Red hazard lights pulse along the corridor outside Janitorial Hub C-14 as the first derplings ooze from a rattling vent grille—palm-sized, iridescent, and chirping like squeaky valves. Your mop clatters, and the vibration makes one creature quiver and bud, splitting into three glossy twins. Condensation beads along the bulkheads; a cleaning bot trundles in, only to get swarmed by a glittering carpet of tiny legs and translucent bellies.

The station PA crackles: Containment anomaly in maintenance sector. You know the layout better than anyone. Two corridors over sits Environmental Control with access to the ventilation purge. A crate of nutrient gel packs is stacked by the waste chute you serviced this morning. Your comm can patch Security for a lockdown—if you can keep the derplings from squeezing under the door. The tram to central habitat hums closer. You have seconds to choose.