"

"Knock yourself out."

Blue took Ish-Ki's paw gently. He guided their card into the scanner and swiped it at a speed Ish-Ki couldn't distinguish from any of the ones they had used previously, but somehow, the machine chimed and the light on it turned green.

"See?" He said.

"No," Ish-Ki said.

"I'll show you again later."

Ish-Ki rolled their eyes, their pulse of annoyed amusement reaching Gal-Xi, who sent them back a blip along the lines of, "popcorn would be great right now because your emotions are a movie screening."

Ish-Ki sent them back a "fuck you," but swears didn't exist in Nebulisian, so it was something akin to, "shut up you big dumb stupid brain."

Gal-Xi sent Ish-Ki an immense amount of smugness.

"What's your next task?" Blue asked Ish-Ki, who had to remind themself that they were physically present.

"I just have to analyze samples in medbay," Ish-Ki said. "You?"

"Unlock reactor manifolds. But, we should fix the lights," Blue said.

Ish-Ki had forgotten that Mettalus no longer had night vision since the Nebulisae had seen them thousands of years ago. Did they really have to act like they couldn't see?

Well, fuck. That wouldn't be fun.

"Where do we fix the lights?"

The sooner they fixed the lights, the quicker Ish-Ki could stop pretending they couldn't see.

"Electrical," Blue said. "I'm surprised Green hasn't gotten to them yet. He has so many tasks in there."

Did Gal-Xi kill Green?

Was that why An-Sha cut the lights?

Or... did An-Sha kill Green?

But then, who did Gal-Xi kill?

"We can go to electrical, then you can do your reactor task, and after that, we can go together so I can do my medbay task," Ish-Ki said.

They didn't want to discover a body alone. That could be suspicious—after all, wouldn't a murderer report the body to deflect suspicion?

"Sounds good," Blue said. He began walking, and Ish-Ki followed suit.

As they headed into storage, they passed Black. She waved awkwardly as she bent over the fuel canister.

Blue waved back. Ish-Ki glared at her.

Then, the two reached the lights panel. Electrical was a large and dark room, but Ish-Ki didn't mind it much. They could see the appeal of a dim room that others wouldn't want to visit.

Blue flicked the last switch and the power came on again.

"That seems simple," Ish-Ki said.

"It is."

The two set off again on their pre-planned route. Blue waved at Black again as the dark-suited crewmember approached with a full fuel container in the electrical hallway, and the two made small talk that Ish-Ki ignored until they reached the engine.

Blue waved goodbye and Black returned to her work, then Ish-Ki and Blue were alone again.

That was until they reached reactor. Gal-Xi was at the machine, making a show of their failure at starting it. Then, just before Blue and Ish-Ki could reach them, the machine beeped.

Gal-Xi turned around. "Oh, hey! How are you?"

"Eh," Ish-Ki said.

"I'm alright," Blue said, making his way to the side of the reactor. He quickly pressed the buttons in a sequence Ish-Ki could only interpret as random.

"That was my last task," Gal-Xi said. "Could I come with you two?"

"Sure! Purple has one more task in medbay. Then we'll all be done," Blue said.

Gal-Xi nodded. "Sounds good!"

Gal-Xi and Blue engaged in chatter as the small group made their way to medbay. Ish-Ki wondered how the other Nebulis could stand it. Talking with the crewmembers was so boring. They froze when they heard their name.

"What do you think, Purple?" Blue said.

Ish-Ki blinked. "About... what?"

"The mission," Blue said. "Do you think it's really worth all of this just for more resources?"

How was Ish-Ki supposed to respond to that? They played with their paws, trying to come up with an answer only to be met with nothing.

The Mettalus needed the resources, but for what? It wouldn't just be ships. It could be anything—machinery, buildings, electronic devices. They wouldn't go through this much effort if what they needed wasn't essential.

But then there was the effect it was having.

Ren-Rai.

Ish-Ki, Gal-Xi, and An-Sha's friend melting in their paws. The pale red Nebulis's eyes as they were shot by the ship.

Nebulisae died every day when they ran out of power for their cores, but that was different. They never died before their time was up until the Mettalus came.

And it wasn't just accidents, either. When the Nebulisae tried to stop them, they were shot at. The six Kiste had dwindled to the point that now they had all united as one, even though their customs and values were so different.

The playful Fa had to cave to the serious Sa's demands.

The peaceful Lenetae no longer had a choice whether or not they were going to war.

The Kinetae, ever proud of their independence, now had to share everything.

The Sokai and the Ta had to attempt to put generations of aggression behind them.

Ish-Ki was a Ta, An-Sha was a Lenetae, and Gal-Xi was a Fa.

While the Ta had given up their power over the other Kiste long ago in favor of creating a council, it was a miracle that Ish-Ki had any friends at all. They were an outcast within the Kiste for befriending a Kisteless Nebulis, Ren-Rai, at an age so young that they didn't even understand what it meant.

An-Sha had completely forsaken their Kiste's peaceful ways when Ren-Rai died. The whole Kiste had. Only those that could remember a time before the Mettalus—a time when Nebulisae weren't dying young left and right and things were peaceful—even tried to entertain the idea.

Strangely, the Fa and Sa had given up the least. They were a mishmash of other Kiste already, their only main draws being differences in attitude. Gal-Xi carried the fun-loving attitude of the Fa even while committing heinous acts.

Was the survival of one civilization so much more important than the other?

Ish-Ki wanted to swear.

"I'm not sure," they said.

"I'm not so sure, either," Blue said as they turned the corner into medbay. "It's so much effort and—"

He froze, going stiff as a board.

Ish-Ki picked their head up and immediately looked away. There was only one color to Mettalus blood, and it was everywhere: red.

"Oh, shit," Blue said. "Yellow..."

Ish-Ki tried to look again. There was so much more inside a Mettalus than a Nebulis, and it should've stayed inside, but it wasn't.

They had found the first kill.

"Fuck," Ish-Ki said.

Chapter Text

Frost was still in the process of finishing her last task when the emergency meeting alarm went off. Protocol demanded that she drop what she was doing and rush to the cafeteria immediately, so she complied. The oxygen filter would have to wait until the end of the meeting to be cleaned.

She was the fourth person there. The other three were Blue, Purple, and Pink. Blue paced near the table while Pink and Purple sat next to each other, watching him.

"What happened?" Frost said.

Blue stopped his pacing to reply. "I'll tell you when everyone else gets here."

Frost took the same seat she had during the first meeting earlier that day. A few moments later, Black darted into the room and sat next to her.

"Do you know what happened?" Black asked.

Frost shook her head. "No, but Blue does. He says we need to wait for everyone else to get here. Did you see anyone on the way?"

"No, but I saw Blue, Pink, and Purple heading from lower engine to upwards somewhere," Black said. "I can only imagine what they would've found if it required a meeting."

Orange, Green, and Lime arrived as a group. They sat together in a cluster.

"What is this for?" Orange said. "I've already done all of my tasks."

"I was in the middle of uploading in admin! I had to cancel it!" Lime complained.

Blue slammed a paw on the table to silence the group. He looked up and was about to speak, but froze. "Where's White?"

"Aren't we missing Yellow, too?" Green said.

"We're not missing Yellow," Purple said.

Frost blinked in confusion. "Then why isn't she—"

"Yellow is dead!" Blue yelled. "Where's White? Did any of you see her?"

Frost flinched and tried to recall the past while. She had been alone the entire time, but had she passed anyone?

She hadn't.

"Yellow is dead?" Green said. "That's—that's horrible! We need to find White!"

"Did anyone see her?" Purple said.

The silence that followed was an answer by itself.

"Can we see what tasks she had?" Lime said.

Blue pulled out his tablet and fiddled with it. "Er, yes. But it doesn't show which ones she finished."

"Just say them," Frost said.

"Uh—swipe card in admin, download in weapons, submit scan in medbay, clear asteroids in weapons. All I know is that she can't be in medbay... that was where Yellow was."

"So, was anyone near any of these locations?" Frost said. "I was in O2 when the meeting was called and was busy with a task so I didn't see anyone."

"I already said I was in admin, and I was busy with a task, too," Lime said.

Orange looked up from playing with his mini. Frost resisted the urge to tell him to put his helmet back on. "I was with Lime. I didn't see anyone."

"She must be in weapons, then," Purple said. "It's the only location left."

Frost shook her head. "I walked through weapons on the way here. I would've seen her."

"I'm going to go find her," Blue said. Just as he turned to leave, Purple grabbed his wrist.

"It's not safe to travel alone," Purple said, standing up. She moved her grip downwards so that their paws intertwined.

