zoom_in
- visibility179
posted 2 years ago, edited 2 years ago
"...I was there, in the lab, looking at the helpless creature behind the glass and liquid, with tubes and wires wrapped and attached to him. I knew that perfectly well, the fact he is alive, but I started to remember... things... just seeing this pale and motionless body. Awful things I've seen at the identification. I shuddered. Before that moment, the identification, I was still naively hoping that this is just a bad dream, this can't be real, Beta didn't get to that accident and this is not his breathless dead body was waiting for me in there among other irrecoverably broken ones. But I was wrong. And then my mind and my core have fallen to an abyss where was nothing to try and hold, and the feeling of a fall was astoundingly real..."
May, 2022
Illustration, characters, "Phase shift" story © me, Kehhalar
More From family_staralternate_emailKehhalarSee Morearrow_outward
Similar ArtworksSee Morearrow_outward
Cleaning TrashOrpheus was standing two steps behind and a step to the right of Handsome Jack, hands clasped behind its back as he talked to a scientist from R&D (Johann Davidson, new to Hyperion, no prior known working experience), Handsome Jack starting to get louder as the scientist couldn’t give him the answers he wanted for the current project him and his team were working on. The scientist for his part was doing well on not immediately pissing his pants and running away in fear, though Orpheus could tell he was tensing to retaliate as well. “Sir,” Orpheus suddenly interrupted the conversation, immediately pulling Jack’s attention to it. It had its arm interface activated, Handsome Jack’s schedule pulled up, revealing how close he was to being late for his next meeting. “Your meeting is coming up shortly. If you’d like, I can find the information you need while you go and ready for the meeting?” Orpheus suggested, one eyebrow raised as it looked at him. Handsome Jack hummed before suddenly letting go of the scientist’s collar, clapping the man twice on the shoulder as he smiled. “Well, if you’d like, baby-cakes,” Jack told Orpheus before he leaned in close to the scientist, his face deadly serious. “If I were you, I’d find that information you have for my sweet PA, cause it’s a lot less friendly than I am.” And with that, Handsome Jack smiled and clasped the scientist’s shoulder one last time before leaving the office, whistling as he began to walk to the elevator to go to his meeting. Orpheus watched Handsome Jack walk off before turning back to the scientist, face neutral. “Now, where might I find where you usually store reports?” it asked, ignoring the relieved look on the scientist’s face. “Ah, it is this way. Thank you so much though, I truly thought Handsome Jack was going to murder me,” the scientist said, gushing, going to grip Orpheus’ shoulder. It raised an eyebrow at the man as it shifted its shoulder away from him, gesturing him to lead the way. The man seemed surprised for a brief moment before nodding, starting to walk in correct direction. When they arrived at another, larger room, Orpheus immediately understood why this team lost reports often. Papers were scattered everywhere across all of the desks, cabinets, even some on the floor. It could also see some with multiple spills covering them. “I’m surprised your team is able to do anything, what with the large amount of mess here,” it told the man as it carefully stepped around the mess. It was taking videos of all the research it could see with its ECHO-Eye, knowing this mess needed to be solved, immediately. “Ah-,” the scientist started, only to startle as Orpheus purposefully knocked a stack of papers over. “Hey!?” he yelled, confused by Orpheus’ actions. “Sorry, I figured that since there’s so much other mess, a little more wouldn’t matter,” Orpheus told Johann, looking up at him. Its eyes were dark, and it was staring him down. “Now, we both work at Hyperion. And we both know how much Handsome Jack appreciates efficient workers. He also enjoys work spaces being clean and orderly, in case he has to come in and… Start a team over, if you know what I mean,” it said, taking a few steps closer to the scientist, the man backing away. “It’s part of why there’s also hatches to the outside of Hyperion, makes getting rid of trash easier, wouldn’t you agree?” it asked, taking a few more steps towards the idiot scientist, putting him right in front of a hatch. “Handsome Jack doesn’t need failures that waste his time and money in this company. You should have considered that before you decided to be a mole for another company. Next time, you should encrypt your emails to Maliwan better,” it told him before it activated the hatch behind him, the man immediately being pulled out and dumped into the vacuum of space, terrified expression frozen on his face.gif