The silent sickbay was festering. Pain and fear are gases; they expand to fill the space given. In the sealed crystal hexagon, with no outlet, they thickened the air until every breath tasted of despair. Martin's moans became a constant, low backdrop. The infected girl shivered with fever. The hopeful glances had turned to sidelong, terrified stares. My ledge was no longer a throne; it was a dock from which they watched their last ship sink.
It was in this suffocating atmosphere that Alaric and Beatrice moved. Alaric and Beatrice operated on a separate, silent frequency, while the rest of us struggled with physical and spiritual malaise. Their objectives were not about morale or pain management. Their interfaces provided a detached, relentless focus. Quest: Locate Egress. Analyze Anomalies.
