Dead Space: Ouroboros
A Dead Space Fanfiction


This story is for a mature audience only.

Originally conceived after playing Dead Space way back in 2008, with some modifications added after playing Dead Space 2 in 2011.

As of 8/5/15, this story is still in the editing phase; everything is subject to change without notice. Please be patient.


.1

"There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear."
- B.G., 18.69


"I love you, Isaac. I've always loved you."

The gentle, blue lambency of Isaac Clarke's RIG coruscated across his blood smeared face as he watched Nicole Brennan's message for the final time. He had seen his girlfriend's desperate parting transmission so many times before, but trapped in isolation aboard the escape shuttle as it floated through the void of space, this visual recording that had given him the hope to survive now only served as a cruel reminder of what he had lost. Unable to watch the video any longer, Isaac looked away and pressed the 'delete' key.

The agonizing imagery of Nicole in her final moments flickered off, leaving Isaac alone in the darkness with nothing but the light of distant stars to guide his way back to civilization. He sank into the pilot's chair, unable to feel anything but detachment from the world around him, and all he could do was stare out the cockpit window with large, unblinking eyes at the expanding field of debris where Aegis7 once existed. He knew he should grieve for Nicole and for the harrowing tragedy he had just barely survived, but he could not think clearly; he felt the Marker's maddening grip upon him, even in the wake of it's total dissolution.

Some time had passed before a quiet, scratching sound coming from behind finally registered.

tck tck tck

He turned around in the chair to see what it was, and without warning Isaac was tackled by a necromorph as it lunged savagely at him from the rear of the cabin. Caught by surprise he leapt out of the chair, trying to avoid the monster's menacing claws as it closed in on top of him. He felt the vile creature's spit across his skin as its gaping jaws snapped with the force of a steel bear trap just inches from his face, serving as a bone chilling reminder of how dangerously vulnerable he was without his helmet.

"Shit!"

Isaac held the creature at bay while he frantically scanned the room for his plasma cutter, which had fallen to the floor during the attack. The cockpit's dim lighting made it difficult to find, or to even see what kind of necromorph he was dealing with.

Was it a Lurker, with its razor sharp tentacles aimed like spears at his back? A Slasher, ready to drive its poison-laced talon down his throat like a wedge, splitting his skull? Or something even worse?

Isaac rammed his fist into the necromorph's side several times until it finally recoiled, then he tackled and slammed it into the pilot's control kiosk. The damage caused to the hardware as the monster's body crashed into it triggered a warning alarm that resounded angrily throughout the cockpit, and in the chaos that ensued they continued to struggle against one another. The necromorph wrapped one of its thick, slimy tentacles around Isaac's leg in an attempt to incapacitate him, and they both toppled to the floor, hissing furiously at one another.

"Die, you son of a bitch!"

Though he sought to remain vigilant, Isaac was already so expended that he had practically nothing left. The muscles of his arms began to quiver from exhaustion, and he could feel the necromorph starting to overpower him, it's stinking, gnashing teeth drawing closer with each passing second. The harder he struggled to break free the tighter the necromorph coiled itself around him like a constrictor, squeezing out what little resolve he had left.

Please. Please, don't let it end like this.

He drew a deep, sharp breath, raised his foot and planted it against the necromorph's chest, then used all of his strength of shove it back into the tight space between the two cockpit chairs. This briefly trapped the necromorph at an awkward angle, forcing it to release its hold and Isaac immediately pulled himself out of its reach.

"Fuck! Fuck you, die!"

Striving for breath, Isaac pressed his back to the wall on the far side of the cabin and again searched the room until he found what he had been looking for. There, on the floor under the navigator's chair, was his plasma cutter.

Time to end this.

Isaac grabbed it, activated it and took aim at the monster's hulking figure, following the illumination of its burning red eyes as they blazed trails through the darkness toward him. He pulled the trigger, and the tool's discharge resounded throughout the small, enclosed space with a thunderous crack. The necromorph screamed as it's left shoulder disintegrated from the blast, showering the cabin with foul smelling blood and singed flesh. The necromorph howled in retaliation, and the traces of it's former human identity embedded in the discordant sound sent a shiver down Isaac's spine.

... No.

The ship's alarm lights flashed their furious red hue throughout the cabin in morbid pulses, elucidating the monster's naked, blood drenched form. The cabin was too dark for Isaac to physically identify the monster, but the glands he could see sagging like satchels of rotting flesh from its ribcage suggested that it was the remains of a female. He could also see the gaping hole that his plasma cutter had burned into its shoulder had proven to be an effective strike; the necromorph's aggression waned and it's screams fell away into weak, lamenting whimpers as it slowly dropped to the floor. Disturbed by the haunting familiarity he heard in its voice, Isaac reached for the controls and activated the cabin's interior emergency lights with a shaking hand.

No. No.

The overhead floodlights bloomed to life, and now Isaac could clearly see who his adversary was face to face. His heart sank. The plasma cutter fell from his nerveless hand. Tears filled his eyes. He dropped to his knees, and gazed sadly over the mortally wounded creature before him.

"Nicole... what happened to you?"

He reached out and took one of the necromorph's misshapen hands in his, ignoring the threat of its splayed talons as he did so.

"Why... why did you let them do this to you?... You should have waited for me."

Though he knew that Nicole was long dead and this creature was merely her empty, reanimated shell, Isaac could not bring himself to destroy it. Yet, that he could not allow it to live in case he were ever rescued was quite clear, and this thrust Isaac into a very serious moral dilemma. He gazed into the vitreous decay clinging to the insides of its eye sockets and he gently leaned forward, touching his forehead to the necromorph's bloody skull.

"I missed you."

The evidence left no room for question, but Isaac wanted to believe that somewhere deep inside this twisted, ravaged affront to God was something left of the woman whom he had loved, and come so very far to save. Devastated, Isaac had lost all sense of fear of what she had become, and he softly kissed the side of what had once been her cheek. He did not feel the necromorph's decomposing flesh and bone on his lips, but rather the soft, sweet taste of Nicole's skin just as he remembered it.

"... But I'm here now."

It wasn't obvious to him right away, but eventually Isaac realized that his mouth was filling with the warm, metallic taste of blood. He felt it breach the corners of his lips, followed by a very sharp, excruciating pain coming from deep within his abdomen. Illusion dispelled, he opened his eyes - and saw that the visage of his sweetheart had vanished, shattered by the bloodthirsty glare of the necromorph she really was.

make us whole

Isaac felt the pain through his belly again, and when he looked down he saw that the necromorph had driven its javelin-like limb straight through him from front to back. With blood pooling in his throat, he could only mouth silently the words he longed to say.

... I love you.

The necromorph spread its jaws and screamed violently in his face, but bound in lovesick trance, Isaac was miles away. He failed to feel as the beast withdrew it's talon from his gut, exposing the large hole that now extended all the way through his body. He just quietly, briefly wavered upon his knees, staring blankly down at his own insides as they spilled out across the floor, before he finally collapsed.

make us whole

Isaac's final vision was the menacing silhouette of the necromorph as it perched upon his chest. Staring down at him it opened its mouth to reveal rows of sharp, serrated fangs, ready to tear him to pieces.

I love you so much.