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Chapter Text

Her heart pounded in her chest as she ran. The haze of her terror was so gripping that she completely lost track of her way back as she ran. She threw open doors and knocked over bookshelves as she escaped, desperate to make distance between herself and her foe.

She half-fell through the door frame, slamming it shut behind her and pressing her weight against the door. Rapid breaths clawed their way through her lungs, stinging her throat and filling her mouth with the taste of blood. Head pounding, ears thrumming with the sound of her own blood, she was only acutely aware of every hair in her body standing on end and the fire in her muscles while she struggled.

It pounded against the door, tearing through the furniture she left in its wake. A horrible force rammed into the back of her legs, nearly sending her toppling forward. She pushed all of her weight against the door, scrambling with her feet to hold it back. Tears, desperate and terrified, streamed down her face.

The room was massive and nearly empty. She could see the dim glow of a fireplace illuminating a bookshelf in the middle of the room. Ahead of her, a brilliant tapestry depicted a peaceful image of farmland, dappled golden fields and a sprawling blue sky. At the right corner of the painting, scarlet smears smudged a bundle of ferns blood-red.

Her veins filled with ice. For a moment she was detached from the pounding presence tearing towards her back and looked right. Warmed and bubbling by the fire’s glow was a pool of blood inching in her direction from afar. She could barely make out the trace of a hand lying near the fire, the rest of the corpse obscured by the bookshelf.

The smell of blood and death came over her in a wave. Her mouth fell open, strained and stammering, unable to even scream her coworker’s name.

The door behind her was flung open and a creature of wrinkly cartilage barreled her to the ground. Teeth sank into her chest. She screamed as blood gurgled in her mouth and struggled, flailing with her remaining limbs to push its hefty jaws away. But her struggles were to no avail. Teeth and pain overwhelmed her. She shrieked and begged for help from a presence that was not there. Gradually, her struggles weakened, then ceased altogether.

“Ephialtes, I said I wanted to hear work stories, not something from a horror movie,” Della interrupted with an eye roll.

Her crewmate’s ramblings pause, his arms still lifted midair to provide emphasis of the grotesque murder. His golden eyes were vibrant against his dark skin and freckles. They fell upon Della’s face, filled with traces of shock. “I-I didn’t say it was from a horror movie.”

“Oh, please.” She waved a dismissive hand. “Like something that perfectly set up would ever really happen. Sit down, it’s someone else’s turn to tell a story.” Her gloved knuckles rapped the cold metal floor of their ship.

“It’s true!” Ephialtes insisted, but he hesitantly lowered himself onto his knees next to Della. He was similar in size and build to Della, lanky rather than strong. He leaned against one of the ship’s walls in a defeated huddle.

The whirring sounds of their spaceship’s engines filled Della’s ears without Ephialtes’ voice blocking out the sound. His nonstop chatter helped her blissfully forget the headache-inducing sounds of the ship’s backdrop. She grumbled, feeling her helmet in her lap. It was similarly shaped to a gas mask and obnoxiously heavy; would do nothing to help with the noise. There was no point in putting it on before they landed.

Della had only been on board with her new team for a few hours and she’d already learned a heap of information. They were all stuck together for the next season, no switching crews. How delightful. Della did not appreciate the lack of autonomy. She could manage herself on this job - plentiful experience in the Thistle Nebula prior aided her to that - it was the people who would decide the agony of her situation. 

So far, Della didn’t have high hopes, but it didn’t seem entirely doomed. She knew most about Ephialtes, the employee who started telling a dramatic story when Della asked for advice about the job (not that she NEEDED it, and how dare anyone think that there was even a chance that she would. It was just to scope things out and compare them to the rumors she’d heard about this job. It first became relevant to her after a story about a coworker’s relative getting returned home with their neck snapped after being hired, after all). Not particularly aggravating, just chatty. It was unnecessary noise that Della could ignore if she wanted to. He was something to be dismissed if she desired a meaningful conversation.

None of their equipment was particularly well-made. Their rubbery suits were possibly the worst of all. It reached down to Della’s knees and wrist from her neck. It clung to Della’s skin, uncomfortably rubbing hairs and leaving her sweaty. She felt suffocated and itchy inside, always fighting off the subconscious desire to strip it off. If it weren’t for their different colors, Della wouldn’t be able to tell any of her crewmates apart with their helmets off. She looked down at her arm, cloaked in her purple uniform, and rubbed an itch brought on by her negative thoughts.

They both turned their attention to the sound of their third crewmate clearing their throat. She stood at the far side of the ship away from the doors, her fingers hovering expectantly over the ship’s keyboard. Donned in green, the figure turned her head and smiled shyly at the bickering employees. “What’s going on, you two?”

“You heard his story, right, Atlas?” Della hunched back. “Tell him he’s full of shit. That didn’t happen.”

“It did!” Ephialtes protested. He swung his head back towards Atlas.

Atlas’ face was softer than Della's, freckles speckling her fair skin. Their hair was tied back in a massive ponytail, dipping close to their waist. Her Company-offered helmet was replaced by a visor set over her forehead as she worked. She has her questions about the logistics of it, and how her unique equipment was approved, but assumed it better not to hurt her head thinking about it. Her only meaningful question was if Della could trade out her clunky helmet as well.

She was significant quieter than Della or Ephialtes, only offering a few shy mumbles since the four of them first woke up. Della got the sense it was shyness rather than a lack of things to say. More valuable than nonstop blabbering like Ephialtes, but harder to cooperate with. Something to keep in mind.

Atlas tipped her head. “It does sound a bit… dramatic?”

“Dramatic?” he repeated, offended. “It’s not!”

“Yeah, yeah, give it a rest.” Della gave him a friendly shove that was a bit too harsh, nearly causing him to topple over. “No one wants to hear you talk anymore.”

“But-”

“Ah-ah.” Della put a finger to his face. “I meant it. I asked for advice, not ghost stories. We’re done with it.”

“I could give you advice if you just let me finish,” Ephialtes sulked, but he didn’t push it.

“Lucky for me, there’s two other people I can ask on board!” Della threw out her arms, copying Ephialtes’ expressive gestures. “Alright team, icebreakers! It’s just the four of us on board, and somehow we’ve barely talked even though we’ve been on this ship for hours. Well, Eph has talked enough anyways.” She shot the wounded Ephialtes a pointed look. “Come on, shouldn’t we get on a decent basis before we start the work? That’s what my old team did whenever someone new joined the crew. Introduce everyone, and then give ‘em some ground rules to help make sure they could handle the job.” Della stroked her chin and turned past Atlas to the fourth figure in the ship. “Hey, you’re built like you’ve been here a while! Got something useful to say?”

The last member of their crew was the only one who hadn’t chosen to take off his helmet and settle down with the rest of the crew. She knew almost nothing about their crewmate aside from his name - Herman, as Ephialtes had whispered to her. He’d been here longer than Ephialtes, Della, and Atlas combined and had the grim personality to match his experience.

He’d barely said a word since they took off from Gordion’s meeting point. He wasn’t in the bunks, but lost in his thoughts in front of the structure. Considering his structure, Della was unsure if he even fit on a designated bed. He was absurdly tall and top-heavy, enough that Della had to tilt her head to see him. His right arm was missing, which only contributed to the mysteriously dark mood that lingered around him. Neither of her other crewmates knew what caused his injury. He rarely spoke, contributing to his intimidating demeanor. Della wasn’t sure what to think about him besides noting it was incredibly rude to ignore the rest of the crew. Truthfully, Della knew her tone was harsh, but she wanted to provoke a reaction from the mysterious individual.

“Stay alive,” he answered. His voice remained completely serious. “Anything less than riskless is a threat to yourselves and the rest of the crew. Don’t take any risks that you don’t have to.”

Della slouched with a snort, unamused by his answer. “Wow, neither of you are useful with this advice thing,” she said with a huff. “I know now that if I need anything and it comes down to you two I’m just dead, I guess. Maybe Eph will have a stupid story to make me feel better in the end.”

It was certainly a new experience for someone to be advising her about how to manage herself in the Thistle Nebula, and it wasn’t something she appreciated. Della’s face etched into a scowl. Perhaps he’d been on the job longer than anyone else on board, but Della had been researching these planets for a similar amount of time. She knew the ins and outs of their abandoned colonies, and she certainly didn’t need someone employed by a shady company where people continuously dropped dead to explain how her life’s work was handled. Della was here on a mission, one that could certainly prove her expertise was far beyond the one pushing her around.

Atlas snickered, then pretended that she wasn’t looking. Ephialtes showed no reaction to the barb. For the past few hours Della had thrown an endless number of teasing insults in his direction. He’d garnered the sense that was just Della’s personality: harsh, sarcastic, and generally demeaning to anyone who did something not to her standards. Ephialtes was quickly becoming accustomed to letting it roll over his shoulder.

“You said something about your traditions with your old team, right?” Atlas pressed Della. “Did you mean your old crew, or…?”

“Huh? No! I don’t have an old crew,” Della explained. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall with Ephialtes, sinking towards the floor. “I signed up just last week. I meant from my old job, before I took up a contract with the Company.”

“Oh, really?” Atlas leaned away from the terminal to stare curiously at the two employees. They could pry her attention away for a moment, but Atlas was always at least partially prepared to return to her computer and block out the world. “What else did you do?”

“I do biology work.” Della grinned. “Let’s just say that this isn’t my first time in the Thistle Nebula. And it’s definitely not my first time seeing what lives here.”

Ephialtes and Atlas each gave her impressed looks, improving Della’s feelings of smugness.

“I guess you know a lot about how the inside of a ship looks, don’t you?” Atlas said. “Lots of people first starting out usually get sick trying to get used to it.”

“Yeah, I know a thing or two about space travel.” Della’s eyes traveled around the cluttered space. “They tend to be a bit easier on the eyes than this one, though.”

Atlas gave another small smile. “I think the supply cabinet and bunk beds are obvious,” she said, pointing to the scarlet storage next to the door and the bunks behind Herman. She rapped on the keyboard in front of her. “Here’s the ship’s computer. It’s where we change orbit, purchase from the store, and see weather updates in the Thistle Nebula. There’s a couple of other things you can do with it, but they’re not super important to us right now.”

“I figured that’s what it was for.” Della pointed to the console at the front of the ship. There were a few buttons and a lever to start the ship, but Della’s concern was the two black screens against the wall. “But what about all of those?”

“Oh! Those are the ship’s monitors.” Atlas slipped by Herman with a mumbled apology and felt beneath the monitor on the right. She clicked something and it turned on, projecting a view of the inside of the shop. As Della squinted at the ship, Ephialtes tilted his head to the camera and waved directly at it. “This one shows the inside of the ship while we’re in space. I can switch it to show the outdoors when we land.” Her hand tapped the still black monitor. “This one will show me where you three are when we land. I’ll be able to see you guys while you’re in the facility. The computer can connect security systems so I can disable anything that’s meant to keep you guys out or open doors.”

Della nodded, curiously peering over the camera. “What about that?”

On the left side of the ship, just in front of the bunkbeds was a strange device. It was a small platform on the ground sticking out of the ceiling, just big enough for someone the size of herself or Ephialtes to stand without hitting the ceiling.

“That’s a teleporter — er, the technology for one anyways,” Atlas explained. “It’s an upgrade we’d have to buy for the ship. Using it lets me transport you into the ship or send you guys into the facility in a random spot.” Atlas’ face shifted. “Each upgrade costs a different amount of money, although I don’t know why anyone would ever buy the inverse teleporter. It’s a lot of money, so I’ve never bought one before.”

“So it just sits in the ship uselessly until we spend money on it?” Della said, crossing her legs.

“Yep.” Atlas shrugged. “That’s just how it is.”

It was a quiet, somewhat stuffy ship, but uncomplicated. She hoisted herself to her feet when Atlas turned back to the computer, peering at the green screen. A few options appeared on the monitor, one option taking her attention. “The ship has a Bestiary?” she asked, excited.

“Oh! Yes, it has information about a few of the Thistle Nebula’s entities,” Atlas said. “I think it’s missing a few entries, though. The Bestiary only lets you see information about an entity after your crew scans it. I only just logged into this computer, so it doesn’t have very many entries.”

Atlas pulled up an entry too quickly for Della to observe what they typed. As words loaded onto the screen, a diagram of a massive arachnid appeared behind the green words. Della wrinkled her nose in distaste.

“You know this one?” Atlas said, recognizing her expression.

“Of course I do. Theraphosa-ficedula, or just Bunker Spiders. The second-largest arachnid that’s ever been discovered.” Della crossed her arms and grimaced as the lengthy description continued. “There’s been a kill-on-sight order for them for centuries. It’s a testament to how irritating they are that they haven’t been wiped out yet.”

“You had to have read all of those big words off of the screen,” Ephialtes said, pointing to the scientific name that loaded shortly after she said it.

Della leaned closer and squinted at the screen, reading the description provided. It was accurate information, albeit relatively dated. The only date she spotted was from 1965, completely discrediting any research down on spiders since then. Another label above the Bunker Spider’s scientific name caught her attention. 

Sigurd’s danger level: Thirty percent. 

Scientific name: Theraphosa-ficedula

Her eyebrows rose. “Who the hell is Sigurd?” 

“I… never really paid attention to that before,” Atlas admitted. “I don’t know, I’ve never heard of him outside of these Bestiary entries.”

“He might be an old manager of the Company’s who put the danger recommendations up for employees like us to see,” Ephialtes theorized. “Basically saying ‘hey, these ones are super likely to kill you, so leave them alone.’”

“If that's his role, he’s pretty bad at it.” Della leaned back and scoffed. “Danger level thirty percent? They’re bad enough that there’s a kill-on-sight order that’s still active to this day about them. One bite would kill anyone smaller than him.” She pointed at Herman’s hulking figure, who didn’t glance back at the three’s conversation. “And two would take down any human, regardless of how big they are.”

“I guess it’s just an example of how dangerous the Thistle Nebula is if something that the rest of the galaxy is trying to wipe out only warrants that danger level,” Atlas said.

“That’s not an exaggeration of the truth.” The three employees looked up when Herman intervened. “Everything in the Thistle Nebula is out to kill you. Even what you’ve heard is less dangerous is not to be trifled with. If you’re not constantly alert, you’ll die. I’ve seen that enough.”

Della bit the inside of her cheek. The incessant need to protect them nagged at her. She’d dedicated her entire life to these creatures - of course she needed no help! But his continued insistence about it started to get beneath her skin. “Thanks, but this isn’t anyone’s first time in the Thistle Nebula,” she scathed.

“And I intend to make sure it’s not your last,” Herman responded with a grim look back at her.

Atlas and Ephialtes exchanged worried looks. Della put her hands on her hips. “Yeah, whatever,” she muttered. She knew how most people cracked under pressure. It was all just words. Alternatively, he was an idiot who was only here for glory.

“Come on guys, let’s try to relax, okay? It’s our first day as a crew tomorrow. Let’s make sure it goes as smoothly as possible,” Atlas suggested. It’s getting late.”

“That’s true.” Ephialtes invited himself to the computer and typed in a few words. He pressed enter and the entire ship rumbled. “I’ll put us in orbit so that we’ll be at our first stop by eight tomorrow morning.”

Atlas checked the ship’s destination over Ephialtes’ shoulder and nodded. “We have to be ready for tomorrow. It’s a big day for all of us.”

It wasn’t one for any of them, as the Thistle Nebula simply meant work for everyone on board. Della let her comment go without any remark. “Right.” It was just one contract. One season. One more trial and then Della could return home. It would take a couple of trials and some luck on a specific couple of moons, but everything she’d been planning for her entire life was riding on this contract, and she was starting to get the idea that it was better if none of them knew her goals until they were done. “Let’s make it quick.”

Chapter Text

After a breakfast of indistinguishable mush, the crew left for the facility just before eight. There was no one designated to wake up the others. They all shared the same uncomfortable beds and likely had the same restless sleep Della did.

She didn’t dislike the early schedule. Della enjoyed being productive. What was the purpose of being awake if you didn’t spend your time diligently? But the sandy air scraping her throat and the beating sun through her suit wasn’t Della’s preferred environment. It was the most unwelcoming way she could imagine starting her morning after the miserable rest, but everyone kept their complaints contained. She fantasized a moon of lush forest instead, of warm sunlight and greenery so she could remove her helmet and breathe fresh air for once.

When the trio reached the building, Herman instructed Della and Ephialtes to search near the main entrance again and disappeared into the other side of the building. Ephialtes had explained there were other entrances that were once used for emergencies. Since they were so spread out, having someone else check the other routes offered them more opportunities to cover ground.

She knew it was a safety precaution to travel in groups in case they encountered any entities; Della knew firsthand it was better to have a support team when dealing with unstable creatures. Yet Herman always instructed them to stick together and went deeper alone without suggestions about taking a companion. She wondered if he had a separate walkie to speak with Atlas like the one Ephialtes carried in case he needed assistance from the terminal, or if he was truly fearless enough to risk encountering danger alone. Fearless or idiocy? In Della’s eyes, they were one in the same. To attempt something fearlessly was to attempt it blindly.

“He’s always done that,” Ephialtes said when she brought up Herman while they looted an old locker room. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him walk in with someone. I’ve explored with him a couple times when I took a wrong turn or saw something too frightening to go back,” he added with a hint of sheepishness. “Is he crazy? Roaming around here alone?”

“You have to be a little crazy to be inside like this.” Della knocked on the head of a plastic toy she found tucked inside. It made a grunting sound, as if it was coughing up dust, then began playing an ear splitting croon. She hurriedly turned it off.

“Do you think he lost his arm on the job like this?” Ephialtes gossipped. “I can’t believe he didn’t quit on the spot if that’s how it happened!”

“Like I said. Gotta be a little crazy.” Della hadn’t considered the idea before. Maybe it’d taught him to be more wary with the fauna he encountered and he explored with caution. Della hadn’t crossed paths with him before while exploring with Ephialtes, so he likely had an idea of smarter routes to take inside. Or maybe he was unconcerned with the idea of dying on the job anymore. That second option was disturbingly possible.

While clearing out the nearest locker and waving away the dust, she thought more about Ephialtes’ comment. “He hasn’t explained it to you?”

He shook his head. “He doesn’t talk much. I haven’t known him that long,” he confessed. “It was him and Atlas first. Both of them were put together after their other crews were wiped. I was put in to make us a trio, and it was us three for a little while until the system plugged you in with us.”

“Their crews were wiped?” Della echoed. “What happened?”

“Huh?” Ephialtes looked up.

“You said their old crews were wiped. Did they tell you about it?” Della was surprised to hear the two had such startling stories. Maybe less so with Herman, but how could people so carelessly describe the deaths of their coworkers?

“O-Oh… no.” Ephialtes seemed flustered. “Just some rumors from other crews. Word gets around. There aren't a lot of us on contracts this season.”

“I see.” He seemed uneasy about the question, so Della didn’t push it. She couldn’t blame him for the topic of their fragile mortality being disturbing. “I’ll start carrying things back. I’ve cleared out these few lockers.”

Ephialtes nodded without looking up. “I’ll help you in a moment. I want to check the room ahead of us just in case.”

“No rush.” She picked up a few of the heavier items first, such as a bronze bell and an old traffic sign slung over her back, and hobbled back towards the main entrance.

The worst part of the job wasn’t the imminent danger or the environment of the moons or even the metallic beds. It was the carrying. Della was built for running and communication, not lifting burly equipment. Her muscles were sore after just the first few days on the job. Della hated needing help, so she kept her frustrations to herself, but Ephialtes usually volunteered to make the harder trips carrying scrap back to the ship while Della traveled shorter distances indoors. This wasn’t a job that suggested kindness as a useful trait for the job, but there wasn’t any other reason someone as intelligent as Ephialtes would still be working at a job like this unless he had a good reason to be here. She couldn’t make out his intentions by his behavior with her.

Although her sore body appreciated Ephialtes’ help, Della knew she’d need to get stronger to keep on the job. This time she sought out as much weight as she could carry before Ephialtes could grab it first. The pain burned. Della was glad she felt it. Pain meant improvement.

Della had learned quickly that most biologists didn’t enjoy the environment of their work as much as she thought they should. It was always Della who suggested elaborate study ideas to her team, proposing trips and extensive stays on moons to research their targets. Most of her team preferred to hide in a lab and punch numbers, draw organisms, make theories, and do everything except locate their targets. Most of Della’s research came from finding the creatures themselves.

It made her something of a stand out amidst the company. Employers loved her, but it left Della wondering how anyone could stand a job that didn’t push their limits. How could they find anything new without risk? It was the few occasions they stepped up to help, the ones where Della sometimes went in over her head, that left her begrudgingly admitting the value of a team.

How she missed the atmosphere of her old job. Discoveries, nature, creatures all around her… the devoid facility was the opposite of that. Dells had been turning corners and checking behind her constantly for some life form she could recognize, but empty halls were the only thing greeting her. She knew most of the life found in Experimentation roamed outdoors, so it was too much of a hope to assume she’d find the facility teeming with life. Yet she felt empty and unnerved about the space yawning ahead of her. Della chose to be here for the creatures - what was the point if she never saw any? All of this would be a complete waste if she couldn’t find…

Della quickly discovered the main entrance. Finding a sense of direction was easier by hugging one of the walls as she explored. It gave her a reliable way to find her way back amidst the winding, repetitive halls of the maze. She stepped outside and dropped the scrap she’d hauled with a sigh of relief.

She took a moment to stretch and looked over the arid land. The sun was high and bright in the air. It didn’t mean much on a desert planet like this; the sun was always up until it suddenly wasn’t. Atlas would have the best idea of time from the ship, but Ephialtes was the one with a walkie to communicate with them. Della returned inside, and although weariness rose at the prospect of more work, another part of her was glad to be away from the harsh sun.

She turned left and brushed her arm against the right wall as she walked, tracing her steps. “Eph?” They hadn’t gone deep into the twisting halls yet. She and Ephialtes spent their first day on the moon emptying out paths that led into curious dead ends.

“Over here.” His voice was just up ahead, sounding from the locker room. She expected as such, but Della was cautious. Getting lost in a place like this was a death sentence if your team failed to find you. She took another right and walked straight until she found the locker room Ephialtes was wandering around.

The pile of scrap looked the same size as it had when Della left it. “Find anything else?” She sensed disappointment in his body language, but kept her voice optimistic.

“It’s a dead end. We’ll have to keep going further after we drop this off.” Ephialtes sighed and picked up as much as he could carry. “There are so many dead ends here. Makes the facility feel small.”

“Only because we’ve barely seen a fraction of it,” Della offered while she helped him. “I’m sure it’s bigger down the other paths. We haven’t even seen Herman yet.” At the same time Della pondered Ephialtes’ comment. What was a facility like this used for? As a formerly secret moon, the most popular speculation was for mining resources. Yet the building didn’t seem suited for discovering rocks and fuels. It seemed a bit too elaborate for that. Where was the machinery?

Although both picked up more than they should have, there were still a few more miscellaneous objects neither had the hands for. They’d have to make a second trip before exploring. Della suggested she go ahead while Ephialtes transported, but he shot down the suggestion. “It’s better just in case one of us gets lost. Or maybe something will jump you when you don’t have someone to help you escape.”

“Unlikely,” Della grumbled to herself as she recapped the conversation. “Nothing inhabits the indoors of a place this humid and awful.”

Ephialtes failed to pick up everything she said, but it was as if his next words were plucked straight from Della’s thoughts. “You said you were a biologist, right?” Ephialtes asked. “Does it give you an edge against some of the animals that might be around here?”

“If you mean fighting them, no, probably not. Thistle Nebula’s been abandoned for a reason. Most of the time we travel here to observe the remains of its moons and inhabitants,” Della explained. “But I know a lot of their habits. I wouldn’t panic if I saw something I recognized, and not panicking is a strong segway into not dying.”

Ephialtes laughed like it was an utterly groundless joke. “What made you think about studying the Thistle Nebula of all places?” he asked. “We literally might be the only people on this moon.”

“Well, I like working alone.” Della shrugged. “The lack of competition is convenient. But I got attached because of some rumors from when I was a kid. People acted like the entire nebula’s a legend. Treated the fauna like mystical beings. There was a Green Baby on display at the zoo near my house.”

“Green… what?” Ephialtes asked.

“Satyrid-proceritas.” She grinned when Ephialtes remained bewildered. “Forest Keepers. That’s the nickname they had on my planet.”

“Oh.” He kept walking. “How did they even get one of those things outta here?”

“No idea. They acted like it was a treasure they dug up. The Atlantis of Thistle Nebula. They gave it treats and told us it had the mind of a child. Made it do tricks for the crowd.” That had been Della’s first experience with anything native to the Thistle Nebula. Her family visited the zoo every third weekend to distract her. “It practically makes me an explorer to work here. I wanted to see more of the fauna.”

“One Forest Keeper wasn’t enough for you?”

“They got rid of it before I was thirteen. Some idiot jumped in to save a precious fallen pet. Forest Keeper wasn’t aware those snacks were off limits.” She decided not to mention that was the last day her parents ever took her to the zoo. “But it made me curious enough to keep dabbling in this place, and here I am. Wandering around the remains of Thistle Nebula in a cruddy slopsuit with a horrible wage. Lucky me.”

“So then why are you at a job like this?” Ephialtes asked. “You said you were already researching this Nebula before you took the contract. Are you looking for something?”

Della fell quiet. Ephialtes’ words were closer to the truth than she expected. “There’s certain organisms that have stopped roaming in the open. They’ve adapted to the indoors after all of the warfare and radiation. We didn’t have permission to explore inside facilities like this. My team didn’t have the guts to go somewhere so dangerous either. So I took things into my own hands.” Her face wrinkled. “At this point it barely seems worth it, though. Not much lives on Experimentation. It means we won’t see anything.”

“It’s beneficial for beginners, right?” Ephialtes added encouragingly. “Less risks of running into anything. Makes things easier when there’s a new employee adjusting.”

They were at the main entrance now, but Della stopped at the door. “What do you mean? Of course not. I hate not seeing anything here. I’m not inexperienced.”

“Maybe, but… I thought it would be easier for everyone if nobody had to worry about a new recruit about something dangerous happening in our first week,” Ephialtes mumbled. “After all, almost nothing happens on Experimentation…”

Pieces fell together in Della’s head. She dropped her things and turned to him. “Did you bring us to Experimentation for me?” Della asked. She didn’t need to wait for his answer to know the truth. “I’m not an idiot! We’ve been wasting our time on this empty moon barely gathering anything!”

“That’s not true, we found the loot room,” he argued, but it was faulty. It was the only loot they’d found after two days searching the facility. “Atlas and Herman didn’t have to worry about a new recruit if we went somewhere easy.”

“I don’t care what they think! I’m not some unprepared deadweight! I told you why I took this job!” Della was furious to be undermined. “Don’t speak for me!”

“I’m sorry! It wasn’t malicious. I wanted everyone to start off well with each other. If we went somewhere harder, I’m sure they would’ve felt more inclined to watch you. You don’t know what’s going on yet. Wouldn’t that have been worse?” Ephialtes ventured.

