Marvel Magic Case Files

The news brought by Dr. Peters immediately interrupted the discussion.

It was a good thing that Engineer Justin had regained consciousness, but her behavior afterward was so abnormal that Dr. Peters had to rush to the bridge for assistance. To be precise, she had no choice but to. Though somewhat flustered, she managed to briefly describe what she had discovered to Captain Miller, First Officer Stark, and Lieutenant Commander DJ.

Following Captain Miller's orders, she cared for Justin, continuously monitoring his vital signs. At that time, Justin was still lying on the medical bed with his eyes open. But when she turned to continue dealing with the wreckage of the former crew member, Justin disappeared from the medical bed. As she rushed to look for him, she heard a hatch suddenly slam shut, followed by a problem with the ship's electrical system. Excessive current caused the medical room's lighting equipment to explode. Panicked, she ran to the bridge and, in her escape, glimpsed what appeared to be Justin heading towards the biological supplies storage room. Captain Miller, after hearing her story, nodded, indicating that he would bring Justin back, and then ran off the bridge to search for him. He had sworn never to abandon any crew member.

At this moment, Dr. Will also arrived, but his condition was very strange, and he seemed to be in a daze.

Meanwhile, something unknown followed Dr. Peters to the bridge, only to be stopped by the hatch he closed. First came the overloaded lumens, the cold, burning lights emitting acrid smoke from the charred and exploding bulbs. Then the thing began to ram against the hatch repeatedly, the thick airtight door caved in under the immense force, and the entire bridge plunged into darkness piece by piece, with only the constant bursts of electrical sparks remaining.

Dr. Peters screamed in terror.

She heard a sound.

She heard the voice when Justin suddenly disappeared, and now the owner of the voice was outside the hatch, trying to break down the airlock. While the others retreated in panic due to the leaking gas and the abnormal phenomena, Dr. Will walked towards the airlock that was being repeatedly rammed. Major DJ clearly heard Dr. Will repeatedly saying something like "open the door."

"Stop him!" Major DJ shouted.

First Officer Stark, who was closest to Dr. Will, lunged forward and grabbed his hand as he reached for the airlock's release valve. With practiced ease, she used a grappling technique to twist Dr. Will's hand behind his back. As Dr. Will cried out in pain, the sounds outside the airlock ceased, and the bridge fell silent once more, as if the monster beneath the bed had been driven away by the light, and fear had vanished with the return of reason.

"At this time, maintaining self-control is crucial, Dr. Will." Only after confirming that Dr. Will wouldn't engage in any dangerous behavior did First Officer Stark release him. Just then, alarms sounded on the bridge, and everyone else, without questioning Dr. Will's unusual behavior, rushed to the control panel. First Officer Stark, being the highest-ranking person on the bridge at that moment, immediately went to the control panel in front of the captain's seat. "What happened?"

"Front airlock number 19," Major DJ quickly assessed the situation. "That's where the decompression alarm is coming from."

"Miller, Cooper, Smith, who's in airlock 19?" First Officer Stark asked through the communications channel.

"Nobody's here," Captain Miller replied over the communications channel.

"It's Justin!" Dr. Peters wiped away his terrified tears. "It must be Justin!"

She rushed toward the airlock, followed closely by the others.

They saw the young figure in an Air Force uniform standing inside the forward airlock, the airlock slowly closing. As the necessary passageway for astronauts during extravehicular activities, the airlock slowly releases air from the gate to protect the astronauts in their pressure suits and the other crew members in the spacecraft. At this moment, they could only see Justin through a small observation window; he was only wearing a regular uniform and nothing else.

Dr. Peters hurriedly called to Justin, asking him to open the internal hatch and come back.

"Miller, emergency!" First Officer Stark called to the captain via radio while using her tools to pry open the control panel of the internal hatch. After receiving a reply, she immediately reported the situation: "Justin has entered the airlock without his spacesuit!"

"I'll go right away."

Lieutenant Cooper cursed under his breath and rose from the stern of the Lewis and Clark. Although the airtightness had been reinforced, the Lewis and Clark had been torn apart, and much work remained to be done. Captain Miller stopped him on the communications channel. Captain Miller ordered Lieutenant Cooper and Lieutenant Smith to continue the repairs, as he was closest to the forward airlock. Meanwhile, First Officer Stark delivered more bad news.

