Futuristic The Black Divide (Paused)

[Cartoonicat]

"That's awful," I say, the story only adding to the dead atmosphere around us. This feels like something from the horror films I used to watch with my sister back home and it sends my imagination running. The lack of power, ransacked supplies, and abandoned eerie silence has me looking over my shoulder, wary of some space abomination creeping up from behind. That's how it usually happens in those films, isn't it?

"It looks like they left willingly," I say after a time, "but I don't—" My words trail off. I know little about medicine, in fact barely anything, but everything Shiori listed sounds highly specific. "When used together, what kind of wound can all of those items treat?"

 

[ArcticFox]

Shiori looks upset but nods. "That explains why there's no distress signal. But why didn't they take everything, and where did they go?" She pauses, then answers, "A variety, platinum-laced antibiotic bandages and the automated shunt are used for setting fractures, opiates you know, and barium solution is used in the x-ray machine in the med bay."

She glances back at the low-value, useful medical supplies.

"Should we take them with us?" She asks. "If I stock up here that frees up budget for other things when we reach Martian Beta, right?"

- Yes.
- No.

 

[Cartoonicat]

It sounds like someone was preparing for a broken leg, what with the x-ray machine, opiates for pain, and the other items for fractures. Whether that's true or just a fluke, I don't know. There is one thing I can check before we leave the med bay, though. "We'll take the supplies," I tell Shiori, looking around. There's no reason to leave them behind if people aren't here. "Can we check out the x-ray machine here? Maybe that will shed some light on the situation."

 

[ArcticFox]

You work together to take whatever the crew decided to leave behind. You clear the medbay of what little remains.

Shiori shivers, shoulders hunched. "The X-Ray should be here somewhere, but I have to get out of here. I'll see you back on the Eleos."

You watch over her while she leaves. You've barely had time to work out your next move when Roshan hops on your comm line. "I've found something odd in engineering. Come see?"

"Whatever it is," Oscar says, voice grave and thoughtful, "the Captain's rooms are at least as weird. I don't know what to make of what she's written."

You'll have time to see both of them, but who you see first might impact what the other is able to get up to.

- Go to Oscar.
- Go to Roshan.
- Look around for the X-Ray.

 

[Cartoonicat]

"Right," I say, watching Shiori as she leaves. Considering what she told me, I can't help but worry and make a mental note to check on her after all of this is done. "Shi—" my comms crackle just as I'm about to call out to her, grabbing my attention. By the time I look back up, she's gone.

Be careful on your way back.

It's Roshan, and then Oscar immediately after. "I'll be there in a minute," I tell them, opting to search for the X-Ray machine before I go anywhere. "But, guys? I have a bad feeling about this place. Keep alert." It might turn out to be nothing, which I hope is the case, but I'd rather look like a paranoid captain than have something happen to my crew because I failed to communicate.

 

[ArcticFox]

The X-Ray machine has been used recently. You find a patch of dried blood on it, it's turned black now. In the relative darkness of the ship you cannot discern anything more, and you do not have enough medical knowledge to operate the machine, even if there was power on the ship to turn it on.

- Go to Oscar.
- Go to Roshan.

 

[Cartoonicat]

A theory is slowly forming and, while I appreciate having some sort of idea as to what has happened, I'm not liking where hypothesizing takes my imagination. In horror sequences, bad things happen in medical and engineering, mostly the latter, don't they? With small, twisting spaces and ample tools to go clunk in the night, jostled by unseen forces.

"I'm heading your way, Roshan," I say through the comms, opting to head to engineering first.

 

[ArcticFox]

"I'll try to get things ready for when you get here," Oscar says earnestly.

Navigating without gravity is always a challenge: in the dark, reliant on your suit's oxygen, makes it harder. In such an unknown environment, it's safer to walk rather than float, so you have to use the magnetic locks on your boots to stay grounded. You find your rhythm of unlock right, step, lock, unlock left, step, lock and repeat. Slow but steady is the best way to do it until you find long, open corridors free of debris, at which point you can unhook and float to the next corner.

Your breath echoes in your helmet, and the suit functions whirr in the quiet. As you head past the airlock, you swing your flashlight over a blackened streak on one wall: a scorch of gunfire so low someone had to be a terrible shot, or letting loose some warning fire. There's some debris loose: open crates that used to carry supplies, clothes and crockery that have been shaken loose from their cupboards, worn tools lazily cartwheeling through the too-thin air. But it's not nearly the mess you would have expected from a hostile boarding party.

If the crew were kidnapped, the kidnappers were very, very good; if the crew chose to abandon ship they took their sweet time organising the ship and battening down hatches first. There's still no gravity, but the dim emergency lights glow deep red: it's a challenge to avoid hitting your helmet on trailing cables or empty boxes nestled against the ceiling. You keep your flashlight bright and make your way down the empty corridors. You follow Roshan's directions to main engineering. The lights strobe while you're manoeuvring your way there, then there's a God-awful whine over the comms.

