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  Oliver kicked the wall grate. It gave way to his boot. With another kick, he cleared the way to a “secret passage”. He crouched down and pointed his flashlight down the long crawl space, illuminating a dust filled tunnel. This was the only way to storage room 2B that wasn’t behind several tons of rubble or exposed to the vacuum of space. It was just his luck that he was assigned to retrieve semiconductors. He stood back up and shook his head. The Russian standing next to him took his turn to peer into the glorified ventilation shaft.

“Having second thoughts?”

  Soup placed a hand against the wall above the grate as he squinted into the darkness of the tunnel.

“Toast can’t be left alone for long, so let’s hurry.”

“Isn’t Bacon there with him?”

“She’s not enough to stop him.”

“Do you stop him?”

  The scientist grinned, not obliging him with an answer they both already knew as he gestured at the tube’s entrance with his hand.

“So, you want to go first or me, Hensley?”

“I have the light.”

  Oliver double checked his toolbelt to ensure everything was secure and laid prone on his stomach. He clipped the flashlight to his shoulder pad as the last measure. With a grunt, he began crawling into the emergency access tube.

  What did he do to deserve this? The walls felt tighter than they seemed, but not enough to where he couldn’t clamber forward. He could feel the dust covering his hair as he ducked under the grate. Oliver gritted his teeth as he crawled along, shuffling awkwardly as he kept his head down. Every once in a while, he reached his arm out to make sure they weren’t approaching a corner. Behind him, he could hear Soup grumbling about the tight space as the researcher followed him in.

“You techies have it tough, huh,” Soup muttered after clanging his head against the ceiling for the fourth time.

“We’re just janitors with degrees,” Oliver sighed back.

“Then I’m a watchdog with a degree?” Soup inquired.

“Something like that,” he chuckled.

  His hand hit a cold wall.

“Right turn coming up.”

  He twisted his body towards the right, gritting his teeth as his toolbelt scraped his sides. After this turn, they’d almost be there. As for how they’d get back with the items, well, he would figure that out when they got out of this cramped space.

  Streaks of light shone through where their exit was. It took a few tries to punch the grate out, and a few more squirming movements to worm their way out of the shaft. Oliver patted the dust off as he scoured the room.

“That was a venture,” Soup remarked, rubbing his head where he had hit it seven times. “There wasn’t an easier way?”

“Well, you can try opening the door,” Oliver said, pointing at the blocked entryway.

  The rubble could clearly be seen through the small window attached. Even if they wanted to, the door opened outward, and there was no way the two of them were going to be able to muscle that. The Russian sighed and approached the various shelves of extra equipment instead.

“Semiconductors, right?”

“Yeah. Chief said we need to retrieve a boxful. We should be able to hold out until we finally clear all the rubble.”

“Why didn’t you just clear the rubble first?”

“Low priority.”

  The two shuffled through the fallen shelves and disorganized storage units. The shaking had dropped everything to the ground and the further vibrations had scattered everything. Oliver righted yet another box, glancing at the label. Not this one either. With a huff, he set it back in its proper place. He did the same for its neighbor, eventually cleaning up the entire walkway. With his luck today, they’d end up clearing everything before they’d actually find what they were here for.

  Oliver crossed over to another shelf, continuing his search. On the other side of the room, Soup was doing the same, although he took more time figuring out where the box was supposed to go.

“Have you found it yet?” Soup called.

“No. Oh, wait. Got it.”

  The engineer opened the box just to make sure. There they were. An entire case of semiconductors, styrofoam peanuts and all. Soup came over, peering over his shoulder.

“How’re we going to bring that back?”

  Oliver shrugged, pushing the box toward the grate. It was small enough to fit with some room to spare. He set the box inside before following it feet first.

“Come on.”

“How’re you going to get around the turn?”

“I’ll manage.”

