Chapter Text
With the threat of Impostor attacks lurking in the back of her mind, Brown was glad she could at least trust some of her crewmates. Seated at a table in the cafeteria with a drink in hand, she waited for Purple eagerly. Perhaps they could pair up like Orange and Yellow? She would feel better knowing someone had her back. On the other hand, sympathising between coworkers was frowned upon for a reason: it was already hard enough when it was strangers brutally murdered around you –not to mention when you had to eject them into space at the first sign of suspicious behaviour, often with only incidental evidence. She idly turned the bottle in her hands; part of her wished she had resisted her parents' pressure and never joined Mira.
She perked up as she saw the purple-suited figure come join her.
"Oh, these tasks are so mind-numbing. I wish Mira would fix the ships once and for all before departure already," he complained theatrically, making her laugh.
"I know, right! They seem to think it's a way to assess people's loyalty and spot Impostors more easily but it's really just making our lives harder." As Blue scuttled through the cafeteria and threw them a hostile look along the way –at least, she supposed it was a hostile look; with the helmets you couldn't tell–, she raised her drink for him to see. "Yes, I'm taking a break," she proclaimed defiantly. "I'll return to work once I've finished my drink."
Blue huffed before leaving for the front of the ship, and Purple shook his head with amusement while Brown took an angry gulp. Maybe Blue's silent reproach had affected her more than she wanted to admit.
"So, what's your next assignment?" Purple asked.
"I've got to swipe my card, then a download in comms. You?"
"Ah, I'm going the other way, to medbay."
Brown straightened up. "Oh, you're doing a scan? I can come with you before I go to my tasks, this way I can clear you to the others if something happens."
He shook his head without missing a beat. "Samples to test, actually. Sorry."
"Oh. Okay."
Seeing her deflate and finish her beverage without a word, lost in her thoughts, he wondered whether a part of her still refused to trust him no matter how much his soft-spoken voice and mild manners soothed her. Young, but wise. Not that it would save her.
Purple was a natural. Unlike too many of his kind, he had never needed the threat of execution to himself and his family to fulfil his missions with flying colours. He took pride in serving the greater good of his kind, and enjoyed manipulating and killing the naive crews he infiltrated. Eating their warm corpses was his reward for a job well done. The prospect made his mouth water. Soon, now. Very soon.
As Brown stood and took her leave, he waved her goodbye and went to medbay just when Yellow was about to walk out. The Impostor briefly contemplated going for an early extra murder, before rejecting the idea. Yellow would be of more use to confirm his alibi.
Purple walked to the back of the medbay, checked he was alone, and hopped into the vent.
Lime followed Purple as often as performing her own tasks allowed, all the while also trying to make sure nobody remained isolated in an area easily reached via a vent. Unfortunately, with the crew's tendency to scatter throughout the Skeld, she had to rely on the others' sense of observation more than she wished. That Purple hadn't yet made his move frustrated her even more: the Impostors had very obviously sent one of their most cunning agents. Of course. They hadn't wanted to leave anything to chance. Even if it made the situation even more terrifying, Lime knew she needed to keep a cool head to prevail.
From the other side of the cafeteria, she eyed with suspicion Purple enter the medbay. However, she relaxed as Yellow walked out and was soon joined by Orange to talk in the hallway. Enough people had seen Purple's whereabouts to discourage any immediate murder attempt. With a sigh, Lime went to the front of the ship to correct the steering in navigation.
She found Blue apparently shooting asteroids in weapons. Instead of replying to her greeting, he jumped out of his seat and watched her pass from the opposite side the room. Way to make himself appear suspicious; it was a good thing she already trusted his innocence. Further down the corridor, Red proved, as usual, more talkative.
"Hey Lime. See, nothing bad has happened, and I'm more than half-way through my tasks already! If we keep up the good work, we should arrive in no time."
Lime shook her head. "I wish you were right, but…" The blinking of the camera caught her eye, and she tensed. Who was watching? Neither Blue, Red nor Lime herself, obviously. Orange and Yellow wouldn't bother. That only left Brown… or Purple.
Oblivious to Lime's train of thought, Red followed her gaze and chuckled. "See? Someone's even keeping a watchful eye on us. Nothing to fear."
Lime didn't bother to sound convinced as she answered, "Right. Well I'll still feel safer once we reach HQ. In the meantime, I've got to go make sure the ship flies straight. See you around."
She hurried to perform her task in navigation, and with a bye and a shrug, Red walked into oxygen.
It didn't take long for Lime's fears to be confirmed by the lights abruptly switching off. She rushed out, glanced into oxygen to check on Red, made sure to announce herself to Blue –who, again, stopped shooting asteroids to stay away from her– and ran to admin, where she found Yellow struggling to swipe his card into the reader.
