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“You all seriously can’t be okay with this!”
Everyone glanced at Lime. Their hands shook as they launched themself onto the table with a loud thud.
“Don’t tell me you’re all just gonna ignore the fact we all DIED!”
“Lime, come on, we all know that was probably just some… weird dream!” Orange beamed. “Mira’s Insurance doesn’t cover shared hallucinations and dreams–“
“NO! I saw it with my own eyes! I–“ They staggered back, trying to keep distance between themself and Orange.
Was this even the real Orange?
Their body still ached from when they died. From when Orange killed them.
Looking at Orange only reminded them of that grotesque monster that sprouted from Orange’s body, which pierced through their visor and ripped them apart from inside.
It only reminded them of nothing but hell.
“Now Lime, you don’t want to be making a hostile work env–“
A hand on their shoulder. THEIR hand on Lime’s shoulder.
Lime slapped it away, stumbling back.
“I can’t believe I’m gonna say this, but Lime’s right,” Purple spoke up (thank god), standing from their seat. “We can’t just brush past all of that. I mean, all of us remember that right?”
Murmurs. Nodding.
“Then obviously we should do something about it! If it’s like that… dream, deja vu, whatever, then Green and Orange are fakes, and we need to kill them–“
“Speak with them.”
Purple blinked. Stared right at Blue. “What?!”
“Listen, Purple, I understand how frightened you and Red must have been when Green had gone and killed everyone. But after each of us died, we found that Green and Orange were killed themselves, taken over by parasites. They were watching us, watching their bodies be taken over by something extraterrestrial.” Blue took the security guard’s hand in their own– an attempt to calm them and grab their attention. “If there are any ways to keep the true crewmates from being completely devoured by this parasite, I want to find them.”
Lime huffed, glancing away. That damned siren, charming everyone… though, that ghost Green did seem pretty upset. Like if you dumped a catmate into a bathtub full of water. And it’d keep those crazy aliens from touching them again.
Keep Orange away, at least.
“Y-Yeah, guys, now that you mention it… Purple, Red, they were your guardian angels,” Cyan looked down in thought.
“They mean this literally, by the way,” Black huffed, crossing their arms. “None of that aura stuff. They were literally keeping you guys from being mauled by our corpses.”
Red glanced at Purple. “It still doesn’t mean they’re the real Orange and Green.”
“A-And what if we are?” Orange spoke up, hands trembling. They held themself differently than earlier. That was suspicious.
“We can’t trust you, ya grubby aliens!” Lime slammed their hands on the table. They turned to the others. “They’ll lie to you! Green lied to all of you! If I see any of you trusting MY murderer–“
“Now, Lime, I don’t intend on immediately believing their word, but–“
“YOU’RE NOT GETTING ME THIS TIME, YOU FILTHY SIREN!” Lime skittered backwards, face flushing.
“…pardon?”
A scream rattled through the ship, cutting through the argument. The cafeteria doors slammed open, White stumbling through, panting.
“Green–“ They gasped, hand on their knee. “It’s Green, they’re trying to–“
As if on cue, the pink, monstrous flesh flooded the hallway behind them. White only ran faster, before slipping and cowering behind Blue.
At least they weren’t trembling from being split in twine like last time.
Lime glanced at Green. Stupid thing, sat near the vent like they saw them do plenty of times before as a ghost, traces of pink slime beneath them.
“Hey, big guy!” Yellow yelled, rushing forward slightly, only to recoil when ‘Green’s’ bodily mass leaned forward. “You want summa this?”
Yellow revealed their tin of flaky salt. The alien only recoiled further.
“Oh no, salt.” ‘Green’ slapped the tin out of their hand, the contents spilling everywhere. A slight hiss escaped the flesh, the littlest specs landing on their tendril. ”My greatest weakness.”
Loser, trying to be all cool about it.
Yellow tried to pick up some of what was left on the ground, only to be grabbed by a tentacle before they even got the chance to take a step. Tentacles wrapped around everyone else, lifting them into the air.
Everyone but Lime, who had managed to sneak into the vents at the last second.
