Colony

[CeeCee]

This is a short(ish) story I'm working on. I realise I need some practice before I continue with We are Metru, so here it is. Colony.its probably semi-cannon and I probably wont refer back to much of the Bionicle story.Review Topic: http://www.bzpower.c...?showtopic=7015

Colony-Chapter 1-Awake

Colony-Chapter 1-Awake

Something was not right. It was something odd which Kadis could not place. The Green Matoran was in his bunk, lying on his back. Propping his arms up behind him, he lifted himself into a sitting position. He let out a long exasperated sigh and rubbed his face with is hands, failing to wake himself up. When something was wrong on Colony, it usually went very wrong.Kadis swivelled around on his side of his bed and let his metal feet clang lightly against the steel floor. The freezing touch of it made him regret his awake. He pressed his feet harder to the floor in an effort to stand up. He rose, but his legs were unable to support him, and he came clattering down onto the floor, hitting his head hard as he fell down. He felt sick. Was he going to be? Maybe. After more than ten years of space travel, Kadis hand never quite got used to the gentle movement and the thin air. It was unnoticeable to most, but he could feel it, especially when he was trying to sleep. Kadis didn’t sleep well these days. If he would have gone and told that to himself about nine or ten years ago, he would probably die of laughter; but years had caught up with Kadis now. He was still relatively young in his age, but experiencehad hardened him. He wasn’t who he used to beKadis opened his eyes. He realised he had been lying on the floor for about an hour now, thinking of his past. The metallic surfaces cold feel, was welcomed on his feverish body, as if he was lying on a block of cool ice. He propped himself up onto his now sturdy legs. It wasn’t the first time this had happened. Kadis was getting weaker, and he knew it. He was living on borrowed time. He didn’t know why he was dying, but he just knew that he was. He felt down the left side of his body that had collided with the floor. Unsurprisingly, there was no major damage, but his hip would give him a limp or a couple of days at least.His room was as depressing as always, just like the rest of colony. Just silver and white metal panels everywhere. It all seemed so modern and exciting back ten years ago. Now the very site of the colours made him feel nauseous. How long had it been since he had step foot on solid ground? He felt to himself. The feeling of natural air flowing through his trachea and into his lungs. The circulated recycled garbage just wasn’t the same. The artificial air, the electric lighting in the halls and the endless black expanse of space made him feel empty inside. Maybe that was why he was dying. He just didn’t feel alive anymore.Turning around he saw an unfamiliar face. It was none other than his own. Kadis looked in the mirror for a few puzzled minutes. He couldn’t really find the energy or motivation to do anything else. He brought his hand up to his mask and touched it, almost as if he was trying to confirm it was himself he was seeing before him. Every little part of him wished this figure in the mirror would not follow his every movement, but it did. No matter what he did, the reflection followed the pattern. Kadis sighed. His hollow, empty orange eyes stared back at him like extinguished candles. He touched his battered Kanohi Kualsi. It was dented in several places, and its right hand side was scratched in completely. He laughed as he remembered the memory. It felt good to smile again. Sure he had smiled recently, but it was only the false kind. Not necessarily deceiving, but just because his didn’t know how else to react to things these days.He looked around his windowless room. He hated it. He hated feeling trapped. Maybe he shouldn’t have signed up for a five year space exploration, but to be fair, he had always thought they would have been exploring great, new wondrous planets. He didn’t expect the engines to malfunction three years after launch and all communications lost. There were many other free bedrooms on the ship now with windows, but he would ever really be able to bring himself to sleep in any of those. They weren’t his to choose from.He pondered in thought for a while, until he realized what he thought felt wrong when he first woke up. Then he remembered. He said the words out loud, almost as if he was speaking to his reflection in the mirror.“It’s my Birthday.”

Edited September 29, 2012 by Alterego

[CeeCee]