  Just as he ducked his head under as well, an unfortunately familiar rumble shook the floor beneath them. Oliver slammed into the wall of the tube, his head ringing. Outside, he could hear Soup’s cry of alarm as he fell somewhere among the boxes and shelves. Before he could crawl out and help, several of the boxes slid towards him and boxed him in.

“Again?” he cursed as he cradled his head from any further damage.

  Anne, the techs’ pet name for the system announcements, voiced a warning a bit too late.

“Warning. Depressurization alert. Ring Section Two.”

  Oliver rolled in place, laying on his stomach rather than his back. He pushed against the boxes that were now blocking the exit, bracing his feet against the sides of the duct.

“Caution. Emergency lockdown in effect. Stand clear of bulkhead.”

  A quieter rumbling vibrated the walls as the bulkheads of the neighboring rooms closed themselves. Another shockwave shook the ground before everything stabilized itself again. Oliver grunted as he pushed the last box out of the way. He crawled out of the near death trap and found Soup pinned in the corner behind a hill of equipment.

  The scientist was groaning as he held his head in his hands. His legs were stuck beneath several boxes of varying sizes. Everything the two had put up had come tumbling down again, and the storage room was now a disaster area. Oliver maneuvered through the field of extra equipment and dug Soup out.

“Ugh, you techies seriously have it hard.”

“All part of a day’s work,” Oliver sighed, setting the boxes aside.

  He helped the scientist up with another grunt. Soup dusted his pants off, wincing as he checked some of the bruises that formed on his legs. He staggered a bit, bracing himself on a nearby shelf as Oliver went to go drag the box of semiconductors out of the duct. It had shifted a bit further inside from the shockwaves, but was still within reach with a bit of awkward shuffling.

  Another tremor pulsed through the station just as he got a grip on the box. Oliver dug his nails into it, pulling it closer as he waited for the following vibrations to recede. The distant sound of metal twisting sounded loud in the confines of the duct. It echoed back and forth, reverberating through the small space. He quickly weaseled out with the box in his hands. He sat back and gasped for air.

“Now what?” Soup asked, limping over to him.

“I don’t particularly want to try crawling again,” Oliver decided, flicking his eyes toward the duct.

  The grate groaned and creaked in reply, its distant echoing sounding loud even within the room.

“Probably not.”

  Yet another soft tremor confirmed their fears. Their original entrance collapsed with a clamor right before their eyes, the metal holding it together inside twisting in an almost artistic way.

“Shit.”

“That’s an understatement,” Soup deadpanned.

  Soup accepted the box of semiconductors from Oliver as the technician grabbed his flashlight that had rolled away from him during the recent quake. He flicked the light on and off. The thing still worked fortunately enough.

“You have a backup route?” the researcher asked.

“Well, there’s only the door left, and the last time I checked we were blocked in. We can try prying it open, otherwise we’re going to have to wait for help.”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that. I don’t know what Toast is going to cook up without me there.”

  The engineer inspected the room.

Door… can barely move. Walls might be thin enough to cut through. Some sort of alloy if I remember correctly. I’ll need a cutter or something similar. Ceiling vent? Nothing. Floor … sitting on nothing but space. That’s a surefire way to die.

“Door,” Oliver motioned.

  They headed to the only door in the room. There was still rubble outside the window. However, according to Soup’s memory, the level of the rubble had shifted a bit, so there was hope. Oliver slammed his shoulder against the door. He stumbled as the door cracked open. The rubble outside slid down its mountain, pattering down on the hallway in clatters.

“Something happened,” Soup observed.

“Yeah? Well, get over here and put your back into it.”

  The scientist stood beside the engineer, and with some counting down, the two slammed their shoulders into the door. It budged a bit further this time, the gap opening enough for maybe one of their feet to step through.

“Come on, one more time.”

