Fandom Waves of Dementia, A Marker's Calling... (Dead Space)

[Style Kella]

Liz looked at Peters with an odd look, she couldn't even begin to think how the morgue mattered right now. "Well, considering the location, the morgue generally waits till it's near full before a burial ship comes to take the bodies every 3 months or upon request."
Major Smith nodded. "Shit. If that's the case then that may be where it all started."
"Which would explain why residental was hit first and then here. God, during a mass, too! So those things hit the Unitologists and probably doubled!" Liz added, that would make the most sense. Damn, if only they buried their dead in a nearby reef or just dumped the bodies. That could have saved so many people... "We need to go." She made her way to the door, checking her weapon. She wondered if she would have to shoot, she had little experience with firearms, technicians and bridge staff had minor defense training but she never carried.

 

[Icarus-Ulrich]

For once, Nick was actually not happy being right about something and felt awful rather than vindication. But at least part of the question was now answered. They had the "who" answered. Now they just needed the "what" and "why".

Nick had still been fiddling with morgue files as he noticed his trio of partners had filed near the door again. He cleared his holo-screen and kept his weapon on standby again as the doors opened and the soldiers led the way once more with Reynolds and Nick trailing behind.

"So, are we trying our hand at comms again for that signal or are we prioritizing the fuel issue," Nick asked softly, getting a bit more paranoid as time went on. It's not that he didn't trust Reynolds' abilities, he just didn't know her very well and the fact that he was very on edge didn't help him at all.

 

[Style Kella]

Liz debated Peters' question, both needed to get done but the order should matte. There was no point going to comms if they fixed the fuel, and going to comms meant someone may come to save them and potentially lead to more problems. She had an idea but she hated it... "Let's split up, we can tackle both problems a the same time. Peters and I can handle the fuel issue while you two make your way back up to comms and get someone here."

"I hate to think of dividing up, but it may be better. We can cover more ground and we may be less targeted." That last part was more wishful thinking than anything but even a soldier had hopes.

 

[Icarus-Ulrich]

Nick hated the thought. It reminded him of an old cartoon from the twentieth century he saw as a kid about some teenagers and a dog solving mysteries. They always split up and things always went wrong when they did, though it usually worked itself out. But this was real. Reynolds, Smith, Buck and himself weren't a gang of meddling kids, they were normal everyday people thrust into a life or death situation and, though he hated it and had a terrible feeling in his gut, he knew this was the best course of action.

Nick highlighted the map to comms on his map and Smith did the same for the fuel task. "If you run into an egghead issue, give me a call. Just don't die out there," he said to Smith, the two of them sharing a head nod before the group split up.
"I hope you're right about this," he said to Eliza as they walked, following the route given and making sure to keep her close.

 

[Style Kella]

"Shut up, Nick..." Liz said in a soft, distant tone. What was she thinking having them split up, this was no time for cold calculations. Did she just address him by Nick? She can't recall any other time she did so, somehow that thought was comforting. "If it goes wrong, then I'll ben the first to run all the way there to fix the issue while you run for a safe place." Regardless of the situation, she was willing to bite the bullet.

Making their way back to the elevator was quiet, nothing more popped out at the them. The start of the elevator was, too. But half way up the elevator shook and stopped, a dim red light filling the small box as the emergency protocol went into affect. They both got a notification on their RIGs as they were both support staff. "Well, good to know there would have been normal work to do today."

 

[Icarus-Ulrich]

He rolled his eyes at her statement. She didn't know the first thing about him yet she was confident that he would be the first to run scared and leave her behind at the first sign of a FUBAR situation. He scoffed in frustration but was otherwise silent. So much for the team dynamic.

As the elevator came to its rocky halt, he actually laughed a bit at her comment, the frustration from earlier in the back of his mind as he holstered his weapon and replied to the RIG entry for maintenance. He punched in an access code and the hatch up top opened for him. "Back in a tick," he said with nonchalance, as if they weren't in a crisis at all and this was a totally sane idea.

 

[Style Kella]

Liz watched him climb up into the open shaft before turning her attention to the notice. "Ya know, if we do get out of this, I think the first thing I'm gonna do is get fucked up." She laughed, a small attempt to lighten the mood. But how can you lighten an absurd nightmare?

The inside of the shaft was fairly plain, your typical cable and a frame for the elevator. The sides of the shaft were periodically illuminated by a set of green lights that went up and then back down. That horrid scratching could be heard coming closer to the shaft before several vents bursted, 2 slashers dropping down on either side of Nick.

