Chapter 2

Erma

After Erma pointed out the grime in Iko's hair she quickly retreated to the safety of her lab before she could get kicked in the face. She smirked at the thought of getting Iko so flustered over such a small thing. Suddenly a familiar beeping sound brought her attention to her holographic watch. The face of captain Jaxon greeted her with a cold and icy stare.

"Did the new subject survive transportation Doctor Erma?" Captain Jaxon said in a cold monotone way.

"Yes, Captain. Subject 10902 is doing very well at the moment," replied Erma.

"What about my crew? Word reached me that there were some injuries?" Captain Jaxon slowly stated. Each world slowly left his mouth and dripped down his lips like snake venom.

"Sadly yes captain some of the crew were injured by the subject when it resisted. But they are currently in the medical bay getting their wounds fixed." Erma replied slowly. Her face was covered in a veil of shame and sadness for the ones that had lost their lives while trying to get the new subject.

"Good. Send me your report in the morning." Captain Jaxon casually looks away and waves her off as if she was just a pesky dog instead of an award-winning scientist. This always angered Erma mainly because she was an award-winning scientist who devoted her life to fixing problems and finding solutions. The Captain would always treat her as if she was just an entitled toddler who only knew what 1 + 1 was while instead, she was the amazing scientist who discovered the cure for cancer by herself.

"Of course, Captain. I shall make sure that my report is sent to you as fast as possible," replied Erma in such a sweet way it would have given anyone diabetes.

And with that, the Captain's face dissolved into nothingness and Erma sighed. She began walking back to her lab swiftly so she could finish the report and get some sleep before they reached homeworld Ciora. Ciora was once a lifeless wasteland of a planet, the only things that covered its surface were bubbling black lakes that smelt like burning bodies and old trash, the ground was so dark it looked black and nothing was ever able to grow through the dense layers of rock and nutritionless soil, and finally, the air was green and toxic. It killed anything that dared to breathe it in. The giant rock of death orbited around a once-living star that was once called 'The star of life'. When the star died instead of destroying the once lively planet it just acted like a nuke. The star destroyed parts of the planet and released chemical gas all over its surface. But once the D.T.W found the planet they transformed the entire wasteland into a powerful and technologically advanced world! They crafted cities that have survived for decades and created a new society and life from the ground up. Everyone who lived on Ciora was picked from the best of the best and absolutely nothing less than that.

As Erma was walking down the long bright corridors she suddenly turned a corner and it began getting dimmer and much dustier. Erma's lab was on the side of the ship that nobody went to, the main reason for that was because of a chemical explosion. The new dangerous chemical melted anything organic that it touched and about 29 people lost their lives when trying to clean up the mess but also from the first explosion. When Erma finally reached her lab she opened the old rusty door that gave off an ear-deafening screech and the first thing that Erma was greeted with when she took her first step into the cold lab was the sound of mice running on their wheels. The second thing to greet Erma was the smell of chemicals from an experiment that she had run that morning. For most people, they would avoid Erma's lab at all costs but to Erma, it was a second home, smell and all.

Erma swiftly crossed the room passing cages with her lab mice, beckers filled with random liquids, and random experiments that had been long forgotten. Once Erma reached her desk she pulled out and sat down in her neon pink office chair and looked around her messy desk. The desk was covered in random papers from reports and research, stains on the dark brown wood from who knew what, and either empty or cold coffee cups that had been there for either a day or a year. Erma casually pushed all of the papers and such to the side and turned on her port, she stared at the blank loading screen for a moment and began analyzing her reflection. The bags under her eyes had only grown since she checked them last and her face looked like she needed to sleep for 100 years or more. While judging different parts of her complexion suddenly her screen saver popped up. It was a picture of her old boyfriend, his name was Michal and he died in a house fire about 5 years ago. She stared at him for a second before clicking on her writing program and she began her report. This report was about how the mission went, who got hurt, who died, what resources were used, and so on. The only sound in the lab was the sound of fingertips tapping away at the report that only the Captain would probably see, a small amount of anger bubbled up in Man's chest before she shoved it down and pushed her focus back on her report.

After a couple of hours of staring at her port screen, Erma gave out a long and tired sigh as she looked up at the clock with the hope she could get even a little sleep. A small smile played at Erma's lips as she looked over her report, finalized it, and quickly sent it to Jaxon. As quickly as she could Erma clicked shut down and the dark screen reflected her tired face. Erma let out a long sigh and got out of her pink chair and slowly pushed it into the desk. She slowly proceeded to walk over to the doors of the lab and left the room. At this late, during the night the Signa was always cold and dark, like an old house that was left to rot. Erma quickened her pace to escape the cold emptiness. Once she reached her room Erma flicked her slender wrist to the door sensor and swiftly went inside.

Erma stood still for a moment while the doors slid shut behind her, she leaned on the metal doors and looked around her room. Nothing had changed, the room was the same. Her desk in the corner was littered with papers and coffee that was older than the universe itself, the trash bin next to it overflowing with old plans and notes, her bed had yesterday's clothes laying across it, and the rest of her clothes either hanging on her chair or next to the laundry bin.

"Oh, my Signa, I need to clean up this room." Erma huffed out.

Erma walked past her desk and hopped over the piles of trash and other things that were carelessly tossed around her room until she finally reached her bed. The bed was covered in the clean laundry that she forgot to put away and a few books that she had gotten bored of reading. Erma casually shoved the clothing and books off the bed and onto the floor. Suddenly Erma launched herself face-first into the navy blue sheets and white pillows, she nuzzled her face into the cool fabric and quickly fell into a deep and dreamless slumber.