The team sat uneventfully around the bridge as Nicole manned the controls and locked on to their destination. Nicole sighed, trying to get Gizzy's attention.

“So remind me why we’re capturing him from orbit instead of killing him from orbit. It’s a desert wasteland, no signs of life aside from microbes, for miles. Just him, and his weird striped radiation signature.” Asked Nicole.

“Good to know you went from ‘I’m not a killer’ to ‘nuke from orbit’ so quickly. Welcome to the team, Nicole.” Muttered Vinn.

“I just mean this is an odd way to do it.” She reminded. “We paid a lot of money for a giant pooper scooper on a chain we can drop on this thing, and you just need a blood sample?”

“Because the Syndrome is one of the most dangerous creatures in existence. The ancient literature was kinda vague.”

“So we hit him with a warhead from orbit.” Vinn shrugged.

“Won’t work. They tried that. Apparently, he is impervious to all kinetic damage and energy weapons. He’s tougher than an Osirian, but he’s not very strong or intelligent, he’s just unkillable. He was imprisoned for 2,000 years until someone let him out. It does say that, under no circumstances, should you directly engage the target, and we can kill him from orbit, so we’re trapping him from orbit with the glorified candy crane claw machine thing we overpaid for.”

“The ancient text also said that he was imprisoned in an iron box with no doors or windows. So we’re going overkill on that. Even has a sticker with Do not open, do not bother until transported to safe location” She read.

“Then where we talking him?” Nicole asked.

“We’re gonna dump his ass into the nearest black hole…worked on my ex husband, and he was rumored unkillable. Don’t even ask. Point is, it either kills him or traps him for eternity in a gravity well and time compression. So, we get him in a Segnatus box. Segnatus can chew through concrete. If it can hold one of them, he’s not getting out. Advanced alloy, vacuum sealed, no windows, hits like a clam shell, and welds shut on impact. You gotta cut them out with a plasma torch when they arrive. They take Segnatus hunting seriously. Dangerous animals, worth a lot alive.” Gizzy said as Nicole arcade-gamed the controls into position and the light turned green.

“Aaaaand, got him. Trap shut, signature confirmed, joints welded. I say we wait a few hours to see if he breaks out.”

“That seemed too easy.”

“Well he’s been captured, not sampled. That was the easy part. He’s been captured a few times. We still have to transport him to the black hole. That means no curiosity, no talking to him, no communication at all. We keep him right next to the shuttle bay doors and if all else fails, we blow the whole container out. Let’s avoid that if possible, because we don’t know where this thing could end up.” Gizzy said confidently.

“Something feels off. Lets give it 12 hours and check him every 4 before even reeling up that crate, let alone putting him on my ship.” Nicole ordered.

“Agreed, Captain.” Gizzy smiled.

“Though it does just feel too damn easy, doesn’t it?” She said as the ship checked the containers internal scans. “He’s just sitting there, doing nothing. No audio, no change in the thermals. Security camera must have gotten jiggled loose on impact, we got no video feed, but he’s just…in there. Nicole, go ahead rest up. It may be a sensor feed problem that just needs time to reboot. Vicki, you can have the first shift.” She smiled.

“Hooray.” Vicki yawned.

…

She jostled awake, realizing that she nodded off. She checked the sensors and realized that the camera was working.

There sat a small grey haired humanoid man, most unassuming villain you could imagine. Hard to believe he was so dangerous. The bridge doors opened, and Nicole walked in, ready for her shift, handing her a coffee.

“Thanks.” She said. Nicole nodded, before leaving the bridge. She felt like going for a swim, but unfortunately, the pool was now home to a giant snail with tentacles. Vicki was never fond of the idea, but she had some cargo to check in the area. Vicki strolled the cargo bay. She could hear splashing as she worked, from the maintenance area hatch down to the tank. She walked over and cracked the lid carefully, keeping the door chain attached just in case.

“You ugly bitch. Everyone says you’re friendly. People are afraid of me too, I guess we ha-” she started as a tentacle flung the lid open and grabbed her by the throat, yanking her in without time to react. She hit the warm water and extended her fangs as she tried to bite the writhing appendage, and it tightened around her neck. Her wrists and ankles were quickly grabbed next, leaving her defenseless and pinned to the side of the tank. The creature stared at her, baring its teeth and taunting her as she struggled to get upwards for air.