"Oops," Roshan says over the comms. "I'll fix that."

You reach engineering, a high-ceilinged room that reminds you of the Eleos, if everything was shuffled around just to annoy you. Roshan has a portable laser torch, his helmet faceplate darkened to shield his eyes, and is torching one of the wall panels. You can't tell if he wants to open it or just mess it up.

The glass of your helmet darkens to cut out the brightest of the light, and turns transparent again once Roshan shuts off the torch. He leans back, letting his mag-boots keep him anchored while his body relaxes.

"So, there's no actual damage here. They turned everything off on purpose, and the ship's been drained of fuel. It's all… very neatly done. I'd put money on the cargo deck being the same for their supplies. Not all lost for salvage though - we can extract parts from inside actual systems. Delicious, delicious parts."

- Ask to turn on the power.
- Help with the parts.
- Climb around to see if Roshan missed anything.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Warning fire or poor aim? I can't tell as I walk slowly through the area. I wish there was a clear-cut sign telling me what happened here if only to put my mind at ease, but there's no such thing and I can't find a way to be okay with the lack of information. Not knowing leaves me uneasy.

"Gah!" I wince at the strobe lights. Roshan comes through the comms and I make a face, but don't comment; I'm sure he didn't mean for that to happen, assuming Roshan was the cause. I make my way to where he is, eventually, and watch as he torches part of the wall. Trusting him to have swept through everything adequately, I give the room a weak once-over as I reply: "We'll get those parts, then, but..."

Did you see anything weird?

Normally I'm unabashed in my asking, my revealing of wild, if not eccentric, theories, but this time? "Nevermind," I say, "let's get those parts and see what Oscar's found." Things are slowly piecing together into a puzzle I've never seen before, not even in my horror films.

 

[ArcticFox]

While Roshan works on the power systems, you attack the fuel injectors and regulators to harvest as many parts as you can. It's relaxing until your work and Roshan's intersects to trigger a pulse of electromagnetic feedback that shorts the airlock systems of the Eleos.

"Hey!" Eira snaps over the comms. "What are you doing over there?"

"Keeping you on your toes, Princess," Roshan says sweetly.

"If I'm a princess I get to order you around, right?"

"In your dreams, woman." Roshan laughs. "I'm an anti-establishment anarcho-collectivist. I'd make it my personal mission to ruin your day."

"How is that any different to now?" Eira grouses, and signs off the comm once Roshan promises to fix the Eleos when he gets back.

You and Roshan work together to haul the rest of the salvage to the airlock, and message Dylan to transfer it over to the Eleos. While you work, Roshan hums a cheery tune.

"You know," he says, panting for breath, "this is the kind of work I like the best. Teamwork, laser torches, disobeying T-PES guidelines, free stuff. What's not to love?"

- Answer.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Roshan finds ways to kee the mood feel light despite the atmosphere, whether he means to or not, and I find myself chuckling at the exchange between him and Eira. Their banter reminds me that, even if something weird is going on here, we're all in it together. Roshan's words serve to solidify that.

"I could do without the anti-gravity," I supply with a grin, "but the teamwork is worth it. And free stuff."

 

[ArcticFox]

"Right! By the way, my latest batch of starshine is almost ready," he says slyly. "I definitely distilled it too many times. I think legally it can be classified as paint stripper. But I'd like to officially invite you to try it soon-ish!"

He stretches her arms out, and pats the bulkhead of the Thorn Chaser.

"Right, Z, I'll join Dylan sorting things out back on the ship. You coming?"

Oscar's presumably still waiting in the Captain's rooms, so you wave Roshan off and head to him.

--

You know from the Thorn Chaser's scans where the Captain's rooms are, up near the nest like a command centre of sorts. There's still no gravity, but the dim emergency lights glow deep red still.

When you reach the cabin, you find the doors forced open and wedged with a chair;, You float over it and find Oscar standing in the middle of bright flashlight glow, scraps of torn paper floating in front of him. You snag one piece from mid-air and read: Day twelve: the journey. It's the Captain's personal log.

"She's old-fashioned to be keeping a paper log," Oscar says, and hands you a leather-bound book. Real leather, yet the captain abandoned it. Only the last dozen pages have been torn out, so you can flick through the earlier entries.

The Captain's name was Erica Schultz, and she had a list of her crew's birthdays, their children's names, their hobbies, all for morale. She had team-building exercises and "family meals."

"I know she's not totally the same," Oscar says softly, "but it reminds me of you. Of how much you care about us."

