Posted Nov. 12, 2020, 3:19 p.m. by Lieutenant William Hampton (Chief Engineering Officer) (Samuel Stroud)
Posted by Lieutenant William Hampton (Chief Engineering Officer) in “Six Hours From Evil”- Inside the Orb
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
William could tell something was off, the tachyon pulses had stopped abruptly. His body was glowing brighter by the moment. He could himself getting stronger, but his intuition told him that his time was short and he needed to break out. He was pacing around circles around particularly large rock. Trying to concentrate on channeling his power. As he circled around the rock, he saw himself once again. He stopped. “What’s happening?” He asked.
Hampton shook his head. “They are not copying their previous steps, you are about to be blasted into space.” William felt his breath catch in his throat.
“Will I survive?”
“No.”
William just stared at Hampton. “Well you’ve got to help me escape.”
Hampton frowned. “That won’t be happening, if the orb breaks, I will lose my powers, and I’m not done yet, I want my revenge. Frankly William, if I were to help you we would both get trapped on Leviathan, and that’s not an escape I think we can pull off.” Hampton looked up at the sky, “Besides, your crew is following all the wrong clues, I doubt they will survive the attack, which they now only have two and a half hours to prepare for, they have squandered their first four.”
William was furious. “So that’s it? You aren’t going to stay and help me? Why even tell me if you have no intention of helping?”
Hampton looked at William with a moment of genuine sadness in his eyes, before that sadness was replaced with a look of greed. “Because Will, I want you to die on your feet, and not on your knees, be brave, you lived a good life.”
Anger was welling up into William, now he could add himself to the list of people who betrayed, how pathetic was the young man? “I’m not dead yet.” With a single quick motion, he sent an uppercut into Hampton’s chin. Hampton stumbled back, before glaring back at William. “I suppose I deserved that. Die well Mr. Hampton.” He smirked, and was gone.
William closed his eyes. “I’m not dead yet.” He repeated. He looked up at the sky. He felt himself getting stronger, maybe, maybe he could break out on his own. He let out a yell, letting his anger channel his power. Bolts flashed from his fingertips, he aimed them at the horizon, and they clashed against it, sending bursts of light everywhere. He felt an opening beginning to form. He would have to move quickly through it.
Storyteller S
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