WE ARE THE RISEN

Recruit. (Part Four.)

PRESENT-DAY (November 14th, 2056)

     Shifter had never been this far down in the ship, to her knowledge. She recognized nothing, silently thanking whatever was there that Wiles had agreed to be there for the first encounter. The only trouble she had encountered thus far was getting away from her friends after the party, which was accomplished by excuses about having to check on her station. Snake and the others had been too tired to think otherwise, hopefully. She hoped they were sleeping now; it was too late, even for them, to be awake.

     It was much too dark for her here, light coming only from the soft blue glow of their comms, used as a flashlight, and Garv, who was currently humming happily alongside the two women as they walked, a stark contrast to the environment they were in. It was cold as well, and the ceiling was uncomfortably low over their heads. When she saw the light at the end of the hallway, she almost felt relieved. Then she caught the smell.

     Bleach, she told herself, and who-knows how many other chemicals. It was a full-blown assault on her nose, and she reached for her collar to block as much of it out as possible. It wasn't the cleaning agents that she had an issue with; in fact, she was surrounded by those very scents every day. No, it was the combination of them in that small space that affected her so strongly. It was the smell of the room without a clock. Of course, she thought to herself as she followed Wiles down the corridor, where else would they hide the people like me?

     She felt a soft nudge on her leg; Garv, trying to cheer her up, was trying to get attention, and did a spin of joy as she gave a small chuckle at the colorful strobe lights he was emitting. Thank goodness for that drone, she thought to herself as he hummed, the low sound bouncing off of the walls. He had been her first true friend aboard the U.B. Georgia, which she personally thought was hilarious. She had had to make her first friend on the ship in the very literal sense. The first prototype of the M.R.A was a disaster, setting her temporary lab aflame as she tried to activate it. It had taken many different iterations and attempts before she had gotten Garv up and running, semi-bug free. But, she thinks as he emits an odd squeaking sound, nothing is perfect.

     The door that she saw before her had gotten darker with age, but she recognized it immediately, tensing up. It was almost the exact same, with a few more stains than she remembered, but it was the same door that had haunted her dreams for the first few months onboard, of which none of her current squad were there for. She had been the first recruit, the first chance of a series that Wiles had taken, from Shifter to Snake to Duke to Mailman, and now Braun. She almost couldn't go through the door when Wiles opened it with a key from her pocket, but instead of turning the other direction like her instincts told her to, she followed suit.

     The silence screamed at her.

     Shifter walked like she was in a dream, trying to focus on following Wiles as memories flooded her mind. The stool was still there, in a different spot, occupied by the same man with the kind eyes. Davis gave her a smile as she walked in, nodding at Wiles as he got up from his chair. She couldn't say anything, still trying to process the intense feeling of deja-vu, but she hoped he understood the look she gave him. He did, it seemed, as he made his way over to the two, giving Wiles a firm handshake and Shifter an equally-as-firm hug. "Looks like the calvary's finally here," he joked lightheartedly, his eyes drooping.

     "Take care of yourself, old man," Shifter laughed, "or you will be sharing space with Snake on bed rest."

     Wiles gave him a cryptic look, which he returned. "I believe you need to go attend to business now."

     He grunted in agreement, holding the door open. "I think I'll need you to come with me if you don't mind."

     She nodded, taking a step forward before hesitating, looking back at Shifter. "This won't take long. Do you think you'll be okay?"