Young Writers Society

Logan~Hall-On Board XX Demeter'

If Logan had the time he would have had mental breakdown. The crew had drastically diminished. Those left were in-between being scared and depressed. It was actually a good thing that Logan hadn’t had a moment to lay down, because he knew that if he relaxed his mind for even a second, all of his fears, worries, and depression would crush him and he would probably soon follow the other crew members that had ended their own life.

Good things of course had happened. Rachell, Roan and Hayden were back. If the three of them had been lost he doubted the ship would be as organized as it was now. Logan was one of the few that weren’t fearful of Isaac at the moment. The others had of course heard about the alien life form that had impersonated him, but most were still careful. Logan guessed it had to do with the fact that he had seen proof of its existence as opposed to most of the crew.

Logan passed by Elle’s office. He stopped looked at the cold steel door. He entered the room and was hit by a bitter cold. The room was dark and for the most part empty. The only indicator that the room had been occupied was the ornate steel desk. It was stripped of all of its folders and papers. Logan ran his fingers across the back of the chair. Elle was dead. It didn’t seem possible. Elle had been such a stable individual. She was the last person he’d ever guess to have committed suicide. He opened one of the desks out of curiosity and it was empty as expected. He opened the next and unlike the other a notebook was pushed back in the corner. Logan wondered how the cleaners that had emptied the room had missed it. Logan picked it up and flipped through it. It seemed to be a journal. It was widely known that Elle gave all her patients a notebook. The one he now held seemed to be hers.

“Mr. Fields,” someone interrupted before Logan could start reading. Logan placed the small journal in his back pocket.

“Yes?”

It was one of the surviving members of the communications crew. “The signal is getting stronger.” The man looked around uncomfortably as if the he expected Elle’s ghost to swoop down.

“Okay, I’ll be there in a second.”

Logan took one last look at the empty cold room, and departed with a simple goodbye, that left his lips hovered in the still recycled air. The communication crew member didn’t say anything as they walked down the hall. People hardly talked idly anymore. Who had time for it? Logan hated the somberness that seemed to be choking all the life from the crew. Something had to be done and soon. He thought about this for a moment, considering the possibilities. Maybe if they got some closure. Without a word he shifted directions. Roan had told Isaac and himself to handle things as they saw fit. While the need for closure may not have seemed imperative, Logan had no doubt that it was necessary.

“Sir where are we going?”

"Keep an eye on the signal. I’ll be there in a moment."

Isaac was overseeing the engine damage. Of course there was not much to be done with the few tools they had and the limited staff.

Logan approached Isaac carefully. “I was thinking…” he paused. “ I was thinking that we should have a vigil of some sort. The ship is divided, broken. There are too few of us left for such division. We need to be unified. I was thinking that we could honor those we have lost and Roan or you can give a rousing speech on unity.” As it spilled out Logan realized how idealistic and silly he sounded, but he didn’t care.

Aboard the Zeus, Adelaide kept watch. There were some crew members awake, of course, but they were mostly there as a precaution, should she shut down unexpectedly. No Artificial Intelligence had ever failed before; but the Navy believed in redundancy.

Their current mission was mostly a trial of the Zeus's sensor package. A science ship known as the Demeter had gone missing, their job was to find it. Probes had been launched and were sweeping the space around them. They were reporting back continuously, but most of their data reported nothing interesting, so Adelaide had built a sub-routine to monitor their data. If there was something interesting, it would let her know.

The Zeus was a new ship with a new crew. There were a couple of veterans, like the Captain, but most of them were new cadets. It made sense, only the younger crew members had received any training on how to deal with AI's, not that it was hard to deal with Adelaide.

The probe sub-routine drew her attention. An object had been found which didn't match the usual profile of asteroids, comets, planets, or even stars. Immediately she brought up the relevant data. The images weren't great; the probe was still too far away; but it wasn't a natural formation, there were too many straight edges. She ordered the probe to get closer, but she hesitated about pinging the object. If it was the Demeter then it would light up their communications center, but if it was an alien vessel, they might interpret it as a hostile action. Of course, there was a chance that the ship was already picking up the probes transmissions; since there was a small amount of scattering of the signal.