"Peters! Are you alright! What's going on?!" All she could hear from inside the elevator was the vents bursting and two loud thuds.

 

[Icarus-Ulrich]

He was only partially paying attention to her comment as he tried to diagnose the issue, but he understood what she was trying to do and was about to chime in when the scratching returned. He stopped what he was doing and drew his cutter looking up and aiming around at the vents when four bursts at once, at least four that he could see. A split second later he was caught in the middle of a necrotic sandwich, an ugly, bone sword, murderous necrotic sandwich.
"You've gotta be shitting me," he cursed as he took evasive measures. He ducked down as the one in front slashed, combat rolling to his left and slamming against the wall of the shaft. The slash intended for him met the one behind him, whacking it's head clean off and falling into the open hatch of the elevator.
"Reynolds, close the hatch," he shouted as he fired on the bigger threat, focusing on its legs first as he remembered the conversation earlier. He couldn't believe it actually worked as the creature dropped to a prone position and began clawing towards him. He systematically dismembered the creature before turning his attention to the other one... The other one that just fell into the elevator!
"Eliza," he exclaimed as he scrambled for the hatch.

 

[Style Kella]

Various bumps and noises echoed inside the elevator as whatever was happening above was going on. Liz tried to peer up through the hatch, the flashing lights and a few shadows were all she could see, until a ball shaped object fell close to her face. She stepped back in shock, staring at the object in the red light of the elevator. Dim shadows barely let any detail show but she felt like something was staring at her.
Her attention broke once a body dropped in, flailing its arms. At first she thought it was Peters until a bone sword slashed a wall and tossed spsarks up. She screamed as the body turned towards her. She ducked a swing and crawled to the other side, sitting against the wall as she aimed the rivet gun. The first two shots landed in the chest. "Shit!" SHe refocused and blasted an arm off, then the other. The last shot she blew off a leg, that seemed to have finished the thing off as he fell to the ground, twitched, and went limp. "Mother fucker! I swear, the next fucking thing that comes swinging at me..." She said with a few gasps, her cool melting slowly.

 

[Icarus-Ulrich]

The light from his visor illuminated the elevator just enough to see the outcome. He sighed with relief as he heard Reynolds curse like a sailor at the dead slasher, getting back to his feet to fix the issue.
It wasn't anything difficult at all, just some gunk caught in the gears.
"Looks like one of these damn thinks got tangled up in the mechanism," he said over his RIG to Eliza. "I've just about got it."
He cleared the blockage and was about to hop back down when he heard a new sound. It sounded almost like a dog whimpering mixed with an infant's screaming. He whipped around just as the lurker fell from above and landed right on his chest, three tentacles bursting from its back and slashing at him. He screamed in agony as the razor sharp tips connected with his upper back, only saved by the copper plate of his suit protecting his neck.

 

[Style Kella]

The light from Peters visor was an odd sight, the lines not fully even but enough to show a pattern. It snapped her out of the daze, as well as his input on the condition of the elevator. These things were dangerous but it seems they were also stupid. Brushing herself off as she stood, standing just under the open hatch. She wondered if she had been quick enough to close it like Peters wanted, if either of them would still be alive. She hopped up to poke her head out as a weird fetus shaped or dog thing landed on Peters.
"Not again!" She pulled herself up, struggling a bit, wishing she had put more effort into working out. But once she was up she took a hold of the lurker and yanked it off Peters, holding it as it flailed about, the tentacles trying to jab something. "Stupid thing!" She grumbled as she tossed it down the shaft. "Ah! One stupid elevator ride, is that too much to ask?"

 

[Icarus-Ulrich]

"No kidding," Nick reciprocated. His RIG had dropped a bit, now a light green over the cyan color indicating full. He rubbed a bit at his shoulders and neck but shrugged off the pain as it was a minor nuisance.

"C'mon, let's get going," he said, helping Eliza back down before following suit and closing the hatch behind them. As he manually restarted the elevator, the lights returned and it began to move again. He wondered if Smith and Buck were fairing any better and had encountered any new creatures like the one they just had.

"Thanks for the save back there," he said, groaning slightly as he looked over at her. "I owe you one."