Colony-Chapter 2-Dark

Kadis walked the empty hall ways of Colony. This ship had always felt way to big, even for ten people. Kadis put his head down, remembering his fallen brother and sisters. He wasn’t a Toa, but that’s what they had felt like to him. They were his family, and now they were gone.As Kadis lowered his head he noticed a small spec of dirt on the otherwise shiny black floor. It seemed to pain his eyes to look at. For a split second, Kadis’s body was filled with blinding rage. It swept through him like Lava, flowing down the Onu-Metru mines. His body felt hot with anger and he was ready to explode.“Happy Birthday, partner”. The familiar voice ran like ice down Kadis’s spine. It was Devik.Kadis turned around to see the yellow Matoran with a devilish grin on his face.“Was this you?” Kadis spat.“Me?” Devik pretended to be shocked, still grinning. “You know I couldn’t do something like that to my best friend on his Birthday.”“Don’t give me that!” Kadis was furious, his face was trembling. “You do it just to wind me up.”Devik laughed. “You need to stop worrying about these floors; all you do is clean them. Day in day out. Learn to do something productive.”It was true. Kadis thought to himself. It was all he really could do now. He was determined to keep control of something. His ship may have been floating through space without any hope of rescue, and he knew he may keel over and die at any given moment. The least he could do was make his ship look tidy.“Why do you even bother?” Devik continued. “No one is here to notice it”“What about you?” Kadis asked, realising his mistake just after the words left his mouth.“Dear Kadis. All this time alone space is making you forgetful. I’m dead, remember?”“Don’t say that.” Kadis said, his tone softening to be more sympathetic.Devik had been the fourth member out of the nine to die from the Colony crew. He had only shown back up about four years ago, which was about two years after the last member of Colony(except Kadis). It was funny. Kadis saw him more his saviour that day, four years, than the strange creepy being he saw him as today. It was two about years after Sallix, one of last two crew members of Colony had taken her own life in the realisation that their ship would never be found. Kadis was just about to do the same, until out of nowhere, Devik showed up behind him. He had a habit of doing that. Kadis had never witnessed him leave or enter a room, unless walking with him. He took the gun out of Kadis’s hand and held his firm hand on his shoulder. Kadis didn’t know what to think at the time, he was half scared to see a ghost and half grateful to see another being on the ship. The only thing was, was the fact that this Devik was nothing like the Devik that had been alive all those years ago. The ghost Devik was loud spoken and always had a conversation to start with Kadis; however the former Devik was quiet and shy. Kadis barley ever spoke a word to him.Kadis couldn’t say he liked Devik much, but he enjoyed the company and considered him a great friend. Kadis wasn’t even sure if that made sense, but that was how he felt about him. Their friendship was on the lines of “it’s complicated”.“So why did you do it?” Kadis insisted.“Do what?” Devik smiled back at him, in innocence.“Dirty my floor?” Kadis’s tone stated to turn more aggravated. Devik looked moved his eyes towards the floor where Kadis had first seen the dirt. “I don’t see anything”.Kadis looked again and saw, to his surprise that there was no dirt there at all. Maybe he was going crazy. He turned back to talk to Devik again, but he had vanished into thin air. That would probably be the last he saw of him for a few days. Devik liked to pop in and out when he felt like it. Despite his creepy appearance, Kadis had never felt threatened by Devik at all. Maybe he was letting his guard down, but he figured if Devik wanted to kill him, he would have done it by now. If anything, he felt safe in his presences. He wasn't ashamed to admit he missed him when he want aroundKadis was just about to get a drink from the ship bar when all of a sudden his vision was washed over by a black haze. The hallway he was in shot out and expanded in both directions, making the ends of them appear gloomy from distance. Kadis looked in front of him. Slowly, the lights started to shatter one by one, making the darkness expand closer towards. He could here all his friends, his dead crew mates. Eight of them, calling out to him, getting louder every time one light got smashed out and the dark got closer towards him.He could hear every one of their screams at once. The sounds they made as they died all screeching and shouting at him, while simultaneously they were calling his name.“Kadis. Join us, Kadis,” They chanted over and over again in unison. “Don’t trust him Kadis.”Kadis started to back away. He was sitting, facing them, while using his hands to pull himself backward. It was no use. He wasn’t going fast enough. The dark would get to him and consume him. He could hear them all. Sallix, Vussa, Tomis, Revid, Lidok, Hazen, Jevin and Yemi. They weren’t his friends any more. He could feel the adrenaline and fear pumping through his heart. His arms weaken to pull him back. The dark getting ever closer. The sound of the smashed glass form the lights hitting the floor. He closed his eyes, ready to give up and let them take him like they wanted him to. What choice did he have anyway?He awoke in the same hallway he has passed out in. He had vomited blood all over the floor and he was lying in it. It surrounded him. He sat up, still feeling weak and dizzy. The lights were still intact and the hallway was back to its normal length. Passing out, having scary visions and vomiting blood. He thought to himself. How much longer do I really have?

[CeeCee]

