“NOIR! Noir…! Please! Please open your eyes!”
Lan’en didn’t care about getting dirty. She immediately picked up her body after kneeling, slapping her face gently as her breath quickened with panic.
“Lan’en…” Youma muttered.
But Lan’en continued to cry and panic, shaking Noir’s cold body within her arms.
Kaeron stood beside Shiria as she witnessed the scene, among the others. Her arms crossed, her expression a mixture of disappointment and anger.
“You idiot,” Alicia abruptly walks to Lan’en and grabs her by the shoulders, pulling her away from Noir, letting the body fall back on the floor violently, “don’t you see it?! She has her whole chest torn open!”
That was right. Shiria could see it clearly. Noir’s chest was pierced, and tore open. Almost as if whatever killed her had huge claws.
“Why? Why did it happen?”
Her ears got clogged by her own thoughts as the others started talking about the scene in front of them, looking at each other.
“Woah, Shiria!”
Kaeron held out her arms to catch Shiria, who suddenly felt so lightheaded that she fell backward, her eyes spinning, her limbs weak and cold.
“Weak to blood, huh?” Lilin chuckled.
“Do you think it’s fucking funny?!” Lan’en suddenly shouted, lunging at Lilin. Youma grabbed her arm and stopped her, “what are you laughing at?!”
“God...this is just terrible,” Alicia shivered, shaking her head, “how the hell did Noir die?!”
“Poor girl…I don’t know what to say,” Servalia held her tears back, “she knew it would happen...we ignored her.”
“It’s nobody’s fault!” Kaeron shouted, caressing Shiria’s hair as she sat down, lifted slightly by her friend, “There’s something on this Cruise. That’s neither an accident nor someone human. Call Chronos and ask it what the hell is going on.”
“Y-Yes. That’s right! Who does it?”
Tsukasa, who had been staring at the corpse in silence all this time, cleared her throat, “I will. Everyone stands by. We do not have time to fight or judge each other," She looked extremely stressed out.
Lan’en sighed and calmed down, Lilin and Azrael started whispering to each other.
“Fuck…” Kaeron muttered. Suddenly, Shiria moaned in discomfort as her eyes regained focus, “Shiria? Hey...are you okay?”
“Kaeron…” she closed her eyes again, leaning her head against Kaeron’s stomach, “please, tell me it was a dream.”
“No. It wasn’t.”
Shiria's heart sank as Kaeron's words confirmed the nightmare was real. The weight of the situation made it difficult to breathe, as if anxiety and fear pushed her chest physically. She tried to steady her mind, focusing on the sensation of Kaeron’s hand gently stroking her hair. It was a small comfort amid the overwhelming chaos.
Tsukasa, taking charge, activated her communication device once more, her voice steady but strained. “Chronos, this is an emergency. There has been a fatality. We need immediate information on any anomalies aboard the Elysium. What the hell is happening?”
“Model CHRON.05 at your service. Please, do indicate what you mean specifically as ‘’fatality’’.”
“One of the passengers got killed in a very gruesome way. Their chest is torn open. She must have gotten killed by some creature or-”
“Fatality confirmed. Passenger “Noir Leroux” deceased. Scanning for information,” Chronos almost immediately responded, its voice as cold and clinical as ever, “I apologize. I do not detect any threat aboard the Elysium. The nature of the passenger’s death may be non-intentional. I shall inform you that ‘’death’’ isn’t possible aboard this safe and automated vessel. Accidents happen. The passenger must have been sick or must have committed suicide.”
“What the fuck!?” Lan’en stands up and walks to Tsukasa, grabbing her arms and shoving her face against the hologram, “are you stupid?! She got killed! We’re telling you!”
“Chronos, listen carefully,” Tsukasa sighed, “It wasn’t an accident or a suicide. We’re looking at a violent, gruesome death. We need you to understand that we are in danger.”
Chronos remained unperturbed, “Passenger Tsukasa, your distress status is noted. However, my sensors do detect no threat. The ship’s systems are functioning, the sub-AIs on my command are responding correctly, and my motion sensors do not detect any other life form outside of this lobby at the moment. Note that I am the most advanced model of the current galaxy’s market. My efficiencies and capabilities are-”
Kaeron rushed over as well, her teeth clenched, “Chronos, we’re not doubting your quality. Please, scan again. You didn’t find anything but there’s something wrong here, clearly...we are in danger. You’re missing something crucial.”
“Passenger Kaeron, I apologize if my services are not of help. If you truly believe my technology isn’t able to detect the threat you’re speaking of, please do provide evidence of its existence and I will reassess the situation.”
The AI closed itself, refusing to speak further.
“What…? No…this must be a joke,” Lan’en let Tsukasa’s arm go and shook her head in denial, “It’s a prank. It must be.”
“Don’t look at me!” Lilin chuckled again.
“What do we do?” Shiria suddenly joined, finally standing up correctly.
