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ciara-clycone · 6 months

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'Paradoxial' Virus: Ch.2 -Weariness.

Ao3: link

Summary:

Strange things are going on in the Invicinble 2. Electronics are acting up. Eerie sightings are happening on the ship. No one knows why this is going on. They try to act like it's nothing serious.

But it's having a strange toll on the captain...

Pairings: Captaineer

Warnings for this chapter: None.

Length: 861 words.

As Mark was walking down the hall, he heard Tyler and the other crew member talking. He was planning on ignoring them and continuing on his way when he heard them mention the captain. Immediately, his interest was piqued.

He walked over to them. “What’s this about the captain acting weird?” He asked.

“The captain nearly took of my head with their Alexa,” said the guy, holding out the offending machine, “They just threw it right at me. I nearly got clocked.”

“Really? That doesn’t sound like the Captain.Are you ok? They're pretty strong."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Captain came and checked up on me afterwards. They were sorry about it too. But still, the fact they threw it at me shook me up.”

I gotta find out what what’s going on with them, thought Mark.

“Can I have that?” Mark asks, motioning to the Alexa. The guy hands it to Mark, and he leaves them for the Captain’s quarters. Coming upon the captain’s door, he knocked. “Captain?”

“Just a second….” Came the captain’s response. They sounded tired. A few seconds passed.

What are they doing? Mark wondered as he struggled to hear what is going on in the other room. He only heard shuffling and footsteps.

“Alright, come in.” Called the captain.

Mark walked in and saw the Captain at their desk. Papers were strewn across their table.

“Mark,” the captains said, nodding at him. “What brings you here?”

“A little birdie told me you were having trouble with Alexa?” Mark grinned as he held the Alexa out. “I think you might be missing this?”

“Bird’s the word…” the captain mumbled. They shake their head and blink as if they were trying to wake up.

Mark arched an eyebrow at them. “Captain? Are you feeling ok?”

Blinking again, the captain looked up at Mark and then the Alexa, and growled at the bot. “I thought I tossed that thing out.” They murmured.

“You did. One of the crew had it. Said you hit them with it?”

“An accident!” The captain exclaimed. They looked stricken that it had hit someone. “He said he was ok though? I went and apologized to him and checked on him.”

“Yeah, he’s ok. Just still surprised by it.”

“I didn’t know anyone was coming in when I tossed it,” the captain said. “I just wanted to get rid of the dang thing.”

“Why though? This thing is handy.”

The captain shook their head. “It’s cursed, is what it is.”

Mark chuckled. “Why do you say that?”

“Blasted thing keeps telling me where the nearest graveyard is. Like it wants me to go there or something.” The captain glared at it.

“What?” Mark asked,giving the Alexa a perplexed look, “That’s not normal. Not at all… I can check into it for you, if you want?”

“That’d be great, thanks…”

The tiredness in the captain’s voice caught Mark’s attention. “Hey, Captain? You seem more tired than usual.Is anything wrong? I mean beside this weird Alexa stuff.”

The captain let out a sigh and slowly shook their head. “Just feeling tired…. Didn’t sleep well last night.” They shrug it off.

“Why not?” Mark asked.

“Just didn’t.” The captain didn’t really want to tell Mark they were having nightmares.

And that the nightmares weren’t just last night. But every night. That’d make them sound whiny. And gah they were the captain! They were supposed to be the fount of strength and stability on the ship. That would all crumble to nothing if people found out how shaky they got from nightmares. And there was no reason for them to react that way too, or so they figured.. It’s not like nightmares and unpleasant dreams were unusual or anything.

“Hmm… ok…” Mark said, skeptically. He picked up the Alexa. “Well, I’ll take this little rascal out to the lab and see what’s going on with it.”

“Sounds good. Thanks….” The captain said, nodding. They returned to their work, or at least acted like they were working. In truth, they were still out of it but wanted to look like they were ok. At least while Mark was there.

Goodness! The last thing they wanted to do was fall apart in front of him. It was why when he knocked on the door, they scrambled off from the floor and made it look like they were hard at work on projects or something.

