Chapter Text

PROLOGUE: A REVELATION

      Bristling leaves. A slumped employee. That’s some of the main things Pine remembered from that fateful day. They had made it clear they wanted the human OUT. Pine wanted them out of their territory, away from their possessions, away from THEIR sunlight. But the human didn’t listen, merely backtracking and going another way, lifting up that strange device and informing the voice on the other end of Pine’s presence, as if Pine was a mere hurdle, a simple THING to step around. This infuriated Pine- did they know NOTHING about danger? Nothing about when to back off? They went to chase after them, but clearly, the employee had run into something else. A scream permeated the air, followed by sounds of ripping flesh and growls. The clanks of dropped items, and a quiet, continuous buzz of the dead walkie. Pine had to wait. They wanted to feel some satisfaction in knowing the employee was truly dead, and if they weren’t- 

     To finish them off themselves. Hours passed. They knew, the light from the exit window sliding past the glass and out of sight. Then, they were off- running through the abandoned hallways, knowing the decrepit paths like the back of his hand. Within minutes, he was at the place, seeing a barely recognizable human suit. They reached down, spotting a seam at the back. And an idea hit them. Why have to deal with the monsters here, when they could hitchhike on a ship and go wherever they pleased? All they had to do was kill the…Actually, now they think about it, that’d be dumb. They can’t run a ship. So, they’d let the humans live. All they had to do was get the suit off this dead man, and patch it up,

     Some hissing and a few ripping noises later, Pine held the ragged suit in their hands. They reached for the helmet, taking that off the body a lot easier. Holding it up to the light, they thought of tearing holes for their back leaves, but no. That would make it too obvious. And if they wanted to try something new, they had to ignore the pain. At least, until they gain the trust of those humans. What they had to do now, though? Fix up the suit.

     After a quick traversal through the bunker spider’s area, they found enough web to bare-bones repair the suit. Several minutes later, they had found a way of wearing the suit that didn’t cause pain- at least, not a lot of it. They growled, feeling the discomfort of their folded leaves, but they would have to deal with it. They’d get used to it, right?

     Now, to go outside, leave the safety of their residence and…

     Make their own identity. Wherever that ends up taking them.

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Boss

• “Least Profitable”
• Human
• Always on ship duty
• Has a specific system for the crew and does it well, hence why he's always on ship duty
• 47, oldest member
• Boss. Obv.

Mike

• “Most Paranoid”
• Human
• Has a daughter back home (gave her the hair clip on his helmet)
• 34, second youngest
• Trying to stay alive so he can go back to his daughter for retirement
• Employee (joined earlier than boss)

Kyle

• “Most Profitable”
• Human
• ALWAYS has a shovel with him
• Professional monster hunter
• Is the most wary of Pine
• 39, second oldest
• Part-Timer, joined a few runs after Pine was found

Pine

• “???”
• Bracken
• Irritable due to uncomfortability of being in the suit (leaves get folded)
• Takes off the suit on moons, “behaves” like a regular Bracken in factory to deter monsters and fellow crew
• Nobody knows they're not human. But Kyle is very suspicious of them.
• Smaller than a regular bracken (6’3”), leaves are more like pine needles, hence the name
• Would be employee rank, but has no badge (the suit was taken from a dead employee on their moon, March. The visor on the suit is tinted completely black, which is why the others can't see their eyes. Suit needed a lot of patching up after the dead employee

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As Pine sat on a rock, watching the eyeless dogs retreat to their dens, they heard faraway rumbling, one that was all too familiar to them now…It was the rumbling of a Company Ship. they got up, suit shifting as they adjusted their sleeves. Then, they trotted off towards the noise, carrying the few scrap metals they could carry. As they approached the ship, ducking behind a tree, they heard the chatter of the humans. One of them seemed to be lecturing the other.

“Alright, listen, when you get in there, you need to let me know if you actually need a turret disabled. If you can run past it, don’t bother asking me, ok?”

The one closest to the ship terminal said, not noticing Pine in the distance, giving their full attention to the other employee. “Yes Boss, I get it. there’s not gonna be a replay of Offense, alright?” One of them muttered, keeping their head down. “Good. I’m NOT losing half our quota again.”

Pine stepped forward, scrap clanking. They needed to seem like they weren’t trying to stalk the two. That would not get them off to a good start, they knew that. And if trust needed to be earned, that is not the way to do it. “Boss” and the other looked up, the latter clutching a key in their hand, as if they were gonna stab Pine with it. When Boss saw the suit, they looked slightly more relieved, though still seemed on edge.

