The Imposter Among Us

Chapter 5

Cleaning the O2 filter was a fairly standard task among bioengineers on ships. Even if the ship hadn't shut down, Becca would still be cleaning the O2 filters, so that's where she chose to start.
Becca's dad had always said, when everything is overwhelming and crashing down, do the small things you know how to do. The small things add up and knocking them out will help. That's a promise. So that's where she chose to start.
The Oxygen Room really needed a makeover. Maybe that was the small thing Becca could do (just kidding. Kind of). It was a small, dingy type of space, which seemed inappropriate for one of the key things keeping them alive in space. There was only room for a few emergency lights crammed in with all the equipment, so the room was mostly covered in deep dark shadows. It sent a shiver down Becca's spine. Luckily, the suit had a built in flashlight so she wasn't tripping over anything, but it was still creepy. The O2 room felt like a liminal space.
    Becca felt around the dark room, using her light to search for the exact thing she was looking for. The filter was a medium-sized tank pushed to the side of the room with various buttons and readouts on the stand below it. Becca pressed a few of them before opening the tank and scooping out a handful of leaves.
Becca had no idea how leaves got in the filter seeing as they were in space and had been in a city hangar beforehand. Had the ship gone somewhere else? Had it been transferred from a different ESST site? She didn't know, and speculation would only get her so far.
    She sighed and closed the filter's tank again, hitting the button to start up filtration again. She had done one of her easy tasks, check! She pulled up her holopad (that wasn't the official name, but Becca thought it sounded more sci-fi) and checked it off her log.
    She had quite a few things to do. There weren't many openings on spaceships for bioengineers, sadly, so she had to resort to learning some other schools of trade. She was the ship's bioengineer, yes, but also the janitor, cook, and hug giver (the last one was self-proclaimed).
    When she looked through her report, Becca couldn't help but sigh. Empty the trash. Download information in the Cafeteria. Check the food systems. Maintain O2 stability. The tasks just kept coming. She bit the inside of her cheek and put the holopad away. The bright light was starting to give her a headache.
    Becca didn't think she'd hit her head on anything when the ship shut down, but she also couldn't remember much of what had happened. All she knew is she was in storage one minute, then the next she was being shaken awake by a person with weird eyes and horns. Carmen if she remembered right.
    Small shapes seemed to dance in the darkness and Becca stood there longer, her head swimming and in the clouds. Surely it would be okay if she took a short break. Trash wasn't exactly urgent or anything, after all. As soon as Becca had thought it, she was sitting on the floor cross-legged, head in her hands. She hadn't been this lightheaded since she had a bad sinus infection during uni. Becca groaned and rubbed her temples with a sigh.
    She would just sit there for a moment, maybe get some water after. Just five minutes. She just needed five minutes to rest. If she could just close her eyes for five minutes...
    Becca was stirred by a loud noise, though she couldn't quite tell what it was. It sounded metallic almost, like somebody had smashed a hammer into the wall. She slowly arose, groggily looking around. Why was it so dark? Had she slept through the day? It took her a moment to remember she was in space on a broken ship. What a drag.
    The loud noise didn't happen again, so Becca assumed everything was fine. Her headache seemed to be better at least, which was a plus. She interlocked her fingers and stretched upwards. She held it for a moment before letting her arms drop down to the floor again.
    It was time to get back to work.
    Standing to her feet and dusting herself off, Becca resigned herself to the fact. She clicked her suit's flashlight back on; it must have turned off at some point. The Cafeteria and Storage were equally far away, so it likely didn't matter which she worked through next.
    Damn decision making. Maybe someone else would have a good idea.
    She ducked out of O2 and across the hall into Navigation.
    A tall figure was hunched over on the floor. As Becca shone a flashlight at them, their dark skin almost seemed to blend in with the shadows, which was a stark contrast to their light purple hair. Becca recognized them, she knew they were on the crew, but she couldn't for the life of her remember their name.
    They turned to face Becca, golden yellow eyes staring her down. They had a large manual resting between the floor and their lap, and their own flashlight turned on, though dimmer.
    "Sorry," Becca said, standing awkwardly in the doorway. "I uh- I was looking for Matt? Is he here?"
    The person shook their head and pointed out the door.
    "Well um... Thanks. I'll go look for him," she replied, shifting her weight from foot to foot.
    The person nodded and turned back to their reading, and Becca quickly stepped out into the hall again.
    The path to the cafeteria was a short one, as were most paths on the ship. As far as spacecraft went, the Skeld was easily on the smaller side. It wasn't like... starfighter levels of small, but still. Normally transport ships were way bigger. Becca had to remind herself this wasn't really a transportation mission yet again. Apparently this was some kind of experiment. She wasn't quite sure if she believed it, but there was no point in raising her concerns now.
    The cafeteria was not as quiet as Becca had thought it would be. Captain Oscar, Carmen, and Matt were all gathered around the centermost table, illuminated like some eerie murder cult (Becca would know, she listened to True Crime podcasts).
"Hey guys!" She exclaimed, a little louder than her headache prefered.
Their heads all turned to face her as she walked over, spotting something on the cafeteria table surrounded by wires.
"What's that?"
The Captain opened his mouth to reply but Matt cut in. "We're getting a gag button hooked up to the ship!"
Becca was taken aback. "What?" she asked, not quite sure what to think.
"The communication system is still down. Matt happened to have one of those 'Hey You' buttons from like... Staples? Whatever we're using that." Oscar explained, gesturing to the button on the table.
Carmen just rolled their eyes. "It's a disgrace to... just about everything I think."
"Not to comedy!" Matt retorted, slamming his palm down on the button.
It let out a sad wail that sounded vaguely like the words hey you. Matt deflated slightly, shaking his head as he flopped down onto the cafeteria bench.
Carmen hid their amusement behind their hand, turning away to giggle to themself.
The Captain patted Matt on the back and said, "We'll get it working."
Matt grumbled something to himself and laid back on the bench, looking up at the ceiling.
"Anything I can do to help?" Becca asked, pointedly deciding to ignore her own mountain of tasks.
Carmen snorted. "Unlikely." they remarked, crossing their arms. "Not unless you can convince Maisy this is worth her oh so precious time." Their words were dripping with sarcasm.
Honestly? Dealing with a snobby stuck up asshole sounded more interesting than emptying the trash.
"I mean- I can try!" she offered, trying to keep up her happy disposition despite her headache building again. She'd have to add "go see the medbay officer (Hayden?)" to her to-do list.
Carmen shrugged and gestured down into the black abyss of a hallway and replied, "by all means go ahead."
Becca glanced over at The Captain who just shrugged and nodded.
"Great, I'll be back with Maisy!" she said, flashing Carmen a bright smile before making her way down to electrical.
Carmen wasn't very nice, were they? That's what Becca thought. They weren't loudly mean like some other people on the ship, but Becca always felt like she had to work just a little bit harder around them to avoid getting teased behind her back. Those were just Carmen's vibes. Closeted bitch, you know? That's what Becca thought.
As she walked by Reactor, Becca's foot caught on something and she tumbled forward. She threw her hands out and caught herself on the floor. It was cold and abnormally wet, coating her hands in something.
As Becca blinked a few times, her eyes adjusted and she found her hands planted in a pool of thick, sticky blood.
Her heart dropped into her stomach as she stared at it all over her hands and arms. It only took a moment for her to scramble to her feet and spin around.
Don't be a body don't be a body don't be a--
Becca didn't hear herself scream. She didn't move. She barely even breathed. All she could focus on was the bashed in head in front of her, red on yellow. Blood on spacesuit. Death on Erica Tarantino.