Chapter Text
Life is a bitch. A strange, cruel bitch. Max Caulfield had experience. Too much, in fact.
“...so, what happened after you got onto the shuttle?” The silhouette sitting across from the ragged young brunette.
She looked up. Past the wide shoulders. To the dark form of her love. The hair shone blue in the bright light.
Max averted her gaze from the standing corpse and muttered the only truth she knew anymore. “...it's not real, it's not real…”
The man stood from the desk with an aggravated grumble, “For fucks sake! The bitch's a broken record again! Get Doctor Jefferson to medicate her again!”
Max had done this song and dance for… she didn't know. Did it matter? No, nothing else mattered. She lost everything after fighting the Hivemind. She lost everything. As the needle pricked her neck, she was dimly aware that she was losing what little she may have had in her shattered mind. The liquids coursing in her veins may finally be the final strike of the hammer that completely breaks her mind.
“Hopefully it will be.” The bluenette leaned forward as everything grew dark. “We will be whole again, when you finally decide to come.”
Max didn't know when, or if, she would ever feel partially sober again. She hoped not.
She wanted to be whole again.
~~~
A clack of a whiskey tumbler resounded through the empty bar of the south end of the Sprawl. The vodka went down a little roughly, but that's what Victoria Chase wanted.
It was boring work these days. Executives for the CEC didn't have to worry too much about anything work related unless it was someone trying to climb the corporate ladder.
Nathan would've understood. He'd have been able to help her stave off the boredom.
But he wasn't here, not anymore. Not for a long time.
Victoria rubbed her eyes. They were starting to strain from the neon lights of one of the cheaper bars aboard the massive ship The Sprawl. A masterclass of capitalism's achievements.
She hated it, of course. It was too synthetic. It felt like living in a big city on Earth, except there weren't even real plants here and there. It was just industrial with a bunch of shiny paint coats and neon lighting slapped on. It was done tastefully, though, so she couldn't complain too much.
The bartender approached. “Last call?” Victoria assumed. The man nodded, drawing a chuckle out of the woman. “Thought so. Give me one more Grey Goose for the road?”
The bartender smiled pleasantly and poured her a final drink. He didn't mind closing up while she was still there. She never caused issues, paid her tabs, and bought the expensive liquor. She was never rude, despite the common conception of executives.
Victoria drank slowly, savoring the final glass thoughtfully. She knew her work was boring, but it was often more important than even she realized. She had heard from the grapevine that there was a special guest on board that survived something big over on Aegis VII.
The part she hated was not knowing anything. What did this mystery person survive? Was it an outbreak of a disease? A riot of anti-CEC terrorists? Maybe it was an active war zone between EarthGov and some of that extremist group of Unitology weirdos?
Victoria laughed under her breath at her last guess: perhaps it was aliens? Maybe a living moon like the stuff Lovecraft used to write about. Creatures from beyond the stars… and GRAVE! Boo!
She downed the rest of her drink and left the bar with a small wave to the bartender. She had calls to make, and learning to do. Victoria pulled up the holographic screen from her RIG's wrist projectors and flipped over to the contacts. After a moment of waiting, her contact picked up.
The screen showed up blank before minimizing into a simple command box for calls. A male voice crackled to life from the box, “Hey there, Victoria, what'd ya need?”
“I'm getting stonewalled on all fronts by the CEC about some special cargo being transported on my ship.” She smirked, “And Hayden, you know how much I hate it when people don't tell me what's happening on my own ship.”
Hayden belted a laugh. “Last I checked you weren't the captain.”
“Last I checked I still own the ship which means I still need to know if the crap we're transporting is worth risking my investment.”
“Ha! Fair enough. Give me a few hours and I'll get back to you.” Hayden ended the call.
Normally Victoria hated being hung up on. But this was Hayden, he hung up on everyone. The promise of information also eased the irritation. Victoria made her way to her quarters and brewed some coffee for herself. Hayden didn't call twice.
A few hours of answering emails later and Hayden called. Victoria answered eagerly, “Finally! Tell me you've got something juicy.”
“...” Silence was bad. Was he finally caught snooping where he wasn't supposed to be? Shit, what if it got back to her? “...what do you know about Aegis VII and the Ishimura?” Hayden asked at last.
“Huh?” Hayden was always to the point. Why the dancing? “Uh, only that something bad happened. What was it, some kind of political attack?”
“Worse. So much worse. Can we meet?”
Oh. Oh it was BAD bad. Hayden hated to meet. He only did it once before to discuss important security concerns that he had for the Sprawl. If he wanted to meet, it was because he was worried that if anything he were to discuss were to get out it would most likely be the death of him. “Sure, let's meet. You want to come to my quarters?”
“Engineering.” Hayden hung up immediately after.
Victoria couldn't be upset this time. Now? She was worried.