  The two rammed it once again. The door, once again, budged. The gap now fit maybe a leg. They rammed it again. And again. And again. And again. And again. Soup collapsed first, sliding down where he stood against the door. His breathing was heavy, and sweat wetted his forehead. Oliver remained standing, his hand on the door as he caught his breath. His shoulder ached, and he already knew he’d wake up tomorrow morning with a bruise right there. They had managed to force the door wide enough for both of them to slip out, if only barely.

“Ready?”

“Give me a second, Hensley,” Soup said, his face grimacing as he stood.

“I’ll go first. I’ll see if everything’s stable out there.”

  The scientist nodded, stepping aside as Oliver squeezed through the gap. He stumbled out onto the pile of rubble, climbing up until he reached the top. The engineering department had largely ignored the storage section since it was usually uninhabited, but now it looked like they’d never get it cleaned up with the extra debris.

“Are we clear?” Soup asked, poking his head through the door.

“It’s fine for now. Hurry before another tremor closes the door.”

  Soup squeezed himself out, clambering up to where Oliver stood. Pieces of what used to be the wall and the ceiling and a billion other parts tumbled down with each of their steps. The engineer half slid, half ran down the rubble mountain as the researcher circumvented the top for a safer path. With a few short hops and careful balancing, Soup met up with Oliver at the bottom.

“Come on. We need to get to the elevator.”

  The two of them headed down the hallway, careful of where they put their feet. A tremor at about the same magnitude as the first one shook the floor beneath their feet. Oliver grabbed Soup’s arm and rushed forward to a more open area as the rubble around them shifted.

“Warning. Containment brea-”

  Just as they hit the other wall, they were greeted with a loud pop. Everything turned black. The fuses had blown out.

“Great, now what?” Oliver complained as the emergency lights jilted on.

  The lights were dimmer than before, allowing them to see shapes but nothing distinct. Oliver turned on his flashlight to high beams as Soup stepped closer to the brighter light.

“What do you think is happening?” Oliver asked.

“According to Toast, it might have something to do with the anomalies we’ve been detecting. Nereid has always been accident prone, but three in a week is a new record.”

“Maybe she was right to leave,” Oliver muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

  Oliver guided their way forward, skirting around the obstacles littered in their path. Soup followed behind closely, staying away from the higher piles of rubble in case another tremor made them collapse. The shaking had almost completely stabilized now with only the occasional vibration beneath their feet remaining.

  Anne powered up again, faintly in the distance.

“Warning...all...elevator...evacuation.”

  The two paused and listened carefully. Anne repeated herself four more times before cutting off.

“Did you catch that?” Oliver questioned, his gaze turning back to the scientist.

“I don’t know, but we should get out of here regardless.”

  Oliver nodded, continuing to head toward the elevator. There were various exits on each floor of the station, there being three floors in total. The main one was the elevator that operated in the center of the station. The labs and engineering bays on the third floor were connected to hangars where the drones and shuttles were located. There were some other hangars on the outliers of the first floor as well, the first floor being the majority of the residential areas. The two of them were currently on the second floor where many of the storage rooms were built. They would need to either go up or down. Their best course of action for now was to go down and evacuate down the space elevator.

“Would the elevator still be working?” Soup inquired.

“Doubt it. We should head for the emergency stairs.”

  As they ventured through what remained of the second floor, all they saw was piles of wreckage upon wreckage. Piping was exposed as it was on the floor above. Most of the emergency lights was covered behind rubble, their muted lights glowing through the cracks. A faint buzzing sound zipped back and forth, and Oliver knew some of the older power lines must have been damaged too.

  The hull breach had occurred on this floor, but he couldn’t tell if that was a blessing in disguise. Not many people ventured here unless they had business or if they were only crossing to another floor. Most skipped this floor completely, using the elevator to go up and down.

  It was eerily quiet on this floor. Only their footsteps could be heard, and the occasional zap of electrical equipment beneath the rubble. Oliver kept his ears out for anyone crying for help, or even pounding on a door behind rubble. Nothing. He frowned. Even if there weren’t many here usually, there should’ve been somebody, especially with repairs going on upstairs.