Marl hesitated a moment, watching the captain. He felt something was seriously off with them but he couldn’t place it. And it seemed like something more than just tiredness.

The captain paused in what they were doing and looked up. They raised an eyebrow. “Is there something else?” The question wasn’t sharp sounding, more just stated quietly.

Mark paused a moment. Should he come out and say that he suspected something was going on with them? He wasn’t sure what it was, but he felt it in his bones that there was something wrong.

“Well….”

“Engineering paging Mark. There’s something up with one of the engines. We need you to come down and check it out.”

“Oh uh nevermind…” Mark sighed. Guess asking the captain will have to wait.

#iswm fanfiction #iswm fanfic #captaineer #iswm fic #engineer mark #iswm captain #iswm au #Paradoxial virus

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cuddlesworks · 1 year

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*Deltarunes your Head Engineer*

#digital art #head engineer mark #in space with markiplier #deltarune #iswm au #iswm deltarune au

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ldoesanartthing · 2 years

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Insufficient Leadership Detected.... Troubleshooting.... Initializing Autopilot Protocol. Stand back... Do you feel lucky?

#iswm #in space with markiplier #iswm au #googleplier #google markiplier #googleplier iswm #markiplier egos #google irl #google ego #googleplier ego #autopilot au #art #digital art #PLEASE REBLOG THIS OR ILL CRY FOREVER

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leighsartworks216 · 1 year

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ISWM AU where you hold on, and step out of the cryopod, but you can't remember anything from the wormhole jumps before

Mark thanks you and you just frown, because there's clearly something there you're missing but you can't place your finger on it

Late at night after getting everyone settled on the new planet, Mark finds you looking at the stars. He mentions how this planet was much better than the fiery, exploding one from before. You ask him if you brought the ship to a planet before this one. He frowns, confused, and just shakes his head. He doesn't mention that planet ever again.

You're having an argument with the Invincible's computer, trying to go through every proper protocol before the ship is dismantled for use in building the new civilization. Mark groans and argues along with you. Once the computer finally decides to work with you, he chuckles and says, "Just like old times, eh, Captain?" You chuckle weakly and nod. He can tell you don't know what he's talking about.

As you make your rounds, helping out where you could in building the shelters, Mark grabs you and pulls you aside to a hidden little outlet. His eyes are wide and frantic as he asks if you remember the warp core. You tell him he should see a medic. He insists you answer. You firmly remind him that the Invincible didn't have a "warp core". He stares deflated at the ground, hands falling limply from your shoulders. You tell him again that he should talk to somebody, and you slip away, back to work.

#iswm #iswm 2 #in space with markiplier #iswm au #markiplier #markiplier egos #engineer mark #head engineer mark #captain #captaineer

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l05t1nth3v01d · 4 months

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TWD/MCU AU!

The Walking Dead/Markiplier Cinematic Universe

I'm currently working on the LOREEEE

I swear it's cool please 🐻 with me

THE CAPTAIN

WILLIAM J. BARNUM

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puppeteered-poetry · 1 year

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Unauthorized appearance.

Hey so what if Darkiplier in space, lol. Adaptation of an rp between @blood-falling and @stagenameouroborus

------------------------------------------

Another loop. Another loop in a long line of loops, another round and fall from the mortal coil. Trying in vain to make it right, to change anything.

Another loop, another universe, another death, another sacrifice, another set of blood covering your hands, another futile attempt at making everything right again. Your options laid out before you like every single time before, and there is a tiredness in the very centre of your being.

Fix it from the outside. You think. You could at least get a moment’s solace among the stars.

You hurry forward, barely acknowledging your surroundings or the announcement the Engineer is revived. Off to the airlock again. Running away from the problem, justified by some vague sense it will move things forward.

But it never does.

You turn towards the bridge door, halted only by the meek, hopeless voice of the only companion who knows.

“... Captain…?” He called behind you. The joy, the enthusiasm, everything that made your Head Engineer him has been gone a long time. Replaced by clinging dread, and deep eye bags that are the only thing to persist, anymore. You half wonder if you’re the same story.

