FTL: Corsair

With a heavy thunk Duke mashed his forehead against the circular door frame that led to the kitchen. Clenching his eyes shut, he breathed deep, holding his weakened self as he wobbled awkwardly. The lights seemed blinding to the post inebriated stallion, his mouth feeling like coarse sandpaper and his tongue lingering with the toxic fumes of alcohol.

"Morning," Cain mumbled out from one of the booths, looking down at a silver data pad lying next to a bowl of what appeared to be muesli and fruit.

"Shush," Duke whispered back, taking a few cautious steps down the stairs before trying to wipe away the tired look in his eyes.

"I bet you feel awful," he piped again with a southern grin as he chewed down on his meal.

"Mmmm," Duke groaned back, "you're not helping."

"Only tryin’ to get you to stop drinking," he shrugged as he took another spoonful of his breakfast.

"What do I have to do to get you to stop talking?" He asked with a rhetoric mumble. Dragging his hooves forward he went to the kitchen and began rummaging around for food and water.

"On the table," Cain called out, keeping his eyes on the pad as he read.

Peeking over the bench top he saw a clear bottle of water, a tablet and a waiting bowl of cereal. "Wow," he mumbled as he closed the bench doors, "almost like Presidio," he smirked.

"I'm not cooking you a full three course breakfast."

"I'm not sleeping with you so I wouldn't expect you to," Duke grinned as he threw back the tablet and gulped down the water.

"You flatter yourself too much," Cain said with a roll of his eyes, glancing up for only a moment.

Duke grabbed his bowl and doused it in milk before slowly dredging over to the same table and falling into the seat with a light sigh. Cain didn't even glance at him, his focus remaining down.

"What're you reading?" Duke asked, "I thought you country folk didn't do that sorta thang," Duke chuckled, mimicking a terrible rendition of Cain.

"I," he began strongly, ignoring his comment and looking up at him, "am reading what I believe to be Presidio's newest assignment."

Duke smirked and raised his brow, taking long sips of water from his bottle. "And what is Sid up to these days?"

"Twelve wounded, one missing after devastating attack on luxury space liner," he said with a deadpan gaze.

"Only wounded?" Duke asked with amazement, biting into the cereal below, failing to use any from of cutlery.

"Thankfully," Cain sighed with a shake of his head.

"Who was the poor sucker that is missing?"

"Some Vaporian bureaucrat."

"Just the usual contract from Raccoon then," Duke chuckled before continuing to munch on his cereal lazily, his muzzle burying itself into the slosh of milk.

"Would you like a spoon?" Cain asked with a disappointed rise of his eyebrows.

"Nope," he slurped with a smirk, looking up at him as milk dribbled it's way down his chin.

"It's not an attractive look to eat like that," Cain continued to judge, looking back down to his pad.

"Presidio thinks it's attractive when I'm eating h-" Duke was swiftly cut off by the unsatisfied whir of the ships engine slowing down, the lights flickering off.

"God dammit, Cal!" Duke yelled as he pushed his bowl away.

"It's not her fault that this rust bucket is acting up," he remained stoic, still reading the glowing pad.

"Hey! The old girl still flies doesn't she?" And with a slow grind the engine began to spin once more, the lights snapping back on with a hateful buzz. "See?!" Duke announced, gesturing to the lights above him.

As quickly as his smile had appeared, it vanished once more as the lights cracked off and the engine came to a screeching halt, the ship groaning painfully as everything switched off.

"You were saying?" Cain asked with a a smug smirk.

"Cmon, she was gutted the moment I got her," Duke retorted, getting up and making his way towards the hallway.

"Cal will fix it don't worry,"

Once again the engine started up again and the lights hummed back to life.

"If she keeps this up she'll blow the power," Duke sighed as he walked off down the hallway.

"She knows more than you do about it!" Cain called after him before he chuckled.

Attempting to swallow a light anxiety, Duke moved on quickly, beginning to trot briskly as the power failed once again. "Caaalllll!" Duke called out nervously.

Turning the corner he arrived at the large double sliding doors which led to the engine room. The power whirred up and immediately failed before a large bang echoed from inside. With a fearful jump he began to force the doors open, letting billows of steam and smoke come spewing out from within. A vast heat followed and the coughing form of Cal came stumbling out with a flashlight around her neck.

