Tank followed Nudge inside and shut the door behind her. The glow of artificial lights all that kept the darkness at bay.
“This place gives me the creeps,” Wire complained as she turned towards the ship’s innards.
“You’re a Hero and more importantly, my apprentice. You can’t afford to be distracted until we are off duty. While you’re here, stay on mission,” Tank said.
Liam was starting to realize why the woman had no apprentices. She was blunt to a fault. Anyone working with her would have to have iron skin or at least one of her many comments would strike a nerve.
“Yes, ma’am,” Wire said and saluted. Liam fought down the urge to laugh at the gesture while Tank just rolled her eyes. All the while, Wire wore a serious expression. It was only then that Liam realized he didn’t know if Wire was joking or being serious with her display.
“What happened to being creeped out,” Tank complained under her breath.
Nudge ignored the banter as he made his way to the front of the group, taking over the lead from Tank who slotted herself at the back. Like that, the group made its way back to where they’d diverted. Liam checked every corner for anything that might have changed, half expecting to find the body snatcher along the way. Through the entire walk back, nothing moved.
Without comment, Nudge turned in the direction they’d been going and led on. As they neared the bridge the bodies returned and the sights grew worse. As more people lined the way. There were a couple people Liam would swear were just sleeping. Both times he raced over to check their vitals, only to be disappointed by what he found.
While the number of bodies increased, the gas faded. Going up the last set of stairs, it was no longer present. Liam’s instruments informed the team that the air was safe to breathe. Not that any of them would take off their protective suits. The hallways showed how horrible an idea that could be if the gas was to return.
At last, their march to the bridge ended. The clean looking door in front of them had a placard reading ‘authorized personnel only’ proudly stamped in the middle. Reaching the door, the group postured to rush inside. Tank moved from her position at the rear to the front. In conjunction with Nudge behind her. The two youngest Heroes in the back. At the three finger countdown by Tank, the group rushed into the room, Tank leading the way.
Following her and Nudge inside was Liam. He didn’t know what to expect, the captain alive, the culprit of the attack, or anything else. However, Liam was ready.
What they found was none of the above. The room was pristine. If Liam didn’t know better, he’d have thought their group were the first living beings to ever step foot inside. There wasn’t even a strand of hair on the ground or dust on the console. This level of cleanliness wasn’t natural and after what they’d slogged through it was more disconcerting.
The room was also bright. Where the rest of the vessel was in the dark, this room had windows along the breath of one wall. The natural light enhanced how out of place this room was compared to the rest of the ship. Switching off their helmet lights, the group spread out.
“Source, see if there’s any information on the security system. Hopefully the cameras were up and running through whatever happened,” Nudge said.
Nodding, Liam went to a seat on the far side of the room. The placard next to it declared this the security station.
Sitting down, a dozen screens looked back at Liam. It was a simple setup, almost rudimentary compared to the other systems he’d seen. Yet that made sense when the worst this ship was expecting to meet were a few rowdy guests, not some freak attack.
Stretching his fingers, Liam got to work hacking into the system. It wouldn’t be hard, if his intuition was correct he’d be in, in a few minutes.
While he was working his way in, the system unlocked. Liam looked up, not understanding what’d just happened.
“Thought you could use a hand,” Wire said. Drawing Liam’s attention to the woman standing next to him.
Liam froze. He’d been so focused on his work he hadn’t even heard her arrive. Had she been there for a while, or just gotten there? Was she working on unlocking the system with him, waiting for him to get part way through to ease her own access or had she just popped it open. The implications of each option were worse than the last.
“Thanks,” Liam mumbled. Trying not to show his genuine feelings.
“No problem. Just let me know when you want through a security system. I can crack any firewall in seconds,” Wire said. Her voice chippy at the feat she was clearly proud of.
Little did she know her words had the opposite effect on Liam. Why would he be happy she could break through firewalls with ease? His suit had firewalls.
“What’s the video show?” Wire asked. Pulling Liam from his growing discomfort to the task at hand.
Trying to ignore the walking danger to his being, that was this young Hero, Liam looked to the screen and started the ship’s video recordings from the beginning of the day. Speeding through them when nothing seemed out of place. Even with a dozen cameras, Liam could track what was going on in all of them. It was a skill he’d mastered over years staring at screens all day.
The ship was operating normally. Guests got up, ate breakfast, hung out on deck, and went to several shows and other activities. Everything he’d expect to see. It wasn’t until 3 p.m. that things got weird.
It started with green gas flowing from under the engine room door. Something Liam himself didn’t immediately catch. Instead, it was the people in the hallways near the source, reacting to it that drew Liam’s gaze. Though he still had to rewind the video a couple times to follow the commotion back to the origin of the gas.
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The first few people to see the gas shied away from it, a few going so far as to get help. Overall, the mood of the crowd was one of confusion, not outright panic. With many of the people standing around and discussing what was happening.
That all changed when the first person came into contact with the gas. The man, in his mid twenties, ignored the green mist, walking in as if he wasn’t worried in the slightest. When he collapsed, clawing at his eyes, mere steps in, the calm broke.
A wildfire of spreading chaos raced through the hallway. The group who’d seen the man go down broke from the scene and dashed away, crashing into others during their escape. These new people soon joined the exodus, expanding the chaos outward. Any who didn’t follow found the gas surrounding them. In minutes, the entire ship was engulfed in the madness.
As he watched, Liam saw the gas spreading through the ship. At first it looked like safety would be found on deck, only for a new threat to emerge. This one of metal and wire.