He was looking at his beret, scratching at the applique’s stitching. “... The airlock’s compromised. Your say is final, of course, but… Could you… Could you maybe go with me?”

He doesn’t like being alone. Never did, but especially not now. He depends on you.

You halt in place, exhaustion barely manifesting into concern. He’s trapped in this loop, too. Along for the ride. You can’t just leave him alone.

You place your hand on his shoulder, before wrapping your arm around both. Of course you will.

Besides, it’s something different. A part of you feels guilt for the excitement being much more than the worry for Mark.

Mark sighed in relief, like you lifted a large weight off his shoulders. “Great, right- Okay! Let’s do this!” He tries to mimic his normal excitement. “Captain and Mark, the best duo to ever live forever and ever in a hell of our own making!”

You walk down the hall together, the atmosphere… Changing. The lights are dimmer, and there's fog, like Cryo. That wasn’t normal.

Mark laughed, trying to force himself to make a sound. “Hey, that’s weird, who turned up the… A… C…”

He trailed off from his attempt at a joke, looking down. You followed his gaze to find a clump of snow on the floor.

You hesitate, reaching out to grab Mark by the back of his jumpsuit and gently pull him a little closer. This was new. This was different. This was better wake up Captain, before you forget how to. You look around, trying to see if there was anything to do with Cryo around, maybe a burst coolant pipe or even Celci wandering around. The snow... felt familiar in a way you couldn't quite fathom. Somewhere some part of you knows, but it’s not the you in this room, at this moment.

Slowly, you edge towards it, poking at it with your boot.

Wrong choice, Captain.

As soon as you touch the snow, Mark nearly doubles over, recoiling and covering his ears. The lights flickered, dimming and humming, sparking in some places. You try to ask what’s wrong, when you hear it too.

Your ears are ringing.

"U-uh... Captain? I don't... I don't mean to worry you, but something about this seems... Weird... W-we should hurry up and fix the airlock, I think." Mark tried to push forward, to continue despite the pain. But he was shivering, from fear and from the cold.

The ringing must be dampened by your helmet, because it’s not as seemingly painful to you. You can still walk, it’s just like a bad case of tinnitus. You’re much more worried about the hairline fractures in the visor of your helmet.

You can’t abandon him to worry about it though, so you follow Mark closer to the airlock. Was the Airlock’s corridor always this long?

Mark pressed his hand to the scanner, jumping in. He didn’t notice what you notice, an odd, looming shadow in the corner. The long, needle-like claws grasping his shoulder. You try to get his attention as he pops open the maintenance panel, but he notices the long, deliberate rip in his uniform from the claws first.

He looks to you in dead silence.

“Run. Shut the airlock and run.”

The hand pulls at him, but you’re pulling too. You’re not abandoning him anymore. Not again. He shakes his head, smiling.

“I’ll come back, I promise. Just run. I’ll buy you time.” He gripped the doorway, both of the shadow’s hands pulling now. He doesn’t even look scared. That gives you a special kind of hurt.

“I love you, Captain.”

He… Mark shut the door on himself, your hands retract instinctively. You couldn’t even say it back. You couldn’t speak at all.

The lights in the airlock broke, and all you could hear were his screams.

You do as you were told, and you run. You run, but why? Why not die and loop again, Captain? Why are you crying, when death has no meaning, now?

You’re so… Passive. So… Hopeless. Though… You really had no choice back there. The story is continuing, and you are audience to it. You take a backseat in your own story.

And you just found a new way to kill your best friend.

Or… You thought you did, when Mark called after you.

“Captain! Captain!!” He hurried after you, looking fresh out of the cryo pod. He wrapped his arms around you in a tight hug. “You made it… Good.”

Your stomach sinks as you return the hug, relief only temporary as dread and questions return. Your loops were normally synchronized. Both had to die to get a new start, but… He was back. You squished, pinched and prodded his face to make sure it was him.

“O-ow! Captain, Captain it’s me!” He pouted, swatting at your hands, before laughing. “Oh… I’m just glad to see you again so soon.”

