Interlude: Space

9C2I1D Alt. Timeline: Hunger

Author's Note: FOR YOUR INFORMATION: This is not a sequel to the first chapter.

This is an ALTERNATE TIMELINE with the same characters.

I know the chapter title might not make any sense now, but it does mean something. You just don't have all the pieces for the puzzle yet.

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RED'S POV, ALTERNATE TIMELINE, HUNGER

Purple... It was like she was possessed. The signs should've been obvious, but she never approached anyone to ask for help, and nobody could get her alone if they tried anyway.

It started with Brown. He and Purple never got along since they were in that darned shuttle. It felt like it'd been centuries since then. At first, they thought it was an Imposter who had done it. Every ship has them, after all. It came down to this.

Only a streak of black blood, they found out later, was left of Brown. They were all horrified, of course, and it seemed that Purple was the only voice of reason. She asked everyone where they were, others confirmed each other's alibis, and Purple had Cyan confirming her appearance in Navigation four hours before Brown was reported missing.

The Medbay scans confirmed Brown to be an Imposter. Cyan seemed the only one deeply disturbed about the fact. The rest of them rejoiced.

Funnily enough, Cyan turned up missing the next day, or cycle as it's called. Pink had found her leg next to the vent, severed by what seemed to be sharp teeth. They were surprised to find Cyan with the same black blood Brown had, and her mini was sitting at the apparent location of her owner's death, petrified. Nobody had the heart to move the mini after cleaning up what was left of Cyan.

The ship's scan told them that no Imposters remained. They celebrated with a feast and booze. Mini-Cyan was nowhere to be found. Yellow knew something was wrong, though. If both Imposters were dead, then who killed them? Where were the bodies? Nothing added up, but the rest of them were too happy to have them gone to question it.

Purple had been acting distant. Before, she loved rolling and spinning and goofing off prancing through the hallways. Now she walked without even a skip in her step, and nobody questioned it. Why would they? Purple proved herself time and time again, taking on tasks and always finishing them efficiently. She was one of them.

With both Imposters gone, their guard was dropped. Three crewmates, Orange, Yellow, and Lime were dead. Their bodies, just like the first two, were missing. Nothing but faint bloodstains remained. An emergency meeting was called. Nobody pointed fingers yet, but everyone agreed to do a thorough scan on Medbay. Everyone was a Crewmate. No Imposters. Red didn't like jumping to conclusions, but maybe one of them was a murderer.

Everyone's alibis checked out. Purple was told to stop doing whatever the hell they were doing that prevented the others from seeing her. She agreed.

Nobody died for the next week. Seeds of distrust and suspicion spread through the ship. White and Black accused Purple of being the killer. "No," she replied coolly. "But jumping to conclusions so fast makes you sus. If you keep pointing fingers like that, you'll be the next ones dead. So I recommend not doing that,"

Her warning was so foreboding that everyone collectively agreed not to piss her off anymore. That was another mistake.

Green, Blue, and Pink were dead. Killed in the night while everyone was asleep. There were no vents in the crew's quarters and the only ones who could enter those rooms were their occupants. Someone broke in and killed them without leaving a trace. Not even the lock was broken. It looked like the Crewmates simply disappeared into thin air, leaving nothing except bloodstains behind.