Colony-Chapter 3-Realisations

It wasn’t so much the fact that Kadis didn’t want to die, because he most certainly did. It was the fact that he didn’t want to become what he feared. The Darkness. He peered into his empty glass, with only the thin remaining layer of whiskey at the bottom. He didn’t normally believe in washing his troubles away with alcohol, but this morning had been something else. He spun the glass around in his hand gently, making the liquid travel in stream ground the bottom of the glass. He stared at its slow peaceful movement, before placing the glass down with a load slam, disturbing the quiet humming of the ship.He looked up; his mouth parted slightly, and stared at the plain white wall before him. He clenched his teeth, and made his palm into a tight fist. He knocked the glass of the counter. It’s clear structure shattered into millions of tiny pieces, spraying everywhere. It was beautiful. Kadis put his head in his palms and cursed his voice almost a whisper. He wiped the tears away from his mask, before slamming both is fists on the counter and cursing as load as his voice would let him. He imagined it the words travelling around each hall way of the ship like a strong gust of wind.He put his head in his hands again and let out something between a cry and a laugh. He was smiling, but didn’t feel at all happy.How miserable is this? He thought to himself. Wanting to die, but knowing you can’t.He sat there in silence for a moment, not knowing quite how to react. He wanted to scream as lud as he could for as long as he could but also to cry and curl up into a ball. It was so bitter sweet. Over the past few years, had felt little to no emotion for anything. Today though, he felt alive. Although the emotions he wasfeeling were hardly the one he wanted.He was in the ships bar. Whoever had designed the place deserved the death sentence. It was cold and white like the rest of the ship. Kadis wished it was more homely, with wood and maybe a fire. If the built a darn space ship, there was no reason for them not be able to implement such things. Although Kadis was a pilot, he much more appreciated a more natural look. He would spend many of his younger days in the Le-Metru jungle, until the cut it down to make way for new apartments. That was one of them main reasons why he chose to leave Metru Nui. It was becoming what he hated. Everything was so industrial and mechanical. It did seem a bit ironic that he chose to live on a space ship for at the time, was going to be five years. All he wanted to do was find a nice jungle planet to settle down on and die happy. He never intended to return to Metru Nui. It was a severe case of “be careful what you wish for”Kadis could still taste the blood in his mouth. The whiskey had done nothing to kill the taste. He still had blood all over him, and hadn’t cleaned up the blood that had been left there, but to be honest Kadis didn’t really feel like going back there in a hurry. He did really need to was the blood of himself though. He got up and walked through the corridors of the ship to get to the showers. He was nervous in doing so and kept on looking behind his back. Eventually, he got to the showers. He read the sign on the doorShower Cubicle 5: Male.He pressed a button and the door slid open. It closed behind him and he pressed another button to lock it. He smiled slightly. As if a ghost could be stopped with alock, although to be fair, Devik had never bothered him in the shower.Maybe it does work. He joked to himself.As he turned his head to the shower, he almost though he saw a figure standing behind him in the small a mirror as his eyes passed over it. His body went cold and he shivered, before passing it off as his mind playing tricks on him. This morning had been a bit too much for him and it would probably take him a while to recover. He grabbed the shower curtain and pulled it back. His eyes widened in horror. He fell back and smacked the back of his head on the sink.“Sallix?” He said is shock, panting in fear.She smiled at him.“It’s okay”, She said.A wave of relief washed over him. It was good to hear her voice again. Rubbing the back of his head, he stood up. It didn’t hurt, but it felt like it should. There was a feeling in the air though, of something not quite right. Devik had it too, but this was different.“Why are you here?” Kadis said, putting his hand on her shoulder. She was a light cyan Matoran. Her pink eyes gazed into his orange ones.“To save you”, she said and gave him a sympathetic smile.“From what?” He panicked, his tone urgent“I think we both know that”, she said, her soft voice calmed him down.Kadis took his hand of her shoulder and looked into the mirror. He noticed her reflection wasn’t there. He turned back, worried she had left him, but was relieved when he saw here still standing there. It didn’t faze him too much, as Devik didn’t show up in reflections either.“Why did you do it?” He asked her. “I thought we were happy…enough”She sighed and put her arms around his shoulders. “You have to understand what I was going through”“I was going through the same thing”, Kadis retaliated.“No”, she gave him a weak smile, making him shiver “You made life so difficult for me”“What?” Kadis croaked. She was confusing him and he didn’t like it. He felt guilty, but he wasn’t sure why.“You forced me too”Kadis felt really ill now. His condition seemed to worsen when he felt a negative emotion.“The truth is”, she said, her expression was neutral. “You’re guilty for all our deaths”He was about to argue with, but somehow lost his bite back attitude.“You’re scared” She told him “and you deserve to be”Kadis tried to disagree with her, but he couldn’t. Her voice felt stronger than his, and was too confused to form a solid argument. She was right. He was afraid. Afraid of her. Afraid of the Darkness. Afraid of Death.The back of Kadis’s head started to hurt more and more as she faded. He closed his eyes, and started to fade into a deep sleep. He couldn’t stop himself. As his eyes started to shut he could see her fading.Is this death? He thought to himself?