“Who are you..?”

Pine stopped, before slowly speaking, trying not to sound too alien.

“The name’s Pine. You?”

“Boss” watched them for a second, before attempting to speak- not before the other chimed in. “Oh, they just go by Boss. I’m Mike. You…aren’t one of those “Masked”, are you?”

Pine stared at them for a moment. The fuck is a masked..? “No? Don’t think I’ve ever seen one of those. What, do they look like me?”

“Boss” laughed. A little bit of a dull laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. “No, they look like any run of the mill employee. Except for the mask on their face taking them over like a parasite.” Mike shuddered. “Yeah, Boss would probably kill you if you were one, but you don’t seem braindead, so…”

Pine watched the two, before holding up the scrap.

“Thought I might get some scrap just in case- maybe lighten your load? All I ask is that i get off of this fuckin’ planet.”

Boss seemed to look them up and down, the seams of the suit, and the scrap in their hands, before shrugging. “Sure.  But you’re coming to the company building to get more scrap. 40 bucks isn’t gonna get us a met quota.” Pine nodded. Things seemed to be going well. They didn’t know the scrap was worth that little, but it was fine. They could just make it up later, when they went with these humans to the company building.

“So, Pine.”

Mike chimed in through the silence, watching them as the three of them tread through the mud and twigs to get to the building. “How’d you even last this long? If your ship left you behind, that must’ve been a while. I don’t think I’ve seen any logs on March for a long time.”

Pine almost responded how they weren’t actually an employee, and that they’ve been living off of hoarding bugs and humans their whole life, but that would definitely get them killed. Instead, they just responded “I honestly don’t know. Had a LOT of close calls.” They weren’t wrong, in a way. Just… lying a little bit. “Yeah, I can see that. Your suit looks really banged up. I’m honestly surprised you can breathe through that helmet.” Pine blinked behind their visor. Oh yeah, they do need these to breathe, don’t they? “I mean, it would definitely be bad if it broke, so I’ve been protecting it with all I've got. Makes sense, right?” 

“Yeah.” Mike responded, stopping as they reached the building. “Oh hey, we’re here!”

Pine looked at the door, a mixture of nervousness and frustration flooding their mind. On one end, they swore they’d leave this place, and yet here they were , right back at the start. One giant cycle. On the other hand, they’d have to be careful around the room they once occupied. Once the two humans noticed there was a bracken’s den in the facility, they’d be more on edge- and who knows what that would end up like for them.

As the time went on, Pine ended up carrying two engines, and a few plastic containers. Even the Boss seemed impressed, if not a little suspicious. “Nice work, newbie.” Pine struggled to look at them over all of the items, but laughed nonetheless. “Heh. thanks.” As the three of them walked out, arms full of scrap, the boss shushed everybody. “Shh. Eyeless dogs.” He was right, the growling of dogs were soon heard as a pack of them emerged over the edge of the hill, snuffling and growling at every crack of a branch. The three of them tiptoed around the three beasts, each piece of scrap metal clinking softly as they moved. Mike almost tripped on a branch, but that was the only thing that went wrong- at least, something that would actually get the three of them killed. As they finally boarded the ship, Pine crouched to set the scraps down, wincing.

“Something the matter, newbie?”

Pine looked up as they regained their balance. “Ah, just got some back pain, that's all.” Boss watched them, lifting their helmet as the door shut and the oxygen system kicked in. beneath their helmet was a middle aged human, brown hair ruffled by the long use of the helmet and a worn face from the long stay. Clearly, he’s been an employee a long time. Mike followed suit, revealing somebody clearly much younger, but still male. Mike looked over at Pine. “Are you gonna take your helmet off?” Pine looked at them, tinted helmet glaring in the light. “No, I’m good.” Mike looked like he was going to ask, but Boss waved it off. “Hey, don’t put pressure on them. They can keep it on.” Pine sighed in relief as the rumble of the ship signified their departure. “So I guess I’m staying?” Boss chucked, their face wrinkling in a smile. “I mean, not like we’re just gonna shove you out halfway off the planet.” Pine watched the other two, feeling their own face wrinkle in a slight, silent growl. And if they did, I’d have to kill them, wouldn’t I…? They let it go after a moment. It’s not really anything to worry about right now.

After all, there’s more than their humanity to worry about now.

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     As the ship rumbled underneath their feet, the three of them- Boss, Mike, and Pine stood there in silence- at least, until Mike spoke up.

     “So. Where we headed next, Boss?”