She was too vehement to rebuke him. Della slammed the doors behind her and dropped all of her items outside. How dare he? Della didn’t need anyone watching over her! How was she ever supposed to find her research targets if Ephialtes refused to let her do anything? Had he been tagging along with her out of some responsible concern? She could survive the longest out of any of their crew members if they were stuck on their own.

Ephialtes followed her outside. “Della, I’m sorry,” he apologized, but Della wasn’t listening to it.

“I’m going to look deeper for Herman. If he’s been on his own for so long, he probably has a lot of scrap he can’t carry alone.” She opened the doors. “You keep transporting.”

“You shouldn’t go alone,” Ephialtes warned, but Della was already back inside and shut the door on his patronizing. Worried he would follow, Della ran into the maze and wove around turns, hoping he would be completely lost by the time he made it to her spot.

Della was unsure of how much time passed when she finally stopped and her thoughts cleared. The halls looked identical to what they’d been when she traveled alongside Ephialtes, but she couldn’t make out any sounds of his voice throughout the echoing facility. She knew it was dangerous to be alone… but she appreciated the freedom to work through her faults.

She felt another surge of frustration at the thought of her co-worker. What was he thinking?! Did he have no respect for her? She thought Ephialtes was at least the most tolerable of the crew, but now she would rather spend the night locked indoors than look at him. And he was so guiltless about his decision! She wouldn’t stand for it. When she got back, she would do something about it. There were other planets Della needed to visit for the sake of her work. The others were experienced; Ephialtes mentioned so. They would agree to move somewhere with more direct work.

The mention of the other employees made Della jerk her head. She mentioned joining Herman. “Herman? Herman, are you there?” She cupped a hand over her mouth and began walking. “Herman!”

“Hello?” After a few minutes of pacing, Herman’s voice finally answered her calls.

She knew he had to be close, but his voice was muffled. Della strained to hear him. “I’m here! It’s… just me.”

“Weren’t you with Ephialtes?” he asked.

“I was.” She felt a flash of irritation when she remembered her previous conversation. “But we finished our transports and we’ve started heading deeper. I figured I’d try and go a little further away from him in case you were nearby.”

“You’re close to main?”

“Uh… no.” Della wasn’t sure where she was, but she wouldn’t admit that her stubbornness left her lost. “Where are you? You sound so far away.”

While she spoke, her thoughts clicked. Della craned her neck at the ceiling. “Have you been up any staircases? I think you’re above me.”

“No, but I saw one. Fire’s already upstairs,” he explained.

“I guess I’ll have to find it and join you there.” Della started walking, looking down the dark hallways for stairs.

“You should stay with Ephialtes.” His voice was firm.

Della wasn’t open to being ordered around. “He’s already outside making a trip back to the ship. I’ll be able to find you faster than I will Ephialtes.”

He didn’t protest further, which Della took as an invitation to continue searching. Herman didn’t add anything at all. She wasn’t sure if he was also searching for the stairs to connect with her or if he’d dismissively moved on. Della hugged the right wall first, looping around a corner and down a slim hallway. One of the pipes ahead leaked a clear gas that obscured the end; she curiously peered her flashlight into the fog, but the light was swallowed up in air. Stretching on her feet, she could see an open door behind it, but couldn’t make out what was on the other side.

She turned off her flashlight and felt her way through the fog with little hesitation. The most dangerous thing would be a trap on the ground; she swept her feet before every step to feel for the bump of a landmine within the smoke. As quickly as she had entered, Della emerged on the other side, in front of a yawning black room. The sight of blue-green metal railing lifted her hopes as she felt for her flashlight.

Her light shone on the wall, through the cracks of the stairs in front of her. Della beamed. “I found it!” she called. “I’m coming up.”

She flew up the stairs into a hallway similar to the one she just entered through, although the pipes were intact and the lights were off. Della frowned. It looked like it went in just one direction for a while when she shone her light down the path, but Herman wasn’t there. Had he continued walking? “Herman?”

His voice didn’t answer his call. She scowled, assessing the floor. If she had to estimate, the spot she stood in when she spoke to Herman was near the very end of the dark hallway. Had he walked the wrong way? Or had he gone down the right and missed Della’s hall? Perhaps he simply didn’t want to stick around for her and continued on his own? She groaned at the idea, how Herman and Ephialtes both did what they thought best despite proper logic. “Men…”

When she turned to the staircase again to find her way back, Della almost walked into the orange-suited employee waiting behind her. He was massive, almost twice her size in height and breadth. He said nothing, looking down at her like he’d been waiting this whole time.

Della nearly jumped when Herman appeared, but played off her alarm. She was glad her mask completely hid her expression. “Told you it wouldn’t take long.”

“Hm.” He lifted his chin and looked over Della’s ahead at the hallway in front of them.

“Got anything to carry?” she asked.

“I guess we should start before it gets dark if you’re still here.” Herman walked past Della and down the hallway he’d been looking at. She guessed he was leading the way to the fire exit he took. He completely obscured her view, so Della simply hoped he would alarm her if they found something significant.

Silence followed. Their footsteps filled the empty space. She already knew Herman wouldn’t start a conversation on his own, so Della spoke first. She was increasingly curious about her independent coworker, who explained so little about himself. “Seen any life so far?”

“No.”

She wasn’t surprised, yet she gave a frustrated sigh. “We probably won’t while we’re indoors.”

“Good. The less we see of the bastards, the better.” His voice had an edge. He seemed angry at the fauna, not concerned about Della.

She liked the idea he wasn’t looking down on her, but his tone when he referred to the wildlife made her eyebrows raise. “No need to be vulgar. Besides, most of them are surviving just like us.”

“Which is the last thing we need.” Neither continued their argument. Della nearly ran into him when he came to a stop.

“We’re here?” Della had to lean over the railing to look past Herman. She saw the red light glowing above the fire exit.

Herman opened the door and stepped outside to hold it for her. Della raised an arm, squinting against the bright sun. A wave of heat swept over her when she stepped out of the cool facility. “What time is it?” she asked.

Herman shrugged and Della realized he didn’t even carry a walkie to communicate with Atlas while he traveled alone. “Well, the sun is still up. We should have time before it gets dangerous,” she continued. The exit was perched on a winding metallic staircase that trembled under their feet. She told herself it had to be reliable, or that Herman was an idiot for carelessly using the path. He didn’t seem as aimlessly as she originally worried.

The two silently split the scrap Herman gathered and started down the stairs. She felt the uncomfortable heat of sand through her boots. The right side of the building had provided a comfortable amount of shade that would be absent on their walk back.

The walk reminded her of Ephialtes. Walking with Herman cooled some of her anger towards her coworker. She knew she’d have to talk to him about their conversation and apologize for losing her temper. Della craned her neck to look over the bridge they were crossing. She wondered if he was inside searching for them or if he was bunking down in the ship until she and Herman returned.

It turned out the answer was neither. She and Herman stopped when they spotted Ephialtes. He was halfway between the train track they stood on and the ship, sitting alone amidst a sandstorm. Ephialtes was a small huddle, barely inching his way through the sand.

But that was not what caused them both to freeze. Something emerged from behind the ship, a blood-red creature nearly the same size of their transport. Della and Herman could hear it growling from their spot at the facility. It bared its teeth and started to search for prey, trudging ominously over their path to safety.

Chapter Text

“Dogs,” Herman whispered through gritted teeth. “Shit.”

“They can’t hear us from here.” Della spoke louder, but knew not to shout. The carnivores had an exceptional capability to hear and track even small sounds within their earshot. They could speak normally now, but shouting was asking the monster to patrol around them. “We’ll have to make a plan.”

Her thoughts raced with years of information while she struggled to plan. Eyeless Dogs, as they were casually called. Blind beasts with better hearing than the majority of the Thistle Nebula’s dwindling fauna. It looked like it was just one Dog that was isolated from its pack. One Eyeless Dog was dangerous enough; a pack was devastating. Had it grown desperate and strayed for food? That was the extent of Della’s sympathy for the creature. She knew it would tear any one of them to shreds if it managed to find an employee with its teeth. “Do you see another one?” she hissed.

“No,” Herman answered. “But Atlas knows.”

He pointed at the ship. The distant vehicle was so fuzzy Della had to squint to focus on it, but the doors were closed. Atlas must have realized the Dog was nearby and closed the doors to deny it entry. It was a wise tactic to preserve herself and her communications. She must have had to accept that Ephialtes would need to get closer to the doors himself in order for her to open them again.

“It must’ve heard Ephialtes, but it doesn’t know his exact location.” Della could tell by its raised tail and the way the Dog’s mouth was open, tracking a scent. “It’s searching the area to see if it can trace him.”

Herman gave her a look. “You can tell all of that from here?”

“I was a biologist. I’ve studied Dogs plenty.” It was more scientific information than helpful, but she could at least observe its behaviors. “Its hearing is its best sense. I’m sure it can pick up the smell of us, but it’s also picking up on all of the scrap he’s carrying, as well as other employees who have been here before.”

“So it doesn’t know where Ephialtes is yet?” Herman asked.

“Not yet.” Ephialtes thankfully seemed to know to stop and remain silent to lose the Dog’s track. It was the best thing he could do while isolated, but if the Dog chose to keep searching, there was nothing he could do except run for it. “Not that it helps.”

“It helps plenty.” He put down the scrap he’d been carrying. “I’m going to pull the Dog away from him so he can make a run for the ship.”

Della considered his proposal. Dogs weren’t known for their critical thinking. If Herman caught its attention, it would forget about Ephialtes to search for him instead. But it was still dangerous. “I’ll go with you,” she insisted.

“No. I need you to do something else. You should focus on transporting while I bait it,” Herman said.

“What’s your plan?” she asked, annoyed.

He pointed to the abandoned building parallel to Experimentation’s water tower, an isolated tower on the right side of the ship. “The Dog can’t reach under there if I climb beneath it. I’ll get over there and keep it distracted while the two of you sneak inside the ship. In case it picks up on me early, you should make a few noises to keep it suspicious while I get into position.”

The Dog wouldn’t immediately lunge if it wasn’t confident about Della’s location, so her job wasn’t too dangerous. But she still didn’t like Herman taking most of the hard work. “How will you get out?” she asked.

“You three might have to bait it to the front of the ship so I can get inside or climb on top. It won’t be too difficult. Do you have a walkie to convene with Atlas?” he said.

She remembered her argument with Ephialtes earlier. “Ephialtes took it,” she confessed.

Herman muttered something else but didn’t elaborate on his frustrations. “We’ll play it by ear. You a good runner?”

“Something of the sorts,” Della answered.

“As long as you can outpace the Dog’s ability to track you, that’s all we need.” Herman leaped over the train track and jumped below, ignoring the ladder descending to the sand beneath him. Della followed more slowly, picking up anything she could carry under her arms and rushing after Herman.

It was a slow climb down the elevator, but Herman stopped until she caught up. They were still out of the Dog’s earshot while whispering, so Herman asked, “ready?”

She shrugged, pulling her shoulders back. “As I’ll ever be.”

He nodded. “I’ll call it over. Try to circle around the Dog so you can help Ephialtes. No talking.”

“Uh-huh.” Della rolled her eyes beneath the suit, uninterested in being belittled.

Herman took a deep breath, and shouted. “HEY! OVER HERE!”

Both Ephialtes and the Eyeless Dog turned their heads towards Herman’s shout. Ephialtes froze, shocked. Even from this distance, Della and Herman heard the Dog growl. Tail raised, it stomped towards them to investigate.

“Go!” Herman insisted, running off in the direction of the tower he chose as his hiding spot. Della raced in the other direction. Her path took her towards, but not close to the water tower in the distance. She hoped to circle widely enough around the Dog and Ephialtes that it would follow Herman instead, giving her the time to assist him to the ship. The Dog had spun around and trampled towards Herman, who was about halfway to his designated hiding spot. He was faster than Della anticipated for someone of his size.

She waited until Herman had dove beneath the tower, the Dog snarling and gnashing his teeth to reach the stranded employee to turn back to Ephialtes. His eyes were on her, not Herman and the Dog. When she made it to his side she hurriedly pulled him out of the sand and helped him gather his things. “Don’t say anything,” she whispered before Ephialtes could try. She shoved a few more things into his arms and pointed towards the ship, The Dog’s howls and the shudder of metal would hide any sounds they made during their run to the ship. Heart pounding, she shoved Ephialtes until he stumbled and started running. She threw several glances towards Herman and the Dog, catching a glimpse of his orange slopsuit in the sand.

Ephialtes ran ahead of her. He was exasperatingly slow; Della knew he was winded by the heat and the journey. Despite her instincts to run to the ship and abandon him, she kept Ephialtes in front of her in case she needed to divert the Dog’s attention if it turned to them. With a small clicking sound, Atlas silently opened the door in preparation for the two.

She pointed at the ship and Ephialtes nodded. She was sweating harder than ever from the sun and the exertion, but Della made one final run with Ephialtes to make it inside. They were halfway across the distance between where Ephialtes had been stranded and the safety of the ship when the earth started to rumble.

The tremors almost made Della trip and fall. She narrowly caught the back of Ephialtes’ green suit for support as she steadied herself. Beneath their feet, the ground roared, the tremors causing the entire desert to shudder. Even the Dog looked up, temporarily distracted from its assault. To her dread, it started towards her and Ephialtes and the sound of roaring. “Hey!” Herman called, but it was too quiet compared to the rumbling beneath them. “Over here!”

Panic seized Della’s heart when she realized what was happening. “Run!” she screamed at Ephialtes, barely audible over the earthquake. “Get to the ship!”

“But what about-” Ephialtes struggled to lift his loot.

“Drop it!” Della insisted. “Go!”

Della and Ephialtes dropped everything as they braced for the ship, the hound gaining on them. It ran at them from their right, almost in front of the ship. She knew they wouldn’t make it before the Dog was ready to strike.

The Dog roared and lunged at the employees. The only thing they could do was run. Hand in hand, Della and Ephialtes sprinted from the diving carnivore. Se felt its warm breath bathe her as they narrowly avoided its gaping jaws. Ephialtes jumped onto the side of the ship and hoisted her up while the Dog was still sliding. They both hurried inside and Della slammed the knob near the ship’s doors, slamming it shut.

There was a moment of odd quiet on the ship where Atlas’ frightened eyes met Della and Ephialtes. Her heart pounding in her throat, Della felt her shoulders sag. They made it. Ephialtes sank to the floor gasping for breath.

But there was no time to wait. Herman was still outside. Gathering herself, Della shakily walked to join Atlas at the terminal. “Where is he?” she whispered.

“Still under the tower.” Atlas pointed at the blue dot on the monitor, pinpointing Herman’s location. He hadn’t moved yet. “The Dog and Worm are just outside the ship.” She switched the camera view to the outside of the ship, two large red circles indicating the creatures outside. The Dog was still patrolling on the left of the ship, where it narrowly missed catching Della and Ephialtes, while the Worm roamed away, inching towards Herman’s spot.

The Worm, or Earth Leviathan as Della knew it, had been the source of the tremors that caught the Dog’s attention. Although plentiful across the many moons of the Thistle Nebula, they were one of the least studied specimens of Della’s home nebula. They were massive, lived several meters beneath the dirt, and aggressive. The creatures lunged from the ground to swallow their prey whole by sensing their tremors in the earth. Although loud, they were quick, and incredibly difficult to escape.

An Earth Leviathan by itself was a threat, but it made an unintentionally nasty combination with a Dog. The Dog couldn’t attack an Earth Leviathan, but its growls would attract the Dog’s attention, and both would hunt down employees. Herman was unlikely to evade both, especially in front of the ship. He would be safe beneath the tower, where the Earth Leviathan couldn’t lunge to swallow him, but he was unlikely to make it to the ship.

“Should we wait for nightfall?” Ephialtes pressed. He’d come up behind Della when he saw the two girls talking.

“No, it’ll run the risk of more Dogs showing up. They normally hunt at night; this one must be desperate.” Della crossed her arms. In this heat, it wasn’t particularly safe for Herman to stay out either. Someone could only take so much blistering sunlight. Their suits were little protection from the harsh conditions. “We should try to reach him as soon as we can.”

Atlas gloomily stared at the monitor, her face in her hands. The best thing they could do was wait for a better positioning, but Della’s impulses made her itch. She couldn’t stand staying in the ship for possible hours while Herman waited outside, trapped between the Leviathan and the Dog. Her eyes traced between the two animals, a semblance of a plan falling together in her head. She kept her focus on the monitor, observing the Worm’s circulatory movements surrounding the ship, and went to the door. She bunched the buttons, opening the door, and stepped outside.

Ephialtes and Atlas stared after her, but both tensed, unwilling to risk attracting the Dog. Della had no intention to bring it any closer to the ship, but she would lead it away. It was still on her right, wandering aimlessly, while she could make out Herman still beneath the tower on her left.

She threw one last look at the camera over her shoulder, checking if she was ready. Della wasn’t afraid of taking risks, but running straight into an Earth Leviathan and a Dog was one of the most reckless things she’d ever done. Della’s conviction remained firm, but her legs wobbled, fearful of the journey. She had to do something to help Herman if no one else would. Waiting ran too much risk of their situation growing worse. She allowed herself to take a moment to breathe, to clear her head, then jumped off of the ship directly into the underground predator’s sense. She heard it growl beneath her, perhaps preparing to lunge, perhaps startled by something wandering overtop it.

Behind her, Della heard the Dog growl suspiciously, but she didn’t look back at it. “Hey, Dog! Over here!” she called, and then she ran to join Herman.

Yes, the Leviathan was quicker than most predators, but Della remembered learning back in school that the average lithe human could outrun one if they ran. She could keep the Worm trailing closely behind her and the Dog following the Worm’s sounds. She had to keep a strong pace and get underneath before the Dog chose to strike. Although she didn’t check to see the distance between them, she could feel the hound’s pounding steps shake beneath her to know it was getting close.

Herman was watching her, and although she couldn’t see his face, Della read surprise in his rigid shoulders and unmoving stature. The Leviathan’s growling told Della it was just a few steps behind her when she started losing her breath. Now she was close enough to make out small sprouts of grass and stone beneath Herman’s hiding spot. Herman reached out an arm and she took it, ducking her head to avoid slamming it against the railing as she swung under to hide with him.

“Are you insane?!” Herman shouted. They were both safely beneath the tower where neither entity could reach them, but they were unlikely to leave anytime soon. “What are you doing?”

Della struggled to speak at first, puffing for breath. She could barely breathe as the Dog’s bloody breath rolled over them. “Just watch,” she managed to puff out, turning to the Dog.

Della and Herman watched the carnivore paw at them, snarling, thrashing its head and spitting saliva at them. But the sound of the Worm’s growling was louder. It had lost track of Della, and standing in her former spot was the Dog as it focused on reaching them. Soil and sand split the earth as the Leviathan dug, and with a roar it split the dune and lunged.

The Leviathan’s massive, tan body leaped into the air, swallowing the Dog as it dove. The force of its dive sent it flying into the air, an arc in the sky. They scrambled out of the other side of the tower to watch the Leviathan fly, disappearing with a massive thud behind some rocks in the far distance. It was far away now, satisfied with its meal. Della and Herman watched the empty sky in stunned silence, left in too much disbelief to speak.

It was Della who broke it first with a winded laugh. She doubled over, barely able to breathe she was laughing so hard. It worked. The Dog and the Leviathan were gone, just as she hoped. “Oh my gosh. It’s really gone.”

She fell over in the sand, the breath taken out of her. As adrenaline left her veins, exhaustion took over. Herman leaned over, his large body blocking the sun. “Are you alright?”

She nodded, her mouth too dry to speak. Herman’s voice hardened. “That was dangerous. Either one of those bastards coulda killed you. Don’t ever try something that stupid again, even if you think you’ve got it. The last thing anyone needs is someone else dying.”

That caused Della to shoot up. “How about a thank you?” she asked. “I didn’t see you figuring out a way to avoid them any time soon.”

Herman hesitated. “... You’re right,” he said after the pause. “Thank you anyway. But don’t do it again.”

She ignored him and stood up, dusting away the sand. “I’ll do what I want, thank you,” she answered sharply. Their cooperation evaporated in the harsh sunlight. “I’m quite capable.”

The two’s harsh comments were interrupted by Ephialtes joining them. Atlas stood on the ship’s deck, watching them from afar. “Are you both okay?”

“Fine,” Herman answered. “The Dog and the Worm are gone, so we can get back to work.”

He walked off afterward to pick up the loot he and Della deposited earlier. She watched him leave with an incredulous look and turned to Ephialtes. “Ignore him, Eph. He’s such a stubborn… jerk.”

Ephialtes laughed at her personal censorship. “Thank you, Della,” he said. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without you and Herman. I was just walking back to the ship and that Dog appeared out of nowhere. And I didn’t even know the Worm was there! If you guys hadn’t been there, I… it would’ve found me and swallowed me whole.”

“It’s alright. We’re glad you’re okay.” Della looked at the scrap lingering around the ship they dropped to escape the Leviathan the first time. “At least now we have the time to pick up everything we lost. It can still be a good day for work.”

“Y-You’re right,” Ephialtes stuttered. “And Della? I’m sorry about earlier. I guess you were right. You’re a lot more capable than I thought you were.”

Della smiled. Ephialtes was clumsy, loud, and something of an idiot, but he meant well. She was glad he was alright. “Don’t worry about it. It’s all in the past now.”

They walked to the ship to gather their things while Herman was at the track. “What moon was it you said you wanted to go to?”

“Vow, or March, or even Adamance.” Della smiled to herself, fantasizing the lush forests. “They’re beautiful moons. We should go soon.”

Ephialtes supported her comment, but Atlas hung over the railing, her expression thoughtful. “I’m sure we could go later, but it’s best we stay on Experimentation before turning in our scrap quota. We’re already in orbit. It would be a hassle to travel somewhere else for just a few days.”

Della’s smile faded. She knew Atlas was being logical, but that pent up feeling emerged in Della’s chest again. “I guess. Experimentation it is.”

Chapter Text

For what it was worth, Assurance was, undeniably, a massive upgrade from Experimentation. Still sandy and hot enough that Della was on the brink of hallucinating, but the scrap was worth their while and the massive canyons and water towers provided fine shelter from the beating sun across their trips.

That’s what Ephialtes had told her when they landed anyways. The group was gathering their final few things, prepared to set out for a day’s work proper. Della sat on her bunk while Herman, Ephialtes, and Atlas lingered around their storage cupboard.

“You made sure to grab walkies, Eph?” Atlas said.

“Yep.” He waved both in the air and clipped them on his belt. “Flashlights too.”

“Good,” Atlas drew back, satisfied. “Try not to lose them. The flashlights we can replace, but I’d rather not lose any means of communication. Or buy the jacked up prices from the store again, to be honest. I wish we didn’t have to bring two out of the three we have...”

“Ephialtes and Della could share one and we leave the third spare back here with you,” Herman suggested.

“Della and I aren’t stuck to each other the entire time. She likes to go off on her own sometimes,” Ephialtes said. “That's why I’m bringing an extra flashlight too.”

Della waited for one of them to make a condescending remark, but Atlas continued with, “I think you’re all set. Maybe after some time, Della will be fine going off on her own like Herman does. I don’t think you’ll need to worry too much. Assurance is a little more populated than Experimentation, but it’s still a simple moon. Try not to stay out too late. Once the sun goes down, the place will be swarming with-”

“Baboon Hawks,” Della finished, bouncing off of her bunk. “They’re very territorial creatures. Hard to see them alone, especially if they have a nest of five or six. They pick fights in groups but aren’t confrontational when they’re alone. If too many start roaming together, it’s easy to get attacked.”

“Right.” Atlas nodded. “Y-You sure know a lot about the fauna here, Della.”

“Of course I do. I’m a biologist. I’ve been around these things willingly since before most of you joined the Company.” She gave Ephialtes a shove. “Let’s get out of here. Atlas is right; the last thing you want to see is too many Baboon Hawks out in the open like this.”

“Don’t push yourselves too hard!” Atlas shouted when Ephialtes and Della left the ship. “It’s only the first day of our quota. There’s no need for big risks yet!”

“Take care of yourself, Atlas.” Herman’s voice grew distant as Della walked further away from the ship. “You’ve always been vigilant on watch, but if there’s anything happening outside…”

“Ugh. It’s so damn hot.” Della’s hazmat suit was so sweaty that she felt like it was one with her skin. She feebly tried to pinch the suit off of her sticky arms to give her skin some breathing room. “Are most of these moons like this?”

“The simpler ones are,” Ephialtes confirmed. “Your choices tend to be miserable desert, blizzards so harsh you can barely see your hands through, or a forest of death.” He shrugged. “You pick your poison here.”

“I think I made my point clear earlier when I said I wanted to go to Vow.” The group decided after receiving their first quota that Experimentation wasn’t going to suit the profits they sought because of the low scrap value. Della had been the first to jump in with a different moon they could visit instead: Vow, a moon filled with luscious forests.

“But it was Eclipsed, remember?” Ephialtes said. “I’m sure even you know the heat is preferable to any moon when it’s like that.”

Ephialtes was right. The Thistle Nebula housed a strange phenomenon where eclipses happened disturbingly frequently. Even worse, the creatures of every moon seemed to respond to the differences in the night cycle, becoming much more aggressive and venturing out early. It was something even Della would caution about. It didn’t mean she wasn’t bothered that things weren’t going her way on this job. “If I take any more of this damn heat, I might change my mind,” she snapped.

“Della! Ephialtes!” They turned around when they heard Herman’s echoing shout. He waved for their attention next to a massive boulder close to one of the water pipes. “Over here!”

“Why would we walk away from the main entrance?” Della muttered, but she stomped towards her crewmate.

“Maybe he found something,” Ephialtes encouraged.

Herman had indeed found something worthwhile. When they walked around the massive rock, they saw a flimsy structure with a ladder towards the top. “Here’s a shortcut for you two. It’s just about always better than walking. We climb up to the top and then walk on the pipe to fire or main. All you have to do is keep your balance.”

“Oh, Herman, you’re a genius!” Ephialtes waited for no invitation to climb the ladder. “Anything but that walk.”

Herman and Della watched Ephialtes climb. Herman rubbed the back of his head. “I… I didn’t get to tell him that it’s a one way trip.”

Della laughed. “We’ll have to tell him then. Can you imagine the poor idiot’s face?” She climbed up next, Herman following just behind her. “How’d you know about this, anyway?”

“Been working the job for a while. I know my way around most moons,” Herman said. “It’s the same spots, same path every time. You learn to improve on what everyone’s been doing before you.”

Della was heaving by the time she made it to the top. She shoved Ephialtes’ hand away when he tried to help and hoisted herself up alone. She gave herself no time to catch her breath before standing up again. The labor on this job was making Della realize just how weak she was. Her frame resembled a terminal operator more than an employee out in the facilities. “Alright,” Herman said, walking past the two of them. “Now we jump.”