In either event; it was worth waking the Captain up. She activated the holograph projector there.

slow to the game, but here we are~

Name: Patrisha Warman

Rank/Roll: Second in Command of Zeus

Age: 27

Gender: Female

Character Quote: “When it comes to the point, really bad people are just as rare as really good ones.” (adapted quote by George Bernard Shaw)

Theme-song: Temple of The Golden Pavilion (Nice and ominous, no?)

Appearance: Dark intelligent eyes with an almost lustful gaze to them, short cropped red hair with blond streaks. Looks authoritative, standing at least taller than much of the lesser male crew. Wears her uniform with utmost pride and round her neck is a small locket which she never stops wearing inscribed with, 'Forever ago we will meet'.

Personality: Expecting success and perfection from both herself and those under her, Patrisha is authoritarian in command and unforgiving for any deviation from accomplishing the task at hand. Interestingly enough, she has a fairly decent sense of humor and enjoys a challenge in jest, though this is mainly with those she admires or are her superiors; this doesn’t mean she sucks up to anyone, as she sees herself as someone everyone else sucks up to. Patrisha enjoys social events and gatherings, being a glutton for gossip and rumor, if only because she knows how to manipulate and worm her way into people’s good graces.
Strengths: Killer instinct and the execution of orders like a highly trained assassin; weapons are second nature for Patrisha and any variety of means to get her what she wants will be utilized by. Additionally, her good looks make it easy to woo just about anyone.

Flaws/Weaknesses: Interestingly, Patrisha is concerned with beauty, both physical and not, so much that she cannot bear to be around anything she does not deem being beautiful. This causes her to groom herself carefully and live in varying cycles of what fits her sense of beauty. Her perception of beauty transcends mere vanity; beauty systematically shapes her motivations and goals in life, which to anyone else, appear to arise from her profession. The result of this obsession is that the more other people get to know her, the less likeable she becomes, often resulting in confrontations.

History: Origin not known, Patrisha was raised by an aunt who had married an old tycoon, only to have him die a year later. After a long settlement process, the aunt made off like a bandit and lived a life of absolute luxury. When Patrisha came to her aunt, she was met with a strong lack of interest; though her mother’s sister was aware of Patrisha and did take her into her care (the locket was the property of her mother and passed down to each first born female), Patrisha spent almost all of her time in the presence of servants, tutors, and being sent away to private boarding schools. If Patrisha gained anything from her aunt, it was an exposure to the life of luxury and an obsession with objects of beauty. Taking her own spin on this, Patrisha developed her own sense of what beauty was or was not, and promptly decided her aunt’s taste was riddled with overabundance, hoarding, and gaudy exotic items with no overarching theme but what money could bring next.

School exposed Patrisha to socialization and friendship, yet she remained distant behind a façade of friendliness. The benefits of social expression were only clear to her in the maneuvering in what one wished to achieve or accomplish. As for academia, Patrisha took no liking to any particular subject, merely passing each class with high marks. Physical activities however, showed her to be different amongst her peers. Fencing, martial arts, sports, and any task of physical effort seemed second nature; exposure to these activities further developed Patrisha’s idea of beauty. As she found physical work to be the best stimulant for maintaining physical and mental beauty, Patrisha decided to enter the military shortly after graduation from her primary education. To her surprise, the military came to her (she suspects her aunt may have had some influence in a meager attempt to show her adopted daughter that she cared).

Upon entering the military, Patrisha noticed something troubling her: she lacked any meaningful connection to another person. In her first year she hid depression, until meeting another cadet who she fell in love with. Due to the environment, the two could not regularly meet, except in private and secrecy. Shortly before the end of her second year, the other cadet disappeared without a trace. Patrisha has not spoken or thought of them since (not even their name comes to mind).

Her career following the academy has led to her rank of second in command of the Zeus due to her efficiency, high standards, and results on the job (and certainly influence from her aunt, though there remains a mystery behind a relationship in her family name and the military). Patrisha is well known by those in the military field, commonly referred to by her last name Warman.

