Mevi was startled awake by a heavy crash. Shaken and tossed in her protective seat, Mevi panicked wondering what had happened. It was dark, the lights were completely out, but Mevi’s eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness so similar to her native world. As she looked around to get her bearings, she noticed she was in a sort of padded metal cage. The padded metal bars made a protective sphere around her, but as she looked closer it seemed that there were imprinted hand marks in the padded metal frame. Like some powerful giant had grabbed and bent the metal.
Just as Mevi came to this conclusion a figure stepped forward, outlined by Mevi’s darkvision was the massive frame of her Sentinel. Without hesitation the Sentinel ripped the protective cage open like it was made out of paper. Assisting her escape from the chair, the Sentinel seemed to be slightly sluggish and stiff in its movements. Yet Mevi was glad it seemed mostly fine. Suddenly memories started coming back to Mevi.
She was on a ship heading towards Demnos IV. The last thing she remembered were loud noises and a yell, then she woke up here. Looking around desperately she noticed a limp figure next to her. Rushing to the figure she saw it was Zelkan by his mask and diligently cleaned robes. Terrified of his stillness, Mevi placed her ear against where she thought his heart would be, listening closely as she waited… Du-dump… Mevi sighed in relief, he seemed to be breathing and alive, just asleep. Though as she looked at him, slumped over in his chair he couldn’t be comfortable.
Looking at the Sentinel was all the prompting it needed, quickly moving to action the Sentinel removed Zelkan from the restraints and set him down on the floor. Glad that he was safe and sound, Mevi needed to venture to the rest of the ship to figure out what was wrong; Zelkan could sleep for now, at least until the others were found and safe. Before she did, Mevi’s memory kicked again.
Reaching for her pocket she found the gift Murano had left her, the elegant glove with intertwining silver strings connecting at a purple gemstone. She still remembered the last strange gem she had used, the one that egged and pushed her daemon over the edge into a rage. The gemstone was so beautiful, delicate, and small. It was hard to believe something so simple could possess any power. Yet the moment she slipped the glove onto her hand she was proven wrong.
As if a void inside of her had only just now been revealed, something missing from her soul seemed to brighten and awaken from a long sleep. Inside her soul was something, something that thought and felt on its own. Something that taunted and tormented her in her childhood. An entity that ravaged and killed her enemies in her rage. A thing she had many times wished she was without but had always missed when its presence was gone. Her Daemon awoke once more, and it wanted the world to know.
Erupting in a burst of orange, red, purple, and white light; the gemstone shone with a spectacular brilliance. The purple stone shifted and changed hues, her daemon fought for control over the thing and infected it with a bloody red and hot white. Yet she knew the danger of letting it have free reign, fighting against the presence with the patience and abilities she had practiced in solitude for so long, Mevi repelled the daemon’s advances. Fighting against the thing’s will, Mevi tinted the gem orange, using the skills she learned in long meditation, in keeping her emotions calm, and focusing on her duty the gem was won over by her will and not the daemon’s. Yet a fragment of the daemon was left on the gemstone, at the edges of the newly orange gemstone were wisps of red and white that swirled like stretching roots. Yet they receded, succumbing to Mevi’s control.
The light show was over, in moments Mevi had managed to reign in and stop the creature that had tormented her for most of her life. Her feeling of accomplishment made her proud, and her pride lit the room around her with a warm light that would be her guide in the darkness. Bravery newly held, Mevi ventured out of the cabin into the awaiting ship.
The light of her gemstone flooded into the main deck, exposing the carnage and chaos to the light. A massive hole in the side of the ship was ripped wide, yet the ship walls seemed to shimmer around the damage and Mevi could have sworn she saw the wall… growing back to its normal shape. Beyond the wide opening was an oppressive darkness, one even Mevi’s eyes would struggle within, from Mevi’s position she felt she saw small fires burning around the ship below the opening. It illuminated what looked like ancient depictions of tree trunks, standing tall and proud, reaching high into the above, beyond where Mevi could perceive.
Yet Mevi didn’t spend long gawking at the forest or distracted herself with thoughts of spreading fires, at the base of the opening was a body. A torso with a single arm, bloody and pooling gore around it, was stinking and bleeding on the once-pristine golden floor. Mevi recoiled, and her gemstone’s light flashed red as her emotions spiked with surprise and horror. The Sentinel rushed forward, confused at what danger it had missed, placing itself between Mevi and the sundered opening. The Sentinel unwittingly blocked the view of the corpse, which allowed Mevi to calm slightly. Yet she felt sick to her stomach, nothing could have prepared her to see that so suddenly.
The state of the ship was drastic. Furniture, objects, rubble, and debris were scattered across the entire main deck. Piles of things clung to the back end of the main deck, blocking the side connectors almost fully. A foul smell wafted from that direction, one eerily familiar to the corpse by the opened hull. Mevi tried her best to ignore it, instead realizing she should focus on finding survivors than digging through rubble.