“You know, it really is a shame that you all knew,” The monster cooed. “It would have been far easier to get all these kills if you hadn’t.”
“You– You freak–“ Black groaned, the alien’s grip only growing tighter. “Why did you–“
“Oh please, Black, you think I know why we seemingly went back in time with all our memories? Or had some ‘severe case of deja vu’?” They huffed. “I don’t know, but I really don’t care. All I really want is you all dead. I wish you didn’t remember, that way I could have spaced it out easier, get that tension and arguing that made it entertaining to watch…”
Green’s stupid monologue faded out as Lime scurried through the vents. Lime tried to think. Where was the vent closest to the kitchen, but still way out of sight from that alien?
…Medbay.
Blue gasped for air as their grip only grew tighter, especially around themself as ‘Green’s’ tentacle pressed against their visor unlike the others.
“–made it entertaining to watch, but I guess I’ll just have to kill all of you now.”
The doctor glanced at the others, trying to do a mental headcount in the hopes at least one of them escaped.
Red and Purple were trying to reach for each other, only to be pulled away by ‘Green’. Cyan seemed to give up, slumped over in their hold. Black was yelling curses and swears that would have gotten them into trouble in any normal circumstance. ‘Orange’, surprisingly, seemed to be encased in a ball of tendrils; likely due to ‘Green’s’ desire to take all the kills for themself. White fainted (if they got out of this alive, Blue would be sure to bring them to Medbay as soon as possible). Yellow was flipping ‘Green’ off, and Brown was attempting to fight out of their hold, only for it to tighten and even jostle them severely. Lime was–
…
Where’s Lime?
“Of course Lime bailed,” Black muttered under their breath. “Probably making some random bullshit like last time…”
Blue frowned. “Black–“
“Oh, don’t worry about Lime. I’ll let them do whatever silly little plan they have. You know, it was surprising to see you all basically ignored them. They were the closest one to figuring us out so early! Was it because they were a maniac?”
What was ‘Green’ going to do to Lime?
“So maybe, I’ll just let them watch as I pick off every single crewmate, though I really doubt they care that much about any of you. Maybe I’ll force them to relive what they did when they found you–“ Crack. The tendrils only constricted Blue further, damaging their visor. “–dead in Medbay. The question is, who do I pick off first?”
Blue mustered their courage. “Green, please, listen. This–“
“Isn’t me, blah blah, oh cut the crap, doctor.”
That wasn’t exactly what Blue planned to say, but it seemed to at least buy Lime some time as Green went onto another tangent.
“AHA! I knew they kept another tin of that junk here…”
Lime lifted a spare tin of flaky salt. Opening it revealed it was already unsealed, as well as there being a note that Lime didn’t bother to read, which they threw aside.
They glanced at the water cooler only to remember that they don’t have the time to spare making their gun like last time.
“Alright, you stupid alien… get ready.”
“Maybe I’ll finish the job that I never got to with you two,” ‘Green’ mused, pulling Red and Purple closer.
Purple swallowed. “H-Hey, you, uh, could at least do an impressi–“
“Quit it. You’re not getting me with another distraction.” ‘Green’ slammed Purple into the floor, making Blue wince slightly.
“Purps!” Red cried, turning back to ‘Green’. “At least let Purps go see Heracles first. Hell, kill me first!”
“Ghh– WH–“ Purple seemed to immediately snap out of the pain-induced haze they almost fell into. “Redsie, no, you’re not sacrificing yourself. Unless Lime gets their butt over here, we’re all dying eventually!”
“I wouldn’t count on that. Lime probably learned to stop getting in the way, if they learned anything at all from their encounter with Orange. A shame, that means I’ll have to go find them later.”
Blue could see the way the tendrils squeezed their two crewmates, leaving them both gasping for air. They could only hope that Lime arrived to the rescue…
“Well, time for both of you to go!” And ‘Green’s’ large, gaping maw revealed itself through parting flesh, Purple and Red held right above it.
The tendrils abruptly let them go, hitting the ground, as the alien screeched. Everyone else fell shortly after, Blue managing to catch themself.
“You––“ ‘Green’ snarled, only to screech louder.
