Dead Space: Purpose

by Dragonman461

Chapter 22

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Isaac found himself drifting alone in a dark space that seemed infinite. He felt himself being tossed about the emptyness from time to time, and still connected with nothing. This continued for some time, until Isaac finally began to think to himself to break the silence, if only for a short period of satisfaction.

‘Okay, so, let’s review what I just went through.’ He began.

‘So, I’ve come to an alien world, gotten some friends, and now there are Unitologists, a Marker, and I’ve had to kill one of the friendly aliens. Or several, I don’t know. Wait… yeah, that one back at that factory, he was using some kind of weird powers. He didn’t have a horn, though. I thought that- no. Goddamnit, the Marker here can do that? Great. Good thing I didn’t have to deal with that shit last time though. Dear God, if Danik had that back on Tau Volantis, I think… actually, I don’t know what to think of that.’

“Isaac…” A voice called out in the darkness.

The Engineer turned around (or at least tried to) in order to find the source of the voice. After a small struggle, his eyes fell upon some familiar faces. To the right was Nicole, with her Medic outfit still donned. To Isaac’s left was Carver, uniform and weapon ever present. But in front of him, now…

“Ellie?”

The Heavy Pilot smirked.

“Good to see you too, Isaac.”

Isaac shifted a bit as he talked, trying to find a footing.

“Where are we? And why are we all here?”

“You’re unconscious, Isaac.” Carver stated. “Right now, those Ponies are taking you to some kind of medical wing.”

“And as for why,” Nicole started, “I’m afraid we’re not done yet. There’s still one Marker left to go.”

“How is that possible? We destroyed their Home world! We killed that thing!”

“Isaac, listen to us.” Ellie continued. “I know that you’re mad. Hell, you and Carver died so that we wouldn’t deal with this again, but you know what, you’re still not alone here. On the Ishimura, you had a team. Granted, yes, they all died in the end, no offense Nicole.”

Nicole raised a hand and waved Ellie off. “None taken.”

“And on Titan station, you had me and Stross.”

Isaac raised a hand to interject.

“Wait, why isn’t he here?”

“He’s too far gone, Isaac.” Carver stated bluntly. “He’d try to kill you if he were here. We’re only here because we got help fighting the Marker’s influence. Your help. You tried, but there’s only one way to save him now, and that’s by putting an end to the Marker.”

“How are you all even doing this? And why is there a Marker here anyways?”

The infinite darkness around the four began to turn white in some spots as multiple unrecognizable sounds began to come from the tears.

“We’ll be able to explain everything soon enough, Isaac.” Nicole stated, beginning to fade. “Goodbye.”

With that, she faded away entirely before Ellie raised her hand and waved, also vanishing. Isaac looked to Carver in time to catch what the soldier was going to say.

“And Isaac, watch out for-“

Carver wasn’t able to finish as he was forced away by a strange light that nearly blinded the Engineer, ripping him out of the expanse of darkness.

\\\//////

The first thing Isaac felt coursing through his body was clear and constant: pain. Everything was sore in ways he remembered all too well. His bones ached as though they were about to break under the weigh of his own flesh, and his muscles screamed in a searing heat that threatened to rip his insides to shreds if he weren’t too careful. As he tried ot get up, he released a rather loud groan of pain.

\\\//////

“Aaaauuugggghhhh…” The lazy form of the Human stated.

Fluttershy perked up and trotted over to Isaac’s side in time to catch him waking up from a pained and forced slumber. She stopped at his side and leaned against the frame of a bed holding him, watching as his eyes began to open.

“Isaac?” She questioned.

His head turned to see her and then blinked a few times.

“F-Fluttershy?” He asked.

With something close to a squee of happiness, her wings extended as she tightly hugged Isaac.

“GAH!” He exclaimed.

Fluttershy immediately released her grasp on the Engineer and started to apologize.

“Oh my gosh! I-I’m so sorry Isaac! I forgot that- I just-“ She continued to babble, tears beginning to form at her eyes’ edges.

Isaac reached upwards towards a hovering screen before pressing a green image of something. He gave a sigh of relief and reached back towards Fluttershy.

“Hey, hey, calm down. I’m fine, see?” He then motioned towards his body to confirm that he was indeed unharmed. Externally.

“But, what about-“

“Med-Pack, remember?” The Engineer asked.

He looked around the room before noticing something.

“Am I in a hospital?”

Fluttershy shook her head as she wiped away some small tears.

“Oh no, not really. We’re still in the Castle in Canterlot. You, um… crashed through the roof… with Scootaloo.”

Isaac suddenly turned to meet her eyes, causing the mare to jump back in surprise as a small amount of heat reached her face. There were then two loud sounds as metal met marble. Fluttershy turned back around to see Isaac standing next to the bed of the Infirmary room, his RIG glowing a steady yellow-green.

“Where is she? Is she alright?”

Fluttershy smiled inwardly to see his concern for the filly. After hearing about Isaac disappearing after Scootaloo was taken, she knew that Isaac had gone to save her. He just seemed that kind to her. And now here he was, getting out of a recovery bed, (previously) massively injured, and more concerned about the young Pegasus’s condition than his own.

“She’s fine, Isaac. I think she-“

The door then burst open as an orange and purple blur came rushing in and moved towards Isaac.

“ISAAC!”

The blur then impacted the Engineer in the center of his mass, causing him to stumble back a bit into the bed before holding his position. At a closer glance, the small mass of color was buzzing her wings as she held on tightly to Isaac’s frame.

“I-I-I was s-so worried!!! I didn’t want to loose y-you too!!!” Scootaloo cried out.

Isaac saw the pain in Scootaloo’s expression as she continued to bawl out onto his armor, her sobs echoing across the small room. Isaac then reached down and held Scootaloo in his arms before bringing her up to his neck-line, allowing her to hold her arms around his skin, while returning the hug himself. Fluttershy teared up with a smile to see the genuine care Isaac displayed for the filly as he lowered his towering form to sit on the ground. When he finally made contact with the marble with his end, Scootaloo had either contained her sobs or had found enough comfort in Isaac’s hold that she found no need for them anymore.

“Hello, everypony.” A voice greeted.

All of the heads in the room turned to see Princess Celestia walking in with a smile on her face.

“I see that you’ve both woken up.”

Her smile dropped when she saw Isaac glare at her. He raised a hand and pointed a digit between her and himself.

“You and I need to talk. Soon.”

Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it before nodding.

“Where is she!? I need to find her!” A familiar voice called out.

Scootaloo popped her head up and turned towards the door, eyes wide.

“No…” She whispered, shifting closer to Isaac. “No, she can’t…”

Then, the Princess stepped aside to let in a cyan Pegasus.

“Scoots! Thank goodness!” The Pegasus stated.

She looked between the filly and the Human with an eyebrow raised.

“What?” She asked, slightly confused.

“R-Rainbow… Dash?” Scootaloo managed.

“What’s the matter, squirt? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

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