"I'm checking the table!" she explained. She just knew they'd all need an alibi very soon. The only question was where the first murder would happen.
Brown's download in communications had just started when the room around her turned so dark she could barely see her own feet. "Come on come on come on," she whispered urgently to the tablet. Was it her or was the download even slower than usual? She tried reassuring herself that while she was all alone, the Impostor, whoever it was, might not come her way. The sabotage was obviously meant to attract people to electrical and kill them there. It made the most sense.
The moment her download finished, she ran out, only to hesitate in the corridor. She really, really didn't want to go to electrical. But she really, really didn't want to stay in the dark either, and what if nobody fixed the lights?
She was never given the chance to make up her mind. She barely had time to register a presence go past her as Purple grabbed the sides of her head and twisted hard. Before her lifeless body even had time to fall, his chest split open into a huge, grotesque maw, and he bit off the top half of his prey.
Delicious little Brown. Such a shame her death had to be so quick.
Savouring the lingering taste on his tongue, but mindful to appear as frightened as suited an innocent crewmate, Purple trotted towards electrical.
It was Red who found the body when proper lighting was restored throughout the ship. As the survivors sat around the meeting table in the cafeteria and peered at one another with suspicion, she broke the heavy silence in a wavering voice: "I–I found Brown just outside of comms…" She swallowed. "What was left of her. I was on my way to storage but still in shields, I saw it when the lights came back. I didn't see anyone, and I know I don't have an alibi, but I'm innocent, I swear! I was alone in O2 but I was working!"
Yellow raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Let's go about this rationally. It's safe to assume it happened during the blackout, so, where was everyone? I was in admin almost the entire time, Lime can confirm I was there when she arrived." Lime nodded, and he went on, "Then when I left, I met Purple in storage and we joined Orange in electrical, but she was already done when we arrived. Speaking of her, I saw her get a medscan earlier. She's 100% clear. Lime, did you get anything on the admin table?"
Lime sighed in frustration and she answered with a cautious tone, her eyes boring into Purple, "I wish. When I arrived, I saw Blue leave weapons and go to caf'. Red had already left O2, I just saw her arrive to shields right before the report. Purple only showed up in storage, where you joined him, and obviously Brown didn't appear on the table since her body was in a hallway."
Purple spread out his hands, the perfect image of a frightened, wrongly suspected crewmate. "I just came from the cafeteria; with the lights off Yellow must've been right behind me without us seeing each other! I was mostly in the back of the ship: Yellow, you saw me go into medbay to scan samples. I went to fix wires in caf' while the analysis ran, then I returned to medbay, then to electrical through caf' and storage, which is where I met Yellow while I was bumping into crates in the dark."
"I think it's a self-report," Blue hissed, glaring at Red. "She realised she might get caught when you lot fixed the lights."
Red pointed a trembling finger at him. "Or maybe you did it! You could've used the vent to nav', then to shields, murdered poor Brown and come back to weapons before Lime even had time to reach the admin table!"
"I was blasting asteroids! You know, so they don't crash into the shields you may or may not have primed!"
"I didn't, I saw what you left of Brown before I could!"
"Please, everyone, calm down!" Lime interrupted, forcing her voice louder to make herself heard over the back-and-forth accusations. "I'm fairly sure you're both telling the truth. It's Purple who's been suspicious from the start."
"Do you have any proof?" Orange asked, unconvinced. "Anything more solid than a hunch?"
Lime lowered her gaze. "No. But I can confirm Red was still in oxygen when I left nav', and I think I saw Blue really shoot an asteroid before he ran from me."
Orange shook her head reprovingly. "You think?"
"It was dark, I couldn't really see, and I didn't stay."
"Well, I'm voting Blue," Red proclaimed through clenched teeth.
"And I'm voting you," he retorted.
Purple let his gaze run between the two of them before finally settling on Red. "I have to agree with him. He might not have had the time to reach Brown from weapons, but you did."
Yellow cast his own vote as well. "I'm sorry Red, but you're the most likely suspect."
Orange hesitated. "Actually, I don't think it's her. The lights were off too long for a self-report. It had to be Blue." She selected Blue with an apologetic look to Red: "Not that it'll change much, but I do believe you."
Yellow crossed his arms. "Well, that's three for Red versus two for Blue, plus Lime for Purple. Let's get this over with–" He interrupted himself: why wasn't the result revealed yet? He realised Lime's vote was actually still missing.
Red spoke first, with stifled sobs in her voice: "Lime, honey, you need to vote. Thank you for defending me, but withholding your choice won't save me."
Without a word, Lime nodded, and pressed her finger on Blue's icon.