[Synopsis: The new guy in the lobby is still struggling with some of the tasks and game mechanics, and some of the group members are ready and willing to use his lack of skills to their own advantage instead of giving him a hand...Fortunately, the newbie's prayers are about to be answered.]

[Location: Polus outpost]

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"Wait, which one did it say to press next?"

The blue crewmate with the wooly winter hat had been in the Specimen Room for pushing twenty minutes. The only task he had in there was to start the reactor, and he was having a lot more trouble with it than he expected. He always seemed to hit the wrong button during the final sequence; either he lost track of the order, or his finger slipped and he pressed the wrong one by mistake. And now he was certain he was about to make the same mistake again.

"Come on, come on, what was it. It was...top right, then center, then top center...or was it the center first? God, why is this task so hard...?"

"Uh, you havin' some troubles there?"

He looked up to see a familiar orange figure entering the room from the north hallway.

"Oh. Hey, MrCheese. Yeah, I can't seem to be able to finish this up; I can never get the sequence right."

"Well, don't worry, Rookie. You don't have to do it anymore!"

The blue crewmate's face lit up.

"You'll help me out?"

"Uh, no. You're the last person I need to kill so Stoner and I can win. And my cooldown just hit zero, so, nighty night."

"Wait, wh-"

Before he could try to run, MrCheese pulled out his pistol and shot him in the back of the head, killing him instantly. The screen faded to black, and then displayed the defeat screen, showing off the two Impostors.

Everyone spawned back into the dropship after that. While MrCheese and Stoner celebrated their victory with TheGentleman and a few of the others, Rookie kept himself isolated from the crowd, sliding down the wall and onto the floor, taking his hat off in despair.

"That's the third time something like that has happened today," he muttered to himself. "...Maybe I should just go find another lobby to play in if this is what people are gonna do to me."

"Oh, come on, now. I know they can be a little brash sometimes, but they don't mean to make you upset."

He looked up to see who the gentle voice belonged to, and beheld a banana-clad crewmate with a halo floating above her head.

"You think so, huh...?"

"Of course I do," she assured him softly, sitting down beside him. "I don't think we've met before, have we?"

"No, I guess not...Name's Rookie. Yours?"

"It's Angel. I don't come here quite as often as most of the other lobby members do, but I've been around for about as long as everyone else has."

"So you know your way around this game pretty well, then?"

"Oh, most certainly. You know, if you're still having trouble, I wouldn't mind helping you out with a few of your tasks the next round."

"Really? You'd do that?"

"It would be my pleasure."

"Hey, Angel! What's goin' on?"

Another crewmate, who'd just spawned in judging by the noise the two of them had heard, headed over, and they immediately recognized the red, beanie-wearing figure as Player.

"Player, you're here!"

Rookie watched as Angel stood up to lock hands and nuzzled visors with him.

Wow. He and Angel are together? Heh...I didn't know he had what it takes.

"I suppose you're familiar with the new lobby member?" Angel asked her red-clad sweetheart as the two of them parted from one another.

"Oh, hey Rookie," he greeted, looking down at him. "Haven't seen you in a while. How've things been with the others?"

"Eh...Okay, but not great. I'm not a bad Impostor, but I'm pretty much useless as a crewmate," he replied. "I don't know why it is, but I can't seem to be able to do any of the tasks fast enough, or do them the right way. Especially that stupid reactor task...MrCheese put a bullet in my head and secured a victory for himself and Stoner jut last round."

"Ooh, ouch. Yeah, I've been there; almost done with a task, and then killed before you can finish it...Hey, if Angel's gonna be giving you a hand next round, you mind if I tag along? The more the merrier, right?"

"I don't have a problem with that," Rookie nodded. "Oh, the timer's started. Lets' make sure we stay on our toes."

"Will do," the red crewmate assured him...The screen faded to black, and Rookie was glad to see that he was a crewmate again this round; being an Impostor would have kind of defeated the purpose of them teaching him how to to tasks around the outpost.