Confused, Della followed after him. She saw the pipe was there, but just a jump’s distance from the rock they stood on instead of an easy transition. Ephialtes swallowed. “We have to jump?”

“Sure do.” The employees looked down at the massive drop below. Della could barely make out the wilting weeds or rocks beneath them from this height. “I wouldn’t recommend slipping. One misstep and you’ll break your neck.”

“O-On second thought, maybe we should go main, Della,” Ephialtes stammered. “This might be too much for you.”

“Are you serious?” Heights didn’t frighten Della. The drop below made her palms sweat, but she clenched them tightly into a fist. “I’m not backing out.”

“Good.” Herman performed the jump first. Despite his bulk, he landed elegantly, not even fumbling for his balance. He looked back at the two. “The jump is easier than it looks. Focus on landing. If you don’t think you can do it, I’ll come get you.”

Della decided she wasn’t going to be transported like an axle. She took a deep breath, assessed her jump, and leaped before she had time to reconsider. Her feet found the pipe, but her jump went a little too far. Herman grabbed her wrist and helped her balance before she fell off. “Not bad.”

For once, Della wasn’t antagonized by the assistance. She felt herself slipping in those final moments before Herman caught her, although she would never verbally offer him her gratitude. All he did was keep her alive like any sane person would; THAT certainly didn’t deserve any revolutionary thanks. But the adrenaline rush was exhilarating. “Come on, Eph! It’s not so bad!”

“I really don’t want to,” Ephialtes said. “I’m afraid of heights.”

“But the climb up here was fine?!” Della called back. “Try it, you coward! You’ll have to learn it one way or another!”

Ephialtes was shaking his head. Herman sighed. “One moment.”

Della watched the two men struggle to strategize making it over the pipe. Della couldn’t hear their voices, but she saw everything in their body language. Their exchange was mostly Herman growing more and more exasperated while Ephialtes flinched from the ledge. She snickered when the final solution (after several minutes of arguing) was Herman picking up Ephialtes and jumping over himself.

“There,” Herman muttered, dropping Ephialtes. “Did you get a good enough example from that so that you can do it yourself next time?”

“I-I don’t know,” Ephialtes admitted.

Herman sighed. “I’ll just carry you again next time if you need it.” He pointed with his shovel to the left. “Main entrance is another jump away and the fire exit is on the right. I’ll go fire while you two explore the main entrance. If you need anything, climb down and go to Atlas or take the climb again to find me at the fire exit. We’ll reconvene in a few hours.”

“Huh. That’s a convenient route.” Della crossed her arms and watched Herman go. “He can seriously haul ass even though he’s built like a semi-truck.”

“Huh?” Ephialtes looked up from his huddling spot on the pipe.

Della kicked him. “Get up. We’re wasting daylight here. I don’t wanna be stuck in this heat any longer than I have to.”

“I can’t, Della,” Ephialtes said. “It’s too high…”

“Well, if you wanted to get babied, you shouldn’t have let Herman leave. One, I can’t carry you, and two, even if I could, I don’t want to. Now let’s go,” Della said.

“I-I can’t.” Ephialtes rested his face against the pole.

Della shrugged. “Well, have fun out here. I’m going to main.” She turned and walked in the direction Herman pointed her.

“Della, wait!” She didn’t look back for Eph’s call. “Della, help me! Please!”

She could still hear his whining echo across the canyons, but Della ignored it and walked until she saw the end of the pipe. It connected to a large gray tower with a ladder. To her right, Della could see the main entrance. It was tucked into a small corner, just a final ladder away from entry. Della could see the only two options down were the ladder down the tower or to jump.

So she found the best way to land; hitting the slope next to main and sliding down to break her fall, and jumped. She banged her knees and the landing sent a jolt of pain up her legs, but she could still walk.

Della looked back up the pipe. As she expected, Ephialtes had managed to push himself from his huddling spot and followed slowly after her. Della waited for him with her hands on her hips until he was in earshot. “Look at that! I told you you could do it.”

Ephialtes didn’t respond to her jeer. “Another jump?” he whimpered.

“You poor thing. Just hug the wall when you jump. You’ll slide right down.” Della gestured next to her. “You’ve got it.”

Ephialtes lingered on the pipe despite her encouragement. He finally leaped just as Della was losing her patience and slid down the wall, throwing up sand and dirt particles. Della waved them wildly away, coughing. “Geez, watch out.”

“But I wasn’t trying to-”

Ephialtes started to protest, but Della ignored him and climbed up the ladder. “Is the fire exit the same way?”

“With the jumps?” Ephialtes said. “No. The pipe leads right into an indent in one of the cliffs where the fire exit is.”

“How convenient that Herman opted for that one.” Della dusted herself off at the top and waited for Ephialtes to join her. “I wonder what that entrance was like back when these facilities were still being used. Do you think they forced them to hop these long pipes too?”

“Uh, probably not. I’m guessing they took the intended route instead.” Ephialtes opened the door. “Remember the long way through the desert?”

“Ick. I don’t envy them.” Della walked past Ephialtes inside. “Don’t forget to turn on your walkie.”

“Oh, right.” He handed her a flashlight and fished the walkie talkie from his belt. “Atlas? It’s Eph – do you hear me?”

Della played with her flashlight’s knobs while she observed the main entrance. One of the doors was walled out, a strange gray mark left where she would expect it to be on the right. The other two paths had doors; in front of her was an open path while on the left the door was shut. She hadn’t seen the strange blocked path before. “I’m going left.”

She marched ahead, throwing open the door and picking up a stop sign left on the ground. “Huh. You think I could use this like that shovel the big guy’s always carrying around?” She tried to pick up the sign, only to teeter beneath its weight.

Ephialtes took it and leaned it against the railing, starting their scrap pile. “Maybe if you could hold it long enough. Oh, hey – soccer ball.”

He pushed ahead and picked up the toy, lifting it up and feigning a kick to launch it. Della rolled her eyes. “You punt that thing and I know the only place it’s going is down into the abyss where we can’t reach it.”

He rolled the soccer ball next to Della’s stop sign and carefully tapped it to avoid it rolling away. “You could go down the other path, y’know. Save us some time.”

“I-I think it’s, uh, better for us to stick together in case something happens. Don’t you?” Ephialtes replied.

She rolled her eyes, but didn’t call him out for being timid. They rummaged around a few rooms and hallways, most of which were empty besides the reek of water and mold. Della climbed down a flight of stairs to the bottom floor and opened a door. The hallway ended abruptly in front of her, with more railing leading to another closed door on the other side of the room. It was far too large to jump across naturally.

Della shone her flashlight and noticed a steel beam protruding from her side of the path. She climbed over the railing onto the pipe, gripping the rail for balance. Her legs wobbled, but she clumsily managed to take a few steps forward, towards the edge of her platform. Once she caught her breath, she jumped.

She made it to the other side, cushioning her jump by throwing her hands out before she collided with the wall. Della looked back at the distance she crossed with her hands on her hips, impressed by her capabilities. To reward herself, she proudly sauntered to the closed door on this side of the room and opened it.

“A dead end? Are you kidding me?” Della angrily flashed her light at the barring gray wall in front of her. The only things the room housed were bronze water pipes bulging out of the walls and a small key Della stepped on when she walked in. She pulled her boot back and picked up her finding, playing with it between her fingers before deciding to put it away for later.

When she made the jump back, Della wandered around and found a few more things before gathering up with Ephialtes. She warned him about the dead end path and followed him down through a few more shadowy routes in the facility. They found a few things, but overall, their discoveries were dwindling in comparison to the first few belongings.

To pass the time, he started another conversation while they wandered around a large pipe in the middle of five intersecting paths. “That day on Gordion went by too fast, huh?” Ephialtes started.

“Hm?” Della shone her flashlight down one of the nearest routes, searching for scrap.

“Gordion, the Company planet. Remember that’s where we went yesterday to drop off all of our scrap for quota?” Ephialtes explained.

“Oh. Right.” Gordion was the drop off spot for all of their findings on the job. Della remembered Atlas explaining the Company’s building their orbit. It was one shipyard to land looking out upon a deep sea. A massive gray building with one counter was there for everyone to dispose of their things. It reminded Della of an incinerator. That’s what she originally thought it was before Herman showed her the method of drop off, leaving their scrap on the counter and ringing a bell until a hook reached out, swiped it, and tallied the total gathered to contribute to their quota.

It was certainly one of the most confusing things Della had seen before. A hook? Why wasn’t there someone at the counter to speak to them? Why was the hook so massive? Where did the scrap go? What did they even want it for? Herman and Atlas hadn’t provided any of the answers Della was hoping for, much to her concern. She was so bothered by her concerns that she chose to stay in the ship for the day while the other three transported their findings.

“It was a nice day off.” Ephialtes sighed. “I wish we got more of those. Those moments while they tally our quota is all we’ve got.”

The two walked around quietly to gather loot. Della found a locker room and cleaned it out while Ephialtes went further ahead. They piled their findings together and started moving it out as a team. While they moved, she continued their conversation from earlier.

“That place is creepy,” Della said. “Don’t you find it weird that we have no idea what’s really going on with that building? And what do you think is the deal with all of that screaming?”

“Screaming?” Ephialtes echoed.

“I could hear screaming behind the counter while we were piling stuff,” Della insisted firmly. She remembered when the shaft in the counter opened, tilting her head to hear disturbing screaming from the opposite side. It was far too human for Della to believe she was making it up.

“You’re imagining things,” Eph said. “Atlas and Herman didn’t hear anything, and neither did I. Gordion’s pretty empty, so I understand that it freaked you out. But people screaming behind the counter is ridiculous.”

“Who do you think is back there?” She continued badgering him. “Why do they need a massive hook to pull it all in? Why won’t they show their face?”

“Confidentiality is important,” Ephialtes suggested.

“Not with your employees!” Della knew the rumors around this Company were skeptical and shady, but the building made her realize just how strange the Company seemed. “And no one bothers to question it?”

“What’s there to question?” Ephialtes said. “We know our jobs. It’s to collect scrap and give it to the Company.”

“How about WHY?!” Della threw her hands into the air. “Did you three hit your heads? You really don’t think it’s weird?”

“If you think it’s so creepy, then why did you take this job?” Ephialtes argued. “You were a biologist before being employed. Something tells me that you stooped to this job for a reason.”

Della fell silent. “It’s not just the lack of transparency,” she answered slowly, avoiding the question. “It’s people’s lives too. I know the stories about people dying on this job. Everyone does. But no one does anything about it.”

But Ephialtes only shrugged. “Why are you so insistent that there is something bigger going on?”

“Because Gordion is the freakiest place ever, and for some reason you three haven’t realized it.” Della sighed. “I’m gonna go deeper. Start carrying stuff outside.”

“You won’t go too far, will you?” Ephialtes’ voice echoed off of the murky walls.

Della shrugged. “I’ll think about it.”

She left Ephialtes to continue the transportation and wandered deeper into the dark. Della realized just as Eph was out of reach that she probably could have asked him for a walkie talkie just in case something happened, but she wasn’t interested in walking that far back for communication she doubted she would even use. She had to backtrack to the spot with five paths once when her original path led to an empty dead end, but fortunately Ephialtes was already gone. She took the next path and carried on.

Down her line of sight was an open door frame leading to a set of stairs, but there was another path leading deeper into the maze on Della’s right. She chose to go right first, prepared to backtrack to the stairs to continue exploring as she needed. At the corner was a box of bottles, most of them full. She smiled and hoisted them up with a grunt. “Okay. Little deeper, and then I’ll go see what else is here.”

She followed the right path down another corner, where she was stopped by a massive security door. Della barely had time to grumble about it before the doors slid open, responding to an inaudible command. Atlas was watching. She felt so distant from her younger crewmate, but moments like these that reminded Della a careful eye was on them made Della feel less paranoid roaming these empty halls.

Even better, the fire exit was behind the door. It wasn’t a dead end; further down Della could see the path Herman had to have taken for progress. The only scrap in front of the door was an orange and blue plush dog, and when she put down her bottles to check outside, there was nothing on the cliff face either. Curious, she shut the door and picked up her bottles to continue. It was better to reconvene with Herman if he was around and split their belongings to carry instead of going out alone.

She walked on, passing cautious glances over her shoulder whenever she felt uneasy. It was a simple day. Good for business, but bad for Della’s mind. Apprehension gnawed at her, giving her a sense of dread as she imagined what was in the halls with her, why she hadn’t found them yet, and if one of her crewmates had.

Blocking her path forward was a cloud of heavy smog, much like the one at the main entrance. Della scoffed, waving the air away from her as she ventured inside for the source. “Maybe someone should look into hiring employees to fix up these pipes so I don’t have to do it every time,” she muttered to herself.

“Is someone there?” Herman’s voice echoed through the maze.

“Yeah!” Della perked up, then remembered it was unlikely he could see her. “It’s me. I’m lost in this weird smokescreen… thing.”

“I’m looking for where to turn it off now,” Herman said. “Stay put – I think I’m almost there. Is anything following you?”

“No,” she said. “Ephialtes is outside.”

Herman didn’t answer. Della thought he must have walked out of earshot until there was a squeaking sound and the air cleared. Della followed the direction where the smog dissipated, finding the red wheel Herman must have spun to turn it off. She set her items down beneath the wheel and ran ahead to find Herman.

She found him on her left, looking warily at a wall in front of him. “There you are!” Della said. “Thank you for finding that.” His only response was a quiet shrug. “Find anything?”

“Plenty. How are you and Eph?” Herman said, peeking out behind a wall.

“We’re fine. Haven’t seen any entities yet, we’ve just been… what are you doing?” Della was so bewildered by his stealthy behavior, she peered around the same wall to join him, and immediately found herself looking down the barrel of a gun.

Herman immediately pried her back just as the weapon began winding up. “Turret,” he warned. “There’s multiple of them up here. We can’t pass through this way.”

“Can’t Atlas disable them?” Della asked.

“Only one at a time. Since she hasn’t done it yet, I think she must be busy with something.” Herman cautioned her back. “Don’t push your luck. There’s more of the facility to explore.”

“I won’t,” Della scoffed, but she was curious about the guarded path. “So you’re just looking around?”

“We shouldn’t push it much longer. The outdoors will get too haywire for you and Ephialtes soon.” He continued before she could get riled up by his tone. “You should focus on carrying what I’ve found back,” Herman said.

“Okay.” She put her hands on her hips. “Where’d you leave it?”

He stopped and looked in her direction. “At the fire exit.”

“Uh, no? There’s nothing there. I just walked by,” Della said.

“Then you must have not been paying attention,” Herman said. “It’s right at the foot of the door.”

“I know how putting scrap down works, you idiot,” Della snapped. “There’s nothing there.”

“You’re sure?” Herman asked skeptically.

“Of course I’m sure!” Della hadn’t exactly been paying attention on the walk by, but now she was offended he would question her. “Why am I the one that’s supposed to keep track of your shit?!”

How could his scrap go missing? Either Herman was even more useless than she thought, or… Della stopped and thoughtfully crossed her arms. “Well, I’m going to go check on what I found to see if it’s gone too. You keep looking for whatever you might have left it.”

He said nothing while she walked away; Della assumed he was going down some other route he may have missed earlier. Although she instructed Herman to continue searching, Della was growing a rapid suspicion that he wouldn’t find it anywhere he left it before. Perhaps it wasn’t even Herman’s fault the supplies were missing. To conclude her hypothesis, Della hoped to find the answer by retracing her steps.

Sure enough, when she rounded the corner the bottles and plush doll she found were missing. Della was certain of the spot; beneath the red smoke wheel Herman shut off to find her. But rather than dismayed, Della grinned at her discovery. She crouched close to the spot she left her trinkets.

The leaking pipes above her had dripped a large puddle onto the ground. She could see water marks smeared forward in the direction right of where she arrived, revealing the tracks of the thief. Della followed the droplets she could find, looking around and straining for any evidence that could continue her path. She stopped to listen, then perked up at the sound of chirping to her left.

She followed the sounds to the darker corners of the facility and nearly tripped over the bottles she found earlier. There was plenty of scrap piled up on top of her box; a soccer ball, rubber ducks, a hairbrush, mirror, a plush dog, and even more scraps of metal. Behind the bottle emanated a few more chirping sounds.

Della leaned over to investigate. An insect almost up to Della’s knees was hiding behind the scrap. It resembled an ant, with bright red eyes and green limbs. It put up its limbs and made another sound at Della while it backed away.

She grinned. “A Hoarding Bug!” When Herman described the missing loot, she had a feeling this mutated insectoid was responsible for the thievery. Small, simple, mostly non-threatening organisms, they populated all throughout the Thistle Nebula and preferred the indoors. They were highly possessive of their belongings and were known to hoard anything they could find. Although they put up a fight to protect their things, even the traditional scientist had little to fear from a bug, especially if they kept their distance from their nest. “Aw, aren’t you a cute little thing!”

It waved its arms with another chirp, scuttling closer. Della giggled. “Trying to defend your nest? Ooh, I’m very intimidated.” She’d worked with plenty of lootbugs before and knew they were no threat. “You have any friends with you?” She tapped her chin. “No – I bet they’re all out gathering scrap, aren’t they? And they left you in charge to protect your nest.”

She smiled while the bug checked on its belongings, rearranging the items to balance easier. They shoved the hairbrush and mirror into the box of bottles and set everything else teetering on top. They were such small, simple things. All they cared about was scrap to protect. Della knew the only way to set it off was by taking the scrap back; she was sure the crew would do fine without just a few extra things.

“You want something else?” Della pulled out the flashlight on her belt and dropped it in front of her. “Here! I won’t need it.”

The creature crawled closer to inspect the flashlight, then looked up into Della’s helmet. It picked up the flashlight and flicked it on and off, beaming the light behind Della. With a delighted sound it set the flashlight onto its pile and crawled behind Della.

“You’re welcome!” Hoarding Bugs didn’t linger around their nest long. Della guessed it was on its way to continue looking for scrap. Although it would leave the eyesight of its home, it knew whenever one of its precious belongings was taken, so she would have to be quick if she wanted to take any of the scrap back. Even though it knew she was around, bugs weren’t usually hostile. It would only attack if it saw her take something or knew its belongings were missing. She turned around and watched it go.

She looked down at the scrap. The Hoarding Bug collected quite a bit of scrap for one small body. It was too much for Della to carry alone. She’d have to call for Herman to help. Wait – where was he? Della lifted her head. Where was he?

The Bug ahead stopped and looked around a corner on the right, raising its arms and chirping. Just as Della realized it was trying to communicate with someone else - not herself - Herman appeared from the shadows and smacked the lootbug into the ground. Before the lootbug could scramble to defend itself, Herman jabbed his shovel through the insect and wrenched it in two, smearing yellow ooze on the wall behind it.

Chapter Text

“What’s wrong with you?!” Della was horrified; not just by how Herman’s sudden assault startled her, but the gruesome way he took out the Hoarding Bug as well. “It wasn’t doing anything wrong!”

“It’s just another monster, Della.” Herman stepped over the dead insect without a second glance. “They’re getting in the way of our job.”

“That one wasn’t. It didn’t do anything to hurt you or me.” She threw a bitter glare at her crewmate while he heaved the bottles from earlier.

“Are we really going to have this argument?” Herman said without looking back.

“Yes, we are.” She stomped up to Herman and kicked away her flashlight before he could pick it up. “I don’t care what our job here is, it’s no excuse to walk around treating everything maliciously.”

“I wasn’t,” Herman said.

“You killed it without a second thought!” she protested.

“That’s how this job works. We’re not here to sightsee. We’re here to get this and get out before anyone dies.” Herman loomed over her. “I think you’re the one who’s confused, here. Ephialtes and I are doing hard work while you’re playing with bugs. It had our stuff. We were going to have to deal with it eventually if we wanted to bring it back. Unless you were planning to let that thing have it.”

“I’m not stupid, but we could have done it more tactfully than ripping its head off. That was cruel,” she insisted. “I know how they operate. Just because it took our things doesn’t mean it was dangerous or necessary to-”

Herman sighed over her complaints. “Right. You’re a biologist. And now you know everything here so well.”

“Yes, I do.” Who did he think he was?! Della was enraged he would talk so condescendingly towards her, as if all of her research to get this far was impractical and paled in comparison to his… what? He didn’t know anything if he really thought murdering that insect was necessary. “I’m sorry, do you think you know better than me? I’ve been studying all of the fauna here for years!”

“I’m sure you have, but you’re not the only one who knows how these things operate.” Herman sounded like his patience was waning, but he still kept his voice calm and controlled. She hated it. She wanted to punch his dismissive demeanor in the face. “I’ve been here for a few years and witnessed these things myself. This isn’t like your old job, where you were here to observe them from afar. The job here is to stay alive.”

“Right, because your dingy job where you’re perfectly replaceable and no one cares about you is so much more valid than what I know.” Della turned away. “If there’s any more bugs here, they’ll see what you did and attack us on sight.”

“I’ll take care of it.” Herman was still focused on checking their belongings, making sure they were all in the lootbug’s stack. “If you or Ephialtes run into one, leave or try to find me.”

“I’ll make sure to leave you in the facility with them, then!” Della stomped off where she came from, adamantly finished with their debate.

“You’re forgetting your things,” Herman called.

“Since you care so much about the junk, why don’t YOU take it?!” Della snapped back.

He didn’t answer. Della made another grunt of frustration and left, slamming the first door she could find behind her.

He thought he was so superior to her because of how long he’d been here. Della was furious. It was completely unnecessary. Maybe he even knew it would get a rise out of her. Did he? She wasn’t quiet about her fascination and experience with the wildlife here. If he knew so much about the job, he was just as aware as she was that they could have dealt with the bug differently.

She thought at first that maybe they could’ve been a decent team, back on Experimentation when they saved Ephialtes from the dog. How distant that was now! He wasn’t a liability, but he was certainly infuriating. She angrily stomped through the winding halls, brazen, her mind more focused on the fog of her anger than navigation. And to think he was so much better than her when she stooped for the job that was all he had. He didn’t seem particularly good at it to her, if hoarding bugs were on his list of concerns. He wasn’t good for much of anything at all.

The harsh train of thought didn’t curb Della’s temper about Herman, but the lack of light and sounds surrounding her slowly crept into Della’s concentration. By the time she realized, she was completely lost and alone in the dark.

“Hello? Guys?” No, not Herman. She would rather stay lost. “Ephialtes? Are you here?”

It wasn’t a far distance between Herman and Eph. She had to be somewhere in between them, right? Della could do nothing but continue walking, searching for an out. “Hello? Can anyone hear me?”

Only the dark answered her.

Della was unsettled, especially by the sound of thudding somewhere in the distance. Don’t panic. If she lost her sense, she would only become more lost. She hugged the right wall with her arm trailing it, keeping track of her paths. She had to find some sort of landmark, or something to give her a sense of location. She kept calling out to Ephialtes to no avail.

“Where are they?” she narrated to herself while she walked. “Where am I?” Had either of them passed by here? She turned another corner and went down the hall. “Eph? You here?”

There was something lying on the ground, beneath the dim light of a lamp. She thought it was a green plastic fish that she had seen before, but she realized it was mechanical, not plastic. “A walkie?” Della picked it up and held it to her ear, fiddling with the radio to activate it. “Is this Eph’s?”

There was static on the other end, and then a fuzzy voice. “Come in?”

“Atlas! Atlas, is that you?” Della held the walkie close to her ear. “It’s Della.”

“I hear you.” Her voice was becoming clearer. “Are you with anyone?”

“No — it’s just me.”

“Where’s Herman?” she said. “Ephialtes told me you were going to the fire exit. I thought I saw you two meet up on the terminal.”

“We did. We just, uh… split up to find more loot.” She was not interested in explaining the entire fiasco to Atlas. “Where’s Ephialtes? He had both walkie talkies last time I saw him.”

“I don’t know. I can’t get in contact with him.” For a moment, Della was struck with the dread that something else found him first, but Atlas soothed their pause. “I see him on the map, and he’s moving, but he won’t respond to me.”

Well, knowing he was safe infuriated her with his incompetence more than it relieved her. “Maybe he dropped both radios. Dumbass.” She wouldn’t put it past him. Della rolled her eyes. “What time is it?”

“Almost noon. You should get ready to get out of there soon,” Atlas explained. Della could hear typing on the other end. “It looks like Ephialtes is pretty deep. But he’s close to the fire exit, so I think he’ll find his way back. Herman’s going deeper, like you.”

“Actually, do you have any idea where I am?” Della asked. “I didn’t mean to keep going into the facility. I’m… kind of lost.”

“Hmm. One second.” Tap tap tap went Atlas’ end, and then she made a noise of satisfaction. “I’ve got your location. You’re quite a distance into the facility, but I think I can guide you out of there.”

“That’s a relief.” Della hung her head and stood up again, marching blindly in one direction. “Where am I going?”

“Left. And then keep going until I turn you right.” Della obeyed, following Atlas’ given path. “Have you guys found anything today?”

“A decent bit, yeah. There was this bug, but we… dealt with it.” Della’s brows furrowed when she remembered Herman.

“That’s good. They can be a little pesky, stealing loot. Herman doesn’t like them very much,” Atlas commented. “Right here.”

“Herman doesn’t like anything,” she muttered, leaning the walkie away from her face. She brought it closer to answer Atlas. “It’s just surviving like we would. Gathering things is its instinct. You can’t be mad at it for that.”

“I guess. But it’s annoying. And they can be a bit threatening to employees sometimes, y’know?” Atlas said.

“Yeah, maybe an employee with all of their arms cut off and unable to run.” It wasn’t worth pushing this point. Della quietly listened to her directions for a few more turns. “How much further?”

She said something over the mic, but something else caught her attention. Something moving through these halls. She wasn’t alone.

She fumbled for her communicator. “Atlas,” Della whispered. “Is something there?”

“Something’s approaching you from behind,” Atlas said. “It’s turning a corner now.” A loud scraping sound consumed Della’s hearing.

She swallowed. She recognized the grating slide of cartilage. The walls around Della trembled when the creature slammed into a hallway.

A voice screamed somewhere around Della. She strained to make out the words. “... -un! … have to ge… is he?”

It was louder and too high-pitched to be Herman. “Eph?” Della could barely hear herself over the commotion of the monster.

“Della!” Ephialtes’ voice was clear. “THUMPER! Run!”

The creature roared. Della clutched the walkie and ran.

“The entrance is ahead of you. Turn left and go forward until the next right turn. Hurry!” Atlas exclaimed.

But she could barely hear the operator’s voice over the sound of thudding behind her. Della managed to swerve right just before the pink creature caught her. Her attacker collided into the brick wall behind her with full force; Della was almost knocked off of her feet, then continued fleeing. She barely managed to peek back to catch a glimpse of the pink body she suspected pursued her.

Thumpers were well-known, highly dangerous predators in the Thistle Nebula. Caught in a thin stretch of land with one and you were as good as dead. They moved terrifyingly quick, but they struggled to maintain speed at turns. What they lacked in handling, they made up for in brute strength.