Rachell | The Halls on board the Demeter

Rachell took a few deep breaths, rubbing one arm with the opposite hand. The shivers running up and down her spine where reminder enough that things were hopeless as they ever were-- and for a moment, she wanted to go back to arguing with Hayden. At least then, Rachell had been so obsorbed in keeping calm, resisting him, that her mind hadn't wandered back to all of... this.

The further she walked down the halls, the stronger her urge to break into a steady sprint became. The Demeter was in shambles, and almost everybody Rachell knew had lost the ability to breathe. Another current of shivers rippled down her spine.

Rachell had never believed in ghosts, she'd never been supersticious about things that go bump in the night. But what if? For a few brief moments, she could have swore she had heard moaning. Quiet, ghost-like moaning. Just as quickly, it was gone and Rachell was mentally kicking herself.

Ghosts. Ha, I'm really losing it, aren't I?

A muffled bang sounded further up the hallway, causing Rachell to jump what she guessed must have been three feet into the air. "Setlle down," she hissed to herself. Her jaw twitched as a cold sweat broke out on her forehead. "Or, maybe I'm not losing it," she muttered to herself, hand instinctively heading towards the hand-gun on her belt.

One slow, hesitant step after the other, Rachell made her way to the correct door. For some reason, she thought it a good idea to knock first. Only when there was no answer did she mentally kick herself for the eighth time that day. Her hand went shakily to the handle, giving it a twist.

She had expected it to be locked tightly-- wanted it to be locked tightly. It swung open with ease, and the sight on the other side made Rachell gag. Laying on the floor, surrounded by a pool of his own blood, was one of Rachell's fighters. Laying next to his head was a pistol, still wrapped in his fingers.

Rachell's own gun fell to the floor with a clatter. Another suicide? Her gut twisted, and in an effort to keep her breakfast down, she sank to the floor. So this was The Demeter, was it?

If Hayden hadn't made her feel guilty before, this was doing the trick. How any of this was Rachell's fault, she couldn't guess, but it sure as hell felt like it was. The next step was forcing herself to her feet to go report the incident to somebody in command. If this kept up, they might have another suicide to report. A guilt-ridden squardon leader, for instance.

Rachell eyed her gun for a moment before reaching over to pick it up. With no intention of shooting-- yet-- she held the barrel to her temple, brining it back down just as quickly. There was no way she was going suicidal so soon. She sighed, put the gun back in its proper place and forced herself back into a standing position.

With one last look over her shoulder, vision blurred by a few stray tears, she started back up the halls. And to think that starting out on this ship had seemed like such a marvelous idea at first... Rachell shook her head, wiped the tears from her eyes and quickened her pace. The sooner she was around other people, the better. Maybe she'd take Shaun up on his earlier offer to play cards, just to bring some false sense of security back.

Captain Crane

And there she was, spinning beneath the setting star like autumn leaves caught in the southern breeze. Floral-blue skin flushed radiantly in the twilight's glow, and she reached out her hand to touch the face of her lover; "Vleil t'ble vi trav's," she sang, and the worn lover closed his eyes.

"Say more, angel," he called, and the goddess drew her lips apart.

"Captain," rang out in an alien voice. "Captain."

"Adelaide." Archibald's eyelids melted apart, giving him a vague sight of the digital phantom in front of him. Rendering his grogginess irrelevant, he drug himself out of bed with a few silent heaves and stood tall across from Adelaide's form. "I trust that you bring news of the most vital importance." He moved then, and pulled his Captain's jacket from its containment unit beside his bed. The air-tight lock gave way with a hiss, and he closed his eyes as he buttoned the uniform together.

"Of course, Captain." The AI pointed across the room at the wall behind Archibald; the surface of the gray metal wall illuminated, displaying a map of a vast expanse of space. "Here you will see receptor waves testing for any foreign surfaces across our range of testing." The lights shifted to display radial waves of light passing through the darkness. Several objects appeared after. "As you can see, no object within primary and secondary testing range was found, other than three foreign cruisers, a school of asteroids, and the remnants of what appear to be vapor trails from a duo of fighters."

"Fighters? From which deployment vessel?"

"It is unclear. The duo seemed to enter our range and vanish. I'd suspect that they were fighters with unclear allegiance that detected our presence nearby." Adelaide motioned to the wall once more. "They idled for quite some time, by my detection, and suddenly vanished."