Oscar passes you a folded piece of paper and speaks as you examine it. "So far I've managed to find the Christmas presents she was planning on getting everyone, and this blueprint for a smuggler's nook in the engine room. But she ripped out the last couple of weeks' entries and threw it all over the room. Could you help me piece it together?"

- Help him.
- Get the flight data recorder for more information.
- Check the computer as Roshan got enough power flowing through the ship.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Ah, Starshine. I'd prefer a latte or something less harsh than, as Roshan likens it, paint stripper, but it's about the camaraderie, right? "Invitation accepted," I send him off with a smile.

While the Thorn Chaser is just as dead as it was when we got there, it feels a little less empty having spent some quality time with one of my team who seemed hardly, if at all bothered by the eerie situation. Roshan definitely lightened the mood.

---

My heart warms reading the old-fashioned entries. My own Captain's Log is purely digital, but it's filled with similar thoughts and plans for those aboard the Eleos. I smile at Oscar's comment, finding it high praise.

I hope Captain Schultz and her crew are okay.

"Roshan got the power up; maybe Schultz updated the computer before the ship was abandoned," I set the book down and attempt to turn on the computer. If I can't find anything, then I'll check the cabin for the rest of the manual entries.

 

[ArcticFox]

It's easy and quick to simply log on and access the most recently edited and deleted files. Oscar stands, leaning over your shoulder and peering interestedly at the screen, and points at the likeliest entry. He reads, for both your benefit:

"Kay told us the truth, that it's not a tool, it's a weapon, and I believe her. I shouldn't have trusted them to be honest with us. I should never have taken DRT's cargo in the first place. But she'll take care of it. In the meantime, I'm lucky the whole crew agrees. We'll scuttle the ship so DRT won't know what we've done, and we'll take the rep with us. Captain Schultz out."

Oscar shakes his head, though it barely shifts his helmet from side-to-side. "I can't think what would be so bad that a captain would abandon her ship. That everyone would abandon their home. Their livelihood. Would… would you?"

- Answer.

 

[Cartoonicat]

I take my hands off the keypad as if worried my fingerprints will transfer despite my spacesuit. It's impossible, nonsensical, but my body reacts without logic.

There is dried blood at the x-ray machine and the med bay is missing supplies to treat broken bones; the ship's power was turned off willingly and the fuel drained; and now, the Captain's log mentions a weapon in disguise, mistrust, a person named Kay, and taking along a rep. I have all but a few pieces to the puzzle, yet I still can't see the big picture.

"They took cargo from DRT, but something went wrong," I say, more to myself than Oscar. Remembering the missing supplies and blood in the med bay, I add, "I think someone got hurt. That might be when this person 'Kay' came clean about the tool being a weapon. Smuggling, maybe—No, Z, stick to facts," I slap the sides of my helmet to refocus. "Someone got hurt, probably by the tool-turned-weapon, and everyone freaked. Kay told the truth and because of the injury—or injuries, plural—everyone believed her..."

This is where things grow vague. Who was Kay? What did they want to hide from DRT? Why did they leave?

"And then they left, draining all the fuel and shutting down the Thorn Chaser to cover their tracks and get as far away as possible," I finish.

I sit there for a moment longer, brain whirring, before slamming my hands on the desk in frustration. "The answer is staring me right in the face and I don't know what it is," I tell Oscar. "Can we check the flight data recorder for more info? Or are the ship cameras operable?" I look back at the log on the screen, brow furrowing. "I want to see what happened when they encountered DRT, if possible."

 

[ArcticFox]

"Wait, Zyrina, could DRT stand for De Rege Technologies?" Oscar says breathlessly. "Come on, let's check out the cargo deck and find out!"

- Do it.
- Get out of there.
- Do something else.

 

[Cartoonicat]

"OH hell," I nearly facepalm. I'd been so busy trying to figure out the timeline that I completely overlooked what DRT could stand for. "No way to find out but to check," I nod, "let's go see."

 

[ArcticFox]

You and Oscar both head down to the cargo deck, and your footsteps echo in the vast, empty space. The cargo deck hasn't been entirely cleared - crates of pulses and grains lie scattered across the far wall, and bulky, wrapped bolts of the tough, reflective fabric that makes the suits. Like in the medbay, the high-value items have been taken, but there's lots of useful, low-value supplies left behind.

There's a conspicuous empty space in the middle of the deck, with scuff marks on the floor as if something heavy was dragged away. You pace around the space, searching, and find a smear of blood the length of a grown person. It's dried now, flaking into the low-gravity. No body, and no sign of a body being dragged away.

"That's not enough blood loss to kill someone," Oscar says authoritatively, then pauses and adds, "I think. But look here - this reminds me of Victor's little nook, right? I'll go check it out."

