The ventilation shaft was tighter than Elias had expected. He crawled forward on elbows and knees, the metal cold against his palms. Behind him, chaos erupted in Laboratory Four—shouts, the crash of equipment, a single gunshot. Someone screamed, the sound cutting off abruptly.
He forced hisself to move faster.
The shaft branched ahead. Elias paused, listening for any clue which way to go. Left would take him deeper into the research deck. Right seemed to angle upward, possibly toward the main corridor. He chose right, hoping to find a way out of the increasingly dangerous research section.
Emergency lights pulsed red along the shaft''s seams. Through small grates, he glimpsed fragments of the nightmare unfolding below: researchers barricading doors, security personnel with weapons drawn, and in one horrifying moment, a man convulsing on the floor as black veins spread visibly across his face.
Elias reached a junction where the shaft widened enough for him to sit up. He took a moment to catch his breath and orient himself. According to the ship schematics he''d glanced at during orientation, Laboratory Seven should be two sections forward of his current position. That''s where he''d find Maren—Dr. Soren Varek in this scenario.
A thunderous boom shook the entire ship. Elias braced himself against the walls as the lights flickered. That wasn''t just equipment failing. Something had exploded.
Scrabbling noises behind him. Something moving in the shafts.
He didn''t wait to see what it was.
Elias pushed forward rapidly, no longer concerned with stealth. The ventilation system led to a larger circulation hub. From here, he could see down through a wide grate into what appeared to be a central corridor. Bodies lay scattered across the floor. Not all of them were motionless.
One figure in particular caught his eye—a woman in a lab coat backing slowly down the corridor, a makeshift weapon raised. Even from above, Elias recognized Maren''s distinctive movements. She was alive, and fighting.
"Behind you!" he shouted, forgetting caution.
Maren spun, swinging a broken microscope stand without hesitation at a lurching figure that had emerged from a doorway. The heavy metal base connected with the corrupted crew member''s head, but it barely slowed. Black fluid leaked from the wound as it continued advancing.
Elias kicked at the grate. It didn''t budge. He kicked again, harder, ignoring the pain in his foot. The grate loosened. One more solid kick and it fell, clattering to the floor below.
"Up here!" he called.
Maren glanced up, eyes widening in recognition. Without lowering her improvised weapon, she backed toward his position.
"There''s more coming," she said, voice steady despite the chaos. "Whatever was in Laboratory Three, it''s spreading. Fast."
"Can you reach me?" Elias stretched his arm down through the opening.
Maren tossed aside her makeshift weapon and jumped, catching his hand. With strength born of desperation, Elias pulled her up into the ventilation hub. They collapsed together against the metal wall, both breathing hard.
"Four dead in my laboratory," Maren said after a moment. "Maybe more by now. They''re not just dying—their changing."
"I saw it in Laboratory Four too. One of the researchers, Sornik, was experimenting on himself with the corruption samples." Elias peered down through the grate. The corridor was filling with more shambling figures. "Have you seen any of the others?"
"Officer Braun—Keldric—was coordinating security on the upper deck last I heard. I passed him when I was running from my lab. Haven''t seen Lyra or any of the rest." She ran a hand through her short hair, leaving a smear of something dark. "What is this place, Elias? Is this real?"
"Real enough that we can die here," he replied. "Whatever''s happening on this ship, we need to stick together to survive it."
A shuddering groan echoed through the metal around them. The ship itself seemed to be in pain.
"Come on," Elias said, pointing to one of the branching pathways. "Laboratory Seven isn''t far. We need to check for others, then find a way to the bridge."
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They moved quickly through the ventilation system, following Maren''s more detailed knowledge of the ship''s layout. Twice they stopped to avoid areas where the metal had began to warp strangely, black crystalline formations growing from the seams.
"The corruption''s spreading through the ventilation system," Maren whispered. "That''s why it moved so fast."
They reached a grate overlooking Laboratory Seven. The scene below was grim—equipment destroyed, dark fluid splattered across workstations. Three bodies in lab coats were visible, none moving.
"My colleagues," Maren said tightly. "They didn''t make it."
A sudden movement near an overturned cabinet caught their attention. A woman in a lab coat was huddled underneath, trembling visibly.
"That''s not one of mine," Maren said, squinting. "Different division."
The woman looked up as if sensing their gaze. Elias immediately recognized her face despite the different clothing and hairstyle.
"It''s Etta," he whispered. "The farm girl."
They removed the grate as quietly as possible and dropped down into the laboratory. Etta flinched at their approach, brandishing a broken piece of equipment.
