The lights in Blair's room were extremely bright. Surely it couldn't be morning yet? She was too tired to get up right now.
"...? ...…!?"
Someone was trying to talk to her, but she couldn't really tell what they were saying. She just wanted to roll over and go back to sleep, but her body wouldn't respond to her just yet. Who was even in her room anyway? She groaned and tried to turn away from the light, but it didn't let up.
"....-air? Dr. Blair!" The voice roughly shook her by the shoulders. Finally, she cracked her eyes open to find out who was waking her up at this hour.
Through the glare of the fluorescent lights, Blair could see the fuzzy grey and black silhouette of Lt. McReady crouched in front of her. Blinking hard, she realized she wasn't in her room, but in her lab. Looking around, she remembered the events of the previous night. Off to her left lay the corpse of one of her specimens, and there was a disconcerting trail of blood leading to where Blair was sitting. It was dark and tacky from sitting out seemingly all night, but Blair could see some dark red mixed with the sickly blue blood of the dead animal.
"Thank goodness you're alright," McReady gasped in relief. "What happened here?" Blair wondered where she had gotten the idea that she was 'alright', but as she inspected her suit, she found there were no traces of last night's struggle left on her. As her memories of the incident came back to her, she realized the places where the creature had pierced her suit were all smooth, unbroken fabric. There wasn't a spot of red or blue on her, save for the minimal customization allowed on the Terrestrial Life Support suits. Blair wondered why she had ever liked the color blue at this point, it was everywhere now.
She coughed a bit to wake up her voice and said, "One of my specimens went rabid, I think. One of the coppershells, but those are herbivores." Blair slowly pushed herself up from the floor. Something didn't quite feel right about talking. Was there something in her teeth? She ran her tongue along the edge of her teeth and they felt… different. Sharp. Looking around, she found the precision scale on the counter behind her. The metal surface had a smooth finish, and she picked it up and held it so she could see her mouth. She grimaced, and her fears were confirmed. Sensing the tension, McReady looked up from the mangled body on the floor.
"Is something wrong, Doctor?" she asked. Blair pulled the scale back and noticed that her eyes had changed, too. No longer inky black, they were the exact same shade as the blue blood on the floor.
"The creature that attacked me last night… it bit me before I managed to kill it." Blair's voice shuddered as she recounted. A cold panic started to creep its way up her spine. "I- I think-"
Noticing the rising distress, McReady rushed to her side to comfort her. "It's okay, Blair, you couldn't have known that the pillbug would go nuts on you."
"S'not a pillbug, it's a coppershell." Blair murmured absentmindedly. Now was not the time for the stupid nickname Van Wall gave the things. She took a few deep breaths. It was so quiet she swore she could hear her heartbeat, but even that had some terrible feeling of wrongness to it. Her voice caught again as she continued. "That creature, it changed its shape when it attacked me, and I think it contaminated me with something… I think it changed me."
Blair tugged at the corner of her mouth to show the Lieutenant her teeth, large and sharp, made to tear through flesh. McReady paled, but she didn't back away.
"Okay."
"'Okay'?" Blair asked, quiet and distant. "Something is terribly wrong with me and your response is 'okay'?"
"We'll figure this out. Look at me, Aliyah." Blair hesitated before meeting her eyes. Most of the crew on the Kypros mission referred to each other by their last names except for friends or partners. Blair never really bothered to connect with her crewmates more than necessary, so she hadn't actually heard her first name come out of a crewmate's mouth in a long time. McReady's hands tightened on her shoulders. "You're going to be okay."
Blair let out a long sigh as McReady let go. She dug the heels of her palms gently into her eye sockets and just breathed. The gesture felt normal, human, and it grounded her for a moment. Silence fell again, but it wasn't as oppressive this time. McReady seemed nervous, but it was nice to know the most understanding person on the planet had Blair's back. Lowering her hands, Blair finally spoke again.
"Can we… keep this from the crew?" She was loath to expose herself to them, and she still didn't know what exactly she had become. Whatever she was, she had the feeling it was dangerous.
"I can keep this secret from anyone but the Captain. I can sit on it for now, but if he asks, I have to tell him something." McReady looked slightly apologetic, but Blair understood. The captain had ultimate authority, and McReady was only second in command.
"I guess if it comes to that, he should probably hear the whole story from me." Anxiety curled in the pit of her stomach at that thought.
"You won't be alone," McReady offered with a small smile. "C'mon, let's go to the cafeteria. I'll make you some tea. Kinner should be getting breakfast ready by now."
At the mention of breakfast, Blair realized how hungry she felt. Food wasn't the first thing on her mind amid all the panic, but now that she thought of it it was like her stomach was replaced by a gaping hole. She nodded and moved to follow, but paused as she passed by the remains of the strange mimic.
"Blair?"
There was something alluring about it. She didn't know what. Her hunger seemed to spike, and in the haze, the glistening remains almost looked appetizing.
"What are you doing?"
What Blair did next was purely instinctual. Like some kind of demented zipper, a seam opened of from one end of her stomach to the other, revealing massive interlocking teeth and a long and powerful tongue. In one swift movement, the body was scooped up and swallowed whole with an audible crunch. Blair came back to her senses as the tear re-sealed itself and her hunger was sated.
"So…"
"What the HELL Blair!?"