"Very peculiar. But is there any sign of the Demeter, Adelaide?"

"...perhaps."

Captain Crane turned to his virtual assistant and stared into her glowing eyes. "Perhaps?"

Adelaide slowly nodded and projected a refreshed display of the radial tests on the wall. Archibald cleared his throat and neared the display, squinting to view the odd shape. "Dear Christ," the captain whispered. "Do you see how much damage it's taken?"

Adelaide diverted her attention to another wall where she enlarged the image of the vague object. "Grant me this, Captain, that it could very well not be the Demeter." A duo of lights encircled an area towards the front of the object. "If this is the Demeter, then the entire helm of the ship has been completely destroyed."

"Elaborate."

"In the frontal surface here, the dimensions fall short by an entire 200 cubic meters."

Archibald stepped nearer to the image and shook his head. "We cannot dismiss the dire. Continue running your tests, Adelaide; call the crew into the briefing hall."

"With respect sir, there are too many personnel on board to fit in the briefing hall. If you wish, we can brief the crew in sections, or you can broadcast it over the ship's network."

"Very good point, Adelaide." The Captain watched her for a moment before nodding quickly. "Bring Miss Warman to my office so that we may talk this over; we will further decide from there." Archibald strapped his gun to his waist and left the room, the sudden anxiety of failure ripping into his core.

Anna~ Lab~Zeus

Anna sat perched on a stool peering into the microscope that sat in front of her. She had her hair pulled back into a tight bun, and her fresh white lab coat was buttoned snuggly around her. She looked at the he blood sample she had taken from her fathers clone one more time for good measure. She looked over to see the boy sitting and staring up at the ceiling. It was odd to see her father in a youthful sixteen year old body. She had of course seen pictures of him at that age, but this was much different. This was a solid representation of her father. This idea sent a slight shutter coursing through her heart. The boy seemed to feel her gaze because he dropped his eyes to meet hers. He stared at her with a steady wisdom that she had seen all too often when she was his age.

“So am I going to die?”

“Yes,” She said. “For some reason your blood cells are deteriorating at a progressive rate. I predict you’ll live for about a week. In that time you will get weaker and your death will be slow and painful,” Anna said briskly.

The clone nodded.

“Are the others going to die too?”

“Without a doubt.”

Again the clone nodded.

Anna sighed as she realized she would have to report this information to the captain. Millions of dollars were going to decay before they were put to any use. “I can trust you to get back into you pod? I must speak to the captain about the predicament.”

She wasn’t sure if he would even care at the moment since he had other things on his mind, but protocol dictated that she inform him of any and all major changes in her department. She of course could have called him or sent him the info over the computer, but she knew he disliked such transactions. This meant she would have to tell him and person. She was not complaining, her brief interactions with the captain were nice. He was such an opposing man, a man that exuded authority and power. It sent pleasant shivers down her spine that hadn’t happened since she was a teen in her father’s laboratory.

As she strutted down the hall, she yanked the clip that held her hair in place and let her dark red hair fall down her back and shoulders. In mid stride she unbuttoned her lab coat and let it hang open to reveal her regulated uniform.

She was half way to his office when an announcement came over the speaker. The few people in the hall looked up expectantly. Anna herself stopped slightly perplexed.

All personnel are to remain at their stations until further notice. All heads of departments report to the bridge for briefing on the situation.

Anna was head of the science department, while most of the people on this military ship looked down on her department; she was still the head of it. She guessed she would not be seeing the captain alone.

Rex : Engine Room Five : Zeus

He could hear people around chattering, though he never engaged. He had always preferred his solidarity, it was familiar to him.

‘He’s a hard worker,’ someone nearby said. He knew they were referring to him, because he was the only one still working.

‘He’s weird.’ The second comment was from a younger voice. Rex preferred the company of older people, they were more set in their ways and easier to understand, kids made about as much sense as a clock that runs backwards.

‘You should be working,’ he said, loud enough for them to hear.

