INCIDENT REPORT #2797ZNB -- Attached Transcript A

[FlamingLily]

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A re-telling of a true story that happened in-game, though obviously non-canon, as you will see. It remains one of my favorite ever rounds,

 

Translated from Sinta'Unathi.

"So, Fisher Aieszk Kukssal. In your own words, please tell us what exactly happened. Take your time... I'm sure this has been difficult."

"...yes. Quite.

It was... a few days after I had broken my foot. It had grown swollen, painful- infected, of course. So, I made my way up to the ship's healers bay. The.... spirit- 

... The spirit was there. At the time, I thought she was a healer. As did everyone. Or... maybe she was- and the spirit took her over. I don't know.

She invited me inside, to the room in the back. Exam room, I think they call it. I removed my boot, she began to inspect my swollen appendage....

And then I felt a sharp poke in my other leg. Like a syringe, or one of those medicine guns the healers have. I reeled back- to put some distance between myself and her- assuming she had drugged me, of course.

Which... she did. My leg had gone numb in the few moments I was standing, and I hit the floor hard. I couldn't feel my leg. Before I knew it, I couldn't feel the other. Or my arms. Or my face. I was entirely numb. Paralyzed.

And then.... the spirit came out. I could do nothing but watch on- not even scream- as I watched the flesh rend from the healer's arm, as bone crunched and twisted, and as- as far as I could tell, for a human's face, the expression had drained from her face entirely. No malice. No pain. 

The bones in her arm- tendon and flesh hanging loosely from them- had formed into a horrific visage, a blade, sharpened to a point. That... spirit beast could have killed me. I was immobile, One clean slice to the throat would have finished the job, I'm sure.

It didn't. I can't tell what it wished to do, but I can only assume. It plunged this... bladed arm down into my stomach. The pain was excruciating. Unimaginable. And yet, I couldn't move. I couldn't scream. I couldn't beg.

It struck again, and again. I knew then that I was going to die- and yet... a voice in my mind. An ancestor of mine, calling to me. Telling me to live.

It was as if my ancestor had purged the toxin and the pain from my body. I kicked up at the spirit with all of my force. It flew back, striking the maintenance hatch across the room, and I knew then what I must do.

With all my strength, despite my injuries, I rose to my feet. It attempted to lunge at me, but I sprinted past- the thing was stuck with the speed of a human, not a Sinta, ha ha!

I ran through the tunnels as fast as my legs would take me, screaming out on the radio the only word I could manage- in basic. "Healer." My legs took me into a room with a ledge to the deck below, but... the hatch wouldn't open to take me further in, It was approaching, and I was bleeding profusely.

If I stayed, I would die. And thus I flung myself off the ledge.

The deck below came at me fast, and I landed on my arms. It felt as if my shoulder had come out of the socket, and the blood gushing from my abdomen was certainly not helping. Nor was the spirit, which had followed my path, and landed on by back, hard. Perhaps the ancestors were to blame for my spine remaining intact. In any case, I was able to get to my feet before the human-bound spirit, and I struggled my way further into the tunnels.

I was weary. I had lost a large amount of blood, and the pain was enough to overwhelm me, Each step was a struggle, feeling as if minutes passed between them. I was not sure where I was, and I could hardly tell how far behind me the spirit was. However... I knew that they had to be gaining on me.

 

It was then that I heard it. In the distance. The sound of metal on metal, repeatedly. Clunk, clunk, clunk. It echoed down the tunnel. And in the rhythm, I heard the voice of my ancestors. They were calling me. And so I ran towards the noise. I could feel my legs about to give in and my vision began to blur. Yet still, I pressed on. This single tunnel stretched on impossibly, yet the echoing of footsteps even closer behind me drove me ever forward. Until...

 

I passed the threshold around the corner. What I saw then was a sight so miraculous I knew it had to have been the work of the ancestors themselves. Around the corner, a maintenance hatch- half pried open by a team of warriors. They were breaking it down, and swarmed in to save me. A healer accompanied them, and she swiftly began her work. It was then I lost consciousness, to the sound of gunfire and the scream of a spirit.

 

When I awoke, I was in the healers' recovery room, bandaged and stitched together, but alive. Alive only because of the righteousness of my ancestors. I was not a so-called skeptic, before, but... I now know with absolute certainty that my ancestors watch over me. One day- once my time is up, of course- I hope to watch over my descendants in much the same way."