[Moosh da Outlaw]

Sorry. I didn't have a lot of time to write this, so it didn't turn out as dramatic as I had imagined... here you go anyway.

<~*~>

The lights in the barracks turned on at exactly 6 am as they always did.
Nedd forced his eyes open and groaned. His entire body was sore, and he was as stiff as a corpse. He felt his neck with a hand. His skin was waxy and he was drenched in sweat. He sat up, careful to avoid hitting his head on the metal bunkbead above, and rubbed away the glue from around his eyes.

"Mmmm?" Whats up? Dan asked, leaning over from the top bunk.

I feel terrible. Nedd complained. Dan glowed with pride.

Well I don't... Oh odd, don't say it, Nedd thought, ... because I got a job working for the guard!

Nedd rolled his eyes. Okay man. You've told me that, like, fifty times already, he snapped. Dan shrugged and clamored down from the top bunk.

Nedd stood up and stretched. Suddently a bright array of colors burst through his skull, and his head pounded like a base drum. Fatigue smothered him like a blanket. Dan stared at him strangely.

You okay? He hummed. Nedd shook himself as though trying trying to shake off the pain exploding in his head.

Its nothing. Nedd said. It'll go away.

They left the barracks early to avoid getting caught in the crowd. As they walked Nedd glanced up at the bright, almost blinding lights hanging firmly above. Almost instantly his palms started to sweat. He had never realised how brightly lit the hallways were. Dan started saying something exitedly, and for a minute Nedd hadn't even realised he had spoke.

... I wonder what my first job will be, Dan said almost to himself. Nedd wanted to hit him over the head and shut him up, but he knew better. I wonder if he'll make me patrol the basement. I heard its really wet down there---

Its dark, too, right? Nedd interrupted. Dan nodded impatiently.

Well yeah, of course it is. They haven't lit lights down there since the pipes' broke.

He paused thoughtfully. Two years ago the basement hadn't even been the basement- it was just known as the Lab Foyer, the first and smallest floor on the ship. It was made of tall, wide rooms and winding hallways that had been flooded with inches of water over time. A pipe had burst long ago that nobody had bothered to fix, it wet the circuts, destroying the lights and all the experiments, and had even set some of the rooms on fire from the sparks. They abandoned it after it had destroyed itself. To keep everyone from going down there they infested it with crazed guard slogs and locked it up with metal doors. It was cheaper to have it there then to get rid of it, though they were saving up to have it removed so that the craft could move faster. There were rumors of a crazy experiment living down there that guarded a metal safe full of cash, but Nedd doubted it.

Nedd's head felt like it was burning on the inside, and he found himself stumbling instead of walking. He looked around wildly, trying to pinpoint what was causing him such agony. It came to him in a flash: it was the lights. He felt like they were melting a hole in his head, though they barely seemed to bother Dan. Dan was still talking about his job, but Nedd hadn't been listening.

Speaking of the basement, Dan said, I heard that since the slog attack they've programmed a new lock that can only be opened with an access key. I think its about time they did that. The slogs would've never attacked if they couldn't-

They have the key? Nedd hummed in suprise. They turned down the hallway and into a crossroad between two corridors. Nedd looked out the window; he could see the tower, standing high and regal and curved to a point, blocking out the faint sunrise. Nedd couldn't help but admire it despite his desperation.

Well yeah, of course they do. Dan said with a careless motion. Without saying what he was doing Nedd walked quickly down the hall in the direction of the tower. Where are you going? Dan asked in suprise, running to catch up. Nedd didn't answer.

They entered a small booth plated with mirrors; the main elevator. Nedd punched a button, squinting against the single light shining from a hole in the ceiling. Dan figured that Nedd wanted a job too. He rocked calmly back and forth as the elevator shot upwards before grinding unexpectantly to a hault, flinging both the interns from inside. They found themselves in the tower, which was suprisingly empty. It was a large, round room with a domed ceiling and dozens of computers that blinked on and off at random. Dan shrugged.

I guess nobodys' clocked in yet, he said, sounding uninterested. Nedd approached a desk off to the left, pulled out a random drawer, and filed through it quickly. Finding nothing, he stuck his arm inside and shifted through the papers, but he still couldn't reach the back.

Dan jumped. I don't think you should do that. he said worriedly. Nedd grunted in reply, but didn't appear to hear him. Suddently, without even realising it, he shoved the desk roughly. It groaned and tipped over in a puff of dust, causing folders and stray papers to skitter across the floor. Nedd seemed to find what he was looking for; it was a packet containing a flat metal rectangle that was a dull brick red. It had a barcode printed on one side, and was lined with numbers on the other. Nedd made a break for the door. Dan stood in his way, anger in his eyes.

What do you think you're doing?! he snapped. Nedd pushed him aside and entered the elevator. Dan followed him as he pushed the button. You can't just steal from people, especially not the guards... Dan whined. Nedd kept quiet; he barely knew what he was doing himself. All he had to trust were his instincts, which were telling him to head for the only place in the entire craft that wasn't lit: the basement.

They weaved through the crowds of vykkers and interns, Nedd with a deer-in-headlights look on his face, and Dan looking crestfallen as though suddently realising everything he thought he knew was a lie. When they reached an empty hallway Dan suddently dove in front of Nedd, fire in his eyes.

Spill it, Nedd, he snapped. What do you want with the access key to the basement?

Get out of my way. Nedd growled savagely. Dan shook his head.

No. he said smugly.

I said, Nedd said, sizing him up. He suddently towered over Dan like a massive thug. Get out of my way.

Dan was slammed against the wall effortlessly by Nedd, who held him wriggling by his neck as though he were merely a ragdoll. He leaned in close, so close that their faces almost touched, so that Nedd was staring at him with wide, dark brown, threataning eyes. Dan cringed helplessly, his hands clasped around Nedd's wrist as though trying to free himself.

When I tell you to move, you move, no questions. If you don't listen i'll gut you alive like the slimy eel you are and feed your entrails to the slogs without feeling any remorse. Understand?

This was not like Nedd at all, Dan thought. He always jumped at the slightest chance of danger, but he never caused it. Dan gulped visibly and nodded as best he could, his face turning a sickly shade of periwinkle from lack of air. Nedd dropped him and he fell to the floor, gasping. Then he turned smartly and marched the other way without looking back.

Nedd came to the main intersection on the first floor and squinted his eyes against the light. The paint on the walls were scratched in places, and he could still catch a faint whiff of snoozi gunpowder in the air. The hallway was mostly deserted. He approached the broad metal doors marked 'BASEMENT- ENTER WITH CAUTION' in bright orange letters, sweat drenching his back from the light beating down on his skin, and stuck the key in the small, slit-shaped lock. It beeped faintly and the doors swung open with a loud clang, revealing the imposing darkness ahead. A few vykkers stopped walking and looked over at him, wondering what a lowly intern would want to do with the basement. Nedd looked around worriedly, took a deep breath, and stepped into the darkness ahead.

<~{.epidemic.}~>

Dan still couldn't understand what had happened, but he wasn't about to let it go. He followed Nedd carefully and watched the door close behind him. He reached into his pocket and fingered the key inside- Nedd had forgotten that he, seeing as he was now a guard, had one too. Now, he decided, i'll just have to wait.