As the rest of the crew is busy with the upcoming engine test, Martin, Ramón and Samuel gather around the entrance of the compartment. They plan to uncover as much as possible within their limited time. Martin stays on watch, while Ramón and Samuel go inside.
Martin
All clear. Go, go!
Samuel
I wish you could come along, Martin! Perhaps you'd grow a pair! Ándale, Ramón!
Ramón
Relax, ese. I'm right behind you. [Ramón adjusts his mask before following Samuel inside]
Samuel
Alright. Didn't faint yet, Ramón? Check the living room. Didn't had time to check it out last time. I'll check the bedrooms and the kitchen.
Ramón
Alright...
Samuel sweeps the floor, and finds a bump in it. He wipes the dust away with his hands, revealing a safe.
Samuel
Ah! Would you look at that! I found a safe, pendejos! We're rich! Hahaha-hah! Martin, get me the plasma cutter.
Martin
Here it is. Be quick with it. [Martin stretches his arm into the compartment, handing the cutter to Samuel]
Samuel slices the safe's door open. The door falls into the safe and he promptly removes the door before it damages its contents. The safe remained locked for a good time, and everything inside it looks clean.
Samuel
Dios mio! Are those credit cards? Hell yeah, hombres! We're filthy rich! - There's a PDA here too. Hope it has bank passwords! Martin, hold these and hide them. [Samuel gives the safe's contents to Martin through the opening]
Ramón
Nice find, ese! [Ramón moves from the living room] I think I found a terminal. It's filthy, but it should work. There might be things of interest there too...
Samuel
Patience, patience! First things first, eh? We'll check that out later. I'm starting to smell the corpses again. Let's get out of here.
Ramón
Yeah... lead the way.
Returning from the compartment, the crew checks their findings. From the safe, they find four sirius credit cards and a PDA. Samuel gives the PDA to Martin. After cleaning the dust off it, he attempts to boot the device... and it does. The safe preserved it well. They all lean in to see what the surprisingly passwordless device hides. Martin quickly goes through the device, checking the camera's roll. Family pictures... Samuel was right about them being related. Pet photos... and then, something unusual catches their eyes:
A corrupted picture of a strange light down the very same hallway the compartment was found on.
Ramón
I told you, Martin! This ship is f***** up, ese!
Martin
Cabrón, look at the picture. [He taps the screen] Camera's messed up. Could just be a floor light or something.
Samuel
Ay, that doesn't explains how the other pictures are just fine - and this is the last one on the roll.
Martin
****. Fine. I'll upload this picture to everyone's PDA after I manage to extract it. Whatever this is, we'll figure it out.
Samuel
Why us, holmes? That ain't your business.
Martin
I wouldn't trust the ISA with this. Anyhow, we're already screwed. At least we got the credit cards...
Samuel
True... So... One credit card for each of us, huh? What we do with the fourth one?
Ramón
Ah! The foreman is going to love this one. Might be our ticket to safety.
Samuel
Ah. Juarez. That guy. Fine. Not keen on losing my job so soon.
Martin
Come on. Let's go. We meet again at the cafeteria. I'll see if I can report something to the foreman.
Martin reports to foreman Juarez their usual maintenance work, and is cleared for his one hour rest. He uses a few minutes of his time to extract the image from the datapad and share it with Ramón and Samuel. Half an hour later, they meet up at the cafeteria as agreed.
Martin
Good to see you guys here. Take a seat. I've noticed something interesting...
Ramón
What is it, Martin? I took a good look at it in my quarters, but I saw nothing different.
Samuel
Me neither. The image's too messed up!
Martin
It isn't about the image itself, amigos. I managed to decode its metadata. All other images in the PDA are from before 828, but this image was taken on 831. One year after the Teide was salvaged...
Samuel
What?! That's impossible. Did you check its storage drive? Thing might be corrupted, too.
Martin
No... I don't think so. If the drive was corrupted, we shouldn't have been able to access it in the first place.
Ramón
This does not make sense... Wait, you think someone else has been there before us?
Martin
That's a no for that, too. Look around the.... sphere. The hallway looks well preserved. Remember how the ISA burned the ship inside out to clear toxic gases? In 831 that hallway was completely burnt. Here, it looks good as new. See?