 

[Style Kella]

Liz leaned against the back wall as the elevator kicked back into gear. Her foot nudged something, it must have been the first thing that fell. She glanced down and to her horro it was the head, the body of the slasher she killed was headless. The head was on it side, eyeing where she had been. The thought made her skin crawl. "Not a problem, it's the least I can do, I can't offer much." She sad softly, she doubted her own importance at this point. She couldn't fix things and she had little combat experience.
The elevator door slid open to the floor she had been on when this all started. She walked as beside Peters as she could as they made their way to comms. This time around the halls were dark, small candled on either side lit the path. "What the hell is all this? This was not how they were a few hours ago." Who could have put all these candles up and why were the lights out?
As they neared comms Liz's RIG lit up with a call, Major Smith was on the other end and he seemed to be in a panicked and hurt. "Reynolds, Peters, Buck and I are at the fuel silos and are working on the batteries, a lot of them are fried... But, keep an eye out on the walls, some of these things can run along them. We just ran into a pair without legs who used their///" A loud electrical shock was heard, drawing Smith's attention to Buck. "Dammit, Buck! Hold on!" The call ended abruptly. So much for the heads up.

 

[Icarus-Ulrich]

Nick was going to comment on the candles which had a menacing feeling to them when the call came in. He listened as a panicked Smith updated them on the status of the batteries as well as another wall running variant they encountered that lacked legs. Unfortunately that's all they had to go on as the transmission was cut short due to a problem on their end. He just hoped they didn't run into whatever the hell he started to describe.

"Shit. If the batteries are fried, we're not left with many options for evacuation," he muttered dejectedly. "Let's get the distress beacon activated." He walked with Eliza, every wary from the ominous candles and how strangely calm things were now. He had a bad feeling before and and this definitely wasn't helping.

 

[Style Kella]

Liz nodded and proceeded forward, her rifle trained forward as they rounded each corner until they hit some of the larger openings. Candles and nptes written in blood were the new horrific decor. Messages about being whole or convergence, some weird shit. "This al seems oddly familiar... I swear these are things I've heard or read somewhere." She tried to remember where and when she could have but nothing came close. All of this seemed too unreal, maybe she was overthinking.

Nonetheless they were just outside of comms, the door ripped off this time. Inside wasn't too different than its usual, and it had normal lighting. "I was attacked over there." She pointed to the door that had several large gashes taken out of it. From the splits the room looked empty. "On three we'll both jump in, I'll clear ;eft and you go right." She positioned herself on her side of the door before she started the count. On cue she opened the door fully, as she did 3 slashers stood up. She aimed and shot the arms off two before aiming at the chest.

 

[Icarus-Ulrich]

Nick was freaked out more and more as he read the messages and he, too, had a sense of familiarity with this but couldn't quite place it. As they neared the room he had another split second flash of symbols cloud his vision before fading quickly. Surely there was a link to all of this, but what? He could only wonder until he had a moment to look into it.

The engineer listened to what Eliza said as she recounted her attack earlier before they both took point. On the count of three he cleared right as instructed, firing on the limbs of two slashers and another variant. This one appeared to have a melted face that was dripping ooze from what used to be a mouth and it's hands had long, dangly fingers. He didn't care what they looked like anymore and just wanted them all dead.

 

[Style Kella]

Liz took several more shots at her attackers, sighing in relief as the trio laid double dead on the floor. She ran around the main desk to get a better sho on the oozing monsters, blasting its head off. The weird gunk flung in several directions, a slight hissing sound coming as the areas melted. "Don't let that thing get close, that stuff will chew through your suit." She stated the obvious, but a warning was a warning as she went to fire again but her gun clicked empty.

She checked her pockets and inventory, only finding half a clips worth of ammo left. She reloaded quick as she could to help take down the larger foe, but she stumbled through the process.

 

[Icarus-Ulrich]

He heeded her warning, firing away at the acid drooling monster as she ran around the desk. He managed to slay the beast as she seemed to have a weapon malfunction.

"Get back," he shouted as he opened fire on the second one which quickly turned it's attention away from her and onto him. It squelched and wheezed as it took a deep breath before spitting acid his way. He sidestepped the blob and fired again, taking its head off before making quick work of the rest of the limbs.

He stood, breathing heavy and assessing the room. "Clear," he proclaimed before walking over to Reynolds. "You good?"

 

[Style Kella]

Liz moved from the enemies, allowing Peters to do his work. He disposed of the foes and was quick on his feet, impressive for an Engineer. She nodded as Peters gave the all clear, tossing her gun on the desk out of frustration. "I would have helped, sorry."

