Chapter 3
Alex found himself on the outside of the cannon that Isaac would pilot, watching as very small specks in the distance slowly became larger asteroids. Since the engineer was not around at that time, the living virus thought there was more good than harm by knocking a few away on his own.
He leapt into the airless-void to start kicking them away. Although his strength was not what it used to be, Alex was able to reverse their trajectory well enough. He got in a few more hits before Kendra told him over the RIGlink, "Isaac's nearly there. Hold off any of those freaks that might come for him."
Grabbing the nearest ledge, Alex reoriented himself back onto the Ishimura's floor and waited for Isaac. He stood right outside of the window to the cockpit and a familiar face appeared on the inside not long after. Isaac Clarke, the man in bronze-like armor, made himself comfortable in the control seat while Alex waved to him. Once the man was in position, he quickly waved back before firing upon the nearest asteroids.
As Isaac did so, several of the monsters began to tear through the outer walls of the Ishimura and seemingly rush Alex. He pulled out a plasma cutter and prepared to defend himself, only for one of them to crawl past him and try attacking the cannon. Alex was confused by this, but regardless, he began to destroy the monsters before extensive damage could be done to the cannon.
Eventually Kendra managed to get the cannon's auto-targeting system online, that allowing Isaac to stop and return to his next mission for the Ishimura. In the meantime, Kendra contacted Alex again and told him something he could do to aid Isaac. She said, "Look, I'm not exactly happy with sending you out on you own, but since there you are and Isaac's dealing with the same crap on his own already... maybe you two should team up. You could watch each other's backs."
Alex thought about it, then said, "Sure, I guess."
Kendra continued, "Good. Isaac is heading towards the Medical Deck to put together a biochemical weapon; there's this organic shit in the air that's ruining our oxygen supplies. Follow Isaac and kill anything that gets in his way."
Alex nodded and went back to the airlock he came out of, then met up with Isaac at the tram system. It was a short but silent ride to the Medical Deck- neither man spoke a word to the other, and they had no need to. Once they arrived at the Deck they went in through the doors and were about to continue down a passageway until they heard a very strange and disturbing voice speaking to them.
Although they could not determine its' source, Isaac and Alex could hear it well enough. It stated, "You can't stand in the way of God's plan... The natural order... Are you... are you blind, like the rest?"
The voice stopped speaking, leaving both men to wonder what it was. Isaac just shook his head and kept going. Kendra mentioned on their way to the lab, "Looks like someone has reprogrammed the door locks on this deck. And recently too. I guess we're not alone here, after all. Someone doesn't want you in this part of the ship."
Mercer responded to her through his comm-link, "You're telling us- Isaac and I just heard some madman whispering insane bullshit through the speakers. We'll be on our guard."
Eventually, after battling through a few more waves of monsters, Alex and Isaac finally entered the Chemical Research Lab. It was a grisly and strange area, but different compared to the carnage and slaughter they had just gone through. The room was cast in an eerie and sickly green glow, and to the left were dual containment chambers holding horrific monsters, similar to the ones Alex and Isaac faced before and on the way there. The one furthest away was particularly intimidating because of how large it was. Once they looked past the horror, Alex noticed the supplies dotted around the room- green crates, a blue metal box that was between the two monsters, and many other things.
Undaunted by the contained creatures, Isaac immediately went between the two pods to the blue box, taking whatever was inside it. He then moved onto smashing all of the green crates and retrieving everything of value that was not nailed down. Once he finished looting, Isaac went to the chemical mixer to take the capsule. As soon as he did so, a metal sheet from the other side of the room began to rise up, revealing there was a person there. He began to speak immediately startling Isaac and giving Alex a fight-or-flight feeling.
The man started off his tirade first towards Isaac.
"What ARE you doing? Your fight for survival is admirable but pointless. And yet you keep going. It almost makes we think we had hope, as a species. Am I the only one who sees that we have died out a long time ago? We just haven't accepted it yet. Stop running. Stop your struggle."
He shifted his gaze to Alex, continuing, "And you, casting your lot with such an inferior creature. Yes, he shows promise, tenacity, and all are important qualities in an ideal member of our race... and yet compares so little to the new child of humanity. So why join up with him, when the future lies right behind you?"
Alex warned the man, "I have no idea what you're talking about, but if you don't start making sense, I'll make you a red smear on the wall."
