Novels2Search

Off by One

This is the most unusual series of events I have ever seen. Nothing is matching standard

Breathe deeply. This is no different than any other problem. We simply need to work more dilligently

We have contaminants here but it should not be enough to disrupt us. Find the cause.

We need to pull this out by the root.

She looked at the crack in the glass carefully and her awareness began to properly return. She had been on the bridge when the message arrived. A priority message from her home world. Potentially world ending. At the time she was torn. Sai and Gav had just come in with their own calamitous news, but the pull was so strong. As much as she wanted to be her own person, it was still where she grew up and spent most of her life. It was only once Sai had left that everything started getting a bit fuzzy. Talking to Tai was helping her and he asked her to keep an eye on her vitals just in case she was having a stress induced stroke or heart attack. She remembered something about the kidnapped Tak'Nasi coming into the Ziegfried, but after that she couldn't remember anything.

Looking around the lab again she heard the voice once more:

You are drowning. But I have your hand. We are almost to where we need to be.

No. No this was unacceptable. She was not a test subject. She was not someone to be tweaked and pulled and manipulated. The orange bird flew across the lab again, reminding her of what Shawn had said to her. 'Remember who you are and move with purpose' Planting her feet in the tube, she began to walk towards the crack in the tube, the glass shattering around her effortlessly. The sea of scientists looked at her in a panic, running to the corners of the 'lab' as she got her bearings.

She is waking up! How? With this amount of brain damage she shouldn't have access to the frontal cortex at all!

Worry not. The Outlier is incapable of free will, just like the rest of you.. Just another subject.

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Katsi returned to the secret tunnels in the walls of the Ziegfried, annoyed and unsurprised when she saw more clearly marked signposts taking her to the hanger. Seriously, when they found Shawn she needed to chew him out. when the tunnel lead out right beneath the Tak'Nasi ship, she giggled to herself. She truly was a master of stealth. Still, she was uneasy. Where had Trinta gone? She clearly had to have seen what Ett said to her. Was she the traitor? Or was she in trouble? Remembering her soft smile and adorable little doodles formed a weight in her stomach. Why? She had only met her today. She had even been hiding in their ship all this time. Yet Katsi still couldn't help herself. She seemed to sweet and innocent. Whatever was going on, Trinta deserved to join the crew. To be one of them. Reijaa was a recent addition and she had gone so well. Even seeing Ett made her wonder if she could convince them to join the crew full time. Wouldn't that be great? She felt tears forming in the corner of her eyes, only just now realizing she had entered the ship already. She hated losing focus like this. As she snuck up the hallway, she froze when one of the doors opened. She turned to see another clone who looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

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The clone took a drink of her coffee and asked, "Whatcha doing on our ship?" She didn't seem aggressive or defensive. Just genuinely confused why she was there. Like she suspected Katsi had lost her way on a trip to the bathroom or something.

Katsi cleared her throat and stammered out, "H-Hi. I was just... Looking around?" When she didn't get a reply immediately she blurted, "Ett told me to look for something, I swear I'm not spying on you."

"Not like that you aren't." The woman muttered under her breath and said firmly, "Look, if Ett sent you, I'm gonna let it ride because she has only ever looked out for us. If you need me I'll probably hear you if you shout. So please, don't need me." As she walked down the hall she said, "Name is Treize by the way. And next time you are sneaking, don't just bend your knees. You need to break the 45 degrees rule before it really works."

She was very lost as to why she was just completely brushed off when she had broken into their home, but maybe that was a good sign. They really would fit right in. Realizing sneaking was a waste now, she walked through the halls methodically. She didn't want to leave any stone unturned. Despite this, she found nothing unusual she thought about investigating their personal data pads but figured that would be too much. As she sat in the main gallery, she noticed that this ship had rafters. What an odd choice. It really had to be for style reasons, but it was completely unnecessary in the broad scheme of space. Decorative rafters for one central room. Curious, Katsi spent ten minutes trying to scramble up to them to get a better look. Treize came out to investigate the sounds, but upon seeing Katsi's struggle just went back into the ship once more. Eventually she managed it and looked around from her new vantage point. It was about what she expected from decorative rafters. just beams and empty space. At least until she noticed something that almost looked like it belonged on the Ziegfried. An air duct that was oddly person sized right at the end of one of the rafters. When she approached it, she didn't feel any air coming or going from it which was odd for the air circulation system of a space craft. She giggled to herself, "Hee hee. Paydirt."

Pulling out her multitool, she tested the edges of the vent cover with the flathead screwdriver in it. When a spark left the cover, clearly trying to zap her for trying she figured there was another release. Looking around for a moment, she saw what looked like a small light fixture next to the vent that seemed to be missing a bulb. Taking a gamble, she pulled on it like it was a handle and the vent popped open from the bottom, like it was a doggie door. Excellent! This was probably where the traitor was hiding their secret plans. As she entered it, she saw little in this room. A capsule roughly the size of a small child was the first thing to catch her eye. Empty but had a label that said Class 9 Corruptor. Unsettling. Looking further she saw various scientific tools she was only vaguely familiar with and a corner of the room filled with an odd pile of ashes. Maybe paper? She tried to consider this carefully before she went anywhere. She had no idea what the capsule meant but the fact that it was empty and that someone had burned their notes on it only made her certain that it was involved somehow in this incident. Nothing scientists like more than to play with things they don't fully understand. She looked at the burnt paper and an idea formed. Picking up some of the ashes, she began to rub them onto the paper on the desk. Maybe she could get an impression off it and get even a single word to work with. As she did she saw a name with only a passing ring to it. Ellefu.