Cosmonogic

Chp. 5: Setting Sights

 A sense of dreariness overcame Rake as he continued growing more tired than usual with each passing day. Over the past month, he had been waking up at random times. Sometimes he would "sleep" for over a week without warning, and nothing except time could wake him up. On top of that, he was losing his mind; according to his crew at least. He couldn't remember when he was passing out, nor did he seem to grasp the magnitude of it.

Nex had previously taken it upon himself to land them on a nearby desolate moon, encircling an equally desolate planet. In one of his more lucid moments, Rake was beyond pleased to discover that his second-in-command was taking charge during his unintentional leave-of-absence, instead of his allegedly power-hungry brother. He had a feeling that they would be in yet another warzone if that were the case.

During his most recent episode, he had been out of commission for nearly two weeks. The crew was growing increasingly worried, borderline paranoid even. This was both for their commander's health as well as their current life-threatening dilemma. Reserve power was critically low, and the air grew thinner with each passing day. Rake was also apparently having conversations with himself. It wasn't necessarily an unusual occurrence to see Rake whispering under his breath when he thought he was alone, but the conversations he had been having with himself recently he was practically shouting. When Syfer recited one of them to him, it sounded like complete and utter nonsense.

"Nex." Rake knocked on the wall beside his door. Even the laser-barrier guarding his room looked like it belonged in the same space dump that they previously raided with how much it glitched out.

"What's up, Rake?" Nex welcomed him in cautiously. Rake sat on the bottom bunk of his bed, while Nex less-than-casually leaned against the wall. Rake couldn't begin to fathom that this room was meant to hold two.

"You need a better room." Rake smirked, well aware that he was never going to take him up on his offer.

"What's wrong, Rake?" Nex got straight to the point, unsure of when Rake would have another of his episodes.

"Well, the name 'Rakaro' keeps on repeating in my head," Rake murmured; as he spoke, he could tell that something was up with Nex. Something was off.

"You tried to kill Syfer," was all that Nex uttered in response. Rake's face became unreadable as Nex relented and continued. "Yesterday, you kept saying, 'I, Rakaro Harden, am unleashed!'" Nex paused, "It wasn't until Moxin came in and held you down that you came back to your normal self, only to pass out immediately afterwards."

"Is he okay?" Rake mustered out weakly, very thankful to have been sitting; otherwise he might have fallen with how numb his body suddenly felt.

"Yeah, you banged him up pretty good, but he'll be fine." Nex's face was grim. As he leaned against the wall, it was almost like a certain darkness swam around him.

"Why am I not in the brig?" Rake exasperated as the numbness continued spreading throughout his body.

"You were, Rake, I don't know how you got out," Nex responded grimly. "Moxin is coming to get you," Nex paused mid-sentence, and looked to the ground.

"What is it?" Rake was having trouble keeping his head up. What's happening to me?

"We'll get to the bottom of this, okay?" as Nex spoke the door opened. Moxin stood there, glaring at Rake with a certain fire in his eyes.

"Let's go," was all that Moxin said.

"Moxin, I.."

The Nurse was waiting for him in the brig, which was a surprisingly large area. The past crew likely used it a lot more than they ever would. There were a multitude of cells lined up against each other, each one seemingly more cramped than the next.