Her Death

"Maybe you should go to the med bay again. You look really pale and tired."

"It's fine. By the way, wasn't your skirmish supposed to be happening soon?"

"Ah, well… it's tomorrow, but…"

[Hypnosis Activated.]

"Lexi, you'll do great. I have the utmost confidence that you'll succeed. Don't worry about me for now and just focus on getting first. I'm really proud of you."

Matt thought about applications for his power and remembered motivational speakers in his past life. Their way of speaking was hypnotic and repetitive. They said the same thing in different ways with a certain tone of voice. No matter how he thought about it, these speakers were hypnotizing the audience. This isn't really a bad thing, since the biggest enemy for most people's happiness is themselves. He saw his proficiency go up to eighteen and knew it had worked.

"I… I… thank you, Matt. I'll definitely get first for the three of us. I saw you like that this morning and I thought about how I failed last year and it made me really scared… I wish I had opened up to you earlier maybe I wouldn't have failed back then."

"I'll manage by myself and I'll call you if I have any problems, now go on ahead and practice. We can have dinner together tonight."

"Okay."

Alexis gave him a surprise peck on the lips and slipped away before he could react. Matt noticed that she seemed to be more emotional today and wondered if it was related to his ability or hormones. It seemed a bit early, but he was no expert in pregnancy nor did he have any experience. Now that she was gone, he could freely test his hypnosis on other people.

Although he was pushing her to pass and get access to the ultimate weapons on this ship, Matt also needed to be alone so it was easier to hypnotize others. Since it only worked on one person at a time, Alexis might invertedly interfere with his ability. Saying something offhandedly or even her presence alone could mess with the target. He would wait until the ability was stronger before using it with more than one person around.

There were many scientists with varying levels of education below doctorate that worked in the lab. They were commonly seen as the assistants of the doctorate level scholars, but they absolutely hated it. In defiance they would work slow or make mistakes that needed the project to be done over, or simply refuse outright. These "assistants" would be the perfect targets for his hypnosis. Matt wouldn't raise too much suspicion since it was the norm to order them around. Also, the worst that would happen is they would get angry and act out.

Moving around proved to be extremely difficult. The exoskeleton leg helped a lot, but he was unable to feel the floor underneath him. Because of this, he had to either watch his feet while walking or stumble around like an idiot. It had already been several hours, but he had no idea how long it would take to recover. Fortunately, he got used to the feeling of numbness and was able to pass for normal once he made it to the cafeteria. Frankly, he was starving.

"Dr. O'Connely, it's good to see you! My lab has been reopened if you'd like to come by later."

As soon as he entered the café, he saw Dr. Bradshaw with a to-go container leaving. Matt hadn't forgotten about the mutant plant Martha; he was simply too busy to check on it every day. This lucky encounter was appreciated and he nodded toward Bradshaw.

[Hypnosis Activated.]

"It's a good thing the gas leak was fixed so quickly. What did the DNA sequencing results say?"

"Non-conclusive unfortunately. I'll be seeing you then, I must return."

Matt saw that his proficiency didn't go up so he was either telling the truth or lying. However, considering how secretive he had been about so many things relating to the plant, it was likely a lie. Whatever he discovered was far too valuable for his minor hypnosis to draw out. However, that did not mean he could trap Dr. Bradshaw into revealing information around the truth with hypnosis. This would be a battle of the minds.

He continued into the cafeteria and received his lunch. Earlier this morning he had requested more food to meet his needs, however, it was still pending approval. Matt would likely need to take a few tests to determine if his daily utilization was exceeding his calorie intake and make adjustments. There was only so much the AI would allow without data. However, Matt thought this would be another opportunity to use his ability. Someone should be able to override that requirement and have his request go through.

"Matt! Are you okay? I heard you got hurt… You look terrible."

"Oh, Cindy. I'm fine, how are you?"

Cindy, whom he hadn't seen in almost a week, showed up and sat down next to him. She examined him up and down with a worried expression. She seemed to be very guilt ridden. Matt put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down and she looked up, making eye contact. Matt tried to calm her down with his ability.

[Hypnosis Activated.]

"I'm fine, don't worry so much. It's not like you are the one that hurt me. There's nothing you could have done."

"I shouldn't have done it. I'm sorry… please don't hate me."

"What are you talking about? What did you do?"

"Dr. McGee, there you are. Shephard told us to bring you back."

Cindy was about to start crying, but the two men seemed to change her sad expression to fear. She got up and scurried away following the two men.

Matt was confused at the situation. His hypnosis worked successfully, but instead of calming her down, it only made her more riled up. The easiest explanation was that she did have something to do with the situation. However, that didn't make any sense given the context. The next most logical thing is she did something that she feels guilty about. Something that would make Matt O'Connely mad.

'Shit! It can't be, did she…?'

Cindy was taken away, and Matt quickly scarfed down his lunch. He hobbled toward his lab and, when he entered, Matt knew something was wrong immediately. It was too quiet. He came over to Sheila's pen and she was lying there—dead. This isn't something Cindy would do on her own volition. Whoever that Shephard person is must be manipulating her for some reason.

Matt didn't really care much about his research, but Matt O'Connely loved it more than anything. Originally, their work together taking care of animals was the reason he got so close with Cindy. Sheila was his greatest accomplishment and he felt incredibly proud to have her get pregnant. This was also a great achievement on the ship. However, now that she was dead, this would be very troublesome. If this was before, he wouldn't be able to figure out a reason for this at all.

However, now that he was aware of some of the politics in the ship, he had a strong idea about motivations. The Captain is dedicated to the mission. This was true to the point that Matt received his favor for successfully accomplishing an important goal for the mission. This was certainly a political move by the Mysterious faction in order to take Matt down and weaken the Captain's power. Naturally, if Matt was promoted and given more access on the ship, the Captain, his supporter, would also gain more power.

Going down this rabbit hole of reasoning, Matt determined that the man who attacked him during the test must have been under orders. However, he couldn't quite figure out from which side he was working. The only way to determine who pulled the strings that day is to determine who wants him dead and who wants him alive. Naturally, the ones who want Matt to be promoted want him to be dead as soon as possible. The ones who used him as a pawn would want him to stay alive and continue blocking Matt's momentum.

'I hate that I am also a pawn in their game. I need more information and leverage so that I can pull myself out of this position. Since the mysterious faction is in the dark, I'll have to ally myself more with the Captain's faction. Once I have enough power, I am determined to break free from their fighting. Once I have taken control of the AI in the future, I'll dismantle all other power besides my own.'

Matt was satisfied with this decision. However, the issue now was the body. The AI hadn't alerted him or anyone else, so it was likely that this room has been disconnected from the AI's system by someone with a lot of power. Since they wanted to hide this and possibly frame Matt for losing an important asset to the ship, he would not sit still. Matt activated his communicator and requested to speak with the Captain. After a few minutes, the captain's line opened.

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I'll hopefully be able to catch up soon. Thanks for the continued support!

Owed Chaps: 4