I’ve lost track of the time we’ve been travelling from one galaxy to the next. Days and nights blend together here. There’s no one to talk to but I swear I’ve heard voices in the shadows. I’ve taken to leaving the cycle set on day so that I can see if anyone else is here, but whenever I look, I see no one. Is there someone else here, hiding from me? Or is it just my imagination?

- Log Fragment 84

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Maggie hadn’t expected to be bored working a job on an actual space station, with actual aliens. But once she got past the fact that she was surrounded by aliens, and the amusement at some of the fancier machines, the job was almost exactly the same as her job back home.

Help load funds onto the cards, refund money for machines that took it but didn’t actually work, label machines that were broken, answer questions and keep the little things like laundry bags and detergent stocked. Even if the names were slightly different, and the machines were a bit fancier, it was all just so mundane. Wasn’t this supposed to be some grand adventure?

The most amusing thing was the fancy floating chair, which hovered anywhere from a foot off the ground to, well, she guessed as high as she wanted it to go. At least all the way up to the ceiling, as she learned when she banged her head on it her second day at the laundromat. Much to the amusement of the majority of people there.

Although Robin and one other guy, a mercenary named Davian, had at least asked if she was alright. Then Davian had laughed.

Maggie glared at a strand of white hair as she waited for her shift to get over with, and Rexlor to come in. It was the third strand she had found today! “Robin, this craziness is making me go white.”

Robin laughed, his holographic form lounging in a chair identical to Maggies. “You’re not going white, it’s just a couple strands.”

“I didn’t have any strands of white hair before meeting you and your brother!” She gave the offending strand a good tug and tossed it in the trash. That was another little thing that was different here than on Earth, it was a container that just seemed to reduce the material it took in to a fine powder. What happened to that powder she had no idea, but it was gone every time she came in so someone had to be picking it up.

Who knew, maybe it turned into the food they gave them, which was giving her heartburn like Becca’s five alarm chili usually did. Ugh, the idea of eating trash was disgusting. She pulled her mind away from the thought, looking towards the door. Rexlor should be arriving any moment now. He just needed to hurry up, she still had to visit Doctor Tomas today. But after that she was planning on slouching in her bed and watching some of the old cartoons that Robin and his brother had loaded onto her tablet.

She had found out last night that the wall across from her bed could be used as a movie screen, and she wanted to test it out. Maybe if she exhausted herself she’d be able to sleep without dreaming. The last couple nights had been awful in that regard.

“Shouldn’t Rexlor be here already?” Maggie asked.

“He’s still got a few minutes, are you in such a hurry to see the doctor?”

“Not really, but maybe he can do something about the heartburn. At least the pain things help with the muscle aches. Maybe I’m coming down with the flu.” But even as she said it she didn’t believe it. It was probably something to do with the alien technology that had taken over her life. She knew whatever it was had spread, because now the fingernails on both hands were a kind of prismatic blue.

At least she could save on nail polish, but what if she wanted to try a different color? Would it stick to the weird crystal material? Well, at least her toes were still normal. She could always try different colors down there.

“You’re wasting time.”

Maggie set her jaw firmly, ignoring the voice that whispered in her ears. Oh yes, she couldn’t forget the voices, now could she?

Really just one voice, but one extra was too much as it was! She was hesitant to tell Doctor Tomas about it though, what if they threw her in some space mental hospital? She didn’t want to be in a mental hospital!

“Maggie? Are you alright?” Robin was suddenly directly in front of her, and she blinked, eyes crossing to look at his miniaturized form.

“I’m fine, why do you ask?”

“You zoned out for a moment there, and Rexlor is here. I thought for sure you’d be out of here as soon as he came in.” Robin frowned, his brow creased with worry.

“I was just thinking, that’s all.” Maggie hopped to her feet, letting the chair bounce a little as her weight left it. She picked up the tablet and her bag, tucking one beneath her arm and slinging the other over her shoulder in one smooth motion as she headed for the door.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“About what?” Robin floated after her, lingering near her shoulder.

“Things. See ya later Rexlor.” She waved to the other man, who slouched past her with barely a nod in her direction. Rexlor was just like that it seemed, half asleep a good portion of the time, and apathetic the rest. He had mentioned that he worked the nightshift in the maintenance bays too, trying to earn enough for a trip off the station and to someplace more exciting.

She didn’t quite get it. Sure, the laundromat was boring, but there were concerts, shopping, food, even gambling on this station! It seemed like it had everything, you just had to look for it. But she supposed if you grew up here it might be different. Maybe it was all just too new for her to be bored by it all. Just last night they had went to see a concert by a little Silvarian! The translator did a great job with words, although Maggie suspected she didn’t get the full meaning of the songs. The music had been close enough to electro swing for Maggie to enjoy whole heartedly.

