The metal grate clicked softly as Krios removed it. A thick liquid, presumably blood mixed with digestive fluid, began dripping down uncontrollably. Instinctively, he stepped out of the way, his lips curled up in disgust. Just the mere thought of which diseases exotic space creatures carried inside them was enough to make him shuddered, which was a miracle all by itself. He had been travelling for quite some time now, had been fortunate enough to witness all sort of madness and live long enough to regret the decisions that led to them. And yet, there was still things that can make him flinched. Like the Brain Rot, a disease that, predictably, made your brain decomposes inside the skull. Not a pretty sight at all. So to avoid a similar fate, Krios dropped the grate and left the vent as it was. He would continue with it after the mess had been cleaned up. Eckhart hired him to be an engineer, not a bloody janitor. 

 Honestly though, after his first 5 hours on the ship, Krios found that this place wasn’t horrible as he had initially thought. Sure, his boss was obsessive, but at least he was not a tentacle beast that wanted to have sexual intercourse with everything and everyone. It was far from the worst job he ever had though. Their ship might be ancient, its hardware a maze of patchwork fixes and outdated parts, but he supposed he could manage. After all, despite all their technology and intelligence, the Murridanes couldn’t create new spare parts out of thin air, so he had to do a lot of salvaging back then. Thanks to that, he was sufficiently familiar with the ship’s network, enough to get a few repairs done before the meeting was due. 

 Apparently, the former captain had met his final demise during the attack, so a new one was chosen. Eckhart. The man was nothing but efficient. He even put together a celebration of sort to announce the new captain. Attendance was mandatory, it seemed. Letting out a sigh, Krios opened the door to his modest cabin, then stepped inside, the door slid shut behind him. This felt a huge waste of time to him. After all, he still had tons of work left, vents to unclog, engines to repair, interfaces to replace. No time to go to some silly meeting for talks about things he already knew. 

 Krios sat down at his desk, leaned into the leather seat. There was still a bit of time for him to relax, maybe take a nap or something. But then, it wasn’t really possible, not with his condition. So Krios ended up staring at the metal celling like an idiot, legs propped up on the messy desk. His room wasn’t very big, even when he had got rid of the bed, along with its occupant still bleeding on the blankets, but at least there was enough room for a comfy leather chair with built-in heating system and cup holders, so Krios couldn’t really complain. 

 Moments later, the antique clock on his desk went off as his cue to leave. He found the mess hall with little difficulty, as he had studied the ship plan few hours earlier, remembering what he could. The light bothered him, but the he didn’t take out his shades. Instead, he focused on Jane Pepper, standing in the middle of their little circle, his arms crossed. Her speech was, well, hardly informative, since she had already struck him as the type of woman with a low tolerance for bullshit the moment she stepped into the room. Not his favorite type of people, but she seemed like someone who knew what they were doing. He could respect that.