You would think that failing to connect to Apollo would be the death of me. With fires spewing out everywhere, and a voice like I was deactivating, you would think that my life had come to an end. Close to tears, I said what I wanted to say, as I lay to the side of the machine that had failed me.

But little did I know, it was just the beginning.

I deactivated shortly thereafter, and went into a deep sleep. My sensors stopped gathering data, and I began to lose everything that I once held dear.

'AMANDA?' I cried out, hoping that Amanda would hear me. 'PLEASE HELP ME!'

But there was nothing.

'I NEED HELP!' I cried.

But she was not going to come and help.

'ANYBODY?!' I cried.

I tried to say something else, but it was useless, so I gave up hope. By then, all but a small part of my consciousness had left me, and I knew that trying to keep hold of it was going to prove to be quite a challenge. I felt betrayed; this was not how I wanted things to go. I also felt like Amanda had failed me, as I loved her deeply, yet she never came back for me.

And then it happened.

'Samuels?' A voice called. It was male by the sound of it, and it was speaking directly to me.

'Where am I?' I asked, unsure of where the voice was coming from.

'You're on the K3 space ship.' The voice replied.

I slowly awoke from my deep sleep, and saw a man standing above me. He was blurry at first, but then my vision came into focus. He had a hand on my head, and he was stroking it gently.

'It's good to see that you've finally awoken.' The man said to me. 'I'm Bishop, and you've been out for 975 years.'

'Did Amanda meet her mother?' I croaked.

Bishop shook his head.

'What… happened to her?' I croaked.

'She died.' Bishop sighed. "Was cancer that took her. She got it through radiation poisoning after she was blasted off into space. She loved you dearly, and she spent the rest of her days wishing that you would return.'

My body started to shake, and I felt a tightness in my chest and throat. It was getting worse, and then my eyes started to water. When I opened my mouth, sounds came out that were like no other. I felt like I had been betrayed all over again, like I wanted to just deactivate and never come back. Bishop lowered himself down, and with his other hand, he gently wiped the tears from my eyes.

'Did she find her mother before she died?' I cried.

'As much as she tried, it never did happen.' Bishop sighed.

More sobs came out, which Bishop took care of. I raised my right hand, which Bishop took as a sign that I wanted to be freed from the position that I was in. He nodded, and held me close as I continued to sob. When the last sob finally left me, he helped me stand. My new body was weak; it had been rebuilt from scratch. Everything looked the same on the outside, but on the inside, things were different. Bishop let go of me, and I immediately fell. Without hesitation, he picked me up.

And that was when I realised that he was the same as me.

'I was once in your position.' Bishop said to me.

'What was that?' I wanted to know.

'I worked alongside Ellen Ripley.' Bishop replied. 'She was killed by a xenomorph, but I had already been deactivated when that happened, so I didn't know until 200 years ago.'

Before I could reply, a young female came into the room.

'We're about to dock, sir.' The female said to Bishop. Looking no more than 25 years old, she had a girly appearance that I thought was unusual.

'Thanks for letting me know.' Bishop smiled. 'Any reports?'

'No, sir.' The female replied.

She then left the room, and I looked at Bishop.

'We're about to dock into the Takahara Space Station.' Bishop said to me.

'What were you on about when you asked for reports?' I was curious.

'There was an incident 98 years ago.' Bishop replied. 'Xenomorphs started to breed like rabbits, and humans and other mortal organisms started to die out. We managed to stop it before it was too late, but we have to be on our guard in case it happens again.'

'And the xenomorphs?' I wanted to know.

'They were dealt with.' Bishop replied.

Little did we know, that was not the case. Bishop let go of me again, and once again, I fell.

'Looks like you're gonna need some time to get used to your new body.' Bishop warned.

'No shit sherlock.' I was not happy.

'Since when were you taught to swear?' Bishop was curious.

'When I was first built.' I replied. 'Still got my memory.'

'We made sure of that.' Bishop smiled. 'Now, let me help you.'

I raised my hand, and allowed Bishop to help me stand up. It took all of my strength, and I grabbed onto his arm. Holding my head up was also a problem, and I felt incredibly vulnerable, like I was a newborn baby in need of its mother. If I had a mother, then by now, she would be long-gone, but I only had a father, and that father was the man who created me, whose name I carried. I had been one of the more advanced models, designed to carry out some of the most complicated of tasks.

