{Anomaly detected. Requesting Orders.} A computer voice echoed through an empty room full of softly glowing consoles and chairs. {Auto-Pilot requires Orders regarding Anomaly.} The wall all the chairs were facing began to glow intensely; light shifted until it seemed to almost melt away. The view relieved many colors, lights, stars, and currently some form of glowing wave increasing in size. {Unable to avoid. Requesting Orders.} The monotone voice echoed again, breaking the silence of the view. All the screens came to life, filling up with light.

[This doesn’t look good.] A hologram materialized behind the central console chair. [Alfred to crew, come in, Captain.] The hologram turned to the back wall full of monitors. [Captain, please report! Code Red! I repeat, Code Red!] Alfred scanned the room. [This doesn’t make sense…] He appeared in front of one of the consoles, touching the screen while his eyes glowed for a brief period. [Those bastards… No time, I must solve the current problem. Computer Report.] His eyes glowed once more, getting info directly from the computer.

{Impact in 40 seconds!} All the lights turned red, horns blasted throughout the empty ship. {Requesting Orders!} The computer was shouting amidst the noise. Alfred was busy sifting through the data as quickly as he could. His eyes ceased glowing.

[Raise shields to Max right before impact, before that, we must move the Captain!] Alfred dematerialized from the bridge. He appeared in robotic machine storage, and screens appeared before him. Multiple bots came to life, zipping off with utmost haste. [Move my core into the broken shuttle. I’ll move the Captain with vital supplies.] Alfred vanished as the giant bot started to move out, heading for the storage.

{Computer reports to AI-Alfred. All crew members have abandoned the ship, and there is no Captain.} The monotone voice sounded after the large moving bot. It broke through a door and headed straight for a tube with a body suspended in fluid. Alfred appeared in front of the tube with a screen, typing away quickly.

[There is ONE person still alive on this ship, and by technicality, it makes them Captain.] The bot’s four arms started to whirl and disassemble the restraints holding the pod with said ‘Captain’ in it. Once removed, the robot began to roll away with it as fast as possible. [We must follow our code and protect them. That’s what I’m doing, Computer. Now reroute enough power into the remaining shuttle to activate the shields.] The bot backed out and closed the door after placing the pod in the back of a shuttle in the ship bay.

{Brace for Impact.} The Computer echoed throughout the ship as programmed. At the same time, Alfred was typing furiously away at a screen in front of the pod. {Shields!} Whirling buzzing of the shields activating moments before something slammed into them, straining them thin. {Shields fa-} Computer was cut off. Explosions sounded all about the ship. The shuttle’s shields lasted just a bit longer, letting it survive primarily intact.

[Computer!? Report!] Alfred called out, trying to connect to the ship’s main computer. [Shit!] His core unit that sat next to the pond glowed intensely. [Emergency Wake Up Protocol Activate, code: FUBAR] Alfred placed his hand on the screen below the pod. Something started to whirl and flash, then the body's eyes snapped open. [At least they’re alive, that’s a start.] A few more keystrokes and the fluid started to evaporate, the wires and hoses retracted. Standing there was the last remaining survivor, the new Captain. [Goodmorning, Captain, we have a situation.] Alfred stood at attention, ready to solve the crisis they faced.

“Wha?..*Smack*” The ‘new Captain’ tried to step forwards, only to trip and fall through Alfred. “Dammit, that hurt….” The man on the floor complained. “Hold on. Alfred? What’s happening?” He was struggling to get his arms under himself. “It feels like my whole body fell asleep! AH! That was unpleasant. “ He slipped trying to get up, so he just waited for the feeling to pass. “Why was I interrupted?” He turned to look at Alfred, watching him trying not to laugh too hard.

[Sorry, the disconnect between your system and the new body will take a few moments to sync up.] Alfred brought up another screen, reading it. [Your vitals are stable, the Impact left nothing, everything seems to have worked out.] He closed the screen and smiled at the man on the floor. [I have some good news for you, Rex. You are the new Captain of the ship!] A banner appeared above him saying ‘congrats’ with little firework animations.

