[Translator – Seraph] [Proofreader – Draxx] "What? Soldiers have gone missing?" Blair frowned at the sudden report that interrupted the meeting. The Crisis Management Officer who brought it up cleared his throat before continuing. "Khmm, yes. One from the quarantine team, one from the supply management team, and one of the rescued survivors have all gone off the grid." "How long has it been?" "The quarantine team member and the survivor went missing about 10 hours ago. The supply team member has been unaccounted for since roughly 8 hours ago." Blair turned sharply toward the heads of the quarantine and supply management teams. "Is what the Crisis Management Officer said true?" "It's not even been a full day. Calling it a disappearance seems a bit—" "You worthless fools!" Blair roared and slammed his fist on the table. Everyone on this ship is required to report their status to their direct superior every six hours. But judging by the last known times, the missing personnel had all exceeded that window. "You knew Outspacers control parasites, and you still acted this carelessly?" One of the survivors they rescued had in fact expelled a live parasite. It was a moment that demanded the highest vigilance, and yet such a mistake had occurred. "Effective immediately, both of your positions as team leads are revoked. Their deputies will assume command. Understood?" "Crisis Management Officer. Do you have their profiles?" "Pulling them up now." With a few taps on his personal console, the officer brought up holograms at the center of the meeting table dossiers of the missing personnel. As Blair skimmed the data, something caught his eye. "This quarantine team member was the first to discover the Outspacer parasite. And his last recorded duty was screening a survivor." "Yes, that’s correct." "The survivor went missing during that examination. So did the quarantine officer. That means the parasite likely jumped hosts." "Are you saying there are two parasites now?" Blair gave a grim nod. "Should we initiate a search for the supply management officer?" "No. It’s already too late. It’s probably switched bodies again by now." Eyes widened around the room. If that was true, this was serious. One of them here right now ould be carrying the parasite. "From this moment on, we’re screening everyone aboard the ship. Navigation lead, suspend FTL travel and switch to high-speed cruise mode until the scans are complete." "A designated inspection team will conduct the screenings. I’ll determine the order and notify each subject individually. This is to prevent information leaks. Got it?" "Next is the Communications Support Team, correct?" "Yes. Khmm… The current comms instability appears to be due to abnormal stellar activity…" A few more topics were discussed before the meeting finally ended. "Now that you mention it, our deputy team lead's been acting kinda strange lately. You don't think—?" "We’d better round up the team and verify, just in case…" With somber faces, the team leads filed out of the room. Left alone, Blair stared coldly at the hologram still floating before him. Damn monsters. Don’t think for a second everything will go your way. Not many knew, but Blair had survived the disaster at the T&C Special Trade Hub years ago. Compared to that nightmare, a parasite from the Outspacers was nothing. It wouldn't last long. He’d catch it soon enough. With that certainty in his heart, he shut off the hologram. ｢Joel’s Personal Log #26｣ *Filed by Joel, second-year member of the Edgerton Silver Lion Order, currently assigned to the Engineering Unit under Edgerton Special Rescue Team. This morning, our team lead suddenly called everyone in. Once we were all there, he broke the news. Norris from the quarantine team and Palmer from the supply team have gone missing. If we spot them, we’re to report it immediately. Disappearing on a moving ship? I couldn’t believe it. And I wasn’t the only one. Everyone had the same what kind of crap is this? expression. Whatever the case, Norris wouldn’t do something . He even invited me out for drinks yesterday, but turned me down at the last minute because he had work to finish. Norris is the most reliable guy I know. He wouldn’t just vanish. Besides, even if he’s missing, where would he go on a ship this locked down? Most likely, he pulled an all-nighter and passed out somewhere, missing his status report. He’s probably tucked away in some maintenance shaft, out cold. Miles from our team agrees with me. Over dinner with some of the Comms Support crew, we heard the current comms issues are due to radiation waves from the nearby star. So nothing to panic about there. It's past 11 p.m., and still no word from Norris. I’ll stop by the quarantine team tomorrow to check in. ｢Joel’s Personal Log #27｣ Before lunch, the team lead suddenly gathered the entire engineering crew again. For a second, I thought maybe they found Norris—but that wasn’t it. Instead, he told us there’s been a change of schedule. We’re all due for physical examinations and need to report to the research lab. We protested, but the team leader was unyielding, saying that anyone who refused to be tested would be summarily dismissed, regardless of the reason. We didn't get to eat lunch and were taken to the lab to be tested. As if that wasn't bad enough, I was told something even worse. Miles said the reason we were being tested was because of the new outspacer. According to someone I know in the research team, an Outspacer with the ability to parasites on humans has been hiding among the survivors and has been brought aboard our ship. The tests we're being given are to detect it? That's nonsense. Why would the bugbears target this ship? And the creatures are only driven by a killer instinct. They're not intelligent enough to hide in human bodies. However, Miles does have a point, and I don't know why it's the research team and not the medical team that's doing the testing. I asked the guys in the lab, but no one answered. I asked the team leader after the test, but he told me to mind my own business because every other team gets it. Fuck that. Aimee's Unfriendly Third Party (undeleted) ｢Joel’s Personal Log #28｣ He was inside the potable water storage tank of the supply management team. Palmer, who went missing with him, was in there too. Some of the team had been complaining since morning that the water tasted weird, and I’d just assumed they were being dramatic—but