Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Hey. You alright?"

Lime whipped round from the window panel to see Red, who was watching her with her head tilted to the side with concern. Lime suddenly became aware again of the cafeteria around her, and of the humming and the soft vibration of the Skeld, flying through space back to Mira HQ.

"You've been staring at the stars for ages," Red went on.

"Sorry, I know I should be doing my part. The sooner we arrive the better." She sighed. "It's just… The war has this way of getting to you, you know?"

Red nodded slowly. Of course she knew. Who didn't? She couldn't suppress a shiver, which she promptly hid under a nonchalant shrug –or something which tried to pass for one. "You think there might be an Impostor on board? Nah, they'd have had time to kill someone already."

Lime didn't answer, simply running a wary gaze around the room and at the corridors. "I just wish a day would come when I feel truly safe," she said softly before shaking herself. "I'd better get started, tasks won't do themselves. Thanks for snapping me out of it, Red."

"No problem. And remember, I'm always here if you need to talk."

With a friendly gesture of her hand, Red turned away, but she paused as Lime called out after her: "Be careful, alright? Try to tell people where you go, and avoid Purple as much as you can."

Red let out a laugh. "You keep talking of him, I wonder whether you like him too little or too much."

"I don't trust him," Lime bristled. "I don't trust the way he follows people around, and I certainly don't trust the hungry air with which he looks at us. You know what they say about Impostors and the flesh of their victims."

Red hesitated, then shrugged. "I didn't really notice anything special with him. I understand you're afraid, but you shouldn't let your imagination run wild. It doesn't help anyone. There's a good chance we'll arrive safe and sound, and we'll all laugh about it afterwards. Except we won't if we let the Skeld fall apart. Back to work," she smiled before heading towards storage.

Lime watched her leave, sighed again, and went to the engine rooms.

Brown hummed softly to keep herself company as she struggled to unlock the reactor's manifolds. Not that it was a particularly difficult task, but she'd always found it intimidating for some reason. Probably because she kept making mistakes for trying to go too fast. Or because she had to stand right next to a vent to do it. She wished she'd had to start the reactor instead, honestly, but oh well, that one had been Red's.

Brown had just finished with the manifolds when a nearby presence made her jump. "Oh, hi Purple," she greeted him, a bit too fast. Behind him in the corridor, she spotted Lime peering into the room, and she waved to her.

After a glance to Lime as well, Purple returned his attention to Brown. "Did I startle you?" he asked, a smile in his voice. "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

Brown shuffled on her feet and rubbed the back of her head. "Eeeeh, well, I might've been scaring myself on my own," she admitted. She threw an accusing glare to the vent. "I learnt Impostors can travel through the ventilation system. Someone could just pop from engine while I'm working, murder me and leave the way they came."

"Or I could've killed you, escaped through the vent and pretended I never went to reactor at all?"

"Exactly!" Brown nodded, adding in a hurry, "Not that I'm accusing you. You've been alone with plenty of people, and we're all still breathing. You could've killed Yellow in electrical while Orange was in storage. Everyone knows what a death trap electrical is, yet you've both survived. So yep, I think you're good," she concluded, straightening up.

Purple chuckled. "My, are you keeping tabs on everyone?"

"Not really," she shrugged. "Orange just happened to mention the two of you in electrical when I passed her in storage. And you said you had wires to fix, so it made sense. Speaking of which, I'm done with the manifolds, I'd better get going."

"Right, and I've got work as well," Purple answered. "See you later in caf'?"

"Sure!" she nodded with conviction before leaving.

At the doorway to admin, Blue's gaze bore into Yellow and Orange for a couple of seconds before he decided to risk approaching.

"Paranoid much?" Orange teased.

"Excuse me if I care about staying alive."

Orange raised her hands to placate him. "Alright, alright. Sorry."

"Why do you actively avoid other people's company if you think we have an Impostor on the Skeld? That's just making you an easier target," Yellow stepped in. He glanced to his friend. "Orange and I can both watch each other's backs and confirm our innocence to the others."

Blue snorted derisively. "Sure, throwing myself into a potential Impostor's arms, what a brilliant idea."

Orange shook her head. "Yellow and I have watched out for each other since we left Polus' orbit. He could've killed me ten times over if he'd meant to, and same for me killing him. But hey, you do you. We'll leave you to your lonely misery, we're done here anyway."

Blue only let out a breath of relief once the two of them had stepped out, and he was alone in the room. There was an Impostor among them. He could feel it. But who? Were Orange and Yellow sticking together for protection, or was one of them an Impostor cultivating their alibi? What about Red, with her constant insistence the Skeld was safe? She could be trying to make them lower their guard. Was Brown genuinely naive and clumsy, or was she putting on a show? Why did Lime constantly cast doubt on Purple; was she right about him, or trying to throw them off her scent?

If only Blue could find out who the Impostor was before the monster had time to strike.

Purple had taken his time. Walking through the corridors, pretending to help keep the ship in working order, chatting with the oblivious crewmates around him, he had analysed how to best fulfil his mission. He was as patient as he was deadly, and he intended to win.

He didn't mind his superiors had sent him alone to take care of the Skeld and its crew. Quite the contrary in fact; he took pride in their confidence in his skill. He was the best infiltrator in recent memory, with half a dozen victories to his name. He knew when to wait and when to strike, when to sabotage and when to manipulate. Even more than the crewmates' succulent flesh itself, he delighted in their fear and that fleeting moment when they realised they'd been played, right before they died.

By now, he knew enough to get started for good. Brown's inexperience was deceptive, as her memory and intelligence would make up for her freshness when it came to identifying culprits. She would be one of Purple's first targets.

Orange and Yellow found comfort in each other's company, and were often seen together. They would be hard to drive apart, but easier to avoid, and their illusion of security made them less likely to look too deeply into his claims. Unless he found an unexpected opportunity to kill one and frame the other, Purple would keep them as unwitting pawns in his schemes.

Almost their polar opposite, Blue distrusted everyone and kept to himself. Most of the others disliked his lack of manners. Purple knew better than to murder him directly; instead, he would use him as a scapegoat when the time came. Seeing innocent crewmates float away in the cold emptiness of space, wrongly executed by an angry mob, was almost as satisfying to the Impostor as feasting on their body.

He turned his thoughts to Red, the one who tried to fend off fear with lightheartedness. Her forced smiles often came off to the rest of the crew as a manipulative attempt to lull them into complacency, which made her almost as suspicious as Blue in their eyes. She, too, could serve to take the blame for the Impostor's crimes.

Which left Lime. Like Blue, she stayed on her guard at all times; but unlike him, she fraternised with her fellow crewmates. Like Red, she hid her fears under a varnish of confidence; but unlike her, she never forgot the dangers. Like Orange and Yellow, she promoted safety in numbers; but unlike them, she spent time crossing from one side of the ship to the other. Like Brown, she performed her duties with careful dedication; but unlike her, she paid attention to her surroundings.

And like Purple, she seemed to be conducting prying of her own. The Impostor had felt her gaze on his back more than once, when he was following someone or allowing himself to daydream of the feast to come. The way she looked at the vents and hidden corners of the rooms, the advice she gave the others, the attention she paid to everyone's whereabouts –she knew to play the score.

Purple smirked discreetly: it felt almost refreshing to have someone who would keep him on his toes. Such a small crew would've been boringly easy to take out. He promised to himself to kill Lime last –provided he found a way to eliminate Yellow and Orange before–, and to make it memorable.