#blue imposter

The click of a gun behind them caused Orange to freeze. Setting the half-fixed wires aside, they turned to face the owner of the gun, heart pounding. “Blue?”

Blue smiled at Orange, expression somewhat unreadable under the space helmet that mostly obscured their face. “Orange. How’re the wires coming along?”

“U-Uh… they’re… okay, I guess. I’m almost done.” Orange responded, staring at the barrel of the gun,  a sinking feeling of dread overcoming them. I have to report this. They reached for their transmitter, hands sweaty under their gloves.

“Nuh-uh. Put that away.” Blue made a dismissive action, watching Orange’s hand fall away from their toolbelt, gun still trained on them.

“What do you want?” Orange glanced around. They were in the electrical room… Cyan wasn’t due to come around until later. They gulped as they realized the danger that they were in. They should have stayed with Green. Wandering off had proven to be a bad idea.

“Look, I need your help with something.” Blue crossed their arms. “I need you to fake my med-bay scan for me.”

“I can’t do that-”

“Well, either you do, or,” They pressed the gun to Orange’s temple, tendrils snaking out of the spacesuit and holding them in place. “You die here, and Cyan and Green will be absolutely devastated. Think about your family, Orange. Cyan and Green. They came to space for you, and you’re just going to leave them behind because you can’t do me a favour? How selfish can you get?”

Orange squeezed their eyes shut, memories of Cyan giggling as they rode on Green’s back around the playground rushing back to them. “...So you’ll leave us alone if I help you?”

“I’ll leave your family alone. As for the others… Well, I have my own children to feed.” Blue gestured to Little Blue behind them, and Orange shuddered, seeing the smaller tentacles pressed against the glass visor of the smaller suit. “We can co-exist on this ship. All I need, is for you to help me get rid of Red. They’ve been suspicious of me since day 1. ”

“H-How?”

“Switch our med-bay scan results. Red won’t have any evidence that I’m the impostor, and they’ll seem suspicious for not having their med-bay scan logged into the system.”

Orange hesitated, before giving Blue a small nod. Blue’s grin widened, exposing razor-sharp teeth that Orange was surprised they had never noticed before. “Good. I’ll see you at the next meeting.”

With that, Blue hopped into the vent, Little Blue following behind them. The clang of the vent shutting caused Orange to jump a little. They stared at the vent a little more, before sighing and continuing to work on the wires, heading over to the med-bay after that.

Red, I’m sorry. Orange silently switched the results, closing the interface before rushing out of the room, heart heavy with guilt. I can’t lose Cyan or Green. I can’t lose my family. 

The blaring of the alarms caused them to rush back to the cafeteria, taking their seat beside Blue, who glanced at them before turning back to the meeting.

“White’s dead.” Red started, looking around at the gathered crew. “Did anyone see anything suspicious?”

“I was in electrical… with Blue.” Orange supplied, heart pounding. It didn’t feel right, keeping the others in the dark about their true nature.

“They were. I watched them fix the wires.” Blue nodded.

“Hm… Okay. How about Cyan? Green?”

“I was showing Cyan how to chart a course for the ship.” Green said.

“I was passing by med-bay. I last saw White in the security room.” Yellow said. “Say, where were you, Red?”

“I went to check in on White. They were in the security room when I found them dead.”

“That’s kinda sus, Red. You were in there alone with White, and next thing we know, White’s dead.” Cyan muttered.

“Me? No, the lights went out and the doors locked! I did a med-bay scan, you can check!”

Yellow sighed. “Red’s lying. They never did a med-bay scan.”

“Guys-”

“Red’s sus.” Green nodded.

“A self-report?” “Very possible.”

“...Orange, you know I’d never, right? Orange, please, you have to believe me, I swear on my life, I didn’t kill White.”

“R-Red’s sus.”

The look on Red’s face was one of horror and betrayal. Orange wilted a little on the inside, avoiding eye contact.

“Let’s eject them.” Blue stood up, shepherding Red over to the airlock.

“I swear, it wasn’t me! Guys, guys, I’m… I’m…” Red gave up knocking on the door of the airlock, letting their fists fall to their sides. ”...I wish I could have protected you all. You were the best family I could have asked for. Goodbye.”

Orange could only watch as Red’s body was flushed out, fading into a mere speck in the distance.

“...Good work.” Blue quietly muttered, a hand on Orange’s shoulder. “...You did good.”