Edited October 7, 2012 by Alterego

[CeeCee]

Colony-Chapter 4

Kadis’s head was spinning heavily. He wasn’t sure whether that was because of the bang to it, or just that the recent events had taken their toll. One thing was for certain though, and that was things had escalated fast. He had certainly never experienced anything as terrifying as what had happened to him before.He count help but feel Sallix was right earlier in the shower room. He could have helped prevent all of their deaths, especially hers. He definitely admitted he wasn't the easiest person to live with at that time, but to drive someone to suicide? He guessed it didn’t take much to push someone over the edge in a situation like this.He looked up at his white ceiling and closed his eyes. He tried to picture Salix’s face in his mind, but he couldn’t. It was different when she appeared to him, that when Devik did. As much as Kadis enjoyed having Devik around, there was always a horrible feeling almost emitting of his body. A feeling of Death. He didn’t feel that from Sallix. All he felt was guilt. She seemed to have a presence over him. He could only place it as fear. Sallix seemed a different type of ghost to Devik. Almost more human like, which scared him greatly.He shuddered.I hate the word “Ghost”.Kadis was in two minds about the visions he saw. Part of him was saying to accept to himself they weren’t real, and were just a bi-product of his insanity, and part of him was telling him that they were real and there was more to life, and death for that matter, that met the eye. The problem was, he wasn’t sure which one he preferred. On one hand, he didn’t really want a huge shadow hunting him round on a dead end ship until the end of his days, but on the other, he really just didn’t want to be alone.Kadis felt depressed; He felt more depressed than he had ever felt in his entire life, although time does tend to fade memories of emotion. At least it was something other than emptiness, but he didn’t exactly welcome its presence.He closed his eyes again and pictured something; something long forgotten. A picture, or a video in his mind. Birds. He remembered in Le-Metru, when he used to sit, just watching the birds fly over his head in the orangeing sky. He would sit there on his own until the sky went dark and the two moons stared back at him. He didn’t miss any one from Metru Nui, but he missed his friends he had lost on the ship. The truth is, he never intended to leave Colony after he met them. He didn’t want to die alone; he wanted to die with some one that cared for him. He would now never get that chance.He wandered to the back to the ships bar and grabbed an entire whiskey bottle from one of the shelf’s.Stocks are running low now He joked only 6,474 bottles left.He walked over to the lounge, stepping over the broken glass as he did. He had many fond memories of this room, but now it only brought him pain and sadness. Exactly what he needed. It was a fairly large room, with a wooden table in its centre. The rooms main feature though, was this massive window looking out into space. It never ceased to amaze him how big it actually was, and the wondered it held. It was just a shame he was trapped on this gleaming white purgatory.Kadis drunk from the bottle. The burning liquid seeped down his through. It felt like a furnace had been lit in his insides.“I thought you didn’t like to drink” Kadis was surprised to see Devik standing beside him. “You should be careful”“What’s it to you?” Kadis spat back.“It’s not. I just don’t want to see you go the same way Tomis did”. Devik’s worried tone surprised Kadis slightly. He had never seen Devik like this before. He was normally very cheerful, no matter the situation.“I'm sorry”, Kadis sighed. “ Its been a long day. He laughed. “Can you even call it a day in space?”“I guess you can”, Devik laughed back.The two of them stood in silence for a moment. Kadis looked down into the bottom of the glass bottle, where the golden liquid seemed to shine under the spot light above them.“Do you blame me?” Kadis asked.“For what?” Devik asked. His tone was his usual cheerful self again.“Your…Death?”, Kadis hated himself for not choosing a better word.“No” Devik seemed almost startled. “Why would you ask that?”Kadis shrugged it off. He didn’t feel telling Devik about Sallix was a good idea. The was a long pause, but it wasn’t awkward. The two seemed close enough now, to not feel the need for talking constantly. There was only ever so much to say.“Why am I still alive?” Kadis asked, padding his feet around on the ground, not sure whether to regret the question or not.Devik paused for a moment, unsure of what to say. “I’m sorry?”, he asked. His expression was hung in confusionIt only occurred to Kadis then, that he had never told Devik about his visions or his progressively worsening illness. He stopped for a moment. Why did he feel unsafe sharing this information to Devik. It wasn’t like they weren’t close friends.“Devik. I have this thing…”, Kadis paused his sentence.Devik looked as if he was begin crushed on every single word Kadis spoke. His eyes watering slightly, which made Kadis’s voice wobble. It didn’t feel right seeing him like this.“I'm dy…”His sentence was interrupted by a crackling on the radio.Devik shook of his sadness.“What was that?” Kadis was stuck in a startled trance. “That’s thing hasn’t worked in 7 years”Kadis walked towards it slowly, feeling sick with excitement and unable to contain his shaking. He tuned in the radio to the best of his ability. This was more Vussa’s territory, but he had picked up some tricks from him Ko-Matoran before his passing.The voice on the radio crackled. “Colony943…This is Crossover… Do you respond? Repeat, do you respond?”

Edited October 7, 2012 by Alterego