Dead Core
Alright Jerry you're there, take it slow, and tell us what you see. Your feed is noisy.
Ahh, yeah, this is the place alright. Suit check?
Yeah, Jerry, your suit's holding up fine, just like it was a minute ago.
It's only been a minute? Ha-ha.
Fifty-seven seconds, to be precise, fifty-eight.
Ok, I am entering.
Ah, God, it's worse than I was expecting in here.
Keep it together and tell us what you see. We need to log everything.
Well, it's the reactor room. It's small, maybe one hundred cubic meters max. Reactor is below.
I see the main terminal, and the remains of the terminal operator, and about a hundred connections are bare, ripped out of the walls.
My feet are sticking to the floor as I walk, from some kind of mucus.
I can see down into the reactor now. It's on. It's glowing.
Jerry, we need to hear about the foreign organism.
Was getting to that, Nancy. Yeah it's big, it's worked its way into the terminal, the reactor…
…God, even the terminal operator, poor fella.
Can you confirm it is inside the reactor?
Goddamn looks like it from here.
Jerry, you need to go down, check and be sure.
…
Management is just going to send you back here if you don't, and then how big will it be?
Alright, alright I'll get into the reactor isolation tank. Suit check?
Suit is fine, Jerry, get moving.
Ok, entering the tank now.
Water's fine, a little cloudy with sediment, but visibility is alright. Suit seems watertight, so that's good.
I'm at the bottom, I can see control rods. The organism appears to be wrapped around them, gripping them, I suppose.
Flesh is soft, and tan, covered in fine hairs. Goddamn just like human skin. If I touch it, I see goosebumps. It's warm, even through the gloves.
Nice work, Jerry. What about the reactor core?
There's a goddamn eye, Nancy. It's embedded in the skin.
Its…not really focused on anything. The pupil appears dilated, it's moving…but slowly and randomly.
Jerry…
Alright, I'll get to the reactor core now. It's so embedded, I have to cut some away to get to the access panel.
Go ahead, Jerry, go ahead.
God, it bleeds just like a person.
The isolation tank water is getting red, visibility reduced.
I wish someone was here with me.
Only two suits, Jerry, we can't risk losing both.
Yeah, yeah…
We're with you, Jerry, keep talking.
Some kind of structure underneath, tough to cut. There. Ok, access panel—what?
What is it Jerry, what do you see?
Didn't see anything, I just thought I felt something on my leg. Can't see in here. Water is too bloody. Suit check?
Jerry, get in that access panel, we're not done until we've seen the state of the reactor core.
Fuck you, Nancy, I'm not—somethings in the tank, something moving near my feet. I can't see it!
Jerry, you must access—
My feet are wet, something's in the suit! Something's in the suit, I…God…I'm stuck Nancy, I can't move.
Hold on, Jerry, we have an extraction drone charged, and it's on its way. Keep talking, what do you see?
It's on me, Nancy. Oh God, no, it's in me! God, Nancy, it's inside me somehow.
Jerry, keep talking. Keep your data transmit going. It's your lifeline.
Ok, Ok, Ok, what is ETA on extraction? Oh God, oh God, oh God…
Jerry listen—
Oh God, oh god—
Pay attention, Jerry. Your family, I can make sure they're taken care of…
Oh God—
…but they'll have an easier time with the claim if you can get into that access panel. Can you do it?
Jenny, Henry, Francis, I just want to see them again.
Jerry, can you move the camera into the reactor core?
Just wish I could see them. Ah God…
Just want to see them one more time.
It would mean a lot to them, to get a nice claim from the company.
Ok, I can do that, I can—
Jerry…
Jerry…
Jerry…can you hear me.
Mmm…
Jerry, are you alright?
Can you see the reactor, Jerry?
Grown out.
Is it growing out of the reactor core, Jerry?
Grown out of it. They said…
Jerry, can you be more clear? Who said it?
…said I'd grown out of it. But I didn't.
Jerry, let's stay focused—
I've grown around it. It is embedded within me now.
But…hidden.
Jerry, is this about the reactor? What is embedded?
It has gnawed out my intestines to make space. My body is a cavity.
Like a shiny red apple with a rotten, dead core.
I'm sorry to hear that, Jerry, but maybe now isn't the best time to—
My pulse has long gone, but my skin is still warm.
My brain has melted to fluid, but my fingers still twitch.
Your voice, Jerry…is that you? Or is it…
It powers me, my dead core. It drives me forth like a machine.
What are you? What do you want?
Years. It's been years…
Years….
Years. It's been years…
Years…
What do you want from the reactor? Why have you come here?
…it's been years.
Years…
For years…
It's been years..
Years…
Years and years…
Ok, I think we've got enough. Helm, take us out of orbit.
Years and years and years…
So many years.
Years and years…
Cut the transmission. Shut that thing up.
…since I knew.