The Coming Dark by D.J. Molles

Author:D.J. Molles [Molles, D.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Space Exploration, Space Marine, Fantasy
Publisher: D.J. Molles Books
Published: 2025-01-08T00:00:00+00:00

26

WHIMSBY

You know, I manage a lot of people on a day-to-day basis. I look after them, care for them, make sure their needs are met. And I do it all while keeping Father and Mother running at top efficiency. As I’ve stated before, I’m an excellent multitasker.

So, while the Whimsby part of me was entangled in the goings on of Jungle Rot, and the rest of the parts of me were doing their usual routines, I was still well aware of Seres Champlain, scrubbing those bulkheads and spinning herself up into quite a state as she obsessed over what might be happening.

Now, I don’t make a habit of waltzing my Everlong avatar around. That particular avatar is one I designed myself, for the simple reason that sometimes I like to be out and about amongst the humans while still maintaining my anonymity. However, with all that was happening at that moment, I calculated that the chances of Everlong even being noticed by anyone on Father was minimal.

And so it was that, with all the Deathbringers on Father now standing in formation in the Hangars, and wildly preoccupied with rampant speculation, I went ahead and jumped Everlong over from where I kept him on Mother.

I guess I could see how all of this was affecting Seres, and the manic vigor with which she scrubbed the walls had not escaped me. I suppose I was concerned that she might just lose it and start trying to speak to the Deathbringers around her.

Oh, I’m always running around, putting out little fires here and there.

Over on Jungle Rot, the situation seemed to have stabilized after their run-in with the Wraith. At that very moment, they were checking for wounded and regrouping. A part of me, insulated from the main portion of my consciousness so that I didn’t let my emotions cloud my judgment, grieved for the lost. For Reuben, and for Gwen, and for Rufus, who’d been killed when he’d been thrown against that tree, and for Hwang, who’d still tried to fight, even after his heart had been speared through.

Those, I bottled up. Saved for later, for when I had the time to reconcile myself with the loss of those four lives.

For now, I had to concern myself with the living.

“Sal, Seres,” my Everlong avatar said, as I stopped right behind her.

She jerked, her hands frozen in mid-scrub. For a moment, she seemed mystified by my presence there. Her eyes darted to the Deathbringers all around, but, as I had predicted, they hadn’t paid Everlong’s presence much mind.

Her eyes came back to mine. “Everlong,” she whispered sharply. “What are you doing here?”

She seemed very surprised to see Everlong there, while Father was still fully populated.

I knelt beside her and took up one of the scrub brushes that she’d left on the deck. I began slowly scrubbing the wall alongside her, holding eye contact the whole time. “You seemed to be on the verge of ignoring the consequences and talking to the others.”

“I wasn’t,” she said, though that was a lie.

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