At the side of the cargo deck, one of the smaller storage rooms has been converted into living space, just like Victor has on the Eleos. The similarity is eerie.

- Check it out with Oscar.
- Check for supplies.
- Leave.

 

[Cartoonicat]

I don't like this. I really don't like this, perhaps even more than imaginative theories about abominations aboard the ship, because this feels infinitely more real than monsters derived from fiction. The set-up practically mirrors Victor's on the Eleos—my ship.

"I'm sure there's a reason for all of this," I say eventually, following him into makeshift living nook. There has to be. Despite his attitude, I can't imagine Victor would do something so shady, not to mention potentially dangerous. He's too... Victor for that. "Maybe it's all just a coincidence? O-Or, if not, Victor probably has no idea."

 

[ArcticFox]

The comparison to Victor's bedroom is more apt than you first realised. Everything is clean and obsessively tidy, a metal transport box converted into a lockable wardrobe, a computer set up so a visitor wouldn't be able to see the screen from the door.

But the wardrobe has been forcibly opened by a laser torch, several charred sleeves waving in the low gravity, the bedside table has been stomped to pieces, and the computer has been thoroughly dismantled.

It isn't for nothing, however: looking closer at the inside of the wardrobe, there's a sheet of printed plastic tacked to the inner door that no-one thought to remove. Part of it's charred from the laser torch, but you can make out enough. It's some sort of corporate announcement, and it reads:

…additional confidential information: President De Rege, Chairperson of the DRT Executive Board, has issued a private warrant for her son, Aureliano De Rege, who has…

…service representatives to uphold the DRT brand at all times.

It's certain. De Rege Technologies had cargo on this ship, had a representative on this ship, and once the captain found out exactly what her cargo was, she broke her contract and scuttled her own ship.

- You'd never break your contract like that.
- You need to see what you have on Eleos.
- You need to talk to Victor.
- You are not surprised.

 

[Cartoonicat]

It isn't looking good and I'm running out of ways to excuse Victor from what this could be, as it's beginning to seem like less and less of a coincidence. "I..." I really should talk to Victor about this, but I'm not confident going into that encounter without some sort of understanding of what, exactly, might be on the Eleos. Looking at Oscar, I frown. "I think we need to take a look at our own cargo."

Who knows? Maybe we're carrying different cargo and whatever DRT has on the Eleos isn't a dangerous weapon capable of scaring Captain Schultz into abandoning ship.

I pause, frowning deeper. Yeah... no... I'm still going to have to talk to Victor about that, even if it turns out that the cargo on my ship isn't shady.

"Let's grab a couple of things as proof and then head back. Things like, um..." I look around, wondering what I can take or if there's anything I can use to snap a couple of photos. I don't know when or if we'll need proof, but it might help, depending on how that conversation with Victor goes.

 

[ArcticFox]

"These charred documents." Oscar helps, then takes them and puts them in his pack. There's nothing around to help you take pictures, but then again there's nothing much to take photos of, it's just a a regular cargo bay.

"We need to get out of here," Oscar says softly. "It's giving me the creeps, and I think we've found all we can. Come on."

Back through the empty, groaning corridors, through the airlock and into your own ship. When Eleos's gravity takes hold of your body you can feel your muscles tense, relax, your bones shifting into place. Your suit no longer feels bulky; it feels unwieldy and impossibly heavy, and you quickly shuck it off for Dylan to clean and maintain.

You're wiping the sweat from your brow when your comms flicker with a text message from Eira to come to the nest as soon as you're back. You can feel the urgency in the words, and right now it could mean anything.

- Go to her.
- Ask what's wrong.
- Don't go.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Nodding, I grab what we can and opt to leave. That chilling sensation returned during our investigation and, while I'm pretty sure no space monsters are lurking the Thorn Chaser, the atmosphere is as unsettling as Oscar says.

By the time I'm out of my suit on the Eleos, limbs feeling significantly lighter than mere moments ago, I hear from Eira. A weight heavier than my suit drops in my gut and without a word—not even an acknowledgment—I hurry towards her post, borderline running.

 

[ArcticFox]

You reach the nest out of breath, still damp and grimy from your excursion. Eira grimaces when she sees you, which feels normal, if you're honest with yourself, but then she locks the door behind you and shuts down all external communication for the nest.

"First off," she says, her face drawn and pinched with tension, "should I power down for us to wait for T-PES like they asked, or what?"

- Yes.
- No.

 

[Cartoonicat]

I lift my brows, then narrow them thoughtfully. "I don't know, yet, but probably not," I say. "It depends on what happens within the next hour." I haven't talked to Victor yet nor have I checked cargo, and until I do I'm reluctant to make any big decisions. We can hover here for a little bit, power on.

"What's going on?"