Blue nodded.

It was then that reality hit Frost. Yellow was dead. There was at least one murderer on this ship, and that murderer could've been an imposter. If only Blue and Purple went, and one of them was the imposter, it would make for an easy kill.

"I'll go, too," Frost said. "The more of us, the safer it is."

"Then let's go," Purple said, still holding Blue's paw. Neither seemed to mind, and Frost was half-convinced that they had forgotten they were doing it.

The three headed out, leaving the other five behind at the table. They went downward and checked admin as they walked by but the room was empty and so were the halls around it. Blue cursed under his breath as Frost stared blankly at the hall until a small dot of red caught her attention.

"The cameras are on," she said.

Blue stiffened. "She must be in security!"

He practically dragged Purple by the paw as Frost struggled to follow. There was nothing faster than a concerned... brother? Frost vaguely recalled reading something about the two being siblings, but they looked nothing alike. Adopted, maybe? Though, genetics were confusing so they could've been biologically related and Frost wouldn't have batted an eye.

The run through the halls only took a few moments. Blue and Purple disappeared around the corner before Frost could catch up, but once she did, confusion overtook her.

Blue stared at the entrance to security, panting. Purple was completely silent, not even breathing, as she supported Blue. Frost turned to the entrance.

The doors were shut.

This would've been completely normal if the doors could be shut manually, but that wasn't the case. The doors were controlled by an automatic process and were only to be closed during emergencies. They couldn't be shut or opened from anywhere that the crew was allowed to enter.

Blue finally caught his breath, but his words still came out quiet. "Is there any way to open them?"

"No," Frost said.

"Maybe they'll open on their own?" Purple said.

A thousand seconds passed before the doors slid open.

Blue rushed in immediately, calling, "White? Are you here?"

Frost and Purple entered more slowly. By the time they could see anything beyond the light of the security screen, White had already turned to face them.

"What's going on?" White said. "I was hanging out in here when the emergency meeting alarm went off and the doors shut."

"You didn't close them?" Purple said.

"Nope—!"

"She can't," Frost said. "None of us can. Didn't they tell you that during training?"

"Oh," Purple said, tilting her head slightly.

Something was off. Frost filed that thought into the back of her mind to focus on what was in front of her.

"So, what happened?" White said.

"Yellow is dead," Blue explained. "Did you see anyone on cams?"

White swung side to side in the security chair. "I wasn't looking until the doors shut. The only thing I saw was you guys near admin."

"Now that we've found her, we should get back to the others," Frost said.

Blue took a moment to respond. "Oh! Right. Good idea, Red."

When they entered, Orange jolted awake with a screech. Frost had to keep herself from laughing at the sight, and she could've sworn Pink trilled.

The search party took their seats and the room sat in silence for a few moments. Frost looked to Blue to see if he would speak, but his gaze was directed towards the table.

It was fair, she supposed. He was one of the ones to discover the body and he probably almost thought he had lost White, too. With the most seniority, it would be easiest for Frost to take over from here.

"Now that we have everyone, where were you all?" Frost said.

The cacophony of voices that ensued wasn't useful at all. Frost slammed a paw on the button, silencing the group.

"We'll go around. I'll start," She said. "I was in O2."

"I was in admin with Lime," Orange said.

The same story as before, so it was likely the truth.

"I was there, too!" Green said. "I had just come back from lunch when the lights went off."

Lime and Orange didn't mention Green being there, but they didn't seem bothered by the statement. It was probably true.

Black tapped her paws together nervously. "I was... was in shields."

Again, probably true. The others would've mentioned seeing her if she was lying since they were so close.

"I was everywhere!" White said, throwing her paws in the air. "I'm not really sure where I was because I was trying to find someone to sneak up on. I was gonna scare Blue, but he had too many others with him so I went to security instead."

Not the greatest alibi... but believable enough.

"I was with Blue. We went from admin to fix the lights when they went out, then we found Pink in reactor on our way to medbay, so we went together," Purple said.

Obviously, the murder didn't happen right in front of the group or they would've said something, but...

It had to be one of them, especially if the murder was connected to the lights going out. Imposters were powerful; it was completely plausible that they could cut the lights.

But how would they avoid being seen?

The vents!

Medbay, security, and electrical were connected by vents!

Wouldn't that put White back into suspicion?

Then it came back to her—Purple. She should've been winded like the others when they were in that hallway, but she wasn't even breathing.

"Blue."

Blue looked up from the table.

"Where was Purple before she was with you?"

"She came from storage—"

"She was with me!" Lime said, lifting a paw in the air to draw attention to himself. "We were in weapons heading downward, then we split apart at shields and I saw her go."

The direction matched. Lime was correct. He was already proven innocent, even if he wasn't proven trustworthy.

It had to be White or Pink... but then, what about Purple?

"Red?" Green said. "Are you ok?"

There was something horribly wrong and Frost didn't have any proof of anything. Accusing without evidence could result in disaster; it could make her seem crazy, she could cast suspicion on herself, or worse yet—her suspects could be innocent.

Though, if they waited longer, then more crewmembers would die, and those crewmembers would likely be innocent as well—

"Red?"

Frost was thrown from her train of thought. She stammered uselessly, trying to regain it, before giving in.

"Are you ok?" Green said.

"I'm fine," Frost said. "But it seems like we don't have enough evidence to do anything about this."

"We... we could try the buddy system?" Blue said quietly.

"I'd be up for that," White said.

Frost sighed. "So, buddy system."

There was so much that could go wrong. Many of the members' tasks were random, so two buddies could be assigned whose tasks didn't match. If there were multiple imposters—and there had to be; there was no way Purple was a crewmate after what Frost saw—then two imposters could be buddies and it would make for the perfect alibi.

She would have to avoid it all.

"Lime and Green will be partners," She said.

The two had already been together for a good deal of the time before the murder, and she wasn't about to pair Lime with Pink or Purple—the three seemed too close.

"Then, Orange and Black."

The two had barely interacted, so there was no chance of collusion.

"Pink and Blue."

Blue and White were siblings, so she couldn't pair them. As much as she didn't want to risk putting anyone with a potential imposter but herself, there were too many suspects to avoid it.

And—oh, sheesh. There wasn't an even number, but no one could be alone. It was too late to restructure the groups, but she would do that next time.

"And I'll be with Purple and White."

She eyed Purple as she said it, and Purple didn't even shift under her gaze. It was too far away to see if she was breathing or not, but Frost would have plenty of opportunities to see if she was actually a Mettalus later.

"Finish your tasks for today and we'll meet again at 6 to ensure that partners are together and tasks are assigned properly," Frost finished.

It was currently 17 according to the ship's clock. That would give ample time for the others to complete their tasks and sleep—and eat. Frost still hadn't taken a lunch break, but that could wait. She had an oxygen filter to clean.

Frost woke at 4 after staying up until 0, but it wasn't worth going back to sleep. Even if she could manage it—which took hours—there wouldn't be enough time for it to be worth the effort. She went through her morning routine and promptly planted herself at the cafeteria's central table.

It was much later, but not too much later, that Black walked in. She carried a tray of food with her as she made her way over. Her helmet was off for obvious reasons, showing that she had short black fur and a small white blaze on her nose. Her eyes were a beautiful mid-green.

Then, Black hesitated. She made a move to sit but backed away. Frost looked up at her and she cringed.

Frost sighed and then spoke, her voice still rough from sleep. "You can sit."

Black nodded and took a seat next to her. She poked at her food delicately, as if it were going to leap out at her if she handled it wrong. Then, she cut her pancakes into tiny pieces and ate them one by one. Mid-bite, Black paused.

"What do you think of the food here?" Black said.

The food... oh. Had Frost eaten?

Not this morning, and not yesterday; not before departure, either.

"I haven't had any," She said.

Black's face scrunched up in what may have been a disapproving look. Frost wasn't too sure at this point. Then, Black stood up and went back into the kitchen, leaving her food behind.

What was she—?

Frost's question was answered before she could even finish the thought. Black came marching out with a tray of food. This one had the same contents as the other, and Frost wondered if they were premade for a moment before remembering that she had forgotten that they were.

Black placed the tray in front of her and returned to her spot.

"What?" Frost said quietly.

Black stared at her.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Eat it."

Frost stared down at it. "But I'm not hungry."

"Eat."

Frost took a bite of one of the pancakes after pouring syrup on it. The syrup was sweet, but as soon as she tasted it, she knew it wasn't what she needed. She needed something salty—which if her brain fog wasn't so dense, would've made perfect sense; Mettalus required large amounts of iron and iodine to be healthy. Luckily, the tray had some pieces of bacon on it.

