Hehe Brainrot go Brrr

Captain Isabel Lovelace awoke to a strange humming.

Her eyes flew open and she sat up. Mr. Cutter was sitting nearby, smiling excitedly. He looked like a child on Christmas, if that child had cold, steely eyes and porcelain white skin.

But Lovelace couldn’t care less about Mr. Cutter and whatever ominous foreboding consequences his presence there promised. Because she had just spotted someone standing in the corner of the room, eyes straight ahead and arms rigidly at his sides.

“Sam,” She breathed.

He turned to face her, movements oddly robotic. “Captain Lovelace.” He answered in a serene, emotionless voice.

In an instant, she had crossed the room and was hugging the man. He probably wouldn’t like it, but she wasn’t about to let him stop her. As Fourier had said once, he so didn’t get a say in that right now. Lambert stood stiffly, which she was expecting, but he didn’t even flinch, which was odd.

Pulling back, she scrutinised his face. He gazed back blankly, not a hint of… anything behind his eyes. Something was wrong.

“Sam. Sam!” Lovelace shouted, tears pricking the corners of her eyes as she shook her communications officer.

“Hello, Captain Lovelace,” Lambert greeted, again, with that same, strange, flat tone, “Please unhand me. Everything is going to be okay.”

Lovelace whipped around to glare at Cutter, who was watching with a smug smirk just a hair away from turning into a full-on evil grin. “What did you do? I thought he was dead. I watched him die. How is he here?”

“Well, you know,” Cutter drawled, comfortable as he held all the power in the conversation in a tight fist, “We needed to see what you’d do if you were really pushed to your limits. No crew to speak of, excepting Dr. Selberg of course. No resources and no friends. But, we weren’t about to waste all those perfectly serviceable bodies! Even Dr. Hui and Officer Lambert were useful, once Hilbert managed to get their Decima symptoms under control again.”

“So— They survived. All of them? And you just let me think they were dead? You left me for dead?” Lovelace ground her teeth as she turned the information over in her mind. “Regardless, I ask again: What did you do to them?”

“Oh, nothing much. They were actually the first prototypes of Miranda’s brain bolt system. That’s why they tend to travel with us; it’s best to keep your most… buggy subjects close enough to fix when something goes wrong.” Cutter smiled lazily at her.

Lovelace turned away from him, looking back at Lambert. “Sam,” She whispered, “Sam, please. I have to know if you’re okay. If you’re still in there. I have to know so I know how much to hold back when I beat Cutter’s brains out, in case there’s anything important left in there.”

“He can’t hear you.” Cutter’s amicable pretence dropped, and he stepped forward to drape an arm around Lambert’s shoulders. Lovelace winced in sympathy; she knew how much Sam hated casual touch from strangers. But the man didn’t even twitch. Not so much as a flicker of discomfort passed over his features.

“None of them can hear you, Captain. And, by the way, they’ll only refer to you as such because we programmed them to. That can easily be taken away. Would it be easier for you if he didn’t speak like he recognises you? Because he doesn't.”

Lovelace seethed, unable to move, unable to think. She knew there was some course of action she should be taking, some plan she should be making, but her mind was utterly blank.

“Now,” Cutter clapped his hands together. “I have some things to attend to. I have requested that our dear Doug bring you a chai latte, since you seemed rather preoccupied with Sam, here. He should be up soon. I shall see you later. Toodle-loo, Isabel.” He smiled at her before spinning on his heel and exiting the room.

[Insert scene from Ep. 56, pg. 19-25]

Lovelace took a deep breath. The only thing left was to go for it.

“Hey, Sam,” She carefully sidled up to him. “I, uh, I wanted to show you something. Do you think you could look over there for a minute?”

“Of course, Captain Lovelace.” Lambert obligingly moved to look out the window.

Quickly, she injected him.

Then, she waited.

“Ow.” Lambert frowned, turning his head to look at her. “Captain Lovelace, I don’t think that’s something you ought to have done. I should go get Doctor Pryce–”

“No! No. Just– Just wait a minute.” Lovelace caught him by the arm, trying not to let the desperation leak through into her voice.

As the seconds wore on, her grip on his sleeve tightened, until eventually her knuckles were bone white and her hand was beginning to shake.

Pulling away from her, Lambert’s frown deepened. “I really think I should go get Doctor Pryce–” He began to walk towards the door, leaving Lovelace’s heart sinking as the last few fleeting whispers of hope escaped her.

“Oh.” Lambert paused, groaning. He faltered. “Oh no. I– I think something’s wrong–” Was all he was able to get out before he collapsed. Lovelace caught him, shaking him gently by the shoulders.

“Sam! Sam, are you okay? Are you… you?” She saw little drops of water spinning away from her into the air and realised she was crying. “Sam. Sam, please, I need you to be yourself. I need you to be okay, I–”

“Captain?” Lambert opened his eyes weakly. “What’s going on?” He looked surprised to see her crying; scared, even. “Are– Are you alright? What happened? Oh, and why does my head feel like mush?”

Lovelace laughed. It was quiet, and still a little wet, but it was her first genuine laugh in… she didn’t even know how many days. 

“I’m– I’m alright, Sam. I’m more than alright, now that you’re here.”

“Don’t call me that,” Was the automatic grumbled response, but then he paused. “‘Now that I’m here’? What do you mean? Where was I?”

“You, um, you were here, I guess. But you weren’t you. There was someone else controlling you, and it— Okay, listen. There was something wrong, and you were— In a waking coma, so to speak. But you’re back to yourself now, and we have to figure out what to do before Cutter comes back. The station has been taken over.” 

Lovelace knew she was rambling, and from the befuddled looks Lambert was giving her that she wasn’t making much sense, especially to his likely still-foggy mind, but she couldn’t stop herself.

She finally had someone on her side. Someone who she never thought she would see again. Someone she saw die. 

“Captain. Captain!” Lambert’s voice called her back to the present. “What are you talking about? The station’s been taken over? Where are the others?”

Lovelace took a deep breath, pausing for a moment as she heaved in oxygen. “Okay. Yes, the station has been taken over. The others are here, but they’re… They’re prisoners. I have so much to tell you, but we have to be quick.” 

She stood up, supporting Lambert as he attempted to rise. “First things first, can you stand?”

“I think so…”

“Good.” Lovelace looked around anxiously. “We don’t have long until Cutter comes back, and you need to be able to pretend that you’re still under their control. Come on, up you get.”

She helped him up, trying to figure out the best way to explain what had happened to her friend. Was he still her friend? He seemed to be. He appeared to be back to himself, but there was a part of her that was worried this was all a trick, somehow. Something extra cruel that Cutter had cooked up just to be awful.

Once Lambert was at least mostly stable, she backed up, looking deep into his eyes.

“Alright, tell me something only Sam would know. No, wait. What was the name of our AI on the Hephaestus?”

Lambert looked puzzled. “Rhea? But why would you ask that? Anyone could know what the name of our AI autopilot is; it’s a matter of public record.”

Lovelace released a sigh of relief. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re you. Now, Cutter could be back any moment. The thing is, the crew has been brainwashed. You were too, but I fixed you. There are other people here, other people who have been mind controlled. One of them, Eiffel, has already broken free and he’s trying to save the rest of them.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Lambert shook his head, pulling at his hair. “The others are here? Selberg? Fourier? Hui?” 

“Well,” she paused. “Not Selberg. We’ll have to talk about that. Later. But, yes, Hui, Fourier, even Fisher. Everyone’s alright. Well, not right now, but they will be.”