“Yeah?! How’d ya like that?!”
Blue’s eyes widened at the sight. Lime had somehow found time to crawl back out of the vents and found an extra reserve of salt.
And now they were climbing onto the alien’s back with salt-covered gloves, further weakening the alien.
Blue felt their heart race inexplicably– likely from the adrenaline of being near death once more.
“Swoon…” was what left their mouth, before abruptly shaking their head. Now was not the time, even if Lime was being incredibly heroic for a crew that rarely gave them their deserved time of day.
Lime didn’t really know what they were doing at this point. They’d accidentally wasted the salt, getting it stuck all over their rough gloves from trying to grab a handful and throw it at the monster initially.
At least it seemed to work out.
Somehow, Lime had managed to get them into some sort of chokehold with salt covered arms, making the beast keel over.
Lime spared a glance at the others– oh, come on.
“HEY.”
That seemed to be enough to startle the others into helping. Yellow and Brown ran to the original tin of salt and its spilt contents, as Red ran off… elsewhere. Blue picked up White, still unconscious, and Purple, who could barely stand. They were likely bringing them to Medbay.
Lime grumbled and yelped as the monster tried to shake them off, but it was no match for their stubbornness.
It was weird. Lime didn’t like it. The salt water was enough to basically blow that thing up and melt all the zombies (kinda…), but the regular salt wasn’t doing as much. It definitely is making the monster way weaker, but it isn’t…
Red slid back in, a thick ring of rope (seemingly multiple tied together to make it longer) in hand.
“Your captain is here! Everyone that isn’t on salt, help me tie Green and Orange up!”
–––––
“This isn’t fair!” Green growled, pounding their fists against the locked door. “How come I have to be in here, but the dumbass gets to stay out?!”
“Well, Green, if that is even your real name,” Red crossed their arms, stepping closer to the door to try and be cool, only to immediately leap back when the door bends just a bit too much from a hit.
Yellow sighed. “It’s ‘cause Orange agreed to not kill anyone. And to keep their wrists tied up and not turn into a monster again. You kept detailing how you were gonna maul Lime the moment you could about 5 times in the last 10 minutes..”
“I’m just being a good alien crewmate, is all!” Orange beamed, eliciting a growl from the impostor inside.
“I’ll kill you.”
“All I’m hearing is another hour in time out!~”
“Well, I’m off to go check in on Purps,” Red turned away, already heading straight to Medbay. “Green did a lot of damage on them… I hope the doc fixed them up alright.”
“I’ll be keepin’ an eye on the imps, don’t you worry. Tell them and White that I hope they’re alright!”
Blue let out a breath of relief. Purple was guaranteed to heal soon as long as no other incidents occured; mostly a sprain in their shoulder and soreness around their back area. White only sustained a sprained nose due to the impact from falling face first. Both of them were stable, which was enough to calm Blue.
The issue was the two alien crewmates that are still aboard the ship.
Blue has reason to believe the real Green and Orange are still in there. When Green was being taken away to that storage closet, they suddenly stopped trying to fight it. They had pulled on their sleeves, hugged themself, done anything to make themself smaller and restrain themself. And far earlier, before White had ran in, Orange had a sudden shift in their posture and mannerisms of speech too.
It was almost like their true selves are stuck sharing a brain with the parasites. Though, Blue wouldn’t rely on that answer until they had more proof, it seemed to be an apparent theory.
Speaking of theories…
Blue’s gaze drifted towards the vent in Medbay.
Lime hasn’t shown themself in the past 30 minutes. Not even a clank from a collision between their wrench and the piping.
They were concerned, to say the least.
The moment the plan was announced, with the mention that Orange would be set free as long as they behaved, Lime went off on everyone. Irritated and only going further about how they were right to not trust anyone on this ship. Despite the fury that they had let off on everyone, which Blue believed to be rather understandable– everyone’s murderer was contained, but Lime’s wasn’t, due to the belief that they wouldn’t misbehave– Blue could almost see a sort of fear in their eyes.
Their hands never stopped shaking since the moment they snapped first at the pizza party, and it worried Blue greatly.