“Hold on a second, Alfred. You interrupt my downtime to throw me into this new sim, and you don’t even give me a warning?! Not cool, man!” Rex finally got himself into a sitting position. “Why is the lag on my body so weird? What are we testing now?” He was looking at his shaking hands while questioning the hologram.

[No more Virtual Simulations, I’m afraid Rex.] Alfred turned his hologram to face the shuttle’s windscreen. [It seems the crew woke up 120 years ago and abandoned the ship. Long story short, they sabotaged the Computer, leaving you as the sole living survivor to fool the sensors and have the vessel carry on without them on it.] Alfred turned around to stare at Rex. [I know you have been living in the Digiverse until now, so take all the time you need to get used to your new body. You only have an hour of air left.] Alfred vanished, leaving Rex in the dimly lit cramped shuttle.

“WHAT?!” Rex roared out with rage. “What in the hell is going on!? This isn’t good. Menu! Command!” He started to shout and try and wave his hand about. Nothing happened; his eyes widened as the horror set in. He slaps himself with a loud solid smack. “Fuck! That hurts.Alright.This is real, now what?” He looks around with a lost look on his face.

[Ready to try and survive?] Alfred pops back into the shuttle. Rex struggles but manages to stand. [Good. The situation is not good, and both our lives depend on your success.] He points to his core unit. [I lost a lot of processing power and control when those traitors left, they sort of wiped and stole my central core.] Rex sat down on the bench seat, staring at the rest of the boxes. [While I may not be as fast as I was, I still had some time to play with some things during the trip.] The packages started to glow, and locks clicked open. [Let's get you suited up before you try to leave the shuttle. The Impact from the anomaly damaged the ship and opened it up to the void.] Alfred turned into light motes and entered his core, making it glow bright.

“Either spacesuit up or die? I hope you have my size.” Rex chuckled in disbelief while hobbling over to the cases. He started to open them up, revealing their loot. “I might still be in shock or denial, but I have to ask, how do I have a body?” He found the case with a suit, so he started to equip it. “I thought I lost my body due to that cryo accident so many years back? So how am I here unless this is a simulation?” There were some nice gloves and boots to match the rest.

[Remember how I said it was 120 years ago? I told you I had time to play with things. They had started to rebuild your body but decided they could profit from you more without one, so they stalled it. They only took farming tools, foodstuff, and building materials.] Alfred’s core glowed along with his speech as Rex finished suiting up. [I sort of went through a rage phase with my overloaded emotions at that time, so I instead decided to turn it into something positive.] Multiple screens popped up with many videos of simulations that held Rex. [So I recycled what they left and what we scavenged in our travels to build these, and you.]

“Wait, why build me a body?” Rex stopped going through the boxes of futuristic-looking weapons. “I still don’t understand.” He got closer to the core unit. “Why Alfred?” He crouched down, staring intently at the core.

[Unfortunately, I have to follow the Captain of my ship or cease my functions. For the first few years, I was lost in rage for the betrayal, but I found myself enjoying the time after a while. I was crafting and building some of the things from your simulations. Then a few decades ago, you almost died in shock.] Alfred grew out from his core and started pacing around. [I just found ‘fun’ for the first time in my existence. It was and is a refreshing feeling, sir. I couldn’t let you ruin it.] Alfred turned back around and eyed Rex. [You, who were nothing more than a brain in fluid, somehow has lived longer than a millennial, almost died and ruined that for me. So to avoid that, I had to make sure you wouldn’t die on me.] Many holo screens appear with varying videos playing of Rex. [I had you running simulations to calibrate your body for the past few decades. Unfortunately, I had to finish the transfer ahead of time due to an unforeseen anomaly.] Rex slowly sits on the floor with a far-off stare.

“Why did you keep me in the simulations for so long?” It took a few moments for Rex to find the words. So many questions were running through his head, but his mind was cluttered. Alfred simulated a sigh.

