He sat at his desk, awaiting the weekly report from his sources.
When the phone rang, he eagerly picked up.
"Commander Maelstrom, sir, we have a problem."
"What sort of problem?"
"... well, you see, three astronauts came to the FBI today."
"If they're survivors, just tell them the usual."
"No, sir, this is different - they know there are other imposters."
Maelstrom's eyes widened. "How do they know, exactly?"
"They didn't tell us that! We have nothing to go on besides them telling us that there are more imposters out there, and that they are targeting the astronauts. So, either they caught the imposter and got information, or we have a spy."
Gears started turning in Maelstrom's brain.
"Do we have any identification on the three astronauts? We can trace their recent mission documents."
"Deeper information is on its way, sir, but here's the basic information: one is an adult male with ginger hair and a bright red streak, and the other two are adult females - one with blonde hair, the other brunette, with pink and purple streaks."
"Thank you, I'll handle the situation from here."
Maelstrom hung up the phone, and then sighed.
This hasn't happened before - so why now??
Then, he got a notification from his email - the information on the three astronauts.
After running the information through his database, he came across their most recent mission.
His eyes widened.
How interesting.
He tapped his fingers on his desk, wondering how to address the... new complications.
They're both still here. I can execute them here and now.
... But that's no fun.
I mean, everyone has to slip up sometime, right?
A smile spread across his face.
This will be the most interesting thing I've seen in years.
And, as for the three astronauts, I think I know exactly what to do.
Just then, the perfect candidate for his plan walked in the door.
"I'm here for my weekly report, Commander."
"Ah, Whirlpool. It's good to see my favorite child. And, oh, would you look at that? I have an assignment just for you."
~~~~~
Blue
"You should add Whirlpool on your list of people to avoid - Whirl is Maelstrom's favorite child. Very dangerous - one of the imposters who kills for fun. Would slice off your face if you got too annoying."
"Well, isn't that simply delightful."
Green laughed humorlessly. "About as delightful as being tossed into an aquarium with hungry piranhas."
A knock sounded on the door.
"Aaand we've been summoned," Green muttered.
When they made it to Maelstrom's office, Green put on his serious exterior. "Yes, sir? What is the problem?"
"I've changed my mind. Instead of undergoing training, you both will be sent right back out on an assignment tomorrow."
Wait, what?
Blue kept a calm expression, but inside, her confusion went rampant, and she didn't know how to respond.
Thankfully, Green picked up the slack. "Sounds good to me."
... WHAT??
She wanted to slap Green. I'm not ready to KILL PEOPLE- oh, wait-
He doesn't know that.
S**t.
"Where are we going?"
"You're going to the Mira HQ, and you'll have a week to kill everyone."
Green grinned. "We won't let you down, Commander."
They both turned to leave the office, but before Blue left, she could have sworn that she heard Maelstrom mutter under his breath:
"You already have."
Before Blue could look behind her or clarify what she heard, the office door closed behind her.
Her blood ran cold with fear, and she would have been frozen in place if Green wasn't there to pull her along.
He knows.
~~~~~
Red
They were on the new spaceship, and they were taking off.
Red held his son close to him, and he turned to see Black next to him, who was holding Talon.
Once they were out of Earth's orbit and heading to Polus, Red stood up from his seat, observing everyone else.
Not including Black, Pink, Purple, or himself, there were eight other astronauts - twelve in total.
Everyone else was gathering around the center cafeteria table, and he followed suit.
He prepared himself to do the opening announcements, but then he remembered:
Wait. I'm not in charge anymore.
D**n those f**king medications.
The person in charge announced herself - she was of quite small stature, but her aura of authority was strong.
... Do I seriously have to answer to this person now?
Her suit was some sort of deep brownish-red color.
"My name is Maroon," she started. As she started cycling through the announcements and rules, Red tuned her out to observe anyone else.
He had the announcements memorized anyway, so he proceeded to memorize the names - everyone had nametags, which was a new addition.
Peach. Lavender. White. Lime.
Lime vaguely reminded him of Green, despite him being a much lighter color. The vague resemblance made him shudder a bit, but he masked it well.
