--Point of View: Crim--

I started towards the reactor room with Tom clutching onto my back like his life depended on it. Unlike Katie, he really did not like moving around so swiftly. Unfortunately for him, I was trying to move as fast as I could without being seen by any of the patrolling guards. This was a little sketchy at first, but I eventually settled into a comfortable pace. Time was ticking down and the sooner we accomplished our mission and returned to the others, the better. Thankfully, the room we needed was nearby. After only a few turns and one close call, we arrived.

Just like earlier, there were still some workers toiling away at the machines. I had no idea what was wrong with them, but it did provide an ample opportunity for surprise.

“Hop off real quick Tom.” I muttered back to him, kneeling down so he could slide off to safety. He complied with no questions.

I shuffled closer and closer until I was standing in the glass doorway that separated the potentially dangerous reactors from the rest of the room. Now that I was face to face with them, Katie had been right. They did look different from the ones we had seen before. I was no expert, but they seemed to be older or at least in bad shape. Dents and scratches covered the surface with even bits of rust starting to show. It was obvious to anybody that they had no idea how to repair them. Well, here shortly there will be no need for repairs anyway.

As I took a step through the doorway, I took note of the two repairmen working on the reactor. They were not decked in armor from head to toe and compared to the few guards I had encountered, were quite short, almost as short as Tom even. Neither one of them gave off the same threatening aura the rest of the Old Ones here did. Curious, I decided to see what they had to say first. Creeping up behind them, I let out a low, rumbling growl. That got their attention real fast. One worker spun around, a tool clenched in his hand, ready for a fight. Upon seeing me, however, any courage he had mustered up in that split second had vanished. The other worker had simply curled into the fetal position. Definitely not soldiers I thought.

“Please no! I do not want to die!” The first Old One pleaded, scrambling backwards until he was pressed up against the machine.

“Quiet!” I bellowed, wanting to shut them up. “If you dare try to escape, I will rip you in half.”

“No, please! I will not move. I am only doing what I was told. I do not even belong here!” he cried, his hands raised in a foolish attempt to keep me away.

“Enough! I do not care. Just stay there and stay quiet! Consider yourself lucky you do not look like a threat.” I barked, drawing close and snarling for effect.

“Of course. We are not from the Red Clan. We are not fighters.” He continued to plea, too afraid to listen completely.

I sighed as I looked over my shoulder to Tom who had been watching the whole scene unfold from behind one of the computer terminals. He shrugged, just as confused as I was. I decided these two would probably be fine if I kept an eye on them. They did not look armed besides a few random tools on their belt. None of it looked particularly dangerous.

“Stay here!” I said firmly to both workers before stepping back out of the glass dome.

I gave the glass door a nudge with my nose, and it swung shut with a click. This did not seem to help ease the workers at all. The quiet one had started rocking back and forth now. He was starting to make me feel a little bad.

“Okay, what is next Tom?” I asked as I turned around to face him. He had already slid to the other side of the workstation and was typing away.

“Well hopefully I can figure this thing out. I can already see its quite a bit different than the ones we used before, but I think I can mange given enough time.” He commented, his gaze fixated on the computer screen.

“How much time?” I asked worriedly, not liking the sound of that.

“Uhm, you better see if you can disable the doors, besides our exit of course. This may take some time and be a little noisy.” Said Tom nervously as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

I nodded and looked towards the other two doors. The room has three entrances total, forming a tee shape. We had come from the center path, leaving the left and right exit for me to close. Approaching the closest door, I just stared at it blankly for a minute before yelling back to Tom.

“You know, I am pretty good at opening doors. Never really tried to keep one closed.” I said, feeling quite dumb.

“What?” asked Tom, pausing for a moment to give me a dumbfound look. “Just destroy the door panel beside each door. That should work. I hope.”

The idea sounded better than nothing, so I went to work. All it took was one good slash and the panels erupted in sparks. Their lights flickered wildly before eventually shutting down completely. I stared at it for a few seconds just to be sure. How any of this stuff worked was beyond me but experience had taught me that no light meant no power.

I made quick work of the second door before returning to Tom’s side. He was starting to look frustrated as he typed furiously into the terminal. I wanted to ask how it was going but decided it would be better to just let him work. Patrolling the room seemed like the next logical thing to do. There was only one way in or out of the reactor room now and I was keeping an eye on it.

“Why on Earth is this not working!” exclaimed Tom as he pounded on the keyboard with his fists a few minutes later.

I nearly jumped at the outburst, whipping around to see Tom abruptly stand up and begin pacing back and forth. He must not be having any luck.

“It made sense before! Who designed this!” he bickered, flailing his hands in the air wildly. It was a sight to see.

I debated whether I should say anything or offer my help but knew there was little I could do. He was frustrated and stressed, as we all were now. Maybe though, I could at least reassure him. Tom was a smart man and if anybody was going to make this work, it was him.