Della was pointed down a long hallway of brick and pipes on the ceiling. She could see the end of the hall, but the Thumper was growing louder. She heard its teeth gnash as it lunged at her leg, catching suit instead of flesh. She yelled, more surprised than hurt.

“Right!” Atlas shouted in her ear. Della’s hand caught the wall to propel her turn. The Thumper smashed into the wall behind her. She didn’t spare any breath checking it.

Della could see the main entrance ahead of her, a straight shot past a flight of steps and to the main room to run out the front door. The distance was too far, she knew in the back of her mind. The Thumper could accelerate too quickly. Della barely made it past the steps when its teeth sank into the back of her leg. Pain shot up her leg and she screamed as she was knocked to the ground, dropping the walkie.

Atlas was shouting words, each drowned out by the sound of the Thumper. Della feebly put her hands up to block it from biting at her chest. Hot, bloody breath bathed over Della while it struggled, snapping at her arm. She kicked it hard beneath the chest and heaved herself onto her knees.

The Thumper came at her from behind, grabbing her by one of her boots. Della yelled at the pain while she felt for the railing to pull herself up. She kicked at the Thumper with her free leg, hitting it once, twice, and then managing to tear herself free the third time when her foot hit its eye. The railing. The Thumper couldn’t reach her from a height distance. It would lose her trail and eventually leave to search for different prey.

“Up, up,” she shouted at herself. Della’s leg was limp. She pulled her good foot onto the railing and stretched to the ceiling, holding a beam for support. She pulled herself off of the ground just as the Thumper recollected itself, throwing itself at the railing to catch her.

The ground trembled. Della held the pipe above her head with sweating hands. Her eyes found the drop below. Della closed her eyes. Her leg throbbed with pain.

There was nothing to do about the Thumper except wait for it to leave. Della wouldn’t outrun it like this, especially with an injured leg. It could do nothing to reach her here, although the smell of blood and last track of its prey would keep it lingering for a while. Della’s head swerved around. Would the noise attract other monsters? Where were her coworkers? Did Atlas know she was still alive? Was there anything someone could do? If something else came for her now, she wouldn’t be able to defend herself.

The Thumper bashed itself against the railing Della huddled on again, sending a tremor through her body. She gripped her pole tighter, watching her own blood trickle down the tear in her suit and down the Thumper’s nose. It riled the shark, exposing her presence, frenzying it for more. It tried again and again to knock her from her post. Della shrieked again and closed her eyes.

And then there was a horrible sound of metal against bone, and the Thumper shrieked. Herman was there, bringing his shovel down on the Thumper’s skull. It turned to lunge at him, but he jumped back, punishing its attack with another swing on its skull. The Thumper made a horrible sound when it shuddered and tried one last time to bite at his leg. Even when its teeth found their mark, he unflinchingly brought his shovel. Della heard cartilage crack. Blood sprayed both employees when the monster collapsed to the ground. Blood fountained from a swollen lump in the back of its head. Della’s legs dripped with the gore of her flesh and the Thumper’s. For a few moments she stood still, shaking and panting, unable to focus.

Herman looked rather terrifying, his torso covered in blood splatters and his shovel dripping, but he quietly held out his hand to Della. “Are you alright?”

Della was stunned, her vision of the employee swimming. The scent of blood and cartilage overwhelmed her. “I-I’m okay.” Shakily she reached out and grabbed his arm for support.

He hauled Della onto her feet. She put most of the pressure on her uninjured leg, but stumbled when Herman’s hand pulled away. She wobbled, clutching the railing for support. The guardrail rattled under her weight, sending tremors down the hall.

Herman tentatively reached out. “Can you walk?”

“I’m fine!” Della snapped, but she could feel her ankle quivering. Della gritted her teeth and forced her weight down on her injured leg. She sucked in a sharp breath and lifted her foot. “Argh!”

“You shouldn’t stay in the facility like this,” Herman suggested. “Let me help you to the exit.”

“I don’t need your help,” she argued.

“You can’t even carry anything out like this, so what’s the point of you staying?!” Herman sounded exasperated. “Just let me help you up.”

Della paused, considering his words. She didn’t like to admit it, but he was right. She knew she would be little help with transportation back to the ship. It wasn’t an easy truth to swallow. Her fingers clenched into a fist around the guardrail. Rolling her eyes towards the ceiling, she groaned and gave in. “Fine!”

Herman extended his hand to her again and Della bitterly took it. She released her tension around the guardrail and let her weight settle against his shoulder. Her feet fumbled while transferring her weight, causing her to collide with his side a bit too quickly. She stumbled and accidentally stepped on his feet before pulling herself back up. He made no comment about her slip - perhaps the first thing he’d done today that didn’t completely infuriate Della. Her co-worker took the heavier burden over her weight, half-supporting and half-dragging her towards the exit. In her rush to escape the Thumper, Della lost track of her location. Herman seemed to know where he was going, and even if he didn’t she was in no position to criticize him.

She hated that he was so helpful. Each time Della found herself lacking something, he effortlessly provided the support she needed. She didn’t want his help. Not from someone so stubborn and self-righteous. She made a grumbling sound, tempted to force herself away from him and travel the entire way home alone, but even Della knew the odds of her returning to the ship by herself were slim. They were stuck together. Being chewed up by the Thumper was more appealing.

He led her around one more turn. An open doorway revealed the red glow of a fire exit, tucked neatly away in a dead end. The hall was too slim for them to keep walking side-by-side. Herman went first, walking sideways while he continued supporting Della. When they reached the door, the two forced their weight against the panic bar to push it open. Della instinctually recoiled at the glare of sunlight welcoming them back to Assurance’s barren landscape.

He ducked his head to squeeze through the door and supported Della out, letting the door swing shut behind them. Della realized they were on the side of the cliff, a small space to stand on neatly dug out beneath their feet. The pipes the crew jumped onto before were in front of them, stretching further into the canyon the fire exit was built into.

Her eyes wandered down. Below them was a hefty fall. Death was unlikely, but breaking a leg was a possibility. “The only way down from here is to slide,” Herman explained.

“I figured,” she snapped. Della crouched, letting go of his shoulder to sit on the ground. It was easier for her to slide in a sitting position than to stand with her injured leg.

Herman said nothing; he was waiting for her to move first, Della thought, to give her enough space to figure it out by herself. Della chose to move as slowly as possible, taking plenty of time to “prepare” herself. She finally pushed herself off, sliding down the base of the canyon and landing in a small dust cloud at the bottom.

Once she stopped moving, she put her hand against the canyon and started trying to push herself up. Della shoved herself to her left, where a support beam held up the massive water pipes above them. With one hand on the support beams and the other on the cliff, Della hoisted herself onto her leg. She leaned before she could topple over to grab the support beam, holding herself up. She had to hop on one leg a few times to keep herself stable. Herman eventually slid down to join her, remaining on both legs.

“Whenever you’re ready,” she muttered, feeling her weight begin to slip again. She jumped one more time to stabilize herself.

Herman bit back any reproach and helped her, taking her weight on the left side now. He supported her back to the ship in silence. As they progressed, Della became more and more exhausted and let more of her weight fall onto Herman. If he noticed the change, he said nothing. The sun had begun to set by the time they returned to the ship. Thick purple weeds sprouted around the ship, their leaves furling around the guardrails. Della noticed the clumps earlier in the day during their tumultuous walk to the main entrance of the facility, but didn’t think much about them. There were more now, certainly more in this area near the ship than she remembered when they landed.

Atlas was at the terminal where they left her when they walked in. She barely passed them a glance when they walked inside. “Hey guys.” She paused, blinking furiously, then looked back a second time to process Della’s appearance. Atlas gasped. “Della! Are you okay?”

“I’ve been better,” she muttered. Herman helped lower her to the ground, sitting next to their stash of loot. There were a few items she didn’t recognize, including the soccer ball Ephialtes showed her early. He’d made it back to the ship. Her shoulders slumped.

“I figured you were alright once I saw Herman find you, but I didn’t realize it was this bad.” Atlas grimaced at the sight of blood on her suit. “Can you walk?”

“Not really. It’ll heal.” Della waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry about it.”

Her reassurance did little to soothe Atlas’ guilt. She frowned. “I’m sorry. I should have seen the Thumper there sooner.”

“If you couldn’t see it, there’s nothing you could have done,” Herman said. “Don’t focus on her. She’s back at the ship, that’s all that matters. Is Ephialtes okay?”

“He’s fine. Ran into that Thumper earlier, but he managed to slip away from it. He’s still inside.” Atlas checked the time. “It’s getting late.”

“I know. It’s about time he and I finished transferring everything.” Herman backed towards the door. “Keep looking after him. I’m going back to make a trip back. Della can’t walk, so she’s staying on the ship with you. Don’t let her leave.”

“Who said I was going to?” Della stuck out her leg to attempt to trip him as he passed, but Herman stepped over her.

He looked straight at her at the door. Della smugly pretended to misunderstand the intent behind his glare, he was wearing that stupid helmet just like her after all, she couldn’t see his face. He tapped the button to shut the door behind him, closing the two women inside.

Della scoffed and crossed her arms, turning away from the door. “What an asshole.”

“Didn’t he just save you?” Atlas prompted without looking up from the terminal.

She threw up her hands. “He did, but it’s hard to feel grateful for him when he’s such a pretentious jerk!”

“I don’t think he’s like that,” she said. “Am I missing something?”

She wasn’t going to get through to Atlas. She wasn’t there, she didn’t understand the version of him she knew. Atlas just saw little blips of their teammates working together inside. Della was stuck with his obnoxious, overly cautious personality indoors - the personality that killed every precious animal he saw and bossed his entire crew around. “Whatever,” she mumbled.

Atlas didn’t push her further. The two women quietly sat inside together, Atlas typing away at the terminal and whispering hushed warning into their walkie. Meanwhile, Della’s bored eyes wandered the ship. She occupied herself in her head for a little while, distracting herself with her thoughts.

Eventually, the door ran out of power to keep itself closed. It opened up, revealing Assurance’s outdoors inside of the ship. There was still light, but it’d grown darker than it was when Herman left. She tried hobbling onto her foot to close it again, but Atlas advised against it. “The door only closes permanently when we go into orbit. It needs to recharge while it’s grounded,” she explained.

That sounded ridiculous, and it was definitely begging for something to go wrong, but Della frustratedly sat on the floor and continued to wait. She waited in silence for a long time.

Atlas continued their work, absorbed with the terminal. Della couldn’t understand how Atlas’ job didn’t drive them insane. Cooped up indoors with nothing but the ship’s engine and their fingers clattering on the keyboard to keep them company? Della wouldn’t last a day.

She got up eventually and tried to coax herself onto the bunkbeds when the floor became too uncomfortable. Atlas raised an eyebrow in her direction as she attempted to leap onto the third bunk, but didn’t caution Della against it. Moving up to the bunk bed wasn’t the hard part - climbing onto her designated bunk was the challenge. It was just high enough where Della couldn’t crouch or push herself onto it.

Eventually, she resorted to climbing onto the counter and climbing in that way. She sat on the counter and kicked her feet up, then balanced against the wall of the ship to stand up. Once she was there, she ducked into her cubby and squirmed inside. Finally. It was a true testament to how barebones their conditions were that she relished their uncomfortable bunk beds, but for once Della was too tired to complain. Atlas said nothing about Dogs or other threats lurking about, so Della snuggled up and let her thoughts drift.

“I don’t remember there being so many of those pink plants outside when we landed,” Della commented. “Did you see them?” She recognized those plants from somewhere, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on where. Perhaps they showed up in a textbook she read once, or appeared on one of her research expeditions to the Thistle Nebula.

Atlas shrugged. “They usually sprout up throughout the day on Assurance,” Atlas said. “I see them from time to time.”

Not much elaboration there. Della rolled over. “They just grow throughout the day?”

“You can tell when one is going to grow during the day by their stalks,” Atlas explained. “You’ll see a tiny sprout of one and then it’ll be an entire bush a few hours later. They’re annoying weeds. Harmless, but they spread nonstop.”

That sounded… even more familiar. This unique characteristic struck some sense of familiarity in Della. She sat back and tried to think. Weeds… Did she know of any weed outbreaks in the Thistle Nebula? There were a few plants that grew on moons as barren as Assurance, but none of them were unique to this designated planet. Were there any weeds unique to the Thistle Nebula? She could only think of one, and-

The memory struck Della like a lightning bolt. She pulled her head out of the bunk immediately to check outside. The surrounding outdoors were littered with weeds. Massive bushes choking one another out as they stretched to the dying light. Della felt an eerie chill. She opened her mouth to caution Atlas about the identity of the strange plants, but something outside caught her eye and brought her to a hush.

There was a fox crouching in the doorway. Bushy, tawny fur and all four of its limbs crouched close to the floor of the ship. For a moment Della was frozen, appalled by the rare sighting. The creature gave a slight start when it was spotted, cautiously tracing back. Although its beady eyes were focused on Della, the fox’s snout was pointed towards Atlas. Its lips were pulled back in a silent snarl, exposing sharp canine teeth. Atlas obliviously continued typing at the terminal, her back pointed to the aggressive creature.

Kidnapper Fox. Della knew it immediately. They were sly and dangerous. Preying on people in their lonesome. The mutualistic partner to the dangerous Vain Shrouds outside. It crawled amongst the weeds, blending in, making them their nest. Unsuspecting prey was kidnapped, dragged to its nest, and torn to pieces. Although a timid creature, its aggression swelled close to its nest. Della’s stare hadn’t sent it away, feeding her a conclusion: We’re already in its nest.

That could spell out a gruesome death for each of them. The Kidnapper Fox was still hesitant to approach yet not backing away from its encroachment. Della struggled to keep her voice calm when she spoke. “Atlas?” She kept her eyes trained on the fox. The slightest hint of fear would set it off - and Atlas would be its immediate target. “Can you come here for a moment?”

“Hm?” Atlas lifted her head to squint at Della, but did not move from the terminal. “What is it?”

“I think there’s something wrong with the ship’s cameras.” Della pointed towards the screen at the back of the ship, but her eyes remained on the fox. She could feel Atlas’ body language change. Oh, please don’t realize that there’s something wrong.

“Okay.” Atlas peeled herself away from the computer and walked to the front desk. “What’s wrong with it?” She clicked through the camera’s options, revealing a blip of Ephialtes and Herman walking outside and then the two women inside of the ship. “Everyone’s showing up here fine.”

“Not that one. I mean the one that shows the outside of the ship. It seems a little hazy to me.” The Kidnapper Fox was still on the guardrails outside. She hoped that Atlas would see it on the screen and act accordingly: climb onto higher ground and wait for the Fox to leave, or for Herman and Ephialtes to arrive as reinforcements. “Can you please climb up and check it for me?”

“Sure,” Atlas responded, but their voice grew more and more confused. Atlas finally realized Della wasn’t watching them at all. She stiffened the moment she found the Kidnapper Fox stalking her and took a frightened step back. Indulged by her moment of fright, the Fox snarled and lunged.

“Dammit!” Della threw herself off of her bunk and grabbed one of the spare shovels lying beneath her. Before it could snap its jaws around Atlas’ leg, Della thrust the head of the shovel between its teeth. She lurched when the Fox pulled back, nearly dragging Della along with it.

“Climb!” She ordered Atlas profusely, but the operator was already climbing on top of the desk. Della strained to beat the fox back. It twisted its head and thrashed. Della heard the screeching sound of the shovel wrenching in its mouth, and then with a snap, the Fox ripped the head of the shovel from its mount. Atlas had managed to climb out of its range while Della distracted it. She flung herself back onto the third bunk when it charged again, narrowly avoiding its lolling tongue.

The Fox yapped and clawed at the desk, straining to reach Atlas. It yowled and tore at the metal counter, straining for Atlas’ feet. She narrowly shuffled away from a bite when it jumped to reach her. “Back away as much as you can,” Della shouted over the sound of its growls. “Don’t let it reach you!”

Atlas had already shoved herself as deeply into the corner of the ship as she could go. Della still uneasily watched the Fox lurch towards Atlas’ feet, dreading the image of its teeth sinking into the operator’s flesh and dragging them from their spot. A Fox could easily overwhelm a person on their own, especially someone as scrawny as Atlas. “What do I do?” she begged.

“Just stay there. Don’t move!” Atlas shrieked when the Fox’s paws scrabbled for her boots. She kicked the creature, knocking it back onto the ship floor. Della heard its claws scrape the ship’s floor. Saliva dripped from its maw as it crouched, bundling itself for its next attack. Della saw the Fox pause and turn its eyes to the bunks where Della hid. Tail lashing, the Fox threw itself at the bed with a snarl.

The structure lurched with the impact. Della gripped the sides of the bunk, clenching her teeth. It fell back into its spot for just a moment before being heaved by the Fox a second time. Della fought to stay put. It’s trying to knock me to the ground, she thought, shooting the entity an uneasy look. On the ground, the Fox would overwhelm her and drag her to its nest.

“Della!” Atlas screamed.

“Don’t move!” She had no way to push it back; attempting to kick the creature would just risk it biting her. “Just stay where you are!”

Della’s entire body lurched when the structure wobbled again. The Fox backed up, furiously shaking its head. It threw itself at the bunks one more time to take the entire structure to the ground and Della along with it. A heaving pressure collapsed on her leg when the beds fell on top of her. She lay there, winded, until the Fox’s rank breath billowed over her.

As it scraped over the fences, Della put up her arm to protect her face, narrowly blocking its teeth from sinking into her throat. It caught her arm instead and shook. Pain flared beneath her skin as it ripped at her arm, barking and growling. She forced her arm into its face when it lunged again to protect her head.

“Find something to help me!” Della yelled through the pain. “Grab the shovel!” The Fox had practically decimated the metal part, but if Atlas attacked it with the handle there was a chance it would be frightened away. Atlas crouched to reach to the floor, but she was slow and hesitant, constantly shooting frightened looks at Della’s scuffle with the monster. The pain in her arm throbbed, making her dizzy. Somewhere in the midst of her dispersing consciousness, a shadow loomed over the Fox.

But it wasn’t a trick of Della’s vision at all. The Fox yelped in fright when Herman’s shovel came down on it from behind. Della felt its hold release as it backed away, shooting hostile looks at the scattered team. It considered Atlas, then Della, and passed directly over Herman. The Fox’s glare stopped on the body directly to Herman’s left. Della had just enough time to call his name. “Ephialtes, look out!”

But the Fox’s tongue wrapped around her crewmate, sending him to the floor. It tugged with ferocious strength, dragging him effortlessly across the floor. Della struggled to follow, but her leg was still pinned by the beds. Ephialtes tried pushing against the floor, the friction of his body slowing his drag, but it wasn’t enough to escape the Fox. “Close the door!” Della screamed at Herman. “Close it!”

He saw the sense not to argue. Herman jammed the button to close the door and supported Ephialtes, hauling him back towards the interior of the ship. As the doors wheezed closed, Della saw Herman narrowly drag Ephialtes’s foot away from being crushed. On the other side of the door, the Fox yowled in pain. She saw its tongue release on Ephialtes and heave against the door as it tried to pull itself free. Ephialtes remained still, stunned by his situation.

Herman turned back to the beds and hoisted it against the wall, freeing Della. She felt the blood rush back through her leg when the pressure released. She sat up, clutching her wounded arm. “You can kill it now,” she whispered to him. “Do it before its howling alerts any Dogs.”

Herman obliged, retrieving his shovel and lumbering to the door. Della focused on her arm, but she could hear the door open and the Fox’s yaps when Herman attacked it. She flinched at the sound of its dying screech, then returned to soothing her arm. The flesh was red and angry, ribbons torn away by the Fox’s teeth. She gritted her teeth at her own touch, her gloves soaked red.

“Is everyone okay?” Herman said. Atlas meekly nodded.

“I’m… alright.” Ephialtes rubbed his head, still reeling from the shock.

“The stupid thing got my arm.” Della proposed her wound to the rest of the crew. “But I’ll live. Damn mutts.”

Atlas grimaced. “It looks bad,” she murmured. “You don’t want it to get infected.” She turned to the computer and started typing away. “I’ll order medical supplies.”

“I thought you loved the bastards,” Herman said in feigned shock.

She shot him a glare. “I’m not an idiot,” she snapped. “That was a Kidnapper Fox. They have a well known kill on sight order placed on them. If you run into one alone, you’re as good as dead whether it’s someone built like Atlas or you. I know when something is too bad to be left alive, so you can stop acting like you’ve proven a point when you haven’t!”

“Guys, please!” Atlas insisted. “Let’s not fight right now. Della, you must be exhausted. You’ve been attacked twice today. You should just try to rest until the supplies come tomorrow. Herman, Eph, is there anything left to transport?”

Della settled back against the wall of the ship, scowling. “I can walk,” she muttered, but the pain in her arm had twisted into a dull burn. She yearned to sleep the pain away. “But if you insist on doing it, it’s not like I can stop you.”

Herman sighed. “We have a few more things. I dropped most of it when we heard the commotion on the ship. Let’s go, Eph.” He nudged him by the shoulder on his way out. Eph frantically turned to the yawning ship door.

“You want to go out… again?” Eph’s unease about the outdoors was apparent in his voice. “… Okay.” He scrambled to his feet and followed the two into the dark, passing one last look at Della before he was gone. She huffed and rolled over, closing her eyes. She was exhausted.

“Della?” Her eyes fluttered open at the sound of Atlas’ voice. “U-Um… thank you for what you did. That Fox might have killed me if you didn’t say anything. I had no idea those things were associated with the weeds outside.”

“No problem.” Della barely managed to grin. “They’re pretty rare, so usually you won’t find any nowadays. It’s always a g-good idea to… keep an eye out when they’re around, though…”

Atlas tilted her head as Della’s voice slurred. “You must be tired,” she mused. A trace of a smile crossed her face. “I should go help Herman and Ephialtes bring everything in. Try to stay awake for us until we get back, alright? We should really check and make sure your wounds aren’t too serious.”

“I can do that,” Della mumbled, watching Atlas head towards the mouth of the ship. She dizzily strained to focus on the plants outside, but she failed to see any of her three crewmates return to the ship before she slipped unconscious.

Chapter Text

The sound of Ephialtes’ angry muttering and hefty footsteps roused Della from her slumber. A loud thud shook the left side of the ship as he slammed his fist onto the beds. “Dammit, where’s Herman when you need him? Now those horrible birds are making off with our scrap!”

Della rolled over in her bed. She’d spent the last three days since the incident with the Fox recuperating inside with Atlas. “What’s going on?”

“Baboon Hawks,” Atlas explained.

Ephialtes stormed in a tight circle, cursing to himself. “Four of them attacked me for my loot,” he grumbled. “I had to drop it and let them have it or else they might’ve added me to their collection!”

“And what a pity that would have been,” Della sneered. She kicked her blanket away and wormed out of her bunk onto unsteady legs. She braced herself with the structure of their bunk beds until she felt sturdy and let go. “Atlas, hold down the fort. Eph and I are gonna get his junk back.”

“Are you sure you should go?” Atlas leaned away from the terminal, revealing her wide eyes. “It’s only been two days since that Fox attack. Maybe you should keep resting like Herman said.”

“Nah, I’m fine. I feel great!” Her wounds ached when she stretched, but the pain had subsided with days of rest. None of her injuries remained red and angry, clearing her for the risk of infections. Della felt stifled and worthless waiting in the ship while her coworkers ravaged the moon for its belongings. She yearned to feel useful; a situation like stealing back from some Baboon Hawks sounded like her specialty. “Trust me, I’m fine.” She patted Ephialtes on the back as a gesture to walk. Atlas was a great operator and level headed employee, but Della wasn’t keen on sticking around for a lecture. “I’ll need you to point out where the nest is.”

She lingered near the supply cabinet, considering their gear. A few flashlights, two extra shovels, and a pair of walkies. Della wondered why they even had so many flashlights considering only Ephialtes used them. She scrunched up her face. “I guess we’ll have to make do with what we have.” She picked up a shovel with a grunt and grabbed two walkies. “Atlas! Catch.”

Atlas caught the walkie while she passed the second to Ephialtes. “Why the walkie?” they asked. “It’s too early for anything more dangerous than Baboon Hawks to be walking around.”

“We’re going to need it for later,” Della explained. “Just keep it on and wait until I give you instructions if I have to.”

“Alright.” Atlas watched them go, fidgeting nervously with her communicator. “Be safe!”

Della offered the operator a thumbs up over her shoulder as they stepped out. As they strayed from the ship, she noticed she’d forgotten her helmet. She didn’t feel the urge to go back for it. Ephialtes guided their way. “Is it near fire or main?”

“Main. Herman went through the fire exit today while I focused on covering the main entrance.” Ephialtes pointed at a cliff to the left of the ship with a moderate climb. “This way.”

Della followed him. “Right, I forgot that you’re touchy about heights or whatever.”

“O-oh.” Ephialtes huffed. “Well, there’s no need to bring it up at every available opportunity.”

“I think there’s a slight need when it’s completely pathetic and embarrassing.” Della teasingly shoved him. When they made it to the top, Della checked their surroundings. She could see the main entrance from here, the canyons stretched off towards the horizon. No sign of other entities around. “Where’s the nest?”

“Down here.” Ephialtes crouched close to the rock and pointed beneath them.

Della peeked over the cliffside to observe their situation. Nestled between two massive rocks, she spotted their nest. The Baboon Hawk horde outnumbered the crew; Della could count six waiting at their nest alone, and she knew there would be more patrolling Assurance for scrap. Ephialtes’ belongings were kept in a neat bundle in the middle of the Baboon Hawk circle.

“They’ve got more than just your scrap,” Della pointed out. Their stash was too heavy for anyone with a physique scrawnier than Herman’s. She loathed the thought of the man, but she found it unlikely he’d also been caught off-guard by the Hawks. “If we can scare them off, there’s a lot of loot waiting for us.”

“What should we do?” Ephialtes asked.

Della waited. From Ephialtes’ description, she’d expected three, maybe four Baboon Hawks to deal with. The sheer quantity of the nest made her hesitant to move. “We might need to wait until they scatter,” she admitted. “You and I could deal with just a few Hawks, but if we go down there now, they’ll kill us.” She tilted her head while she observed them. They chattered at each other, flapping their membraned-wings. Although several of them took flighty steps away from the nest, they never strayed out of sight of their peers. Their behavior resembled human hesitance. “Their leader isn’t around.”

“Their what?” Ephialtes repeated. He slid back on the rock, avoiding the risk of eye contact with the birds.

It was a good idea; if the Hawks found them, they’d climb up to investigate. Della hid her face. “Baboon Hawks always follow an alpha, which is the biggest member of the next. They don’t go alone once they’re already in a group. If none of them are leaving, it’s because their alpha isn’t around to tell them what to do.”

“Oh wow, that’s-” He rubbed his helmet. “That sounds a lot like human behavior.”