As she munched on a piece, Black giggled quietly. "You... you'd think someone with so much experience would be good at keeping track of their meals."

"I can keep track of tasks and systems, but myself is an entirely different matter," Frost said, smiling.

"I hope your partner reminds you," Black said, taking another bite of pancake and eating it before continuing, "Because if they don't, then I'll start chasing you down."

Did imposters even need to eat? Could they eat? What did they eat?

If they didn't need to breathe, what else didn't they need to do?

"You're thinking," Black said.

"Yes," Frost said.

"What about?"

Frost sighed. "It doesn't matter."

"Now I want to hear it."

"I don't want to talk about it yet."

Black looked away awkwardly, completely frozen save for her breathing.

"Ok," She said, stabbing a piece of pancake with her fork. "If you—uh... if you ever need or want to talk, I'd be willing to listen. I may not be great at... at talking, but I can listen."

Frost finished her piece of bacon and moved onto another one. "Thanks, but I'm fine for now. It's just academist things."

The lie wasn't very convincing, especially since 'academist things' was way too vague a phrase to mean anything, and she knew that Black could tell, but the darkly-clothed crewmember let it slide. Awkwardly, the two continued their breakfast.

It was a few moments later when both were startled by a loud, "Bii!"

Orange's mini, Cream Soda, came running into the cafeteria from the medbay hallway and leaped onto the table. Black giggled at it, and it giggled back.

Orange ran in, breaths ragged, and grabbed Cream from the table and placed it on the seat. He turned to the other two.

"Can you watch them?" He asked.

Before they could reply, Orange darted to the kitchen. Cream stared up at them, its spacesuit making it look even smaller than it should've.

"How are you doing, Cream?" Black said quietly.

"Gate!" Cream said.

Black laughed the same way an adult would to a child, even though Cream wasn't even a Mettalus. Cream mimicked the noise.

"That's good!" Black said. "I'm eating breakfast, and your dad is getting yours, so we've gotta wait for him."

"Bekfist?" Cream said. "Bekfist wait?"

"Yes, we've gotta wait for breakfast."

Couldn't Black see that the Adontinetos was just mimicking her? It couldn't even understand what she was saying.

"Bekfist wait for Da!" Cream said, pressing its paws together. Then, Cream jumped in place with a squeak and proclaimed, "Bii!"

"Yep, it's me!"

Frost turned to the voice. Orange was making his way back to the table, tray in paws. He placed the tray between himself and the mini. The mini let out another excited, "Bii!"

"Be patient," He said gently. He took one of the slices of bacon and broke it in half. With one paw still holding the slice, he used the other to take Cream's helmet off.

Cream was a small, cream-colored, cat creature with black stripes. It resembled a cheetah in appearance, though the actual word for the species was Adontinetos; none of the inhabitants of the ship would've known of cheetahs. Adontinetos were common on their planet and the main predator of Mettalus, but they were also quadrupeds, and Cream wasn't.

Cream was bipedal, tiny, and vocalized in a manner that resembled words much more than growls, trills, and chirps. That was because Cream was a mini Adontinetos, the first and only of its kind.

The failed experiment was famous. A group of academists had tried to engineer Adontinetos that could communicate in both the language of the Mettalus and Adontinetos—whatever that meant. Obviously, if Cream's kind had been able to speak then it wouldn't be here.

Cream took the piece of bacon with another excited bii and munched on it. Orange and Black smiled at the tiny animal, and Frost couldn't help but do the same.

Chapter Text

Gal-Xi came out of dormancy to find that everything still looked the same. They didn't know what they were expecting; just because it was a new environment didn't mean it would be completely different from the vacuum of space. They moved their paws, checking to see that they were still solid.

Their paws jerked in front of them and maintained their integrity. It was a given—there was so much radiation on the ship due to lighting and the reactor and even the microwave—but it was always wise to check. They disentangled themself from An-Sha and Ish-Ki, taking special care when removing their tail.

The bulb on the end got stuck under Ish-Ki's paws and they cuddled it. Gal-Xi trilled at the sight. The dark purple Nebulis was rarely so clingy when outside of dormancy. Gal-Xi supposed it was because if Ish-Ki weren't so clingy, then their friends could disentangle during sleep and drift into the void of space, but now that they were living in an environment with gravity it became a hindrance.

Gal-Xi tapped Ish-Ki on the nose, but the other Nebulis didn't respond. They did it again, then again.

Finally, they gave in to their impatience and touched Ish-Ki's core. Ish-Ki jolted awake, sending An-Sha flying, and their tail hit Gal-Xi in the face.

"Nj komi!" Ish-Ki exclaimed, sending a blip of pure, unrestrained fury. "No nj zakomi, Gal-Xi!"

Gal-Xi sent Ish-Ki a mixture of annoyance and amusement. The dark purple Nebulis was entertaining when they were angry, but the group needed to get going. It was almost meeting time. Had Ish-Ki and An-Sha really decided that they wouldn't need time to get ready?

An-Sha sent out a tiny blip of annoyance as they also came out of dormancy.

"Too early," An-Sha complained. "I didn't want to be early."

"Oh, so you wanna be late?" Gal-Xi said.

"No, but being early is way too awkward," An-Sha said.

Gal-Xi sent a blip of amused exasperation as they rolled their eyes. Of course An-Sha would care about that, as if time mattered at all.

"Well, now you're awake so you've gotta get going!" Gal-Xi said.

An-Sha rolled onto their feet. "Fine."

Gal-Xi turned away. Their suits were at the front of the room, so the pink Nebulis made their way to them. Then, they stopped to study it. They had already shifted into a bipedal form the first time they came onto the ship, but it was going to be so weird to go back to it.

They brought themself to a standing position, shifting on the way to accommodate an upright posture. To reach the proper leg length, Gal-Xi had to sacrifice their tail, which was upsetting, but the suit didn't have a spot for tails anyway. The Mettalus must've either not had tails or had very short ones, though they couldn't say because they hadn't seen any of the Mettalus not wearing the suits.

Gal-Xi backed away from the suits and leaned on the doorframe, tapping their foot.

An-Sha was the next to get ready, despite being the last to awaken. They padded over to the suits and shifted with a leap. Then, they slipped into their lime suit and joined Gal-Xi at the door.

"Who are our partners again?" Gal-Xi said, watching Ish-Ki trudge their way to the suits with their especially short legs and awkwardly long ears; it was a counterintuitive design choice, but one Ish-Ki had elected to keep.

"I can't remember," An-Sha said. "I think Green is mine and Blue is yours."

Gal-Xi nodded, then sent out a blip of amusement as Ish-Ki struggled to get their now shifted form into the suit. An-Sha turned to the commotion and let out an apprehensive wave of entertainment.

"Fuck you!" Ish-Ki snapped. "Nj renooki ni! Zahated no!"

The other two just continued to marinate in their amusement. Whenever Ish-Ki got like this, they were such a big baby. Seriously, "we're not friends and you're idiots," along with a Mettalus insult? It was hilarious!

"Should we help Ish-Ki?" An-Sha asked.

Gal-Xi shook their head. It was too funny.

"Should we just..." An-Sha paused, trying to find the words as they glanced at the clock. "Leave then?"

It was 5:58.

Gal-Xi shrugged, hitting the keypad to open the door. "Why not?"

They left Ish-Ki for the cafeteria, ignoring their angry growls. Ish-Ki could come when they were ready.

When the two entered the cafeteria, Red, Black, Orange, White, and Blue were already waiting.

Red sat beside Black, staring out into nothing, while Black and Orange focused all of their attention on Orange's mini. White was stretched out as much as she could be, hitting Blue in the face with her paws, but Blue didn't seem to care. He stared down at his paws, which were placed on the table. One of them twitched slightly.

Red looked up. "Lime, Pink... where's Purple?"

"She had some trouble with her suit so we left without her," Gal-Xi said. Ish-Ki's frustration was still wafting through the air, so they still hadn't managed to put the suit on yet. It took all of Gal-Xi's self-control to not express their amusement.

"So, we're waiting on Green and Purple," Red said. She turned to Blue. "You said he was still sleeping when you left, right?"

Blue nodded, his gaze not leaving his paws.

"Okay," Red said. There was an awkward pause before she filled the silence. "So, how is everyone doing?"

A chorus of voices called out, all slightly out of sync, but Gal-Xi could understand them just fine.

"Fine," Orange said.

"Bii!" His mini called at the same time.

Slightly after the two, White said, "Bored but not much else!"

