'Hmm… So no luck from the engineer either, it would seem…'
Mark scrolled through the internal Creh-2 trade hub messaging board, keeping up with what the slowly dwindling number of survivors were posting. One in particular, an engineer, had been a beacon of hope that had helped by answering other survivors technical questions and guiding them towards stretching odds of survival outwards, however at this point his last post was 2 days old
'So we're still under watch…'
This engineer along with a few other survivors had managed to fix up a damaged shuttle to move across a destroyed section of the station towards a storage cell to extend their food stores but given the sudden lack of communication this had gone very, very wrong
'Most likely, they got spotted and attacked by the forces that attacked the station… He seemed too well put together to have perished due to human error…'
Mark didn't really sympathize with the loss of life and the beacon of hope, however he felt some gratitude from this unintentional probing that had resulted him deciding to give it another week before he made a move
'...The only problem is Lisa, she's not really doing so hot at the moment'
Having helped her with rationing the snacks that were in the hotel fridge that now had run out, Mark knew it was only a matter of time before she starved
'At least we managed to stock up on water before it was cut off, the emergency reactors are still keeping the air recyclers going too, however the remaining life support systems won't last forever either'
Looking at Lisa that still clung to his arm as she slept, Mark eventually made a decision that he had long put off and let out a deep sigh before he shook her awake
"...Mark?"
"Yep, that's me"
Mark gazed into Lisa's light gray eyes for a bit, the spark he had seen in them when they had met for the second time had all but disappeared
"Lisa… It's time to die"
At Mark's dire words, Lisa showed an exhausted smile, her eyes teared up a bit as she responded
"Thank you… For your help so far Mark… And—"
Having her speech cut off by a series of dry coughs, Lisa took a few moments to compose herself as tears continued gathering in her eyes as she spoke again
"And thank you for… Killing me…"
Mark nodded before he took out his pistol and checked the chamber before he pressed the muzzle towards Lisa's chest over her heart
"You won't shoot my head?"
"No, the force of the impact to your heart will shock your blood system, bursting vessels in your brain causing you to pass out… Hopefully dying relatively painlessly"
"I… See… Good ahead"
Mark squeezed the trigger slowly, however before the hammer went down a voice sounded out behind Mark that made him take his hand off the trigger
[Mark? Are you there?]
Putting the safety back on his pistol, Mark continued gazing into Lisa's eyes as he spoke
"Yep, I am here, little one… How does the situation look?"
[Would you introduce me first?]
"Right, Lisa, this is the little one, little one this is Lisa"
Lisa sobbed quietly, having prepared for death only to be denied in the last moment wasn't great for her cumbering mental health, however at this blow something in her mind seemed to have finally snapped. At that moment, her broken mental state warped slightly, bending into something new as she let out a small giggle before she began laughing outright
"Did you finally lose it?"
Lisa tried to answer Mark's question, however she was too busy laughing, Mark let out an exasperated sigh before he pushed her away sending her floating across the hotel room still laughing too hard to talk
"Well anyway, what have you found out, little one?"
[Starting in chronological order, the attack that stuck all populated stations in the Creh system originated from somewhere outside the system, following this a series of automated crafts have suppressed all refugees that have attempted to flee]
"I already pieced that together, I figure there's been a change in the situation"
[Yes, beyond the initial strike and suppression the automated crafts have also performed extensive medical examinations on any corpses or captured survivors. My conclusion is that the entire attack was orchestrated to exterminate a particular target that recently arrived in this system]
"...You are not talking about me, are you?"
[At the current stage I am not entirely convinced, no. However the mere possibility makes our situation quite a bit more perilous]
"Yep, you're right about that…"
Before Mark could despair completely, however, the little one delivered some good news
[However, the enemy activity in Creh have completely ceased around 11 hours ago. I believe their focus have shifted to a large military campaign against a wider number of systems, which opens a hole for us to leave]
"Right, so let's get out of here… Wait, you said they had been examining people, dead and alive?"