‘I didn’t think he was listening,’ the younger said, quieter this time. Rex had spent many hours training to improve the hearing in his right ear - that way if anything came so close that he aught to see it with his right eye, he would hear it instead. Of course, that meant he was always listening.

‘We don’t actually have to do maintenance on this thing every other day you know,’ someone else said. ‘It’s not going to fall apart if we leave it a week. That would cut our workload down to a third.’

‘Our orders were to run through this section every two days at least.’

‘Order? It’s more of a guideline.’

‘It’s an order,’ Rex said, this time with a flat tone in his voice. He turned to the three men who were gathered there. ‘If you spend as much time working as you do talking, you’ll cut your workload by nine tenths. Now, get back to work.’

The others sighed and went off in different directions.

‘So annoying,’ the younger growled under his breath.

Rex considered giving him another warning, but the boy hadn’t bluntly refused to work, so there was little that could actually be done in that situation. Instead, he continued working, mapping out the strengths and weaknesses of his team in the same way that he would a blueprint, twisting it all into a mechanical structure inside his head. Not that there was anything he could gain from better understanding them, you don’t need to understand someone in order to give out commands, but he found a satisfaction in figuring out how each one of them ticked.

((EDIT: Thanks for the help Paladin, now for my starting post...))

Lheia : Outside of the Bunk Room : XX Zeus

Lheia was glaring. This wasn't really a new development, as she generally was glaring or frowning, but this time there was real, burning rage in her eyes. A recruit was cowering in front of her, and even though he was several inches taller than she was, she still somehow managed to look down on him.

"Do you think this is a game, soldier?!" she snapped, glaring, "do you think this is like college? This isn't the place to goof off. This is a serious operation, damnit!"

"S-Sorry ma'am," the man stammered, "I-I won't do it agai-"

The look on her face was more than enough to tell him to shut up. "I don't want apologies," she snarled, voice dangerous, "I want consequences. Tell me, what do you think the consequences are for leaving your post?"

The man seemed flustered. "I-I don't know ma'am."

"I'll tell you what they a-" then she broke off, frowning.

"Murderer..." a voice whispered in her ear, faint and almost broken.

She shook herself, and her glare returned. "Generally it would be no rec room privileges for a week, but I heard something about you sleeping with one of your fellow crewmembers."

The man's face reddened and muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like "she was synthetic anyway".

Lheia snorted. "Doesn't matter! She was still another crew member and you were probably both shirking!" her voice was rising in volume quite rapidly now, "Shirking is not acceptable on this ship! I'd thought that you'd have learned this by now! YOU DO NOT LEAVE YOUR POST UNLESS ORDERED TO, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!"

The recruit looked scared. "Y-Yes ma'am..."

"Two weeks without rec room privileges," she snapped.

He scowled, obviously slightly less intimidated than he'd first appeared. "Like you expect me to listen to a synthetic..." he muttered.

Lheia's eyes flashed. Boiling, burning rage rose dangerously through her. Suddenly she'd grabbed the unfortunate man by the collar and slammed him viciously into the wall. He let out a cry of surprise and pain, staring up at her with wide eyes.

"Synthetic?!" Lheia snarled, "is that what you just called me?!"

The recruit shook his head, face deathly pale. "N-No ma-am."

"You didn't? It sounded like you did," she snarled. Then a rational thought came through her, and she paused. If anyone finds out about this I'll be in so much trouble... But there was no stopping that anger... She released him and ran in the opposite direction, searching desperately for a needle.

Hayden McQuinn: Near the Rec Room - On Board XX Demeter

Coming down the hall Hayden took the chance to dent the wall with a hard kick. How the hell could he even get over how he been if no one else would. That therapist was being unprofessional bitch. Heading the hull he realized how it had come to this. But he didn't want to admit he wasted his life. No instead he take easy way out.

Lifting head he swung it aggressively at the wall, stopping midway just as a voice yelled, "Don't you fucking dare Hayden."

Spinning around he saw Rachell, her eyes tear stained, "What in bloody hell do you think you're doing?"

Without even turning around he replied, "Doing everyone on this ship a goddamn favour."

No , you're not. Get your butt over here. Right now."

