PARASITIC (Among Us)

Eight: The Thin Line Between Wise and Insane is the Legibility of the Scripture

        "Uni," I call for her as I pull Scout out of his pod. "Uni?"

"What?" She asks distressed, tearing apart her locker, searching for something.

"Quit spazzing out, we have more important things to worry about," I brush my hair behind my ear and usher Triple-A into the bathroom first after I get him his underclothing for his suit from Battery's locker. "What are you even looking for?"

"Ah, m-my, egh," Uni sputters and moves onto her pod to check under her pillow and under bedding. "It's... It's not important."

"It must be if you're panicking so bad about it," I differ. Uni sighs and jumps down from her perch, placing her palm on her forehead. We have enough to worry about, so I'm just going to ignore the major stress Uni is having over an object that doesn't concern me. She's not a gun-holder so that puts me at ease that we're not missing a gun. I step up to my pod and open the curtain."Mundy, baby, c'mon. Let's go, wake up."

She grumbles and turns over. "But I'm tired, Mama."

"I am, too, but we've gotta deal with it. Get out of bed, Mundy," I sigh, pulling Jimothy over to me by the arm to make sure his suit is on correctly.

"What happened to your arm?" Scout asks as he runs up to me and points to the bandages on my bicep.

"I got a little hurt, I'm fine," I say to stop any further questions. Triple-A comes out and I push Mundy in next, getting Triple-A in his suit. Jimothy rummages around in his mother's locker. "And now what are you looking for?"

"It's not here," he reports dejectedly. "Maybe Mommy has it."

"Maybe we can go check?" I propose. He nods and closes Ten's locker as Mundy comes out soon after. I get her suit on as the kids exchange their MREs. "Uni, are you ready to go?"

She sighs and runs her palms down her cheek. "I guess."

"What are you missing? Maybe someone has seen it and we ca--"

"Don't worry, Morbid, it's fine. I don't want to make a big deal out of something that isn't that essential. If I find it, I find it. If not, oh well." She reluctantly surrenders her search and pulls her MRE out of her helmet behind her and walks to the lift. I grunt when I pick up Mundy and hold Triple-A's hand to step on the lift with Jimothy and Scout following behind. Uni hits the up button when we're set, and we arrive at the top to see Con and Runky mopping up Meep's blood. Thankfully, the large puddle has subsided into a few speckles on the ground that are just ketchup droplets to the kids and nothing more.

"Is Battery okay?" I ask Con.

He plunges his mop back into the pool of water and turns to me. "Mm-hmm. She's still in Medbay with Ten. Good morning, Scout."

"Good morning, Papa." He hugs his father.

"And... Nakii?" I question.

"Yellow and Lime are watching the Halloween decorations," Runky says as she's on her hands and knees to scrub away the stain with a brush.

"Yellow and Lime... So Crow and Minty?" Uni asks for confirmation.

"Yeah," Runky confirms. She sprays more cleaner on the ground and scrubs faster.

I turn the kids away. "I'm going to go check Medbay. Be right back."

Jimothy and Scout run off together, and I take longer steps to keep up, but I can only go so far as someone who's five-one and carrying an arguably larger than average five-year-old. Triple-A flies off the handle and runs up to his mom sitting on one of the cots with her leg elevated on a pillow. He climbs onto the bed and hugs her, Battery squeezing him back. "Mommy, why is your leg hurt?"