Smalt. Silver. And Indigo.
Indigo looked similar to Purple, but it would not be hard to tell them apart, because Indigo was definitely a darker shade.
Oh, along with the minor detail that they were opposite genders.
When Maroon dismissed the meeting, Red looked for the others.
Pink and Purple had gone off somewhere, to his dismay.
However, Black's silent yet comforting presence was there.
She had apparently decided to attach herself to Red; after all, Pink and Purple had their own dynamic duo going, and Red assumed Black didn't want to ruin that.
He smiled at Black, appreciating her sticking close to him.
At least I have one person I can count on.
In that moment, Black strongly reminded him of his daughter - his little shadow.
... And how he once vowed to not let anything happen to that little shadow.
He shook off the memories and proceeded to go do his tasks.
Black stuck by him, and they ended up leaving Wren and Talon in Communications to focus on their tasks.
After all, the two kids weren't that inclined to cause trouble.
While he was doing some wires in Electrical, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
He turned to see Black gesturing to Maroon, who had just walked into the room.
Oh, great.
"Yes, Maroon?"
"The space program told me that you were once a designated mission leader, but you were demoted after receiving medication for... anger issues?"
Ah, yes. Rubbing salt into the wound. I see.
Is that really how we're playing this?
"Yes, I was," he said, hoping to just leave it at that.
"Might I ask about the reasoning?"
S**t. Of course you'd ask that.
What do I say here? "Oh, four of our fellow crewmates got killed, the killer ran away and took a friend of mine with him, and also, the FBI didn't believe a word we said, so I got reasonably mad at one of their agents"??
I don't think that'll cut it.
"You don't wanna know."
"Well, actually, I do."
Red saw Black writing something on her tablet, and for a second, he wondered if she was about to tell Maroon the truth.
Then, she held it up:
Oh, he just fought someone during the last mission after a heated argument. It was forgiven, but he was put on medication, just in case.
Black. BLACK.
Now she's going to think I'm some sort of IDIOT! What were you THINKING??
Maroon seemed to accept that, to Red's simultaneous relief and horror.
She nodded at the two of them. "Okay, fine. Red, I've got my eye on you. Don't try anything."
Once she was out of earshot, Red stared at Black.
Black rolled her eyes and wrote something else.
It's better than the truth, Red. Don't give me that look.
"Well, now she probably thinks I'm an unpredictable idiot. Thanks a lot, you half-witted yoyo."
She blinked at him, a little surprised.
He sighed, "okay, ignore that last part."
Look, would you rather her believe you started a simple fight, or that you literally fought an FBI agent in his office after he said that we were just astronauts and we were gonna die anyway??
Red froze at the memory.
"I mean - you're just astronauts. Yes, you were trained, but when things inevitably go wrong sometime, you can easily just be replaced. So, why should we bother investigating something that was just going to happen anyway? Besides, there are no bodies, so technically, we can't do anything - now can we?"
He remembered that, clear as day.
Everyone is special - no one deserves to be replaced without a second thought.
And every murder is worth investigating.
Red sighed. "I guess you're right."
~~~~~
A/N: well, here's a medium-sized mental health update:
I'm feeling much better now, and after some good events, my depressive state has started to melt away (slowly, but surely).
And although I do still have several major deadlines coming up, I do have my motivation back, which is exactly what I needed. After those are done, I'll work on some more chapters!
Oh, my best friend incorporated me into another friend group (they're wonderful), and we all played some Among Us - my very first time playing.
And I'm really proud that I won my first imposter round. :)
(Ignore the fact that I lost three successive imposter rounds after that, got killed first in cold blood by my best friend, and then got framed - by my best friend - in another game and sulked around in a corner for a while. Yes, all that really happened.)
... All that has revealed my amazing ability to never, ever have a good alibi.
Also, my best friend notified the others in the group that this exists.
I'm a little nervous.
(... Please don't judge me, guys-)
Anyways - in summary, I'm feeling a lot better, and I can't wait to have a free schedule so I can update again. :)