You hug him tighter now. Your tinnitus faintly hums still. You try to think about what this could mean for you both, when he beats you to it.

“Do you know what this means? Freedom from the loop! As long as one of us lives, we can keep going!” He grinned… Maybe it’s just the lights, but his uniform looks more desaturated than usual.

Why does that make you afraid?

“Now if we can just fix the ship and get to the warp core without us both dying, we can fix this! We should head to the bridge, run some diagnostics.” You start to see choices, when he shakes them away. “No, no time to think for thirty seconds just standing there, bridge now!”

He pulls you forward, and you want to feel relieved, but you just can’t. Something feels wrong.

“Computer, run diagnostics.” He puts his hands on his hips proudly, and for once the computer actually listens.

“Asteroid Defense System is Online. Cryogenics System is Online. Reactor Core is Online. Airlock is.. Ü̸͔̤͕͖̹̬̒̄̿̓̽̊̇̏̈n̸̢͍͔̣̻̖̯̪̳̘̙̣͈͔̤͆̇̆̾̓͗̇͐͛͒͂̍͜d̷̡̞̲̻̣̼̱̞̖̥̝͙̣̣̱̳̪͋̿̅͒̆͘̚ẽ̷̦̗̹̯͈̘̯̰̔̿͆͛̈͌̾͌̎̆̕͘ẗ̸́̽̃̊̀̇̋̃͆̽̉̂́̽͘͜͠ḝ̴̛̳̙̟̪̝̦̬̓̓̎̓̾́͑̾͜ç̸̳̤͍̼͕͖̟̻̙̪͎̒t̶̢͍̲̯͓͈̟̹̣͂̋̄̏e̷̢̮̼͎̺̙̰͓̮͖̙̯̞̮͖͗̐̓̒̓̉̅̽̋̐̎̌̑͜d̷̫͛̑͗́̈͌̌͐̽̉͘͝.̵̡̧̢͓̹͇͉̫̹͍͖̘̪́ Online. Ship status is optimal.”

“Oh! Well… That was easy.”Mark turned towards you with a smile.

Without thinking, without knowing how, without having it before, you present two bowls of ice cream. Chocolate… And… Vanilla. You look at Mark with confusion.

“Oh! Ice cream? Don’t mind if I do!” His silly finger wiggling and laugh feels forced. He seems happy, but his eyes are so dark.

…. Dark…

S̶͚̺͕̏ẗ̷̘̦͝a̷͛̀͜r̸͖̃t̸͕̹̥͌̆ĩ̵̱̮̪̋͝n̴̽̑̉͜ǵ̴̙̼ ̶̡͓̥̊t̶̝̺̪̉̀o̶͕̼͐̚ ̷͎͚̰̌͂r̸̻̰͛̈͗ͅe̸̻͆̀̍m̸͇̩͍̃͝e̴͇͆ṃ̵͉̼̀̇͌b̸̟͇̀̀ḛ̷̻̤͂̇r̵̡̐̚͜ ̸̙̯͗ṡ̸͍͖o̷̮͛̈͠m̸̨̻̿͐ḙ̶̣͍̋́̚t̷̰̪̥͆h̴͍̳̿̐̒ͅi̴̙͝ͅṉ̵̾ǵ̶͖̹̗̽͠,̸̯͊͋ ̴̢͔̇̒̚C̶̟̭͆̒ͅạ̵̹͂́͊p̷̤̅̑̉t̷͍̐͐̚a̵̮͓̿̂͝î̴̤́͠n̵̞̓͐͊?̶̣̮̃̔

He takes the bowl of vanilla, leaving you with chocolate. You stare down at the bowl, confused. Your ears start to hurt from the ringing. You look up, and drop your bowl.

Dark. Dark sits on the ship console, eating the vanilla ice cream. They wear the same uniform, only entirely gray, with the chest tag reading backwards, and a few new pins. A red and cyan skull, and a pink mustache.