Everyone inserted their keys(an easy enough task for Rookie to get by without any help,) and then piled out of the dropship, ready to get a move on.

"So, what does your task list say?" Angel asked the blue-clad crewmember. "It would probably be best to visit places where all of us have tasks first, so we can get a lot done at one time."

"My first two tasks are in O2; I have to fix the wiring and monitor the tree, and after that, I have to scan my boarding pass in the Office."

"I have to refill the water jug in here, then bring it to the Office," Player told them. "Aside from scanning the boarding pass, I have to fix the wiring in Electrical, just north of O2."

"I just have to empty the trash, and that's it for this side of the map. I have wires to fix in the lab, but I'll save that for later," Angel told them. "Why don't we enter through the north end? That way you can get your wires fixed really quick, Player."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," he agreed. "Okay. Let's go."

They headed into Electrical, stopping briefly so Player could fix the wires.

"Do you know how to do the wires okay, Rookie?"

"It's one of the easier ones. They can be kinda stubborn sometimes, though. And a lot of the time, a meeting is called while I'm working on them, so it takes me more than one stop to get them done."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Angel sympathized. "Well, a good idea would be to try doing them as soon as possible once the game begins or right after a meeting; the Impostors have a kill cooldown at the start of a round and after each meeting, so it should be less likely that you'll get interrupted by a body report if you do that."

"Huh. Good tip," Rookie said to her. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Okay, that's done," Player announced. "Let's head down into O2."

They made their way down the corridor, and each of them stopped to do their respective tasks. When Rookie opened up the wire panel, he took a good look at the locations of each wire end, and he slid them each over to their matching colors with a swift, fluid motion as best he could. He had a bit of trouble connecting the pink wire to its end, but finally managed to get it after he slowed down a bit.

Satisfied with his work, he headed into the tree room to adjust the nutrients the oxygen-providing tree was receiving...

...Only to freeze in the entrance when he saw the dead body of TheGentleman lying just beyond the hole in the ground, beneath the download screen.

"Uh, guys?"

"Yeah?"

"Yes, Rookie?"

Player stepped out of the Boiler Room with a full jug of water, and Angel stepped away from the trash lever.

"...TheGentleman's dead."

Both of them rushed over to where the blue crewmate was standing, and sure enough, they beheld the black clad corpse on the ground, bone sticking out and top hats lying on the ground not far from it.

"Welp, I guess we better report this," Rookie decided, whipping out his megaphone and calling everyone to the meeting room.

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DEAD BODY REPORTED

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"Wow, that happened pretty quick," Captain remarked. "Rookie. Where'd you spot the body of our fancy fallen friend?"

"Player, Angel and I were all doing tasks in O2. I went in to monitor the tree, and there was TheGentleman's body by the vent hole."

"Oof City, bro," Stoner remarked. "Like, if you'd peeked in there a bit sooner, then you might've been able to catch the guy in action."

"Yeah...I know..."

"Hang on," MrCheese interrupted. "You said Player and Angel were both in O2 with you?"

"Yeah, but neither of them ever went into the tree room. We all went in together; they offered to help me out with my tasks this round."

"So you're absolutely positively sure it wasn't either of them who might have killed him?" Happy asked.

"Pretty positive; looked to me like they were each doing tasks of their own."

"それは今のところ唯一の死です," Ninja spoke up. "今のところ投票をスキップしましょう."

"Dude, I thought you said you were working on your English more," Veteran commented, raising an eyebrow at him. The purple crewmate sighed and rolled his eyes; just because he was working on his English didn't mean he felt comfortable using it a lot around the crew yet. It was still pretty clumsy.

"Skip-u," he repeated himself, only needing one word to emphasize his point.

"Ninja might have a point," Captain agreed. "It's a bit early to jump to conclusions. Let's skip."

Everyone voted, and the results tallied in.