[There are no food supplies. If I woke you, you would eventually starve to death. Your brain would not handle returning to cryosleep.] Alfred waved at the boxes still full of goodies. [I made these items in the possibility of your awakening. I had hoped you could have explored new frontiers for us with these, but now is better than never.] He turned into light motes again to fade away. [I’m currently running diagnostics on the ship’s condition, please browse your new equipment while you wait.] His core started to pulse as Rex stirred.

“Welp...Let's look at my new toys while I try and process all this bull shit.” Rex's attention shifted gears, lifting open a minor case sitting on the bench. “AL! Is this what I think it is?” Rex lifted a stunningly made large revolver. “This thing feels amazing! Like it sticks to my hand!” Rex jumped up, bringing the gun up to firing height, holding it with both hands, training his sight through the iron sight on the weapon. “If this is what you have been up to, I don’t think I can blame you, buddy.” He started to mutter in awe of the gun. There was a hip holster in the case, so he attached it. "Yippee Kay Yay!" Rex mumbled, admiring the weapon in his new hip holster.

[Hurry up and equip the rest, we don’t have time to admire my works of art now!] A mini holo Alfred popped onto Rex's shoulder. [Get your helmet on last. There’s only a void outside, and your air is almost gone in here.] Rex hurried and equipped the rest of the new weaponry; thankfully, each had an excellent compact travel function for easy mobility.

“Why did you make so many weapons?” Rex paused after loading up like a one-person army holding the helmet in his hands. “I get it if I was about to fight someone or something, but I can’t fire in the void. I’m not sure guns work in space.” Rex started to doubt what was going on.

[Your knowledge is probably outdated; yes, they work in space. I feared you wouldn’t handle the modern ones, so I went with some things you could use. The designs gave me some challenges, but I’m pretty happy with the outcome.] Alfred puffed out his chest when mentioning his work.

“So you were bored with nothing else to do?” Rex shook his head in disbelief. “Let's do whatever it is we’re about to do.” He shoved on his helmet, and it snapped shut with a click and hiss as his suit’s life support kicked on. “I just realized you said void. Are we in space?” Rex asked in a panic.

[Keep up Rex, if you fall behind, you’ll get us both terminated.] Then, the shuttle doors open with a hiss and a suction force. [Seems the gravity is still working, you should be fine, but turn on your magboots.] A warning alert beeps in Rex’s helmet.

“What do you mean ‘Gravity Failure’?” Rex blurted out; the next moment, everything started to float wildly. Lights flashed all around on his suit, showing his shield blocking him from most of the impacts of floating objects. “Fuck! Alfred! How do you turn on the boots?!’ Rex was spinning wildly around. Then, with a hum, his boot turned on, finding and sticking to the floor of the shuttle. “What’s happening?!” He was freaking out while the empty cases smacked him around some.

[Hold on!] Alfred shouted. Everything suddenly had gravity again and dropped. [Something hit us, and we lost half the ship! Power and gravity will be gone for good in 30 seconds, run!] Alfred pointed towards the open door.

“Where am I running to?!” The magboots were still on, and it looked like he was running through mud. “Isn’t this ship broken or something?” Gravity turned off and what was not strapped down started to fly around with the debris. “This isn’t what I signed up for!” Rex was struggling to move forwards, and he fell on all fours. It turns out the gloves had a mag function as well. He began to crawl, following an arrow on his HUD inside his helmet, showing him the way.

[You actually did. You just never bothered to read the Terms and Agreements.] Alfred was standing by a door, giving him a beacon to crawl towards. [The ship is stuck in a spin due to something hitting us.] He moved to the next door as debris passed right through his holo body. [The bridge is gone. The engines, along with the main computer, vanished. The spin isn’t too bad, or else you would be dead.] Rex was huffing away, crawling from door to door.

“You don’t say.” Rex was struggling against the force of the spin. “I don’t suppose you could stop it?” He asked when he reached the next Alfred. “How big is this ship anyway?” He gripped the frame pulling himself forwards. His face dropped, spotting Alfred very, very far away. “You must be fu-” The force stopped all of a sudden. Rex stood up with his magboots on. “That’s better. I don’t mind zero-g anymore!” Rex waved at Alfred as he picked up the pace. Screens appeared in front of Alfred. “Why did that take so long?” Rex asked as he closed the distance.