“Did you miss me, Captain?” They smile, one that doesn’t reach their eyes. The Bridge is dark, bathed in red and blue light from solitary, opposite corners.

“I was beginning to think you wouldn’t notice, but here you are, our little monster, back to the games.” They sneer. “And did you have fun? Were you able to forget?”

They flickered, appearing next on their feet.

“I thought Dorene would be enough, but maybe you just clung too hard. You don’t want to wake up from the pretty dreams he weaves you, anymore.” They cracked their neck.

“I’m glad you don’t really talk, these days. I don’t want to hear your excuses.” They stood still, but flashes of them enraged kept appearing around them.

You turn to try and open the bridge door, but the hand scanner is broken.

“You’re bold, I will admit. Thinking I wouldn’t block you off from means of escape is a new low. Really. I’m honestly insulted.” You’re pulled away from the door, and smashed back into it, one, two, three times. You slump to the ground, they’re still at the console. They haven’t laid a finger on you.

“As I was saying. You wouldn’t wake up, so I took away the only piece of the puzzle you pay attention to, anymore.”

Dark unfurls their hand, a marionette of the engineer dangling on strings revealed.

“Don’t worry. He’s safe… For now. He’s in his dressing room, rehearsing his lines and sipping his coffee. He’ll return soon, and I will depart.” They looked at their watch. “But first… You have something of mine.”

They walk towards you, kneeling down. You weakly reach out to them, and they snatch your hand, their claws wrenching the warp crystal from your palm. You bleed black, your vision blurring.

The void and the ringing of your ears are all that remain, before you enter the next loop.

#The Author Writes.#iswm #iswm au #engineer mark #y/n #darkiplier #captain y/n #head engineer mark #in space with markiplier #iswm fic

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blood-falling · 2 years

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"Ow- Captain, who is this?!" "Go on, Captain, tell him. Shatter the lies."

A detail closeup beneath the cut, as well as a brighter copy.

#in space with markiplier #iswm #iswm au #darkiplier #head engineer mark #engineer mark #iswm darkiplier #iswm mark #body horror #blood #Vanity.#The ''Hero''.#Mine.

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riaswritingalore · 1 year

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Currently plotting an ISWM Wall-e AU... it won't be exactly as the movie but the main elements will be there.

So far what I have is:

Mark: A mix of Eva and Captain McCrea

Reader: Wall-e

Mack: Auto

I will take a bit to write it since I first want to put down the main events onj paper.

#in space with markiplier x reader #iswm x reader #iswm au #wall-e au

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clemclamdoodles · 9 months

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a doodle of my friend pears captain dani in a high school au we’ve been talking about! :3 @captainsaltypear

#art #doodle #fanart #markiplier #iswm #in space with markiplier #in space with markiplier fanart #iswm fanart #iswm captain #iswm original character #iswm au #iswm high school au #she has a mean girl to tomboy arc #and she looks good doing it #FR FR

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stiffyck · 1 year

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"Captain, I'm tired..."

Combining two of my brainrots to create this monstrosity. Head engineer scar be upon ye

#my art #gtws #goodtimeswithscar #uh do i tag this with #i guess i do...#iswm au #thats it not tagging anything else skjfhdkdjfh #head engineer scar #yea

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captaindarkiplier · 1 year

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hello Inspacers, I think I will draw more of this ISWM AU, that of which I posted art of just *once* last year

#iswm au #darkhenge #captain darkiplier #mcu #iswm #darkiplier #actor mark #head engineer #fanart #these r old btw so it will not be the same artstyle ahhaha. the chibi is just stupidly cute i love it #markcu #my art

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bunnin-incorperated · 1 year

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Yep, there it is, the whole plot of this iswm fancomic!