"Stay back!" she warned, eyes wide with terror.
"Etta, it''s us," Elias said, keeping his voice low. "Elias and Maren. From Valtaros."
Recognition dawned slowly on her face. "You''re... you''re the others. The chosen ones." She lowered her makeshift weapon. "They called me Botanist Hayes here. I was inspecting the hydroponics systems when the alarms went off."
"Are you hurt?" Maren asked, checking her for signs of corruption.
"No, just scared. I hid in here when I saw what was happening in the corridor." Etta shuddered. "People turning into... I don''t know what. Monsters."
"We need to move," Elias said, glancing nervously at the laboratory door. Its reinforced glass window showed shadows moving in the corridor outside. "We''re trying to reach the bridge. The captain mentioned gathering survivors there in her announcement."
"There''s an emergency stairwell two sections over," Maren said. "If we can reach it, we might be able to bypass the worst of the corruption."
The crash at the laboratory door made them all jumped. Black tendrils were forcing their way through the seal around the frame.
"Back to the vents," Elias urged, helping Etta toward their entry point.
They had just reached the ventilation shaft when the laboratory door burst open. What entered was no longer recognizable as human. Multiple crew members had fused together into a grotesque mass of limbs and torsos, black veins pulsing beneath partially transparent skin. Where faces should have been, there were only crystalline growths that seemed to sense their presence despite having no visible eyes.
"Go!" Maren shouted, grabbing a nearby fire extinguisher and discharging it at the monstrosity.
The freezing chemicals struck the creature, temporarily slowing its advance as crystalline protrusions frosted over then began to thaw almost immediately. It lurched forward with surprising speed.
Elias boosted Etta into the vent, then reached down for Maren. She threw the empty extinguisher at the creature before jumping for his hand. He caught her wrist just as a tendril lashed out, wrapping around her ankle.
"Don''t let go!" she gasped as the creature pulled.
Elias gripped her wrist with both hands, bracing himself against the opening. Etta grabbed his legs from behind, anchoring him.
"I can''t hold—" Elias began.
The tendril suddenly released as a new figure burst into the laboratory, slashing at the creature with what appeared to be a standard-issue security baton that glowed with unnatural blue light.
"Officer Braun!" Maren exclaimed.
Keldric—or Officer Braun in this scenario—fought with practiced precision, each strike of his transformed baton severing tendrils that blackened and withered upon contact.
"Get to the bridge!" he shouted, not looking up as he continued his assault. "Captain Markov is gathering survivors. I''ll hold it here!"
"Not without you," Maren called back, reaching toward him.
"I''ll be right behind you," Keldric promised, though the grim set of his jaw suggested otherwise. "Go! Now!"
Elias pulled Maren the rest of the way into the vent. They crawled rapidly away from the opening, the sounds of combat fading behind them.
"We can''t just leave him," Etta whispered, tears streaming down her face.
"He''s buying us time," Elias said, though the words tasted bitter. "Best way to honor that is to use it."
They navigated the increasingly treacherous ventilation system, avoiding growing corruption nodes wherever possible. Eventually, they reached a maintenance hatch that opened onto a emergency stairwell.
"Bridge is four decks up," Maren said, catching her breath. "If we''re lucky, the stairwell remains uncompromised."
As they climbed, ship-wide speakers crackled to life. Captain Markov''s voice echoed through the stairwell, strained but commanding:
"Attention all surviving Heraclea personnel. We have lost containment on the research and residential decks. Security teams report multiple breaches. All remaining crew are ordered to converge on the bridge for final protocol implementation. I repeat, all survivors to the bridge immediately."
"Final protocol," Maren repeated quietly. "She''s going to scuttle the ship."
"Can we make it in time?" Etta asked.
Elias looked up the spiraling staircase. "We have to try. There might be other chosen ones already there."
A distant, inhuman scream echoed up from below, followed by the sound of something large moving up the stairwell.
"And we''re not the only ones trying to reach the bridge," Elias added grimly. "Move fast, stay quiet."
They continued their ascent, the sounds of pursuit growing closer with each turning of the stairs. The corruption was following them—hunting them—with a purpose that seemed impossibly intelligent for what should have been mindless contamination.
And somewhere behind them, Elias hoped, Keldric was still fighting, still alive, still finding his way to join them.
But the slum survivor in him, the part that had learned hard truths from earliest childhood, whispered otherwise: Not everyone would make it out of this historical nightmare.
Some lessons came at the highest price.