"Cal! Are you alright?" He asked quickly leaning down to her level, greeted by the goggled and bandana clad face of Cal.

"YoU diDn't knoCk!" Cal complained with a cough, removing her face protection to reveal the oil, grease and dirt upon her face.

"I heard a bang! I thought you were hurt."

"I HeAr banGs frOm yoUr room All thE time! I sTill knock," she complained, stomping her hooves in frustration.

He closed his eyes and sighed at the poor innocence of the filly. "You're right, I'm sorry, this is your room... Now, care to explain what happened?"

"PoWer sUrge, seVeral Of tHem," she coughed, wiping her face with the cloth hanging round her neck.

"I see..." He mumbled as he watched the steam and smoke slowly thin out to show the smoking bulb of an engine inside, it's usual spinning form had ceased. "Is there any damage?"

"Burnt oUt the MaiN genErator, the BackUp refUses to stArt," she said with minor frustration, "we hAve auXiliarY oNly."

"And how much is that?" Duke asked with a sigh, the lack of urgency in the filly was putting him on edge.

"Two HoUrs oN minimum Usage," she said, glancing back at the engine and pulling a small wrench from her front pocket.

With a sigh Duke sat and rubbed his forehead. "So... No lights, computers and gravity?"

"Mmhmm," she confirmed with a mechanical buzz, scampering back inside to the three breakers on the far wall labelled 'Main', 'backup' and 'auxiliary'.

With a thud she flicked the main and backup power off with little effort. "ThE capAcitors will kEep grAvity onlIne foR now while I dO repairs," Cal explained, flicking her goggles down with an excited grin. She only ever seemed interested in machines that are broken or falling apart, the ship alone would collapse without her inside.

"How long will repairs take? We're on the edge of Federation space and I'm not sure if I should be worried about pirates or patrols," Duke mumbled with a light shudder.

"I neEd to chEck tHe damage first," she said as she wheeled around and began to remove panels and unscrew bolts with ease.

"Alright, come tell me when you know," he tapped the wall with a courteous smile, accepting the formal salute that the filly shot back at him.

"Aye aYe," she giggled.

*

Oxygen supply: 100%
Time elapsed: 1 hour 12 minutes

"So we still have enough power left in the capacitors to keep gravity and life support running for the next hour," Cain drawled as he tapped a stylus at his tablet of information and calculations, completely unbecoming of somepony with his accent.

One of the many rotunda dining areas within the mess hall was scattered with loose paper, dotted with ship schematics and half filled glasses of whiskey.

"Yes, I'm aware, but what I want to know is if! And it's a big if, we ran out of power, how much oxygen would we have," Duke asked.

"Well with the oxygen that is currently surrounding us and assuming we all combined breathe 21 litres a minute... We're looking at around 40 to 45 days of oxygen."

"So we don't need to worry about that. What about food and water?"

"Rationed properly we'll last about the same time, what I'm concerned about is heat," Cain sighed, lifting a glass of barrel coloured whiskey and swigging it back gently.

"If we keep drinking then we won't get cold," Duke suggested with a smirk, filling Cain's glass up.

"Funny, but without proper heating, this place will be colder than the crystal empire wastes before we know it."

"So our options are, hypothermia... If we get round that then we have dehydration and starvation, and if not that we have hypoxia and eventual asphyxiation... Assuming nothing else goes wrong... Lovely," he sighed, brushing back his brown mane stressfully.

"We have time," Cain reassured him lazily, watching Cal stumble her way through into the mess, covered in more oil and soot than before, holstering a wrench into her tool belt, mingling with other metallic tools.

"Well, work on our heating problem," Duke said before glancing back at the waiting filly with a disgruntled frown on her face. "Please tell me you have some good news," he begged silently.

"WeLl the EnGine is fiNe," she began, which caused Duke to give an stressed exhale. "BuT sevEral fusEs have bloWn and paRts have meLted."

"Cause? How long will it take to repair?" Duke asked periodically, taking mental notes.

"No caUse yeT. I'm GOing to haVe to maKe a HeaP of new PaRTs," she said, raising her eyebrows at a few of her vocal malfunctions.

"How long?" He asked again.

"EigHt hOurs," she sighed, fiddling with the tool belt around her.

Duke closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, holding the news in for a few moments before exhaling and nodding. "Get straight to it then."