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Player:
Veteran:
Captain:
MrCheese:
Ninja: *
Happy:
Angel: **
Rookie:
Stoner:
PoopyFarts:
Goober:

Skip: ********

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No one was ejected(Skipped.)
2 Impostors remain.

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Rookie's eyes narrowed at the voting results.

"...Okay, which of you two voted for Angel?"

Everyone either shrugged or shook their heads...Seemed like nobody was willing to fess up.

It was probably the two Impostors, he surmised.

"Okay, which one of you voted for Ninja?"

This time, he got an answer...Goober rose her hand eagerly.

"Ooh, ooh! Me me me, I did!"

"Uh...Why?"

"It's GOTTA be the ninja...It's ALWAYS the ninja..."

She whispered the last part, her nasally, childish tone of voice carrying a sinister, almost knowing hint to it. Sure, Ninja was a ruthless assassin, but they didn't have sufficient evidence against him yet.

"Well, that wraps that meeting up, I guess," Captain announced. "Now, before everyone scatters, as usual, let's all go scan our boarding passes in the other room!"

They all piled into the next room and scanned their passes...Rookie seemed to have a bit of difficulty again.

"Ugh, come on...Scan already."

"You need some help there?" Player offered. Rookie sighed and nodded, a bit ashamed of having so much trouble with something that seemed so simple.

"Oh, there's the problem. You forgot to turn it over."

He flipped the card over for him, ID photo facing down.

"It's a photo recognition system. It has to see the photo in order for it to scan."

"Oh..."

With the photo of himself facing down, Rookie moved the pass over the scanner, kept it hovering there as it beeped, and successfully completed the task.

"Okay. Thanks, Player."

"No problem. Now, just let me fix the second wiring panel in here and fill up the water cooler, and we can head to our next stop."

Angel and Rookie waited patiently for Player to connect all of the wire sets and tip the water jug into the empty cooler to refill it. It barely took him a minute to do both, so he was ready to go pretty quickly.

"Okay, last wire panel I need to sort out is in north Decontamination. Anyone have any tasks in the lab?"

"Let's see...Ooh, I have to align the telescope. You, Angel?"

"Inspect sample, and that's it," she answered. "We should be able to get these done pretty quickly, wouldn't you say?"

"We've been making pretty good progress," Player agreed. "Let's just make sure we stay together; since there are two Impostors instead of three this round, we should be safe from any kills if we stay in a group."

"Got it," the blue crewmate nodded. "Okay, let's head on up there."

They headed out of the Office and made their way to the west lab entrance, getting right down to business as soon as they arrived...Rookie started having some obvious difficulty with the telescope alignment before long.

"Come on, where is it?"

"What are you trying to find?" Angel asked him when she got done booting up the sample inspection.

"Uhh...The drawing that's supposed to help me here looks like a star surrounded by these weird dark ring things."

"The Dyson Sphere?"

"That's what it's called?"

"Yep. It's a giant structure built around the star to capture its radiation. First one ever built, as far as we know," Angel explained to him.

"Ah, okay. Yeah, I can't seem to locate anything like it."

"Here, let me see."

She gently took the telescope from him to see where it was pointed, and saw that it was half-focused on a broken rocky planet.

"Okay, I see where you're at. Here, go ahead and look through it again."

She let him step back up to it as she left the device.

"Now, from where it's pointing right now, the Dyson Sphere should be a little off to the right and higher up. The tapping noise the telescope makes should get faster the closer you get to it."

"Thanks, Angel...Okay..."

He moved the telescope in said direction, and the tapping sound indeed got faster. Before long, he found himself pointing the telescope right at a megastructure that looked exactly like the one drawn out on his note, and it was then and there that his task was marked as completed.

"There, you did it! Great job!" Angel congratulated him.

Their celebration was short-lived, though. Not only was that also the moment the lights were cut, but they also heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching from Decontamination. At first, they thought it was a potential Impostor, but when the figure entered their fields of vision, they heaved a sigh of relief.

"Oh, Player...It's just you," Rookie addressed. "What's up?"