Flying robots, with eyes of red fire, came swooping in. The mechanical menaces didn’t kill any of the passengers, instead they treated the human’s with care. Only using force to herd the stampede of people back into the ship, towards the ever expanding gas.
After the people on deck were herded below, the area grew calm. If he hadn’t seen what was happening inside, Liam could’ve been convinced this was a normal cruise liner.
A few stray groups made a break for the open air and ruined the calm scene. However, each attempt was met with the same fate as the flying machines converged on the people and forced them back towards their fate below.
It wasn’t long until the entire ship was simmering in a green mist. The passengers and crew, dead or dying from the foul substance. As the last human fell, the robots swooped in. In a gruesome display, they flocked like vultures. Checking over each person, some taking blood samples, others tissue.
The robots were industrious and finished their task in minutes. With that done, a second team of machines swept in. This group was made up of smaller machines. Armed with brooms and mops. One at a time, they pulled the bodies away and then cleaned the area where they’d fallen.
“That’s disgusting,” Wire said as her eyes were trained to the screen.
Her voice shook Liam out of his trance. Watching a ship be overcome in a nightmare took a lot out of a person, and Liam wanted to be done with this place.
“People are monsters,” Liam said.
“Monster isn’t a strong enough word.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Noticing the two talking Nudge came over, “What did you find?”
“The recording is still intact. We have video of the entire thing,” Liam said.
“Any idea what caused it? Or better yet, who?”
Already working on the problem, Liam thought as he pulled up the scene where the green gas first appeared. Finding a camera on the other side of the door, Liam went back an hour from when the chaos began and started up the recording again. This time watching more closely.
The video feed showed a room. While the sign on the other side had claimed the engine was beyond, inside the space looked more like a utility closet. There was a large fuse box on one side of the space, piping on the other, and in the back was a sealed door leading further inside. Maybe the engine itself was beyond the second door, Liam surmised, not wanting to miss what was going to happen, Liam didn’t check the ship schematics.
Regardless of the actual use of the space, it didn’t look out of the ordinary. Nothing about it screamed death was about to spread forth from this room. Then, like an aberration from the deep, two people appeared in the room. Liam clenched his teeth at the sight. Even through the man’s new suit, less Cape like and more an assortment of different types of clothing, Liam knew he was looking at his former teammate. The one who’d gotten away.
This man caused all the death he’d witnessed walking to the bridge. This mockery of what it was to be a Hero. Liam would’ve stood, racing to the room, if not for Nudge’s hand resting on his shoulder. Keeping him in place, with an ease Liam was reluctant to admit, he couldn’t overcome.
The other man with Skip was covered in a large trench coat, with the hood pulled up. Liam couldn’t make out the body beyond the fabric. But there was something unnatural about it. When the man moved, it was with a fluidity that didn’t look natural. And his joints bent at angles a normal body wouldn’t be able to duplicate.
The peculiar man set a box down and began tinkering with it. While he worked, Skip stayed busy. Jumping in and out of the room. With each trip, the teleporter brought four robots with him. The little critters lined up as if on a military parade to the side. Each perfectly spaced and at attention.
After the tenth such jump, Skip moved to the side of the cramped space and waited for the strange man to finish his tinkering. It was only a few seconds after that, that the man stepped away from the box and joined Skip.
The two had a quick conversation and then they were gone. The device and robots left behind. Liam wished the pair had been facing the camera. But as was, with no audio feed, and unable to see their lips, they left him unsure what was discussed.
After the pair’s departure, the room stood unchanging for half an hour. While he watched, Liam hoped someone would come in and discover what was happening. They could alert the rest of the crew and do something. But that wasn’t to be.
After fast forwarding for half an hour, Liam spotted the first change. With no visible command, the box on the floor split open and gas flowed forth. Spilling over the sides and hugging the floor as it spread outward.
The machines, using the gas as a signal, left the confines of the room as well. Leaving through the door in the back, Liam could only assume they were traveling to the engine. The group moved with the precision only something artificial could emulate.
After the sudden call to action, things on the ship proceeded as he’d already seen, The other screens showing the death and destruction beyond while the device in the room continued to form the source of the problem. Pumping out green gas by itself.
After another twenty minutes of death, the door to the little room burst open. Four robots barged through. A man who didn’t appear to be affected by the gas was struggling in-between them. Despite the man’s multiple attempts to break free, he was stuck. Never able to as much as roll to the side.
“Who is he?” Wire asked. “And why is he still alive?”
Liam was wondering the same thing. The green gas filled the room, yet despite how the rest of the passengers fared, this man fought on.
“No idea. I’ll try to follow his movements up to the attack,” Liam muttered.
Leaving the screen with the struggling man running, Liam worked on a side monitor. Switching from one camera to another. Through each step of the man’s journey, Liam watched like a man obsessed.
Liam observed in reverse as they captured the man. Unlike those around him, he was still standing as the gas tickled over his skin. His eyes bulged out, yet nothing happened to his skin, no pooling of blood, no new body parts, or painful death.
Rewinding farther back, the man was running for his life. The group he was with had worked their way onto the deck, only to be turned around by the robots there.
“The two people are back,” Wire said. Motioning to the screen, Liam had left running. “What do you think they want?”
Liam, too focused on his work tracking the struggling man, didn’t reply. Nudge didn’t either. Either the Hero was afraid he’d miss something, or say something that would jade the others views. Liam didn’t have time to figure it out. Tank broke their concentration with a shout.
“We have company!” the older Hero cried.