With another lazy salute she trotted off, pulling out one of her many tools as she went.

"I need another drink," he sighed as he fumbled for the bottle.

Cal soon made it back to engineering and moved through the half open doors, sighing as she looked at the mess of it.

The room mainly consisted of the large bulbous engine which spun within its brow metallic casing, glowing with an iridescent orange, but had since ceased. Her desk sat in the corner, with wall mounted lamps and magnifying glasses, staring down at useless parts and scrap metal that had been twisted and reformed to make small animals that either sat upon her desk or hovered from the ceiling, attached by simple thread.

A large net hung far above the engine, with small rope bridges leading to the many vents around the room, the main net holding pillows and several blankets. A common phenomena amongst ships was gravity dead zones, gaps and power failures in the gravity plating due to intense power or extreme acceleration, causing gravity in that zone to drop drastically... All which could be narrowed to the engine room.

The room however did act as Cals room, workshop and her own fantasy land. Clothes draped themselves over equipment and controls whilst tools sat idly in pencil cases and old ceramic cups.

Making her way under the drapes of thick cables and past a few absent chairs, she slipped the goggles that dangled on her one ear back over her eyes before unhinging a electric screw driver from her belt, clambering over loose parts before grinning at the broken power generator, the air still stinking of burnt circuits.

Tying her mane up in a taught pony tail with a hair tie made with old wires, she knelt down and began to unscrew the front panel of the generator with ease, staring with fierce concentration as she lodged it off with a heavy thunk.

Her grin soon turned into a sour frown as she stared into the melted mockery of circuits and wires, like a blatant insult, a mockery of what she used to be able to call 'her work'.

She groaned in dissatisfaction as she examined the surface damage of it all, removing a pair of wire cutters from her hefty tool belt, cutting away the broken and useless wires, pulling out the old circuit boards and capacitors that had once powered the ship.

"GroSs," she mumbled, tossing a smouldered capacitor behind her, clattering against the floor.

The more she gutted out of the ship, the more her frown grew. Examining every part to see if it was salvageable, her hope began to die as some of her favourite home made parts had been made to fizzle and die. Each part had the manufacturers insignia etched onto its side, most had been melted with other metals but a few stood standing. The simple 'W' of Wayland engineering, the more intricate designs of the CMC technology group and the Royal insignia of the federation all stood testament to their quality...

"All crAp," Cal sighed.

Pulling out her own homemade parts, all labelled with a yellow smiley face, she grinned once more. The damage seemed small to her own, cased and protected parts, only the few and vulnerable were left broken.

After gutting most of the generator, her hoof grazed a warm component. Immediately she drew it back reactively. After a few moments of fumbling, she pulled out long hoof gloves before reaching tentatively back inside.

It was warm to the touch, not scolding... But it buzzed gently against her hoof. Putting all her tools down, she squeezed into the tight space of the empty generator and flipped onto her back to view the object.

Furrowing her brows she stared in confusion. "WhaT thE," her mechanical voice droned. The device itself was seemingly advanced compared to all her other components... This one was a pristine white and appeared undamaged from the surges. A small circular disk that had clamped it's way onto the top of the generator.

A circle with three arrows pointing inwards sat upon its face, a larger jagged ring lay around the insignia of the device. Bringing her hooves up she gripped it's sides and began to pull gently.

The device seemed to vibrate more and more the harder she pulled. The lights soon began to flicker and her nearby electronic devices began to whir unhappily, building up a scary amount of charge.

Unaware of the flickering lights she gave the device one more heavy tug and it snapped out of its position with a dissatisfied whir, several lights cracking and shattering at the sudden dissipation of energy. Pulling the device close to her, she flung her head back onto the metal floor below her with a heavy thud, her ears ringing violently in response

A foul feeling soon filled her stomach as she clutched the device to her chest, looking outside of the generator casing to see her belongings and other scraps began to gently drift in their spots as the ship was illuminated in a cold darkness, the brief twinkling of stars at the far window was the only light given.

"WhaT juSt hapPened?" She asked no one with a groan, slipping herself out from the casing with ease, drifting and floating with the remaining power leaving the gravity plates and lights.

With a hoof held to the back of her head, tears filled her eyes as the dull aching pain filled her sense, the warm silk feeling of blood covering her hoof. "DuuuuUkE!"