"He activated the overdrive system," First Officer Stark said, frowning. When questioned by Dr. Peters, she said she could only try. "I don't know how he learned to operate the overdrive system," she said irritably. "That's not part of an engineer's training!"

"Justin, open the door!"

Major DJ attempted to give orders to the crew again through the airlock intercom, but the engineer did not respond. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ship, Captain Miller, already dressed in his spacesuit, stepped out of the nearest airlock and attached himself to the maintenance rail. This was a device used by astronauts to move quickly across the ship's surface for efficient work. After Captain Miller attached his spacesuit's waist harness to it, he was towed towards another airlock in the opposite direction.

"Stark, report the situation."

"He activated the overdrive device; I can't open the door!"

"I'll go get the keys." Major DJ couldn't stay any longer.

He turned and ran back to the bridge, trying to get the key to the mechanical lock of the airlock. Meanwhile, Dr. Peters was frantically calling for Justin—she had always had a maternal instinct for the youngest boy in the crew, especially when she was away from her son on Earth who needed care, to the point that Justin usually called her "Mama Bear"—a joke stemming from a time when Captain Miller declared that she protected Justin like a mama bear protecting her cubs.

Undeniably, Dr. Peters poured all his guilt and concern for his son, whom he hadn't seen for years, into this youngest sailor. At that moment, Dr. Peters couldn't tell whether the acrid smell in his nostrils was from the burning wires nearby or from his own brain burning with anxiety.

Following First Officer Stark's instructions, she kept trying to get Justin's attention through conversation. Finally, the boy turned to look at her, which delighted Dr. Peters.

"Did you hear me?" Justin remained unmoved by Peters' request to open the door. They saw that the young man was pale, with tiny droplets of water clinging to his damp skin, as if he had been sweating profusely, yet he radiated coldness. After a brief silence, he asked again, "Did you hear me?"

"Yes, I heard it." Dr. Peters had to admit it, a feeling as powerless as admitting he still believed in the monster under the bed. However, they had recently experienced strange events, and any rebuttal seemed futile. "Do you know what that sound was?"

"It showed you some sights. Terrible sights," Justin said expressionlessly.

"What is it?"

"A darker self from another dimension. I don't want to go back."

"Little bear, open the door!" Dr. Peters was almost in tears; she shook her head desperately. "Come back!"

"What's the situation now?" DJ, who had rushed back, handed the key to the mechanical lock to First Officer Stark. "Open the external airlock, and he's dead. Nobody can survive in a vacuum."

"She can't persuade him," the first mate replied curtly, his hands moving as quickly as ever. "The door's about to open."

"No, listen to me!" Dr. Peters pounded on the airlock. Though anxious, her tone shifted; she spoke with command and reprimand, like a mother scolding a naughty child. "Listen to me, Justin! Now, open the door!"

Justin's voice was still so ethereal, like white mist floating in the air.

"If you saw what I saw, you wouldn't stop me."

"That's because you're delirious!" Dr. Peters shouted. She pointed through the observation window to the side. "Open the door. It's over there."

Dr. Peters watched him reach for the inner hatch switch, finally letting out a sigh of relief—a sign that this exhausting farce was finally over. Then, to her horror, she saw a strange smile on Justin's face. He then pressed the button to open the outer hatch. An automated voice announced that decompression would begin in 25 seconds. Justin immediately covered his ears and screamed; the excruciating pain of decompression pierced his mind.

"Where am I?" Justin rubbed his eyes as if waking from a dream, struggling to open them and look around. Then he saw Dr. Peters through the observation window. "Hey, open the door."

"Stark, open that damn door right now!" Major DJ yelled.

"I can't! The external hatches are open, so the internal hatches can't be opened, otherwise the whole ship will depressurize!" First Mate Stark shouted angrily in response. "My authority has been overridden; I can't cancel the order to open the external hatches!"

"Mama Bear, open the door!" Justin stood rooted to the spot, his voice trembling as he called out. The sound broke Dr. Peters' heart, but Major DJ noticed that although Justin was terrified, he didn't move an inch inside. He just stood there, as if glued to the spot. "Please, Captain..."

"Let me talk to him," Captain Miller said.

"Captain Miller, tell them to open the door..."

"Don't open the door." Captain Miller gripped the maintenance railing as he sped toward the forward gate.

"I don't want to die here!" Justin's voice began to tremble, as if fear had crawled out of his stomach.

"You will not die," Captain Miller replied firmly.