With that he spun around, not caring how much he was crying, "Like you care at all bitch. I'm just someone you can make false promises to and then freaking wonder why I wanna join rest of the sane!"

Rachell almost turned away, but glaring she replied"Just because I didn't agree to a freakin' relationship doesn't mean I don't care about you! Have you ever considered that maybe I just don't think I can do it right now?"

Looking away he muttered miserably, "Besides, I'm a pervert... my therapist won't even help me... she instead judges me... perhaps I deserve it... perhaps... not like matters to you either way..." As he breathed heavily he continued, "You still don't understand do you... everything going to hell Rachell, perhaps it's better a pervert not around. No one cares for me really."

Rachell shook her head. "Hayden... why are you doing this to yourself? I care. I swear it on my life that I care... but I just can't... How many times have I said that now?"

"No you pity me. Who wouldn't... I screwed up one life, ran and now I'll die on here now or later. I'd rather be in control of my fate."

Trying to reason with him Rachell yelled, "Hayden. Listen to me would you? Stop being so damned impossible!"

Staring at her his eyes grew dark, "Me, impossible. Rachell one thing I am not according to most of the people on this ship is impossible. In fact I am possible, but you don't care. If anything I'm the diplomatic one you're the impossible one!?"

She seemed close to crying her eyes out but stumbled a reply out, "No, I'm not impossible. You of all people should understand why I don't want a relationship yet! I've tried, and quite frankly, it doesn't work. You're no diplomat."

"I'm sick of this game. If you've nothing else to say, I'm going to waste my life away!"

"Will you just listen... jesus... I... I..." without warning she rushed up to him caught him on the lips, kissing him long and hard. Just as the shock passed and he was getting into the moment, she ended her lips slowly withdrawing while she blushed deeply, "I... I got to go and report another suicide." with that she turned away, glancing back as Hayden carried on walking again."

After Hayden figured he'd go the long game. If anything was worth surviving now, it be getting her to admit it all.

Adelaide: Zeus

Adelaide let a subroutine send the messages to the department heads. It was a common, if boring, order. She focused on the probe instead and took control of it from another subroutine. She charged the sensors, then began scanning the mass that was Demeter. Information streamed right back and in an instant, Adelaide was getting information about everything that was happening aboard the Demeter. She knew where everyone was, the condition of the structure, the emissions from the reactor. The only thing she didn't have was information on the Demeter's computers. But that much information she could get when the Zeus sent a boarding party over to assess the situation.

Which meant she was going with them. The Marines were good at their job, but they weren't good at her job. She checked to see if the Demeter was equipped with an AI, and was glad to see there wasn't one. It was strange that a science ship wouldn't have an AI with it. Nonetheless, it would mean that she was the best way of measuring the status of the ship.

Her meeting subroutine interrupted her with a message, letting her know that the members of the crew were starting to appear. She immediately compiled the relevant data into a report and handed the probe back to a subroutine.

Anabelle Sloane | Rec Room - The XX Demeter:

The sounds of an argument brought me up short. I'd been hiding in the Rec room, crying. Not many people came into this room nowadays. They were too busy trying to keep the ship running--we were basically a skeleton crew. Frowning, I raised my head. That was... Was that seriously Hayden and Rachel fighting? I sighed. It must be.

I got up slowly, keeping to the edges of the room while I wiped my eyes. The pair outside fell silent and, looking out the door, I saw Rachel rush past. I hesitated, but she didn't look my way. Well, that was okay. I probably looked like a mess anyway. My brother was dead...and I couldn't have saved him. I didn't even know where he was when it happened.

Curious, I crept up to the door and peeked out. Hayden just stood there staring after her. "Hayden?" I called, keeping my voice down. Something about seeing him made my heart speed up. He flinched, glancing towards me.

Hayden McQuinn: Rec Room - On Board XX Demeter

For a second he didn't realize who said his name, but then it came to him, lovely Annabelle a girl whom he flirted with many times in the bar during happier times. He had wanted her, he wanted her because she was so hard to get. But things change and seeing her now he admired her beauty, but at this moment he just wanted Rachell. What a kisser she was. He never really thought much about kisses he was given, but with Rachell it was more, he felt high from it.