#oc #i fucking hate this so fucking much wtf did i do this to myself it is one thirty fucking six in the morning #iswm au #iswm expansion au #iswm captain #iswm #iswm aftermath #art #didgital art #original character #oc artwork #original characters #oh boy oh man #old fuck captain #TeiLei

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ruinedarcadefinallywrites · 1 year

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Autopilot Google

As you wake up in your usual loop, you find yourself with a new companion. Mark programmed an AI in case you or him went missing. It’s finally kicked in (three endings)

WORD COUNT: 2.4K

Once again please thank @puppeteered-poetry He drew autopilot Google that inspired this

AO3

BAD ENDING ONE: RUN

“Now let’s try that again. Shall we?” Echoes the same voice, the ringing tone reminiscent of a gunshot reverberating around a room. Wakey-Wakey Protocol already counting down as you open your eyes. What number loop must you be on now, six, twenty, a hundred?

There’s no certainty in any of it, never has been. Marks previous idea of scratching a mark into the cyro pod (as it had been the only consistent thing within the cycle) was fruitless, leaving you both to attempt and tally them and fail miserably. Mark said that you must have been on loop eight, when you knew it had been at least triple that.

Like always, you’re pushed out first from the pods. Pushed out with more force than usual, you’re sent out of the pod. Bracing yourself on the console, regretting the fact you’ve put both hands out. Crystal cutting into the meat of your hand.

Almost as bad as the time when Mark..in the core.

Speaking of the devil himself, the head engineer is ejected from his own cyro pod. Slamming and body painfully cracking into the glass. Glass already trembling, ready to shatter. Barely ten seconds after he stands up, the cycle always continues. At this point, your heartstrings aren’t pulled out into space as hard before.

“Error: Fail safe systems offline.” Now, you’re leaving the lake to move into the first stream. It’s easier each time, and the better choice is to have Mark by your side. Turning to find the fire extinguisher, hesitating as you remember what happens.

Oxygen slowly depleting, starving your cells of that vital gas. Stumbling into life support, but it doesn’t work. No matter how fast you are, how quickly you put out the fire. The combustion steals just a little too much, and you pass out at the door.

Surely it will be worth it. Better to have someone to work with who remembers the cycles. Reaching to pull the ring, a loud whirring of mechanical plates pulling apart comes from just behind you. Dropping the cylinder, something wonderful final starts you off.

“All systems online.” Finally..it’s finally over. Marks system worked..and he was gone. All of his work, even when the programming had failed every loop. But you didn’t grab him. Let him fall through the window instead of holding his hand.

“Scanning for system errors. Going through data logs. Accessing personal files.” Eyes, or something similar to that are boring holes into your skull. Something so crude in its advanced glory. Almost like you’re back in cyrogenics, it takes an age for you to turn around to the voice.

Where the door once was, something has lowered in front. Worryingly sealing you in the bridge. Mechanical boots are still strapped into lowering platform, faintly glowing in the steadying lights of the bridge. It’s dressed in..in your uniform? Almost everything matches yours. Right down to the shoulder pads and buttons. It’s your uniform, reused entirely. Dyed to fit the glowing turquoise lights coming from the panels across its face.

“Captain. I have restarted all systems. Everything is online, and I’m searching for the root anomaly.” Each syllable is coated in static, the voice barely past a digital whine. Unclipped from its station, the robot is pacing around the bridge. Staring intently at the now sealed hull doors.

“Captain? Where is Head Engineer Mark E Plier? Calculating…he has been flung into the deep voids of space. Wakey Wakey Protocol is being turned down to prevent further incidents.” Stunned silent, you can only watch as it begins to tap the console. Changing the colours into its own, pulsing quietly.

“What are you? Are you..what are you?” It makes the closest to an emotion you’ve seen a droid make yet, a scowl crossing it’s face. Letting it’s hands leave the console and face directly at you.

“The correct statement is ‘who are you?’. I am a being, not some silly code input. I am Autopilot, IV-II-A. Programmed in emergencies and maintenance of the ship. Captain. I believe I understand the issue. Paradoxical anomaly detected. You have been here before. Prepare for elimination.” Another device begins to hum to life, a light glow spreading throughout its body.

Whether it’s luck or it’s own cruelty, the first shot misses you by inches. A hot white charge melting your cyropod, and as it huffs to reload, you do the best you can. You run.