*

Oxygen supply: 99.97%
Time elapsed: 1 hour 55 minutes
Temperature: 25 Degrees Celsius

"You'll live," Duke announced as he finished wiping the back of Cals head of blood. "It was just a bump." He moved the small electric lamp away, letting it hover slowly with the group.

"My heaD huRts though," Cal complained.

With a chuckle he let the rag float away in front of him. "That's what happens when you're not careful," he tutted.

"YeAh... I'm soRry," she sighed, looking at the many bottles and dirty bits of cutlery that floated around.

"It's alright... Pay me back by getting those mag boots for us," Duke smirked, ruffling her mane gently.

"AyE aye," she sighed tiredly, grabbing onto the nearby wall and pushing off, letting herself glide away and out of the mess.

"She's complicated things," Cain said as he collected the mess that floated and attempted to secure it.

"It wasn't her fault, I would've removed the device she found as well," Duke said with a glare towards him.

"You trust her knowledge of the ship that much?"

"She knows every part and how it works Cain," Duke growled, turning to him as they both floated around the darkened ship. "She could rebuild the damn thing from the ground up, I trust her... Frankly I get scared when she finds a part she doesn't understand," Duke explained to the large desert maned stallion.

Cain nodded and held up his hooves in submission, "I'm just trying to tell you we're in a difficult spot," he mumbled to Duke.

With a deep breath he averted his glare away. "I can see that Cain, I'm not blind. Now tell me you have a plan to make our heat last a bit longer," he snapped.

"We have our space blankets, if we produce more heat then we could last longer but we would consume more water which in turn uses more oxygen," Cain explained.

"Can't we just light a fire?!" Duke asked angrily, stressfully rubbing his head.

"Carbon monoxide poisoning, we'd be dead even quicker."

"Fuck.... Fuck!" Duke yelled, Cal trotted through with the several pairs of magnetic boots in tow, her own clinging to the ground.

"LanGuage!" She reminded him.

"Sorry!... Sorry,' he sighed, taking heavy breaths.

"Thanks Cal," Cain said as he grabbed his set of boots and began to pull them over his hooves. "Duke was getting a bit scratchy."

"You know how I am with spacial power failures," Duke reminded him with a cough.

"Cal isn't scared, she can solve this," Cain retorted.

"Are you comparing me to a child!?" Duke yelled back, snatching his boots from Cal, causing her to jump back with shock.

Cain glared at him and turned his boots on, his body sinking to the floor and his boots clinging tightly. "This isn't the time to panic Duke," he said, pulling Cal a bit closer to himself, who stared up at Duke with light fear in her eyes. "You're putting us on edge, alright," Cain said, speaking in a much softer tone.

"I..." Duke began, looking down at Cals scared eyes. "I think I should rest for a bit."

"That might be best," Cain agreed. "We'll get you if we need you."

With a quiet nod Duke began to push off from the wall, not bothering with his boots anymore.

As he floated away and down the hall, Cain let out a stressed sigh and sat down in one the seats again, plucking his pad from the air.

"WhAt w-waS thAt abOut?" Cal asked with a light stutter.

"It's a long story," he stressed, rubbing his forehead tiredly.

"You KnoW I LoVe stoRies," she said with a small smile, clambering up onto the seat.

"This isn't suitable right now," he said, staring at his pad as if plagued with writers block.

"Is DuKe sCared we MigHt diE," she asked innocently, cocking her head at him.

With a chuckle he glanced to her. "Duke has other ideas for how he wants to die... He doesn't like this one."

"How DoEs hE want To die?" She asked, pressing the morbid conversation on.

"With a belly full of whiskey most likely," Cain sighed, tapping the pad against the table. "Cmon... Maybe you can help me."

"What with?" She asked with curious enthusiasm, looking to the glowing pad.

"You remember how we went to Avaria to deliver all of those boxes?"

"It wAs so cOld tHat I haD to pUt on my PuffY jacKet," she said with a shudder. "I didn't like it."

"We all hated it," he chuckled. "It's gonna get cold in the ship with no power... Really cold," he said with a pained sigh.

"I juSt need to gEt the GenerAtor worKing and wE shoulD be fine!" Cal piped up with cheer.

"Yes I know... But up to that point, how can we save our heat?" He asked, "do you have any gadgets that could do that?"

