Posted Oct. 14, 2020, 12:22 p.m. by Lieutenant William Hampton (Chief Engineering Officer) (Samuel Stroud)
William Hampton kicked a rock. There was nothing else to do. One minute, he was on Leviathan, the next, he was in this desolate wasteland. The sky was a violet sea, and its hue cast everything in the area in that light. The ground was a rocky desert, in the distance, William saw cliffs, but they looked hundreds of miles away. The ground beneath was just dirt and rocks, all of it purple. Everything was purple, one the Hampton’s least favorite colors. The Chief Engineer sighed, finding a large rock to sit upon, he collapsed on it. Putting his head in his hands, the engineer fought back tears. He had a singular solitary life, and he has completely wasted it. All of his ambitions, all his dreams, none of them were going to come to fruition. Despite all his abilities, his life had been a trainwreck, Leviathan was supposed to turn all of that around. He was supposed to finally be noticed, be accepted. He was supposed to meet friends, and finally, finally have a family.
He grabbed a rock and hurled it. None of that had happened. The people who he had desperately want to be friends with had thrown him aside, belittled him, ignored him, and looked down on him.
Suddenly, he was back in the holographic bar, the rock turned into the glass he had hurled. He looked around confused, and suddenly excited, was he out of whatever purgatory he was in? As he turned he saw… himself. He took a step back. The William Hampton before him looked identical, wearing the same uniform, and his look was the same sad glaze Hampton wore. He gave a melancholy smile. “Don’t worry, you aren’t going insane. I’m you,” he paused and looked up into the air briefly, “well actually you will be me in about five hours.” He looked back at Hampton and surveyed the room. “Yes, I remember this place as well, this was where your humanity died.”
William Hampton shook his head. “It didn’t die, it was murdered.”
Hampton Chuckled. “Yes, I suppose you can say that.”
Suddenly all of the sadness, the frustration, and regret within William immediately transformed to anger. He looked up at Hampton. “That old drunk killed it right out there.” He pointed to the door. “I just wanted a friend, hell I didn’t even want that, I wanted someone to understand me, for one brief second, I wanted a single person to know the real me, a single person, I didn’t think that was too much to ask.”
Hampton shook his head. “It wasn’t.”
William continued. “Instead he attacked me, dictated morality to me, and pretended I was soulless beast.” His eyes narrowed. “It wasn’t just him, the whole crew treated me like that. They hid things from me, blamed me for their problems, and slacked around while I picked up all the work.” His fist clenched. “I didn’t ask for much. But they gave me less than nothing.” He looked down at his hands, and noticed they were glowing slightly. He suddenly felt…power. He grinned, “If I ever get back to them, maybe I should be the soulless monster they already cast me as.”
Hampton nodded. “That’s why I am here William, do not give in to despair. Your story is not over. It’s just the end of the chapter.” He gave the chief engineer a confident. “You are currently inside the orb, and in a few hours, you will break out.” He motioned to William’s hands. “You are gaining power from it, and by the time you are back out in the real world. Nothing on Leviathan will be able to stop you.” A gleam was in Hampton’s eyes. “It will be the most amazing experience of your life, you can finally teach this crew that actions have consequences.” He smiled and put his hand on William’s shoulder, “You only have to wait a little bit longer.”
Again, William Hampton sat on a rock in a desolate wasteland, alone. He wasn’t in despair anymore, instead of sad sobs, a triumphant smirk was on his face. He had something to look forward to. As for the loneliness, he had been alone his entire life, a few more hours wouldn’t make that much of a difference.
Storyteller S
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