Vicki’s heart raced as the creature just stared at her, almost smiling in a sick way as it held her down unable to breathe. Her body convulsed, running out of breath and too weak to get free. She clawed the glass, scratching at it behind her, knowing only a curtain separated the port from Vinn and Nicole’s room, and the only one who could help. Her feeding instinct kicked in, as she screamed for Vinn and let out the last of her air before going silent, feeling her lungs fill with the thick, warm water. Her rhythmic heaving and sloshing made no difference. Nobody could hear her.

She sat up, gasping and grabbing her throat, sitting up from the cloning tank, covered in liquid as before. She took a moment to accept that she just died up there, getting dressed from the locker and heading to the mess hall, furious.

“GIZZY YOU BITCH!” She yelled. Gizzy looked clueless.

“Was this your lunch or something?” She asked sarcastically. “The fuck did I do to you?”

“Your pet demon just killed me. It attacked me unprovoked and drowned me in the tank.” She yelled, fighting back tears.

“They’re not aggressive; they’re very loving creatures, unless defending their babies.”

“Bullshit, that thing is a monster, I’m gonna shoot it, we’re having snail for dinner.” Vicki said opening one of the weapon lockers.

“Whoa, hold the fuck up there, you’re not shooting our valuable asset because you fell in and got scared. It probably tried to help you out of the tank.”

“I DIED, just now.” She barked aggressively as Gizzy got up and went to the cloning tank. Totally dry and dark.

“This thing hasn’t been on in days. Look, I checked the longs. The last time it ran was when we cloned Jack after the ship explosion. Oh, I get it. You fell in and swallowed a bunch of the water. I bet it put you back outside and you tripped balls for…what seems like far too little time, actually.” She pondered.

“I just came out of that machine.”

“No, you didn’t. You’re hallucinating. I told you the water concentration causes hallucinations. You fell in the tank, freaked out, swallowed snail water and it lifted you back up. You’re lucky you didn’t drown from hitting your head. Just be careful around wet floors.”

“I know what happened. Your pet is a monster.”

“Of course it’s a monster, so are we. It’s the only thing besides Nicole that’s never killed anyone. Get some food, drink some coffee, the effects ware off eventually.”

…

“Jack, it was real.” She said, sitting in her room as he readied for his shift.

“I’m sure it felt real, falling in a tank with a giant seamonster would be scary for anyone…except Nicole because she’s one too, and Gizzy because she’s fucking insane. I checked the cloning tank. It hasn’t run in weeks. You’re okay, honey. You fell, got high and freaked out.” He said as he opened the door, and almost ran into Gizzy.

“No she didn’t. Something weird is up.” She said. “I checked the security cams across the ship. The snail’s been asleep, the hatch wasn’t even opened, she never touched that latch. Vicki walked ten feet away from that hatch and never turned back, she came downstairs, walked to the cloning tank and stood there for 5 minutes, and then stripped off, and got dressed in a fresh uniform, looking terrified. She’s hallucinating, but the snail isn’t responsible. When’s the last time you fed?” Gizzy asked.

“Yesterday.”

“Vinn?”

“No, the other Delmarian on the crew who’s blood I regularly suck, yes Vinn.”

“To completion?” She asked.

“Please don’t word it like that. Yes, I fed until I felt full, I rested, and I gave him his shot, we parted ways. I’m not having Hungerlucinations.”

“Well you’re not yourself when you’re hungry, I’d grab a snickers bar to be sure. You may need to hit the sickbay after, I wanna run some scans.” Gizzy sighed.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t seem fine, you tripped balls and went for a gun to kill our food supply and friendly pet. That’s not fine. Snickers, sickbay, orders.”

…

Nicole strolled the hallways, running her hands down the stone bricks. It was quiet, dark, and serene, almost like back home before she left, or before the new crew arrived. She noticed the lights flickering, and felt a very familiar feeling. It was like she was back home, with the old sodium lamps she both loved and hated. She opened the door to her room and looked for Vinn. He wasn’t in there. She checked the gym and the bathroom, still nothing. She pulled the curtain on the snail tank and noticed it looked empty. Maybe Gizzy was running some scans or something.