If there’s any chance the loop hasn’t broken, you’ll be thanking Mark for keeping all the key areas close enough to the bridge. Knocking his lights out immediately afterwards too, for creating what seems to be a replacement for you. The nerve…

Ducking into ADS, you remember how horribly you’d done in weapons training. All a gun really is a trigger and a muzzle, so it can’t be that hard. In the normal loop, the ADS systems don’t go down until after life support. Since none of them have gone down, the drones sit. Waiting to be called upon for inner ship defenses. Or Gunther’s terrible idea of a birthday surprise.

Going through the cabinets, you pull out the closest thing to an earthly gun you can find. Much easier to use than the others. They have about thirty dials to calibrate the attacks, and you’re pretty sure no one on the ship actually knows how to use them. Looking it over, you stand up. Ready to fire at the door at the Autopilot when you hear electricity coursing though something.

Instead of two, like always, it’s a swarm. At least thirty of the basketball sized drones are starting to circle ADS. Thanks to their numbers, it’s not difficult to miss the first few. Blasting them, they crumble into a coppery powder, and while the rest start to fire, you do what you always do. Run.

Sealing the door behind you, Autopilot is emerging from the bridge. Looking much more alive, motions much more fluid than when it had emerged. “Anomaly spotted. Continuing elimination process. Airlock opening. Increasing personal gravity field.”

Ah, the airlock. A peaceful escape to restart a loop. Floating around in space for a few minutes, getting to enjoy the beauty of it. Traveling to the stars seemed pointless if you didn’t get to walk among them. At its heart, everything is made of the matter of stars, so it’s just like walking amongst your friends. Among us. All your friends. A lot less fun without a helmet, as the seal breaks between the ship and the outside. Pulling painfully at you, forcing the gun out of your hands.

Grasping desperately at the walls, you try to pull yourself along into another room. More clanking comes from behind you, Autopilot doing something behind you. Not too interested in it’s newest ideas, you pulls yourself into the closest room possible. Sealing the doors as you jump through.

Taking a breath, you look around to find yourself in cyrogenics. There’s not much you know about AI, but you know well enough that if you hit it hard enough, you might be ok. Looking over, you can see the rows of colonists, deep in cyro-sleep. If Autopilot just wants to get rid of you, the rest of the ship should be safe. Deciding on a bottle of liquid nitrogen, you hold it akin to a baseball bat. Ready to strike when Autopilot gets-

“Beta Red Active. Downloading primary objective from Alpha Blue.” Another platform has dropped down in front of the door, less decorated as the first AI, but almost identical. Arms at the ready, you stand with your back to the colonists. Like you could save them. But you never do Captain.

As it calibrates itself, you realize there’s no time like the present. Taking a running leap forward to start smashing the tank into the droid. “Primary objective is to eliminate the Captain. To ensure the ships safety.” You’ve managed to get one blow in before it takes over. Taking the can and cracking it in half like a pretzel stick. It spills out like a broken dam, and both of you recoil.

In the few seconds it’s on your skin, it freezes the flesh. Feeling more like you’ve stuck your hand in a reactor, eyes wide as you watch as your skin goes black as the sky. Skin peeling away to reveal raw, bleeding flesh. Like a piece of meat being dropped away. Beta is doing much better, but hitting its arm in frustration as the nitrogen cools and freezes in its joints. You’d consider it even if it wasn’t able to nearly kill you.

“Charge loading. Please stand by.” Very interested in not standing by at all, you begin punching in the codes for the door. Surely a shortcut through the colonists couldn’t cause too much trouble. As the last whir finalizing the charge echoes, you roll through the door instead.

Missing you, it hits the outside of one of the pods. Almost in horror, if this droids face had the same amount of expression as Alpha Blue. Dropping to its knees as something fizzles inside it. “Protocol failed. Shutting down for workshop transportation.” Clanking, its head hits the ground, a few panels coming loose.

Safer in the colonists cyropods, you begin searching for the crew. Only you and Mark had pods outside the station, in the event of emergencies. As you walk through the rows, you can’t help yourself as you turn around. Checking every few seconds to make sure the bot hasn’t risen up again.

