Mira HQ's Guests

Chapter One: New Arrivals

(A/N I'll be switching perspectives for each chapter, from Mira crew-mate to Skeld crew-mate so you can see both sides in later chapters.)
[Purple. Day 1-2]
We had all heard about the tragedy that had occurred on the Skeld a month ago. The corporation tries to keep things quiet, but word gets around anyway. They had dealt with an imposter. Two, if I remember correctly. It wasn't a frequent issue with MIRA ships, but it happened often enough to be a job hazard. It was like a large shelf falling and killing people in a storage facility. It happened, sure, but it isn't exactly something you think about while on the job. I'm getting off topic, though. The Skeld had been infiltrated by an imposter, an alien that morphed itself to look like a crewmate of theirs. It decimated their crew, cutting the population of the Skeld from 10 to 3...technically 4. There was Green (their electrician), Yellow (their medic, a nurse I believe), and Orange (their pilot). Then there was the little one that Orange brought with them. It was probably not his originally, made obvious by the dark blue suit the kid wore while the person taking care of them was in an orange suit. They had been close before, the situation on the Skeld only bringing them closer with the ties of trauma. Green and Yellow had become romantic partners shortly before entering the Skeld, something only I knew from medical records. Orange had been friends with Blue, the father of Navy (the child). Blue was the suspect of one of the crimes and...well...the crew made their choice. Orange had promised to take care of her, until she could care for herself. I personally feel bad for all of them. After all, Green lost his brother and Orange lost his best friend and had found many of the corpses while the ship was flying. They had gone on leave (a vacation that also served as a quarantine to ensure there were no remaining imposters) for a month before they arrived here. We were all out on the landing bay, Black helping Pink adjust her labcoat and White jabbering to Red as they stood stoic and silent. I was worried, carrying a clipboard with the Skeld survivors Health records near to my chest. I had firm orders to give everyone a standard checkup as soon as they got here, no doubt to make one last check that they were fit to work. We watched as the carrying ship landed and the ramp slowly lowered. Orange was holding Navy's hand as they exited, squeezing it nervously as they exited the ship. The comfort seemed to be more for her than himself. Green exited with Yellow close behind, as if she were using him as a shield. We welcomed them and guided them through the ship to the medbay as their belongings were moved out of the ship and into the dormitory spaces. Everyone was fine, although a bit malnourished from not eating as much from a lack of appetite and small heartbeat irregularities from the stress, it was nothing too major that time couldn't heal. We introduced ourselves and what we did (save for Red) and showed them around the ship to make sure they knew their way around. Navy seemed especially enamoured at the massive garden in our O2 chambers. We directed them to their rooms where their things had been delivered and most of the other crew mates went about their day. Save for White, who had begun to document the worst fears of these poor folks to begin designing his malicious practical jokes. The next day was a little bit different. We were assigned our tasks and began meandering across the ship to do them. I noticed that the Skeld crew did their tasks a lot faster, but still efficiently and tended to avoid being around other people (specifically us from HQ) when completing their tasks. Green and Yellow stayed in admin, tracking everyone on the sensors, while Orange and his child remained in the cafeteria.I had gotten done with my tasks for the day and was just beginning to sit down
I had finally finished my tasks for the day and sat down in the cafe for a snack when I saw Orange and Navy, now in an orange suit MIRA provided, nearby and decided to chat with them.
"Hey Orange." He froze for a minute as he looked up at me, like he couldn't think of what to say. "Oh. um, hi! Sorry, you kinda caught me off guard." He chuckled nervously as Navy sat next to him. " ah, no need to apologize. I'm sure anybody would be jumpy after what you went through..." I sat down across the table from him and set a bottle from the vending machine on the table. I began to take off my helmet when he reached to stop me. "WAIT DON'T-" it was too late, I had already began removing it. "Huh? What's wrong?" I asked, confused. I could see myself reflected in his visor, my black hair still tidy and barely covering my brown eyes while my skin remains as dark colored as it always was. "Oh....I uh...forgot we weren't in space. I'm so sorry, I feel like I keep panicking for no reason..." I smiled, "it isn't no reason if you're genuinely concerned, Orange. It's ok. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about the Skeld...if it's alright with you."
