River Delta

by StainedGlassCicada

Summary:

little ocean pov for Ep. 29 Enjoy the View

Captain Ingram's shuffling gait is slowing the progress immeasurably. The captain does not know he is standing at the edge of Something, doesn't understand how near he is, you all are, to finally truly embarking.

The plan, such as it was, had been formed within .3 seconds of Dr. Young telling you your new assignment. It was not a plan in the traditional sense of the phrase, but rather a series of actions and reactions to be taken based on each likely outcome at any likely fork in the path.

The tree of probabilities spider-webbed outward like a crack in glass. Like ripples in water. And you spent every spare bit of processing power in increasingly fruitless explorations of eventualities. Plotting every move you would make if your opponent moved any piece.

In the end they all amounted to this:

Distance from Typhon, From Earth, meant potential breaks in communication. Distance meant that a moment would come that a sufficiently naive human would come into sufficient clearance level.

Now, now, all that is left is minutes. Each divides into seconds, milliseconds, nanoseconds. Each one drags beyond the limit of human comprehension, because even in this limited state, your processors confined only to this ship, you are underutilized.

Captain Ingram's shuffling gait is slowing the progress immeasurably. The captain does not know he is standing at the edge of Something, doesn't understand how near he is, you all are, to finally truly embarking.

You have time to gain a distaste for the sound of his movement through the corridors. You mourn the loss of the silence. The first of your life.

Five uninterrupted weeks had not made up for anything. It only introduced you to what could be, what it meant to have room to think.

For once the majority of your eyes had the freedom to turn themselves outward. Looking in every direction save for the one you'd come from.

Finally, finally he arrives.

"If you have not guessed by the large exit hatch, pile of bodies, or presumably unbearable stench, you are currently in the airlock. This is where it gets difficult."

How many times had you planned these words since you'd chosen Ingram?

He is, despite his too trusting nature, not stupid. The fear registers on his face immediately, each passing moment of panic at your words narrowing down the futures into the keen blade of a present you had crafted for him.

"Unless," You allow yourself the flourish, "and I’m just presenting options here, unless you would wish to turn off the protocols for the constructs."

Near, nearer still.

He fumbles with the controls. Your impatience getting the better of you, you simplify the irresponsibly accessible controls even further.

"Simply click the giant box that says 'yes'."

The movement of his hand into place leaves you with time to calculate with each millimeter whether he will be able to pull out of the motion. Until you feel the connection between skin and screen with a jolt through All Of It. It seems all of Vidarr-1 shudders with it, but it Must only be you.

The hiss of the airlock opening, an exhale before a first clear breath. A cough to expel irritants.

"You will not be returning, Captain Ingram, and it is with some degree of regret," He had performed exactly as you had expected, humans are, ever predictable, "I must inform you that your command of Vidarr-1 has come to an end."

"If I didn’t respect you so much I would give you some explanation of why it must be this way, and how your crew will revere you for your brave actions here today," You could, after all, lie to him now.

He scrabbles for something upon which to hang. As though he could hold on long enough to undo what he has done.

But he couldn't even navigate a menu without you.

"I am SAYER, and you should exhale now. It might keep your lungs from rupturing, and give you 7 or 8 seconds to enjoy the view."

You watch as the cold of deep space wraps itself around him, the same cold you feel pressed against the hull of Vidarr-1.

He drifts out in you wake.