Samuel
Well, ese... it could be a different ship. Have you thought about that?
Martin
Hmm... Could be a possibility. But there's too many coincidences. Doesn't explains a whole lot on how the image got in this specific datapad, if that's the case. It's just... too out of place, entender?
Ramón
Dios mio. Alright... Hey, hermanos... I found a terminal back there, remember? It might still work. But we have to check it with the putrid smells and all. We've got to go back. There might me answers there.
Martin
Shit. I hate that place...
Samuel
Come on, Martin! We'll need you this time. You got no choice, senõrita!
Martin
[Inhales deeply] Fine. I'll go. Tomorrow?
Ramón
Sounds good. Tomorrow. I'll also try doing something about the foreman. [He flashes the credit card]
The group disperses after finishing their rations. Ramón plans on bribing the foreman, while the other two head towards their quarters.
Work on the starboard secondary engine array has been steady and within schedule for the next propulsion test. Despite the slight delay caused by the unfortunate death of a worker, the ISA has been directing its workers efficiently. A small stock decrease followed, but the executives are confident the next test is going to be a success, thanks to the invaluable insights brought by the engine schematics and premium Kusari parts.
The next day, early shift. Before meeting the group, Ramón heads towards the responsible for maintenance in the life support module: foreman Juárez. A veteran engineer and shipbuilder with military experience from his younger days. He is seen as cold and direct, feared by most under his watch. Ramón takes his time to prepare and make up his words before confronting Juarez, with the credit card on his pocket as a back-up.
Ramón
Foreman Juárez.
Foreman Juárez
Technician Ramón. I've been expecting a report. Has the problem in hallway twelve been resolved?
Ramón
Huh. About that... the problem is bigger than what we expected. We've been clearing the waste compartment for days, but there's still a presence of methane beyond acceptable levels. Biohazards are still present. It's difficult to remove them without taking care of the gasses first. We'll need to isolate the hallway to ventilate the gasses out, then destroy the biohazard using lasers.
Foreman Juárez
Mhm. Remind me. The "biohazard"... What kind of it?
Ramón
[He looks left and right before answering] Bacteria and fungi that grew around the toxic waste deposited in the compartment... Dangerous to have, especially in the life support module.
Foreman Juárez
Uh-huh. I see. What else do you need?
Ramón
An air pump and covers. That's all.
Foreman Juárez
I'll get that sorted out. I'll send someone over to deliver within the hour. Anything else?
Ramón
No, foreman. That's all. I better get back to work. [Ramón nods before leaving]
Ramón is convinced his diversion tactic worked. The gasses, despite being present, are in very low concentration. The biohazard is limited to the decaying corpses, which can act as a proof. Ramón is not proud of what he did: lying to an authority is very shunned upon, but it should reward the group with the time they need to uncover the secrets the compartment hide.
He meets the group in hallway twelve, telling them what he did. Martin and Samuel call Ramón crazy, but agree that Ramón's lie will buy them a good amount of time. They prepare the hallway to set a "stage" to receive the air pump and covers, reinforcing Ramón's claims. twenty minutes later, the requested equipment arrives and the group tries to not raise any suspicion by looping around Ramón's lie. They are quick to warn the delivery team to leave the area as soon as possible because of the problems, and they do. The group quickly conceal their operations with the cover sheets and uses the noise of the air pump to muffle whatever they do inside the compartment.
Martin stays outside on watch, faking work by handling liquid containers and boxes. Meanwhile, Samuel and Ramón move into the living room to extract the terminal's data drive. Ramón manages to eject the drive with Samuel's help, and advises him to create evidence and proof of his lie, in case the foreman comes to see their progress. Samuel collects "evidence" by extracting samples of the rotten corpses as "Biohazard", and uses his multisensor to collect electronic samples of the putrid gasses emanating from the corpses.
Samuel, after finishing his "gathering of evidence", warns the group that the foreman should be growing increasingly suspicious by each passing day, and they should clean the compartment and hide the corpses. Martin reluctantly agrees, while Ramón takes his time to mentally prepare. They finish their shift with the locations the bodies were found cleaned, with the corpses themselves hidden in the bathroom. They also move the furniture and hull panels around to make the compartment look like a true waste disposal, not a living space. Exhausted, Martin is tasked with decrypting the data drive and revealing its contents, as the only one with enough technical ability to do so. The others head to their living quarters aboard Rhodes to rest.