"Alright, I guess," An-Sha said shyly about halfway through White's phrase.

Blue only made a distressed noise.

Gal-Xi gave the most interesting response she could think of that hadn't been said yet, "Fine and dandy!"

Considering that one of their crewmates had just been murdered, the crew was doing surprisingly well. Whether or not that would be more interesting than a paranoid and shaking crew remained to be seen, but Gal-Xi felt a tiny bit of disappointment. How awesome would it have been to completely terrify and traumatize the crew? They deserved it, after all—they were murderers.

Soulless, heartless murderers that cut down anything that got in their way. If they had just cared about anything but themselves for once, Ren-Rai would still be alive, and so would countless other Nebulisae. Instead, they proclaimed that the Nebulisae weren't even alive because they didn't have cells.

Cells! As if creatures made of RNA and DNA were the only things that could qualify as life. The Nebulisae needed fuel like every other living being. They could even photosynthesize!

They could also reproduce—one or more Nebulisae could split off a small chunk of their core to generate a new Nebulis. It was asexual reproduction, just like bacteria, and bacteria were alive.

They had thoughts and friends and feelings and families. They had societies and language and hopes and dreams.

But the Mettalus never cared about any of that. The Mettalus poisoned their own planet, experimented on animals they considered "lesser"—tearing limbs, splicing genes, depriving them of food and water—and didn't think twice about it.

Zahated ale Mettalusae.

They would all die at her paws if they dared enter Nebulis territory, and Gal-Xi knew that they would. Gal-Xi would stand against them even if it meant their death.

"Bii!" Orange's mini's call alerted the group at the table to Ish-Ki's approach.

Gal-Xi tuned back into Ish-Ki's broadcast as the other marched to the table and immediately received a crushing wave of anger. They tuned out of the feed before it could overwhelm them. Ish-Ki sat next to them, sending them a glare. Gal-Xi tipped their head back and forth in response.

A second excited cry of bii alerted the crew to the approach of their final member: Green.

Green made his way over to the table and slumped into the only empty seat left, laying his head in his paws.

"Tired," He muttered. "Couldn't sleep."

Red took a moment to process the words before addressing the group. "Now that everyone is here, I'll review our assigned partners."

Gal-Xi tuned out. They already knew they were with Blue. They focused on their partner, who didn't even move his gaze from his paws. Gal-Xi didn't think finding the body would affect him this much. They felt a pang of sympathy but repressed it immediately—these were the same type of monsters that murdered Ren-Rai.

If he was upset, that was good. It would make killing him easier. Though, they couldn't kill Blue just yet. Someone else was on their mind.

There was no denying that Red was intelligent. She was the most experienced member of the group and the obvious leader. Even Blue couldn't match her. He fell apart the moment someone died.

Red already suspected Ish-Ki, if her glances towards them during the last meeting were any indication. Not only that, but based on the pairings, she may have suspected White, too. While White was a Mettalus, it showed that Red could have an understanding of the vent paths.

If she didn't already suspect Gal-Xi or An-Sha, she was going to soon.

She had to go.

So, Gal-Xi began planning. They had to induce separation from their partner without it looking too suspicious. That eliminated doors immediately; Ish-Ki and An-Sha had already told Gal-Xi about their discoveries in that realm.

So, what else?

The lights. She could cut the lights like An-Sha had done earlier. Mettalus couldn't see in the dark, so other groups may end up separated as well, which would protect Gal-Xi from suspicion.

"With that, this meeting is dismissed. Go do your tasks," Red said.

The members of the table stood—all except for Blue, who continued to stare at his paws.

Orange and Black headed down towards storage. Lime and Green went with them, presumably to go to electrical. Red waited impatiently for Ish-Ki as White dashed ahead.

Gal-Xi walked to Blue, placing a paw on his shoulder. He jumped and muttered something quietly.

"We gotta go," Gal-Xi said.

"Oh, yeah," Blue said, cringing. "Sorry."

"Where are you tasks?"

Gal-Xi didn't even bother checking their tasks. They wouldn't matter until after she killed. But, they needed to at least leave the cafeteria for the plan to start.

Blue tapped at his tablet. "Uh... navigation, reactor, and... medbay."

He read the word out as if saying it would invite him to be murdered. Though, he probably thought it would. Mettalus were funny like that.

"How about we start in reactor?" Gal-Xi said.

Blue nodded. "Sure."

Gal-Xi helped him up, grimacing at how little energy he moved with. It reminded her of Ren-Rai's bad days when the younger Nebulis would refuse to do anything. Ren-Rai had seen death, too—not just a body, but the murder of their entire family when they weren't even a toste old. It was yet another crime the Mettalus needed to answer for.

It was funny how when the tables turned, the enemy couldn't take what they gave.

Blue continued staring down at his paws, which he fiddled with aimlessly.

"Come on," Gal-Xi said, grabbing one of them.

A paranoid crewmember would've been more of a challenge, but they would've been entertaining instead of pity-inducing. Something settled into Gal-Xi's core, and they had to resist the urge to recoil with discomfort.

They dragged Blue to navigation, logging the crew's locations on the way.

Orange was alone in admin. Black was nowhere to be seen. Whether Orange ditched Black or Black ditched Orange didn't matter; if one partner group had fallen apart, then others might as well.

They didn't see Lime and Green, but their voices traveled through storage from the electrical hallway. The two were still together.

That left White, Ish-Ki, and Red. As they neared navigation, there was noise coming from O2. The three were probably there, then.

If Gal-Xi cut the lights now, they could kill Red and use the vent in weapons to get back to navigation without being seen.

It was then that they remembered An-Sha was the only one who had figured out how to cut the lights.

Well, no matter. Gal-Xi reached out to them by sending a blip. An-Sha responded quickly, his blip filled with a tingling nervousness.

Gal-Xi tried their best to send something mimicking darkness, hoping the other Nebulis would understand. An-Sha replied with an excited buzz.

Gal-Xi kept the feed open but turned to Blue. The Mettalus was busy with a task, and by the looks of it, he would be occupied for long enough.

They made their way through the hall, stepping carefully to avoid making noise. Red was speaking quietly, and Gal-Xi could barely make out the words.

"We'll need to find White after this. She can't go off on her own like that."

So, White was gone? Perfect. That only left Red and Ish-Ki.

Gal-Xi entered. Red had her back to the doorway, doing something with the oxygen filter, while Ish-Ki stood awkwardly near the lever.

The pink Nebulis took off their glove and shifted their paw into a blade, melding what would usually be claws into a single weapon. They let the glove drop to the ground and sprinted at their target.

The paw pierced Red instantly, and the Mettalus let out a gasp. Gal-Xi removed their paw and she fell to the floor.

The inside of a Mettalus was warm—so warm—and always red. It was so strange that they only had one color of blood. Nebulisae had thousands—after all, they were just sentient space goo.

"I was—" Red choked on her own blood before she could finish the sentence.

Gal-Xi laughed. "You were right."

Red could die knowing that if she had just said something at that meeting, her crew would've lived. She deserved to feel like it was her fault—and oh, it was.

Red was silent now. Gal-Xi forced her to look them in the eye.

"I hope you're proud of it," They said, then they let go of her head.

She fell to the floor, still choking, eyes wide.

An-Sha's nervous buzz came through the feed again. Then, the lights shut off.

"How am I going to explain this?" Ish-Ki said, their eyes meeting Gal-Xi's.

"Red sent you to look for White. When you came back, Red was dead," Gal-Xi said. "You saw Blue and me in navigation before the lights went out."

Ish-Ki nodded, fear pulsing in their feed.

"Now, go find White."

Ish-Ki stayed where they were, their gaze moving to the doorway.

"Fuck," they whispered.

"Go!" Gal-Xi said.

Footsteps echoed behind them.

"Nobody is going anywhere."

Gal-Xi turned to the voice. Orange stood before them, helmet off and teeth bared.

Nj zakita. Nj zakita.

Gal-Xi looked to Ish-Ki. The other Nebulis was completely frozen.

Gal-Xi really didn't feel like killing another, but—

An alarm rang through the ship.

Nj zakita!

She would have to protect the others at all costs. She could accuse Orange, or White, or anyone—but she couldn't let An-Sha or Ish-Ki be caught. There was no telling what the Mettalus would to them.

Jrzi no, kiteae.

Even if it meant dying, Gal-Xi would do anything for them.

Their fate was sealed when more footsteps sounded from the hall. Blue came into the room, his eyes widening at the sight.

"Pink—?"

Gal-Xi would play the part. They sent a blip out to Ish-Ki, hoping the other understood what they were about to do.

