Alone On the Ship

Colony

The day was a threat to Svetlana, as she had to maintain a guard with others. The night was a threat to Svetlana, as it left her alone with her thoughts. They chipped away at her, slowly crushing her self-worth. The legacy she had to live up to had a tremendous pressure on her, and she had no way of alleviating it. The waves of the ocean should've thrilled her, and in a sense they did. But they also calmed her, and they staked their claim on her tranquility. Svetlana looked over at the paintings on the wall. The works varied from Salvador Dali to Pablo Picasso to other modern artists. There was one painting of a pagoda and a sakura tree. The pink petals had a slight shine to them, seeming almost like pink snow on the canvas. As she began to take in the painting's features, she heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" She asked.

"It's me." Petre said from the outside.

Svetlana opened the door and let him inside.

"You know I could've been an assassin..."

"Not mine." Svetlana said with confidence.

"How do you know that?" Petre asked.

She turned on her wristwatch, and it went through a one second initialization. She then went to the identity tab.

IDENTITY: SVETLANA OSHIRO–DOCTOR

"That's how I know. The doctor can't be a target." Svetlana replied, and she exited out of the tab, then turned the wristwatch off.

Petre nodded and sat next to her on her bed.

"So what about you?" Svetlana asked.

"I'm a bystander as far as I know." Petre responded.

Svetlana nodded. As she looked down, Petre rested his hand on hers.

"Petre..?"

"Let's have each other's backs. You need someone, and I need you." Petre said. "Besides... I love your company..."

He smiled, and she looked over at him.

"Petre, what message are you trying to send?" Svetlana asked.

"I want us to be friends.."

"We're already friends, you big baby!" Svetlana said with a smile as she gently punched his shoulder.

Petre smiled and hugged her.

"I love your company too, don't worry..." Svetlana said.

–––

Nio smiled at Viorica. The two were swimming in the pool, almost as if the game wasn't even going on. Nio stayed at the shallow end, laying down with her head above the water. Her eyes remained closed as if she had no worries, and so she had none. Viorica was sitting next to her, simply patting her head and stroking her hair.

"You seem to be calm during all of this..." Nio said.

"I try to take my mind off of it." Viorica replied.

"I see.. What do you plan to do about the game?" Nio asked.

"I don't really know... What about you?" Viorica asked.

"I intend to have some sort of weapon to defend myself... If anybody attacks me, I'll have to kill them..." Nio replied.

"Why does it have to come to this...?" Viorica asked.

"Because this is life now... If we can't adapt and see why life is special, then we'll die..." Nio said.

"So what? It's about the fight? It's about death?"

"It only is if you choose to see it that way... But all that leads to is more death. I say we kill this orchestrator, then we can all be happy." Nio said. "Life is precious, and so we all live isolated here... It feels just like a weird colony. But that's the way we will have to adapt now."