Three workers did not return to their quarters at the end of their shift. A search team was dispatched for two hours before being recalled, but none of them were found. No reports of accidents were made that day. Under the suspicion of sabotage or theft, the ISA launches an investigation to trace the possible location of the workers. What confuses the security enforcers is that the workers have nothing in common: They work in different modules, have no similarity in their skills or know each other. The agency did not publicly announce their disappearance.
To everyone's surprise, the next engine test was delayed by the dock master for unknown reasons. The crew consisting of Martin, Ramón and Samuel gather at the Rhodes cafeteria, awaiting until their next shift starts. The cafeteria is noisier than usual, with the presence of enforcers being a bad omen for all the workers. Martin is the last to arrive, sitting on their table with nervousness.
Martin
Hombres! Hombres! Dios Mio, you wo-
Samuel
Shh! Ese, shut up! Look how much muscle is around! Don't get them suspicious!
Ramón
You know what is going on, Samuel?
Samuel
Cabrón... they pull out the muscles when something happens. Some smartass might've stolen something...
Martin
Hu-huh? Do you think it has something to do with us?
Samuel
Amigo, if it was us, we wouldn't be talking right now.
Ramón
What do they want? Engine test is supposed to be today. It was cancelled on our schedule.
Samuel
No idea. Like I said... they might be looking for someone... Oh. Si, Martin. What is it?
Martin
I've managed to extract some files from the terminal's data drive... I found a journal file. From the soldier. All from 831!
Samuel
Mierda... so the date from the picture we dug up is accurate?
Martin
Si... basically.
Ramón
The hell?
Martin
You heard nothing yet... I took a quick read off the journal. It seems the old crew of the ship went crazy after reaching Omega 5. Mutiny, perhaps. This guy and his family went into hiding in the compartment, until the mutiny calmed down.
Samuel
Hm. Yeah. That explains a lot of the stuff we saw... But why did they stay there?
Martin
That's the thing... the mutiny never stopped. One by one, they starved. The journal ends with laments of him saying how he could not save his family. This explains the hole in his skull. He killed himself. There's also several mentions of a strange light looming around the ship's hallways.
Ramón
So... I was right. This ship's haunted. Cursed... Mierda. I never thought I would work on a haunted ship.
Samuel
Psst! Enforcer's coming. Act normal!
Enforcer
Good morning, Senõres. We're looking for three people: Enrique Durán, Marco Arriaga and Noelia Prado. Do these names sound familiar?
Ramón
No... No, senõr. Never heard of them.
Enforcer
Of course. Continue with your meal. [He leaves towards another table]
Samuel
Let's finish up, quickly. We get out of here before they start asking too many questions.
The crew keeps a low profile for the remainder of their mealtime. After finishing, they proceed to hallway twelve of the life support system, but are barred by enforcers. They're told to wait until further orders from management. They look at each other, turning their backs to their enforcers and dispersing to avoid drawing suspicion.
Almost half of a shift's time later, Martin, Ramón and Samuel are finally called in. Their shift officially starts. Down the way towards the life support compartment, they regroup. Strangely, they don't meet many people along the way.
Martin
Something's off. Where's everyone? I know most of the work is being made on the engines, but some are supposed to be down here with us too...
Samuel
Poor eses. Enforcers might've caught up to them. Asking questions until they run out of words.
Ramón
I don't like this. At all. We should be careful.
They arrive at hallway twelve, just outside the entrance to the hidden compartment. They agree they've collected all that is worth collecting for the time being, and make plans for cleaning up the place and sealing the entrance semi-permanently, at least until the enforcers are recalled. As they reluctantly discuss on how to dispose of the bodies, they're surprised by foreman Juárez, with an escort of two enforcers.
Ramón
Foreman! Señor! W-what's needed? We're almost done here.
Foreman Juárez
They say that a criminal always returns to the crime scene, eh?
Samuel
Juarez... what the hell are you on about? You loco?
Foreman Juárez
Don't mistake me for a fool, pendejo. [Juárez raises his tone, as he unholsters a riot control pistol] Tell me! Who are you working for? Which família is it?