They shifted their paws into daggers and lunged at Orange. The Mettalus dodged, kicking Gal-Xi in the abdomen and sending them to the floor.

"Blue! Help me take her down!" Orange yelled.

Blue didn't respond. He stood watching, shaking. It was Ish-Ki that sprung into action.

The purple Nebulis threw themself onto Gal-Xi, who shoved them away as carefully as they could manage without looking suspicious.

Gal-Xi sent Ish-Ki a blip of affirmation—this was exactly what they were aiming for.

They dodged Orange's strike and grabbed his wrist. Orange growled and tried to pry himself free, but Gal-Xi spun him around and locked an arm around his neck.

"Blue, if you're not going to help, then go find the others!" He yelled.

The other crewmember finally sprung into action, fleeing the hallway upwards towards weapons.

"This is heavy," Lime said, struggling to pick up the fuel can.

Milo laughed and picked up the can with ease. "It's not that heavy."

"You're strong," Lime said.

Milo shook her head as the two began walking down the hall. "No. I'm not."

"I can't believe Orange left you," Lime said. "That's so rude."

Well, he had other tasks and she had other tasks and it was all so much more convenient that way. There was nothing rude about it—and the fact that she felt like it was just showed how whiny she was.

"N... no. He just had other tasks and wanted to get them done fast," Milo said.

The constant noise of the engine greeted them as they entered the room.

"Well, I'm here, aren't I?" Lime said, tilting his head slightly to the side.

Milo popped open the fuel slot. "Yeah, you are."

It didn't mean anything and yet it meant so much. She wasn't alone. She was safe. Well, not completely safe, but safer.

Whether Lime actually enjoyed her presence or was just using her for safety, it was nice.

The other tapped her on the arm and she jumped. He pointed to the fuel indicator, which showed that the engine was full.

"Oh," Milo said quietly. "Thanks."

She set the fuel can down and popped the cap back onto the slot. Just as the cap slid into place, the room went dark.

"I hope Green fixes that," Lime said.

"He's still in electrical?"

The light of the fuel gauge outlined Lime as he tipped his head diagonally in the direction of the doorway. "He should be. That's where we left him, and he still had to calibrate the distributor."

Green was still alone and the lights were off.

Green was alone.

Not good. Not good at all.

If he died then it would be their fault because they left him alone. Really, it would be her fault—she asked Lime to come with her because her partner was busy. So, if Green died, it would be her fault.

All her fault.

"I still have one more engine to fuel... but... shouldn't we check on him?"

"He's probably just finishing up with the distributor. Why not fuel that engine first? We can come back after—"

The emergency alarm blared through the ship, startling the two. Lime grabbed Milo's paw and ran.

"Cafeteria!" He said. "We need to get to the cafeteria!"

They sprinted past security and reactor, the halls and rooms empty. Medbay was also empty—where was everyone?

Lime practically threw himself onto his seat, releasing his grip on Milo's paw only once he reached it. Milo positioned herself next to him and looked around.

There was no one else in the rooms—at least, there was no one else at the table.

Each second grew longer and longer.

"Where is everyone?" Milo said.

Lime shook his head. “I didn’t see anyone while we were—”

“Black! Lime!”

Blue emerged from weapons, the dim lights of the weapons console illuminating him, and sprinted to the table. His breath was heavy, and it took him a moment to be able to speak.

“We found one of the imposters—Pink! Orange needs help,” He said. Then, he paused. “Where’s... where’s White?”

Milo had completely forgotten about her. She hadn’t seen the younger Mettalus at all after the morning meeting. Wasn’t she Red and Purple’s partner?

Lime voiced her thoughts before she could. “Wouldn’t she be with Red—”

“No. Red is dead,” Blue said. “Or dying—but she’s as good as dead.”

“Where are they? Red and Orange and Purple, I mean,” Milo said.

“O2–”

Lime shot up, grabbing Milo’s paw again. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

Pink fought ruthlessly but it was only a matter of time. Charlie twisted out of her grip as she was distracted by Purple, then threw her to the side and shoved her against the wall.

She struggled, but remained shockingly Mettalus. There was no way this was her true form—he had seen the blade that she shifted her paw into—but then, why work so hard to keep it up?

She twisted to the side, and as Charlie shifted his grip to accommodate, his arms grew numb. He hissed and tried to ignore the unpleasant sensation, extending his claws as blood dripped down his paws.

He pressed one of his sets of claws into her neck.

If he sliced it, would she bleed?

Would the jugular be in the same place?

Did she even have one?

She barely reacted at all, continuing to stare him down like it didn't matter. He had his claws on her throat, and she didn't even care.

"I want to see what you really look like," Charlie said. "Don't pretend you're not a monster."

"Zahated no," She said.

Her throat didn't move at all—there were no vibrations from anywhere. Whatever this creature was, she didn't speak like anything on Felicette.

She continued, "You used my friends as target practice. Why can't I do the same to you?"

It was almost fascinating, and Charlie would've loved to study it—if she wasn't a filthy murderer.

The warm wetness on his arms was beginning to grow unpleasant as blood spread past the strange numbness. He pressed his claws further into Pink, but the imposter continued not to care, staring at him defiantly.

"Go ahead," She said. "That won't do anything."

She was right on multiple accounts—with the claw guards on, Charlie couldn't break the material of the suit, and based on her reactions, there was nothing essential in her neck.

He growled and then threw his paw upwards with as much force and speed as he could muster. Pink's helmet was thrown. It landed on the floor with a clink, likely nearby.

Pink wasn't as monstrous as he had expected under the helmet. She tilted her head at him, large eyes wide and unblinking. One of the eyes was accented by a dark five-pointed star beneath it. She had a small nose and a blank spot where a mouth should've been.

She closed her eyes, tilting her head even more to the side. "I was going to take that off anyway, but you saved me the trouble."

That was all the warning he received before she struck back, sending him reeling. The side of his face burned and stung and hurt all at the same time, and one of his eyes wouldn't work right. It was blurry, but not really blurry, just wrong.

His legs and arms brushed against something solid, and he realized that it was the floor. Charlie's chest tightened as he tried to remember how to breathe.

"Orange!" A voice called.

Right.

Purple was here.

She was helping, wasn't she?

Well, not really.

Not really. She wasn't really helping.

That made sense, though.

She was in the room when Pink killed Red. She had to be. But, she didn't report. She only took action after Charlie found them.

She was also an imposter.

But then, why put on a show of helping?

Why not just kill him and Blue and be done with it?

Lime and Green would've been together. White probably would've been stalking someone since she wasn't here. Black had fuel engines, so she probably would've been near Lime and Green at some point. Even if the imposters hadn't known that, had assumed that Black and Orange had stuck together, that still accounted for everyone.

How suspicious would it have been for Red to die when everyone was accounted for?

How suspicious would it have been for Purple's partner to die, or Pink's?

But why Red?

Charlie looked to Purple. She stared back at him, frozen.

"Do something!" He yelled.

If she was putting on a show to prove her 'innocence,' then Pink probably wasn't going to kill him, but it would be so easy. Purple could say she tried so hard to save him, but Pink got to him too fast.

"I don't know what to do!" Purple squeaked.

"Haven't you ever—" Charlie leaped to dodge a blow from Pink. "Fought anyone before?"

Silence.

Charlie sent a blow back at Pink, but missed.

"Or played a sport?"

More silence.

Should he really have assumed that aliens would have sports?

"Just keep her from killing me!"

Purple still didn't move.

Pink swung at him and Charlie ducked to dodge the attack, but the shift in weight unbalanced him. His foot slipped and he found himself on the floor for the second time in the fight.

Damn, this was annoying.

Pink silenced his mind as she slammed her foot into his chest. His breath left him yet again, and he gritted his teeth.

He just needed Blue to get back with the others. That was it. The others would see, he would explain, and they would find a way to deal with Pink.

Pink's foot pressed harder, constricting his chest, and he suddenly realized how glad he was that he sent Cream Soda to activate the alarm. They would've been so upset to see this.

He struggled to breathe, but it would be worth it.

It was only a matter of time.

Milkshake wasn't sure what was going on anymore. This was the second time she had gotten locked in a room, but this time it was in the medbay. She bounced her leg, leaning back in the chair, as she contemplated the situation.

The emergency alarm had gone off—again—and she couldn't even go to the meeting. At least the vents were quiet now. That was why she was in here, besides boredom. The vent had made a noise.

Her brother, Jeli, would probably have told her not to run towards danger. He would've shaken his head and she would've seen his exasperated face through his blue helmet. But, he wasn't here. He was Pink's partner today, and was nowhere near this side of the ship.