“Tom, I am sure if you…” I started but was unexpectedly interrupted by the first Old One worker I had spoken to.

“Why the Red Ones did of course! Always had to make everything bigger!” he sputtered, lowering his hands long enough to peek out at Tom. “Though I suppose a human would struggle with just about anything.”

Tom and I both glared daggers at him. I approached the glass dome as Tom snapped back.

“That does not excuse this sorry excuse for an interface. The ones back in the lab were much easier to navigate.” He yelled out in annoyance, staring down at the worker who was still huddled up against the reactor.

“Of course, they were better! We built those ones! These Red idiots can barely operate anything more complicated than a laser rifle. Just big brutes. All of them!” he bickered back, now staring angrily at Tom.

“I thought I told you to stay quiet!” I interjected, towering against the glass. The effect was immediate.

“Please no!” he begged as he started to grovel again.

Tom grumbled and returned to his work but paused mid step. He turned back around and approached the glass once more.

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“Actually Crim. Maybe this one can help us.” Tom said to my surprise.

“I do not know if that is such a good idea Tom. How can we trust them.” I countered, not liking the idea at all. It was too risky.

“He knows how to operate these reactors. I could probably figure this out, sure, but we do not have the time. The others are waiting for us.” He said with a worrisome look. “I do not like the idea either but what choice do we have.”

I sighed. He was right. If this Old One could help speed things along, it would help us immensely. The only problem was getting him to cooperate with us. We were the enemy. If they helped us, the result would almost certainly be death.

“I can help you!” the Old One replied right away with a bit too much enthusiasm for my liking.

“That was quick. Why would you help us?” Tom asked dubiously, just as suspicious as I was.

“You humans are not the only prisoners aboard this ship.” The Old One said as he slowly rose to his feet. His comrade managed to open a single eye to observe.

“You’re a prisoner? Like us?” Tom inquired.

“Like humans? Nonsense. Comparing us to yourselves is disrespectful. We are so much more than you.” He spat in disgust.

I let out another menacing growl.

“But I think we could help each other.” The Old One quickly added as his eyes darted towards me again.

“You are an Old One. Why were you imprisoned? I still see no reason to trust you.” I remarked, taking a seat in front of the glass door just in case they had any ideas.

“We may be what you humans call Old Ones, but we are not all the same. Your kind surely has similar differences amongst yourselves. We are from the Blue Clan while this fleet is operated by the Red. We specialize in sciences while these brutes only care about flexing their muscles. We are not the same.” The worker continued, explaining his case.

What he said could very well be valid. Different races and sects have existed well before even my time. It was not unnatural or unlikely that the Old One would have different denominations of people. Tom met my gaze, and I could tell he was thinking something similar. We both nodded.

“What do you want in exchange?” Tom asked slowly.

“Off this ship and back home would be preferable.” He said right away with zero hesitation. I believed him.

“Well, we are intending to use the gate to return our crew home. I am sure you could do the same, correct?” Tom replied, a little hesitant at first to reveal our plan.

“Hmm. That is the only way I know off this ship besides docking at port. The gate is always guarded though. We would need to take care of the soldiers watching over it.” The Old One added as he started to brush himself off.

“That has been taken care of already.” I said with a toothy smile. I intentionally showed a bit more teeth than normal.

“Right. As to be expected from you Experiment 001.” The Old One replied nervously, fidgeting in place. “So, what is it you plan to do? Cut the power?”

Both Tom and I shook our heads. We had something much more impactful in mind.

“Not quite.” Responded Tom as he gestured back to the terminal. “We had hopes of pushing this reactor hard enough to the point it failed. The resulting explosion would hopefully prevent anybody from following us.”

For the first time ever, I was not the one getting the weird looks. The Old One stared at Tom like he had two heads, a look of utter disbelief on his face.

“You are mad!” he yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Tom. “Do you realize how much damage that would cause?”

“And why do you care? You are a prisoner. Unless you are working with the rest of them.” Tom argued, pointing right back.

“I would never! Fine. So be it. You better just pray you are far away from here before its too late.” The Old One said with a shiver, closing his eyes. “So many dead.”

With those words, I stepped away from the glass door separating us to allow him to exit. It was then I remembered there was one more person in that room. I looked to the Old One that had been quiet this whole time, wondering if they could be trusted. My thoughts must have been obvious because the talkative of the two replied.

“That is my apprentice. He was caught up in this whole affair with me. He is harmless, assure you. I will do as you ask in exchange for getting us both to the gate.” he remarked, looking down at his apprenticeship with pity.

“So be it.” I said simply.

“What should we call you?” Tom asked as he reached over to open the door.

“I can’t believe I have to give my name to the likes of you.” He replied with disdain before remembering the situation he was in. “Samiel will do.”