Samuel
You lost it, Juarez... What are you even talking about?!
Foreman Juárez
Do you think I'm a fool? I was here earlier. You think I wouldn't recognize the smell of rotting corpses? Just when we have workers missing?
Ramón
Senõr Juarez! It's nothing like that! We can explai-
Foreman Juárez
And all under my f****** nose. Jesus! The guts on you porcos!
Martin
F-foreman! Señor! Those aren't the workers you are looking for!
Foreman Juárez
Treacherous bastard! [Juárez shoots Martin in the leg, the concussion shattering his tibia] And a liar, too!
Martin
Aah- Pendejo! [Martin falls on the floor, prompting Ramón and Samuel to raise their hands]
Samuel
You're f****** crazy, Juarez. Always knew you were loco!
The lights flicker just as Juarez takes aim on Samuel. The hallway would be completely silent if it wasn't for Martin's pained grunts. Soon after, mechanical thumps and electrical arcs are heard, and the lights shut off completely. The enforcers turn on their flashlights and scan the hallway, taking defensive positions. Juarez keeps aim on Samuel and Ramón, but once noticing they are as confused as him, he joins the enforcers on defending the hallway, expecting an ambush. Seconds pass and no new noises are heard. Suddenly, a bright blue-purple light approaches them from the end of the corridor. The enforcers and Juarez take aim. The mysterious light slowly approaches them without making a single noise. Samuel grabs Martin by his suit and drags him back, making the others follow. They keep backing up until they reach the cover sheets the explorers laid down earlier. With nowhere to retreat, the enforcers look at each other and agree to open fire. Before they do, a bright flash blinds them and the group.
Foreman Juárez
Ack! Mierda! [Juárez covers his eyes]
The group regains sight one by one. As they open their eyes, they notice the ominous light is gone, and the hallway is lit again. Juárez checks the enforcers, placing his hand on one of them, but he is pushed away, falling on his back.
Foreman Juárez
What's wrong with you?! It's me, Juárez!
To his surprise, both enforcers ready their rifles against Juárez and the rest. Angered, Juárez quickly grabs his gun and fires at the closest enforcer, to no effect.
Foreman Juárez
F****** traitors!
Enforcer Death to those who desecrate...
Juárez's eyes widen as he wears the whir of the enforcers' rifles before being gunned down. Martin, Ramón, and even the hardened Samuel, react in terror as the hallway is painted with his blood. Samuel tackles the closest enforcer before they were given the chance to fire at him and his friends, but is killed by the other enforcer. Ramón seizes the opportunity to grab Juárez's bloodied pistol and fires against the enforcer that killed Samuel. By sheer luck, the impact round finds an unprotected gap between the enforcer's helmet and body armor, breaking his neck with a concussive explosion. Ramón dives on the floor and fires his last bullets at the remaining enforcer, which knocks him down. He throws away Juárez's pistol and takes the dead enforcer's rifle, but with no experience handling such firearm, he takes a moment to fire his first round. Unfortunately, that is enough time for the enforcer to ready his rifle and fire back at Ramón, and both are struck by gunfire.
Martin, terrified and alone, panics. His visor is completely fogged by his rapid breathing and can't see much. He almost passes out because of hyperventilation, but a radio call from the foreman's communicator makes him snap back to reality. Martin gathers his strengths and crawls towards the body of Juárez, grabbing the communicator. With a panicked voice, he shouts for help, before passing out from blood loss and shock.
The code "red-black" was issued across the ship and ISA's facilities aboard Rhodes. Announced by two long alarm sirens, the code signifies the immediate and indefinite cease of operations. Workers left their tools and workplaces and returned station-side in a rush. Most do not know the motive behind the termination, but earwitnesses claim there was a shooting in the lower parts of the ship. Rumors of sabotage were quick to spread, with news catching up to executives and shareholders before an official statement.
The board of shareholders were quick to protest, with the ISA not being able to answer all their questions. It is only known that there has been a shooting that left five dead and one wounded. The ISA promises to launch an investigation to determine the causes of the incident as quickly as possible - a multi-million project can not stand idle for too long, especially in the case of the Teide, requiring significant efforts in daily maintenance.
After a couple of days, a meeting with the board of directors and major shareholders is underway with preliminary investigation results. With the project halted, animosity and nervousness is high among all ranks.
