Misinformed

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Note:

I wrote this for my creative writing class. I'm so sorry to be writing this in 2023, but hey, looks like we're both here so I guess it's not the worst thing to spend my time on.

Enjoy!

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Twelve crewmates were aboard the Ursa, a beautiful space vessel meant for transporting energy crystals across the Andromeda Galaxy. Mechanics, administrators, scientists, tech support, the obligatory medic, and of course the captain of the ship, were all assigned on a mission transporting the valuable resource.

"Well, it's official. The world's gone mad."

Captain Brown turned to their colleague and asked, "What? Did the crew try grape jelly pasta again? I already said there isn't any official restriction on that so we can't stop them."

With a huff Orange replied, "No, they're delaying all current inflight ships due to the 'imposter hysteria.'"

"Is that like the thing where you don't believe you are actually good at your job or something? What do they call that?"

"No, that's imposter syndrome. The hysteria is over this alien species that finds its way onto ships and starts killing crewmates. Which sounds terrible, but—"

Pink butted into the conversation, "Yeah and it sounds so awful! You know, Green and Lime were the only survivors of their last mission where there was an imposter."

"Hold up," Orange took hold of the conversation again, "there is no way they survived these 'imposters' if—"

"What? Do you think Green and Lime are weak or something?"

"No, it's just that—"

"Then you should believe them."

The captain considered the situation as Orange and Pink continued to bicker and came to a decision. "With that in mind, I think we ought to stop the ship and do a search, just to make sure there are none aboard."

"Sir that's going to be a problem."

"No it won't, we can just drift to this dwarf planet after cutting the engines."

"It's not about the sudden stop, it's the search."

Without waiting to hear out Orange's concerns, Pink handed White a paper and White made an announcement into the intercom. "Good 16:26 crewmates of the majestic Ursa! Finish up your current task as soon as possible. A mandatory meeting will be held in the cafeteria at approximately 16:40 or in 9 minutes. See you there."

Orange crossed her arms and stayed silent as White assisted Captain Brown in setting the course to the dwarf planet he had mentioned. The administration staff, minus Orange who remained in the bridge claiming they had a headache, made their way to the cafeteria where they sat down at a table near the giant glass wall that let them see into the void of space.

Once all of the five mechanics, two scientists, and medical staff were accounted for, the captain began the meeting. Pink took the minutes from a spot on the table nearest to the window as he spoke. "As some of you may have already felt, we have changed course. There has been an order to immediately stop our ship due to imposters. As a precaution, Pink and myself have decided that a check for imposter-like traits on all of the crew is necessary as a precautionary measure. Any questions?"

"Doesn't that violate like 4 of our crewmate rights?" Cyan, the resident medic, asked from the back of the group.

Captain Brown knew that this accusation would come, so he, as always, had a speech prepared. "When all of you came aboard this ship you made an oath to the galactic community to uphold any safety measures deemed necessary for the wellbeing of your fellow crewmates aboard this ship and crewkind as a whole. I do believe that just doing a quick checkup is more than within the bounds of that promise, especially if it can prevent another situation such as what happened to Green and Lime's former crew. Think of it like checking for lice."