“They’re very social creatures. A Baboon Hawk nest is more like a human community than you might realize. They experience emotions just like fear the same way we do. We can use that to our advantage.” Della peeked over the rock again. “All we can do for now is wait.”

“Look, it’s Herman.” He cupped his hands to shout for their coworker before Della could react. “Hey, Herman! Up here! Put your stuff on the ship and come help us!”

Della saw him lift his head towards the two employees. He paused, thinking, then continued hoisting his scrap towards the ship.

She thrust Ephialtes’ head into the rocks. “Would you shut up? They’re stupid, but they can still hear you if you scream at the top of your lungs! And cupping your mouth doesn’t even do anything for the sound!” Internally, she stifled a groan. She wished she could have spoken to Ephialtes before getting Herman involved.

The two had cooled off since their spat about the Hoarding Bugs after she saved Atlas from the Kidnapper Fox, but it was an uneasy peace between them. Della deeply resented feeling indebted to him. She would be dead if he hadn’t arrived to kill the Fox, or at least significantly more injured. Yet it felt wrong that he was the one who saved her. Someone Della had minimal respect or interest for for his detached behavior towards the fauna. It felt like a betrayal towards the Nebula that she cared for.

Unfortunately, she was stuck with the man, and even worse she knew that they could defeat the Baboon Hawks with his assistance. It wasn’t a fight worth taking. Della begrudgingly waited until he returned from the ship and climbed up the slope to join the two.

“Took you long enough,” Della couldn’t resist muttering.

He ignored her comment. “Are the Hawks bothering you?”

“They stole Ephialtes’ scrap earlier. We’re trying to get it back,” Della explained. “There’s six of them for now, and almost certainly more, so we need to be ready.”

“They’re timid and back away when they’re approached, even when they have the bigger numbers,” Herman pointed out. “If the three of us go down there and make some noise, they’ll give up.”

“I’ve heard that before,” Ephialtes agreed. “How you’re supposed to yell at Baboon Hawks and they’ll run away. Let’s try it.”

But Della gave the two a dumbfounded look. “What are you talking about?” She sighed and buried her helmet in her hands. “Ugh. You’re one of those people, aren’t you?”

“What?” Herman asked.

“Baboon Hawks won’t care about how loud you are,” Della explained. “They’re too smart for that. Don’t forget that we’re their prey. They aren’t afraid of humans at all, unless we outnumber them. If they hear your voice, it won’t matter to them. I’m a biologist, by the way, so I know these things.”

“I wasn’t going to contradict you,” Herman grumbled. “But I didn’t know that.”

“It’s a common misconception.” Della was glad her helmet hid her smug grin. She felt deeply pleased she managed to outsmart Herman when he acted like he knew this job more than anyone else. “They won’t be afraid of us even if we shout. That’ll just attract Dogs. They’re most afraid of what they don’t know. Think objects that make sounds, or the ship’s horn. If they’re confused, then they’re afraid. They steal loot because they’re possessive, but if you brandish something like it’ll hurt them, then they won’t know any better.” Della picked up her shovel. “We go together. None of us even need to fight them. Herman and I will back them up by holding the shovels; they’ll be afraid when they realize it’s a weapon. Eph, you’ll focus on taking back our scrap. Their nest is close to the ship, but you’ll have to be fast. Eventually they’ll try picking a fight if Herman and I back them too far away from their nest.”

Ephialtes nodded. Her eyes turned to Herman. “Maintain eye contact with them at all times and slowly walk towards them with me,” she explained. “If you walk towards them, they’ll back up. The goal is just to intimidate them long enough for Ephialtes to take back the scrap.”

“They won’t target Ephialtes?” he said.

“They’ll know he’s with us and assume he’s armed as well. It doesn’t really matter what he does, so long as he has numbers.” Della glanced back at the third employee. “If the Hawks seem antsy, turn on the walkie. The static will make more noise and frighten them.”

“Got it.”

She climbed on top of the rock and looked down at the Baboon Hawks. “If the Hawks decide to attack, we’ll need to be ready to run,” she said. “Don’t lead them to the ship. We’re faster than they are, and they give up quickly. You can tell they’ll attack if they make a specific cawing sound. If I hear it, I’ll warn you guys to run. Ready?”

They each murmured their agreements. Della braced herself on the rocky cliffside and slid down, landing near the foot of the nest. The Baboons closest to Della scattered at her approach, squawking indignantly. The scientist lifted her shovel close to her chest, clutching her weapon tightly. She exchanged a look with Herman, who matched her stance, albeit with significantly more intimidation to his demeanor. “With me,” she ordered.

They walked in unison towards the Baboon Hawks, wielding their shovels. The hybrids flocked from their aggressors, squawking at one another. Della held eye contact with every Baboon Hawk she could see as she progressed. She didn’t have an interval to check Herman; she could only hope he held up the same structure. Behind them, Della could hear the scrape of sand as Ephialtes hurriedly gathered the scrap behind them.

“Make sure they have room to back up!” Della shouted. “If they’re cornered, they’ll think they have no choice but to attack.”

The Hawks cawed, engaging eye contact with the employees. She lifted her shovel threateningly, pushing the Hawks back. A few disengaged entirely, scurrying off to find other spots to ransack. As the Hawks scattered, the fear of the remaining birds increased. “Hurry up, Eph!”

“I’ve almost got everything!” Ephialtes shouted. She could barely hear him over the rising volume of the Baboon Hawk horde. He continued shouting, but the syllables were drowned out by the call of the birds.

Wait - why were the Baboon Hawks getting louder?

She glanced right. The Baboon Hawks weren’t dispersing after all. They’d fled to find their leader. Della could see the alpha Hawk now, looming over the employees. It was far larger than even Herman, rivaling the stance of an Eyeless Dog. With its troops behind it, the alpha shrieked.

Della grimaced. “Shit.”

The alpha Baboon Hawk crowed, flaring its wings. The rest of its troop bounced to its rallying cry, ignoring the employees. “Get ready to run!” Della yelled. “They’re going to attack!”

Herman started running - towards the Hawks instead of away. Her mouth dropped when he swung at the alpha Baboon Hawk, smacking it across the head. It toppled, crying angrily. “What are you doing?!” Della exclaimed.

“They don’t know how to position themselves around us,” Herman said. “If we kill the leader now, the rest will retreat! Help Ephialtes and let me handle it!”

“Are you crazy?” she screamed, but there was no time to debate it. Della grabbed her shovel. “Eph, keep hauling!”

He paused when he saw the biologist charge at the birds. “What are you doing?” Herman demanded.

But she ignored his question. Della swung at the Baboon Hawk. She wasn’t as tall or as strong as Herman, but the shovelhead pierced the alpha’s right wing. It flailed with a warning cry and charged straight at Della. She dodged its initial lunge and retaliated, but her momentum nearly carried her off her feet. She stumbled when her weapon collided with the Hawk’s furry neck.

Herman grabbed her arm and yanked her towards him. Breathless and startled, she narrowly missed the range of a second Baboon Hawk’s beak as it tried to protect its leader. A gust of wind buffeted her face from the speed of its lunge. Della saw an alternate reality play in her mind: if he intervened just a few seconds later, she would’ve been skewered.

She furiously refocused her grip and swung at the alpha again, still orienting itself on the ground. She smacked it once, sending the watching Baboon Hawks dithering away with fear. Herman followed up with another blow, sending it into the dirt. She watched him pin one of its wings underneath his foot, trapping it, and plunged his shovel into its chest. Della screwed her eyes shut as blood splashed across her exposed face. The alpha screamed and coiled into itself. Its lifeless eyes gazed sightlessly towards the sky.

The remaining birds scattered, cawing in fright at the death of their leader. “Hey!” Della turned to see Ephialtes confronting a Baboon Hawk that jumped behind them. It pecked at his feet, flapping wildly. He threw his walkie at the creature. Static buzzed from the radio. It tilted its head, squawking at the device, and hobbled past Della to rejoin its retreating troupe.

Suddenly the three employees and the alpha’s body were the only things in the clearing. “They’ll remember that one. We shouldn’t see from those Baboon Hawks for a while.” She blanched at the taste of blood trickling into her mouth. “Ugh! I’m covered in it!”

Ephialtes checked her appearance. “You look pretty bad.” The entire left side of Della’s face was coated in Baboon Hawk gore, sticky in her pink hair and sealing her eyes shut. She angrily tried wiping her face clean. “I wouldn’t open your eye if I were you.”

She grumbled and gave up, wiping her shovel with her bloody gloves. Della glanced at the dead Baboon Hawk. Herman heaved, freeing his shovel from its spot lodged in the bird’s corpse. His feats continued to impress Della, much to her dismay. The Baboon Hawk was even taller than the freakishly massive man, yet he killed it with minimal hesitation. He looked even worse than Della; she couldn’t make out the left side of his helmet through all of the Baboon Hawk’s blood. Ephialtes lurched back when Herman joined them. “Are the two of you alright?” he asked.

It felt somewhat jarring to hear such a gentle question from the bloodsoaked employee. Della didn’t spend too much time dwelling on it. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll have to clean it off when we have the chance.”

Herman looked up at the sky. “We should be heading to Gordion tonight anyways,” he said. “You won’t have to wait long. Ephialtes, where’s the loot?”

Ephialtes pointed to the rock behind them. “About halfway to the ship.”

Della pumped her fist and followed the path. “Sounds like we can leave early! I want this stuff off of me as soon as possible.”

“You should wait in the ship in case you fall. I can carry the rest,” Herman volunteered.

Della pretended not to hear his offer and heaved a crate of bottles from the sand. “Let’s go, guys! We gotta tell Atlas about those Baboon Hawks if she didn’t hear it all from the ship already!”

Herman sighed. He hoisted the majority of their remaining loot and followed, leaving Ephialtes to pick up the scraps. The door had been left open while the two battled the Hawks. Della sauntered inside. She spotted Atlas at the terminal, too absorbed in her typing to acknowledge her arrival. She loudly dropped the bottles. “Hey, Atlas.”

Atlas nodded absentmindedly at Della’s greeting. “How’d everything go? I could hear the Baboon Hawks outside.” She finished her terminal work and turned to Della. The effect on her was immediate; Atlas shrank back, horror overtaking her features. “What happened to you?!”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” She waved her hand dismissively, crimson droplets from her fingertips. “It’s not my blood.”

Her mouth hung open, distress clear on her face. “A-Are you sure?” she whispered.

She scoffed. “If you think I look bad, you definitely don’t want to see Herman.”

On cue, the two men walked into the ship. Della bit back a snicker at her meek reaction. Atlas’ eyes widened as they dropped their belongings near the supply cabinet. “What happened?” she exclaimed.

“Herman killed a Hawk,” Della explained. “We got Eph’s stuff back and some extra loot they were hoarding. They’ll be too scared to come back for a while unless they’re desperate.”

“All of that is from one Hawk?” Atlas asked.

She stepped aside to let Ephialtes slide into the back of the ship. He hunched over their beds, humming to himself. “It was a pretty big Hawk.”

“Della, I found your coat!” Ephialtes pulled her white clothing from her bunk. A long white lab coat draped from Ephialtes’ hands. Dirt and other smears dressed the edges and sleeves. He balled it up and angled the contents towards her. “You can clean yourself up with this.”

“Absolutely not!” Della ducked before her coat landed on her. “Are you crazy? I’m not getting blood on that! I have no way to wash it!”

His hands slowly lowered to his sides. “But it’s already dirty,” he pointed out.

She ignored his comment and wiped her right hand on her knee, cleaning it the best she could. Della picked up her coat and returned it to the spot on her bed. “Don’t touch.”

“Uh… okay.” Ephialtes exchanged a look with Herman, but he’d already turned away from their chat.

“Let’s start the ship,” Herman announced, pushing his way to the back of the ship. “We’ve found plenty. Let’s head to Gordion now so we can get there as soon as possible.”

“Hold on, hold on!” Atlas protested before he could reach the lever. “Let me do it so we don’t have to clean up… too much once we land on Gordion.” She wrinkled her nose at his bloody appearance.

He stopped, watching her pull the lever, and shrugged. “Della, Herman, you two sit near the door,” Atlas continued. “Let’s not get blood all over the ship.”

Sit near Herman? Della frowned at his heavy figure. Despite his obscured face, his body language emanated the same disdain that Della felt. She could think of seldom worse fates than glaring at his stupid visor for the next few hours. Gordion wasn’t a long journey, but it was certainly long enough for Della to protest her confinement. “There’s not even that large of a mess!”

Without answering, Atlas’ eyes dipped to the floor of the ship. Scarlet footprints scattered on the equipment and the walls. Small, physical traces of their tracks all over their quarters. Most obvious was the thick trail of blood walking to the terminal when Atlas intercepted Herman from pulling the lever himself.

Two pairs of eyes, blue and shrouded yellow, focused on Della. She glared back. “Ugh, fine! I’ll go.”

She stomped to the door, slamming the button shut before the ship earned the luxury of closing itself. Della nestled herself into the small corner between the supply cabinet and the door, shielding herself from the view of Atlas and Ephialtes. Herman sat across from her, his shovel in his lap. The two employees awkwardly stared at one another.

Della crossed her arms. “Piss off.”

“You’re very immature,” Herman pointed out. “I haven’t done anything to you.”

“Yeah, you’re lucky you haven’t given me any extra warranted reasons to dislike you!” she spat. “Go look anywhere else in the ship.”

He ignored her. “Are you really still mad about those Hoarding Bugs?”

“Of course I am!” Della threw her hands up in the air. “You still haven’t apologized for it!”

“Guys! Stop fighting!” Atlas pleaded. “Can you two have a single conversation that doesn’t end in one of you saying something nasty?”

“I’m not fighting with her,” Herman leaned back and tilted his head towards the ceiling. “She can complain all she wants about those Bugs. I don’t care.” He meant it, and Della resented him so much more for that fact. It wasn’t just a lack of concern for the life on the moons, he completely disregarded her opinion about it as well. How could someone be so arrogant? The creatures had more of a right to be here than the pillagers Della was stuck with.

She folded into herself, deciding not to waste her breath on him. “Whatever,” Della muttered. She hid her face in her knees. “It’s not my fault that looking at him is the most irritating experience in the world.”

Della closed her eyes and left it at that, letting her mind wander. Only the sound of the ship’s thrumming engine filled the atmosphere. Neither spoke. Neither looked at each other. Each completely ignored the presence of every other employee on board.

He finally broke. “You wouldn’t have to sit here with me if you just listened when I told you to let me deal with the Baboon Hawk.”

Della flew to her feet. “How dare you! You’re the one who stopped listening to me first! I told you to run and you decided to pick a fight!”

“That’s because your plan didn’t work!” Herman got back up as well. “You think you know every last thing about how this place works. You don’t. You have no idea what I’ve seen here. Whatever you’ve read about in books won’t save you. I’m not going to have you keep throwing yourself and your crew into danger because of arrogance.”

“Arrogance?!” Della repeated over the sound of Atlas and Ephialtes’ attempts to quiet their argument. “YOU-”

-

The relief of cleansing herself for the first time since boarding the ship had been somewhat stifled by the displeasure of returning to the same employment suit. Still, Della’s mood improved after freshening up.

Her hair still needed time to dry, so she threw her lab coat over her employment suit and found her way to the selling counter where Ephialtes and Atlas had been transporting their findings for the past thirty minutes. She found Atlas alone at the counter in a circle of scrap. Della joined them without preamble. “Anything else on the ship?”

The operator pointed at the ship’s open door. “Eph is grabbing the rest,” she said. “Help me start loading up the counter. Let’s get all of the noisiest objects out of the way first.”

“Okay.” Della crouched over their supplies, sifting through the scrap. She picked up a pair of chattering teeth. “Why’s it matter what order we do this in?”

“It’s part of the protocol in the manual.” Atlas pulled a toy robot from the pile. It sputtered to life when she grabbed its leg. Flustered, she fumbled for the power switch and set it on the counter. “You read that, didn’t you?”

“Uh, yeah.” She had a vague memory of a clipboard and numerous sheets of inky paper. “But you should repeat it to me anyway.”

“I don’t really understand the details, but we’re not supposed to make or leave loud noises near the counter for long. No shining bright lights behind the counter either.” Atlas bundled a pile of their belongings together and placed them on the counter. “It’s just what we’re supposed to do.”

“You’ve never questioned it?” Della looked behind the counter. It seemed unsuspecting enough. A tiny block with the number ‘100%’ printed on it hung over the bell on her right. It was too dark to see how deep the building went. The most she could note was the sealed vent close to the counter. She remembered how it opened up the last time they sold; something snatched their belongings and dragged them into the dark. She tried to lean behind the counter to feel for anything else. “Aren’t you curious what’s going on back here?”

Atlas frantically pulled her back. “Don’t!” she hissed. “You don’t want anything to happen.”

“Why? What are you worried about?” Della put her hands on her hips.

“I-I don’t know.” Atlas dropped eye contact. “This place gives me a bad feeling. It’s best if we do our selling and get out.”

She clicked her tongue. “I’m not an expert, but most companies would probably only choose this set up if they had something to hide.” Della and Atlas hoisted their loot onto the counter until it was too full to stock anything else.

Atlas shooed Della away. “I’ll ring the bell. Back up.”

She slowly backed away and collided with Ephialtes, who had just finished gathering the rest of their scrap. “Wait a second.”

Ephialtes backpedaled from the counter to watch the two women sell. She held her tongue and focused on Atlas ringing up the counter. The dinging sound of the bell echoed throughout Gordion, reverberating off the walls until it was swallowed by the cacophony of the sea. Della heard the seal on the vent break. Atlas quickly retreated back.

In the blink of an eye, a large hook emerged behind the counter and swiped their scrap into the dark. Della pushed in front of Atlas, but their scrap was gone, engulfed by the darkness behind the screen. She sighed.

Atlas released a deep breath. “I think we can finish this in just one or two extra loads.” The three worked together to pile as many of their belongings onto the counter as they could.

“No thanks to our fourth,” Della mumbled. A fierce jab to her shoulder caused Della to stumble.

“You two need to stop. One of these days, your fights might get us into trouble. We’re supposed to be a team,” Atlas said. “You two should try to talk things out. You’re both hard workers and you know this Nebula better than anyone else. If the two of you worked together, you could be a great team.”

She’d rather be strangled by a Snare Flea, but Della kept that thought to herself. Not even the slightest possibility of the two of them becoming friends persisted in her mind. The further away from Herman and his brutality she was, the better. “Want me to go find him?”

“Don’t.” She expected another chide about her temper, but Ephialtes moved on from the subject. “He’s a bit touchy about anyone being around while he has his helmet off.”

“Wait, seriously? Why?” she said. “Have either of you seen what he looks like without it before?”

“No,” Ephialtes said while Atlas shook her head. “He doesn’t let anyone see.”

“That’s… weird. Why do you think he does that?” She tried to imagine a legitimate reason for his secrecy. Trying to avoid someone identifying him? That opened up several other questions in Della’s mind. “Is he hiding something?”

“What even is there to hide?” Ephialtes asked. “The rest of us take off our helmets all of the time. Yours isn’t on, and I can’t wait to take mine off once we get back on the ship.”

“I don’t really want to talk behind his back, guys. Let’s focus on selling,” Atlas suggested.

Ephialtes sighed. “That’s because you idolize him. As if he thinks you’re doing him a favor by defending him.”

“Wh-what?” Atlas spun around, flustered. “No I don’t!”

“Hmm, you bring up a good point, Eph. Atlas loves taking his side about everything.” She rubbed her chin. “We gotta get you a better role model than the guy with a stick up his ass.”

Ephialtes laughed while Atlas awkwardly looked away. “Would you both stop? I’m just trying to be nice!”

“Whatever, it’s probably not that important in the long run.” Maybe he just had an ugly face. Della would annoy him about it later; it felt warranted for all of the times he went out of his way to upset her.

Only five items remained when they finished piling on the counter. “Eph, can you ring the bell?” Atlas said. “I’m going to see how much money we made.”

“Sure. I’ll finish the loot.” Ephialtes rang the bell and gave the two a look, warning them away from the counter.

Atlas grabbed Della’s hand and guided her back to the ship. It felt much more spacious without clumps of loot scattered on the floor. Granted, the ship was still cluttered, but at least Della felt like she could walk. Atlas had scrubbed the floor while she and Herman cleaned off, removing the bloodstains from the floor and walls. She logged onto the terminal while Della lurked over her shoulder.

“350 units. That’s plenty for quota and Ephialtes isn’t even done selling.” She pulled up the store. “Let’s do inventory. Can you check our items?”

Della opened the supply cabinet and looked inside. “The only thing we’ve lost so far is that walkie Ephialtes threw at the Baboon Hawks. Even then, we’ve still got five left.” She squinted at the stocked shelves while she counted. “I don’t think we need any extra supplies.”

“I think we’ll have right around 400 after Ephialtes finishes,” Atlas said. The sound of the bell rang behind them. “I think we should get a teleporter. If anything happens, I can whisk the three of you out of the facility.”

Della leaned back. It sounded like a useful item. She opened her mouth to agree, but Herman’s voice spoke over her. “I think we should wait before buying anything. We have enough supplies for now, but if there’s a situation where we need something, we won’t be able to afford it if we take the ship upgrade now.”

The biologist spun around. He was back in uniform just like her without a trace of the bloodstains from earlier. He ducked his head to wedge inside. “Is Ephialtes finished selling?”

“He should be.” Atlas waited for the counter on their units to rise. “I see your point. If we don’t feel any desperate urge for any supplies, we can sit on our cash until we need it. Or we can save until we’re able to afford something better.”

“Then let’s do that.” Herman checked outside, ignoring Della’s existence. “All there is to do now is decide where we’re going next.”

She cleared her throat and crossed her arms. “Yeah, sure, whatever. I think we should do that too.” Of course Atlas immediately took his side again. Della almost made a fuss about their teamwork, but the mention of their next location caught her attention. “Let’s go to Vow.”

“That moon is crawling with Forest Keepers and Brackens,” Herman said. “It’ll be much harder to traverse than Assurance or Experimentation.”

I know, she thought giddily, but Della couldn’t explain her intentions out loud. The Bracken population was exactly why she yearned to travel there. “Aren’t you guys sick of these desert moons?” she complained. “If I have to taste any more sand in my mouth, I might just die. Let’s go somewhere with a forest!”

“It’s not the first time you’ve brought up Vow,” Atlas conceded. “Maybe we should go somewhere quieter, like March.”

Della bit her tongue. “Why does it matter either way?” she said. “A forest is a forest, so let’s go to Vow.”

“March has more beehives,” Atlas argued. “We’re more likely to make money there. I say we go to March.”

Was Atlas trying to get on her nerves? Della tried not to let any desperation creep into her tone. “But March is much worse to navigate. Vow’s flat. It’s pretty much impossible to get lost.”

“Is there something you’re not telling us?” Herman asked. “You seem oddly insistent about this.”

“I’m not!” she lied, her voice rising. “But don’t I deserve a say on something for once? You two always take each other’s side on everything.”

“You got to make a plan just a few hours ago,” Herman acknowledged. “It’s not our fault it was a lackluster one.”

“I’m not going back to that again!” Della swallowed. Was she never going to make it to her designated moon? “Pick whatever moon you want. It doesn’t really matter to me. Go to March or Vow or stupid Experimentation again for all I care.”

Ephialtes climbed into the ship while the three debated. “What are you guys talking about?”

“We’re trying to figure out which moon to orbit next,” Herman said. “Atlas wants to go to March. Della’s pretending not to be upset because she’d rather go to Vow.”

Oh, how she wished she could strangle him. “I said I don’t care!” she yelled. “Let’s go to stupid March already!”

“Ephialtes, you decide,” Atlas said. “That way, no one else’s opinions can get involved. Vow or March?”

Please say Vow. Della focused intensely on Ephialtes, willing his answer into existence. He shifted between the three employees, hesitant to answer. “Let’s go to Vow, I guess,” Ephialtes offered with a shrug. “It’s been a while since I’ve been there. Maybe there will be bees.”

Della closed her eyes and silently thanked him. At long last something was going right for her on this job. She tingled with apprehension. After two weeks, she’d finally see Vow for herself!

“Vow it is.” Atlas plugged in the coordinates while Herman shut the ship’s door. “It’s quite a trip, so we’ll need to leave now if we want to be there by eight tomorrow. We have a few hours before it gets too late, at least.”

Herman joined Atlas at the keyboard. “You put in the coordinates wrong. That’s Offense, not Vow.”

“Oh, is it?” She grabbed the clipboard manual off of the counter. “What are the coordinates for Vow again…”

Della watched the two focus on their location, distracted. Ephialtes grabbed her wrist and bundled her into a corner of the ship. “I helped you, so now you need to talk to me,” he said. “What’s your plan?”

“My plan?” she stated. “Um…”

“I know you have something on your mind. There’s an ulterior reason you want to go to Vow, isn’t there?” She could barely make out his yellow eyes beneath the visor. “Tell me the truth. Haven’t I proved I’m on your side?”

How did he put all of that together? She’d mentioned it in fleeting hints, repeatedly asking about traveling to Vow, but Della couldn’t remember being particularly explicit about her mission - and for good reason. She regarded Ephialtes with new interest. Perhaps he was more observant than she gave him credit for.

“Alright,” she admitted, lowering her voice to a whisper. “You’re right: I am going to Vow for a reason. Now, listen closely, because I might need your help with a plan…”

Chapter Text

The crew woke bright and early for their first day on Vow. Apprehension kept Della awake all night, yet she rose from her bed brimming with energy. Not even the corporate slop the crew forced themselves to stomach could dampen her mood. With most of her preparations complete, Della was just waiting on her crewmates to begin their expedition. She and Ephialtes sat off of the balcony of the ship while they watched Herman attempt his final task for the morning before their departure. It was less like a chore and more of a light show while Della watched him stare at the beehive near the ship. 

There was something charming about how he stared at the hive as if grabbing it and running away were the most complex instructions he’d ever received. On a day like this, Della would hate to be dragged behind schedule. He kept bracing himself like the bees would change their mind and spontaneously go haywire.

Della yawned. “Can we get on with it already?” she asked, breaking the three minute long silence since Ephialtes last cheered Herman on in his endeavor. “It’s already been almost an hour.”

Even Atlas stepped out of the ship to watch Herman’s efforts. Rarely could the operator be pulled from her terminal, even during the team's downtime. “It’s important we get this beehive, Della,” she said. “Early in the morning, someone is less likely to accidentally disturb it. Plus the Company pays back a lot of credits if we sell one. It takes a lot of practice between employees to know the best way to approach Circuit Bees. If they lose track of their nest, they’ll start attacking everything they see. It’s kind of a big practice to learn how to run beehives. They’re heavy and hard to predict. Th-That’s just what I’ve experienced anyways,” she flushed.