They may not have any degrees in psychology or related mental matters, but they still felt the need to, at the very least, speak with Lime.
Not to mention, with the way everyone had addressed them, Blue felt it was right to give them recognition and praise for rescuing everyone in the crew, whether Lime would appreciate it or not.
Blue knelt down by the vent and cleared their throat.
“Oh goodness, it looks like there might be a gremlin rummaging through the ship’s medical data!” They called, low enough to not wake either of their current patients, but loud enough to echo through the vent system.
A loud cluttering and scampering indicated nothing but good news, as Lime popped their head out of the vent.
“Stay away, doc! The aliens are already enough of a problem for ya!” They yelled, head whipping around to look for the gremlin. “They’ll sell all the data to the black market and– Where’d that monster go?!”
“I think you scared it away once again Lime. Thank you.”
“Eh, it’s no problem, see you big dog–“
Blue grabbed their hand. “Lime, wait a second, please.”
The engineer grumbled, shaking them off, already shrinking into the vent. “What, you need another scan from me like last time? Well, you’re NOT GETTING IT. I’m not letting you trick me again you–“
“I wanted to say thank you, for risking your life to save the crew.” Blue cupped Lime’s face in an attempt to grab their attention, a desperate try to keep Lime from running. “I’m aware not much of our crew gives you appreciation, and I’m sorry for that. You truly deserve praise and recognition, Lime, for all you’ve done and all you do for us.”
Lime stared in silence, wide eyed and tense. Dear Mira, they might be overstepping far too much. They let go of the engineer immediately, slowly getting up. Blue tried to push down the reddening of their own face. It was so incredibly unprofessional to behave and feel this way with a patient, a coworker, and in this kind of situation no less.
“I understand your nerves with Orange being allowed to roam, and I’ll speak with the captain about making sure you’re never on surveillance duty with them, and to ensure you’re never in the same room unless you’re comfortable. Does that sound alright, Lime?”
Lime swallowed.
Stupid sirens and their stupid charms… Blue was probably just being nice to them anyway, like they usually are…
These forums always warned them about looking a gremlin in the eye, but they never warned them about staring down the hot doctor’s eyes.
They grumbled. “Fine– FINE! Swoon, swoon, swoon!” Lime swatted away their hands, shrinking back into the vent. “Go tell the captain, but make sure that alien isn’t listening! Or else they’re gonna go into the vents and use it against me!”
“Alright Lime.” Blue only smiled in response. Damned doctor… “Don’t forget– you’re incredibly significant to the–“
“Yeah, yeah, I got it!” They finally completely slinked back into the vent, slamming the cover shut.
Blue let out a fond huff, hoping that it meant the attempt went well. They turned around to face the door, hearing Red’s voice faintly in the hallway.
“Thanks, doc… appreciate it.” Lime muttered, barely reaching their ears before the distinct noise of them scurrying away filled the room.
It inexplicably made Blue feel euphoric, for a lack of better word.
“Well. I didn’t realise you and Lime had a… thing.” Purple spoke up. When did they even wake up?
The chief of security, at the very least, still laid properly in bed. Unfortunately, they were in a position where they could easily see Blue and where Lime once was. “Did- Did this happen while you guys were ghosts? Is Lime really your type??”
“I-I–“ Blue stammered. “No, no, it’s unprofessional of me to try and be romantic with a patient.”
“Are they really a patient. They reject like, 90% of the stuff you do.”
“Everyone in the Skeld is under my care healthwise, Purple. And anyone under my care is a patient.” They made their way to the security officer. “Is there any changes? Has the pain grown worse at all?”
“No, I’m actually kind of feeling a little better. But, I can see you trying to change the subject, doctor,” Purple accused, only to pause when their nickname rang out through the hall. “Nevermind. This’ll be a conversation for after Redsie visits me.”
Blue sighed in relief. “Thank you. I’ll do a proper check up while the Captain visits, if that’s okay with both of you.”
“Of course it is.”
Blue smiled. “Then pardon me for a moment to get the proper equipment.”
“I’m not forgetting about this, though.”