"I think one of the Impostors just got into Decontamination! I heard a scream and a gunshot from the opposite side of the door while I was reconnecting the wires!"

"Do they know you heard them?"

"Not initially, but they probably know someone was there now, since the spray activated when I opened up the door to come back in here and held them up!"

Rookie and Angel looked at one another, then at Player, then started formulating a plan.

"Let's go fix the lights first," the blue crewmate suggested. "Then after that, we come back here to see who we find. They can't get all three of us at once."

"Ooh, good thinking, Rookie," Angel complimented him. "Okay, let's go to Electrical. But be careful; another one could be waiting there for people to come, too."

The two male crewmembers nodded, and they all stuck close together as they left the Lab and headed west towards the building...Angel was the one to open up the closed doors, and they all headed into at once. They found that they were the only ones on the scene, so Angel and Player took the opportunity to give Rookie another chance to improve his skills.

"Okay, Rookie. If you open up the metal cover here, it'll reveal the lights panel. All you have to do is flick all of the switches so that the green lights above them are glowing on instead of off to fix them."

"Wow. That...sounds really simple. Why do people have so much trouble with this?"

"Because everyone tries to do it at the same time, and it gets hectic," Player replied dryly.

"Oh...Well, in that case, let me see what I can do."

Four of the five switches had the light above them turned off, so he flicked them in the opposite direction, and they glowed green, just as was promised. The fifth switch was already on, so he left it be, and the lights scattered across the outpost slowly came back on.

"Nice goin' there!" Player cheered. "Okay, now let's head back into the lab to see what we find."

When they arrived at the Lab again, they found that the doors had been shut once more; probably to keep the body concealed for just a little while longer. But the Impostors bought themselves very little time in doing so; Rookie put his switch-flicking skills to the test when they arrived, flipping all of the lock switches off and opening the door in what took him barely two seconds.

"Wow, you got quick fast," Player marveled. "Okay, let's see who we find."

They headed into the back, then stepped in front of the Decontamination doors...Player heard someone coughing on the other side.

They're still alive?

He quickly pressed the door button, and the trio beheld a grizzly sight...The victim of the assault was still breathing, but his fate had been sealed by a gunshot wound to the abdomen. He'd bled out slowly, the crimson fluid pooling around him, and spreading slowly across the floor.

Player quickly identified the unfortunate crewmate by his orange suit and the wedge of cheese on his head.

"MrCheese?" he addressed softly, not caring about stepping in the puddle of blood as he and his friends approached him, kneeling down at his side...There was still a hint of awareness in his visor.

"P...pwayer...I...I'm so sowwy you...you guys had to see me like this..."

"...Who did this to you, MrCheese?"

"He...B-betwayal...H-he no did good..."

Angel knelt down next, gently stroking his forehead with the back of her hand to comfort him as he died.

"We'll get him. I promise, MrCheese," the red crewmate nodded. "Can you tell us anything about him?"

The victim's eyes grew filmy, and he stared upward.

"...TheGentleman...I...I'm coming..."

He drew in one last, shaky breath, then let it go. His head tilted off to the side, and his heart ceased to beat...He was gone.

Rookie removed his winter cap and bowed his head lightly, and Angel gently closed his visor.

"...He's with TheGentleman now," she whispered, wiping away a stray tear from her eye...Player's fist clenched. He wouldn't let his death go unavenged.

"We might not have his name...But from what he did tell us, I think I have half a clue who killed MrCheese."

With that, he pulled out his megaphone and reported the body, once again calling everyone to the table.

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DEAD BODY REPORTED

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PoopyFarts turned out to be dead as well upon the meeting being called. But nobody had ever stumbled across his corpse, so the matters of his death were still a mystery.

"We found MrCheese bleeding out in Decontamination. Before he died, he said a few things that I think we can put to use."

"Not Master Cheese..." Happy mourned quietly. "What was he able to tell you?"

Player's gaze narrowed at the lime crewmate.