She tapped her paw on the top of the samples. This was getting boring.

There was one way to get out, and only one way. Could she fit in the vents? Well, she could fit on the rail and she could fit behind the boxes. She could probably even fit in the trash chutes if she wanted to—but why would she ever want to?

Milkshake crept over to the vent, light on her feet as ever. She ran her paw over the cover. Even through her gloves, the grate was large. She pulled, and it came loose.

That should've been less surprising. She had heard noises in it earlier.

The vents in the ship were already massive, but she didn't realize until now that they could probably fit a small Adontinetos in them. Orange's mini—what was their name again? Cream?—could crawl into there with no difficulty.

She pulled off her helmet, placing it beside the entrance. Then, she slid into the vent feet-first, easing herself forward. The passage wasn't tall enough for her to stand, but she could crawl comfortably. It was more stable than she expected, and she really should've expected it to be stable.

When she reached the next grate, she looked through the gaps. There was a quiet humming in the background, but she couldn't tell much from the terrible lighting. Were the lights out?

Something dripped onto her nose. It was slightly cold, as if it had once been warm but was slowly becoming room temperature and then crossing into overcompensating. She wiped at it, but couldn't see what it was due to the lack of light.

Then, it happened again. She looked up.

It was coming from the grate. What was it?

She pushed the grate up and it gave way, but it was harder to hold than the other one had been. The thing must've been covered in whatever the stuff was.

And she was, too. She shook her head to get rid of it, but it clung to her fur and stubbornly sank deeper. Maybe she shouldn't have removed her helmet after all.

She climbed out of the vent, taking extra care not to let her legs get stuck. Then, she let one of then dangle in the vent for a moment, kicking back and forth, as she contemplated her next move.

She should go to the cafeteria. That's what the alarm called for. But, something had to be going on if no one had showed up to search for her yet. They had come so quickly last time.

She would just have to find them.

She hoisted herself onto her feet and made her way forward, but paused as her foot ran into something. It was firm, but not tall, and didn't make much noise upon impact.

There was—no, no, no—that was crazy—there was no way—

She stepped over the body object with precision. There was no way to see what the thing was and she really didn't want to know, but it was probably a bag of wires.

She headed over to the lights panel, flinching at the sound of her bloody footsteps. She opened the panel and flicked the switches until all of the indicators were green, and then the lights flicked on.

She turned to the doorway, refusing to look back. There was nothing that she wanted to see.

"Get away from him!"

"Now!"

Charlie forced his head towards the noise as Pink turned hers. Lime and Black!

Pink's foot raised from its position on his neck. The alien raised her paws and stepped away. It only confirmed his suspicions.

She was caught, and so was Purple.

Pink hadn't just surrendered—she had let them do what they wanted. She sat at the table, not moving at all.

Blue laid his chin on his arm. Black looked between all of the members of the table. Lime sat on the other side of Black, staring at her. Purple stayed almost as still as Pink, though she added in a fidget here and there to pretend to look natural. But if Charlie looked closely, he could see that she wasn't breathing.

Charlie put a paw on the top of Cream Soda's helmet.

Blue sighed and lifted his head, then flinched. "Where's White?"

"Green's missing, too," Lime said.

"I-I knew we should've checked on him!" Black said.

Blue slowly rose, about to speak when footsteps echoed from the hall. White entered, her suit covered in red. It wasn't an uncommon sight at the moment, but she hadn't been anywhere near the fight.

"Green's dead!" She yelled.

"No!" Black said.

There must have been another. Lime was Green's partner. Black had been alone—at least until she'd come into contact with Lime. She had spoken about checking on Green, so unless that was a way to get rid of suspicion...

Purple had been there the whole time, or at least most of it. There was no way she could have killed Green.

It was either Lime or White.

Pink, Purple, and Lime or White.

"Sit down," Charlie said.

White did as she was told, still panting.

"Pink killed Red, and someone else killed Green," he continued. "I have some ideas, but I'd rather not share them yet. We should focus on what to do with Pink first."

"I say we throw her out of the airlock," Lime said.

Black raised a paw. "But what if she makes it back in? They might live in space!"

Suspicion points for Lime: five.

"We shoot her."

Charlie froze. It was a good idea, but to hear Blue saying it... come to think of it, who was he with?

Pink. He had been with Pink. That had to hurt.

But in the end, it was agreed upon. Pink was loaded into the airlock and ejected, and Blue was the one to take the final shot.

The group dispersed, ready to return to their dorms, but Charlie lingered.

He nudged Cream Soda. "Head back. I'll be there in a minute."

Cream Soda nodded.

Charlie crossed the cafeteria, putting his paw on the shoulder of the biggest threat on the ship.

"I know you're one of them," he said.

Purple turned to him. "What?"

"I won't expose you and Lime if you do what I ask you to."

"And what would that be?"

No refutation. None at all.

He had gotten her.

"Don't kill me or Cream. Let us return home, and we can all pretend this was a tragic and terrible event. We'll say that the deaths were the fault of one of the dead crewmembers, and you can do whatever you please on Felicette as long as Cream is okay."

Purple nodded. "Sounds good to me."

Chapter Text

Nebulisae, while able to fight, did not adapt to fight. The few battles that had occurred throughout their history were considered terrifying exceptions to the rules, especially to the Lenetae.

By being here now, An-Sha was throwing all of their principles away.

The philosophy was simple—don't fight, and seek knowledge. Keep the peace between the other Nebulis tribes and help preserve records. Lenetae were known specifically for their easygoing nature. They would rather surrender than have to hurt another.

How the tables had turned...

An-Sha's full name was An-Sha Lenetae. They were of the Lenetae tribe, from the Sha lineage.

Aru-Sha and Nem-Sha would have been ashamed of him.

But An-Sha had to. The Mettalus would never stop until they realized that the Nebulisae had strength worth respecting. They didn't care otherwise. The Mettalus had killed them without even asking for their names—they viewed them as animals.

And that creature with Orange... they could talk, they could communicate—and they were still viewed as an animal. If that was what was in store for the Nebulisae, An-Sha couldn't do nothing.

How could it feel so wrong to do the right thing?

An-Sha and Green had left for electrical, both having tasks in there. An-Sha had no clue how to do any of his, but that didn't matter. All they needed to do was kill.

"I'm glad I got wires," Green muttered. "It's the only thing I'd be able to do right now."

An-Sha didn't know anything about having 'sleeping' difficulties. It was strange to have trouble with dormancy, and that was the only thing they could relate it to. When a Nebulis went dormant, they consciously shut themself off. Did the Mettalus not do that?

"Why did you have trouble sleeping?" An-Sha asked.

Green didn't look up from the wires, but he shuddered. "Yellow. I can believe what happened to her. I closed my eyes and it was all I could see."

Huh?

"That's terrible," An-Sha said. "What happened to Yellow, I mean."

Green hummed.

If they had the opportunity, it would be now—

An-Sha made their way over to Green slowly, but the Mettalus wasn't paying attention to them at all. They prepared to strike, shifting their paw when—

"Oh, Lime!"

An-Sha flinched away.

No, no, no! No second thoughts.

Green stared at them, and at this distance, An-Sha could see pieces of his face in his visor. Green was... well... green. His fur was a greenish color that almost reminded An-Sha of their own form, and they both had stripes.

Green blinked at them. "You don't need to be so close. There's no other tasks here."

His eyes were pink, but An-Sha's were cyan. They widened and Green took a step back.

"You're one of them, aren't you?"

An-Sha didn't speak.

Green didn't scream.

As An-Sha allowed the blood to drip off, they mourned not one death, but two.

Black was outside of electrical. An-Sha made their way to her. They needed a cover.

And then they received a blip. Gal-Xi.

They sent one back, and Gal-Xi replied with an image of darkness.

Darkness... darkness... what did that mean?

Oh!

An-Sha sent out the signal to cut the lights. They sent back another blip. They had done it!

Then, they approached Black. The Mettalus flinched when they laid a paw on her.

"Oh, hello," she said quietly. "Who are you?"

"Lime," An-Sha said. They didn't need it, but they flicked on their flashlight.

Black looked to them. "Oh, yeah. I forgot where the switch for those was. Uh... where was it?"

An-Sha reached over and flicked it. "Right there."

Black flinched again. "Uh, thanks."

Wait... Black was alone.

"Where's Orange?"

"He left. He said he... uh, had tasks in other places and that it was all a waste of time or something. Said it'd be faster if we just did them on our own, so we split up."

