❖ This is a snippet of a future project. At this time, I'm not sure if I'll be writing it as its own thing, or just writing it in parts and then collecting it into something cohesive later. For now, let's enjoy the ride. ❖
The near-silence of space was the only place where Ego could concentrate. No overlapping voices, no deploying pilots, no distractions. Just the oh so faint hum of the cosmos. Humans couldn’t hear it, but it was at just the right frequency for Ego to hone in on. It was lazy and soft and— hell, they would say it— it was cute. The sound had become familiar to them, something that was solely theirs, over the past few weeks as they tore through ships and mechs that needed to be salvaged.
Which weren’t a lot considering the number of them. Ego had even pulled their more interesting findings all the way into an asteroid belt to save certain wreckage for later examination. Their crew hated it when they did that, but if Ego was going to do all the work, then they would dictate how the parts were treated until they were returned to the ship. If they ever were.
Their internal systems whirred as they cycled space dust into breathable air, which they pumped back into an emergency oxygen canister on their retrieval vessel. It helped keep track of the time. If one could imagine, drifting planets around a blinding white sun didn’t often make for good clocks. They were too slow; they lulled Ego into a rhythm that was hard to break from, and their crewmates got impatient (or antsy or downright angry) when they were gone for too long. Ego sucked their teeth and sneered as they drew up a holographic only they could see. C1, 29%. By the time all the canisters filled up, Ego would have had their fill of space. They pulled their gloves down over their hands and turned their eyes at the detached vessel in front of them.