He used all his strength to pull himself forward through the airlock, not faltering despite Justin's pleas. He unlocked the locks, abandoned all safety measures, and used the airflow from his spacesuit to propel himself toward the structure opposite airlock 19. Perhaps it was this risky act that triggered a surge of adrenaline, or perhaps he was already exhausted from the journey, but he began to drift off, and Justin's pleas became a distant noise.

The hydrogen-rich atmosphere of the planet below erupted with intense lightning. The most violent storm cloud in the solar system was larger than a continent on Earth, and the flashes even illuminated the spaceship that had already moved to the shadowy side. He imagined a diamond rain falling in the high-temperature, high-pressure storm below, countless sparkling gems glittering in the bright lightning, like water droplets scattered after waves crashed against rocks on a shore at dawn.

A scream then snapped him back to reality. Justin looked down and saw the bulging veins in his arms.

"My eyes..."

"Don't think about anything! Close your eyes!"

Justin began to float up, screaming in agony.

"5 seconds left!"

"Curl up, immediately!"

"I can't breathe... Oh my god, it hurts so much..." Inside the airlock, Justin clutched his eyes in agony. Ruby-red blood squeezed from between his fingers, splashing towards the airlock's observation window as he swayed. Dr. Peters stared in horror at the scene before him, feeling his hands and feet turn ice-cold, unable to utter a word.

"Exhale, exhale all the air!" Captain Miller adjusted his posture, aligned himself with the airlock, opened his arms, and secured himself with the magnetic boots of his spacesuit. "Did you hear me? Exhale all the air!"

As the airlock slowly opened, the air grew thinner, and Justin's screams, curled up, faded. He finally lost consciousness completely, expelled by the airlock billowing white, condensed air, as if the dark spaceship had spat out something it shouldn't have entered. Justin floated in the vacuum with his arms outstretched, his veins crisscrossing his body like trenches rising from the earth's surface. Boiling blood was squeezed out of his throat, nose, eyes, and ears, then quickly congealed. Captain Miller deactivated his magnetic boots, leaped towards the airlock, and crossed the void to catch the convulsing Justin.

"I've caught him! Get ready!"

He gripped Justin's shoulders tightly and floated into the airlock.

First Officer Stark kept a close eye on the airlock readings. Just as the outer hatch closed automatically, the readings finally reached a safe range. "There's pressure. Open the door!" First Officer Stark turned the key, and the inner hatch quickly rose. Major DJ, carrying a first-aid kit, and Dr. Peters rushed into the open hatch with the air rushing in, immediately supporting Justin, who was covered in blood on the airlock deck.

"We need five units, hold his head down!" Major DJ yelled, "Keep him breathing."

"He's bleeding, and his blood pressure is dropping!"

"Start the transfusion. There's no time to warm the blood up! We need thermal blankets."

No one noticed that Dr. Will wasn't there. He sat in the captain's seat on the bridge, the shouts from airlock 19 pounding into his ears, pounding against his skull. Not only that, every sound from every corner of the ship was crammed into his brain: the faint noise of micrometeoroids hitting the hull armor, the hissing of cables, the hum of operating equipment, and the slow, piercing calls of the hyperspace engines starting up. He covered his ears, but couldn't stop the sounds from invading his mind. His tongue and nose tasted water and blood, and the scent of shampoo and shower gel—his wife's favorite brand.

"You will stay with me forever."

A naked woman stared at him with bloodshot eyes, her skin glistening with water droplets as if she had just stepped out of a bathtub. Her face was pressed against his, and the air carried a faint smell of blood. All sound vanished, except for the ship's pounding heart calling to him, and the veins on his forehead, which had throbbed like war drums, gradually calmed. Dr. Will lowered his arms, his skin glistening with sweat, as if he had just survived a painful illness. His remaining sanity, like water being squeezed from a damp towel, drained, and his eyes, now calmer from the frenzy, stared at the emptiness outside the porthole with a lingering madness.

He noticed a wet, slightly bloody handprint on the armrest of the captain's seat.

It didn't matter, because he remembered why he had initiated this mission; everything else was just dust in the air. Even though the thought was fleeting, leaving no trace, he already knew what to do, like an instinct etched into his genes by billions of years of evolution—not because of Project Pegasus, not because of Wendy Lawson, and certainly not because of Carol Danvers, but because of that voice—the voice he heard in his sleep tormented by endless nightmares and excessive antidepressants, a voice from the endless starry sky, carrying temptation and promise, the voice of the dead returning to the world of the dead from their final resting place. It was the voice of his wife, who had committed suicide.