"A fiRe?" She asked.

"That won't work sadly," he smiled.

"UhHHhhh.... BlaNkets?"

"That'll work for a short while, but can we make heat somehow?"

She sat in thought, staring at the table with a fierce concentration. "CloSe the Louvers... Get tHe radioisoTope heaTers in," she said with a brief sense of skepticism.

Cain fell silent before he muttered, "Son of a bitch," he chuckled.

"WhAt?" She asked.

"You may have gotten onto something," he said with light excitement, pulling the tablet closer and scrawling on it. "Keep working on the generator... Cause if this doesn't work we're going to need it up and running as soon as possible."

"On iT," she nodded, slipping off and clunking to the floor with her boots.

"Remind me to buy you a milkshake if this works!" He called as she made her arduous walk back to engineering.

*

Oxygen supply: 99.86%
Time elapsed: 3 hours 0 minutes
Temperature: 19 Degrees Celsius

"We have more than enough oxygen Duke," Cain sighed as he watched him swig back a large helping of whisky, before letting the bottle float around idly.

"Perfect! I'm just happy to freeze my balls off first then," he retorted angrily, before swatting a bubble of liquid away.

They had relocated to the ships underbelly... It acted as their storage area, but was originally designed to hold medium sized military vehicles. Duke watched over the railing above down at Cain who had put together a set of blackened cases, all wired together. The room was illuminated by a few lone construction lights, running on simple batteries which hung tethered to Cain.

"That's why I called you down here Duke," he said with a smile, glancing up at him. "I may have found a way to extend our heat supply."

"And that involves radioactive decay and potential death?" He asked, stumbling and making his careful way down the stairs.

"Yes it does."

Grumbling, he leaned on the railing right as the stairs met the floor, his eyes lazily scanning the heating units. "Where'd you rip those from?" He asked with a heavy sigh.

"Cal and I tore them from the escape pods," he said with a smirk. "Yes we'll put them back," he stated as he met Dukes disapproving glare.

"So where are we taking them, we can't heat the whole ship with those," Duke pointed out.

"Engineering, that's where we're going to need it the most," Cain said as he nudged the radioisotope heater towards him, letting it glide and nudge against his now outstretched hoof.

"Alright," he sighed in defeat, pulling the joint heaters with him. "This might work," he said.

"I know it will work, you need to stop worrying,"

"It's my job to worry," he grumbled as he ascended the stairs with a light wobble.

"You scared Cal a lot by doing that though," Cain pointed out as he began to follow.

"That's because it's a long and painful death to suffocate... Surrounded by nothing but metal walls."

"That was a long time ago Duke," Cain sighed.

"Yet I was the only one that lived!" He yelled out in outburst once more, still making his way up the stairs.

“The cries of the dead are terrible indeed; you should try not to hear them," Cain recited.

"Raccoon was always pretty with his words," Duke muttered. "It's not their cries I'm haunted by, but the writhing silence they endured as our ship was gutted."

"So let's make sure you don't see that again then," Cain puffed as they reached the top of the stairs, helping Duke pull the radioactive heaters along and into the winding corridors of the ship.

"Yeah, alright," he silently stated, keeping his eyes forward as they moved on.

It was odd seeing the ship in such a lifeless state, the corridors were darkened with the light twinkle of distant stars, whilst all their personal belonging hovered and bobbed around uselessly, everything that gave the ship character floated with disbelief and horror.

Only the tethered construction lights they pulled behind them lit the stuttered mess of the hallways they moved through. The gentle buzz of a welder and the gentle smell of melting metal greeted them as they approached the large double doors of engineering once again.

Entering the engine room they found Cal sitting at her metal workbench, using a mounted soldering iron connected to mechanical arms, building new parts, her rounded and tinted goggles protected her eyes from the gentle sparks illuminating the darkened parts of the room.

"Did iT work?" Cal asked curiously, still working on her devices.

"They're still working if that's what you mean, still producing heat," Cain smiled, setting them down to the floor.

"How's it going?" Duke asked with a cough, waving some smoke away as he approached, staring down at the set of screws and parts she was making.

"It's gOing sOmewHere," she said with a smirk. "We'll haVe poWer soOn enoUgh."

"How soon is soon enough?"

"NervOus?" She asked with a raised brow, glancing back at him.