She strolled to the mess hall for a snack, checking the med lab on the way and to her surprise Gizzy was not in there, or the bridge bed.

“The hell is everyone?” she asked herself. She checked her scanner, and it showed no life on the ship, not even her. Clearly broken since she was standing right there, waving it around herself for a reading. She decided to check the engine area, maybe there was a problem. Nicole hopped down the hatch.

“Hello?” she hollered. “Where is everyone?” She asked, suddenly checking the scanner again and realizing there were no life signs in the containment box holding the prisoner either. “Fuck!” she said running to the ladder and taking it up through the main floor, clear to the top and to the containment box. She grabbed a pistol and checked the seams. The knuckles were still welded shut. It hadn’t moved. She darted to the maintenance area for a second working scanner. The same thing showed, nothing at all, not even her. “Are we having an EMP problem, the scanners are all broken…Hello?” She yelled.

“HELLO!?” She yelled again, getting worried.

…

Jack sat in the bridge, taking the last shift before the grace period and the doors flew open.

“Hello Captain.” He yawned.

“Jesus, Jack, where were you?”

“Here…watching the crate, 2 minutes till we reel in the box.”

“The box in the…cargo bay?” She asked, rolling her eyes.

“Oh, I’m so stupid. I forgot that we hadn’t reeled him in yet. I was scanning the empty one, thinking he got out.”

“What empty one? We just got one container and it’s on the planet.”

“Then how was it in the cargo bay and welded shut?” she said as they got up and rushed to the cargo bay. They stepped out of the elevator and there was Gizzy and Vinn next to the crate, welded shut.

“Welcome back Captain. I decided to reel him in early. There was a storm brewing down there, and I didn’t want to risk the cables breaking.”

“You just now got him up here?” She asked, baffled.

“Yeah, literally 5 minutes ago. You walked by with a scanner and didn’t respond to me saying hi.” Vinn said looking sad.

“I didn’t notice you.” She said feeling confused.

“Guys we need to roll him back out immediately.” Jack said, looking frantic.

“WHY?” asked both Nicole and Gizzy.

“The welds are cracked, he’s going to breech containment, drop him. Drop him now, clear the area, blow the airlock, and separate the cable and the chain.”

“Jack the welds look fine.” Gizzy insisted, taking her knife and scraping the seams. “Blood. If it bleeds, it can die, so that’s the first good thing we’ve seen.” She smiled, taking the sample.

“And the welds are fine.”

“They’re split damn near in half!” He insisted, rushing for the airlock. Vinn grabbed him and restrained him.

“BRO, stop. We’re still in here. You blow that hatch, and we all die.”

“If he breaks those welds we all die, everyone out of the room, BLOW THE HATCH NOW!” he ordered, drawing his pistol.

“Jack…calm down.” Gizzy said stepping in front of the gun.

“The welds are solid. Stand down soldier. You’re pointing a gun at your superior officer.”

“That’s not her. Look at her eyes. It’s not her. I’ll prove it.” He said firing a shot as Vinn tackled him and Nicole screamed. Gizzy stood there looking completely lost and baffled.

“Are you hurt? Do you need a medkit, someone get a medkit.”

“I’m fine. Just…” She said, looking down at the quarter sized hole in her ribcage. “You shot me, Jack.” She said looking offended. Vicki rushed to the area hearing gunshots and fully shouldering heavy weaponry.

“Stand down we got him restrained and disarmed.”

“That’s Jack, why are you restraining Jack?”

“There was some…fuck if I know what situation, he shot me, we disarmed him, he’s not well. I think he’s hallucinating, no idea why. Get a med kit from the lab, get some sedatives and handcuffs too.” She waved, Nicole nodded. Vicki made her way down the stairs and around the corner to the lab, turning and noticing Gizzy standing there with her gun. “How did you get down here before me?”

“Stay down this time, bitch.”Gizzy said, pointing the gun and firing.

…

Vicki woke and sat up from the cloning tank, frantically grabbing her clothes and a weapon. She was ready to kill. She came out of the elevator, rifle shouldered like before but finger on the trigger. Gizzy turned and casually cocked her head.

“Where’s the med kit?” she asked. She opened fire, putting 3 holes in Gizzy before she could draw her pistol and tag her in the shoulder, rushing her and wrestling the gun out of her hands.