“What things?” Robin insisted as they stepped into one of the many lifts that littered the station. A faint hum and a thwump sounded as it took off at lightning speed through the tunnels, making the trip to the medical sector a brief one.

“Well, I was just thinking about the concert last night. That was fun.” There was no way she wanted to tell Robin about the voice. He’d just worry, and she didn’t want that.

“It was.” Robin agreed carefully. He crossed his arms and his form flickered until he was full size, leaning down to peer into her face. “What’s wrong Maggie? I know you’ve been having bad dreams, but is something else going on?”

“You’re still a ghost, even if you’re bigger than me.” Maggie raised her chin slightly so she could meet his eyes.

“You can tell me what’s bothering you. Is it the heartburn? Or your other aches? Is something else going on?” Damn he was being persistent. But what could she tell him? That she was hearing voices?

“Tell him. You’re not crazy.” And that was quite enough of that! She mentally said to the quiet voice, blushing a little.

“I’m not crazy.” She said firmly as the lift came to a gentle stop at the medical sector level.

“Of course you’re not. What would make you even think that?” Robin glided along the floor beside her, pretending to walk at her side. He was pretty good at that, pretending to walk, pretending to sit or hold things. She knew he didn’t have to, he could just stand still and he’d still glide along beside her.

“Sorry, nothing. I think I’m just tired.” Maggie rubbed her face, resisting the urge to groan. She was tired, they had gotten back to the pod late last night, and she hadn’t slept well.

“You aren’t just tired.” Oh shut up.

The voice fell silent at the mental command, and Maggie let out a sigh of relief. “Yeah, just tired.”

“Alright, well we can go straight home after visiting S’il Vala Tomas, and you can get some sleep. But please Maggie, if anything weird is going on let me or the doctor know. We can’t try to help if we don’t know what’s going on.” Robin shrunk down to the size of a doll once more as they reached the waiting room, perching on her shoulder.

“I know Robin, don’t worry, it’s nothing a little bit of sleep and maybe some antacids won’t solve.” She smiled at the little holographic ghost.

Vala Veela, or Nurse Veela, nodded to them as they entered. “Maggie. Robin, you are early. Very good.” Although somehow there still seemed to be an undercurrent of disapproval to her voice, that was high praise indeed from her.

“Thank you, does that mean we can go right on back?” Maggie asked hopefully, earning herself a pinched stare of disapproval from the nurse.

“In this case, and in this case only. It does. S’il Vala Tomas wishes to see you as soon as possible. You may go back, the blue lights will take you to your room.” Nurse Veela waved a hand across a crystal pad, and the promised blue lights lit up along the wall. They led Maggie back through the door to the patient rooms, and to an exam room similar to the one she had been in the first time she came here.

“What do you think he wants to see me about?” Maggie whispered to Robin as they entered the room. She looked around it curiously, most of it was the same, but the large chart was already up on the screen, and now she could read the words on it! It was strange though, she couldn’t recognize the symbols, but the words just came to mind in a voice eerily like the one that had been whispering things to her the past couple days.

Did she get a chatty translator somehow?

“He probably wants to see how the Key is progressing in you, and check on your wound.” Robin said.

“Probably.” Maggie studied the chart, notes about her height, weight, age, sex and race all listed clinically one beneath the other. Except instead of ‘white’ or ‘Caucasian’ her race was listed as ‘human, moderate genetic drift’. “What does moderate genetic drift mean?”

“Oh, uhm, well you know how some places produce more red heads than the rest of the world? Or maybe a certain area has way more people with purple eyes than anywhere in the world. Think of it like that. You’re genetics have drifted from what is standard in a human from Earth.”

“So it basically says I have red hair?” Maggie rolled her eyes, and moved on to the rest of the chart. There was a silhouette of her body, the portion that represented her right hand colored in with a small tendril creeping up from it. That was the hand that had the Key in it.

“Er... sure?” Robin said unconvincingly. “It might be more than that, what with the Key.”

“Is the Key turning me into some kind of mutant?” Alarm spiked in Maggies chest, which felt awful paired with the heartburn she had been suffering all day. She felt close to throwing up for a moment, but held it down firmly.

“You are becoming more than human.”

“I thought I told you to shut up.” Maggie muttered, and immediately blushed. Shit, she had said that out loud.

“No you didn’t. Maggie, really, are you alright? Please tell me what’s going on.” Robin reached out to ‘touch’ her cheek, his hand stopping when it rested, cool and slightly tingly, against her cheek. He stared at it, eyes widening. “I can feel you.”

Maggie pulled back, stunned. She hadn’t been able to feel him before! Sure there had been the tingling, that weird feeling as if it was static running across her skin. But he hadn’t felt real before. Now he felt oddly real. “What the....”

“I can feel you.” Robin repeated, his form flickering and suddenly blowing up to full size. He put his hand on her cheek again, then her shoulder. Both times she could feel him as if he were real, only accompanied by that tingle of static.