--------

Inside the hibernation pod, Major DJ didn't have time to clean the bloodstains from his arms and clothes.

Dr. Peters and First Officer Stark did the same, and Captain Miller rushed to help even before removing his spacesuit. They were now unable to maintain Justin's vital signs, and after a brief consultation with Dr. Peters, Major DJ decided to place Justin in a hibernation pod on the Event Horizon. The hibernation pod, designed for long-term hibernation, had the best life support system on the entire ship, capable of maintaining Justin's vital signs and minimizing his pain. Since the crew in the hibernation pod would be receiving continuous sedatives, Major DJ's job was simply to increase the dosage to ensure Justin wouldn't awaken due to pain.

"His face is completely ruined. Hopefully, he can hold on until we return home."

He glanced at the cryogenic fluid in the hibernation pod, which was tinged with a faint bloodshot, and the unconscious person submerged inside. Justin's eyes had been completely sealed after disinfection, and his bleeding ear canals had also been sealed and plugged. He was wearing a breathing mask and breathing high-concentration oxygen. Major DJ couldn't help but sigh, saying with a mix of hope and pleading, "It's said that a person can survive in a vacuum for 90 seconds. Justin wasn't exposed to a vacuum for that long, and he even exhaled all the air from his lungs, otherwise his lungs would have exploded by now. His condition is barely stable now, and I believe Justin can pull through."

"We will," Captain Miller said vaguely, and the others weren't sure if he was referring to Justin or returning to port. "Stark, how much time do we have?"

"In four hours, the carbon dioxide will reach toxic levels. Unless we can fix the ship's oxygen supply system." First Mate Stark glanced at Dr. Will out of the corner of his eye. The physics PhD sat there silently, as if the whole world was irrelevant to him. If they could fix the oxygen supply system, they should have more time, but Dr. Will, who was in charge of repairing the circuits, made a mistake; that abnormal current was his fault. Not only was the lighting system damaged, but the circulating air system, which had been operating at low power, had also burned out, greatly reducing their time.

"Alright. Peters, check the voyage logs to prevent a repeat of this tragedy."

"I can do this on the bridge. I don't want to go to the medical bay," Dr. Peters said weakly. She was exhausted, and the short rest was far from enough to keep her going. She could feel the stickiness between her skin and her uniform; they hadn't done personal hygiene in a long time to conserve water.

Captain Miller agreed.

"Justin once mentioned the Dark Self." First Officer Stark looked at Captain Miller, indicating this was a continuation of their previous conversation. "What does that mean?"

"Doctor?" Captain Miller nodded and asked Dr. Will, "Do you have anything to say?"

"I don't think that makes any sense."

Dr. Will left hesitantly.

Captain Miller angrily chased after Dr. Will, grabbing him by the arm. "You're not going to just walk away like this! I want answers. I want to know why my crew committed suicide by jumping out of the airlock, and I want to know where that loud bang that hit the hatch came from!" Dr. Will repeated his usual explanations, such as the bang being caused by rapid expansion and contraction of the ship due to temperature changes, and hallucinations caused by high concentrations of carbon dioxide. Captain Miller, unusually furious, snapped, "Don't talk nonsense! You built this ship!"

"I was not the builder of this ship; I was just involved in the project. The builder was Wendy Lawson."

"You know this ship better than anyone, yet you've been giving me the runaround!" Captain Miller stared intently into Dr. Will's eyes, but the latter dared not meet his gaze. "I know Wendy Lawson. Wendy Lawson is dead. You're the only one in the world who knows the answer! Yes, I participated in Project Pegasus, and I know that damned woman."

"What do you want me to say?" Dr. Will spread his hands.

"You said the hyperspace engine opened a portal. Where to? Where did you send them? Where has it been for the past seven years?"

"I don't know," Dr. Will managed to squeeze out a single word.

"'I don't know' is not an answer, Doctor. You should be the expert; I need the answer. This is your task. Now tell me, where is the other space?"

"I don't know! I don't know!" Dr. Will finally stopped, stammering, "Listen, I have absolutely no idea what's going on here. I need time."

"I see." Captain Miller nodded, glaring fiercely at the physics PhD. "Now we lack time, Doctor!"