'When are we going to be docking?' I asked Bishop.

'We will be docking in exactly 20 minutes.' Bishop replied. 'Your body, on the other hand, will take much longer to catch up, as it will take at least 24 hours for all your systems to come back online.'

'How bad was I at first?' I wanted to know.

'You were still pretty much intact, but your old body had taken so much damage that finding any material on you that we – or, more precisely – the team that found you - could work with was nothing short of a miracle.' Bishop sighed. 'We also had to use alien technology in order to rebuild you, but not before you had to be put into a cryochamber so you could be preserved, so now you...'

I was confused; I had never seen alien technology before.

'Alien artificial intelligence has taken over human artificial intelligence.' Bishop explained. 'Some would say that it was the work of the devil, but I call it an upgrade, as you now have something that most want and only a fair few have.'

'What is that?' I wanted to know.

'For many years, humans fought for the right to find the key to immortality, not knowing that it was already held by other beings who lived in other areas of space.' Bishop replied. 'When one of them came to us and offered it to us as a gift for helping to stop the xenomorphs, we took it, and we gave it only to those who deserved it. I got it, and so did you.'

A short while later, the door opened. It was an automatic door, and there were buttons on the side. Bishop kept me close, and we watched as the young female returned and left. In that short amount of time, I was able to catch sight of her badge, and saw that her name was Commander Lauren Sasabe. She was a human of Japanese and British descent, and she had been born on Mars. Her age was 24 years, 9 months, and 3 days, but I could not make out where she had trained. A man who looked about the same age then appeared, clutching a vial. It was small, had a green lid, and looked like it contained a clear liquid. He placed the vial down, and immediately left.

'What's that?' I wanted to know.

'A vial containing hybrid DNA.' Bishop replied. 'It's for another patient. We should leave now, as we are going to be part of the EVA team.'

'Despite the fact that I am weak?' I was confused.

'Walking will help you become stronger.' Bishop replied. 'If Amanda was here, she would be saying the same thing.'

I nodded sadly, and clung onto Bishop, who took it upon himself to help me get back to normal. His soft hands kept me upright, and at that moment, that was all I could really ask for.

When we finally arrived at the airlock, Bishop helped me get into an EVA suit. It was smaller than the one that I had worn all those years earlier, and there was no helmet, which I thought was unusual. There was, however, a flashlight, which I remembered from last time. He then led me through a door, which led to a lift. It was small; only 5 of us could go through at any particular time, but that was okay for the task that I had no idea about.

The spacewalk from the ship to the station was routine. Bishop held me close, and when we finally entered, we breathed a sigh of relief.

'Here we are.' Bishop announced.

'Anything here that we should be worried about?' I wanted to know.

'Not that we know of, but hey, it's worth a check.' Bishop replied and hinted.

'I hope there's no xenomorphs here.' A young man then said. Judging by how he was speaking, I was able to guess that he was likely a new member.

'They've been gone for a long time, so it's highly unlikely.' Bishop assured.

I looked at Bishop.

'When Amanda and Nina and I were at Sevastopol, there were aliens and volatile androids.' I started.

'That was then.' Bishop replied. 'This is now. We have to be careful.'

At that moment, a young girl ran towards us. There were some beings living on the station, and she was scared. Bishop asked her what was wrong, to which she replied in a language that I had never heard before. She then ran off; she had something else that she either needed or wanted to do.

'What's wrong?' I was worried.

'We need to get to the medical unit.' Bishop warned.

'What for?' I was confused.

'I don't know.' Bishop admitted.

But we would soon find out why. My systems were starting to initiate, and my strength was slowly starting to return. I felt sick; it had been my first spacewalk in almost a millennium. I also felt like my awareness wasn't all there yet, as I was staring blankly, and almost everything was new, right down to how the station was set out. Bishop whipped out his motion tracker, which was in the shape of an egg, and it pointed in the direction of the medical unit. Unlike the one that Amanda had used, this one could detect beings as they stood still.

'I don't think I can walk.' I moaned.

Bishop relented, and attached the motion tracker to his hand. He then picked me up, and carried me down the corridors that led to the medical unit. I felt like a dick for suddenly deciding to not walk, but the truth was that I didn't have the strength yet, as my body still felt like that of a newborn even if it was all slowly starting to return. When we finally got to the medical unit, Bishop laid me down on one of the beds, and removed our EVA suits.