“What the fuck is going on?” Nicole yelled, grabbing a gun and not knowing where to point it.

“She’s not Gizzy, look at her.”

“She looks like Gizzy.” She said keeping the barrel down as Gizzy kneed Vicki to the ground.

…

Jack and Vicki sat together in the Brig as a bloody Gizzy sat on the other side of the energy shielded bars.

“Ya both shot me.” She started, holding her bloody ribs. “Care to inform me why you two decided to mutiny all the sudden.”

“You’re not Gizzy.”

“Med scans show she is.” Nicole said sitting down. “We got Vinn guarding the prisoner, checking the scans, he hasn’t moved an inch, so where did you two run off two and why do you think Gizzy is not herself?”

“The eyes are wrong. Gizzy has blue eyes.” Jack said. Nicole squinted and looked at her.

“Theeeeeey, look blue to me. Same blue as usual.”

“Her pet is taking over the ship. She’s got the snail trained to kill or something. Then she shot me in the lab. Whoever she is didn’t know we clone back.”

“NOBODY DIED!” Gizzy yelled.

“I checked the tank. You haven’t been killed once since the damn ship explosion. You can’t even clone someone that quickly, it was 4 minutes since you left and came back. It takes 45 minutes to clone, the machine never turned on, nobody used it. Vicki, you’re not dying, Jack, what the fuck you shot me.”

“Don’t trust her Nicole.” Jack said coldly. “That’s not Gizzy It’s an imposter. She’s either dead or…in the confinement cell.

“No no no. We are not opening that thing.” Nicole said aggressively.

“She could be anywhere, Jack.” Vicki muttered. “We need to search the ship.”

“I fucking can’t with these assholes.” Gizzy huffed as Nicole gave up and walked off to check on Vinn.

…

He stood there, calmly checking the welds.

“I don’t know what he’s talking about. The welds are solid, the prisoner hasn’t moved, except once to uncross and cross the other leg. Jack and Vicki have lost it.” He said.

“Well, they’re very close to the truth.” She chuckled.

“To what?”

“They think the creature is out and mimicking Gizzy.” She said smiling at him in a strange manner. “Those idiots think it’s her.” She winked, and finished walking away and to the elevator. Vinn stood in confusion for a moment. Gizzy passed her by with a nod.

“I don’t know what the hell is wrong with those two.” She sighed. Even a gallon of purified snail goop wouldn’t fuck you up that bad, and not in a paranoid way. Something is making them doubt everyone, question things, like someone is an imposter, and no, this is not an among us joke. It’s way darker than that.

“They’re not entirely wrong.” He said, Gizzy drawing her gun and looking annoyed. “NO…no. not you. I know it’s not you. They’re wrong about that. It’s Nicole.”

“Vinn what are you talking about?” Gizzy sighed.

“She just gave me the weirdest creepiest look and said ‘those idiots think it’s her’ and chuckled evilly.”

“Vinn, that thing hasn’t left the confinement.”

“How do we know? It’s the most dangerous whatever in this part of the universe and highly mysterious. Vicki said someone shot her, Jack said the welds looked broken, and something is going on, and Nicole is not Nicole. Jack and Vicki were right, the thing is somehow out and shape shifting. I only know I can trust you because you were right there when she walked off. Shit, she could be Jack or Vicki the next time we see them. We gotta stick together. If we split for one minute, we don’t know the other isn’t the imposter.”

“It’s… right in the…” she said looking into the camera. “Fuck…everything.” She said aggressively, suddenly checking the welds and the scanner. She stepped back horrified and confused. “The welds are fine, there’s no windows, no cracks, no way out. And yet he’s just… gone.”

“I knew it. we’re all dead.” He said. “What do we do? The only one I can trust is you. The file says they couldn’t kill it, so if we just shoot him even completely sure it’s him, will he just shapeshift again? It was just Nicole, I don’t know if that means it’s possessing her body, or she’s dead and it took her body as a host, or if she’s duplicated and it’s just mimicking her. Is she tied up somewhere? I can’t just shoot my wife assuming it’s a duplicate.”

“Meet me in the lab in 2 minutes. I’m gonna analyze this blood. Get every weapon you can find from the main locker. Two minutes. The code word is Pumpernickel so I know it’s you.”