"I dunno. What was he able to tell you after you shot him in the stomach?"

"Wh-what!?! What are you talking about??"

"Betrayal? He no do good? Sounds to me like his very own pupil pulled an Anakin on his Obi Wan. And whoever 'betrayed' him obviously wasn't TheGentleman; he was the first one to die!"

"Whah-I-C-come on! That's ridiculous! Ha...I would never do such a thing! Right, Balthazar!?"

His brain slug didn't respond...Happy might have been able to convince everyone that he was innocent if it hadn't been for his apparent nervousness. And judging by the sweat beading on his forehead, he did was very afraid of getting apprehended. With everyone staring at him like they knew he was lying, he made a final resort to prove his innocence.

"Uh...G-goober! Y-you know it wasn't me! You saw me scan in Medbay earlier, right?"

"Duuuuhhhhh, nope. But I did see you with a steak knife."

Everyone raised their eyebrows at him, and he stuttered and sputtered for a good five seconds before producing anything coherent.

"You, you traitor! Why didn't you defend me!? Now we're gonna lose to the crew, you stupid coral freak!"

"Ummm, what?"

"Wait, Goober is his partner!?" Rookie exclaimed.

"Hang on, Rookie," Player whispered to him. "He could be trying to trick us by deflecting the blame off of his actual partner. Besides, Goober isn't very smart, so once the meeting is over, we'll be able to get to the bottom of it easily."

"Well, it's sufficient evidence that Happy's one of our killers," Veteran nodded. "All of those in favor of casting the lime freak into Polus' own little fiery pit of the underworld, say aye."

"Aye!"

"Hey, you stole my line!" Captain exclaimed, shooting Veteran a glare.

"Chill, dude. We've got our guy, don't we?"

"Hm...Guess so."

The votes came in, sealing Happy's fate.

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Player:
Veteran:
Captain:
Ninja: *
Happy: ********
Angel:
Rookie:
Stoner:
Goober: *

Skip:

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Happy's protests ceased once the votes came in...He knew he was done for now, so he decided not to try and fight it anymore. He even held back the scream bubbling up in his throat as the lava burned his body to a crisp.

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Happy was An Impostor.
1 Impostor remains.

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"Goober, did you vote for Ninja again?" Rookie asked her.

"IT'S ALWAYS THE NINJA..." she emphasized again, insistent on her accusation. Rookie wasn't sure if she was really that dumb or if she was just playing them for fools, but Player was quick to shoot down the possibility of her being a culprit.

"Hey, Goober. Quick question," he asked her. "Your name? The one above you?"

"Yeah?"

"What color is it?"

She looked up at her name icon for a second before answering him.

"Uhhh, it's white."

"Okay, carry on and finish your tasks."

"Guess that's one threat eliminated," Captain nodded. "Okay! Everyone scatter!"

The crowd dispersed, and everyone took a peek at their task lists again.

"Okay. Before we do anything else, I have to really quickly clear the asteroids. I usually don't take long with that, so we should be able to get back to group tasking once I'm done," Player told his comrades as they headed out the west Office door. "What do you guys have left?"

"I think both of us still have to fix the wiring in the Lab and Decontamination," Rookie replied. "I honestly wonder why we have to fix the same panels."

"Oh, the wires can be tricky a lot of the time, Rookie," Angel informed him. "Even when they're done right, they have a tendency to come apart not long afterward. That's why some people have to fix the same panels sometimes."

"Yeah, MIRA really needs to get their hardware situation sorted out," Player commented. "After this, I have to go to the Specimen Room and unlock the manifolds, then I'll be finished. Do either of you have tasks in there?"

"I have to put away the artifacts," Angel answered him. "After I do that, I just have to finish the wires and complete the sample inspection. You, Rookie?"

"Let's see...Oh, I do have something in the Specimen Room! It's..."

His smile fell when he saw what he was assigned to do.

"...Oh, jeez. I have to start the reactor. That'll hold us back."