Mevi looked up to her Sentinel, wondering if it saw anything that had happened while she was unconscious or if it had simply stayed with her and Zelkan. Then Mevi recalled there should have been a second sentinel, and was curious where it had gone. Mevi looked at the opened hull and wondered if it had somehow fallen out of the ship whenever the injury to the vessel had happened… Refocusing her efforts, Mevi decided on the most straightforward option, “Sentinel, do you know where my other companions are? Are they safe?” Mevi asked.
The Sentinel looked down at Mevi, realizing the invisible danger must’ve passed. Without another word it walked towards the door adjacent to Mevi’s. Opening the door forcefully, as whatever device made it automatic was probably broken, the Sentinel ripped the door open with remarkably little effort. Inside lay another person, strapped into a similar metal casing as Mevi was. The Sentinel quickly moved in and removed the figure, and Mevi was relieved to see it was Saerin. She seemed peacefully asleep, easily more so than Zelkan. Even after being picked up and placed on the floor, Saerin turned to one side as if she was simply asleep in bed and nothing was wrong. The peace she found so easily made Mevi feel a little lighter, somehow even when she was asleep Saerin managed to be an optimist.
Mevi moved to kneel down next to Saerin, shaking her shoulder slightly. Yet her friend didn’t move beyond tired annoyance. Mevi shook harder, whispering for her to wake up. After a few more moments Saerin awoke mumbling, “Why’s… why is it so bright? What happened?” Mevi realized how brightly her stone was shining, reflecting the brilliant hope that was rekindled after finding her first real friend again. Muffling the light a little bit, taking a moment of effort to focus the stone’s intent to a more normal volume. “Sorry about that, Saerin. You need to get up, I think the ship crashed somehow…” Mevi said.
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“Crashed?” Saerin sat up quickly, yet still her eyes were struggling to stay open, “Are you alright, Mevi?” she asked.
“Of course I am! Sentinel protected me admirably. Zelkan is safe too, he’s still asleep though. You seemed easy to wake up when I found you.”
“Oh… Good for me? What about the rest, or the crew?”
“I don’t know yet, I only just now found you… There is a dead body outside, and I think there might be another buried under rubble.”
“Oh no…” Saerin paused, sobering up at the dreadful news, “We should check for the others and go down to the lower deck to see the damage. If the main reactor is leaking or badly damaged in some way, we need to escape as soon as possible.”
“Ok! Can you help me look?”
Saerin got up, her body creaking and cracking as she stretched fully awake. The two of them ran out back onto the main deck, and Saerin had a similar response to the foul-smelling corpse. Yet compared to Mevi, she handled and overcame the initial shock quickly, like she had seen such a state before and it simply made her see pity rather than horror.
The Sentinel began walking towards another door, attached to the room directly next to the hull breach. The two of them followed close as the Sentinel ripped open the door, this one heavier or more jammed than the last. Yet when the door was torn free of whatever restrained it, inside Hellion sat in their own safety chair and straps. The man was in quite the state of disheveledness. His clothes were partially torn in places, like he had gone through a whirlwind of razors, but seemed otherwise fine and completely conscious. Save for the odd position he found himself in. He seemed to be trying to worm his way out of the straps without unlocking them, or that he couldn’t unlock them. He caught himself with one arm under a side strap while the other stuck out where his head was meant to be, all while he had slid halfway out of the straps entirely only to get stuck against the padded metal cage. Still, somehow, filled with confidence Hellion quickly addressed the onlookers, “Ah! Little lady! Glad to see ‘ur all safe ‘n sound! Was just ‘bout to join ya, just gimme a minute.”
“Hellion… Do you need help?” Mevi asked cautiously.
“Oh this? I’ll be outta ‘ere in just a minute, all ‘cording to plan.”
“You know, if you stretch your arm any further it’ll dislocate.” Saerin commented.
Hellion paused his attempts, “I was wonder’in why my arm was hurt’in… You know, little lady, if ‘ur big ‘n scary helper ain’t busy…”
Mevi moved out of the Sentinel’s way and gestured towards Hellion. The diligent protector approached and hesitated, looking down at the mess of body parts tangled up in metal, wire, and straps. Carefullying tearing or bending parts of the seat to allow for Hellion’s escape. The man’s confidence or wry smile didn’t fade the entire ordeal, despite Saerin laughing as he turned himself upside down to escape fully. Mevi held back a few of her thoughts of amusement, but was glad Hellion seemed unharmed. Standing up straight, like nothing had happened at all, “Right! Little lady, Rin. I need the two of y’all to go help out Zel. I’mma take our big friend ‘ere to do some weight liftin’!” said Hellion.
“Wait, Rin..? Hrmm, fine. But what could you possibly need help lifting? We are going to go check on the lower deck next.” asked Saerin.
“Listen, sometimes we guys just gotta go lift heavy things. I’ll only be a few, so take the little lady and wake up Zel. You might need his big brain to open things, or somethin’.” Hellion paused his levity for a moment as he asked, “Please Rin. Just trust me ‘kay?”
Something passed between them, a wordless message or a look in their momentarily serious eyes that made Saerin give in, “He’s not wrong. I should check up on him just to be sure, and unlike all of you I need light to see. So I'll need your help, my lady.”
