Dr. Roach woke up in a sweat, bladder ready to explode.
As her eyes darted around the darkness, she came to realize she had one of those dreamless sleeps lasting only a blink of an eye. The clock on the nightstand registered 4:00 am.
It had been two months since Edax HQ launched from earth, and Dr. Roach had completely acclimated to her new life.
In the mornings, she would find Dr. Crocker in his lab and conduct research on potential cures to unravel Edax's RNA strand from its human host. Thus far, Roach had successfully made a virus that targeted the alien base pairs (labeled Z and X) Edax used to bond with AT and GC. This detached Edax and prevented it from reattaching, but the process proved fatal when used on samples taken from Tom. Although Edax could be cut away on a molecular level, the resulting strand would coil like barbed wire and strangle its host's DNA until it pulverized and chopped it up. Inspired by this result, Roach recently began investigating how to weaken the structure of Edax itself, or perhaps even dissolve it altogether.
Midday, she would go out and take a walk around the ship to remind herself of normalcy. Nearly all those aboard had no idea about what Edax HQ was really up to and none of them appeared suspicious. They were oblivious hard working people working at all levels to keep the ship and the company's facade in good condition. Sometimes, Roach would get curious and ask a stranger about their life, and all she would get in return were happy smiles and pleasant accounts, especially if the person had a child to show off. After many nods and attempts to flee, she'd eventually be asked the same questions, which she always struggled to answer with any enthusiasm.
Around supper, she could be found wandering climate controlled isles of produce, plucking fresh ingredients for the Dog. Roach's relationship with the Dog had improved much, although the Dog still heavily opposed her relationship with the Boss. So, they shared a few hobbies, from chess to punching bags, but, most recently, cooking with chemistry equipment. Apparently, the Dog had been living like a dog and was always fed a constant diet of flavorless rice and overcooked chicken. Disgusted with the Boss's excuses as for why, Roach fired up the Bunsen burners, pulled out the beakers, and treated the Dog to a delicious steak. Needless to say, the Dog cried after one bite.
Then at night, Roach followed the Boss to his favorite spots all around the ship and listened to his ramblings. Anything from someone dying of old age, petty crimes, finances, malfunctions, to interplanetary news and politics, the Edax vented his innermost thoughts to her. Roach didn't mind, nor cared about such subjects, but she found herself wanting to. As her nights were spent with him, whether it be strolling the tight streets of Edax HQ or eating pillow fluff, less could she imagine any future whatsoever.
What would she do?
Go back to committing mass murder for government agencies?
For what? Money? To spend on what? Who, really.
Nothing. No. No one. Nobody was waiting for her to come home.
She huffed once and rolled out of the Boss's mattress gravity well.
On tiptoes, she hurriedly skipped to the bathroom. Once inside, she noticed the Boss had left his phone by the sink and swiped it before she sat down.
With a tap on the screen, a four digit passcode entry appeared.
"Hmm..." Roach hummed, half in thought and half in relief.
She tilted the phone until the light above reflected off its glassy surface. Finger oil revealed itself, and it foretold the passcode was a combination of zero, one, and two.
"Twenty-one O' one?" she guessed, and typed it in.
The screen flashed and showed her a chatroom.
YESTERDAY:
#3:anybody know where two is going?
#8:@two
#2:taking Edax HQ to titan.
#5:we don't have the clearance.
#2:well I do.
#5:turn around.
#7:why didn't you notify us?
#2:it's my ship. I can take it wherever I please.
#6:TWO'S 10% FROM BASELINE.
#2:I'M FINE
#6:then explain this? [neural_tapology_two.png]
#2:new girl aboard the ship. Lot's of fun. Something you wouldn't understand ;)
#9:males always go rogue. two was a mistake.
#5:we have to stop him, you all realize that right?
#2:for the last time, I have permission. do not fuck with me.
#7:think you're going to scare us? keep it up and you're getting neutered.
