Episode 6 - Spoiler Alert!

When Capac and Steve try to wake up a fevery Splitsie, they wake up something more

# Spoiler Alert! - Synopsis

## Prolog

(A summary of what happened in all previous episodes)

Capac is an astrophysicist with overactive imagination, optimist, with a passions for food and entertainment. Splitsie is a slightly neurotic Engineer, realist, dedicated to the job at hand. Their ship and computer were damaged by space debris, and they barely remember their own names, but they worked together and got the situation back under control.

Now they want to figure out what the bloody hell is going on. Why do all the debris impactors have the same nano-markers as their own ship? They follow clues through the star system and befriend a piece of cobalt named Steve. After they start remembering weird dreams of being in cryo stasis, they finally find a large artificial object that may hold answers.

## On board the RX-394

"And now on Light Echoes..."

Capac has a visual on the large object, it's labelled RX-394. Splitsie in the engineering section doesn't respond. Capac scans for a possible entry point. There seems to be no internal pressure. Capac approaches an exterior landing pad while blaming Steve for piloting errors.

After maglocking the ship on the large ship, Capac notices that Splitsie has collapsed on the engine room's floor. The computer detects working medical facilities on the large ship and marks them on Capac's HUD. Steve and Capac unload the mining sled to carry Splitsie.

Next to the landing pads, Capac identifies escape pod hatches as entry points. Using the power from the sled, he opens the inactive hatches. The interior is spooky but Capac finds a pressuriseable hallway and seals up the hatches again. The air is stuffy. He and Steve take the mining sled and explore. They find a few dead bodies and wonder what happened.

*(Nightmare of running through an old winding tunnel and being hit by a train.)*

Splitsie wakes up in terror in the medbay with strange memories: "Why am I here again?" He tries to get up but Capac has set the medbay to treat Splitsie.

*(Dream of riding a motorbike in the rain in the dark, wrong way down a highway, colliding with a truck.)*

Since their old teal-coloured space suits had Space Wasps punctures and cracked visors, Capac got them both new space suits, for Capac one in orange and for Splitsie one in gray.  Capac leaves Steve to look after Splitsie while Capac sets out for the reactors. Splitsie is too weak to protest and doesn't know who Steve is. Steve looks slightly miffed.

## Lost?

Capac is creeped out by the abandoned hallways. He tells himself, if there were aliens, they would have eaten him already, as he learned from the movies. He wishes spaceships were designed to look more welcoming.

Capac is lost and hopes Splitsie and Steve are okay without him. (Steve is watching over Splitsie in the medbay.) Capac finds a huge hole in the hull. He speculates that the drive plate was not maintained properly and this explosion is where that debris field came from. The nanomarkers match: The RX-39487 and this large ship must have been built by the same manufacturer. Someone who likes blue and grey. Capac regrets that they are too close to a gas giant because due to its radiation, they won't be able to stay here long.

Capac feels as trapped like in a movie. He finds oxygen storage still intact, so some sections could be pressurised. He wanders down endless staircases because this civilisation capable of interstellar travel has not yet developed elevator technology. He refers to a storage room as "sweet loot!" and quips, "Time to crate: 15 minutes!"

Still wandering through hallways, Capac comes across a lone forklift. He tells it of his plans to lower the vehicle, add some sweet rims, and give it a horn that plays a Mexican song, and then show it off to Splitsie.

Splitsie wakes up. He remembers the medbay and dreaming about the technicians thawing him here. He realises this ship is the place they came from -- and passes out again.

In a hangar, Capac stumbles upon a ship that looks just like RX-39487. Exasperated, he cries out "Doppelgänger! Charlatan! Trickster! Impostinator!"

## Anagnorisis

Splitsie has managed to get up and is exploring the bridge consoles. He analyses the emergency power situation and the status of the security systems. He wants to monitor Capac and prevent him from blowing up the reactor by mistake, but he cannot reach Capac through comms. Watching Capac through security cameras, Splitsie also notices the Impostinator's obvious resemblance to their ship.

Capac rages at a depressurised bathroom. Finally, Capac enters the reactor room, which to his disappointment does not contain "big spinny glowy things, like the illegitimate child of a lawnmower and a disco ball." Unfortunately, reactors are "more of a Splitsie kind of thing". The buttons Capac pushes are accompanied by lights turning back on, followed by a humming sound -- and distant explosions.

Splitsie is cautiously optimistic. Capac runs, calling for help.

(Dissonant thundering music) The dead husk of RX-394 comes alive again. An AI voice says creepily "Offering emotional support" and laughs.

## Prolog

While running back to Splitsie, Capac meets the, now powered, forklift again. He stops to suggest equipping it with a spoiler, and offers his friendship. The forklift revvs and repeatedly honks its horn. Capac tells the forklift to not be so clingy this early in the relationship... and starts running...

## References

1. ↑ The IRL reason for the suit colour change was that the teal colour conflicted with the chroma key in post-editing.
2. ↑ Time To Crate is a metric used to assess the quality of video games. It is expressed in terms of the time between the start of a level (t == 0), and the point where the level designer gave up, ran out of ideas, and just started putting in crates. A lower TTC is considered desirable.