Infection can work both ways.
It wasn't supposed to be that way. She is not the first Aspect of that which the humans call "The Marker" to be created. Human minds are as easy to manipulate as their flesh. Guilt. Lust. Fear. A whispered promise or imagined threat, a half-real image—and a human will eagerly run down the path to destruction—for itself, for its race.
But Isaac Clarke is different.
The Marker needs Isaac in a way that it needs no other human. Other humans are used and discarded without a second thought. Isaac … Isaac has become something of an addiction.
And because of that, the Marker needs her.
Isaac has become the Marker's weakness, but she is his.
She is not the Marker. She is merely an Aspect of it. She understands no more of its plans or motivations than a human's blood cells comprehend their function. She exists to be the Marker's interface with Isaac … to be the tool that lures him into doing what is needed to be done.
But every time she is manifested—every time the Marker employs her—she becomes a little bit more self aware, a little more real.
She feels. She exists.
She is Nicole. Not the weak human Nicole who had taken her own life rather than continue to face the Necromorph invasion of the Ishimura. That Nicole was not worthy of Isaac's love, of his sacrifices.
If that Nicole still lived, she'd kill her herself.
She wonders if he realizes what he is becoming. Other humans go mad and die when the Marker tries to employ them. They are not strong enough to withstand even the slightest exposure to its power.
But Isaac … Isaac not only survived, he became a carrier for the Marker's power!
She can feel his presence … his essence … his flesh is weak and human, but his spirit burns with a power that even the Marker seems enthralled by. Again and again, he survives situations that have killed other humans. She has lost count of the times when his death seemed certain …
But Isaac Clarke does not die.
She's beginning to wonder if he can die.
Is that what draws her to him? His ability to bring death to the dead, to overcome fate itself to survive?
Or is it something else?
She talks to him of love … taunts him, actually. The Marker wants her to do this, but she knows she would do so anyway even if she had a choice. When she plagues him with his guilt, he thinks of the other Nicole, but he's also thinking of her.
She wants him to think of her. She hungers for it, actually. When she's on his mind, she can feel it … it calls her into existence from wherever the Marker dissipates her to when she is no longer needed.
He is bringing her to life …
She was made for him. She exists only because of him. If he ceases to exist, she will too.
And if he should stop loving her …?
There was a time when she thought that would be impossible. The Marker made her because Nicole was always on his mind, would always be on his mind. Isaac loved Nicole. Isaac would always love Nicole.
And then came Ellie …
She does not like the way that she seems to fade from his mind when he talks to Ellie. She does not like the banter between them. She does not like how he smiles when he says her name.
Isaac is hers! He will always be hers!
If only Stross had managed to kill her!
But in that—as in everything else—Stross had proven to be a failure.
But now … now Ellie is gone. Isaac sent her away.
Nothing stands between them now.
Isaac will come to her because he cannot do otherwise. He will come to her, and they will be made whole.
It's inevitable.
Not even Isaac Clarke can deny the power of the Marker forever.
She just wishes she could kiss him before the end.