Yeh, sorry for the dissapointment. =C
Anyway, this is not one of the better chapters i've written, but it had to be done. We're still in a hotel right now so i'm not sure how often i'll get to update. Anyway, here you go.
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When the daylight hours had ended and night had fallen on the basement, Nedd opened his eye.
He loved the nightlife.
Nedd sat up from where he had slept and stretched, grunting in relief as the stiffness left his muscles. He sat with his legs over the side of the rafters and looked down, where a pile of cylonite slogs were sleeping. On top of the living mound was Lady, sprawled out on her back and shuffling in her sleep. Nedd frowned. Sleeping in a pile like that couldn’t possibly be comfortable. They were such stupid animals.
“Get up.” Nedd growled, dropping down from his perch. Lady snorted and toppled from the pile, tongue rolling. She wagged her stubby tail and followed Nedd as he stalked past, his eye shifting calmly.
He was hungry.
Nedd was aware of the danger he faced leaving the basement, even if he did so at night; sentries were posted everywhere above ground and were on constant alert. Plus, his previous hunting attempts had been a straight crash-course, which had been a major blow to his morale. But he had to eat, no matter what the consequences.
“Get over here,” Nedd snapped impatiently. Lady hobbled over, whining slightly. He scooped her up with his stubby arm and climbed up a stack of crates, leaping nimbly across to the rafters. Lady struggled slightly. She was afraid of heights.
Nedd set her down, and she collapsed with her belly to the rafters, whining in terror. Nedd had planned to leave her there as a sort of lookout incase he was followed back into the basement. Now, however, she seemed to be completely useless, lying flat as though both her legs were crippled. He groaned moodily and hauled himself up into the vents without a second thought.
The basement’s nocturnal life continued on as usual. Lady scooted over to the side uneasily and looked down, whining even louder. It was a far drop for such a small slog. She licked her lips and barked, waiting hopefully for a reply. None came.
Occasionally a slog or two would scamper on by, but besides that, nothing happened. Lady listened worriedly as water dripped down from the ceiling and landed on her nose.
Plip. Plop. She licked the water off her snout uninterestedly. Being a slog, she kept no concept of the passage of time, but that didn’t mean she was patient.
The metal above Lady’s head moaned. Her head snapped up, and a dead slig fell heavily from the opening above, flicking blood in all directions. The body was barely identifiable; all its face tentacles had been wrenched off, and its metal pants had been abandoned so that the body would be easier to carry. Still, it was food, and it smelled delicious.
Nedd swung down easily from the hole in the vents, licking blood away from his mouth. He sat down on the rafter and tore an arm off the body, pulling away its flesh with his teeth. It was salty, and still warm. Just the way he liked it.
Nedd grabbed Lady by the scruff and dropped her carelessly over the ledge. She yelped as she hit the ground, but quickly got to her feet, otherwise unharmed. Nedd sprang from the rafters, landing on his feet. Ignoring Lady completely, he continued on his way, the mangled slig corpse over his shoulder. The scent of blood set off a chain reaction in the basement. Slogs wandered over from all directions, tails wagging excitedly and their mouths dripping with hunger. With a feral hiss Nedd scared them off.
Nedd reached his destination; a door with a metal pipe sticking out of the doorknob.
“Hey!” he barked, rapping the door smartly with his knuckles. “You still alive in there?”
Y-you! A startled shriek came from behind the door. A loud thunk followed as Ian threw himself against the door.
STOP THIS! LET ME GO!
Nedd trailed his fingers down the metal. “What’s the magic word?” He asked calmly, chewing thoughtfully on some more slig meat.
STOP! Ian repeated shrilly. His voice sounded slightly slurred. Nedd recalled what he had learned about cylonite from his days working with it; it drove its victims crazy after enough time. Nedd had already seen it happening to his slogs; they were becoming more and more wild, and were obviously disoriented, never responding to Nedd’s commands. Nedd figured the same law applied to interns.
“Stop? Stop what?" Nedd laughed.
No reply.
“What, are you stupid? Can’t you talk?”
No reply again.
Nedd shrugged and got up from where he was slouched. “Suit yourself.” He said uninterestedly, daintily licking blood from his fingers. He stashed the rest of the slig meat in the rafters above his head and left, his feet not even making a sound.
<~{.epidemic.}~>
The next morning was slow and uninteresting for Dan; the only thing of consideration that had happened was that a slig had gone missing, but nobody else seemed concerned about it, so it was quickly forgotten.
“Now,” Durc explained, pointing to a chart behind his back. He was trying to explain a stuplified version of what Helix had told him two nights ago. Dan thought it made explaining even harder. Even with the bright, overly-inviting colors they had chosen to display it, nobody seemed interested. “I’m gonna make this as simple as possible. Due to a bunch of messed-up, uhm, complications of some sort, it turns out Nedd’s not gonna die as soon as planned.”
A groan swept through the guard tower. Dan raised an eyebrow. ‘Planned?’