[Yes]
Mark looked away from the terminal towards Lisa that floated around still somewhat quietly laughing to herself before he spoke
"In that case, we are bringing Lisa with us"
[Gathering enough supplies to sustain her will extend the stay in this system significantly]
"Yep, but if the force that attacked the system are looking for me and the reason they are examining people is that they can detect if I've fed on them, then I can't randomly feed on anyone I like going forwards nor can we leave her here dead or alive"
[Alright, I will be picking you up in the Sparrow in a few minutes, so please secure her in the meantime]
"Got it, see you soon my friend"
Having laid a plan with the little one, Mark quickly stripped out of his vacuum suit before he flew over to Lisa that had passed out from laughing too hard and tore off her clothes before he began dressing her in the vacuum suit, as he secured the helmet over her head she seemed to awaken again
"Mark~ Please hold me tight!"
Not feeling like dealing with her at the moment, Mark simply gave her a slight push to remove her from him, she struggled and spun around in the low gravity for a bit as she continued to call for him
"Mark~ Hehehe… I am spinning… WOOooooOOooooOooo~"
Looking at Lisa that spun around, Mark commented
"...You really lost your marbles, didn't you?"
"Of course~ At this point, I am not sure if I had any in the first place~"
"Please calm your tits a bit… And stop yelling"
"Hehehe~ Are you mad, Mark~? How cute~"
"Shut it"
However despite Mark's words Lisa continued yelling and screaming like a maniac
'Alright, that's it'
Mark flew over and grabbed onto her, which only resulted in her slamming a fist into his face
"Boom~ Look Mark, just like you hit that sparring android~"
"Hold! Still!"
Grabbing Lisa's fist before she managed to strike him again, Mark received a knee to his stomach, it wasn't like this cause him any pain, however the fact she thought she could get scoff free away from beating him really pissed him off, mostly because in the current situation she could
'Maybe I should snap her spine? No, she might die'
Finally, Mark managed to wrestle her still enough to grab the utility belt on the vacuum suit, where he turned off the auxiliary power shutting off the headset speakers and powered servos, significantly muting her yelling and stopping her attempts to beat him as he once again pushed her away
"Stay over there for a bit"
However, much to Mark's annoyance Lisa managed to reach the wall from his push and deftly spun herself around to reorientated herself before she pushed back off it towards him once more, a manic expression showed on her face as her muted laugh echoed out of the sealed suit
"I told you to stay over there"
Mark simply flew out of her reach before he grabbed the scuff of her neck to stop her momentum and held her there as she continued flailing around for a bit, kind of how a cat would hold a kitten in air jail. And so Lisa eventually calmed down, and after she did, she turned the servos and helmet speaker back on
"...I'm done, you can let go now Mark"
"Are you sure?"
"No, that was very mean of you Mark, I had finally made up my resolve to face death with grace"
Mark nodded as he continued to hold onto Lisa's neck from behind
"Yeah, sorry about that"
"So take responsibility for it"
"Ew"
"Mark!"
"Yeah, sorry about that… Just slipped out"
Thinking it over for a bit Mark eventually made a vague promise
"Sure, I'll keep you around"
A few moments of silence passed before Lisa spoke, sounding surprisingly cheerful
"Okay~"
Mark let go off her before she spun her back around, now face to face Mark asked again
"Are you going to behave then?"
A moment passed, Mark still saw a mischievous spark in her light gray eyes but nevertheless she agreed
"Alright, but let's play more later~"
"Right then… That certainly sounds more than a little dirty taking out of context"
Lisa blinked a few times before she spoke, blushing a bit
"Well, it's been too long since I've washed…"
This time it was Mark's turn to be bewildered before he asked
"Are you serious?"
Lisa's blush widened further on her face before she asked shyly
"I-I don't smell, do I?"
At this Mark accepted things as they were and changed topic
"So the little one will be picking us up in a bit, is there anything on this station you absolutely need before we skip this system for good?"
Lisa didn't hesitate and answered immediately
"My old man, hanging from a rope by his neck"
"Anything else?"
"No, not really~"
"Alright… Well, I'll try helping you with stringing up your old man if we get the chance"
"Thank you, Mark~"
The two stared at each other for a few quiet moments before the voice of the little one echoed out in the hotel room
[Mark]
Mark spun around and flew back towards the terminal he had wired to the wall before he grabbed the terminal and spoke
"I'm here"
[I have some news for you, however its not all good]
"Let's start with the good news"
[The enemy presence have completely disappeared from the system]
"...What's the bad news?"
[The section of the station you are in is high security and inaccessible to the Sparrow, automated defenses are active and very much haywire, groups of survivors have formed into bands of bandits fighting over the control of the remain stashes of available supplies]
"Well, that certainly is bad news… However, it shouldn't be too unmanageable"