The World He Once Knew by Micah Castle

Author:Micah Castle [Castle, Micah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-26T00:00:00+00:00

Jay closes the APC. His arms feel heavy. Palpable silence weighs over him.

That’s what happened, what kicked this off. Cap shoved his hand in some shit and got sick…

Info doesn’t help me now, since I still don’t know how to deal with the creature.

I’m the one who needs help.

Jay turns on the intercom.

“Any closer?” he whispers.

“Nada,” Crews says.

“Great.”

Before Jay can turn off the mic, Crews asks, “Any updates?”

“Just one: hurry the hell up.”

He turns the comm off.

Although he has no evidence, Jay has a gut feeling Crews isn’t telling him the whole story, only giving him slivers of the entire picture. It’s impossible what Jay has been told is all there is to the future, to the ship, to this creature and the crew. He imagines there's a huge amount of shit he can’t possibly know or that could potentially help him, but Crews is leaving all those pieces blank… And Jay’s unsure if he’s more annoyed that Crews is lying to him or that there’s information he doesn’t know, information he might’ve needed for this bullshit beforehand. Going in half-cocked led to many deaths on the force back when. It’s irresponsible, stupid…

A teal light appears in the room. Faint, dusty shadows bleed between containers, a dull shine over the metal surfaces.

What’s that?

Jay cautiously maneuvers around the shipments until he comes to a place he didn't think he’d return to. Kat’s corpse—or what it has become. A flower or something like has grown from the open cavity of her stomach. A stem rises from the flayed belly, bending under the weight of the crimson head at the top. Along each petal are tiny, glistening rows of glowing, teal beads. Fine mist gently sprays from its pale-red center, as though emitting pollen, stopping where its light ends.

Standing before it, Jay realizes he hears faint chiming, a distant bell tower, like before but clearer, nearer… He glances over his shoulder, finding the same sprouting from the bodies plastered to the ceiling. There are three flowers, defying gravity, their heads drooping towards the ceiling and not the ground

If it’s happening here, these must be growing from everyone…

His attention’s nabbed by the floor around Kat. Crouching, he discovers where the mist reaches, the sludge gradually dissipating revealing a wavering layer of lush greenery… Hyperrealistic, surreal, seemingly fake, as though it’s not naturally or organically forming but created by technology. Not quite like grass or moss, it seems like it would be plush, soft if he ran his hand over it. Jay isn’t that dumb to try. If he wasn’t hiding, he'd use his firearm to shoot the crimson flowers…

This isn’t good, whatever it is.

Must be the next step for the creature or this shit’s evolution.

I need off this fucking ship.

Talons clicking against the floor sends a sliver of ice down Jay’s spine. Rushing, he hides behind the nearest container, drawing his weapon and holding it against his chest.

It appears in the blue-green light, stepping out from the nothingness as if an extension of it.

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