Durc smiled. “But we’re not gonna let that stop us from doing our job; kicking his ass and protecting the ship’s inhabitants from harm.” he crossed his arms. “Now, as you should’ve guessed, Nedd living longer means that we’ll need to work twice as hard to kill him. Thats why I’m issuing a new set of patrols.”
Oh no, Dan heard Red groan.
“From now on we’ll all have to do our part to protect the ship.” Dan doubted what he really meant by ‘we.’ “From now on, night patrols will be doubled. Twice the guards in twice the locations, working twice the hours they worked before. Now, I’ve gotten word that many of you have been sleeping on the job, so from now on each of you will be wearing a device that releases an electric shock if---”
“I must say,” said a critical, posh voice from the back of the crowd. “You’re methods are quite unorthodox.”
“Vhern.” Durc shuddered venomously under his breath. Everyone turned.
Vhern forced his way calmly through the crowd, his bodyguards at his sides. He adjusted his glasses as he shoved Dan and Red aside like a miniature tank. “I do hope I’m not interrupting this...?”
“Important announcement.” Durc growled.
Vhern shrugged. “Forgive me.” He said with a careless motion of his hand. “Please, do continue. I’m just here to observe.”
Vhern sat back in a chair by the wall, his clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other. Durc continued speaking, and Vhern was already writing, humming quietly to himself.
“As I was saying,” Durc said bitterly, “I’ve been forced to change our schedule quite significantly. We will now have patrols set up in the Sickbay, Bridge, Main Intersection, Upper Deck, and Cabins. We’ll also be adding extra patrols to the Mortuary and Middle Deck, and getting rid of the Cafeteria patrol...”
“Is this permanent, or just temporary?” Vhern interrupted yet again. Durc shot him a loathing look.
“Temporary.” he replied quickly. “The patrol hours will vary from eight to one and from ten to six...”
“And you’ve thought this through all the way, correct?” Vhern asked, pausing from writing.
Durc blinked slowly. “Yes.” he breathed, crossing his arms. “Yes, I have thought this through.”
“Okay.” Vhern grumbled, writing even faster. “No need to get argumentative.”
Durc looked as though he were about to say something extremely rude, but managed to contain himself. “The list of who will be patrolling where and when will be up for viewing here in the guard tower tomorrow, which is also when the adjustments will take affect. Now we have a more important matter to talk about.” His eyes darkened. “Baiting our trap.”
Dan’s head snapped up, a curious look in his eyes. ‘Huh?’
Durc paced slowly back and forth, the crowd watching his every move. “Nedd’s put up with us this long. He can’t hide in the basement forever. He needs food. If we can lure him out and into our trap, then we’ll have him in no time.” Durc stopped pacing. “We need bait.”
“He eats sligs!” some slig actually said. “Use a slig.”
“Oh! Brilliant! Any volunteers?” Durc scanned the crowd. “No?”
Dan rolled his eyes. Durc was being particularly nasty today; he was probably on edge from what Helix had told him.
“Well,” Durc said smugly, crossing his arms. “No more suggestions, eh? I guess we’re all screwed then.” he leaned closer to the crowd. They leaned away instinctively. “But don’t worry. Its not so bad. Twelve months isn’t so long. You’d better just hope its not your bones Nedd’s snacking on during the wait.”
“Hold it,” Vhern said suddenly, lowering his clipboard. He stared at Durc from behind his wide glasses. “Did you say twelve months?”
Durc scoffed. “Uh, yeah, twelve months. Pay attention.”
“How do you know that?”
“A little birdie told me.” Durc said sarcastically, turning away. Vhern leaned back in his chair, looking perplexed. “Now, as I was saying,” Durc said, coughing into his hand. “We need bait. I originally thought about sending a squad or two in there to lure him out...”
Dan and Red looked at each other, surprised.
“...but then I thought that you’d all be anti-basement or some crap after the basements... happenings.” he coughed. “Opinions? Anyone? Come on, we’ve used up all our plans, don’t leave me hanging here!”
The basement sounds good. Dan said quickly, elbowing Red roughly in the ribs.
Yeah! Red gasped, backing him up.
Yeah, that sounds okay! I’m up for it!
A few murmurs of approval came from the back of the crowd. Dan heard some doubtful voices, but he didn’t blame them; they had a good reason to fear the basement.
Durc sighed. “Whatever floats your boat. Basement patrol it is.”
“You’re sending all your guards into a deathtrap.” Vhern said, tapping his claws thoughtfully together.
“Yeah, but its nothing they aren’t used to.” Durc grumbled, leaning against the wall behind him and rubbing his eyes. “I need some aspirin.” he looked over at the crowd. “What, you’re still here? Clear out! I need my thinking space!”
The roomful of guard shuffled out uneasily, leaving Durc with the plans for the attack. Dan sighed as they filed into the elevator.
We should tell him about Ian.
Are you insane? Red hissed.
Can you imagine what he would do? Can you imagine what he would do to us?
Dan looked away shamefully. The situation was no longer just about Ian, but about Dan and Red, too.
You’re right. he said weakly as the lift groaned downwards.
Sadly.