“Shiria. Are you okay?” Kaeron rested her hand on Shiria’s shoulder.
“Yes, I’m okay. Please focus on Noir.”
She nodded and looked at everyone else, “what should we do?”
“Let’s attempt to…provide that robot the ‘’evidence’’ it asked for, no?” Azrael suggested, walking towards Noir’s body, “There must be some clue around here, right?”
“Do we have to play detectives?” Youma sighs, “This is crazy. None of us is qualified! At all!”
“I am.”
Shiria looked at her friend with curious eyes as she walked towards the corpse with her arms crossed. Azrael stepped aside, smirking at her weirdly.
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“What do you mean?” Youma asked.
“I was right, then,” Tsukasa crossed her arms as well, staring with her eyes into Kaeron’s soul, “we can trust Kaeron’s guidance. She is very strong at investigation. This is what my power says.”
“Good,” Youma nods, “We’ll wait for any further intel then.”
“What?” Shiria immediately brought her hand to her chin, staring at Kaeron filled with curiosity.
Lan’en, still drenched in blood, walked away with Youma to clean herself. Alicia, Azrael, and Lilin simply left without any further communication.
Shiria approached Kaeron, “Come on, let’s find out what happened to Noir. No distractions.”
“Okay then...I’ll help!” Servalia took a deep, long breath and focused her mind, standing beside the two.
Tsukasa sighed, ending up in line as well, “and here I thought I came here for sex and food…I’ll help too.”
image [https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mvbl25km5mk8b6wbuxiv1/Kaeron-Montemira.png?rlkey=6bacwbhyy0vxu29t82xmc0kn2&st=1nnrmjxv&raw=1]
“Alright, let’s begin.”
----------------------------------------
From now on, the tale may be told using the passengers’ feelings and thoughts.
Every time a switch of perspective is in act, the character’s point-of-view card will appear.
----------------------------------------
We stand around Noir's body, the atmosphere heavy with a mix of dread and determination. I take a deep breath, my eyes scanning the scene.
I begin by examining the immediate area around Noir’s body.
First, I observe the scene of the crime itself.
“Noir was found laid against the fountain, half her body was past the edge, her limp arms into the water, while the other half was left in a kneeling position. She was attacked from behind,” I state calmly.
“Yeah, I thought that too,” Tsukasa agrees, “whatever killed her, crept from behind her as she was praying and hit her hard. What about the wound? Servalia, you’re a healer, right? Tell us more.”
“Uhm…” She kneels beside Noir, turning her body over, careful not to get dirty with blood. Even if she’s a healer, she’s definitely trying her best not to puke... “The wound...hm...her wound was inflicted by something long that increased in girth, like a spike. The tissues around the hole here have strange markings...as if the design of the weapon used was...animalistic or unusual.”
“So we can rule out anything with a smooth shape,” I nod.
Finally, something useful.
“Okay, so it’s probably an alien being...right?” Shiria askes.
“Oh lord, I watched a movie about an alien on a spaceship quite some time ago. Are we in that situation?” Servalia sighs.
Spoke too soon…
My eyes land on the fountain’s frame.
“The object pierced Noir as she prayed and accidentally hit the frame. Look at this…” I trace my finger around the spot where the weapon hit the fountain, “Servalia, you’re right. The weapon was pointy. The strength of the rupture focuses on a single point and gets weaker the farther you go.”
“Okay, so it was a pointy, alien weapon. It’s a monstrous enemy,” Tsukasa walks back and forth while her tail wags with stress, I bet she is as scared as everyone else despite acting so mature.“it’s not enough to convince the AI about it, though,” she adds.
They’re useless.
Yes, Servalia told me something useful about the wound...but that isn’t really anything valuable. It’s obvious that whoever did this used something lethal and monstrous.
I have to take things further.
“What are you doing, Kaeron?” Shiria asks me.
I ignore her question grab Noir’s wrists and pull her arms up. I slide my hands inside her dress and feel her skin.
“With my powers, I can feel a corpse’s physical and spiritual status…”
Charon accepted her and she is currently crossing the cosmic river. She has some stuff to figure out before she’ll be on the other side….but that’s not what I care about.
“Physically, it’s been approximately seven hours since she was killed. It’s 7:25 AM right now. So she was killed at around midnight,” I explain to the three.
“Wait…” Shiria interrupts me, “We should address the power outage of yesterday.
“What do you mean?” I stand up again and look at her.
“We should think about the power outage that occurred last night. That’s probably when the murder happened,” Shiria repeats, “we must know who was in their room and who wasn’t.”
“Why?” I ask her, crossing my arms and squinting my eyes.
Does she think…?
“Because…then we know who was out during the murder. We could ask them if they heard anything at all. A screech or...footsteps?”
Her response was too shaky. She hesitated. This is not the reason she’s suggesting this.
“Chronos!” Tsukasa immediately shouts.
“Model CHRON.05 at your service. What do you need?”
