I wake up, woozy, staring at the icy ceiling several hundred feet above me.

What happened?

[Currently engaging enemy target]

Suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my chest, and have to catch my breath.

Can you please stop for a moment?

[Negative]

That was an order.

Begrudgingly I feel like the pain subsides a little, as my body starts trying to repair itself. What happened? A strange voice, a scratch? A pistol? I lean forward to see my surroundings. I am facing away from the girder, lying in the 8 inch tall purplish grass.

~Hello there~

Hearing a 3rd voice in my head is even more concerning than just having 2, and I scream loudly before clamping my mouth shut. I don't want to alert any nearby predators.

Jade, who is this new person?

[A invader]

~A citizen!~ The new voice proclaims.

[An attacker! The real citizens of the body is the mind]

~But I am a mind~

[Not THE mind]

Voices, please can we just discuss this peacefully. I would like to know how we got a second voice in the first place.

~I am a shadow, traveling from place to place in search of a mind to latch onto.~

[He is a parasite]

~An assistant~ He corrects jade. ~ I can help with more, offensive problems~

[He is dangerous]

~ I can help you~

Well

[Don't do what I think you're going to think.]

Maybe

[Stop thinking that thought right now]

Jade we could use some extra help

[Not from an enemy]

I get up and grab my bag, carefully checking the safety is on the handgun, before saying to jade

He isn't now

[Yes sir]

I turn around and start walking away from the girder tower. Eventually I should try to climb it, but today is not that day.

Hey, how many hours have passed since I woke

[5 hours 43 minutes 27 seconds 12…]

~He asked for hours~

[He asked how much time has passed since..]

No, I asked how many hours had passed.

Jade's silence was deafening, the only noises in and outside of my head was the ringing of my ears and the wind.

As I keep walking I pass by locked rusting shipping containers and collapsed concrete pylons. The whole building reeks of decay, but not death. This place is anything but dead. Small rodents scuttle through the grass, and foxes are a common sight. I could have sworn I saw a seal in the central pool, and I passed 2 more strangely placed boulders.

Some spots of grass glow purple around certain plants, and trees are fruiting. The wind blows around the room, propelling whirligig seeds around the room.

After an hour or so, I found an oddity. Next to the wall, behind a shipping container, is a singular computer. I walk over to the still lit computer and desk. I press the space button, and listen to the whining of broken drivers and ram cards as the computer fights online. Its small box of a computer body is plugged into a concrete wall, fragmented apart. Somehow one plug survived and is powering this computer.

I brush seeds off of the keyboard, and turn it on. It appears to be some sort of cargo logging computer, because it opens into a map of what this center room used to look like. There's a small spot where it says “You are here”

Apparently this room used to be a huge cargo bay, around 900 meters across on the blueprints. It had a smooth concrete floor covering the entire ground, but that apparently broke apart quickly. The only exit I can see on the map is the structure from where I just came. I scroll around the map a little more, finding only things like offices and storerooms.

Moving my attention to the toolbar, I look at what things I can do. It seems that there are a variety of commands like: System analysis, locate, repair, and a phone list. However the repair catches my attention. I right click on the icon of the truss, and ask the drones to repair it.

Error: 307

Drones currently repairing reactors.

Why are the drones repairing the reactors? They are working fine, the powers on. I request drones again.

Error: 4

Drones currently defending reactors.

Well that changes things. If the drones are held up at the reactor, I could go help repair the reactor. I am an engineer, an

[With no memories you are of no use.]

Well, um. I could find some manuals.

~or improv~

[Do not improvise on a X-Particle reactor, you do not want to melt your head off with verium gas.]

~on second thought~

The shadows voice still sounds alien, dark and dripping? Is that the right word?

Jade how did you get infected with a virus anyway?

[I am not infected]

Wait, then who is shadow

[A small slug that attached to your leg, and is communicating with you via your nervous systems]

Oh shit

I jump up and look down at my leg, trying to shake it off. After several seconds I lift my pant leg to see the slug. Its relatively small, its black color distorted by my stretched skin over it.

~hey~

Can you please leave?

~no~

Leave

~I will die, and I can help you~

No

[Look at that cargo crate, over to your left]

I turn my head to look at the cargo crate, several hundred feet to my left. There is a series of 3 scratches arranged like a claw, raking down the side of the steel crate. The crate also had a corner of it smashed inward, the crumpled metal mostly bare of paint.

How big would that… creature have to be to leave that much damage.

[Around 20 feet tall]

~For St.celeste’s sake~

Wait, shadow. Who is St.celeste? I don't know who that is.

~St.Celeste is a religious figure~

Huh.. Information about another person

[Can you not think about that… could be a cognitohazard]

What the hell is a cognitohazard

~Cognito, hazard, I don't know what that is.~

[Sure, of course the parasite doesn't know what a cognitohazard is]

Guys, guys. Stop arguing. I am going to look at the map some more, so jade can you memorize the layout of the complex

[Yes]

Keeping it short and basic, ok then

I start quickly scrolling through the current level, revealing some censored black boxes, as well as the entire level. I switched the level to the next level down, revealing that there were 7 levels. After scanning the 2nd,3rd, and 4th levels, nearly all the rooms get a censor box. After that the 5th level has a… non human containment prison.

