I emerged from the tunnels into the corridor for the rest of my trek. Walking silently, I heard a rustling to my left. As I looked to find the source of the noise, I tripped and hit the floor. I turned to find I had tripped over a body, the first I’d seen. It was Franklin. Before I could mourn my friend a high pitch squeal erupted and I was slammed back to the floor. Something that looked like a backwards stingray was trying to stab me with it’s “stinger”. It was holding me down so I couldn’t use the saw, so holding it at arms length with my right hand I gripped my knife with my left and cut off it’s stinger. It flopped lifeless beside me. But I heard another one out of my vision. I squinted to see it, and it was stabbing the bodies. I thought that was weird, until the stabbed bodies started to twitch and then stand. All the while the arms lengthened and the leg muscles grew. Holy shit, the things killing us WERE us. At that point I knew I couldn’t just escape.
I got the hell out of that room and almost ran into Dr. Mercer. He seemed unusually calm for the circumstances. It dawned on me that maybe he didn’t know the circumstances. He nodded as I explained what I had seen. “Isn’t it glorious, Murphy? God’s hand at work, bringing us to a higher power!” God Damn Unitologists. He had a madness to him though, one that scared me more than the creatures behind me. I knew I couldn’t tell him what I was doing. “Yes Doctor, it’s beautiful,” I played along. He told me how he had disabled many of the ship’s security protocols and systems. I swear, I saw fangs when he smiled at me. As we walked together, I volunteered to go ahead and scout. Once out of sight, I screamed the most blood curdling scream I could muster and dashed away. I still wanted to go to the engine rooms. Opening room after room and pressing buttons and spinning dials, turning off systems of my own I knew I had to destroy the ship and everyone on it. There should only be moments left when I reach room 12. I limped from eight to nine to ten. So close now. I skipped 11 and headed straight for 12.
I was pretty woozy at that point, barely standing really. It’s not surprising that he was able to sneak up on me. My first clue he was there was the scalpel in my side. Mercer had not been fooled by my screams. I don’t know if he followed me or what he knew. I only knew that I needed off this ship before the engines exploded.
I dropped to the floor as the pain radiated through my torso and I lost more blood. Mercer was talking behind me, but I have no idea what he was saying. He sounded like he was under water. I forced myself to stand, the door to 12 was only a few feet away. I think Mercer laughed at me, I’m not sure, but I knew he was heading for me again. I had dropped the saw when he stabbed me, but I still had a belt full of tools. I threw a couple of wrenches at him, giving me just enough time to make it to the door. My mind was clouded though and I was having trouble getting it open. Mercer was bearing down again. My attention was split between lashing out wildly with my last wrench try to hit him and opening the door. Both my objectives seemed to happen at once though. I felt the contact of the wrench as the door slid open. I scrambled to close it then dragged myself to the cockpit. After absentmindedly pressing buttons and taking off, here I am. Wondering why I even bothered. I blacked out for a while so I didn’t see the explosion.
I think that gets you up to speed. Religious relics don’t just turn people into zealots, it seems they can also turn people into horrifying aliens that kill you so your body can be harvested and turned into one of them. That’s an important lesson, kids.