“How far are we?” Soup asked, breaking the silence.

“It should be just around the bend. Right... here...”

  Before them was a wall of rubble. As if to slap them in the face further, the lighting from where the elevator should’ve been could be seen through some of the cracks. The greatest source of light was the top where a narrow gap was.

“You think we’d be able to break through?” Soup asked, placing his hand on a larger piece.

  Oliver pointed the light at the ceiling, gauging how large the gap was. It seemed a bit narrower than what they had to squeeze through earlier. Above that was the hole where the rubble had fallen from. He shook his head after surveying how the pieces of rubble were stacked together. It was too unstable to break through safely.

“It would take too long,” the engineer decided.

“Warning. All personnel, please evacuate the station.”

  The pair listened to the repeating announcements from Anne, exchanging looks of surprise.

“How do we get down there?” Soup asked, gesturing at the blockade before them. “Unless there’s another way down.”

  Oliver shook his head.

“We’d have to go up to go down. The rubble up there is contained.”

“How? The stairs are blocked,” Soup reminded.

  The engineer approached the rubble and pointed the light up. The hole reached the top floor. Well, at least the light reached the ceiling of the next. He stepped onto the rubble, testing his weight on it. It didn’t move, so he handed the light to Soup and continued climbing upward. Reaching where the second floor’s ceiling was supposed to start, he squinted upward to judge how wide the hole was. It seemed wide enough for his shoulders to squeeze through, and that was good enough.

“Let’s try this way.”

“Uhhh, okay,” Soup answered, his brows furrowing.

  Oliver continued climbing up, shifting his weight accordingly as he glanced from side to side. It was dark up here and there was solid walls, or floor if he thought about it, on both sides. Metal supports jutted out, some still holding solidly while others looked like one touch and they’d crumble down on the tower below. There was only a few footholds left from the hole at the top, so he reached out at the next jutting metal support. Pulling himself up, he grabbed the edge of the hole and swung himself up.

  He pulled himself out, panting from the exertion. He was back on the third floor. Oliver peered back down to see Soup had started his trek. He had propped the flashlight butt up, lighting the way. The scientist took much longer judging where to go, pausing every time rocks slipped and plunged down the hill in horrible clatters.

“Almost there, Soup,” Oliver encouraged, reaching his arm down.

  Soup grabbed his arm, and Oliver grunted as he helped pull him up to the ledge. With a bit more effort, they managed to bring the scientist out of the floor.

“Caution. All personnel, please evacuate Floor C.”

  At the same time, they heard through the hole Anne’s voice from the floor below.

“Warning. Containment Breach. System Failure.”

  Oliver waited for Soup to regain some breath before broaching the topic at hand.

“The stairs are right there. If you hurry, you’ll be able to get down.”

  Soup stared at the engineer.

“And what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to make sure there’s no one still here.”

“Then I’ll do the same.”

  The engineer shook his head.

“The Station won’t abide by it. You have to get out of here.”

“Hah, I need to make sure Toast hasn’t been ignoring the warnings. The Station won’t like it if I leave without him.”

  Oliver sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

“Okay, fine. But once you make sure Toast and Bacon aren’t here, you have to leave. We’ll meet here.”

  Soup nodded before sprinting toward Lab 5C. Oliver made sure he was heading in the right direction, watching as he disappeared around the bend. He turned the opposite way, running towards the Station Clinic.

  Just like the floor below, this floor was quiet other than his own footsteps. It was strange, to put it lightly. He went around the bend, the clinic within his sights. He approached it, his foot through the opening when he heard shouting coming from further down the hallway. Oliver paused, trying to catch what they were saying.

“Warning. Fire in section two. All personnel evacuate.”

  Oliver looked at the clinic. The lights were on, but it didn’t seem like anyone was in there. He took a step toward the voices. As his foot took another step forward, the shouting became screaming.

“What is that?!”

“Fucking shoot it!”

  Gunfire rang out.