Samiel hesitated when Tom opened the door but eventually worked up the courage to step through and face both of us. His eyes were always on me though. I could tell he feared me. He knew what I was capable of like all the other Old Ones. It was a strange feeling to be known by so many and yet I remembered none of them. I hated it.

“After you.” Spoke Tom as he gestured towards the reactor control terminal. Its screen was currently flashing from where he had left off earlier.

“Yes, yes. I know. Let me get to work.” Samiel muttered as he walked over and took a seat. He slouched low in the chair as he began to type.

Tom stood right behind him and watched his every move, asking him to slow down a few times so he could keep up. This seemed to annoy Samiel, but I am sure Tom wanted to make sure he was not up to anything funny. Like we had both said, we did not trust him because we wanted to but because we had to.

“How long?” Samiel asked after ten minutes, looking up at Tom disgruntled.

“Excuse me?” Tom replied, obviously confused.

“Ugh. How long should I have the reactor wait until it fails.” He said through gritted teeth.

Tom and I looked at each other, not quite sure. We did not know if Katie had the gate prepared yet. It had taken quite a long time to start up last time, but that gate was much larger.

“An hour from now.” Tom finally said, “That should hopefully be enough time. The gate is just around the corner.”

“So be it. I should warn you though that the next step in the process will sound an alarm.” Samiel replied, a small smirk on his face.

“And why is that!” I boomed, thrusting my muzzle mere inches from his face. “Surely that would not be the smartest thing to do?”

“No! I swear I do not have a choice in the matter!” he squealed, wiping the smug look off his face. “Protections are in place to ensure this very thing does not happen!”

Tom gently pushed me back and I relented.

“They put in fail safes to ensure that what happened back in the past would never repeat, correct?” Tom asked quietly.

“Quite so. The explosion wiped out so many. We put several measures in place to make sure nothing like The Event ever happens again.” Samiel replied quietly, hanging his head. “Even the thought of doing this brings up so many memories.”

“I am sorry we are asking this of you, but it really is our only chance. They would follow behind us otherwise.” Tom replied.

“You are not wrong. The Reds do not give up without a fight. I only pray this is enough to deter them.” Samiel agreed.

With that, Samiel continued his work. He warned us the alarm would sound any moment now because he had disabled all the safety procedures. The reactor was now effectively a bomb in waiting. It only needed a push in the right direction for it to spin out of control. Tom did his best to describe it to me with the Old One correcting him from time to time. The two of them did not seem all that different.

The room was then lit up with red lights, much like we had seen when we first arrived. Even though Samiel had warned us, I was still startled. Tom had jumped as well. It was only a matter of time now. Surely Ozark would not come, right? He seemed above this sort of thing.

“You two, take cover. I can already hear them coming. There are a few of them.” I instructed, putting myself between them and the door.

“There is still work to do though! The reactor needs to be primed!” shouted Samiel over the sirens, his face now very pale. I wondered if he was starting to have doubts. It was too late now though.

“What can I do?” asked Tom as he took cover. “It should be faster with two of us, right?”

Samiel looked doubtful at first, but the stressful situation seemed to make him a bit more tolerable of accepting help. He swallowed and nodded.

“Yes. Yes, you can. We need to spin the reactors up to a higher speed and then set it on a curve. The speed will slowly increase over the next hour until it fails. The hour is only a guess mind you.” He explained to Tom, leaning up cautiously to point at the terminal screen.

“Got it. I will get started on this half. You take the other side.” Tom answered as he snuck around to a terminal on the far end of the room with Samiel heading the opposite direction.

It was at that moment the main door, our exit, slid open to reveal not just a couple of guards but a whole platoon of soldiers. They opened fire as soon as they saw me, sending sparks flying wherever their weapons struck. They managed to hit me, but their weapons had little effect. They singed my fur at best. Compared to the weapons I had experienced so far, they were ill equipped to handle me.

I launched forward, clearing several computer consoles in the process and barreled into the whole party. I forced them back into the hall and proceeded to throw my weight around, smashing anybody that was unfortunate enough to get between me and the wall. Two of the soldiers immediately went limp while another one was tossed down the hall into a few others. A few stray blaster rounds managed to strike me in the eye, blinding me temporarily while I lashed out at anything within reach. My vision would return shortly. It always did.

One soldier in the back yelled for everyone to clear a path. Light returned to my eyes just in time to see them raise a much larger weapon in my direction. A rifle, identical to the one Katie had found in the locker room, boomed as it fired a round straight into my chest. I was blown back into the sliding door, the shot leaving a sizable hole. Blood oozed from the wound even as it already started to heal. That hurt but I was the only thing standing between them and my companions. I rose to my feet just as they were preparing another shot, but they were too slow. I crouched low and pushed off with everything I had. The gap that separated us was closed in an instant. He probably never even saw it coming. As his body fell, I turned to face the rest of the soldiers, all of whom seemed to be realizing their fate looked very similar to their comrade.