"Cal," Cain warned as he strapped the heaters into the overhanging net to tether it.

"It's alright Cain... Yeah, I'm nervous," he admitted with a sigh.

"So am I," Cal smiled.

"Gods, I'm being comforted by an 8 year old," Duke muttered.

"8 anD a hAlf!" Cal argued back. "NoW shuSh and HeLp me," she said, gesturing to two parts she was holding together.

Duke swiftly moved over and held the parts tight as she began to solder it. "I'm going to look around for anything else that we could use for heat," Cain said, smiling at the two. "How soon can we expect power Cal?"

"20 hoUrs," she said.

"Alright, I'll be back soon." Cain said as he got up and left, his boots clunking heavily across the dimly lit ground, pulling along one of the lights with him.

"Bring me more whiskey!" Duke called back to him, "I left mine back in the hangar," he laughed.

"You're drunk enough as is," Cain said as he left through the doors.

"But I'm warm!" He retorted. "Bah, wanker." He sighed as he heard no reply.

"LanGuage," she mumbled to him with a mechanical squeak.

"Sorry," he muttered, knowing full well he'd probably swear again. "Did you get a chance to look at the device you pulled?" He asked.

"Yes," she confirmed, gesturing to the split and disassembled device. "It's hOw I'm rePairing moSt of the GenerAtor."

"What was it meant to do?" He asked, picking the husk of a device up.

"It wAs theRe to DraiN poWer upOn acTivation," she said with a grunted mutter.

"Sabotage? How long has it been there? Do we have an idea of who planted it?"

"It's beEn there For aBout 3 monthS, judgIng by The amOunt of pAint iT stRipped," she said, sliding the current part away before pulling several useless bits of scrap towards her. "CanDy CaiN and I cOuldn't figuRe it Out, not Even tHe manuFacturer symbol gAve us clUes."

"I'll check with Raccoon, I'm sure he has some dirt on this," Duke mumbled, looking down at the insignia once more, the blackened circle with the three arrows pointed at its centre made him frown.

"RaccoOn haS diRt on EverYthing," Cal giggled.

"Even you," Duke laughed, ruffling her greased mane once more.

"He WishEs," she stuck her tongue at back.

The heavy trodden footsteps made their ears perk as Cain ran as fast as he could in a zero g environment. "Cain, what's-" he began before Cain interrupted immediately with a deadly fear in his eyes.

"We're about to decompre-" was all he got out before a sickening explosion shuddered through the ship and a sharp whistling made Dukes heart sink as he felt the air around him pull him towards the door, his lungs straining before he let the air out with a winded sigh.

"Well fuck," he thought as his boots unhinged and he smashed against the half open door.

*

Oxygen supply: 2% ***CRITICAL***
Time elapsed: 4 hours 0 minutes
Temperature: 2 Degrees Celsius

Breathing out slow steady breaths was simple reminder enough of the current temperature, thick foggy breath slowly spilled out and dissipated into the the remaining air they had left. Clad in blankets and clinging to the small construction lights that flickered on and off, the heaters sat nearby, letting off simple waves of heat.

Shivering heavily, Duke watched Cal slowly fiddle around inside the generator, Cain crouched nearby with the same fit of shudders.

They had only just managed to close the door before their remaining oxygen had been ripped out from the room. Duke felt his lungs burning and his head pounding as he simply stared and breathed, simply trying to process the last few moments.

"G-gas leak" Cain said as Duke snapped back to reality, hugging the cold blanket closer to him, staring longingly at the heaters. "There w-was exposed cabling that o-obviously still powered by an o-off grid capacitor... It ignited w-when the gas reached the sparks it p-produced," Cain explained.

"I w-wAs gonNa w-wire thAt I-in todaY," Cal stuttered with a shudder.

Cain gave her a slow hug whilst she worked. "It's n-not you fault s-sweet pea," he panted, trying to keep warm.

"W-we can get t-through this," Duke shuddered out, slowly shifting his way over, watching his breath float away. "W-we have 25 h-hours left," Duke smiled.

"By M-my last count," Cain reminded him, passing Cal another one of her parts.

"Y-your count is b-better than mine," he laughed, sitting down by Cal and peering inside.

Loose wires hung bare as she slowly wired them in, soldering them to several components, the battery for the solder floated and bobbed against the steel casing of the generator, letting out a soft gong.