#2:if anyone's out of baseline, it's all of you. @One wouldn't be this bitchy.
#9:YEAH RIGHT LOL
#1:Why are you going to Titan?
#2:to find the source.
#1:Titan is strictly under military command. It's too risky.
#2:I have an in. Nothing is more important.
#1:at least let us help you
#2:if they hear even a rumor, I'm fucked. Please stay out of this.
#7:if we don't tell them, it's treason.
#2:do what you will, I'm done. Good luck :)
#1:@two please stay and talk this out.
#1:@two
#9:why did you make him?
#1:how about you tell me, nine?
#9:you wanted to know if he'd be different
#7:but we all know you were wondering if he'd be better
#6:how you've remained hopeful I don't know
#4:sorry, ten and I were on a date. Looks like we're in deep shit! What do we do?
#2 REMOVED FROM SERVER.
Dr. Roach turned off the phone, took meticulous care to put it back where it was, and stared at herself in the mirror until everything she read was locked away in the back of her mind. It was a practice she had mastered in her career so no one could sniff out her suspicions.
Once prepared, she walked out and--
The room was filled with moonlight.
"Morning, Roach," the Boss, naked, greeted her with a smile.
He had lifted the iron curtains outside to reveal a viewing window. Saturn and his magnificent rings filled their entire field of view.
"Morning, Boss," she responded, and took his side to get an eyeful of space.
"I wanted us to get a last look at Titan before I engage the shell."
"The shell?" Roach queried.
"The computer detected some debris enroute to Titan. See it there?"
He pointed behind Saturn on its left side, where Roach saw the glowing orb of ghostly yellow-green light. The Boss seemed intoxicated as he stared at it.
"I do."
"Next time we do, we'll be on its surface," he told her, then gave commands to the ship. "Edax, engage the shell and alert the crew we're expecting turbulence."
"Aye, Captain," the ship replied.
Roach gulped as the iron curtains closed.
*****
Dr. Crocker was startled by Roach's eruption as her experiment failed.
"Fuck!" she shouted and pushed her microscope viewing lens away.
"Died again?" he asked with sympathy.
"I don't fucking understand it! Right when Edax begins to decompose, it coils into a ball, eviscerating everything with it. It has tension--"
"As do you," Crocker interjected.
Then he walked behind her and kneaded her shoulders.
"Sorry," she sighed.
"What's wrong?"
Roach couldn't say and she dared not try. There was a twisted pit where her heart should be and it was safer nobody else got tangled in it until she sorted it out.
"I need to clear my head," she muttered and removed herself from Crocker's tenderizing fingers.
She walked out and kept walking. Up, down, and around the birdcage she went, chewing on her cheeks, thinking about the Boss and his messages to his sister clones.
What if he wasn't fine?
What if he was crazy?
What if he was going rogue?
What's on Titan?
There must be a cure.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Roach!"
The black glass muffled Tom's voice.
She didn't respond, but walked to the spectacles receptacle and put them on as she walked back to his cell.
Tom was sitting by his chess board by the glass and gestured for a game, which Roach accepted as she sat cross legged from the psycho.
He played the first move and scratched at his head in agitation.
Roach did not play and instead stared at him emptily.
He caught her gaze and grew intensely serious with worry.
"I. Feel. Itchy." He confessed. "And, it is getting worse as we get closer to Titan."
Roach dismissed him. "Maybe you haven't eaten in a while."
"I've gone without for longer. I feel sick!" Tom hissed. "Edai don't get sick."
"So," she mocked him, "a big rock is causing you pruritus."
Quick to anger, he slammed his fist against the glass.
"It's like there are insects crawling on me, in me--EATING ME!"
When Roach looked away unconvinced, he took a breath and decided to beg instead.
"Just go talk to the others. Please. I can't be the only one."
"Fine," Roach shrugged and went to his neighbor before she could hear his thanks.
Bob the blob was more of a pancake than a blob today, twice his usual diameter. Roach watched for a minute more, but he didn't do anything of interest.