"Oh, come on now, Rookie, it'll be okay," Angel assured him. "Player and I came to help you, remember?"

"Hmm...guess so. I just don't want to work you guys up; I'm REALLY bad at it."

"Hey, every problem's got a solution, doesn't it?" Player said as they turned down into Weapons. "I'm sure we'll be able to get you goin'."

It didn't take him long to clear all of the asteroids. Rookie was honestly really impressed by Player's skill; for someone who used to lose every single game he played, he was surprisingly good at the game.

"Okay. Now. Let's head up to the north lab entrance instead of going to Specimens first," the red crewmate said to them, gingerly taking Angel by the hand as they exited Weapons and headed in said direction. "You both have to finish up in there before we move on to the group task plan, right?"

"That's right," Rookie nodded...They had almost made it to the lab when a blaring alarm started to sound off, spreading out across the outpost.

"Stabilizer sabotage," Player recognized. "Let's stay together. There are still eight of us and only one impostor left, so someone should respond to the west end when they see we're already here...Rookie, would you care to do the honors?"

"No problem...Do I just put my hand on the scanner?"

"Yeah. When someone else does the same on the other side, the sabotage will be fixed. Just keep your hand there."

"Seems simple enough."

He pressed his blue-gloved hand against the scanner, and it was only about ten seconds later that the red lights finally stopped blaring, and the the alarm fell silent.

"Okay...Good job there, Rookie. Now, let's keep it up; the task bar is almost full."

"Ooh, do you think we can pull off a task win?" Angel asked him hopefully as they headed into the Lab.

"It's looking more and more likely. We're on a roll today, aren't we?"

"We most certainly are. Mwah~."

Angel leaned in to give him a peck on the cheek, and he giggled a bit, turning slightly redder than he already was.

"Aww, you guys go so good together," Rookie complimented as he lifted up the wire panel just outside of Decontamination, Angel and Player at the sample inspection not far from him. "How long have you two been a thing?"

"Well, uh...It's been almost a month now, right?" Player asked, to which Angel nodded in confirmation before he continued. "Yeah, it hasn't been too long, but things have been going pretty smoothly so far...She's NOTHING like my manipulative ex."

"Ha! Well, that's good to hear," Rookie chortled. Even Angel giggled a bit; Player didn't really mention his ex-girlfriend Noob that often, but whenever he did, it was usually to state just how toxic their relationship had been, and how glad he was to be with Angel now.

"Aaaand, that one's done," Angel nodded as she finished reconnecting the broken strands. "Okay. Rookie, you and I just have to do the panel in Decontamination now, don't we?"

"Yep...Say, that's the same one you finished on yourself, isn't it, Player?"

"That would be right...Man, we really need to get some electrical tape to keep those things together properly," Player remarked as they all piled into the tiny room...All physical traces of MrCheese's brutal murder at his apprentice's hands were now gone, and the only thing that remained was the grim memory of the scene.

"Okay, that's that," Rookie announced as he finished up with the wires, Angel having fixed them up before he did. "We ready to finish up?"

The couple agreed, and all three crewmates descended down the north hall and into the Specimen Room. Player stepped up to the manifolds and pressed the buttons in numerical order while Angel fitted the specimens into their proper holding slots in their containment unit...All the while, Rookie just stared down at the reactor start-up board in contempt, knowing that this would be a huge headache for both him and his escorts.

"You okay there?" Player asked him, to which he sighed.

"...I'm sorry I'm such a doofus."

"Hey, there there, don't talk about yourself like that," Angel cooed gently, stroking the back of his head to comfort him. "Just take your time, alright? It's one of the last tasks that has to be done, and there's only one Impostor left, so there's no rush."

"Well...Okay..."

He booted up the machine, then closely looked at the glow panel...The first square to light up was the top right one, so he pressed it first and reminded himself not to forget about it. The next sequence was top right, then top middle, so he followed that order as well without any trouble.

"See? You're not bad at this," Player assured him.