Would you happen to know what non human things they were containing

~No clue~

[...]

Anyways…

I continue scanning through the following floors, with Floor 6 being completely locked, and floor 7 being taken up entirely by the x-particle generator.

Do you have all the maps we can see saved, jade?

[Yes]

Well, I guess we're going to be on a journey. Any clue where I can get warmer clothes?

[There should be a 4 story barracks segment several hundred meters away. Unclear of its current status. Also you missed the “Check status of all equipment” button]

I quickly push the check status button, and see that parts of the map turn red, orange, green, and deep blue, before the computer crashes.

Helpful

~So, I think the answer to what is broken, is yes~

I throw my bag over my shoulders, and start heading towards where the door should be. Jade guides me to an icy wall, where when I press my face against its cold smooth surface, I see another room behind it.

[Try to break through with a rock or piece of debris]

~Shoot it~

I like this new guy

I draw the handgun from my pocket, and take aim at the ice. My hands automatically go to the correct position, thumb webbing to the butt, and thumbs piled up on the left side of the gun. I squeeze the trigger, and nothing happens.

[Safety]

“Ah”

I click the small button next to the trigger, and take aim. I squeeze the trigger, and spiderweb cracks form on the glass. The slide slides back, releasing a tiny amount of purple gas. I step forward, and kick the ice where it cracked. It shatters backward into the room, and I step over the glass to enter.

It's a complete mess in here. The bunks are old and rotting, small plants growing out of the floor. The room is about 70 foot by 70 foot, and has a staircase in the center. I walk to the center and look down, and see nothing.

[That's not nothing. That's water]

~Yikes~

Damn, we have to go down the hard way.

I quickly start checking the bunk drawers for clothes, and find it in complete disarray. Drawers left open, clothes hanging out. Most of the clothes have ice crystals on them. I grab boots, socks, and pull on a pair of work pants. I didn't find any shirts for some reason however. As I prowl around I find scenes of a battle in the barracks. Blood stains on the ground, scorch marks on the walls, and knives on the ground. I grab 2, and attach them to the belt included in my work pants.

This place is oddly lived in. I step on a small yellow paper card, stained brown by someone's blood. It reads “Clean your shit up Kyle :(“. I laugh at Kyle's apparent misfortune to be bunked with someone so clean, but I stop when I hear scuttling. I grab my handgun, and hold it ready, looking around in the dark room. I didn't realize how dark it was here, only a couple of lights were flickering.

~To your left~

I spin to my left, aiming it at chest level, only to see a monster. 4 feet away from me sits a huge millipede, speckled blue with brown. It has no face, and each wide segment is armored in such a way where it is difficult to get through the armor with any weapons. Each segment has a pair of legs, and it sits at no higher than 10 centimeters tall. It has a pair of large, dripping pincers coming from the front most segment.

I aim down at the creature, and squeeze the trigger. Then another time. I fire a total of 4 shots, before the slide of the pistol splits open, revealing a glowing red core, along with a cloud of purple gas and steam. The first 2 shots hit the armor, and don't cause any pain to the creature, the 3rd shot misses, and the 4th one manages to hit underneath the plating. The creature screeches in pain, and then rears up on its hind legs, and lunges at me.

The pincers snap shut around the air as I dodge, but they still hit me dead in the side of the chest, knocking me to the floor. The pistol skitters out of my hand, and slides several feet away. I grab a knife out of my belt, and as the monster towers over me, I stab upwards, lunging upwards to drive the knife as deep into its flesh as I can push it. The creature staggers backwards, knocking over several bunks, which collapse into their flimsy connectors and rods making the structure stay together.

I scramble upwards and away from the creature, looking desperately for a longer range weapon. One of the rods from the bunk rolls towards me, but its still on the other side of the monster. I try to go around the huge millipede, but it keeps trying to make me walk into its jaws.

~Kick it, and then jump over it~

I blindly follow the shadows tip, and kick the creature in the mouth, and then try to jump over it while it is still discombobulated. My jump comes up short, and I land on the back of one of the segments. I slide off its back, and grab the rod. The creature slowly turns around, and I try to stab it with the pole. My first lunge misses, and I retreat several steps as it turns around to attack me again. In an unprecedented burst of speed, it lunges forward, clamping down on my ankle.

Fireworks of pain obscure all thought, and I stab the creature violently with the pole. And again. And again. The 3rd stab I hear a sickening crunch, and the clamp on my ankle loosens. The sparks across my vision are starting to clear, and I look down at my bloody ankle. The boot saved me from the sharpest points of the jaws, but there is a lot of blood coming from my ankle. I already feel a little light headed.

[I will repair damage]

Over the course of the next several hours, I sit on a frozen bunk, watching my wound slowly being sewed back together, skin closing, blood veins unclotting. The pain slowly dulls throughout the wait, but even after being healed it still aches. I lay down on the icy mattress, and fall asleep.