"Y-you're a l-lot more chirpy," Cain noted, glancing at Duke.

"I-I thOughT y-you were s-scared," Cal said to Duke with a heavy pant, groaning at the current temperature.

"F-freezing is a l-lot better than s-suffocating," he said with a tired smile. "Though I'd rather... D-die with a b-bottle," he laughed.

"B-behInd t-that graTing," Cal said, gesturing to a metal grating that act as a vent.

Slowly stumbling over and collapsing by it, he pulled the grating off with a heavy grunt, letting the grate float away and bump against the far wall. "You ch-cheeky little," he began as he pulled out half a drunken bottle of whiskey.

"I-iT helpS m-me slEep," she retorted with a pant.

"Oh I love you," he sighed with a smile.

"We're gonna h-have a t-talk after t-this," Cain grumbled as Duke took off the cap and took attempted to drink the zero gravity liquid, letting it float out before drinking it.

"N-nice and chilled...." He sighed with a smack of his lips, pushing the bottle to Cain.

"J-just the way we l-like it," he grinned, taking a sip of the droplets that flew out of the neck of the bottle.

"C-can I haVe sOme?" Cal asked with a cough, pulling more parts into the generator.

" As l-long as y-you keep it a s-secret," Cain said, passing the bottle to her and letting her take a healthy gulp of the drink.

"She's l-learning bad habits," Duke commented with a rub of his eyes.

"Don't worry," Cain smiled. "She'll live."

"Well... I-I hope we all do," Duke chuckled.

"Here hEre," Cal piped up with a tired grin.

"Well... Uhh, I-I've had a g-good time with y-you all here y'know," Cain began, Duke immediately retorting with a laugh.

"Pfft... Y-years of t-this hard s-stallion and y-you're g-getting soft on m-me now?"

"J-just... I feel the h-hypothermia s-setting in, I d-don't want to p-pass out w-without s-saying something sentimental."

"W-way ahead of you," Duke mumbled as he slowly keeled over and lay on his side, panting heavily, his eyes drooping slowly. "Y-you're an asshole... B-but I-I'm glad y-you s-stuck around."

"Says y-you," Cain laughed back.

"W-will wE be F-found?" Cal asked as she fumbled for another part.

"Maybe," Cain mumbled, watching Dukes eyes shut completely and his breathing begin to shallow. "C-Cal... D-Duke and I are gonna... Have a r-rest..."

"O-okAy," she stuttered out to him with a cough.

"Finish t-that generator quick," he mumbled as his eyes closed. "F-fucking p-power stealing d-device, if only we h-had a p-power giving d-device," he slurred.

"L-lanGuage," she said back before she halted in her tracks and glanced back at him. "WaiT wHat?"

"Hmmm?" He mumbled out, on the border of consciousness.

"T-the dEvice! Wh-what d-diD you say?"

"G-giving p-power device?" He mumbled to her. "It's... Stupid," he chuckled.

"Y-you'Re brilLiant!" She announced, clambering over him and snatching up the half dissected device and crouching over it, slipping it's torn out parts back in and clumsily forcing the wires back in. "C'moN," she muttered as she worked.

Clambering back over Cain, her teeth chattering together as she made the stagnated movement, she gripped onto the side of the generator, placing the device back in the same spot and soldering it back into place.

Crawling back into the generator, she made a jumbled job of wiring wires together, working faster and faster as her heart throbbed in her head.

"P-pleAse," she whispered to herself, pressing the dull green button that sat atop the casing, hearing the device whir up and halt once more with a stuttered crackle. Glancing over to the breakers her failure was understood. Stumbling over she gripped the main breaker and flicked it upwards before tripping her way back over and hitting the casing with frustration, she pushed the button again, holding it whilst she peered back inside, watching the small LED's on the components flicker.

With a heavy shudder the generator began to rattle and shake before the lights above began to flicker and buzz on with a sickening electrical gasp. Her monitor on the desk began to turn on and the heavy puff of the environmental controls coming online made her fall back onto her flanks with a sigh.

Leaning back, she rested her head upon Cain’s side and closed her eyes momentarily. "N-neVer agAin..." She mumbled as the auxiliary power began to compensate for any lack of power. "NevEr agAin," she mumbled again before her vision went dark and the only sensation she could feel was the slow thud of her heart in her head.