She moved on and knocked on Archbishop Urban's cell.
"Go ahead," he invited her.
On went the glasses, and Roach saw he was painting something new on his easel. It was a triple faced man, the outer faces sharing an eye with the center face, and in front of him was an intricately woven upside down triangle made of triple helices covered in Latin text. The man's halo consisted of three rings, beyond which were scattered orbs of various sizes. The largest orb inhabited the center of the triangle, titled Dues.
"What is it?" Roach asked.
"The Trinity," he replied. "Rule of three."
She frowned for the coincidental reminder.
"Any changes in health since we departed?" she asked medically.
"Departed wouldn't be my word," Urban mused with a smile. "And I feel well."
"Okay," the young doctor acknowledged and left him.
At the next cell, she knocked and dutifully asked, "Presentable?"
"Yes!" screeched the triplets.
So, Roach looked and discovered they had cruelly lied. She closed her eyes, turned her back, and leaned against the glass. Between Tom's desperation, a pancake, disturbing art, and perverted giggling, her mind was white with static.
"I almost feel bad!" shouted one of them.
"Any changes in health since we departed?" Roach asked them numbly.
The triplets went quiet. For the first time ever, they were sober.
"Do you know if they did something to the food?" asked the first.
"Why do you ask?" Roach investigated.
"Eh..." the second began squeamishly. "We're constantly... in heat."
"So, we thought you guys were punishing us or something," said the last.
Roach felt her stomach sink.
"I'll... ask around..." she promised and left them be.
With each encounter came a new sense of dread.
Finally, she knocked on the Dog's door, who quickly opened her own enclosure.
"Yeah?" asked the furry hybrid.
"Any changes in health since we left for Titan?"
The Dog cringed at the question. "No?"
"You sure?"
"You tell me, Roach. We hang out almost every day," she returned, irritated.
Roach gave up with an apathetic, "Sorry."
"What's the matter with you?" the Dog asked. "Did Boss do something?"
"No," the young doctor began to doubt herself.
"Well, okay," the Dog put her hands on her hips, dissatisfied. Then she offered, "Want to spar?"
Roach decided some physical expenditure would be good for herself, so they changed clothes, fitted themselves with padded gloves, and descended to the main floor to have some room. The engineers sitting under their circle of monitors watched them with anticipation.
The Dog was smaller and lighter than Roach, but she was not at all disadvantaged. The Dog was an Edax, thus less brittle and nigh impossible to injure with punches, kicks, and throws. The Dog knew her limits, while Roach knew she didn't have to hold back at all.
Roach led with a kick to the temple, but the Dog dodged it and struck at the attacking thigh. The Dog, height impaired, often went for leg and body shots.
The dull pain livened Roach, who bounced and squared up her opponent until she saw an opening and planted a heel kick squarely on the Dog's chest, who fell back on the ground.
"Nice one," the hybrid groaned as she got on her feet.
Then she attacked.
The ensuing sixty seconds of dancing blows were met with equilibrated force and direction. By skill alone, Roach could see without seeing. Her movements were automatic and synchronized with the Dog's advancements. It was a minute of perfect parries, dodges, and blocks. The young doctor was proud of her progress.
In the thirty seconds after, however, this engine of combat accelerated to unstable speeds.
The Dog kicked through a block, connected to Roach's hip, and sent her stumbling. Relentless, the beast rebounded with a flying kick to the chest, slamming the human into a support pillar. Winded, the woman noticed her opponent had tears and malice in her eyes.
"Let's--" stop, Roach tried to get out, but the Dog put her fist in her abdomen and backhanded her face.
The definitive blow dazed and doubled Roach over on the ground, where she turned on her back to defend herself as she dry-heaved.
Above her, the canine bared her teeth with dark trails of fur under her eyes. Her fists were clenched and her breathing was heavy.
"W-why?" Roach croaked.
Something in the Dog broke through her anger and couldn't accept what she'd done, so she wept and scurried off to her cell to hide from it.