Mevi was cautious of the glances between them, worried what their silent seriousness meant. Unsure exactly what was going on between them, but knowing Zelkan needed to be looked at by someone medically knowledgeable, she didn’t question the idea. As she left, Mevi gave a look towards the Sentinel. She knew she must’ve looked worried or perturbed, the Sentinel looked down and began to follow, something about it making Mevi feel like it was concerned in some expressionless way. Yet Hellion grabbed the giant’s arm, it almost reacted by grabbing at his wrist, but Hellion whispered something to the golden giant that made it pause. It reacted in a way that was entirely new, it hadn’t ever taken verbal commands from anyone but her before, usually ignoring everyone in favor of its own opinions; if it had opinions. Mevi wondered what few words Hellion had said that could have swayed the giant, but she followed Saerin back to Zelkan regardless.
The two of them returned to Zelkan, still sleeping on the ground the man seemed calm despite not knowing his face under the mask. Saerin knelt down next to him, and seemed to hold his hand then placed her head against his chest. After which she pressed and felt at his abdomen and extremities carefully. Taking out a small pouch bundled in her robes, Searin explained, “I made sure to take these with us in the Undercity, but I didn’t get a chance to use them. A nice little device that helps take bodily readings and a few useful chemicals…” As Searin opened up the pouch, her mood seemed to drop sharply. The inside of the pouch was a wet mess with a small metal device of which its screen was devastatingly cracked. “Oh, I programmed that scanner custom…” Saerin mumbled to herself.
Mevi put a hand on Saerin’s shoulder, “I'm sorry, if the ship’s functions are still capable maybe we can fix it?” Mevi asked.
“Yeah, it was just for convenience anyway.” Saerin let out a big sigh, “Well anyway. Zel seems stable. Looks like he hit his head on something, but without taking a closer look it’ll be hard to see how bad. The scanner would’ve let me keep his mask on, without it we’ll have to be a little intrusive…”
Mevi suddenly realized what Saerin meant; she was going to remove Zelkan’s mask. Somehow the thought caused her anxiety and excitement at the same time. She had always been curious what her advisor looked like, but breaching his privacy in this way almost felt wrong. He had always had his mask on, never once showing his face to her, and Mevi wasn’t sure if she should be allowed to look without his permission. Saerin noticed Mevi’s worry, “We can’t be sure if he’s alright without me taking a look. You can wait outside if you leave that light with me, if you’d prefer.” Searin said.
“I don’t think the light would work like that… I will stay, we need to make sure he’s safe!” Mevi said confidently.
Saerin moved her hands towards the mask, the other’s masks were simply slip-on that fit snuggly; Zelkan’s seemed to be intertwined and almost attached to his robes. As Saerin pulled back some of the upper layers, a metal plate was revealed; like a sort of armor that was hidden expertly under the robes to be invisible to the outside, not even a hint of its shape or rigidness was noticed until now. Mevi wondered if he had always worn it or only recently. As the robes were taken away, a tight-looking undersuit of some kind was also revealed, covering every inch of Zelkan’s skin. The mask seemed to clip into the metal plate and was slid into the seams of the undersuit as well. Saerin cursed something under her breath about heat stroke as each new layer was revealed.
Saerin started to untangle the mask’s silks from the robe’s, then moving to the clips attached to the breastplate. As she slowly removed the clasps firmly attaching the mask in place, Zelkan’s arm darted up to grab her wrist. At the same time as Zelkan’s arm moving the lumens in his mask lit up, glowing to life in bright swirling colors. Both Saerin and Mevi yelped and jumped back, a bang from outside was heard and Hellion shouted “Where are you going ya’ big lug?!?” Then the Sentinel appeared in the door, hand gun drawn and searching for the source of danger. Seeing no threats in the room, it looked down at Mevi. Zelkan spoke, “What kind of new perversion is this, Saerin? Undressing me in my sleep?”
“Perversion? I am a doctor, I am only attending to a patient who was unconscious a few moments ago!” Saerin retorted.
Mevi briefly ignored them, “I'm sorry, Sentinel. We were just startled, please go help Hellion some more.” Then turning to Zelkan and bowing her head in apology, “I am so sorry Zelkan… We were worried you were hurt and thought to check.”
Sitting up, fixing his robes and undone clasps, Zelkan retorted, “My lady! Don’t feel the need to apologize, I am sure it was entirely Saerin’s curiosity rather than any medical concern. And must I remind you-” turning to Saerin, “-you are a Medical Technician. I don’t think you have earned your doctor’s qualifications. You run equipment, not operate on live subjects.”
“I know more than anyone else here, regarding medicine at least. So I claim seniority in the field of injuries!” Saerin retorted.
The two glared at each other, the familiar bickering almost soothing to Mevi. Then Hellion came to the door, noticeably dirty with his hands covered in red ichor. The man’s usual aloof attitude was replaced with a grim contemplation, unsure what to say he hesitated. The hesitation, the unsaid words, left fear and anxiety in the air. “Got some bad news, my lady.” Hellion said, unusually formal, “As I was afraid of, the ma’am… I mean, Ouapi. She’s gone.”