NO

"No?"

THERE ARE NO YOUNG. NOT HERE!

"Why not?" There was a trace of mocking in the man's voice. "Neighbourhood's not right?"

NO

These were no letters being engraved, these were slashes drawn across the whole wall. Somewhere behind the adamant exterior he had hit a nerve. The ghost of a smile ran over the man's face. Nevertheless, he changed the topic. Slightly.

"Been here for some time?"

TOO LONG

"How come? You don't look the type a barred door could stop for long."

THEY KNOW MY STRENGTH. THESE DOORS WERE BUILD FOR ME – AGAINST ME

"But they don't know you can think." A statement, not a question.

SMART BEAST

Whatever that was supposed to mean. The man chuckled.

"Never said I wasn't."

The creature growled. With exaggerated care it smoothed the wall before writing:

COMMON MISCONCEPTION

"Misconception?"

HUMANS THINKING THEY ARE SMART

The man laughed aloud. "Makes things easier for us beasts."

He sobered. "Now, how would a creature like you know how a joke works?"

The giant beast paused, silent, motionless. Then it began to scribble furiously.

WE ARE SURVIVORS – VERY STRONG IMMUNOSYSTEM. BUT ONCE A VIRUS MANAGED TO GAIN HOLD IN ONE OF US. RECOMBINED DNA, SCRAMBLED IT, KILLED HOST SLOWLY. SHUNNED BY OTHERS – HUNGRY, CRAZY, DYING.

BUT: HUMANS ON THIS PLANET. BIT A HUMAN. VIRUS TRANSFER: RECOMBINED DNA. BOTH. HUMAN + BEAST. ME. HUMAN LIVED – NO LONGER HUMAN – STRONGER DNA TOOK OVER BODY, SLOWLY.

BUT: WE CODE MEMORY IN DNA – HUMAN MEMORY WAS INCLUDED. I REMEMBER BEING HUMAN, LONG AGO.

"You're a fucking werewolf!"

NO MOON. NO TRANSFORMATIONS – ONLY ONCE.

"Trivial details. You still spread that virus with your bite? Or your blood, maybe?"

NO. I KILL WITH MY BITE. MY BLOOD BURNS – YOU SHOULD KNOW.

The arm sheathed past the elbow in the sticky material twitched. "Point taken. But you ain't sure about the virus, are you? Maybe your scientific friends are after that."

THOSE WHO KNEW DIED ON THAT PLANET. WE ARE NOT FRIENDLY NEIGHBOURS – HUNTERS, VORACIOUS. THE OUTPOST WAS DESTROYED, BOMBED OUT.

THEY DON'T KNOW I CAN THINK LIKE THEM.

"Then how can they keep you contained? And, coming back to my former question, how sure are you about the virus?"

MY BLOOD IS SAFE – TOO MANY TOUCHED IT BUT NO OTHER OF MY KIND AROUND – I WOULD FEEL. SALIVA, TOO. THEY SAMPLED MUCH, ONLY THING THEY CAN HANDLE – ONE OF THEM LOST TWO FINGERS AT THAT, BUT IS STILL AROUND. SATISFIED? YOU ARE SAFE.

The man shrugged. "Safety is an overrated notion. More interesting is: how can they hold you?"

INTELLIGENCE DOESN'T MATTER – SIZE DOES

A nod, another savage grin. "My cue."

EXACTLY


A/N: Dialogue sucks, at least when I write it – and this is pure dialogue! But if you made it this far, maybe you'll stay with me, nevertheless ;)

Another point: yes, huge, black & murderous is a creature of the alien variety, also called xenomorphs. As Alien: Resurrection is not only a stupid movie wallowing in ugliness but also ruins a perfectly good monster, I decided to create my own little crossbreed. The fantastic design of the one side (including gravity-defying climbing skills, echolocation or something close to 'see' without light and get a bit of inside views, weaponizable tail etc., etc.) plus the intelligence AND technical knowledge of the other. Since today's tried-and-true method to transfer genes from one organism to another works via viruses – voilà, here comes a monster you should really be afraid of.

The identity of tall, dark & dangerous I leave to your imagination, but it might be a hint that I posted it in the category I did. ;)