“This is important for the investigation of the fatality that occurred. Do you have an exact period between the start and the end of last night’s power outage?”
“Also, tell us about the dorm’s doors’ status during the outage,” I add. It’s an important bit of information.
“The power was out from 9:12 PM to 4:00 AM. The doors didn’t work during the whole outage, so people outside their rooms were forced outside. I apologize deeply. Do you have any complaints?”
“Someone must have remained locked outside...and they may even have tried to go back. Someone must have heard or seen something,” I nod. Shiria is right...I must have that information. I need to know who was outside and who wasn’t, “Chronos, can you tell us who was outside?”
“I apologize. Due to privacy concerns, I cannot disclose the passengers’ whereabouts at any point in time.”
“Chronos! It’s a life-threatening situation!” Servalia complained.
“I apologize. As an AI, I cannot go past my code of conduct.”
No use.
Instead, I should look at Noir again with a full picture in mind.
The wound was fatal – pierced her heart in one go, so the rest of her body is intact because there was no struggle whatsoever.
I want to find more. Focus, Kaeron.
I turn around and look at the elevator.
“This place has three floors. The first floor is the “entrance”. When the cruise docks at a station, people get on and off from that floor. The second is this one...where everything that is passenger-related is located. The third is where the dining room is...but it’s also where the whole core operations of the cruise are. Engine, storage, server maintenance...everything,” I explain to them.
“How do you know all this?” Tsukasa asks her, turning her communication device off.
“I asked Chronos in advance. I thought it would be useful in case something happened,” I answer her stupid question quickly, “as I was saying...I wonder here is this creature hiding in the first place?”
“Hm…the third is full of security stuff, I bet. Surveillance cameras, sensors...and maybe guard robots. The dining room is already filled with them. Second has no surveillance of any kind because of privacy, I guess...I didn't see any cameras. But it’s filled with passengers, so it would be very hard for the alien to hide around here. First...is empty. There’s the reception robot and the docking station, which is useless during the trip...and that’s it,” Shiria mumbles, “I think we should check the first floor out.”
We all nod and head to the elevator. However, we notice that the button to go on the first floor doesn’t work.
“What? It doesn’t work…” Servalia sighs.
Chronos suddenly appears on my waistband, saying this:
“I apologize. You cannot go down there. To ensure everyone’s safety, I cannot let passengers access the lower level of this cruise. You shall only access the second floor’s utilities and the exceptional dining room of the third floor.”
“Chronos, can I ask you a question?”
“Of course, you may.”
“Is there any way one could go from the first floor to the second through vents or other means?”
“No. The ventilation system is protected by safety sensors at all times. Besides, even if one was able to elude the sensors, it would be deadly for them to go through the air ducts due to the cooling system the cruise is provided with. The inside of said ducts reach 160°C. No living being could ever withstand the three minutes of crawling under those temperatures."
So it’s on the second floor. It has to be...otherwise Chronos would have seen it wandering around the third, unauthorized. This explains how and why the AI also doesn’t acknowledge its existence. It cannot scan the second floor due to privacy concerns.
“So...it must be on the third, right?” Servalia says instead, “No one saw an alien around here.”
The other two do not respond.
We all get out in the lobby once more. They all look dejected.
“We should still ask personally who was forced outside during the murder and hope they will be honest about it,” Shiria says.
The other two girls look at Shiria with a weird expression, probably because of her wording. But then, Servalia agrees, “She’s right, though. We can’t leave the others on their own. Someone died! We’ll ask them questions.”
“We’ll ask them a bunch of questions during lunch, then. I’m pretty sure breakfast is getting skipped,” Tsukasa agrees, getting back to the corpse, "I think this is all we can investigate, right Kaeron? It was too simple, too quick...”
“Yeah,” I quickly nod, dodging her question.
I have no clue what is going on here. But I understood one thing.
While Tsukasa and Servalia are still confused, Shiria thinks that the killer is one of us.
She wouldn’t have suggested discovering who was outside their room during the power outage otherwise. She didn’t want to say it clearly because it would inject panic and fear...but she is already weary of everyone.
And she is probably right. I should be careful too. I want to investigate alone...act on my own.
“I wanna be alone now. I need to process what happened and...I generally think better when I’m focusing alone,” I start walking away, already planning who to talk to next.
“Okay Kaeron, please take care,” Shiria says, “don’t weigh all of this on your shoulders just because you’re good at investigating!”
Shiria…why did she say this right now?
She trusts me despite the fact she thinks it’s one of us. I could use that trust if I do things right.
“Yes, Kaeron. Please call me too if you need anything, I’ll be in my room blowing off some steam,” Tsukasa chimes in, leaving as soon as she finishes her sentence.
“Do you wanna go to check on Lan’en?” Servalia asks Shiria.
“Yes, let’s go.”
We all part ways, and I’m left with my thoughts.
Alien? Tch.
You're a monster for sure, yeah.