I didn’t expect it to be because there were corpses in the tank. What’s worse, according to word going around, the condition of the bodies was seriously messed up. They didn’t find any flesh, bones, or organs. Just the skin. Like someone had peeled them like fruits and tossed the rest. They completely drained the tank to prevent contaminated water from entering the purification system, but nothing else turned up. After the news spread, the team atmosphere went to hell. Especially the poor bastards whose quarters were closest to Tank #3 They were vomiting everywhere. Anyway, there was an announcement in the evening from Commander Blair himself. He said the Crisis Management Team is reviewing camera footage and conducting a full sweep of the supply team, and that we shouldn't worry. Normally I would’ve taken that at face value and calmed down. Human skins in the water. It’s like something straight out of the ghost stories sailors whisper about in dark engine bays—but it’s real now. And it feels like something terrible is happening behind the scenes that we don’t know about. I’m not the only one who feels this way. Everyone’s uneasy. I just hope tomorrow brings some good news. ｢Joel’s Personal Log #29｣ Came in for duty this morning and the place was half empty. Guess everyone used their sick leave after what happened yesterday. Normally that hardass of a team lead would’ve thrown a fit, but not today. He didn’t show up either. Bastard took the day off too. With the boss out, we just chatted and lazed around. Then finally, a bit of good news came through. The Crisis Management Team identified who put the corpses in the water tank. Turns out it was the newly appointed head of the supply team. Security footage caught him carrying the skin-suits and stuffing them into the storage tank. Once the face behind the nightmare was revealed, I felt a mix of relief and exhaustion. No parasites. No flesh-peeling space monster. All just the work of a lunatic killer. Miles still insists the guy was infected by an Outspacer. Says his personality changed after taking the position that’s his so-called ‘evidence’. If that’s enough to count as being possessed, then I must be too, because I’ve been feeling pretty damn depressed these past few days. Anyway, now that we know who did it, catching him is only a matter of time. Soon enough, everything will go back to normal. ｢Joel’s Personal Log #30｣ Heard a new announcement over the internal comms this morning. The killer was shot dead at dawn. And just like that, it was over. Some of the folks on sick leave didn’t come back today either, but I figure they’ll return by tomorrow. Not that I’d complain if our bastard of a team lead just stayed gone forever. Had a few drinks with the crew in the evening. As usual, Miles started going off with his conspiracy bullshit. Said it was suspicious that the murderer was shot instead of captured, and wondered if there was a mole inside the Crisis Management Team. Sure, they may have gone a bit overboard, but it’s not like it was unjustified. The supply team lead was from the Silver Lion Order—he'd had gene surgery. You can’t take someone like that down with just a couple laser blasts. If they’d hesitated, the Crisis Management guys would’ve suffered far more losses. I actually explained all this to Miles, logically and calmly, but the thick-skulled bastard wouldn’t listen. He’s always been like that. The unsettling part was that this time, a few others actually agreed with him. They weren’t even that drunk, yet they openly bashed Crisis Management right in public. That’s not normal, even with the team lead absent. Maybe everyone’s just rattled from all that’s happened lately. Anyway, we wrapped up after a few rounds. On my way back to my quarters, I saw our “sick” team lead. He was standing outside the med bay, soaking wet like he’d just come out of the shower. Looked like he’d come to get meds. I took a detour to avoid running into him. Didn’t want the headache. There’s screaming outside. I don’t know what’s going on. I need to get ou— ｢Recording timed out｣ ｢Revised log auto-saved｣ ｢Joel’s Personal Log #33｣ Haven’t had the time or peace of mind to record these past few days. Just as we barely managed to put down that mutiny, an outbreak hit. Some people bled out from every pore before dying. Others developed black splotches all over their bodies. Anyone who touched a dead body started showing unfamiliar symptoms and soon dropped dead themselves. The symptoms vary. But one thing is constant: if you catch it, you die. If the med bay had survived, maybe we could’ve fought this. But during the rebellion, it went up in flames. All medical equipment and supplies gone. The only meds we have left are the emergency injections stored in our combat suits. With every day, more people die. Even those who aren’t infected live in constant fear. We tried contacting help, but the comm systems are dead. The Communications Support Team is working on repairs, but they said not to get our hopes up. In other words, we’re all cut off. Dying here. That thought is driving me insane. And it’s not just me. Even among our team, people are starting to look at each other like cornered animals. One of my teammates tried to steal my medicine. Barely managed to survive. But there’s no way I can keep resting in the dorms now. ｢Joel’s Personal Log #36｣ I was lucky to make it back to the dorms alive. Miles once said a parasite from an Outspacer had snuck aboard the ship. This isn’t about some bugs. Something far worse has taken over this ship, an endless malice wrapped in human skin. The entire vessel has become a floating hell, driven by chaos and hatred. There are no normal people left here. No matter where I go, I’m watched—by things I can’t identify, by humans twisted by madness, by monsters that shouldn’t exist. There are still some survivors, I know that much. But it doesn’t matter. Whether them or me—we don’t have much time left. I hear Miles outside my door. He was taken by one of those things during our escape. Whatever’s calling my name now isn’t Miles. It’s chaos… wearing my friend’s skin. There is no problem with ship operations. The faction that interfered with proper navigation—Blair and his cohorts—has been successfully neutralized. Under the new captain’s guidance, we will reach our destination swiftly. I look forward to reuniting with my crewmates. [Translator – Seraph] [Proofreader – Draxx]