A gangly creature lay motionless in a pile on the floor of an out of the way maintenance corridor. It was a motley assortment of spare and broken parts, mashed together to form a ghoulish and misshapen body. It was comprised of a discarded flight suit, various decommissioned actuators, several pistons, two small fuel cells, lengths of heavy wiring, and a stolen protolight projector. It could be considered either an engineering marvel or nightmare depending on the light.
It had not always been on the ship. Piece by piece the body had been added to by others. The utmost care had been taken in preserving the secret of its existence and it did nothing to betray that secrecy. It remained inert, momentarily not serving a purpose.
One moment it was inert, the next it was in motion. The leprous trash body convulsed with its first breath of life, or rather began moving after receiving a tightbeam encrypted signal. After a few spasms, the body looked as though it might collapse, lacking the proper mechanics of movement.
As if sensing its own disability, the right arm of the flight suit shot forth and clawed at the ground with fingers of steel and wire. A few laborious moments later, the arm found purchase on a maintenance port and it managed to drag itself forward a few inches.
Its left arm then reached forth and found a hand hold, using it to propel itself forward a few more inches. Soon its right and left legs joined in, creating a nightmarish spider-like locomotion that moved the body forward down the corridor.
Suddenly, the body went limp and plopped once again into a pile of discarded rubbish. It lay for precisely thirty-three ticks before animating again and continuing on its unlit journey.
The Nova Jumper, the ship this body was currently stowed away upon, was not designed for the comfort of a human body. Real estate on vessels that could move freely amongst the stars came at a large premium. Human comfort played only a secondary role to the ship's primary purpose, propelling itself at incredible speeds through the void of space whilst keeping alive its human cargo. To accomplish its primary purpose, humans were physically entombed in stasis pods called Nexus chambers. During the voyage, humans were connected via a cranial port to a digital onboard network where they could access a library of stored materials, or browse the networks of the nearest planet.
The layout of the ship proved difficult to maneuver for the body at times. In some areas, the body was forced to constrict into a grotesque ball and wiggle through tight passages. When unused corridors were available it would drag itself forward like a giant trash arachnid.
It continued in this manner, half scraping, and half wiggling towards its eventual destination. Areas of difficult passage slowed the body significantly but they did not stop it. It continued to navigate the tight corridors and portals of the ship until approximately one cycle had passed since it had sprung to life. Finally reaching its destination, one ghoulish hand typed a sequence of code into a nearby access panel. A small portal opened at ground height and the creature wriggled inside. Once inside it lay itself flat on its back, like a human resting in a Nexus chamber.
The body lay still directly underneath Nexus pod 234.
Nexus Chamber Nine Hundred Thirty-Seven. System check. Systems optimal.
Prevailing Light instantly shifted its focus when the alarm sounded. Though possessing no form, it had more information about the situation than a human bystander had they been standing a foot away, keenly observing the scene. A plethora of information pathways flooded into Prevailing Light's consciousness as it tried to understand the unfolding situation. Nexus Pod 234 was failing and it did not look good for the occupant.
