Page 148 of Immersed
Relief washed over Asher’s features, quickly masked by his usual confident demeanor. He pulled away, though one hand maintained contact with Levi’s waist as though he were unwilling to break physical contact entirely. “Good, because I don’t intend on letting you leave me again,” he said. “We have to stick together, no matter what.”
As if on cue, an alarm began to blare throughout the room, red emergency lights pulsing in sync with the sound. A computerized voice announced:“Warning: Unknown containment breach in Sector 7. All personnel report to emergency stations. This is not a drill.”
“Sector 7?”Levi repeated, looking around for any indication of their location.
Asher pointed to a schematic on the wall—a detailed map of what appeared to be a space station or large spacecraft. They were in the crew quarters, Sector 3. Sector 7 was labeled“Research Containment.”
“Containment breach?”Asher’s hand moved to the weapon holstered at his hip.“Whatever it is, we’ll handle it.”
The door at the far end of the chamber hissed open again. This time, several figures rushed in, wearing uniforms similar to Asher’s but with different insignias. Levi’s breath caught as he recognized them despite the change in appearance.
Jasper, Owen, Zoe, Maddie, Elliot, and Tyler. The same NPCs from the campsite and sanitarium, now reskinned as crew members.
“There you are!”Maddie exclaimed, her hair still bright purple, but now half her head was shaved.“Why aren’t you at your station? We’ve got a Class 4 containment breach!”
“The specimens from LV-347 got loose,”Owen added, pushing up his glasses before his fingers danced across a holographic tablet.“Three maintenance workers are already dead. The captain wants all security personnel armed and ready in five minutes.”
Elliot, now sporting some sort of insignia on his lapel, looked between Levi and Asher with thinly veiled disdain.“We have actual work to do.”His gaze lingered on Asher’s arm still wrapped around Levi’s waist.“The rest of us would like to survive this situation.”
Levi watched Asher’s expression shift, his eyes flat as he glared at Elliot. “You have something to say, Elliot?”
“Asher, don’t—”
“I’m your lieutenant, Ensign, you’ll address me as such. Now, why don’t you let Ensign Mercer go? You’re clearly making him uncomfortable,” Elliot snapped. He gaze shifted to Levi, his voice softening. “He hasn’t hurt you, has he?”
Stupid fucking romance option—
Asher drew his weapon and fired three times in rapid succession.
Blue energy pulses struck Elliot in the chest, throat, and forehead, dropping him to the floor. Before the others could react, Asher had adjusted his aim and fired again, hitting Tyler directly between the eyes.
“What the fuck?!”Jasper shouted, diving behind a sleep pod for cover.
Maddie and Zoe screamed, scrambling backward toward the door. Owen stood frozen in shock, an easy target that Asher dispatched.
“Asher, stop!”Levi grabbed his arm, trying to prevent further bloodshed.
Asher paused, looking at Levi with an almost innocent expression.“They were interrupting us,”he said with a pout, as if that explained everything.“And I don’t like the way he looked at you.”
Maddie made a break for the door, but Asher was faster, firing twice more. She collapsed mid-stride, body skidding across the polished floor with momentum. He fired one more time at Zoe as she stared at Maddie’s corpse.
Only Jasper remained, still hidden behind the sleep pod.
“Please,”his voice came, high and trembling.“I won’t tell anyone. Just let me go.”
Asher tilted his head, like he was considering the request with the detached curiosity of a cat watching a cornered mouse. Then he looked at Levi.“Your call.”
The realization hit Levi with sickening clarity—Asher was giving him the choice, offering Jasper’s life as some kind of gift or test. It was horrifying and touching all at once, a twisted form of consideration from someone whose moral compass was so fundamentally broken.
“Let him go,”Levi said.
Asher frowned, but he nodded.“You heard him,”he called to Jasper.“Go. Don’t come back and keep your fucking mouth shut.”
Jasper didn’t need to be told twice. He bolted from his hiding place and through the door, footsteps fading down the corridor beyond.
“You’ve made a mess,”Levi sighed, feeling queasy as he looked at the bodies of his friends.
Asher holstered his weapon with a shrug.“They’ll reset eventually.”He pulled Levi close again, his hand drifting down to squeeze his ass.“Now we have privacy. Speaking of which...”