He was silent for a moment and Navy scooted closed to him. He put an arm around her and she leaned against him. "About the incident?..."
"Yes...you don't have to right this minute, I would never force you to speak about a traumatic experience unless you were comfortable enough to."
"Thank you...I don't think I can talk about it. I still...I still get horrible flashbacks sometimes."
"Ah. It's alright, if nothing else, I could always ask Yellow or Green. Or try to find some of the camera feed."
"Good idea, on that last one. Anyway, I actually wanted to talk to you."
This some what surprised me, and I raised an eyebrow at the statement as I took a sip of bottled water.
"What about?" I finally said.
"The Mira crew. Just in general, what they're like, small habits, etcetera?"
I nodded. "Ah. Well Red is our "strong and silent type", never talks to my knowledge, and is fairly muscular. They work mostly in storage with White, who catalogs supplies and does other miscellaneous things throughout the ship. White is a bit of a prankster but he goes a bit too far at times...you might want to watch yourself around him. He uses some of the samples and models in the lab for pranks while Pink utilizes them in her research. Pink is...eccentric, excitable, all around a very happy go lucky woman. She has a slight temper, but don't mess with her laboratory and I think you'll be fine. Black is our security, she can be talkative but is a good listener. She's pretty calm, for someone who has to worry about so much. Anything else you'd like to know?"
"Erm...y-yes, but it's rather confidential." He leaned in slightly closer over the table.
"Are the crew...ok with um.....how do I put it...people of other sexualities?..."
I wasn't completely shocked, we had a very motley crew after all. But having somebody come to me this early with a declaration was unusual.
"Well. As far as I know, I don't think anyone has a problem with it. Black is from the Deep South of the U.S but other than her, I don't think the others would really have a big issue with it."
He seemed relieved, and thanked me as Red and White entered the cafe and walked over to us. White sat on Orange's other side and Red sat a few feet away from Navy, taking out a large notebook and writing in it as they always did. "Hey." White said, his voice taking on the suave quality it did when he was going to flirt with someone. "So you're one of the guys from the Skeld right? Tragic, what happened to you four, absolutely tragic. Anyway. I'm White, I'm sure you've heard of me, I-"
He prattled on about his exploits on the Polus base, something Red and I had heard countless times and Orange didn't seem any more impressed than we did. "So." He began when White finally stopped talking. "You managed to nearly be infected by an alien parasite three separate times before you were put here? You must've been quite an irresponsible scientist." He said in a fake impressed tone. "Heh, thanks I- wait." He started before processing what Orange had said. "Irresponsible? Wasn't my fault they were trying to kill me!"
"Actually, a friend of mine used to be at the Polus base. He said you'd have to be clumsy, stupid, or just plain ignorant to get infected by the parasites you were describing."
"Oh yea? Well I'd like to give that friend of yours a really good talking to, seeing as I-"
"Yea. I'd like to talk to them too..."
White silenced at that, realizing what he meant. "I....oh.....I'm so sorry."
"Sure. Come on Navy."
He says sarcastically as he waits for the girl to get up from her place at the bench, giving her his hand as they walked out of the cafe.
"You really should stop trying to flirt with every new person that arrives, White. You don't even know if he swings that way or not."
And I certainly wasn't going to tell White if he did.
"I know I just...*sigh* I can't help but feel drawn to him! He's got this gravity that I can't resist, you know?"
"You said that about Black when she got here too."
"Oh..."
I sighed and got up. "Anyway. I've got a book I've been meaning to read. I'll see you later."
I walked out of the cafe, throwing my empty bottle in the trash can as I put my helmet back on.