An-Sha hummed. So, she was all alone...

Frame her?

Kill her?

Or...

His core buzzed. Stay with her. Just this once. She would die eventually, anyway.

An-Sha tried to pick up the fuel can, but couldn't manage to get it off the floor.

"This is heavy," they said.

It was unbelievable. How could the Mettalus have done that? They'd killed Gal-Xi!

But Gal-Xi had killed first.

But the Mettalus had killed before that.

But had Red done anything? Had Red ever killed anyone? Had she had a role in this at all beyond being on a ship at the wrong time?

Even if she didn't deserve it, the others were murderers now, and that was terrible enough. She, Green, and Yellow had been sacrificed to reveal the true nature of the Mettalus.

An-Sha would kill them all! They'd watch them bleed, watch their bodies fall apart before their eyes—destroy them the same way they destroyed Gal-Xi!

Ish-Ki entered the dorm, removing their suit and shifting back into Nebulis form.

"We need a plan—" An-Sha began.

Ish-Ki tilted their head. "We have one already. Don't kill Orange."

Chapter Text

The world was a confusing mess of well... things. Milo had never claimed to understand them, nor could she pretend to. But this was the most difficult thing to understand of all.

Four crewmates, dead. One, a murderer.

Except... there were two deaths that day.

"Are we still going to do groups?" Purple asked from her position at the table.

It was a new day, but no one was envigorated. The room was silent. When Red had been alive, there had been a leader, but now there was none.

"We could," Orange said. "What does everyone else think?"

An odd tune to change to... hadn't he said that groups were stupid earlier? Hadn't he disliked yesterday's arrangement?

Had Red's and Green's deaths changed his mind?

"I think we should," Purple said.

Blue raised his head. "I want to be with White, then."

White turned to him. "But—"

"I am going to be with White," Blue amended. "I don't care what anyone says."

At least he had some energy back. Ever since Yellow, he hadn't been the same... and he didn't even know her that well.

If Milo's family were alive, she would've been the same way.

And so the groups were made—

Blue, White, and Purple.

Her, Lime, and Orange.

Their first task was in the cafeteria, so when the other group left, they lingered. It was then that Milo noticed something surprising.

"Orange, where's Cream?"

Orange put a paw on his helmet. "I left him in the dorm today. I didn't want to risk him getting hurt after what happened with Pink."

"But Pink was the murderer, wasn't she? And she's gone."

"I think there's another one," Orange said. Beside him, Lime nodded.

"Another one?"

That would've explained Green dying when Pink was so far away, but who...?

Lime?

No. That—no. That wasn't... couldn't...

The sound of that wasn't pleasant at all, but it was what made sense. Because otherwise, who would it be? White? Orange?

Blue?

Milo made her way to the wire box on the other wall, the group following her, and fixed the first wire.

Blue was on the other side when Green died.

White was the one that found Green's body.

White was the one that found Green's body.

But Lime was his partner. He had insisted they not check on him even when the lights went out.

But if he wasn't the killer and he hadn't known, would he still have?

Milo fixed another wire.

Speculation was doing too little and it was too much. If there were two left, they were doomed regardless. There would only be three innocent crewmembers. All it would take was one more death for the number to be equal, and by the looks of it, they would have it soon.

And if she were to die... then she really just wanted to know why.

What reason could there possibly be? There was obviously no vendetta—Green, Yellow, and Red weren't connected in any way beyond this flight. None of the members knew each other before this mission.

Which was why it was so easy for the imposters to join it...

Milo fixed another wire.

They weren't crimes of passion. Again, there were no personal connections.

Another wire.

And the lack of personal connection meant it also wouldn't be sabotage.

Milo fixed the final wire and turned to the others.

"Why do you think the murderers did this?" She said.

Orange snorted. "I don't know. They're sick and twisted and want chaos, I guess."

Lime fiddled with his paws. "I think they want to send a message. They want to scare us into no longer sending out missions."

That was... suspiciously insightful. At least, compared to Orange.

"Why would they want to scare us?" Milo said.

"They're monsters," Orange said.

Lime hummed. "Maybe they think they won't be listened to otherwise."

It was something.

Milo grasped at the explanation, using it to hold herself still in her river of thoughts. They wanted to send a message. They needed to be heard.

"What message would they be trying to send?"

Orange snorted.

"Maybe they feel threatened... no. Maybe they are threatened." Lime said.

By the Mettalus? Who would be threatened by the Mettalus being in space?

Unless...

"I think I get it now," Milo said.

"You do?" Lime said. "I'm glad."

Jeli stared down at his paws. Red flashed in his mind, the medbay scanner—

"What tasks do you all have?" Purple said.

"I have the switch near the office!" Milkshake said. She was about to skip, but Jeli put a paw on her shoulder. If he let her move, she'd race ahead and die. He couldn't let that happen.

"I have..."

Jeli froze. No.

Not a task in the medbay again.

"You have what?" Purple asked.

"Samples," Jeli said. "In the medbay."

Purple tilted her head. "Well, it's right here. We should do yours first."

"No, please. We should do others. We can circle back around—"

"You're scared, aren't you?" Purple said.

Jeli hugged himself.

Purple sighed. "You are. Come here."

She grabbed his wrist.

"I'll be on this side of you," she said. "And White will be on the other side. Nothing will happen."

They took a step forward, and then another. Purple gripped his wrist tightly and Milkshake's body pressed against him. The doorway approached and Jeli found himself expecting to see another body, covered in blood, spreading onto the ground—

"See? We're already here. Nothing happened. Everybody's safe."

Jeli took a breath in. There was nothing there. "Yeah, you're right."

The sample machine was before him. He arranged the samples and pressed the button to activate it. It whirred quietly.

"Remember helping me with my card?" Purple said.

"Yeah," Jeli said. "You were so angry. I almost thought you were going to snap it in half."

"That thing is so tricky!" Milkshake added.

Purple chuckled. "I almost did. But you were really helpful. Thank you for that."

The machine beeped as it switched to its next operation.

"Uh, yeah. But... why are you bringing that up now?" Jeli said.

Purple had been infuriated, had almost yelled at him. What would be the point of bringing up such an awkward and embarrassing event?

"You remind me of a friend. Th—she's gone now, but she and I were really close. I know, it's weird—but... I was hoping we could be friends, even if I didn't make the greatest first impression. The tension on here is going to drive me insane, especially since Pink was my only friend when I got here, and she's... well, she definitely lied to me about who she was."

Oh.

"I guess we can," Jeli said.

"Thank y—"

They were cut off by an alarm.

"We need to go!" Purple yelled, turning away and sprinting out of the room. Jeli followed, and Milkshake was already way ahead of him.

Purple stopped Jeli before he could reach the entrance, blocking his view. "Don't look. Just get to the table. Black is dead."

Jeli made his way over, keeping himself behind Purple.

Hopefully, Milkshake hadn't seen it, either.

Orange and Lime stared at them, Lime's paw still on the button.

"It was Orange!" Lime yelled. "He killed in front of me! He-he did it twice! First Green and then Black! He told me not to say anything and I was terrified the first time but the button is right here and—please believe me!"

Orange? This whole time, had it been Pink and Orange?

Had Orange betrayed Pink to avoid exposure?

"Orange?" Jeli said.

"No!" Orange said. "Liar!"

Milkshake physically threw herself into the conversation. "Wait! What direction did Orange come from when he fought Pink?"

"The cafeteria up top," Purple said.

"Is that true?" Blue said.

"Yes," Orange said. "I had a task in medbay."

Milkshake gasped.

"What is it?" Purple asked.

"There's a vent from medbay to electrical," Milkshake said. "It was how I found Green's body. Orange—you—"

"That settles it!" Purple said. "Lime is telling the truth."

Orange's stance shifted. He rose from the table. Then, he turned.

"You bitch!" He roared, flinging himself at Lime. "You lying bitch!"

Lime cringed away, but Orange was soon on him, pinning him down. He squirmed helplessly.

"Don't you dare!" Purple yelled, throwing herself at him.

The scuffle ended quickly when, to Jeli's shock and horror, Milkshake joined the fray. Orange was quickly driven to a corner, his helmet still on, panting.

"You don't believe him, right Blue?" Orange said.

"I won't let you hurt anyone else," Blue said.

Chapter Text

They'd done it! They'd taken the murderer down! Now, everyone would be safe!

So why didn't it feel as nice as it should have?

They had sent Orange out. This time, Lime had volunteered to shoot him. He was gone for good.

So why did it feel so terrible?

What piece was missing?

"So, can we go back to doing tasks alone now?" Milkshake asked.