~~~
Engineering was where all mechanical maintenance occurred. There were no decorations, it was pure industrial workhorse. A skeleton crew of engineers gave the executive a few curious glances but went back to work. She paid them well, so their reactions were expected.
In the back past deafening machinery sat a black man in a black security RIG. “Finally, let's make this quick.”
Victoria's face screwed up in confusion. “What's going on?”
Hayden brought up his holo display and tapped a few icons. A second later and Victoria's RIG beeped with a small notification. She opened it up and frowned. “That's everything I could find.”
“A video and a couple pictures?” She gave him a skeptical look. “This was what was so important?”
“Watch it.”
Victoria shrugged and hit play on the video.
It looked similar to the surface of what historical texts depicted as the surface of pre-colonized Mars: a rust coloured dirt and atmosphere. There was an executive escape shuttle in the background and a person in an engineer RIG standing at the center of the landing platform. Everything was shaking, and with a light distortion of the video she couldn't make out any details of the engineer.
They were female, that she could tell from the roar they gave. Victoria wished the video’s audio wasn't distorted as well. She would've liked to have known what the woman said.
That was forgotten, however, as a roar almost in response to the young woman's defiance resounded. The only thing Victoria could compare it to was a cacophony of screams from a choir of terrified people. It was so loud that the audio stopped after the roar. Hell, maybe even during it. It was loud enough to destroy the microphone, at least. Shivers went down her spine. She couldn't see it. Whatever roared, it wasn't on camera.
As the surveillance camera began to turn towards the roar, something knocked into it and the video ended.
After a minute of thought Victoria asked, “What the hell is this?”
Hayden shrugged. “I don't know. None of my contacts could figure it out, nor could they get any information on this shit. The stuff I got for you cost some heavy favours.”
“Appreciated,” Victoria rewound the video to the young woman's shouting. It was… familiar. “Who is she?”
Hayden shook his head, “Dunno that either. I got a translation of what she shouts though. ‘Come on then! ‘Cause this is all I got left.’”
Victoria frowned further, “That's a bit pessimistic.”
Hayden chuckled, “No kidding.”
Victoria wondered what the young woman meant with those words, if that's what she actually said anyways. She glanced at the other pictures. One was of the surface of Aegis VII. The mining colony that was once there was now nothing more than rubble. The other was… something. A stone obelisk with twin horns or spires that had a red symbols all over it. “Is that-”
“The Black Marker?” Hayden asked, “No. It's a Marker for sure, but not the one we know.”
“Oh my god,” Victoria felt a crawling up her spine. “Does this mean Unitology is right? Aliens exist and we come from them?”
Hayden shrugged. “Dunno. Possibly. ‘Nother possibility is someone tried to replicate that. Heard the Ishimura had a lot of fanatics on it. It was also a pretty big illegal mining op, you know.”
Victoria nodded. That job reeked something fierce, hence why the Sprawl didn't take it despite the captain's wishes. She pointed at the Marker. “That our true cargo? I swear if it is-”
“It's not.” Hayden walked over and pointed to the tiny frame of the engineer. “She is.”
Victoria tilted her head. CEC being truthful? Unlikely. Though it was surprising just how much information was lining up with what she had heard. She gestured at the girl in the video, “And where is she? Executive quarters?”
Hayden was quiet for a moment. “Psych ward. Primary physician is doctor Mark Jefferson.”
“Shit.”
“About?”
“All of it,” Victoria explained. “It's got too much mystery to it. Unreliable information even from the source that begs more questions. Why is she here on this ship with a shitty little psych ward that can barely treat her? And you have one of the biggest figures of Unitology as her primary care.” She shook her head, “Something doesn't add up.”
Hayden nodded. “Yeah, know what you mean.” He grasped her shoulder, “Listen, if you want any information at all before they start treatments you'll need to go to the psych ward. Talk to Brooke Scott, she'll be able to give you access.”
“Brooke?” Victoria was taken aback. “I didn't realize we hired her.”
“She's a damn fine doctor, why wouldn't we?” Hayden shook his head. “Anyways, go easy on her. She just lost her husband.”
“Husband? Who was it?”
Hayden shrugged. “Engineer, couldn't tell you anything else.”
Victoria nodded, “Thanks Hayden. You'll receive reimbursement for those favors tomorrow.”
“Looking forward to it.”
Hayden left briskly, leaving Victoria alone to her thoughts. She played the video again. She wondered what monster that woman faced, and how did she do it? How did she find the courage? Maybe it wasn't courage. Maybe the only thing she had left was her will to live?
Except that doesn't make sense. If she wanted to live then she would have just taken the shuttle and left. No, she wanted something else. She lost everything, according to her words, and had only one thing left. Victoria blinked in surprise as she realized what the woman meant.
She only had that fight left to live for.