The man simply went, "Tisk-Tisk. And such a once powerful being as well. I read your files, those tucked away long ago. You were such a promising specimen... yet those fools took away your power and left you to die on that planet below... but I've done my best to bring you back. The rest is up to you though; let us see if you truly have what it takes to become humanity's successor again..."
He just walked away after that, but not before Alex's mind raced with confusion about what the man had rambled about. Both he and Isaac turned to hear the thrashing of a monster behind them. They saw the creature begin to struggle to break free of the pod that contained it, and not long after it did so, spending a shower of water and glass all over everywhere.
Isaac immediately blasted the thing with his Stasis module and froze the monster in place, then pulled out his plasma cutter and severed three of its' limbs. It came out of Stasis and smacked against the ground, but the engineer's efforts soon proved futile...
Still shuddering and quaking, the monster grew more limbs to replace the ones it had just lost, leaving Isaac in a panic about what to do. Kendra spoke into the comm-link again, having saw the whole thing unfold. She called out to the engineer, "You can't kill it, Isaac! It's just going to keep regenerating! Get out of there, run!"
Suddenly the door leading out of the Chemical Research room unlocked, causing Alex to blurt, "Kendra's right- forget that freak! Let's get out of here already!"
Both men bolted to the door and anxiously waited for the thing to open up. They continued running well away from the regen-monster until they came back to the Zero-G therapy room they passed through before. At that moment, Hammond's voice came onto the comm-link and coughed before asking, "Is anyone there? Come in Isaac... Kendra, is anyone there?"
Kendra replied to him, "Hammond! Where the hell have you been?"
"I've reached Hydroponics", he explained. "It's bad down here, really bad!... can barely breathe! That organic matter is growing over everywhere! My eyes are stinging... must be seeing things..."
He and Kendra stopped their conversation and both Isaac and Alex continued to battle their way through the monstrous hordes. As they made their way down a long and looping hallway, they heard and felt a large, singular "Thump!" noise right above them. Neither man stopped running until they reached the main hub of the Medical Deck.
Kendra came online once more, explaining, "Now you two need to find a DNA sample of the growth. According to lab records, there's an inert sample stored in the ICU. There was a..."
She paused for a moment but then asked Alex, "Um... are you sure you weren't connected to any of this?"
Alex asked, "What makes you think that?", to which she replied, "Because there's a person here named 'Dr. Challus Mercer' that was doing intensive research on the stuff. I remember seeing his name before but didn't think anything of it. But you claim you don't know anyone..."
Alex went on the defensive to say, "I told you, I don't know anyone here! I don't know this Challus guy, and if I did- wait. Wait a moment, Isaac and I just talked to a guy a few minutes ago. He's the madman we heard earlier, and the one who unleashed that regen-monster on us."
"And your point is...?", Kendra wondered. Alex rolled his eyes and said, "What do you think my point is? This doctor- middle-aged, overweight, balding black hair, Iranian descent?"
Kendra checked through the file to say, "Uh... yeah. Good match. You think this crazy person you met and this Dr. Mercer on file are one and the same?"
"Exactly", Alex confirmed. Kendra did not know what to make of that, but she simply urged the two men to hurry before they all died of oxygen deprivation. Alex and Isaac made a mad dash to the ICU. They ran right through a door into another room, but behind another convenient sheet of reinforced glass was the madman again.
"Your persistence surprises me", he said to Isaac. "Holding on to your final breath, you claw your way along! You hold onto what was once your world. But now..."
He smiled, continuing, "It belongs to the children", before turning to Alex to say, "And it could belong to you as well, if the test doesn't kill you first. I know that most of its kind ignore you, for they do not see you as an ally or an enemy. But know that my creation is not like the others- it can see you, it can and will fight you. Whether you shall be food for the offering or it shall be your meal... remains to be seen."
A noise from up above alerted the three of them to the third man's creation, which made him comment, "Listen! Can you hear it? It is coming. Say your prayers."
The man walked away again as Isaac and Alex made their way into the second room, a wide open space filled with hospital beds and equipment. They could hear the regen-monster storming through the spaces above, searching for an entrance beneath it... searching for prey.
As soon as Isaac turned a corner he found the regen-monster waiting for him, blade arms upright as it lurched forward. Switching to a heavier-hitter, the engineer wielded his other weapon, a larger variant of the plasma cutter called a "line-gun", chopping through both legs at once with only a few shots.
