The Ritual

Hate at first sight

"If it's not Imposter, you can vote me next!" Dogtoy slammed their hands down on the meeting table, glaring daggers at their fellow crewmate. The other crew members murmured to themselves.

"You accuse me every time, Dogtoy. It's getting boring." Imposter drawled, glaring lazily back at Dogtoy.

The pair had been at odds since they had first stepped foot on the ship. What had started as mostly harmless bickering and snide jabs had turned into trying to convince the rest of the crew that the other was an imposter. The rest of the crew was pretty done with their shit, not that either of them had noticed yet.

"Do you have any proof of Imposter doing anything suspicious?" Asked Rocket, seated at the head of the table. Rocket had captained many spaceships in her life, this may be the one that drives her to an early retirement.

"He keeps acting... I don't know, funny! I don't trust him!" Dogtoy shouts, pointing a finger at him. Imposter merely grinned, shaking his head.

"So you have no proof of me doing anything wrong, other than you don't like me. Are you really going to vote me out because someone doesn't like me?" He proposed to the rest of the crew, a smug look on his face.

The other crew members exchanged looks, uncertainly enveloping the room like a cloud.

"I think we skip for today." Bubbles, the ships doctor, said slowly. "We can keep an eye on Imposter for a while and if he does anything suspicious, we can vote him off." She soothed Dogtoy who was looking irritated at the idea of letting him live.

"Fine! But when another one of us dies, you know who to blame! Blake is already dead, we're down a navigator and Imposter is to blame!" They yelled, slamming the skip button and storming out of the room.

Silence settled over the room, shattered after a moment by Imposter snorting in amusement. Everyone turned to look at him incredulously.

Imposter raised his hands in surrender, full on laughing now. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know this is serious." He said, wiping a tear from his eye. "I just can't take them seriously when they have a note that says 'Dum' stuck to their helmet."

A few people joined in, laughing quietly. It was a bit funny. The Second In Command, Chewtoy, silenced them with a glare. "I can understand the... hilarity of the situation. However, Blake is dead. This is no time for laughter." They snapped, settling back into their chair after receiving a nod from Rocket.

"You heard them. This is a serious threat. Everyone skip the vote for today but please stay vigilant." Rocket addressed the crew, skipping the vote herself. Crewmembers locked in their votes, watching as the skips showed up on the screen above Rocket's head. Once it was confirmed no one was being ejected today the crew members slowly trickled out of the room, leaving Rocket and Chewtoy behind.

"Do you know who it is, Captain?" Chewtoy asked quietly, wary of any eavesdroppers.

"I have my suspicions." Rocket responded, leaning back in her chair. "How are you and Dogtoy faring? This must be upsetting considering..."

"Considering the two of us were almost mauled to death by imposters?" They asked amusedly. "Quite well all things considered. Dogtoys quite paranoid but they were last time too. I'm more focussed on keeping the crew in line. We let too many things slip past us last time, we can't let that happen on this ship." They said gravely.

"Chin up, Chewtoy. We'll catch them before they can kill anyone else." Rocket spoke optimistically, standing up. The two left the meeting room, idly chatting on their way back to Admin, unaware of the dark shadow slipping out of the room.