She was the quietest of the bunch, even quieter than Herman. Atlas was much like water; she had moments where she pushed out of her zone and eagerly spoke to the crew and then withdrew from the shore, hiding within herself. Della had several questions about the girl, where she came from, why take this job so young, and how she wound up turning to this job in the first place. She didn’t find many opportunities to speak alone with Atlas like this, but her curiosities were small compared to her burning desire to set off for the facility. 

“You can finish it here, Herman!” Ephialtes pumped a fist. “You’ve already carried it here all of the way from the lake.” 

“Maybe one of us should do it,” Della suggested. “They’re pretty heavy, and he’s only got one arm for it.”

“Have you carried hives before?” Ephialtes asked. Atlas propped herself up with her arm and glanced at Della.

“Not on the job like this, but I’ve studied bees before and seen their hives. Speed is important.” Della shrugged. 

Herman was too concentrated to hear their conversation, or perhaps he ignored them. He finally took a creaking step towards the beehive, then hesitated, changing his position to run diagonally towards the back of the ship.

Della sighed and hung her head. Did it really take that much thought? Sure, she would risk a couple of stings, but she’d barrel right through and make a mad dash for the ship in his position. The bees were slow and had trouble catching anything lithe. “Do you want some help?” she called. “I’m sure it would be easier if I did it.”

“That’s not necessary.” Still Herman didn’t look at the ship. “I don’t need you or anyone else being electrocuted.” 

She rolled her eyes and jumped off of the railing. “Well I don’t want to be here all day, so Eph and I will just get going unless you let me help.”

“You can start walking there. I’ll meet up with you two. Don’t go in until I’ve caught up.” Herman moved forward, and then paused again.

Della had officially gotten tired of waiting. She glanced back at Atlas and Ephialtes. “Can you order me some stun grenades?” she shouted. 

“Sure, I can buy some.” Ephialtes disappeared inside.

Atlas stood up. “Why stun grenades? Are you worried about something?”

“Nothing in particular, but I know the fauna on Vow is more aggressive than Assurance or Experimentation. Stuff like Forest Keepers wander around when it's late. I’d rather us not get caught in a bad position,” Della explained. It was technically true, although she left some details out.

Oblivious, Atlas nodded and walked into the ship.

“Glad we got that sorted out.” Della walked up to Herman and stretched to put a hand on his shoulder. “Alright, what are we doing here?”

“You’re going to the facility,” he explained. He sighed. “No. That’s what I want you to do. What you’re going to do is whatever you want.”

“Hah! Finally, something I agree with.” She crossed her arms. “I think if I run at it first and bait the bees, you can grab the hive for free, put it on the ship, and then I’ll turn back around and lead them back to their hive once you’re away.”

“No,” Herman decided. He shot her a look. “Just let me handle it.”

“I’d like to learn at some point, y’know? Give myself a little experience.” She rolled her arm and stretched. “Did you learn from sitting around watching people?”

“No, but I know that everything should be taken as a threat here. You three should stay away from as much danger as possible.” Della strained to hear him over the incessant buzzing from the insects. He was always quiet. When he was angry, he was quiet. Even when he was loud, he was quiet. She could tell from his tone he was somewhat uneasy, but he remained so annoyingly calm about it. “I’ll be done soon.”

Della decided not to put up with his act of heroism. As if he’s so noble for collecting a beehive! She ignored him and started forward. 

“What are you doing?” he asked warily.

A swarm of bees rose from the hive. 

Della ran left, circling around the ship. “Collect the hive!” 

“You-” She could hear his voice, but Della couldn’t make out his words over the crackling electricity in. As she ran right, she saw him pick up the hive from the corner of her eye.

Della ran a circle around the ship, grateful Atlas and Ephialtes were wise enough to stay inside during the commotion. She looped back around and saw Herman had climbed aboard and placed the beehive on the ship. She jumped onto the railing and almost collided with him with the force of her momentum, instead banging into the yellow guardrails. 

The two employees looked back at the swarm. The bees lunged past their nest and then retreated, the majority ducking inside. Della breathed a puff of air. “That was fun,” she said, sweating.

“I told you not to do that.” 

Geez, did he ever get over himself? Della tried not to roll her eyes beneath her suit. “The proper words are thank you, actually.” Della shot him a sarcastic smile, remembered he couldn’t see her face, and jumped off the ship. “Eph! Are we ready to go?”

He emerged from the ship’s interior. “Are you two done?”

“We sure are.” Della could hear the sound of whirring and fire over her head.

“Good. The Company drop-off should be here any second.” Ephialtes nodded to the sky. A small green contraption similar to a rocket descended from above, landing a few meters from the ship. Fire whooshed from its thrusters as it spread its fins and anchored. It played a cheery tune to attract the employees. 

“Huh. How convenient.” Della walked to the ship and opened one of its containers. Four stun grenades spilled into her open palm. On the other side, Ephialtes picked up two flashlights.

“I thought it would be better to have extras," he explained. "Maybe I should have grabbed another walkie."

“We’ll be fine.” Della dismissively waved her hand. “You’ve already got yours, and Herman doesn’t ever take any.”

“Good luck today!” Atlas called from the ship. “Try to be back before sundown!”

Della waved back at the terminal operator and put the stun grenades on her belt, heading up the hill. “Come on. We’ve got a trek ahead.”

Ephialtes paced himself to run side-by-side with Della while Herman trailed behind them. “How was the beehive?” he asked. “I thought I heard it get riled up while Atlas and I were ordering the stun grenades.” 

“Yeah, I had to stir them so Herman could grab the beehive. It wasn’t so bad. I ran them around the ship and then brought them back to their hive.” Della squinted and held a hand up against the sun. It was shockingly bright, although she could see gray storm clouds looming west. “Looks like there might be a storm soon.”

“It seems dark.” Ephialtes stopped to observe the clouds.

“Then be mindful of what you bring outside.” Herman caught up in time to hear the second half of their conversation. “Metal invites electricity. No one should be getting struck by lightning.”

“There’s no way that’ll happen, right?” Ephialtes said, watching Herman’s back while he walked down the hill. “Lightning strikes are so rare.”

“You know how conduction works. Besides, storms in the Thistle Nebula are unpredictable. Lightning strikes much more frequently. The storms are highly aggressive. Fires used to be rampant during the years of war,” Della explained. “I can believe it.” 

“I know because I’ve watched lightning strike someone before,” Herman answered darkly.

They both stopped and stared at him. Herman didn’t elaborate on his point, instead continuing his jog to Vow’s facility entrance. Della and Ephialtes exchanged a look and followed after him.

Before attempting to collect the beehive from earlier, Herman had emphasized how dangerous they were with the story of a former crewmate who was electrocuted after failing to properly transfer a beehive. He had enough stories about his encounters with these creatures that Della wondered how long he’d been on this job as well as how many employees he’d come and go (and, morbidly, how they wound up leaving). He was rather serious about the topic of death and the dangers towards the crew.

Not that it was any excuse for bossing Della around. She wasn’t the fool he assumed she was. “Then we’ll leave metal inside until we’re ready for it,” she said.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have brought…” Herman looked over the canyon in front of them. “Let’s try to avoid anything dangerous today.” 

Della bit the inside of her cheek.

“All we need to do is cross this bridge and then we’re there.” Herman made sure the two were following and then slid down the slope they were on. “Come on.” 

Della slid down and walked onto the pavement. She squinted and leaned forward to see the other side of the canyon through the fog. To her right, a steep decline into the bottom of the canyon marked an emergency fire escape built into the wall. Pushing ahead rewarded Della with additional greenery and the main entrance. The only thing barring their way was a lengthy trip around the canyon or the bridge ahead. It seemed like an easy option, but…

The bridge groaned as soon as Herman laid a hand on it. Della watched the entire structure sway with a gust. She subconsciously held her breath, afraid a cough would send the ancient structure hurtling into the canyon.

Ephialtes swallowed. Della couldn’t see his face, but knowing his reaction to the jump on Assurance, it wasn’t a challenge to imagine his life flashing before his eyes. 

“Uh-” she began.

“I know, it’s not the best, but it’s the only option we’ve got. Unless you want to take another hour walking the long way around.” Herman backed up. “The bridge is rickety. Too much weight and it’ll collapse. You two should cross first.” 

“Rickety is a bit of an understatement.” Della checked the drop below and swallowed. “You’re sure we can cross?” 

Herman checked below. “Probably.”

“Th-That’s it?” Ephialtes stammered. “J-Just probably?”

“We’ve all used it before.” Herman shrugged. “As long as there’s not too much weight on the bridge you’ll be fine.” 

“Right. Fine. On the bridge that’s one wrong step away from plummeting us to our deaths.” Ephialtes shrank away.

“The fall won’t kill you.” Della could see from above the drop could break a few bones, but unless they dropped on their heads, they’d survive. She bit her lip. She knew Ephialtes was bad with heights, but she couldn’t afford this today. “C’mon Eph, just come across and don’t think too much about it.” 

Ephialtes shook his head. “I can’t bring you across this time,” Herman said. “If you can’t do it, then you should go back to the ship. We can orbit a different moon instead.”

“No!” Della insisted. “We can’t waste anymore time. I’ll convince him.” She pulled him closer. “Come on, Ephialtes. The door is right there. You can see it from here. It’s just a few more steps.” 

He remained stubbornly rooted in his spot. Frustration rose in Della’s throat. “C’mon Eph, please!” She threw another desperate look at the door. “Don’t you remember what we talked about earlier? We have to get inside. Can’t you do it for me?”

Eph hesitantly looked ahead. He took a deep breath and exhaled. “Okay.”

“I’ll walk ahead of you. Just focus on me.” Della stepped onto the bridge, forcing herself to remain slow to avoid intimidating Ephialtes.

The bridge creaked under their feet, but did not break when they halted. They both glanced back at Herman, who nodded for them to continue. “You’re doing great, Eph,” Della soothed him while they walked. “Just one foot in front of the other.”

He didn’t say a word, so Della kept quiet for the rest of their walk. Even she breathed relief when they made it safely onto land. “You did it, Eph!” She hugged him, who warily put his hands around her. “Thank you.”

“It’s good to be willing to push yourself.” Herman quickly caught up with them. 

“I-I’m just going to go in.” Eph walked past them and went inside. “I think I’m gonna puke.”

They watched him go, temporarily standing alone together. Della took a deep breath and admired the lush scenery. Only one thing left to do now. She eagerly placed her hand on the door and paused when Herman leaned down to her level.

“What did you mean when you spoke to Eph earlier?” When Della tilted her head, he clarified, “Something about a conversation you had before we left?” 

Della squirmed self-consciously. “It’s nothing,” she answered sharply, breaking away from him. “Don’t worry about it.” 

Although he said nothing else, Della could feel his eyes following her like a turret. 

She creaked the door open and held it until Herman entered, displaying the labyrinth’s sprawling entrances in front of them. “Well, let’s get to work.” Herman opened the door on their right. “You two can stay together or split up if you want to cover more ground. Just be careful. Remember not to bring any metal outside. If you’re not sure about it, just leave it here until I can check.”

Della rolled her eyes. As if he needed to explain to them what metal was. She was fairly certain she could describe the element with more literate words than Herman had ever heard in her life. She grabbed Ephialtes by the wrist. “Wonderful. Let’s go. We can split up once we get a little deeper inside.”

If Herman said something, she didn’t stick around long enough to let him finish. Della’s intentions were focused on one goal. She eventually let go of Ephialtes so he could walk alone, but continued winding deeper and deeper, as far away from her other employee as possible. 

“So what are we doing now?” Ephialtes prompted.

“We’re looking for scrap,” Della said.

“And?” Ephialtes pressed.

“And trying not to die,” Della continued, keeping her eyes away from him.

“And…?” Ephialtes stopped and watched her walk. “You said you’d tell me why you wanted to come here so badly once we got inside.”

“And…” Della sighed. She glanced down the halls warily and beckoned Ephialtes closer. “I’m looking for something specific.”

“An item?” 

“A monster.” Her eyes wandered again. No sign of Herman. Good, because they already weren’t on decent terms. He would certainly have choice things to say if he knew.

“You want to find a monster?” Ephialtes sounded wary. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “... Okay. Which one do you want to find?”

“A Bracken.”

“A Bracken? You mean the rarest, most difficult to see until you’re already dead monster in the Thistle Nebula? That Bracken?” Ephialtes heard what he was saying and grimaced. “Why do you want to find that? It’s just going to hurt someone.”

“Quite the contrary, actually.” Standing around waiting for it wasn’t going to help Della’s journey. Besides, she wanted to grab scrap as well in case Herman turned a corner or Atlas pinged their walkie. “You remember how I said I was a biologist before taking this job, right?” 

“And you temporarily left it to come here so you could study the wildlife that spawns indoors because you didn’t have access to the facilities.” Ephialtes picked up a hairbrush while they walked. Della found a yield sign and showed it to him. They mutually agreed to set their findings in a pile to retrieve later. 

Della flashed her light down a hallway. The door was already open, leading further into the cold maze. She followed her beam. “That’s partially true, but it’s not the full story. I came here specifically searching for the Bracken so I could advance a branch of my research I’ve been focusing on for a few years. The Bracken is elusive and highly intelligent. Their numbers are low because of research and their nature as a k-selected species. They’ve started living indoors to protect themselves.”

“Yeah. They’re killing machines,” Ephialtes muttered.

“They are dangerous to someone who doesn’t know any better. But I suspect they could do a lot for our population,” Della explained. “What happens when a Bracken dies?”

“Can they even die?” Ephialtes picked up a key he found and jogged after her. Della was so intent on searching the halls for even a glimpse of beady eyes that she almost tripped over a sheet of metal she didn’t even glance at. Ephialtes had to pick it up himself.

“Of course they can, but that’s not what I’m worried about. It’s what happens when they die. Once they’re killed, their bodies undergo a rapid form of decomposition. Almost immediately they turn into particles. It doesn’t matter how they’re killed. This means scientists have conducted very little research about Brackens since our options are live, aggressive samples, which are already hard enough to find now that they exclusively inhabit Company property.” Della waved her flashlight. “That’s why I took this job. There’s Brackens crawling all over the place. Even though I’ve dedicated my entire life studying them, I’ve never seen one in person.” 

“So you just want to look at them?” Ephialtes paused. “No, wait. Do you want to kill it?”

“I don’t want to.” She looked down at her clenched fists, imagining the shovel she left at the main entrance. “But I want to learn more about their decompositional properties. They dissolve completely, entirely, in a matter of seconds. There has to be something in their biology that allows for rapid, targeted decomposition. Could you imagine what it would be like if we could weaponize Bracken biology for that? There could be amazing medicinal advances. Tumors? Cancers? They could be targeted and destroyed just like that if we added Bracken decompositional values to attack it.” She snapped her fingers. “Bracken research could change everything as we know it, Eph. That’s why I’m here.”

“Oh wow. That’s… incredible.” Ephialtes eyes followed her down another hallway. “I knew you were smart, Della, but something like that is… that’s really powerful. You could go down in history if you figure this out.”

“That’s not the important part.” Becoming a historical name was barely on Della’s mind when she thought about the success of her endeavors. “It’s about saving lives. I know this job is dangerous, but I won’t let anything get in my way if it brings me closer to solving the mystery behind Brackens.” She set her jaw. “Vow is their most prominent habitat, which is why I had to come here. If we find one, it’ll be roaming around these halls. Because of the light, they’re almost invisible. They always stalk from behind. Keep watching out behind you. You can recognize them by their white eyes.” 

“AH!” Della nearly dropped her flashlight when Ephialtes shouted. He was looking down the side of the T-branch hall opposite to her. 

She flocked to his side. “What is it? Is there a Bracken?!”

“Look right there!” He pointed down the hall at a wrinkly creature crawling around on all fours. Where its face should’ve been was a gaping mouth with small, pointed teeth. With a guttural sound, it crawled towards the two with its mouth wide… at a staggeringly slow pace.

“Oh.” Della’s shoulders slacked. “It’s just a Spore Lizard.” She held out her palm to the creature, who had stopped to stare at the employees. “Hey there, buddy. You doing okay?”

It squeaked and ran away, wagging its pink tail wildly as it fled into the darkness. She put her hands on her hips while she watched it go. “Ah well. They’re timid creatures. It probably won’t approach you like that again.”

“That thing is creepy!” Ephialtes shouted. He recoiled in disgust. “Those teeth could take your arm off!”

She snickered. “They’re herbivores. Trust me, they’re somehow even more scared of you than you are of them.”

“Wha- really?” Ephialtes stupidly looked back at her. 

Della barked a laugh at his cluelessness. Ephialtes was carrying quite a few things; she hadn’t even realized he found so much. “Let’s make a trip back to the main entrance so we can drop everything off before we go deeper.”

“You keep going,” Ephialtes offered. “We haven’t found that much. I’ll try to find some more up ahead.”

“Alright.” Della put the yield sign under her arm, almost hitting him with the pole in the process. “Don’t go too far.”

She walked back the way they came. Even without Atlas directing her, Della traditionally had a fair sense of direction so long as she didn’t stray too far from the main entrance. Her arms ached by the time she made it to the front entrance. It was a relief when she dropped her burdens, although Della kept hold of the yield sign as a defense mechanism to use for later.

She could see a few more things at the door that weren’t from her. Not a Hoarding Bug - the loot had been squashed into a corner a bit too carelessly for the insect. Herman must have stopped by first. She didn’t pass him, so she guessed he went back the way he came.

Curious, Della peeked down the right path. She could see the lights on in a doorway that he must have opened, the shelves in the open room barren. To the right, she saw a hall opening up into the maze she and Ephialtes were wandering. The facility was huge; he could be anywhere by now. Perhaps it wasn’t even the maze at all, and just a hall that was familiar to the ones she and Eph traversed.

She shrugged off her curiosities and walked back the way she came. “Hey, Eph?” she called. “You didn’t go too far, did you?”

No response yet. Della shrugged. “He wouldn’t go too far.” Poor Eph, terrified of most things. She wondered how long he managed to survive a job that petrified him. Had he ever thought about simply quitting? Why wouldn’t he? As Della questioned it, a thin scream rang out ahead. 

“Eph?!” By instinct, Della took the yield sign from the ground and ran through the door. “Eph, where are you?” She imagined all of the worst things — the Bracken she was looking for finding him unprepared, or some other horror startling him.

She found him shaky, breathless, deep into the maze and staring hollowly down a dark hallway in front of him. He was so shocked that he didn’t react to her arrival. Della tightened her grip. “Eph, what’s wrong?” 

“I-I-I saw it.” He scooted closer, shrinking away from the dark. “There were white eyes. Looking at me. It ran away.” 

Della sprouted from the ground. “Where?” she said. “Where did it go?”

He mutely pointed right. Della rounded the corner immediately to pursue his specimen.

“Wait!” Ephialtes caught up while Della fumbled for her flashlight. Her arms were starting to ache from the weight of her sign. “You’re going to corner it? What if it gets angry?”

“Brackens innately focus on retreating once they're spotted. If it hears us, it’ll keep trying to get as far away as it can. That way, we can chase it without riling it up.” Della nodded forward. “Come on.”

The two ran down the hall towards their target, Ephialtes still fumbling for words. “But what if you find it and it tries to stare down with you?”

“How do you know about Bracken stare downs?” She shot him a quizzical look. 

“Uh-” Ephialtes froze. “Y-You mentioned it before.”

“Have I?” Della had ranted to Ephialtes so many times about the Thistle Nebula’s unique fauna that she must have unintentionally described the behavior to him. She couldn’t remember explaining it, but she wouldn’t put it past herself. “You can manipulate their aggression depending on how you look at them - such as peripherally, or directly. Trust me, Eph. My life’s work has been dedicated towards this moment. It won’t kill me.”

She stopped at a pair of diverging paths. “Which way did it go?”

“I didn’t see it go this far.” Ephialtes glanced right and grabbed Della’s arm. “Right there!”

She turned sharply and caught a glimpse of ruffling leaves absorbed by shadows. Della ran. “I can’t let this Bracken get away!” She could go home. Even earlier than she thought. “I just have to kill this one so I can discover the truth.” Della imagined having a room of her own again. The release from this stuffy suit and out into the peaceful, safe world where she should be. The dull headache caused by the ship’s engine finally falling silent after these few weeks on the job. It was just one last task and then she could quit. She would make history, she would save people, or at least she would at least be able to finally go home-

She collided directly with Herman when he appeared from one of the side halls. Although he didn’t budge, Della fell backwards, hitting her head on the brick wall. Her head throbbed, but she immediately pushed herself up. “Get out of the way.”

He didn’t move. “What are you doing?”

“Working!” she shouted. “Move!” 

“I heard what you two were saying.” He leaned down. “You’re chasing a Bracken? Are you insane?”

“You don’t know anything! My entire life has been dedicated towards this moment!” Dismayed, Della realized she couldn’t see the Bracken’s white eyes anymore. She tried forcing herself past Herman, but he wouldn’t budge. “I have something important to do.”

“You’re going to get yourself killed!” Herman shouted. Ephialtes withdrew from his arguing co-workers. “And you’re dragging Ephialtes with you? You’ll kill him and maybe me too! What do you think will happen to Atlas if none of us come back from your stunt?”

“I didn’t ask Ephialtes to come. He can do whatever he wants.” Frustration seized Della in the form of hot tears blurring her eyes. She hated him at that moment. “I can handle myself! I already told you that I know what to do! I’m doing this to help people.” 

“Did you learn nothing from that Thumper? I’ve seen it happen too many times, even to people who thought they knew what they were doing like you. And you’re walking towards it?! I’ve experienced them before. You haven’t. You can never be prepared for those things. No number of books will make you understand them like I do.” He shook his head. “I knew you were a problem, but this is too far. You’ll die if I let you go.”

“I don’t care!” she yelled. “I don’t care if I die! I have to at least try! Even if I die, it’s worth at least trying!”

“I can’t let you find that thing,” Herman said. “Go back. Now.”

“You’ll have to drag me out of this facility, then,” she snapped. She tried forcing herself past him again. No avail. “I’m not leaving.”

He rubbed his head. “I can’t believe it. You’re actually running towards your own death.”

“You can tell me I’ll die as many times as you want. I’m not leaving!” Della’s face twisted into a hysterical smile. “We can stand here until nighttime. You can tell me over and over again not to chase it. When you leave, I’ll just follow it anyway.”

“Della-” Ephialtes began, flashing Herman a worried look.

“I have seen enough people die on this job. I will not let it happen again, and I definitely will not let you try to get yourself killed!” he argued back. “Too many people have died already!”

“I’m not going to die.” Della pushed him again. “I won’t! I won’t die! LET GO OF ME!”

They struggled for a few more moments. Herman forced her back one more time and then paused. They were at a standstill. Neither willing to budge. Until Herman finally said, “fine then. You’re right.”

Della blinked.

Herman stepped out of the way, opening the path. “You’re insane, and I won’t get it through your head. Go. Keep walking. I’ve dealt with you enough already to know that you mean it when you say you’ll wait here all day.”

This had to be some sort of plan. Della narrowed her eyes at him. She couldn’t pry anything from his stiff body language, his veiled face. Della didn’t trust him, but she wouldn’t waste anymore time. She started off after the Bracken. But Herman was the one who followed behind her, not Ephialtes. “What are you doing?” she demanded.

Herman looked down. “I’m going with you. Maybe I can’t get you to change your mind, but I won’t watch you die. That way, when things inevitably go wrong, I’ll throw myself at it instead.”

Della froze. “You’re joking.”

“Not at all.” He nodded forward. “Keep going.” 

This was for her to do, not anyone else. Why did he insist on getting in her way? She wasn’t going to die, but she didn’t need him walking around interfering! Maybe he didn’t even mean it, and as soon as they saw the Bracken he would drag her away, or misinterpret a situation once and ruin all of her plans. Why of all employees in the world did she get stuck with this one, who somehow clashed with her at every opportunity. “No! Go away!”

Yet there was nothing she could do to stop him, and she knew that as well as he did. “You don’t have a choice, Della,” he said. “I’m not going to let you kill yourself. So we can turn around and go home now and no one dies, or I will instead. So, the choice is yours. Where are we going?”

Della was shocked. She was in disbelief. She was angry. “You’re crazy,” she spat. “You’re actually crazy!”

Chapter Text

The three walked together through the facility in silence. Della took the lead with Herman behind her, Ephialtes bringing up the rear. None of them said a word. It was so quiet that Della could hear the drops of water dripping from every leaky pipe. 

There was no goal, and there was no plan. The three wandered the facility absentmindedly now, somewhat in the same direction the Bracken ran to, but with no real motivation to track the creature down. The scrap they walked past was silently acknowledged and ignored, none of them willing to break pace to gather it. 

Eventually, Herman finally turned to look back at Ephialtes. “You should go back,” he suggested. “There’s no reason for you to be caught up in all of this when it goes wrong.”

Ephialtes shook his head. Herman sighed. “Fine, then. Have you contacted Atlas recently?”

“I probably should.” Ephialtes picked up his walkie while Della led them down another hallway. “Hello? Atlas?”

“I was wondering what you three were doing! I’ve been trying to get a response out of you for ages! I thought you dropped it again.” Atlas’ voice was fuzzy, the wavering battery life apparent. “What’s going on? Why are the three of you walking together?”

Herman was the one who answered her. “We’re fine, Atlas. Something… came up, but it’s not important.”

“Oh, good… as long as the three of you are okay. I’ll just be watching. By the way, that Spore Lizard is behind you.” Ephialtes turned it off and put the walkie back on his belt. 

“Wait, Spore Lizard? Where?” Ephialtes turned around and saw the massive reptile hiding behind him. Ephialtes yelped as loudly as the creature did. It turned and ran away, its pink tail eaten by the dark. Herman spoke quietly to Ephialtes, reminding him of the creature’s herbivorous diet.

Not important. Della shot Herman a contemptuous look, one he returned with equal firmness. No, it was plenty important, much more than his dingy corporate work. He just didn’t feel that way. 

She was angry, but stumped as well. As much as she wanted to find her Bracken, there was no way she was leading Herman to it. Could Herman kill Brackens? Even with her knowledge, they were quite a challenge to kill, especially with only a weapon as support. He would either kill it if he knew how to or drag her away the second she was in reach of her goal. 

Della knew he had no intention of letting her stay close to the leafy beast, as much as he acted like it was her decision, and his bluff about dying was just another tactic to intimidate Della out of trying. She wasn’t frightened. No one was insane enough to die for something like that. He hadn’t brought it up again since delivering his ultimatum, even while she deliberately wandered with no intent of helping them bring in loot today. She didn’t care if they went home with nothing but her yield sign today, and Della was willing to throw it into the ditch where the fire exit was just to spite him. 

Her Bracken was close, so close. Close enough that Della wasn’t admitting defeat to him yet. What she lacked in strength, she made up for in cleverness. Herman could force her to stop here and now, but he was still holding onto the idea Della would meekly agree to what he said under the threat of ruining her strategy. He knew these halls, but she knew her target better.