"We've taken him down. We knew for certain it was him. I don't see why not," Purple said.

"I'm going to go, then," Milkshake said. "See ya!"

Jeli tried to reach for her, but she brushed him off.

"I'll be fine!" She said.

"But—"

"We got him! It'll be okay!"

It was hard to believe, but she believed it. She had to. All she wanted now was to look out the window of the lower end of the ship and see the stars.

She hugged Jeli. "It'll be okay."

The stars were beautiful. They were a thousand tiny lights in a vast darkness. Milkshake leaned against the wall of the ship, clutching the railing she was sitting on.

"Beautiful view," Lime said from behind her.

Milkshake didn't look away. "Yeah. I always wanted to see them. I didn't think about the tasks when I signed up for this. I thought I'd just be staring at the stars until we arrived at the planet."

"It looks so empty out there," Lime said.

"It doesn't, really. It's full of stars and planets and even more than we can think of."

"That's one way to view it."

"It's the best way to view it."

The view was unchanging, but she could stare at it forever. Each small detail etched itself into her mind. If she had any sort of artistic skill, she would've dedicated a piece to it.

"Do you think there's life out there?"

Milkshake laughed. "What kind of question is that! There's totally life out there! How could you make it all the way here and not hear about Nebulisae?"

There was a shuffling sound behind her, as if Lime had been surprised. But that was silly! Everyone knew about Nebulisae!

"They're super cool! They're kinda like us, but less smart. Like Adontinetos, I guess. They live in space and they float around! I wanted to study them, but the academists voted against it. Said that it 'wasn't worth the resources' and that they 'wouldn't be able to find a use for them' or whatever. As if we can't just seek knowledge because we want to!"

Another shuffling sound.

"Do you want to learn about Nebulisae?"

Milkshake smiled. "I'd do anything to learn about them! I wish I could study one up close. It would be interesting to learn how a lifeform that developed in an environment as harsh as space survives."

Another shuffling sound, then Lime joined her on the railing. He slipped a little, but eventually found his balance.

"Let me tell you about them, then."

So, he did know about them? What did he know?

She turned to him, and he took his helmet off. His fur was a greenish-blue color, and he had a cyan stripe on his forehead that matched his eyes.

But he had no mouth.

Chapter Text

No.

Jeli stared at the screen in disbelief.

Where was Milkshake?

She was out of range of the cameras! Why did they have so many blind spots?

He had to find her!

But... didn't they already figure out who it was? He didn't have a reason to be afraid. It was okay, it had to be—

"Blue? Are you alright?"

Purple. She was standing in the doorway. When had she gotten there? Why was she here? Did she have tasks?

"Have you seen White?" Jeli asked, his voice rougher than he expected.

Purple shook her head. "No, but we can look for her if you want to. I'm sure she's just hiding somewhere."

"We need to," he said before his mind could even form a coherent thought.

Purple tilted her head. "O...kay... let's go."

"Yeah," Jeli said.

They walked side by side. Jeli looked into the reactor first, but it was empty. Purple motioned upward, and they headed towards the medbay. Jeli froze before it, but Purple poked her head in.

"Nobody's in here," she said. "Let's keep going."

The quiet of the ship was almost haunting. There had been ten of them when this started and barely enough space. There was always at least one other crewmate in the room.

But now, there was no one.

The cafeteria was empty as well. The blood from Black's murder had been cleaned; Lime had handled that.

They wandered by the airlock, and Jeli had the sense that he was forgetting something important, but well... he had forgotten whatever it was.

To think that it had been Orange and Pink all along... it just felt unreal. How could they have done something like this? Why?

The weapons room was empty. He stopped at the controls.

Pink had been shot here. He had shot her.

Was he no better than her? He was a murderer, too.

"What are you doing?" Purple asked.

Jeli flinched. "I'm just... thinking."

He ran his paws over the controls.

"I'm not sure if we should've killed Pink and Orange," he said.

Purple put a paw on his shoulder and he flinched again.

"I don't think we should have, either," she said.

"We were just doing our jobs," Jeli said. "I don't know why they did what they did, but..."

He sobbed, paws shaking. Purple's paw stretched across his shoulders and her arms became an embrace. He buried his helmet in her chest.

"I can't believe it either," Purple said, her voice near-emotionless. "It's... terrifying."

She released him slowly. He looked at her. She stared straight ahead at something over his shoulder. Then, she looked back.

"It'll all work out," she said, putting a paw on the bottom of his helmet. She unlatched it and it clattered to the floor.

Then, she removed hers.

Her fur was purple. Not the same shade as her suit, but similar. She had bright pink eyes with two matching stripes above them. There was a small star on one of her cheeks.

We are both something beyond this suit, it all said. We are beings of our own.

She smiled. It was a wide but sheepish smile as if she weren't used to it. Her canines were strangely shaped; on each side, there were two that were fused together instead of one.

"Purple, Blue! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

The two turned to the voice.

Lime's helmet was already off as well. He grinned widely, but his teeth were strange too—there was less than there should have been. He lifted a blood-covered paw to wave.

That was when it hit him.

Jeli tried to take a step back, but it was too late. Numbness spread across his body. Something dripped onto the floor.

Purple caught him before he could fall and turned him back to her.

The teeth disappeared, and with them, her mouth.

"I'm sorry," she said.

He reached a bloody paw up to her chest. There was a pulsing beneath the suit—an unnatural buzz. She took his paw gently and brought it down.

"You—" He coughed.

She knew about Pink the whole time, didn't she? There's wasn't only two—there were three, and they had fooled them.

They had—

Milkshake!

"W-White!" He said.

"She's dead," Lime said from behind him.

"Was it quick?"

Purple looked to Lime.

"She didn't feel a thing," Lime said.

Darkness was creeping into the world from the corners.

"What's... your real name?" Jeli said.

Purple's eyes widened, startled.

"Ish-Ki," she said. "My name is Ish-Ki."

"Mine was Jeli," he said.

Was.

He wouldn't be alive for much longer. The darkness was making it hard to see.

"I'm sorry," she said again.

He tried to smile at her, but he couldn't feel his body anymore. Funny, that his only friend on this voyage was one of the murderers...

The darkness claimed him, and he knew he wouldn't wake up again.

Chapter Text

An alarm blared through the ship.

An-Sha stared at Ish-Ki. Ish-Ki stared back, finding herself—themself—unable to react. Jeli's (Blue's, she reminded herself, Blue's) body was still warm in her paws. It didn't disintegrate like a Nebulis' would, and she found herself wishing he would start breathing again.

"We need to leave," An-Sha said.

Ish-Ki shook their head.

"Someone sent out a distress signal," An-Sha said. "If we don't leave now, they'll catch us."

"I want to stay," Ish-Ki said.

An-Sha tilted his head. "Why?"

It wasn't because they regretted it all, though they did. It wasn't because they wanted to go down with the last friend they had. No.

At least, she could pretend that wasn't why.

"Someone needs to stay to deliver the message," Ish-Ki said.

An-Sha blinked at her. "I suppose so. So, I'm leaving alone?"

"Yes."

An-Sha turned away, stripping the uniform and returning to their Nebulis form. Ish-Ki remained in her Mettalus imitation. She waited until An-Sha had disappeared completely.

Jeli's body was growing colder and stiffer now. She lowered him to the floor gently and pushed his mane away from his face.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'll see you soon, friend."

And then she left the room. Her pawsteps echoed through the empty ship until she reached navigation.

Seated in the chair was a familiar, tiny being. The chair swiveled and its occupant pushed themself onto the floor.

Ish-Ki froze.

Cream struggled to speak, creating odd sounds and contorting their mouth in strange ways before they finally figured out how to say what they wanted to. It was one word.

"Why?"

"I don't know," Ish-Ki said.

Cream said it again. "Why?"

"I think I lost track at some point. We were going to make a statement, but we could've done that anyway... do you think they would've helped me?"

"Yeh," Cream said. "Would'a."

Ish-Ki laughed. "It was all pointless, then, wasn't it?"

"Poi...lesz. Poin-lez. Yeh," Cream said.

Ish-Ki sat on the floor of the spaceship. Cream mimicked the action.

None of the Mettalus on this ship were the ones that killed Ren-Rai or Ren-Rai's family. They were just doing their jobs. They had goals, hopes, dreams—families of their own. Ish-Ki and her allies had taken that all away. And for what?

The deaths didn't bring Ren-Rai back. They didn't fill the emptiness in Ish-Ki's core.

They didn't solve anything.

"Point...less," Cream said. "Pointless."