Much like a drug he needed the high from it, needed her to be honest. She made him forget why he was sad, for that second there lips touched, it was heaven. Not even Meg had brought him so much happiness, bless her soul. He couldn't comprehend much of anything now. She had said, wasn't ready then in same chat she goes exploring his mouth with great prejudice. It was almost enough for him to wish for simpler times.

"Hey Ann did you want something." he asked placing a façade of curiosity on.

"Not really..."

Hayden shrugged confused, before remembering something, leaning to hug in he replied, "My condolences about your brother."

Without warning she began to sniffle and then wail, tears falling from her eyes, before she buried her face into his shoulder. Trying his best Hayden held her close and whispered, 'There, there, we'll get through this." Total lie, but she needed hope. Then again so did everyone else.

"I missed you" she said out of nowhere.

Scratching his head he sighed before trying to joke, "Been to busy to come to the bar Anne, but when it reopens I want the usual."

Laughing a little she smiled tiredly before saying, "Irish Whisky and a jagermeister for flavour."

"No wonder you were put in charge of the bar. Shaun knew you had one cute little memory there." he suggested chuckling a bit.

She smiled shyly, grinning a little he continued, "One thing miss about bar is our chats. True I was an utter twat sometimes, but you still talked to me."

"You're quite a sweet talker Hayden."

"Perhaps I was." he said sadly, "But now my words have meaning, definition, they're not hollow lies. I know now what love is." he finished a soft smile in his eyes.

With an extremely awkward coy grin she asked, "Who do you love you handsome Irish man." while doing that she ran a thumb and forefinger down his cheek.

Hayden was so confused, listening to brain he chose 'flight' and just scampered feeling a blush appear in his cheek. That didn't just happen, she was probably just drunk. he loved Rachell, how could anyone miss that? Heading to his room he tried to work out how conversation got so weird so quick.

Rachell | The Halls | XX Demeter

That had been the stupidest thing Rachell could ever remember doing in her whole life. The fact that she had enjoyed the blasted kiss only made things worse. Over and over again, she kept telling herself it was just to get Hayden to shut up, but even she knew that wasn't true.

It had been impulse. Impulse that had been nagging at her since that conversation in the fighters, floating around space-- expecting to die.

Something about the memory made Rachell's step faulter, and then cease alltogether. Hayden really had confided in her, and she had made him a promise. What would be the harm in one date, anyways? After a kiss like that? Rachell scoffed at herself, disgusted that she could change her mind so quickly. Everything.

Rachell started to move forward, to find Logan or Shaun, even Isaac... or anybody for that matter. She did have to report this suicide at one point or another. Duty before heart. Unless, of course, you were a fan of cheesey romance novels. In which case it was vice versa.

So, why pray tell was she turning around and heading back for the rec room? Rachell was not a firm believer in those cheesy romance novels-- at least not anymore-- and she had a duty to perform. I'll call one of them on my radio... assuming it still works. Judging by all that had been going wrong the past few days, she wouldn't be surprised if it didn't. Besides, the man had a lot on their hands as it was. Maybe it would be a good idea to wait a while... pretend she hadn't found it until just recently. Or better yet, wait until somebody else found the dead body.

"Listen to yourself, Rachell," she muttered out loud, "you should be fired!" Then again, firing her wouldn't do the crew much good right now, would it?

Rachell rounded the rec room, a slight frown pulling at the corners of her lips. Hayden was nowhere to be seen. The hint of sadness almost startled her. Why on earth was she upset about his disappearance? She mentally slapped herself and shook her head. This was getting ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

Anabelle was there, but Rachell didn't feel much like talking to the girl. She hated herself for feeling this down and put-out, but there didn't seem to be anything she could do about it. The anger, however, was more expected-- and much more welcome.

She was angry at Hayden for mixing up her emotions, mad at herself for letting him get to her. Heck, at this point, Rachell was just furious with life in general. The ship was in shambles, everybody was dead or dying or killing themselves, and everything was a big mess. The worst part was the lack of hope. Nothing was getting better; things just kept falling-- getting worse.

Rachell sighed and turned on her heel. She had a suicide to report, and this time, she wouldn't let herself become so distracted. Hayden or not.