      Boss looked at them with an exasperated look. “We’ll figure that out tomorrow, Mike. I think, for now- we just rest up. It was a good day- we just need to recuperate for tomorrow.”

      Mike nodded understandingly, before looking back at Pine. “Say, are you fine with using one of our coworker’s old beds? We started out with three, but somebody got a little reckless around a mine…so…”

      Pine stared in silence, contemplating. “No, I-” they spoke up, before coming to a halt at Boss’s confused glare. “Actually, yeah. I’ll try. Thanks.” they mutter, before straightening their back slightly and letting out a quiet huff of pain. “...Back pain again?” Boss asked, pointing at their suit. “That does look a little torn up after all. What, is it too tight or something?” Pine nodded, regaining their composure. Mike approached them, with something in their hands…Pine nearly hissed at them, before pinching their arm and straightening. “Sorry. Just- could you not just approach me like that? Thanks.” Mike put their hand behind their head, laughing nervously. “Oh yeah, my bad..” Boss continued to watch them warily, but looked away, turning their attention to the terminal instead as they read the controls. “Everything seems fine, Boss…Just stop worrying about it, alright? There’s sleep to have!” Mike joked, walking over and hitting Boss on the back. Boss laughed with him, leaving Pine near the ship door, feeling quite awkward. They didn’t quite know what to make of the scenario. Two humans laughing after…injuring each other? Maybe they did have a while to go before they fully understood these guys, much less humanity. They might never get to that second part.

      After the laughter died down, Pine made their way to the bunk, before stopping to turn towards Mike, asking 

      “...So which one’s mine?”

      Mike walked over, exclaiming “Oh yeah. Forgot- I can’t just tell you to ‘choose a bunk’ without you knowing who has who. Well, I have the middle bunk, and Boss has the top- so the bottom bunk is the only one available right now. You’re fine with that, right?” Pine nodded, secretly thinking about how much they’d have to crouch just to NOT hit their head on that rim every night. “...Yeah. Sure.” Boss made a tutting noise, as if to say, “Sure. He believes you.” Pine felt a scowl twist the corners of their mouth under the helmet, but kept silent. This “Boss” guy really was getting on their case, weren’t they?

      As the hours passed, the three of them stayed in a kind of distant “Limbo” of conversation, mostly what the other two called “ice-breakers”. Made sense to them. from what they could gather, this kind of stuff was either courtesy, or they were just feeling bad for them. Either way, Pine didn’t care, being the earliest to crawl into bed and lay there as the lights shut off around them. They closed their eyes, feeling a kind of distant anxiety. Surely, these two would grill them about why they slept with their helmet on, but that was a problem for tomorrow Pine.

      Right?

      As the company-mandated alarm startled them out of their sleep, they slammed their head against the roof of their bunk, growling in pain. Mike and Boss were groggily getting up, Mike almost hitting his head from Pine’s sudden outburst. As the latter two of the three crew members were getting ready for the “day”- or whatever you could call it in space-, Boss came over to Pine as they got out of bed. “Hey. I have some questions for you.”

      Pine froze, turning to Boss with a distant look. No way they’d been outed already. It’d hardly been a day..! Boss watched their reaction with narrowed eyes, but continued along anyway. “So. I uh…Noticed you slept with your helmet? Why was that?” Pine thought quickly of an excuse as Boss took the time to adjust their helmet. “Eh, it’s just…Insecurity.”

      Boss narrowed his eyes, his employee pin glinting in the fluorescent light. “Hm. Well, you know Mike and I won’t judge you.”

      Pine scoffed, thinking, yeah right. And Loot bugs are generous. But they kept neutral, and stood their ground, as Boss continued.

     “-And pardon me for being…Suspicious, but you showing up out of nowhere is just kind of…Unnerving… to me. Are you SURE you’re not pretending, or something?”

     Pine stared at them, feeling their breath become heavy. This human… But they shrugged, playing it cool. “Well damn! I didn’t know you could be so judgemental!” they joke, trying to keep their tone light. Boss laughed with them, continuing. “Yeah, that’s just my worries. As the leader of this ship, I gotta make sure everybody’s safe, so that means I gotta question people when they get on. You understand that, right?”

      “Yeah. I get it.” Pine responded, adjusting their suit’s stitches. They really gotta fix this soon…

      And soon did come, as within what felt like mere moments, it was “Night” again…

      Pine waited for total silence- or at least, the silence that could be gained from the other two’s silent breathing, and got out of their bed, scooching themselves into a corner as they sighed, pulling out the stitching set Mike had loaned them. They didn’t quite know how to sow, but they can figure that out, right?

     It just takes time…