Even though trying to keep one unstoppable monster in check was hassle enough, fate decided otherwise; slasher monsters and other creepy creatures began bursting from the vents. Alex was on the offensive while Isaac kept on defense, blasting the monsters with Stasis while the former dished out wave after wave of fire and plasma. The fight was long and drawn out, both men desperately unleashing all they had until another way out presented itself.
Eventually Kendra came to the rescue, saying, "Dr. Mercer keeps shutting down the door protocol. I've bypassed the lock- GO!"
The two men made a break for it and dashed through the unlocked doors, hoping neither the regen-monster nor its cruel cronies would follow right after them. Though nothing came through the doors, it was clear from the noises on the other side that while the battle was won, the war was far from over.
Walking along a blood-stained hallway, covered too the brim with gore and viscera, Isaac and Alex came across another horrific but not thankfully not unstoppable abomination. Affixed to the wall from an organic growth, the monster screamed through agonizing pain as tentacles forced themselves out of what was once the human's naval. It was a swift end for the creature, however; Isaac had the brains to bring along a canister of volatile chemicals in it, and upon contact by way of extreme force, the monster died immediately.
When they went further into the room, both men could see in the distance that a woman was just standing there, backs turned to them, slightly hunched over and staring at something. Isaac felt like departing right then and there, but Alex stopped him to say, "I'm... I'm gonna try talking to her, see if there's any hope. Maybe we might be able to save some people. You go on ahead- I'll catch up in a bit."
Isaac shrugged and did so, leaving Alex alone with the ominous woman. He of course was lying through his teeth and helmet- he had no intention of "saving" that poor person. Alex just did not have any intention of Consuming her while Isaac was around.
Sprinting up behind her, the living virus stopped only a moment to ponder what made her insane. Peering over her blood-stained shoulder showed she was peering at a hospital bed drenched in red bodily fluids. Laying beside the bed was a dead body of another woman, possibly the first woman's dead friend. She was also laughing with intermixed periods of laughter, clearly because her frail mind could not handle the unreal reality of her situation.
Cracking his knuckles, Alex said, "Alright... let's see how this works", and then snapped the woman's neck. Tendrils, thinner than he was used to, began Consuming the woman's flesh and tearing away at her uniform, leaving almost nothing behind but the usual red-and-black remains of rejected Biomass. Although it felt good to gain Biomass, Alex could not help but feel there was something strange about it... tainted almost, if that was the right word.
He shrugged it off again and caught back up with Isaac. The man was standing in the middle of a doorway when Alex met up with him. Wondering what the problem was, he asked his associate, "C'mon Isaac, what's the hold... what?"
He peered into the room to see another unique brand of horror machinated upon the Ishimura. Ragged and short red banners hung from the ceiling, scribbles in foreign symbols covered the walls in ink and blood, and yet that was not the most unsettling aspect of all. What gave Isaac the most chills were all of the severed and bloody heads encased in jars of clear fluid.
Alex muttered to himself, "What kind of sick fuck...?", but then leaned back out to look at the digital sign over the door. The thin screen eventually read, The Office of Dr. Challus Mercer, which made Alex go, "Oh. That explains it."
He then stood up straight and said, "Alright Isaac- you can quit gawking at the macabre décor. Let's get in here and loot it for all its' worth."
Isaac forced his feet to move forward despite his mind giving all indication that was not a sane decision. Alex took the time to smash the crates and take everything in that case, eventually finding an item on the ground he did not recognize. Reading the description with his RIG told him it was an audio log, so he decided to play it. It was only natural the voice recorded on it was Dr. Challus Mercer himself.
The madman stated, "Personal log, Doctor Challus Mercer. The specimen continues to respond well to my experiments. Its cellular fortitude, not to mention elasticity, is remarkable. Doctor Kyne, I am sure, would disapprove. But I do not anticipate that issue, as the good doctor is busying himself with the Marker... as if that matters now! He has also succumbed to the dementia that afflicted the colony. Only yesterday, he told me he had spoken to his wife... but Amelia Kyne has been dead for some years."
In the background, the horrific growling of the regen-monster was heard, causing Dr. Mercer to add, "My subject grows restless. Patience. Your time is soon. Very soon."
When the audio log ended, Alex proceeded to mutter to himself, "What the hell's this 'Marker' thing?", but then he continued, "Whatever- story for another time, I guess. Let's go."
Isaac quickly added the compound he took from the main Chemical Lab and then added it to the mixer in the office. Once it was mixed with the monster DNA, he took it back and was ready to return to the main lab for the final mixing procedure.