But there were other things to consider. Even if she miraculously baited Herman away, there were two other things to consider – where she encountered the Bracken, first of all. In a wide space like those creepy bronze rooms with the tile flooring she sometimes saw, the Bracken had the advantage. It was wickedly quick and only needed one snap of its claws to kill her. She would rather find it in these smaller hallways where she could quickly turn, or lure it into a dead end where she could stun it. Ephialtes had sent it fleeing somewhere in this maze; she knew by catching its gaze first, she could subtly send it elsewhere in the maze. By following it after one more intimidation, the Bracken would continue trying to escape her gaze by turning corners and hiding. While it was defensive, Della could strike and kill it. She closed her eyes and played out the same sequence she’d imagined so many times before.

The other thing to ponder was Ephialtes. She wasn’t sure why exactly he selected to stay with her and Herman, but she could only imagine it was to support her. He brought her to Vow and didn’t warn her against her plan like Herman tried to. Admittedly, Della would still rather do this alone, but she was indebted to Ephialtes to let him watch just for sticking it out this far. She just hoped that when she initiated a plan, Ephialtes would be prepared to roll with it. 

She tried to look back at him, to catch his attention and make some sort of gesture to tell him she wasn’t done yet, but Herman blocked her way. He cast her a suspicious look while she turned forward. “Eph, can you ask Atlas how close we are to main?” Della asked.

“You’re ready to leave?” Herman said.

“No.” Della stared straight ahead.

Ephialtes picked up the communicator while the two spoke. “Not too far now, just turn left at the nearest T-branch, hug the right wall until the next right turn, and turn right and then left and you’ll be there.” Ephialtes held out the walkie so all three of them could hear Atlas’ instructions.

“Great. Thanks, Atlas.” He set the walkie away again and Della led them further down through the maze. 

Another bout of silence, this time much shorter when Ephialtes intervened, just as he always did. “Guys, can we stop and talk about this now?” he called. “Th-Things seem a bit, uh, heated right now. I know you two said a few things that upset each other, but we’re a team. Can’t we figure this out so we’re not storming around like this?”

“I am ready to let this go whenever she realizes that what she’s doing is suicide,” Herman said. 

“Says the one who declared he was going to kill himself if I carry out my mission,” Della shot back. “You’d know a thing or two about the topic, wouldn’t you?”

“Don’t you dare to try to make yourself sound like the innocent one here.” Herman pointed at her. “You’re the one putting us all in danger, not me. I’m trying to make you understand that someone is going to die if you carry this out, and I want to keep that from happening to all of you.”

She groaned and spun around to glower at him. “Would you quit acting like you’re some sort of savior? I didn’t ask you to show up and walk all over me! I can handle myself.”

“Right. I remember you handling that Thumper alone well,” Herman muttered.

If looks could kill, Della was certain her glare would impale him directly through their helmets. “It would have left eventually.”

“You really think-” He composed himself with a deep breath. “No. No, I’m not having this argument right now.” 

“I already thanked you for killing it, so you don’t have to bring it up again!” Della shouted. “And yes, it would have. When it realized it couldn’t reach me, it would’ve left to go find someone else. I-”

“Guys!” Ephialtes protested. “I… never mind. I don’t think we’re getting anywhere.”

“Regrettably,” Herman said. 

Della’s grip on her yield sign tightened, but she curbed her tongue. Her internal timer ticked away; she didn’t have much time to get them into position.

At the instructed T-branch, Della came to a halt when she was just able to look down both divergent roads. The one on her left led into light and a doorframe for the three of them to squeeze through, while the right led into deeper shadow. 

“What are you doing?” Herman asked impatiently.

She ignored him. “Ephialtes,” she instructed calmly, “keep looking behind us with your back to Herman. Don’t turn around until I say you can.”

“Uh… okay?” She heard the scuffle of his boots as he shifted his position. “Am I good?”

Della rolled her eyes. “If you can’t see Herman, then you’re doing great.”

In between the two of them, Herman’s line of sight was limited. He could look behind him just as clearly as Ephialtes, but behind Della, he had no view of their paths like she did. His only choices were ahead or directly behind him. 

Seconds passed. Della kept her head turned left, but she made sure her peripheral had just enough vision to glance right. “Della?” Ephialtes said.

“Shh,” she answered.

Quiet. Quiet, so quiet Della heard the chill in the air. Hyper aware of the sweat pooling around her finger tips. The yield sign creaked when she tensed. The lamp’s buzz throbbed in her head. She was aware of the light on her left, but more aware of the shadow she kept her back to. 

She shivered at the touch of the dark. The lamp ahead of her fell dimmer and dimmer until it was not a light anymore at all but the means of an escape. Her eyes strained and ached when she observed her exit. Della was only aware of her hands, which shook, drenched with sweat, clammy and strangled by her thick suit. She barely moved. Barely breathed. 

The dark moved. Goosebumps when its claws seeped up her back and wrapped around her shoulders. Its embrace was a chill that froze her bones. It curled close to her neck and dragged her into its maw, not warm with a beating heart but barren and freezing with the lack thereof life. She suffocated and squirmed, it tapped the swelling fear in her throat. 

It sought to choke her and drag what remained back to its heart. She could feel it. Closer. Torment satisfied it just as much as prey. Leaves and flesh shivered. Bristling hairs and claws that reached. She waited and waited and her neck snapped. 

The Bracken froze, startled when her eyes confronted it. It hissed, beet body fleshy in the trickling light. It retreated back into the gulping darkness, eyes piercing hers through the dark. Della exhaled, her hands slippery enough to nearly drop her yield sign. 

Herman, who had not seen Della bait the Bracken, knew the sounds of their predator. He turned Ephialtes around. “Don’t follow it,” he begged.

Della gave him a pointed look and turned to follow the Bracken, tying his hands. 

“Please, Della, just listen for a moment!” Herman followed her, catching her shoulder while she ran. The Bracken turned right somewhere ahead, dissolving into the darkness crawling through the facility. “Don’t do this. I don’t want either of you to die. I don’t even want you to risk it anymore than you have to in a job like this.”

“You don’t understand what I’m doing, Herman,” Della said. “This is worth dying for.”

“No it isn’t!” he exclaimed. “Nothing is, especially not this job!”

“Then why are you here?!” she demanded. “Why are any of us here, when we all know people die doing this job?”

“Della,” he said again. “Some people didn’t have an option. Some people didn’t know better. I know that you do.” Somewhere in the distance, Della could hear the Spore Lizard’s waddling steps. “I’m begging you, don’t risk your life for something so small. It’s not worth it.”

She shook him off. “You’re not like me, Herman. This is something I’ll die to see. I can help so many people if it works. What’s one life to try to save thousands? I’m not afraid of doing what I have to, even if it doesn’t work.”

He grabbed her arm and yanked her back before she could run. “I can’t let you do this,” he said. “I can’t let you die if I can prevent it.”

“Let go of me!” she snapped. Della helplessly struggled in his grasp. “You can get yourself killed by that Bracken as much as you want to – I don’t care! I can handle myself fine without you around.”

“No.” He pulled her closer. “Eph, turn around. We’re leaving.”

Their coworker was frozen helplessly as he watched the two fight. She struggled to yank her wrist free. “Eph, stop him!” Della shot him a desperate look. “Ephialtes, please!”

His eyes were set in her direction, but Della realized not on her. There was something behind her he was watching. “Della, maybe you should listen to him.”

“Are you crazy?” she said. “I thought you were on my side!”

“It’s not that simple, Della. This isn’t a Spore Lizard, it’s a Bracken. What if you’re wrong and something happens?” Ephialtes gestured his head over her shoulder. Look there. There was something important. “I don’t want you to die.” 

Della glanced right. The Spore Lizard froze, squeaking in terror at the idea of confrontation. It was clearly scared, but entranced by the employees fighting. An idea flickered through her mind. “We should leave,” Ephialtes insisted. “It can’t be that far away from here.”

She stopped scraping, letting her arm go limp. Herman stopped. “Y-You really think so?” She kept her voice hoarse and ragged, hurt by his suggestion.

Ephialtes nodded. “Your plan will never work like this. You should just let it go. Let’s get back to work instead and forget about this.” 

Della hesitated, feigning thought. “I-If you really think so. If you both try to stop me, there’s not much else I can do.” She stopped fighting Herman’s grip. “Okay. I’ll go.”

Herman hesitated to let go, cautious about her shift in demeanor. “You’re done with this?”

“No.” Della dared to glare into his face. “But I know I’m not going to make it now.” She dropped the yield sign, which Ephialtes grabbed and pulled away from her, creeping closer to the watching Spore Lizard.

Herman clearly still didn’t trust her, but even he knew that caught between himself and Ephialtes, there was nothing Della could do. He let go. “Then let’s leave.”

“You’re right.” Della whirled around. “EPH, NOW!” 

Ephialtes brought up the yield sign and slammed it down on the Spore Lizard’s tail. It squealed in fear and released a plume of pink spores. The air was hazy. Della could barely see Herman just a few inches in front of her. Just before the air went up in spores, Della caught sight of Ephialtes’ yield sign pointed in the air. 

She ran forward and grabbed Ephialtes, pulling him further into the maze. “Come on!”

Not a word, not a sound until they lost him. Della and Ephialtes pushed their way through the spore cloud and deeper into the dark facility. Herman was somewhere behind them shouting their names; they exchanged a glance, each keeping to their silence until they were far enough away that they couldn’t hear his voice at all. 

Once they made their escape and were in a few extra turns, the two stopped. “Hey, the fire escape’s right here.” Ephialtes pointed with his sign at a door frame ahead. There was a jump to the other side in the room which housed the fire exit. 

“Herman won’t know that,” Della reasoned. “As far as he’s aware, we’re closer to the main entrance.” That was a relief, because Della lost track of their path in the run through the spores. “I don’t remember the path back.”

“I would ask Atlas, but we’ll have a lot of explaining to do if we try,” Ephialtes admitted. “It’s better we keep to ourselves.”

They both paused, panting, catching their breath. “Thank you,” Della said. “I didn’t know you had that in you.”

“I want to see you kill that Bracken! I think you can do it.” Ephialtes handed her the yield sign back. “Now it’s all up to you.”

“The Bracken is around here somewhere. We got far enough away that it should be tracking us now,” Della looked warily around. “It ran north, so I made sure to run towards it. The Bracken will track us instead of Herman.”

“You’ve… really thought all of this through, huh?” Ephialtes followed, impressed. 

“More times than I can count.” She gave him a look. “Eph… I appreciate everything you’ve done, but what I was saying to Herman about the Bracken applies to you too. They’re dangerous and can be unpredictable if there’s too many variables around. So when we find it, I need you to stay out of the way. One person won’t aggravate it, but two will.”

He nodded. “At least let me follow you to make sure you have it.” 

Della nodded, checking the halls. She gasped. “Eph, behind you!”

They both peeked out. Far, far down the hall, Della caught a glimpse of ivory eyes. It peered once at the two employees and fled somewhere else in the dark. Ephialtes shone his flashlight, revealing the left turn it fled down. The two pursued it. “Let’s go! This could be it!”

Della grabbed the wall to propel herself over the turn without losing speed. The Bracken was stealthy in approach but slow when retreating. They were catching up to the beast. Using Ephialtes’ flashlight under his arm, Della could see another turn into the maze ahead. It would use that to lose its pursuers. “Left!” she yelled to Ephialtes, keeping him on pace. She turned shortly after the Bracken did and slowed to a halt. As she expected, the hall curved to an immediate dead end.

Della couldn’t believe it. “Stop.” She put a hand out to caution Ephialtes before he turned down the hallway. Ephialtes turned off his light, leaving Della alone with the creature. 

Its leaves shivered while it looked down at Della. She was breathless with awe. A real Bracken, after so many years reading about them or witnessing imagery in videos. She was one of so few scientists who could finally witness one herself. “There you are,” she whispered, crouching forward. “I’ve been waiting for you.” 

The Bracken hissed. The weight of her yield sign felt heavier, clamping the muscles near her elbows. Della’s body trembled when she reached for her stun grenade and fiddled it free. Once she threw this, there was no turning back. She would have to kill it or else it would remain aggressive. “I’ve spent my entire life preparing for this moment. I’m not like any other employees you’ve caught before. I’m ready to kill you.” 

It hissed again. Della avoided its eyes, careful not to stir up its temper anymore than she had to. She was finally ready. Ready to live out her dream and finally see it through. Della lifted her sign over the sound of the Bracken’s furious hissing. She could hear its leaves scattering, its final attempt of intimidation before it would attack.

But why was it so enraged already? Della had avoided keeping eye contact when it tried to startle her. It wasn’t supposed to be angry until she attacked it. Brackens were territorial towards those who tried to intimidate it, but Della was still presenting herself as prey. Was this Bracken frightened of something else? Who—

Della turned over her shoulder. Ephialtes had crept up behind her to see the creature herself and was frozen in fear. His eyes were locked with the Bracken’s; his terror so apparent she could see his hands shake. He dropped the flashlight as the battery drained, submerging them in the dark. 

She shook her head. “Ephialtes,” she whispered. “Eph. Stop staring at it.”

But he couldn’t move. The Bracken lurched closer. Ephialtes shriveled away, backing down. Its hissing swelled.

She was horrified, furious, terrified of his actions. She threw herself onto her feet. “I said DON’T STARE AT IT!” Della screamed. She dropped the sign and shoved Ephialtes down the hall. “Go! Now! And don’t look back!”

Ephialtes’ mouth moved in a way that looked like ‘why’, but Della couldn’t hear his voice over the Bracken’s growling. He finally fled, Della rushing just behind him. “Run! Faster! IT’S RIGHT BEHIND US!”

He fled, but he was slow, stumbling and clumsy in his terror. Della’s instincts shrieked for her to throw him aside and save, but she couldn’t abandon him. 

The Bracken was fast, far faster than a human could run without tiring. Even without looking back she could feel the Bracken gaining on them. The Bracken’s growls rolled in her ears, sending tremors down her body. “Left!” she screamed. “The fire exit’s through there!”

They could make it if they were quick enough. A jump spread between the two employees and safety. She made it through the room and kicked the door closed, borrowing just a moment for Ephialtes to jump while it struggled to break through. 

Ephialtes made it across. The door opened behind her. Della struggled to hold the railing while she climbed onto the beam. Claws trailed down her back. It wasn’t enough. They were too slow to run, too slow to leap to safety. Della knew when she lost her momentum waiting for Ephialtes to make it across that the Bracken would catch her. He was gone now, throwing open the fire exit. Della caught sight of her last glimpses of light and was engrossed by the dark when it slammed shut.

I’m going to die, she thought somewhere in her adrenaline rush. It’s going to kill me. She hoped the Bracken would retreat after one kill and let Ephialtes go free if he returned to check on her.

She could hear stomping footsteps behind her and the door burst open. Air rushed over her as the Bracken lunged. In the same instance she jumped, awaiting its claws to pry her back. Della rolled onto the other side of the jump, slamming her back into the guardrail. 

She threw herself up to her feet, understanding somewhere in the adrenaline and the terror that she was still alive. She’d made it? Did the Bracken give up? It was an aloof creature, but it did not give up chasing easily. Something else must have caught its attention. Della knew the danger of provoking the Bracken further, but she glanced over her shoulder over the gap to see what distracted it.

The Bracken had stopped following, but it was still there, lingering across the gap, its eyes on hers. In its claws where she should have been seconds ago was something else. Della had just enough time to recognize Herman before the Bracken snapped his neck.

Chapter Text

The sickening pop of dislocation crackled like static through the air. Della gave a small jump at the motion of the wrench. The Bracken’s limbs flew free and its prey dropped to the ground. His head banged against the guardrail on the opposite side of the catwalk as he fell motionless to the floor. She was fortunate enough that the shadows swallowed most of the details, but she could see his neck unnaturally twisted over his shoulder.

She blankly stared back at the Bracken, fighting back the rising bile in her throat. Instincts screamed at her to run, to fight, to curl up and hide. Each emotion conflicted with the other, throwing out useless commands.

The Bracken ignored its living target, favoring the dead employee. It crouched over Herman’s body, leaves spreading with a deep rustling sound. She saw its claws wrap around his throat, pushing it back towards the back of his neck. She heard his tendons and flesh groan in protest at the unnatural motion. The Bracken’s form shrouded Herman’s, and then she meekly watched as both disappeared further into the dark. Its glistening pupils watched Della as it retreated with its kill until both vanished from sight. 

No trace of the two remained. No trail, no sound. She felt her body slowly rise to its feet and stagger to the fire exit, slipping on nothing. Arms pushed into the safety bar and light pierced her visor. She slammed the door shut behind her and slumped against it, propping herself up. 

The light made her head pound and the heat threatened to suffocate her. The sounds, the sights, and the thoughts in her head made her stomach heave. She wrestled her helmet off and threw it aside, exposing her dazed expression to the sunlight.

Della failed to recognize Ephialtes until he peeked into her peripheral vision. He’d been standing off to the side, staring absentmindedly at the cliffs of Vow’s canyon when she thrust herself through the door. “Has that Bracken left yet?” he asked, oblivious to her distress. “For a moment there I was worried it might have caught you.”

His words felt otherworldly, as though he questioned events occurring on another moon. Della gazed back with hollow eyes while she caught her breath. She clenched her abdomen with a hand, willing her nausea down. She barely heard him over the sound of Herman’s neck twisting in her head over and over again. “Herman,” she managed to rasp.

Ephialtes stepped back, tilting his head. “What’s that? Oh, right, I nearly forgot Herman’s still in there.” He turned his chin towards the door. “No matter. He knows the Bracken is inside. Let’s wait a few minutes for it to calm down and go back inside to search for him.”

His nonchalance to their situation brought Della back. “He’s dead!” she shrieked. “He’s dead, you idiot!”

“He’s dead? ” Ephialtes repeated. “You saw him?”

She swallowed, her mouth dry. “It grabbed him and snapped his neck.” The sounds replayed much more vividly than the visuals. When Della remembered the rattle of the guardrail as his helmet collided with it, she wondered if what she thought were shadows darkening its yellow paint were flecks of blood from the open wound. “I couldn’t do anything.”

Ephialtes struggled to answer. She could only imagine the expression hiding beneath his helmet. “If it dragged him away, there’s nothing we can do,” he murmured solemnly. “How did it happen?”

“I think the Bracken was about to kill me.” She remembered the hysteria coursing through her as she sprinted after Ephialtes. The impending terror while waiting for him to make the jump. The rush, the gust of air, and then Herman’s appearance. “He pushed himself in the way instead.” 

“Hmm.” Eph’s visor shifted towards the ground. “I suppose that’s what he said he’d do, isn’t it? He said he’d protect us if something went wrong.”

She stiffened at the memory. She remembered their argument when he eavesdropped on their plan. How she spat at him for the suggestion of dying for his crewmates. Della refused to believe he meant it. She saw him as arrogant. Domineering. And then he died for her. Unable to gather the words to answer, she gently shook her head. “What do we do?”

“There’s nothing left to do for him,” he admitted. “All we can do is continue our quota.” His tone shifted to a soft hush. “I… I don’t think he’d want us to risk going back there yet. It might be best for us to go back to the ship and tell Atlas what happened.”

Atlas would be devastated. She had to be aware already; she certainly couldn’t miss the Bracken dragging him into the dark from her spot at the terminal. Yet the idea of confessing the accident dragged everything out of her. She wanted to run into the woods and hide from her responsibilities, but there was nothing else to be done. “I guess you’re right,” she whispered. “Let’s go.”

She forced herself on shaky legs to push through the dirt. Della moved in a daze, her surroundings a blur. Ephialtes occasionally had to shoulder her aside from a splotch of quicksand or a tree. She barely responded to his support.

Dead. The grotesque visual replayed endlessly in Della’s mind like clockwork, like the darkest radio nvm delete this detail later I don’t like it. She searched for Ephialtes’ face multiple times during their work and met the cold glint of his helmet. Della detested the stifled work environment and their emotionless clothes. She scarcely felt human anymore. She felt like an inconsequential speck working with faceless aliens who cared nothing for her human matters. She wondered what he thought and if he was as devastated as she was.

She never intended for things to end this way. Della didn’t like Herman, but she certainly didn't wish for him to die. Especially under her watch! She should have done something differently. Could she have changed his fate? She searched her mind for something. I should have engaged it further away. Guaranteed that despite his best efforts to find the duo, he wouldn’t be able to intervene before her work was done. Or… Or… 

But alternatives escaped her, and Della’s body felt painfully heavy as she trudged along. Perhaps the best thing she could have done was to never fight that Bracken in the first place. It was for a good reason! I tried to do the right thing! The world needs this!

But was it worth it?

From the crushing anguish and horror Della felt on her soul, she didn’t think so. 

She dreaded the faint sound of the ship's whirring engine when they finally came within earshot of their base. Della froze at the foot of the hill. Ephialtes glanced back at her before grabbing her wrist. “You can’t avoid it,” he said. “Come on. It’ll be easier if we tell her together.”

She didn’t answer him, although she didn’t have much of a choice. The two climbed up to find the ship waiting for them. The ship’s doors were wide open. Atlas stood outside, clinging to the guardrails. Her blue eyes bored into them when they approached. “Tell me what happened,” she demanded. “Why did you three get separated? Why isn’t he moving?!”

“Atlas-” Della spoke softly, but Ephialtes quickly cut her off.

“I think you already know what happened, Atlas. You’re not stupid.” He crossed his arms. “A Bracken caught Herman. He’s dead.”

Della shot him an incredulous look. How could he describe it so callously?

Atlas shrank back. “He can’t be!”

“Why else do you think he’d still be in there?” Ephialtes demanded. “The two of you need to get a grip. He’s dead.” 

“How?” Atlas said. “How?! There’s no way something surprised him - he’s Herman! Nothing is strong enough to kill him!”

Ephialtes pulled off his helmet. Dirty and exposed, his hair danced in the wind. His yellow eyes were cold and bleak. “Della wanted to capture a Bracken,” he explained. “When Herman heard about it, he decided to get involved. He threw himself in the way and saved Della when her plan went wrong.”

Two pairs of eyes, blue and yellow, shifted to Della. The accusation of his words left her reeling. “Why are you making this sound like it’s my fault?! I didn’t ask him to throw himself in front of me! I could’ve handled everything myself if it wasn’t for the two of you! You angered it, and he-”

She cut herself off. Why blame Herman? He died for her! Della felt so sick thinking about her upcoming words. She withdrew into herself, hugging her shoulders. “You’re right,” she murmured, her face pale. “It’s my fault. I killed him.”

The sound of the breeze filled the air after her words. Atlas hesitantly cleared her throat and brushed her arm to comfort her. “Don’t say it like that. You didn’t kill him.”

But she did, and Della knew her role in his death. Despite Atlas’ best attempts at reassuring her, her mind refused to let the truth go.

Ephialtes sighed. “There’s no point standing around talking about it.” Ephialtes climbed onto the guardrail and nudged past Atlas. “I’m going to get that teleporter shipped. We’ll need it in order to recover his body.”

Still feeling dazed, Della absentmindedly lifted her head to watch Ephialtes push past Atlas. “You’re going to teleport him back? What’s the point?” Della knew with absolute certainty Herman died. Ephialtes hadn’t said anything suggesting he didn’t believe her. She grimaced at the visual of his limp form warped back to the ship. Della’s imagination already ran rampant with the picture of her consequences; she didn’t need to see how many of the gory details were true.

“Corporate penalizes us if we can’t bring back bodies. Our job is to bring the corpses back to Gordion and then call for a replacement,” Ephialtes shouted from inside. “I’ve already ordered what I need, so the two of you should head back and try to fetch our loot from main. Let’s not make this day an entire waste.”

His words were so dystopian, so deplorable that Della half-expected him to rear his head back through the door and sneer. Atlas didn’t react to his explanation, proving his information. “Are you kidding me? Someone just died, and this Company is worried about fucking penalizing us?” she screamed.

Atlas reached out and touched her shoulder. “Della-”

Della wove away from her arm, her eyes wide. “How is something this horrible allowed to just exist?! What’s wrong with you two? Why in your right mind would you ever choose to work in a place like this?” If she’d known earlier the horrors that awaited her here, the exploitative practices, the disdain their management treated them with, Della never would have joined this miserable place. Her project could wait. No human being deserved an existence so grim. Atlas’ bleak expression, Ephialtes’ lack of reply, Herman’s morbid death, the insensitive rules here - Della felt like she was going insane.

Atlas’ head drooped. “Della, for most of us, we– we didn’t have a choice.”

She froze, absorbing the horror of her explanation. Her shoulders slumped as the fight drained out of her. “Come on,” she forced herself to croak. She dropped off the stun grenades she wished she’d used earlier to free herself for more loot. “Let’s do what he said.” 

“I-I can’t walk fast,” Atlas protested, treading slowly behind her coworker. 

“We have all day.” 

Atlas nodded and limped after Della. She faintly heard the hiss of the ship’s doors closing as Eph locked himself inside. Della saw no point to it; the sun remained high in the sky. The chances of danger finding its way to the ship even for the next few hours were low. She lacked the energy to shout at him. All she wanted was to crawl into a hole in the ground and sink. 

“Do you know how the teleporter works?” Atlas asked. 

“No.” While Atlas filled the atmosphere with noise, Della’s mind wandered back to Herman. No matter how many times she told himself his death was an accident, her guilt worsened. She knew the risks of her actions. She knew there were other employees around. Yet she chose to pursue her plan anyway. His death would linger over her forever. Returning home wouldn’t help her escape from it. It didn’t vanish once she left the Thistle Nebula. He would follow her for the rest of her life, reminding her of this moment.

“The Company’s supply ship drops off all of the parts necessary to create one. Usually a ship doesn’t come with the base for a teleporter device like ours did. Ephialtes said this ship used to belong to his last crew. I guess the Company deactivates any upgrades on the ship if you switch crews. Ephialtes seems like he’s been doing this for a long time, so I guess he knows how to build it himself.” Atlas played with her hair. “He could probably take my job if I wasn’t so helpless.”

Della barely heard her words. She stumbled through a briar filled with thorns and barely caught herself before she tripped. A few prickles jabbed through her suit, but Della ignored the nicks of pain. 

Atlas circled around the thornbush and desperately reconsidered how to shift Della’s mood. Compared to Ephialtes and Herman’s experience, Atlas could be considered a relatively new employee at the Company. Not quite as new as Della, but enough to bounce between multiple crews. Although she couldn’t relate to Della’s guilt, she knew the pain of watching people die around her. “Do you want to talk?” she offered softly. “I miss him too. He really cared a lot about keeping all three of us alive.” 

She bit back her retort and kept her chin forward. Della didn’t miss him. She never gave herself enough time to like him before he died. Della only viewed him as an inconvenience. To know he valued her life so much more than she valued his made things worse. She wished she missed him. She wished she felt more than just the heavy weight on her conscience. 

“He wouldn’t want you to feel bad about it, Della,” Atlas urged her. “He always tried his best to put himself between us and any danger. I think he would always choose to save you over himself.”