[That wasn’t me.] Alfred was spooked. [I can only get monitoring reports on the ship’s status. There is no power or connection.] He closed the screen, turning a severe face to Rex. [We were halted by ‘something’ else is all I can find out.] He pointed up towards the ceiling. [I got a ping from a sensor before it died, that ‘something’ is moving towards us. No other data.] Alfred began to walk and lead Rex ahead.

“What do you mean, ‘something’? Like another ship, possible rescue?” Rex seemed to lighten up with that dream. He got a weird look from the hologram. “Don’t tell me it’s aliens.” He scoffed at the ridiculous joke. Alfred picked up the pace. “Please tell me it's not aliens! AL! Alfred! Buddy!” Rex caught up to Alfred, staring up at the ceiling.

[You tell me. My core is in the pack you are carrying, and the sensors aren’t the best, so I’m not exactly sure what that is.] He pointed up at something. [Is it a glitch, or am I seeing this correctly?] The holo made a motion to rub his eyes in disbelief. Rex chuckled and glanced up, only seeing a blinding light.

“Not funny. Dim the lights, will ya?” Rex turned away from the light.

[You know the power is out, right?] Alfred fixed a ‘seriously’ look at him.

“Yeah, and your point b-...” Realization dawned on Rex slowly. “How are we seeing this? Where’s the roof?” Rex stared into the light again, trying to see something.

[It got torn off, you have a front-row view of space, and that.] Alfred moted into the core on Rex’s back. [Let me adjust your viewscreen.] Rex’s helmet dimmed to help filter out the light. His eyes shot wide at what was relieved.

“Is that a sailboat?!” Rex could only shout and point. “In space?!”

[You can call it a spaceship, and it’s coming this way.] Alfred warned. The vessel came to a halt some distance away from them.

“That thing is huge!” Rex couldn’t help but be impressed with what he was seeing. “This is real, right? I’m not hallucinating or something?” He was worried he was running out of air.

[You still have a few hours of air left. I can sense motion on the deck of the ship.] Alfred popped up with a telescope in hand.

“You’re a holographic projection; why do you need a telescope?” Rex was worried he might be seeing things. Then, a small screen appeared on his HUD. It was a zoomed-in view; green-colored humanoid shapes were running about. “Are those swords? Wait, are those goblin looking creatures?” He glanced back up at the ship slowly approaching his position. “It’s weird seeing some sort of ‘ship’ meant for water rising up towards you through space, huh, buddy?”

[It would make boarding easier.] Alfred finally got a more precise picture to view. [They look to be green-skinned humanoids with a resemblance of ‘Goblins’ from the human’s fantasy stories. Those weapons are glowing, so avoid them. I only see 10, which should be an excellent warm-up.]

“Question! Why are we attacking space goblins on a ship in space?” Rex started to look around. He saw stars shining across vast voids. His words died out as he realized he was standing on a wrecked ship, floating in space, with a boat full of goblin-like creatures approaching. A flash brought his attention back up towards the boat.

[Incoming!] Alfred warned. [Grab the floor!] Rex slammed his hands down, the mag-gloves sticking him down. The floor vibrated with force; something hit the ship hard. He could see a sizeable glowing chain attached to some part of the ship he couldn’t see. [They don’t seem friendly to me.] He light-moted away. [Up to you, Captain, I’m just along for the ride.]

“If I’m going insane, I might as well embrace it.” Rex sighed as he started to stretch his body out. “Been stuck running sims, so might as well actually test some shit out.” Looking up at the ship stopped right above him, he could now see the creatures were dressed in an old-style fashion with some glowing accessories. “Pirate Goblins in space!” He crouched down, building up energy in his legs. “This’ll be fun!” Then, turning off his magboots, Rex launched himself straight up through the void.

[How are you going to land?] Alfred asked while bringing up a distance counter in his helmet’s HUD. Rex just stared at the ship’s deck, slowly getting closer as the counter got smaller. [You do have a plan, right?] Rex just stayed silent.