"Fuck is happening?" Roach muttered to herself hysterically.
"You okay?" an engineer dumbly asked from behind his desk.
The woman, supported by the pillar, got to her feet and stumbled towards the lab, giving a thumbs up to the engineer.
Upon entering, Dr. Crocker dropped what he was doing and hurriedly attended to the battered Roach.
"Are you okay?!" he dumbly asked. "Who did this to you?!"
"Nevermind that," she responded.
"'Nevermind that,'" he scoffed as he filled a bag with ice. "You should see your fucking face. I'm calling the Boss."
"Do not do that."
"Why not?" he asked expectantly as he put the ice bag to her swollen cheek.
"It would only disturb him further. Something is wrong with all the Edai. We must cure them before they go insane."
"Are you telling me," Crocker asked seriously, "the Boss is going rogue?"
"Worse!" Roach snarled at him. "Now shut up and help me."
"Perhaps we should kill them with the virus while we can," he suggested.
"No!" She slapped away the ice pack and grabbed the old man by the collar. "I'm going to save them, Crocker. You understand? I'm not killing everyone again."
Crocker sighed, "Fine, have it your way."
When Roach was satisfied and let go of him, he picked up the ice pack and reapplied it to reduce her swelling.
Swelling, she thought.
"What's Tom's core temperature?" she asked curiously.
"105. Why?"
"Samples too?"
"Yep. Edax likes it hot."
"Ever heard of nitinol?"
Crocker recalled it was "The metal that reverts to its original shape?"
"When it's heated, yeah. Maybe if we cool Edax, it won't coil."
"Worth a try, I suppose. Hold this, I'll set it up."
She held the ice to her face and watched as he put a fresh sample on the Petri dish. He fumbled a bit about what to do next, and decided to grab a temperature reader. He walked with both in hand and gestured for the ice bag. Roach obliged and presented it flat so the Petri dish could be sat upon it. Crocker aimed the reader and waited patiently.
"How low?" he asked.
"90," she answered.
"Nothing short of endovascular cooling will accomplish that," he warned.
"Is an Edax receptive to anesthetics?"
"Yes."
"90," she reiterated.
They waited until the target temperature was reached, and then Crocker put it under the microscope and administered the virus. Because of the cooling, it took longer for the reaction to take place, and even longer for Crocker to focus in on a live example of it. Once he found one, he turned on a monitor and retreated to Roach's side to watch it with her.
The image was fuzzy without color, and the triple-helix was hard to spot among all the other proteins which maintained it. However, the problematic result was clear to see when the entire complex caved in on itself and lost any sense of organization.
But this time, no such thing occurred. Little dots, the virus, invaded the strand and disconnected the bonds of Edax RNA, parts of which could be seen floating away from the main strand in sections, where it was further attacked and broken up. It did not coil.
Roach's smile wouldn't leave her bruised face.
"You've outdone yourself, Dr. Roach," the older doctor congratulated her.
"Thank you, Dr. Crocker, but we're not out of the woods yet," she said soberly.
Then the entire ship rocked as something massive hit its hull, putting them both on the ground. Equipment fell over, all manners of glass shattered on the floor, and the lights flickered until everything stabilized.
"Jesus Christ!" Crocker shouted.
"Big piece of debris," Roach remarked as she struggled to stand.
"That was a missile, dear," he corrected her.
"How can you tell?"
"We've been attacked by pirates before."
"What happened?" she asked worriedly.
Crocker giggled, "Boss told them they needed a bigger boat and fed them all to the space fishes!"
"What if it's not--"
The monitor was taken over and displayed a fleet of ships silhouetted by Saturn.
The floor vibrated with increasing frequency.
The overhead intercom crackled to life and the Boss's low voice sang to all aboard: "Yo ho, yo ho, octuple railguns scare the hell out of me."
On his last note, a flurry of blue streaks discharged into the distance and decimated all in sight.