Moving to the main set of controls near the far end of the room she pulled up the recording prompt. She also spliced images and clips from the cameras of the creatures moving around Sanctum, killing its residents. Once she had enough footage she began the video, looking up into the camera.

"This is assistant technician Eliza Reynolds at Sanctum on the planet Salacia demanding assistance! We have encountered some form of attack--mutation--something! It has killed a large population of the people here." She spoke quickly and with vigor, her face a pleading expression. "These monsters aim to kill and they don't go down easily... Dismemberment, take off the arms and legs, that kinda work. It slows them. Send help, quickly.

 

[Icarus-Ulrich]

While she was recording the message he fixed the rivet gun, a single rivet jammed from recoil and over compensation. He reloaded it once it was cleared and moved into the frame of the video.

"One more thing," he says as the video records. His mask retracted to reveal his face. "Don't underestimate this things. We've seen four variants of these things personally and know of at least one more type. They are ambush predators, stalking from the vents and can navigate between the walls of the facility. They /will/ annihilate you given the chance. Don't go easy just because they look dead or almost human. They are monsters, through and through."

His mask formed back again, his cyan visor illuminating the fees before he cut the video, sending it out along with their gps position.

 

[Style Kella]

Liz sighed as she slumped forward on the desk, she felt tired. They had ran and fought so much, the shift in emotions didn't help. "I'm tired, Nick and scared... I don't want to go back out there but Smith and Buck and anyone else alive needs us..." She stood slowly, rubbed her eyes, the faces of the dead transforming behind her eyelids. "And these stupid faces. I'm losing it." She grumbled as she wobbled a bit, leaning on the desk to steady herself. Something more was going on, this wasn't just some weird infection, something was toying with her head.

 

[Icarus-Ulrich]

He sighed a bit, leaning against the wall behind them.

"So, you're seeing it too, then," he asked, his slightly distorted voice emanating from behind his mask. He thought long and hard about all that was happening from the monsters killing them and the weird writing on the walls.

"This is all so... familiar. I swear I've read about something like this before, but it was covered up and tossed under the rug..."

 

[Style Kella]

"What isn't these days?" Liz huffed as she thought it all over, where she had seen this. "A mining ship, out in Aeigis 7, I think that was where. That was the most recent conspiracy Earth Gov tried to cover. That ship came back battered and beaten, like it was in a war. It was doing something out there." She only knew because she frequently was passed offical documents and she glanced at most of them. It was ilegal, but information is information

 

[Icarus-Ulrich]

"Yeah..." Nick said faintly, the gears turning as more details slowly came back to him.
"Naka... mura?" he stamped his foot, snapping his fingers as he finally got It. "Ishimura," he exclaimed in a hushed voice, pulling up his RIG and doing some digging.
"They were illegally planet cracking on Aegis 7," he remembered as he pulled up several docs and read them aloud, most of them blacked out but he managed to get most of the text back through a back wall hack into Earth Gov.

"No survivors were found on the ship, just a lone engineer drifting through space. Isaac Clarke. Reports of creatures like these were documented and so much more... oh, shit," he hushed.

He paused for a second, wrapping his head around things before continuing.
"The ship, and Clarke, are on Titan Station right now. But that's not the crazy bit. They found a Marker on Aegis 7. Apparently Clarke destroyed it, but still, another Marker discovery followed by chaos?"

This was a lot of info to take in and he spoke again after a moment. "Should we try and contact Titan? Maybe they're fine and it's just coincidence, but what if they are about to be like this? What if they already are?"

 

[Style Kella]

Liz listened careful as Peters read aloud, the information flooding in and her glances connecting. There were files regarding dementia after Clarke's ordeal and its currently being studied. After the incident a spike in Unitology occured, people followed the faith with a new goal.

The Marker. "We can try, they deserve a chance. But I'm more worried about us. Nick, there's a Marker here on Sanctum, it was what this station was built for." She pulled up several files off her RIG and sent them his way. "When this planet was first found a large crater and something pointy were key factors. Excavation revealed a Marker, similar to the one on the Ishimura. Then plans to build a station around it were enacted. The fucked thing?"

She pulled up the map and marked the location of the Marker, deep below the station floors. "It's right next to the morgue. Two times a Marker has been an occurrence in these...nightmares."