Halcón, major shareholder with 74% shares on the project, is debriefed first aboard the ISA's executive offices in Rhodes. He is greeted by Villalba and Salazar, both high profile figures working for the ISA.
Villalba
Greetings, señor Halcón. My name is Alvaro Villalba, chief of operations. [He gives Halcón a handshake]
Salazar
Saludos! Call me Salazar, Bruno. Dockmaster. [He also shakes Halcón's hand]
Halcón
Gentlemen, I hope there is good news.
Villalba
Take a seat before we initiate discussions.
Halcón
Of course... [Halcón sits, expecting the worst]
Salazar
You're aware by now of the shooting incident, señor Halcón. Five dead on the lower decks.
Halcón
[He nods]
Salazar
We initially thought it was a sabotage attempt by another family, but it isn't the case. If I told you it was sabotage, believe or not, would be good news. Villalba?
Villalba
We've recovered the sensor footage of the enforcers that were present. It was no sabotage or mutiny, but a close encounter with some sort of anomaly.
Halcón
Nomads?!
Villalba
Mostly likely, as our expert claimed. Which is very worrying. Salazar will explain more.
Salazar
The official records were edited. We did not recover the ship in Omega-5, but at the very edge of Gamma. The ship was in a state of internal devastation, as if an entire war was fought within the ship. A quick analysis was made to uncover the cause of such tremendous mutiny, but it was inconclusive. It happened suddenly, without motive.
Halcón
[Halcón looks at them not surprised, as if he already knew]
Salazar
...Our experts fear that the nomads had something to do with the ship's disappearance and internal struggle. They say that another "struggle" is about to happen. We don't know how or why now, but it is.
Villalba
The anomaly, codename "Rosalinda", is believed to be the cause. Some sort of psionic xenoweapon.
Salazar
We can't continue with the project with such threat. We already have six dead, one injured, three missing, one in custody. A witnesses, a technician, is under medical surveillance. He is in shock, so, we couldn't extract any information from him.
Halcón
[Halcón shrugs and looks around in desbelief] So, what are we going to do? [He lets out a nervous laugh]
Villalba
I've already contacted our xeno experts to find a way to get rid of it. It'll take some time... Which is far from optimal. We don't have much knowledge about it.
Halcón
Hm. I might know someone who can help... I must go. Sooner we deal with this, the better. We're already losing too much money.
Not even the ISA's detailist risk analysts could predict the event that unfolded: Unexplained behavior from the crew that culminated into a bloody shooting. When the Reasoner's preliminary analysis concluded, everyone was confident that the ship "only" suffered from a particularly violent mutiny or internal sabotage after a failed jump hole transit. With absolute no suspicion - and evidence - of Nomad intervention, no countermeasures or response plans were ever implemented. Such devastating, unexpected variable sent the ISA into full damage control, creating narratives to explain the events. Whatever they come up with will not help the Project's state: Motionless. The Teide requires thorough attention at all times via maintenance and corrective work. Without that, chances of disaster increase every passing cycle.
ISA's most trusted were assigned to find solutions to eliminate or control the Nomad psyweapon - by any means necessary.
![[Image: martin.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/r7rQ8QQ/martin.jpg)
![[Image: samuel.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/Fbd9frZ/samuel.jpg)
![[Image: ramon.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/Ss9yFvT/ramon.jpg)
![[Image: anomaly.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/jGNRrN4/anomaly.jpg)
![[Image: fuelpumps.png]](https://i.ibb.co/MntFgFF/fuelpumps.png)
![[Image: foremanjuarez.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/dWZV0t2/foremanjuarez.jpg)
![[Image: 3group.png]](https://i.ibb.co/frWCQGc/3group.png)
![[Image: enforcer.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/3sQtnwh/enforcer.jpg)
![[Image: projecthalt.png]](https://i.ibb.co/PWTqJ86/projecthalt.png)
![[Image: villalba.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/hYStyft/villalba.jpg)
![[Image: salazar.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/5MbW6pP/salazar.jpg)
![[Image: halconundercover.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/ygm9mSZ/halconundercover.jpg)
![[Image: scientist.png]](https://i.ibb.co/B6KXB7k/scientist.png)