Catharsis of Cthulhu
"Doctor Hall, the mold has already proven to be extremely infectious. The fact that it was able to infect the other doctors through the safety of their sealed suits is just another reason why it shouldn't be permitted to leave this planet," you calmly reason with the doctor.
"And your inability to understand the risks and sacrifices that science must make understand the grandeur and sublimity of the unknown is just another reason why you're just a hunk of junk, as much as you may try to imitate humanity," Hall hisses, his proximity becoming more and more threatening.
You pause as if to consider his scathing comments, but really they just slide right off of you. You've heard worse from drunken crew hands on more than one occasion.
"Doctor Hall," you begin quietly. "Now that I think of it, isn't it strange that all of the other doctors seemed to submit to the symptoms of the infection, though not all at the same time, with the exception of yourself. Don't you think it's strange that you are the only one human who seems to be unaffected?" you ask pointedly, as you stare up into his snarling face.
Doctor Hall seems to freeze for a moment, his mouth (once a placid easy thing) slowly begins to twist itself into a sneer.
You return his sneer with a firm glare. Then, holding eye contact with him, you tip your wrist upside down and drop the mold sample onto the floor. You're rewarded by how quickly Hall's face drops. Then, before Hall can so much as twitch towards you, you bring your foot down on the mold, which explodes with a small pathetic, 'Squelch!' under the ball of your foot.
Hall stares at you in frozen rage for a moment, before his mouth finally opens. Then, it begins to open into a large gaping 'o', farther and farther, until the skin in the corners of his mouth begins to crack.
No blood runs from the wounds. Hall has most likely been dead for hours, his blood long ago congealed in his veins. You thought that Catharsis might be imitating a heart beat. Now you know that she was. As was Doctor Hall.
Hall pulls in a deep breath, obviously filling his lungs for one last great scream to call forth his comrades. He releases a heart-rending screech and it visibly rocks the ship on its barrings.
As the scream peals off down the halls, you notice a number of inhuman creatures stumbling up from the wreckage strewn about the landing bay. They are so inhuman in shape and texture that you are only just barely able to recognize them as the mechanic crew that were responsible for the maintenance of the exploration equipment once docked safely there. Rags that were once their gray jumpsuits hang lamely over their pointed cruel forms.
At first they move slow. But, in a sudden, they seem to flash and come to stand in front of you, behind you, to either side. Even with your inhuman speed, you can barely cross your arms in front of your face plate before their horrendous limbs come crashing down on your carriage, each strike a spear that cracks your fiberglass and steel frame.
As you are being pummeled into so much garbage to lay among the other broken tools in the Launch Bay, Hall steps into the escape pod he had indicated to you just moments before. He leisurely stretches before settling into the pod and closing the door.
The creatures all around you continue to beat at your immobile body for many hours after the pod blasts off.
"And your inability to understand the risks and sacrifices that science must make understand the grandeur and sublimity of the unknown is just another reason why you're just a hunk of junk, as much as you may try to imitate humanity," Hall hisses, his proximity becoming more and more threatening.
You pause as if to consider his scathing comments, but really they just slide right off of you. You've heard worse from drunken crew hands on more than one occasion.
"Doctor Hall," you begin quietly. "Now that I think of it, isn't it strange that all of the other doctors seemed to submit to the symptoms of the infection, though not all at the same time, with the exception of yourself. Don't you think it's strange that you are the only one human who seems to be unaffected?" you ask pointedly, as you stare up into his snarling face.
Doctor Hall seems to freeze for a moment, his mouth (once a placid easy thing) slowly begins to twist itself into a sneer.
You return his sneer with a firm glare. Then, holding eye contact with him, you tip your wrist upside down and drop the mold sample onto the floor. You're rewarded by how quickly Hall's face drops. Then, before Hall can so much as twitch towards you, you bring your foot down on the mold, which explodes with a small pathetic, 'Squelch!' under the ball of your foot.
Hall stares at you in frozen rage for a moment, before his mouth finally opens. Then, it begins to open into a large gaping 'o', farther and farther, until the skin in the corners of his mouth begins to crack.
No blood runs from the wounds. Hall has most likely been dead for hours, his blood long ago congealed in his veins. You thought that Catharsis might be imitating a heart beat. Now you know that she was. As was Doctor Hall.
Hall pulls in a deep breath, obviously filling his lungs for one last great scream to call forth his comrades. He releases a heart-rending screech and it visibly rocks the ship on its barrings.
As the scream peals off down the halls, you notice a number of inhuman creatures stumbling up from the wreckage strewn about the landing bay. They are so inhuman in shape and texture that you are only just barely able to recognize them as the mechanic crew that were responsible for the maintenance of the exploration equipment once docked safely there. Rags that were once their gray jumpsuits hang lamely over their pointed cruel forms.
At first they move slow. But, in a sudden, they seem to flash and come to stand in front of you, behind you, to either side. Even with your inhuman speed, you can barely cross your arms in front of your face plate before their horrendous limbs come crashing down on your carriage, each strike a spear that cracks your fiberglass and steel frame.
As you are being pummeled into so much garbage to lay among the other broken tools in the Launch Bay, Hall steps into the escape pod he had indicated to you just moments before. He leisurely stretches before settling into the pod and closing the door.
The creatures all around you continue to beat at your immobile body for many hours after the pod blasts off.