"Oh, it gets worse from this point on," Rookie lamented as he stared down at the glow panel again.

Top right, top middle and center.

He was almost positive he would fudge it up, but he still tried his best and got all three...Once the sequence displayed four and five buttons, however, things usually took a turn for the worse.

...Ho boy.

The next sequence played out. Not only was Rookie staring down at it, but so were Player and Angel.

Top right, top middle, center, and-

A loud gasp coming from the south corridor interrupted Rookie's train of thought, and both he and his companions turned to see Goober enter the room, and judging by the numerous deep, bleeding cuts she had all over herself, it was safe to say she'd very narrowly escaped a brutal end at the hands of the remaining Impostor.

The coral crewmate hid herself behind the others, shaking and cowering.

"Whoa, hey!" Player exclaimed. "Goober, what...Wh-what happened to you out there?"

She blubbered incoherently for a few moments before her legs caved in and she fell to her knees. Angel stooped down to her level and consoled her as best she could.

"Goober, Goober, it's okay," she said softly. "Shhh, it's alright...You're safe now."

"N-no. W-we're not s-safe..."

"What happened, Goober?"

"H-he...V-veteran, Captain, Stoner...They're all dead, he killed them all and there was blood everywhere, then tried to kill me..."

By process of elimination, it was easy to figure out who the mass murderer was.

"She was right about Ninja this whole time!?" Rookie exclaimed.

"H-he's around the corner...waiting..."

Everyone exchanged glances, then Player spoke up again.

"Ninja's the best Impostor in the group," he said to them. "...But he still has a kill cooldown against him. Angel. Can you do anything about Goober's cuts here?"

"I'm afraid not. I'd have to go to Medbay to grab a first aid kit."

"But Ninja could be out there waiting...We'll have to wait on that. Look at the task bar; all Rookie needs to do is finish booting up the reactor, and we're home free."

"Uh...guys?"

"Yeah Rookie?"

"I...don't remember how the sequence went."

As if on cue, the lights in the Specimen Room dimmed down, and the group was bathed in darkness.

"..We better hurry. Ninja likes to work in the darkness, so he might be bold enough to come in here now," Player remarked. "Rookie, I think the first three buttons were top right, top middle then center, but I didn't see the fourth one. Did you?"

"I looked over to where Goober was coming from before I got the chance to."

"Oh boy, uh...Try the bottom left maybe?"

Rookie decided it was worth a shot, and he pressed the buttons in said sequence...only for the glow panel to flash red once he hit the fourth button.

"Aagh, it was the wrong one!"

"It's okay, Rookie, just start from the beginning," Player told him. "Angel, how's Goober holding up over there?"

...He got no answer.

"Angel?"

He wandered around the dark Specimen Room a bit, and saw that Goober was still with them, sitting in the corner looking traumatized, but Angel was gone.

...And then he heard the north Decontamination doors close, and a faint, high pitched yelp could be heard from behind them.

"No...No, no, Angel...!"

"What's going on, Player?" Rookie asked him.

"H-he must've snuck in here and grabbed her when no one was looking! I...No, no, I'm no match for him. If I go after her, he'll take me down, too. I...I've gotta be strong. Did you start the next sequence, Rookie?"

"Yeah...First square was bottom middle. I'm pressing it now."

He did so, and the next sequence began.

Bottom middle, then center left.

He pressed them as quickly as he could, not wanting to waste any time getting the task done now that the stakes were higher.

Bottom middle, center left, then center left again.

"Y'know, Rookie, a good way to keep track of which buttons you have to press is by imagining a line connecting all of them in the order in which they light up," Player suggested. "For example, like with the sequence we're doing now, you could imagine a line connecting the bottom middle and center left, then continue the line as the sequence goes on."

"Huh...Okay, I'll try it."

He pressed the buttons in the sequence displayed, imagining a line connecting the two different ones he'd pushed so far.

"What if one button flashes twice in a row for me to press?"