The briefing proceeded quickly and the appropriate action was decided. Ten minutes later and Adelaide found herself aboard an Atlas Assault Shuttle. Even though the Zeus could manage 5500 fighters, those fighters would be a poor choice to ferry the marines. The Atlas, on the other hand, could carry an entire company of battle hardened marines.

Leading the Marines was Commander Warman. Her expertise in combat made her the natural choice for the Commander of the Marines aboard Zeus. She spoke now.

"There are seventy people aboard this ship. We do not know who they are or their intentions towards us. They may be friendlies in need of aid, or they may be pirates or worse still, mutineers. Set your weapons to stun, we don't want to kill any friendlies by accident. Adelaide!"

"Yes Ma'am." Adelaide brought up a schematic on the Demeter.

"The Demeter has suffered significant damage from an undetermined event. Only a few areas still have power and life support. Once I am linked with the ship computer, I can confine the crew to quarters while your Marines secure the area. Primary objectives are to secure the ship reactors and the bridge. Secondary objectives is to rescue the crew and secure the entire ship," Adelaide said, highlighting the various parts of the ship.

"Thank you, Adelaide. Sergeant Major!"

"Yo!"

"Take Alpha platoon and secure those reactors. You know what happens if they're detonated."

"Yes Ma'am!"

"Delta and Charlie Platoons, your mission is to secure the living quarters. Bravo Platoon, we're going to the bridge. Ms. Adelaide, you're with me. Any questions?"

"Ma'am, where do we assemble prisoners?"

"We're going to be flying into their fighter bay. Prisoners will be assembled there. More questions?" There were none. It was the standard boarding action that Marines had prepared for and mastered since boot camp.

"Good luck Marines!"

"HOOAH!" the Marines answered.

"We're thirty seconds out. Hang on, we're coming in hot," the pilot radioed.

Lheia :Sick Bay : XX Zeus

Lheia's fists were clenched so tight that they were white. She was trembling slightly, trying to contain herself. No, she couldn't let herself out... if she did, they might consider her too much of a liability and terminate her. And she wasn't going to let that happen. They needed her on this ship, and, quite frankly, she needed the ship as well. After agreeing to become a synthetic her family had become terrified of her. Her position on this ship was the only thing she had left, and she had no intention of allowing herself to lose it.

She sprinted into the sick bay, eyes wild. She looked at the doctor and could sense the blood flowing through his veins. What she wouldn't give to see some right now... To see that lovely crimson liquid, feel it on her hands, her body, smell it...

No, no, NO, NO. Lheia shook herself with difficulty.

"Injection," she gasped, "now... Please!"

The doctor looked startled. He was wearing a crisp uniform. His hair was black and cut short, and his skin was naturally tanner than normal. "Again?"

"Yes! HURRY!"

He nodded quickly, hurrying over to a drawer. Lheia fell to her knees, fingers digging even harder into her palms. She smelled blood, and her eyes began to flicker wildly. She wasn't sure she could contain herself any longe-

The doctor hurried back with a syringe and injected it into her arm.

Lheia gasped, relaxing almost instantaneously as the bloodlust faded. She closed her eyes and composed herself, getting to her feet. "Thank you, doctor."

He nodded. "It's alright, Sergeant Major. Perhaps you should get some rest."

She nodded. "That sounds like a good idea." She turned and strode out. She slowly unclenched her fists as she walked, bringing her hands up to examine them.

In each of her palms were four crescent shaped cuts. Her fingernails were bloody.

Lheia winced. Oops... Well, she couldn't go back to the sick bay. It would heal on its own.

----------

When she received her orders she headed straight for the Atlas. She was one of the first to arrive, as she usually was. As the others trickled in and the briefing began, Lheia listened, though her mind was somewhere else. She had gotten dangerously close to trying to lop the doctor's head off. She couldn't let that happen again. Maybe she could convince the doctor to allow her to carry a few of those injections around... But no, it was probably against some kind of protocol. Things like that always were.

The next thing she knew they were on the way to the Demeter.

That was when Lheia got a horrifying thought.

If that medication wore off on that ship, there would be no injections available to her.