“You don’t get it, Atlas. He didn’t have a choice. It’s my fault that Bracken went anywhere near us.” She explained the truth surrounding her intentions at the Company and the group’s confrontation in the facility. “If I gave up and listened to him, he’d still be alive.”

“If forcing you to give up was really what he wanted to do, he could have just dragged you out of the facility himself,” Atlas pointed out. “It has to mean something that he didn’t immediately stop you. Maybe he wanted you to succeed and gave his life to try and help… in his own way.”

The thought didn’t make her feel much better. “We’ll never know that now. He’s dead.”

“But it’s not your fault,” Atlas insisted.

She wondered if Atlas truly believed her own words, or if she spoke solely for Della’s sake. 

Della guided Atlas through the undergrowth and to the canyon between the forest and Vow’s facility. She knew Atlas wouldn’t be able to run across the flimsy bridge, so she gestured for Atlas to follow her the long way around the slope. “There’s not much,” she said while walking to the doors. “We might be able to bring it all back in one trip.”

Her hand found the handles. Della hesitated before she opened the door. A shiver ran up her spine. What if she opened the door and the Bracken lingered over at the entrance? She clearly imagined its claws twisting Atlas’ neck and dragging her away just as it did to Herman.

She grimaced and forced the intrusive thought out. You’re better than this! She tried rationalizing to herself while she fought for breath. The facility was massive. The Bracken wouldn’t choose to nest so close to people. She forced the door open before Atlas picked up on her terror. 

The familiar, gray main entrance welcomed her. Della heard the fan whirring loudly above them. Both doors on opposite sides remained swung open from the first time the crew passed through. Their stash of loot remained exactly where they left them. Thankfully, Della couldn’t find any trace of blood. The Bracken hadn’t passed through here. She recognized everything she left - the combination of her own findings and Eph’s - which made Herman’s contributions far more poignant.

Della scooped up as many trinkets as she could from her pile, unwilling to touch anything from Herman. “You take all of that,” she said, pointing to the unwanted loot. “Don’t exhaust yourself, there’s more than I thought. Eph and I can make a second trip back to pick up those two engines. Grab as many smaller items as you can.”

Atlas nodded and heaved herself onto her feet. She struggled with the lump of miscellaneous toys and the crate of metal sheets in her arms, but she hobbled after Della without complaint. Still, Della took a few of the scraps under her shoulders to alleviate her weight. She kicked open the door and held it open with her weight to let Atlas scurry back out into the daylight. 

Della checked the sun before they disappeared into the forest. It lingered near the edge of the horizon, threatening to set. She slowed down her pace to walk side-by-side with Atlas. She already walked slowly before, but with the weight of their new findings, the girls’ pace had drawn to a crawl. Della was tired, exasperated, and bitter over the results of the day. She barely curbed her tongue to avoid venting her frustration on the innocent employee. She tried focusing on the feeling of her feet touching the ground while she navigated her way back, thinking of anything to avoid the dreadful reality of her dead coworker, but it did little to ease her thoughts.

At least an hour passed during their trek back from the facility, although Della guessed it’d been longer. Her arms begged to be relieved of their burden. Atlas said nothing during the walk back, but Della guessed the toll of their labors wore her down. “It’s just over this hill,” she promised, sliding down into the small crater beneath the hill. She circled around to the back of the ship while Atlas clumsily followed behind her.

“Eph!” Della rapped on the ship’s doors, still closed from earlier. “We’re back. Let us in so we can drop everything off. There’s no Dogs or Giants around.”

He didn’t answer. Della and Atlas exchanged a look. “Eph, did you hear me?” She pounded on the door until her fist ached. “Let us in!”

Della withdrew her arm, scoffing. The last thing she needed on top of everything was Ephialtes’ withdrawal. He’d started acting weird ever since Herman died. As she put down her load, Della leaned closer to the door and listened for any signs of life inside. She could hear a few clanking noises and Ephialtes’ grunts, but he made no acknowledgement of the girls outside. 

She put her hands on her hips. “He’s in there, but he sounds like he’s busy.” She sighed. Waiting around only wasted their dwindling daylight. The sky had grown dark during their trip back. Not dark enough yet that Della felt uneasy going out, but their time left on this moon was dwindling. “Whatever. You and I can handle one more trip. Let him keep doing… whatever he’s doing in there.” 

Atlas’ face looked like a second trip was the last thing she wanted, but Della didn’t offer her the chance to complain. She turned back around and hopped off of the ship, helping Atlas down. “We’ll go faster this time,” she promised, knowing her words couldn’t be further from the truth. Both of them were exhausted physically and emotionally. She hated Ephialtes for excusing himself from their duties, but there was nothing to be done with her anger. She stomped up the hill, patience for their job thinning. It was the first thing all day that overtook the priority of Herman’s death on her mind.

The forest grew quieter as evening bathed the moon. Soft orange light glowed between the trees, its colors dimming. Atlas nervously surveyed the breaks in the treeline, sensing the upcoming night. “Are you sure we’ll have time to get back?” she asked. Following her words, Atlas’ footsteps trailed to a halt.

“We’ll have plenty. The light outside’s deceiving about the time. It’s only around six. We’ll be back before things get serious.” When she realized she could only hear her own footsteps, Della checked Atlas’ expression and glanced over to her right.

A Forest Keeper lumbered through the woods behind them, heading in their direction. Although it hadn’t spotted them yet, Della knew it would wander near them soon enough. It looked curiously through the forest, rattling the nearest tree like a toy. It sent herds of Tulip Snakes gliding out from their perches and scurrying for cover.

“Oh. It’s a Giant.” Della tugged Atlas behind the tree. “We’ll have to be careful. It’ll definitely catch us if it notices, but Giants are pretty stupid. We can manipulate them.”

When Atlas didn’t say anything, Della turned around and saw her large blue eyes eyeing her in fear. “What? Is there a Dog?” She strained her neck to see over Atlas’ head, but the forest remained empty. “Oh. Giants are deaf. We can talk.”

She released the breath she’d been holding. “Really?”

“Yep. It’s a good thing, too. If Giants had good sight and hearing, forest moons like Vow would be a death trap. That’s what makes Dogs and Giants in the same territory so dangerous, although they’ll usually avoid each other when they can.” Della peeked out from their cover again to check the Giant’s location.

It wandered slightly further from its first spot, but the Giant remained sandwiched between the employees and the ship’s coveted safety. They could try to circle around the Giant and take a longer route to the ship instead of cutting directly through, but Della worried about the risks of hidden quicksand or beehives they could stumble into. She doubted Atlas could run fast enough to outspeed a Giant regardless of how close they were to the ship. Her gaze painstakingly lingered over the hill just behind the Giant. One uphill climb and they were safe. It felt so close and yet so far.

“There’s no point going back to the facility if there’s a Giant around. We’ll split up,” Della decided. “I’ll distract the Giant while you break for the ship. It’s a straight shot from here. Climb over that slope behind the Giant and the ship is at the foot of the curve. I’ll bring it over here while you circle around the Giant and get to the ship. Do something to get my attention once you’re inside.”

“But what about you?!” Atlas whispered. “Are you sure you can distract it for that long?”

“I’ll be fine. You’ll just have to wait for my cue first before you run. I have to make sure it sees me. They’re strong, but stupid; it won’t try to chase you if it sees me. They have one-track minds, kind of like babies.” She slowly backed out from her cover before Atlas could protest the insanity of her plan. “Be ready to go, okay?”

Atlas silently nodded, though her puffed up cheeks suggested she wasn’t happy about Della’s decision. Della continued jogging backwards, waving her arms to make herself as visible as possible to the massive creature. “Hey! Over here!” She knew the Giant couldn’t hear her, but she still felt more obvious by calling out to it. Quit looking at those stupid trees and focus over here!”

The Giant obliviously missed the sound of her voice, but Della felt the moment it spotted her. An unconscious chill spread through her body when it targeted her. In the back of her mind, she knew most of the iris-like patterns spread across its arms and legs were mimicry meant to intimidate predators. But beneath its booming presence, every eye felt real, and they all viewed her as prey. 

The Giant’s massive body creaked. The surrounding trees trembled as it started toward her. Della continued backing up and locked eyes with Atlas. “Go now!” she ordered. “Just avoid its arms! It won’t grab you unless you walk right up to it!”

Atlas had already started limping back towards the ship before Della finished speaking. The Giant walked past the green-suited employee, focused entirely on Della. She turned and ran to the right, circling around the Giant to draw as close to the ship as she could. Getting back to the ship wasn’t the hard part; Della had enough stamina to run to the ship and then a bit further while keeping pace ahead of the Giant. The true question was if she could buy enough time for Atlas to make it inside safety. She knew her friend ran as quickly as she could, but she felt achingly slow when Della watched her hobble towards shelter.

Her heart leaped in her chest when her foot found a bramble, tripping her up. Della propped herself up with a tree trunk, narrowly missing the floor, but it threw off her focus. She forced herself to keep running without an opportunity to catch her breath. Watching Atlas only distracted her. She had to focus on making space between herself and the Giant and trust Atlas to send her a signal. 

The forest groaned beneath the weight of the Giant’s chase. It pushed trees aside like they were nothing more than bushes, the branches swinging back to scrape the monster’s shoulders when it passed. It towered over the treetop, the tremors of its footsteps sending flocks of Manticoils hurtling into the sky. Della swerved past a tree, her eyes searching for any trace of Atlas between the greenery. She gave herself the opportunity to glance back at the distance between herself and the Giant for a brief moment and realize in horror it was gaining on her. She could run faster than it, but constantly slowing down to avoid hitting the trees narrowed the gap between them. She gritted her teeth and kept running.

Della climbed uphill in the direction of the ship, a bit further from the location she pointed Atlas down. She could see the ship nestled at the bottom of the hill. Her instincts screamed at her to dash inside, but she couldn’t see Atlas anywhere. Her eyes found the Giant again, only a few meters behind her. She forced herself to run past, internally fumbling for a plan.

She needed to stay near the ship so she could run inside without losing breath. Della could trick the Giant into running around the ship in circles with her, but if she collided with Atlas first, things would become dire fast for both of them. Running too far away led Della into unknown territory with the risk of falling prey to the moon’s outdoor obstacles. 

When she passed by the ship, Della looked back and saw the ship’s doors remained sealed. She completely forgot Ephialtes shut himself inside while the two girls worked. Della couldn’t see the loot they dropped off earlier on the guardrails, but she couldn’t split her attention long enough to make sure Ephialtes had grabbed it. She heard the quiet hiss of his voice. 

“If you go out there, you’ll regret it,” Ephialtes warned. “She’ll figure it out. You’re not ready.”

Who is he talking to? If Atlas was inside, why were the doors still closed? Why hadn’t she sent a signal yet? But who else could it be?

“Ephialtes!” Della screamed. “Open the doors!”

The Giant gained on her; she couldn’t keep the back of the ship in view long enough to check if he heard her. Della ran back in the direction she came from. To her left she found Atlas struggling through the bushes as she slid downhill. Atlas was painfully close to safety, but Della still needed to circle around the ship at least one more time to give her enough time. Would that even be enough? Della’s eyes began straining to see through the dark. The setting sun and blurring colors of her surroundings left her struggling to see clearly. Once Vow became dark, it was nearly impossible to see a trunk just a few feet from her face. She silently willed Atlas to move as fast as she could and kept going. 

As she circled the ship again, Della realized the ship’s doors were open and vacant. Yellow light spilled through the shuttle, casting a warm glow over the surrounding trees. Just on the other side of the ship, Atlas tried climbing over the railing to haul herself to safety. After checking the ship, Atlas, and the Giant, which continued stumbling close and closer, Della focused on her path around the ship again.

Something else stood in between the shadowy treetops, and Della ran straight towards them. She couldn’t make out their exact shape. She barely saw them lift their arm, revealing a stun grenade. “Close your eyes!”

She obeyed without thinking, immediately dropping down to the ground and screwing her eyes shut. She heard a quiet clink as the pin was pulled and felt a gust over her head when they threw the grenade. Gunpowder exploded around Della, enveloping her senses with a thick smog. 

Something grabbed Della by the torso and hauled her off of her feet. She thrashed until the same voice yelled, “Stop moving!” She let herself be pulled away. Gravity made her stomach heave as they carried her downslope and jumped. The ship’s guardrails rattled beneath their feet when they landed. Della felt the ship’s fan blow over here when they set her on the ground inside.

She tried opening her eyes, but the sting of the stun grenade left her vision hazy. Through swimming colors, she saw an orange figure waiting next to the ship’s entrance. Something green - Atlas - stumbled into view. The larger figure pulled her inside and sealed the doors shut, locking the Giant out. 

“There,” he said. “You’re both safe. It’ll leave soon.”

At the same time Della recognized his voice, Atlas gasped. She rubbed her eyes, blinking back tears to focus on the individual who stepped in. She initially assumed it had to be Ephialtes who intervened, but she knew this voice already, and it wasn’t him. In fact, it couldn’t even be who she knew it was, because he’d died just a few hours ago. 

The visual pains of the stun grenade faded from Della’s eyesight, revealing what she’d already guessed. Standing before her, alive and unharmed, was Herman.

Chapter Text

“No.” Della took a step back. “It can’t be. I watched you die.”

Her coworker exemplified none of the same restraint. “Herman!” Atlas broke from Della’s side and ran to his side. Her blue eyes blinked back tears. “Are you okay?! Oh, please tell me you’re okay!”

“I’m… fine.” He rubbed the back of his head. “I guess.”

The entire exchange made Della’s head ache. “I watched you die!” she snapped. “I know what I saw!” The snap of his neck, his lifeless body, the Bracken’s eyes as it dragged him into the dark; he couldn’t have survived that. “What’s going on?” 

She directed her attention to Ephialtes, who quietly eyed his crew from the back of the ship. He knew something about this. He had to. “What did you do? You and I both know that he’s supposed to be dead.”

“Not quite.” Eph folded his hands behind his back. “He was certainly dead when I teleported him back, though.”

“You-” She remembered the closed doors when they stopped by the ship earlier and Ephialtes’ lack of response while they called for him. “Did you restart his heart?” she guessed. “No, you couldn’t have. You’d be too late.”

“And it wouldn’t exactly fix his broken neck.” Ephialtes gestured to Herman’s perfectly healed form. “I revived him.”

“No you didn’t. That’s not possible.” It couldn’t be. Yet here he was, alive and intact, with no sign of the break that killed him. There was no scientific answer for this that Della knew of, but the reality of the situation sounded utterly fantastical. “What actually happened?”

“I told you. I mended his bones and then I revived him.” He shrugged. “If you don’t want to believe me, try and create your own explanation for why he’s here.” 

Della’s mouth fell open while she grappled for words. “How? Eph, how can you do that? Why haven’t I heard of this before?” She turned to Herman, who quietly comforted Atlas. “Don’t you have anything to say about this?” she demanded. “What happened to you?”

She waited for him to clarify anything that would debunk Ephialtes’ claims. He paused for a long moment before speaking and leered at Della. “I think I died,” he agreed. “I remember it grabbing me. It jerked my neck, and then when I opened my eyes again I was in the ship with Ephialtes.” 

Eph narrowed his eyes at Della. “Convinced yet?”

She took another frightened step back. “How?” she repeated frantically. “Ephialtes, you have to explain all of this! You…” She trailed off, struggling for words. “You actually brought him back? How did you do that?”

“I suppose there’s no point in holding it off any longer.” Eph directed her back to the entrance of the ship. “All of you. Follow me.” 

He stalked ahead of the team and stopped next to the built-in teleporter near the bunk beds. The rest of the bewildered crew followed him, gazing at the device. “Here’s where I do it,” he explained. “Della, you know this is the base of the teleporter we purchase from the Company’s shop, yes?” He rapped on the heavy structure, producing a long clanging noise that rang through the ship.

She thought back to the small talk Atlas made a few hours ago on their way back to the facility. “I remember that you had to buy supplies earlier to start it, but that’s been here since we got on board. I know you didn’t buy that.”

“You’re right,” Ephialtes said. “The truth is that this teleporter has been fully operational since day one. I didn’t buy anything; it was just my way of getting you both out of the ship so I could get to work. This isn’t just any old Company ship. I shared it with… another crew before being transferred to work with the three of you. We built this together after one of them died, so we did everything we could to save them. By putting our heads together, we made this.”

“You created technology capable of bringing people back from the dead out of some tattered metal sheets and centuries-old Company parts lying around?” Della said. “I don’t believe you. This technology is far too big for something this small.”

“It’s not necessarily revival,” he explained. “I can’t fix everything. Rather than reviving, consider it more like mending. It’s easiest for me to fix broken bones. I used the teleporter’s function as a basis. Since it’s hooked up to all of your biological data through the ship’s computer, it essentially “scans” you wherever you are in the facility and spits you back out here. Just quantum physics, nothing too complex.” Ephialtes waved his hand dismissively. “But I use the information from that scan to pick up abnormalities in the body. Broken bones, internal damage, blood loss. And I use the power source from the teleporter to target these specific spots of damage to either mend the wound or create mass regeneration depending on what the damage is. The ship’s dinky, but its information is much smarter than you’d think. The teleporter has basically all of the data I need. I just hyperfocus the bio scans it uses to teleport people to target wounds instead. The hardest part was making something that regenerates anything you’ve lost.”

Atlas and Herman said nothing; most of Ephialtes’ explanation flew over their heads. Della rubbed her chin, struggling to process his description. “How long did this take you to make?” she asked.

“A few years to perfect. We initially made it to reverse a break similar to Herman’s, so the mending properties came first. When we realized how efficient it was, we eventually built in new functions so it could cure most causes of death. It can restart your brain and heart efficiently using electricity too, although most hospitals can also do that nowadays, so it’s not that impressive.”

Della brushed her hand over the teleporter, searching it for any outward signs of its unique properties. “It is when you manage to make it all on your own out of the scraps the Company gives us!” She turned and studied Ephialtes. This revelation flipped her original impression of him completely on its head. “You shouldn’t be here. You should be out with human civilization and making millions off of this.”

Ephialtes shrugged and averted his gaze. “Well, it wasn’t just me. I’d feel wrong taking all of the credit away from my crew.”

“What happened to them?” Atlas asked softly from her corner. “Did they leave?”

He paused and took a long moment to think before answering. “No. As I said, this machine can’t fix everything. It’s meant to fix broken bones or simple wounds. If I can’t recover a body in one piece then there’s nothing I can do. For example, if that Forest Keeper caught you or Della then there would be nothing I can do to bring you back.”

His tone darkened as he spoke. “I’m guessing that’s what happened to someone from your old lot?” Della prompted.

Atlas and Herman turned their necks to glare at Della as she spoke. Okay, Herman was probably glaring at her beneath the helmet. Atlas looked at her in horror. “Della!”

“What?” She crossed her arms. “He made it sound like that’s what happened.”

Ephialtes glowered at Della, his eyes suggesting his disgust. “Your observant nature is one of my favorite traits about you,” Ephialtes sneered. “Fine, yes, that’s what happened to one of them. Satisfied that you’ve rubbed it in now?”

“I was gonna say that I’m sorry about it,” Della said. “Anyway, as long as we don’t get ripped to pieces by anything in the Thistle Nebula, can you bring us back?”

Ephialtes seemed entirely displeased with the notion of continuing to speak with Della, but he forced himself to answer her question. “Exactly that.”

“So then we’re-”

Della’s words were drowned out by the ferocious snarl of a Dog outside. The crew froze, staring at the closed door behind them. The entire ship trembled as the beast threw its entire weight against the door, feebly clawing for a way inside.

“Let’s continue this when we’re up in the air.” Herman barged past Della and Ephialtes to pull the lever. The ship’s thrusters roared to life beneath them. The ship wobbled as the Dog threw itself against the spacecraft one more time, almost sending Della to the floor. She barely caught herself using a wall for support as the ship lifted off. Atlas climbed to the back of the ship, hiding behind the terminal for cover. 

Ephialtes, Della, and Herman stared expectantly at the door, bracing themselves for one last attack. As they gained airtime and the Dog’s presence vanished, Della breathed a deep sigh of relief. 

“You both need to be more careful,” Herman said. “That machine won’t do anything if a Dog wanders into the ship and kills all four of us before we can move.”

“The door was closed, so who cares?” Della threw up her hands. “We were fine.”

Herman snapped his focus back to Della. This time, even she could feel the anger radiating from him, although he kept it thinly veiled beneath his voice. “I’m getting tired of how little you care about our lives. This doesn’t mean any of us should start acting carelessly just because we have a safety net. I’m not letting anyone die unnecessarily. We don’t have to take risks.”

“But why shouldn’t we?” Della argued. “Are they even risks if we know we’ll survive either way? I’m not afraid of dying for a little while for the sake of reaching our quota. Are you?”

Ephialtes and Atlas backed away when Herman marched up to confront Della, the two of them sensing an upcoming fight. “Are you going to be like this forever? Risking Eph and Atlas’ lives and doing whatever you want against the better judgement of the team just because you think you’re invincible?”

“I care about the team!” Della argued. “Obviously I only meant that because the door was going to stay closed. I’m not suggesting we stop protecting ourselves from the Thistle Nebula. I tried to make sure I’d be the only one who got hurt earlier before you…”

She immediately realized her mistake taking this fight and fell silent. How could she let it slip her mind that Herman dying was her fault? She remembered his pointed silence directed at her earlier and realized his frustration with her had been obvious since he woke up. “... I’m sorry for what happened to you in there,” Della mumbled. “I didn’t mean for anything to happen.”

“Really.” Della looked up in shock at his scathing tone, realizing he was entirely unconvinced by her apology. 

“Of course I didn’t!” Della insisted. “I told you it was supposed to just be me!”

“And I told you that it’s not going to happen. I don’t care if you can have a thousand tries to kill that Bracken. It’s too dangerous for everyone else inside,” Herman said. “And now how am I supposed to believe that you won’t keep trying to catch that thing for whatever stupid reasons you have?”

“It’s not stupid.” Della knew she was only asking for more by defending herself, but she refused to back down. 

“This is exactly what I’m talking about!” he said. “Now none of us can trust that you won’t do it again. You’re lucky that nothing happened to Ephialtes during your stupid stunt.” He briefly lifted his head to glance at the mentioned employee. “Do not help her again.”

“You won’t have to worry about it,” Eph scoffed. “She almost got me killed the first time. Why would I?”

She glared back at him, feeling betrayed. “I’m not going to do it again,” Della said. She tried to sound as earnest as she could. His presence only reminded Della just how much she despised Herman; not even her remorse for his death could make her feel kinder about him when he acted like this. “I realized I made a mistake after you died. I’m lucky that Eph’s able to bring you back. I can see that now’s not the time for it.” 

Herman sighed bitterly. He was ready to keep pushing Della to throw away her absurd ambition, but deep down he knew there was no getting through to her. If even his own death wasn’t enough of a setback for her to give up, he’d have to restrain her by some other means. 

“We’re in space now,” Atlas’ voice peeped, barely making a dent in the heated atmosphere. “Should we stay on Vow?”

“Do you really think that’s the most important thing on our minds right now?” Della swerved around to face Ephialtes as Herman rested in the far back of the ship to cool off. “You have to explain everything to me about how it works. I still have so many questions!”

He backed away, unnerved by her persistence. “Are all of the questions really necessary?”

She stared at him in disbelief. “Of course they are! Teach us all how it works in case something happens to you in the facility.”

Ephialtes narrowed his eyes. “No.”

“What do you mean no?” Della said, grabbing his arm. “Shouldn’t everyone know just in case?”

“No,” Ephialtes insisted again. He pulled himself free and felt his arm. “It’s my tech. Why should I tell you?”

What was he even saying? How could he hog something so critical? If something caught Ephialtes on the job - and the odds of that weren’t particularly low - this technology would be lost forever. “Don’t hold a grudge over this,” Della said. “Are you seriously being spiteful over what happened earlier? Nothing even happened to you?”

“It’s not about that,” Ephialtes said, although Della didn’t entirely believe him. He nodded towards the back of the ship at Atlas and Herman. “Everyone here has their role. Without those two, we’d all be dead. Even Della knows plenty about the monsters. But me? I don’t do anything impressive here. I know I’m the deadweight of the team without this. If there’s anyone to sacrifice if something happens, it’s me. If I have this, then I have value. That means none of you can choose to just ignore me if we get in a bad situation.”

“Ephialtes, that’s not how anyone here thinks,” Herman responded. He gave Della a firm look as if to say don’t say anything. “Even if you didn’t invent this, I’d still do anything to make sure you survive. We’re a team; it doesn’t matter what anyone’s roles are, each of us is supposed to try and keep one another alive.”

Della’s eyebrows furrowed at the barbed comment, but she kept to herself while Herman attempted convincing him. 

“I don’t believe you,” Ephialtes answered blatantly. “I’ve seen it before - the way people can turn on each other here. I’ve had people willing to sacrifice me in the past. I’m not doing it again. There’s nothing the three of you can do to change my mind, so don’t bother.” 

Herman breathed another defeated sigh. “I wish you didn’t think that way. I hope that time will help you change your mind and learn to trust us, Eph. I’ll be sure to keep you safe, but know that your machine has nothing to do with it.”

Della couldn’t believe Herman conceded so easily. Where was that resignation when he picked fights with her? Couldn’t either of them realize this was so much larger than petty insecurities? Ephialtes balanced life and death in his hands and refused to share the benefits. Della felt the eeriness of that revelation settle in. It felt wrong to defy the natural order like this. Della might have despised his invention if she saw it back in the comfort of her home, but for now Della saw anything that extended their survivability as an advantage. The chances of each of them dying rose drastically if Ephialtes refused to teach them the inner workings of his machine. She couldn’t deny that it was a brilliant leverage on Ephialtes’ behalf. None of them could truly resist him if he decided not to tell them the truth of his machine. If they bothered him, he could simply choose not to fix them whenever something happened. 

The more she thought about his gambit, the more Della knew she would be unable to persuade him to change his mind. “At least tell Atlas,” Della suggested. “She’s always on the ship. It’ll be better if she has as much utility as our operator as she can.”

“No!” Ephialtes shouted. “I’m not telling any of you. You can either agree to keep me alive or lose it. It’s your choice.”

Della gritted her teeth. “Fine,” she spat. “Act that way if you want. Just know that you’re a horrible person.”

“Of course we’d protect you, Eph,” Atlas said. “It’s like Herman said. We’re a team.”

“Hmph.” Ephialtes looked away. “You’d be surprised. There’s plenty of monsters here capable of killing the four of us. It’s better for me to keep myself as safe as I can. You would too if you were me.”

“That won’t be necessary, Eph.” The entire crew watched Herman as he brushed the head of his shovel clean of dirt and dried blood with his free hand. “If anything gets this crew killed, it won’t be a Dog. Or a Giant. Or a Bracken.”

He turned to look back at the crew. Specifically at Della. A helpless shiver crawled up her spine. More blatant than ever before, she felt just how deep his anger and distrust towards her ran.

“It’ll be you.”