Alex was in the middle of leaving with a disturbed Isaac until something quite disturbing happened to him. Right before he exited the room, the man heard a voice call out his name. The strangest part was that it came from a few meters behind him, as if one of the heads-
Immediately Alex turned around and readied his plasma cutter, but his whole body shivered when he saw it happen. One by one, the severed heads began to glow from their eyes and mouths and seemingly stare straight into Alex's blackened soul. The one in the middle asked, Why do you persist... to help the weak?
Alex stumbled back a bit as it continued, You have great potential, and yet you allow this feeble creature you follow to misuse the others' power. If you would only take it for yourself, you could free your form from its shackles... unleash the true being from within! Embrace it!
Other voices began to chime in, Join us! and Unleash the power inside! until all of them began chanting a single phrase over and over again... Make us whole. MAKE US WHOLE!
Unprepared for the sheer amount of insanity he was being subjected to, the mighty Blacklight virus could only scream in incoherent horror as he fell to the floor, crawling backwards to get away. On the other side of the room where Dr. Mercer's office opened to the hallway, Alex stumbled to get out and huddled into the fetal position, completely unable to stop himself from shaking.
It took a hardy slap from Isaac to snap him to his senses; the man immediately blinked and asked, "What the-? What the fuck happened?"
Kendra spoke through Isaac's comm-link and a video feed, explaining, "You've been ranting and screaming about talking heads for the past few minutes. You sounded absolutely out of your mind, demented even."
Alex stood up and wondered, "Demented? Where have I...? Wait- the audio log!"
He quickly recalled that something called the "Marker" caused dementia to a lot of people, leading Alex to conclude he was just affected by it as well. The only other time something like that happened was that mysterious voice that spoke to him, and along with that was the strange feeling he gained both times. All because right before both events, he had Consumed demented people.
Although he gained more questions than he did answers, Alex knew two concrete facts- Consuming insane people was bad for him, and because of that, the few remaining clones in the tanks were his only food source. Cursing his luck in his head, Alex armed his weapon and said, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to find that god-damned Marker and smash the thing to pieces!"
Kendra replied, "You might want to put that on hold. You need to finish mixing-", but was cut off by the screen changing to depict an annoyed Dr. Mercer. He stated, "This has gone far enough! Accept your part in God's plan! Embrace your own extinction!"
After that a computerized voice stated, "Warning. Life support system failure on Medical Deck. Please evacuate immediately."
Kendra came back onto the screen and wondered, "Was that Dr. Mercer!? Isaac, Alex, he's decompressed the entire deck, and I'm being locked out of those systems! All the air has been vented into space! You two should be able to bring it back online from the Security Station, but you don't have much time!"
Both men rushed to get towards the station and away from Dr. Mercer's office for different reason; Isaac wanted to not suffocate while Alex wanted to forget every little thing about that room. They fought through monsters that impeded their progress, such as tiny ones made from hands and big ones that carried those first creatures in them. The regen-monster paid them another visit as well, but neither Isaac nor Alex stuck around to chat.
Briefly stopping for oxygen refills, Isaac nonetheless sprinted as fast as he could to the security station and rounding the bend into a little alcove, slamming his fist into the holographic console that controlled oxygen flow. Immediately the recompression sequence initiated, filling the room and others with the live-sustaining gas. Isaac took lungfuls of air in appreciation.
Kendra then came online again, reiterating, "You've got everything you need to make the poison. Now get back to the Chemistry Lab!"
Hammond also managed to get a few words in, stating, "Whatever you're going to do, do it fast... can hardly breathe in here..."
Kendra replied, "You're cutting out, Hammond! I'm going to try to switch over to... shit! I lost his signal! I'll continued scanning for his location! You have to get that compound mixed!"
She ended the link so Alex and Isaac got back to work, heading down through the long hallway from before back to the Chemistry Lab. Right as they got to the door that lead out of it, it malfunctioned at an inopportune time, scaring the daylights out of both men.
Alex swore and said, "I there is a God- because I can hear him laughing at us right now in the back of my mind..."
When they went through the door Kendra stated to them, "I've got more intel on the atmosphere. A survivor's report say that a massive creature entered the Hydroponics Deck from outside the ship. That's when the air quality began degrading. The survivor called it... the Leviathan."
With that cheery note in mind, Alex and Isaac continued onwards, ready though unhappy about the threats they would find ahead, both from outside... and within.