"Well, what I do is imagine a red dot over the button. Kind of like a reminder it has to be pushed two times...Oh, the next sequence is coming up, keep watching it."

Bottom middle, center left, center left, top right, Rookie noted mentally, drawing the line between the buttons in his head before pressing the first three.

Before he could press the top right button, he heard the sound of a blade piercing through flesh, followed by Player emitting a strained gasp.

"Rookie...Don't...forget," he heard him say, followed by the sound of his body hitting the ground, then being slid across the floor, out of reach to report it.

The blue crewmate didn't dare look behind him...He knew that if he did, he would find himself face-to-face with the purple assassin, and he knew that he would just stare in horror, which would lead to his OWN demise.

Rookie ignored him as best he could, pressing the top right button to complete the fourth sequence...And to his great fortune, he got it right.

His eyes narrowed as the fifth and final sequence started up, the sound of Ninja sharpening his katana echoing behind him.

Bottom middle, center left, center left, top right, middle right...Okay.

As Player had instructed, he drew a line connecting the buttons in the order he'd been given, and he imagine the center left button with a red dot on it, as Player had recommended. And without any hesitation, he started to press them.

One right...two...three...That's four, come on, you can do this...!

"降伏、ルーキーくん。 お前はもう死んでいる."

Ninja grunted, then swung his weapon back, ready to slice Rookie's head clean off with one clean swipe.

"FIVE!!"

But before Ninja could sink his katana into Rookie's flesh, the task bar filled up the last bit of the way, and the screen faded completely into black.

"何...?"

It was only a moment later that Rookie was met with the Victory screen, the ghosts of his fallen crewmembers(along with the still-living Goober) surrounding him.

"I...I did it. Ha! I actually did it!"

When he spawned back into the lobby, he was met with the cheers of his crewmate brethren.

"You did it, Rookie!" Player cheered him. "Man, and just in time, too!"

"Oh, you did so great, we're so proud of you!" Angel exclaimed, hopping over and wrapping her arms around him, giving him a gentle squeeze.

The other crewmates who'd died the last round surrounded him as well, giving him their congratulatory statements.

"Duuude, like, I thought we were finished. Nice move," Stoner drawled.

"Yeah, especially against the odds," Veteran added. "Ninja was CRAZY! He killed Captain at the left sabotage, according to what he told me, then fixed it himself so no one else would come by before his kill cooldown ran out, then he jumped me in Security not long after that. Her came from the vent, so I never saw him comin'. And then when he found Stoner eating all the leftover donuts, he gutted him like a fish! Unfortunately, Goober saw what happened, and he tried to go after her...In the end, it was just her, you and Ninja remaining. But I guess you were one step ahead of him with the last task."

"And you did an excellent job in showing Ninja who the head honcho was!" Captain nodded. "Not bad for a rookie, if I do say so myself."

"Even I was impressed!" Happy admitted. "Not everyone can pull off such a feat against the likes of Ninja, you know."

"本当に、あなたは名誉ある乗組員です," Ninja told him, folding his hands and bowing slightly. "私はもっと自分のスキルを磨かなければならないでしょう."

"Oh, well, uh...Thanks?" Rookie replied to the master Impostor, not really sure what he'd said, but taking it as a compliment.

As the others continued to cheer him on, Player and Angel spoke to him again.

"So, you think you've got the gist of everything now?" the red crewmate asked him.

"Overall, yes. I think I finally aced starting the reactor, and I can get everything else done pretty quickly," Rookie replied. "Thanks for the help out there, guys."

"Aw, it's no problem at all," Angel smiled gently. "And if you ever need any more help with anything, just talk to one of us."

"Or both, if you want," Player added.

"I will...So, are we ready to start another game, everyone?"

"You bet your boots we are!" Captain nodded as he started up the countdown. "Alright, everyone. Let's get back down to business..."

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So what'd you guys think? I thought it came out pretty good, but I'm not sure I added enough fluff. ._.

Ah, well. There's some, at least. See you guys next time! XP