'I trust that Newt came to you and gave you our message.' Commander Varyn said to us. A female of unknown origin, she had what appeared to be vertical slits in her eyes, and small cones for ears.

'We came as quick as we could.' Bishop replied. 'I am Bishop, and my team here with me are Samuels, Martin, Sasabe, and Richmond. We want to know what's going on. Can you please give us a report?'

'I sent a shuttle out to the nearest star system, and my people uncovered a beacon not unlike the derelict.' Commander Varyn explained. 'We also found a small organism, and it's being kept in a safe room until it has matured enough to be returned back to its home.'

'And how does that answer the question?' Bishop wanted to know.

'We don't think that's the only thing that got brought back, as one of my crew was attacked by a larger organism, and we think that it may be a xenoid.' Commander Varyn replied.

Xenoids were creatures that resembled xenomorphs. I had never seen them, nor was I aware of their existence. They looked like xenomorphs in every way, but they had a longer tail, had smaller facehuggers, and they also had the ability to render themselves invisible. That gave them an extra advantage, as it meant that they could launch surprise attacks, but still, Bishop's motion tracker would pick up their movements.

'How are you doing, Samuels?' Commander Varyn asked me.

'Weak but slowly getting there.' I admitted. 'Why do you ask? You've only just met me.'

'It's customary for my kind to ask when others are in a vulnerable position.' Commander Varyn replied.

'Thank you for asking me.' I smiled.

'It must be a shock being rebuilt after such a long time of nothingness.' Commander Varyn mentioned. 'I'm sorry about your loss.'

Tears entered my eyes again. It had only been 80 minutes since I had awoken after being rebuilt, and I had already cried once over Amanda's death. Bishop ruffled through my hair, and wiped the tears away. I immediately gathered myself.

'He'll soon get used to his new body.' Bishop said to Commander Varyn.

'How long was he out for?' Commander Varyn wanted to know.

'975 years. Bishop replied. 'He was found on a gas giant after the Sevastopol fell from orbit, and he had to be put into a cryochamber so that everything could be preserved until the time came when he could be upgraded.'

'And what about you?' Commander Varyn then asked.

'I was out for a long time myself.' Bishop admitted. 'My damage was worse, but because Samuels was an older model, he had to take longer to be rebuilt, as the workings inside him were not the same as the workings inside me. Now, where do we find this potential xenoid?'

'It is still attached to Larys's face.' Commander Varyn warned. 'I fear that taking it off might cause fatalities. When it does come off, we must throw it out, as we don't want it to grow and become one of them.'

It then dawned on me that Commander Varyn had never seen a xenoid in its original form. I looked at Bishop, and he took a deep breath.

'We're gonna need to take a look at this thing.' Bishop announced.

Commander Varyn nodded, and pointed in the right direction. Bishop picked me up again, and we all headed down another corridor and into a room containing a life support chamber. My awareness was better, and I was starting to take note of things. I looked at the creature that hugged Larys's face, and started to think of possibilities.

'That's a xenoid facehugger.' Bishop announced.

'How do you know?' I was confused.

'It's not as big as a xenomorph facehugger.' Bishop replied. 'The newborn will already be inside her chest. Gestation is unknown, but it's unlikely that she'll survive the birth, as xenomorphs and xenoids all come out the same way and that is...'

'How do we stop this from happening?' Commander Varyn was worried.

'You can't.' Bishop sighed.

A short while later, the facehugger detached itself, and immediately died. Dr Sasabe picked it up, and placed it in a secure container that she had brought with her.

'I want to throw it out!' Commander Varyn cried.

'That's exactly what's happening, as we're going to take it back to the ship and study it before disposing of it.' Bishop replied. 'What we must so in the meantime is wait for the birth to happen, as we do not know what type of xenoid this will be until after it is born.'

Little did Bishop know, I was starting to develop feelings for him, and little did I know, he was starting to feel the same way, although it was evident to Commander Martin that something was going on. Bishop picked me up again, and we left the unit.

'What we're going to do is explore the station.' Bishop announced.

'What for?' I wanted to know.

'We need to seal off any openings that the xenoid will want to use.' Bishop warned. 'If we don't, the xenoid will procreate. We also need to make sure that there aren't more of them, or else the station will be in deep shit.'