Paradise Lost Part 1

Posted on 29 Oct 2023 @ 12:25pm by Marcus Mulder

1,621 words; about a 8 minute read

Cold Station 31, A few weeks after entering the Other Side

The room had, at some point, been part of the waste management system of the station. Now it was empty, dark except for the emergency lights that had stayed on and would remain as long as the environmental systems were operational. The good thing about the room was that there were only two ways in and out. One was the tunnel that led to another room, much like this. And then there was the service door.

Ignoring the pain he felt around his eye socket from the cuts, Marcus Mulder opened the ration pack and pulled out the rations. Helpfully, there was small packs of vitamin powder. General humanoid, so nothing specific for species. Would mean it would lack some things, but he wasn't sure what. Medicine had never been his strong suit. Wordlessly, he offered it to Lia, a small smile coming to him. She was coping as well as anyone could here, after weeks of scurrying around like rats in a maze, surviving and trying to avoid the darkness that tugged at the edges of their understanding of the universe. The tendrils of doom stretching out for them. When she didn't move, he let out a soft breath. "You need to eat, little bird."

It too another moment or two for Lia to recognise she was being spoken to. She finally turned her head to look at the sachet in the gloomy light, her pale features smudged with blood, dirt and grease from their never-ending drudge around the station. Or at least, the station of this other world.

At some point, Lia had tied her long blonde hair back. Her clothing had gotten torn and filthy long ago, so now she wore overalls from the Engineer's station. She finally reached for the packet, opening her flask to pour out some water into the lid, tearing the packet open with delicate fingers to mix in. "We will need more when we lose heat," she said idlily. Almost as if talking to herself.

"Each level should have stocked emergency kits," he said before he reached for a hypo, pressing it to his neck. He needed to avoid getting an infection. It hadn't been that long since he had lost the eye and he couldn't afford to slow down. "And food rations."

"The small things have not changed from our world," she said quietly, not looking at him as she sipped the water. It was what they had started to call it. Their world. The other world. Once they'd been swallowed by the void in the Cold Station, it hadn't taken long to discover that despite the horrific hell scape that somehow existed in this place, the rest of the base, even the small things, mirrored what they knew.

He nodded in agreement, taking a slow but deep breath. He reached for the notebook, a physical one, and the pencil. He had found it in his desk, showing to him that there was a mirror to their world. It had become the mantra of staying alive. He opened it and took the pencil, marking their location. He had been making maps because the station layout had changed somewhat. "We have almost mapped this level; we should try and go further down."

"There will be more of those...things down there," Lia replied matter of factly, staring at a patch of rust on the wall opposite. At some point she had drawn a knee up close, her arm wrapped around it.

He nodded at that, sipping some water before handing her a bar of ration, studying her. "But we are running out of resources. Best we get what we can. Find our way through this."

Lia was silent for a moment as she considered, taking the bar absently, but not opening it. She just stared; her head tilted as she tried to make sense of it all. "We will stick to the plan," she agreed quietly. Despite the shell shock on their arrival, they had made a plan by day 2. Map the station. Stockpile as many supplies as possible. Then use them to keep working until they found a way to recreate the experiment that brought them there.

Marcus nodded, his head resting back against the bulkhead as he looked around. His hand reached out to give her arm a gentle squeeze. He had never been a man who liked touching others. Physical contact wasn't something he sought out. But now, it was more a reminder that he was not alone. He looked at her face, a small smile coming to her. "If we get back to where it all began, we can start again. You remember everything." And he would not let her die here.

"I miss my terminal," she whispered, holding her hands out, as if her fingertips could touch it. "I will have to keep the numbers in my head for now. But all this...it is so loud..." she laid her hand on the side of her head.

He watched her before he took the notebook and put it in front of her. "We only need the first pages for the map, start in the back," he said quietly. He reached to touch her hand, watching her. "And see inside of me if you need. You know it is quiet there."

Lia turned her face toward him, letting out a soft, shaking breath. She let her mind reach to his, nodding at the quiet she found there. She had struggled with the noise of people ever since her abilities had emerged. But this place? It was like a siren wailing visceral turmoil.

"There you go, little bird," he whispered, knowing she was there. It wasn't something he had truly realised until she had first done it, but now that...echo, it felt familiar. He looked around again, out of habit. There was not much to observe here and emotions such as fear was not truly something he had. A sense of self-preservation, yes.

Lia took the pen, carefully starting to write in the back of the notebook, getting the numbers she had been keeping in her crowded mind out, a soft breath escaping with it. "You should let me check your eye."

"It's fine," he said softly, smiling gently to himself. "It won't get infected, and I don't think there's much need to worry beyond keeping pressure on it." In truth, he didn't want her to see. And as he realised it he chuckled, because she would know the moment that thought surfaced. So he nodded instead. "Very well then, Lia."

"I am a xenobiologist," she replied to the unspoken thought in his mind, turning closer to him as she reached for the bag. "It is...natural," she added, because as unnatural as this nightmare they were trapped in was, damage to tissue was real. And a part of her world.

"I know," he said and reached to undo the bandage. It pulled a little, some of the deep gashes reopening. They had yet to come across a dermal regenerator. Maybe on the next level. The bandage had been from a uniform shirt he had found, clean, and therefore good enough for this.

Lia shifted onto her knees, moving in closer as she scanned the empty eye socket, checking the results before leaning in to inspect it herself. She reached for the small medkit, pressing a painkiller to his neck before he could argue so she could start to clean the wound with delicate hands. "If we protect the socket, you can replace the eye," she said calmly.

He smiled at the words, tensing with the pain but clearly not worried about it. It was just a feeling, and it too could be ignored. He had before. "Or wear an eye patch. I think I would look rather fetching with one. Mysterious."

"You would look like you with an eyepatch," she replied with certainty, taking the strips from the medkit to use carefully across the cuts at the edge of the socket. "Or a pirate."

"I would not be a very good pirate," he said with a small smile, his one good eye focused on her. It helped, watching her face, her concentration. Lia was remarkable, the one person he had ever understood. Or wanted to understand.

"Too many variables," she agreed in a whisper. And despite everything, their situation, her struggle with talking to people, she gave a soft smile and the barest of laughs.

He smiled warmly, chuckling at the words before he swallowed. "At least this is simple. We follow the plan and stay alive," he said, because in that sense it was a very simple plan. And he liked simple.

She nodded firmly as she finished up, sitting back on her heels to check her work before her head snapped to the side. Her head tilted to the side as if listening, silent. "He's coming..."

He nodded, watching her before he gathered their things. He trusted her. He trusted she knew it, even before his ears could pick up metal scraping against the raw bulkhead. He motioned to the hatch that would lead to the next door. "This way?" he asked her. If he was correct, it would lead them through to the last bit of this level, and the access down.

Lia nodded, grabbing her things with suddenly tight breath, able to feel the scrape of rusty metal vibrating through her mind. "He thirsts for blood."

He moved to the hatch and opened it, watching her for a moment. "Get in, I'll close it," he whispered, the sound coming closer. "We stay one step ahead."

To be continued...

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