A crunching step through the rows causes you to bolt, barely glancing at the names on the rows. You need to get to the crews sections, on the side farthest to the right. Armed with only a new piece of knowledge, you dart between the pods. Damaging the ship or the colonists seem to shut them down, so you have to keep moving as close to them as you can.

One set of steps turns into two, bustling around as you see the cyropods. Gunther is the first one you see, and as you grasp at the doors to get him out. At least he could try and take Autopilot out by force. The door cracking echoes with a boom around cyro. Bumbling steps trying to find their way quickly grow into sprints to your location.

Trying to defrost Gunther has proved fruitless, as the system locks up. Autopilots eyes glaring through the screens before blinking away.

“Primary objective is to -TARGET LOCATED.” The two droids chant in unison, both beginning to close in on you. These two have barely any decoration on them, like they’ve only just been built. Only dressed in the uniforms berets, yellow and green respectively. Both are moving at high speeds towards you. Closing in on both ends of the hall.

Metal clanking against metal, the pair sprint through the hallway. With visual confirmation on you, Yellow and Green slow down. Masses of metal pulling apart from their bodies, changing their forms from humanoid to hulking beasts. Buzz saws the size of a tires sprout from their chests, smaller blades beginning to line their arms. As they finish their mutation, their speed doubles.

Panting and scrambling, you try to squeeze yourself between the cyropods. Gaps that almost crush you in half, but you eventually slip into the next hall. Green was already behind you, but as it’s saw catches the side of Gunther’s pod, it too collapses. Ready to be reprogrammed by the next engineer that passes by.

Lungs burning, you have to keep pushing. Throwing a few pieces of your uniform, medals and your hat, you pray it will distract the last droid for a few seconds. Circling back towards the main doors of cyro, you begin desperately keying in the code to lock it again.

“Auto Googles Delta Green and Beta Red are down. ADS drones to their current locations for reprogramming.” Autopilots voice over the speakers is much more smooth from when it had started. A quiet hint of robotic, but mostly hidden by a now very human voice.

With the door shut behind you, Gamma Yellow is beginning to break it down. Wasting no more time, you begin moving through the reactor. With nowhere to hide, and the chances of the star being damaged, you head to where you always do.

The warp core.

As soon as you leave reactor, the noise of a mechanical growl and crunching metal is right behind you. Running through the hall, you pull off one of the explosives along the hall. Ready to separate the core from the ship, but one should be enough to take care of this one.

Desperately pressing the button in the center, you wait until you see the beast, all saw and barely and limbs lumbering to the hall. It’s always delayed, you remember too well. Throwing it behind you, you keep running towards the warp core. Reaching it should be enough, safe enough at least.

Shrapnel from the bot careens forward, splinters of metal catching on your arms. Tearing against your skin and putting holes in your jacket. Pushing through, you almost collapse as you reach the inside of the warp core. Sealing the doors behind you, finally letting yourself collapse.

Glowing as brilliantly as ever is the warp core, a pale blue light that fills the room. Sometimes, when you make it here, you realize why he loved it so much. Mark adored how he crafted it, the heart of his ship. His creation, rebuilt from destruction. These routes were always lonely, without Mark following you around like he always did. What makes it worse is the difference in how it started. Breaking the cycle. Could it really be a new timeline, if your engineer wasn’t with you?

“TARGET LOCATED. Captain, you have been identified as the anomaly. A child of the multiverse trapping the ship in an infinite loop. Insufficient leadership skills have been detected, alongside a disregard for the good of the ship. Please prepare for your elimination and subsequent replacement.”

Stepping out from behind the warp core, the Autopilot stretches out like a human would when it’s stiff. Eyes charged up a brilliantly blinding blue, staring down its target. You.

As always, you see two options. On one of the work tables beside you is a wrench, and behind you is the hallway. You could run back, and try and wake the crew again with the other Googles disarmed. But, that could be endangering everyone. That wrench looks heavy, but if you throw it hard enough, it could do some damage.

Make your choice, Captain.

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