A/N: At last…I updated! Thanks to all of you who reviewed…I feel so loved!

oOo

Self realization.

In the engine room of the Verloc…

Consciousness sparks and a mental eye comes to life, the image of the creature fading. The 'eye' furrows with confusion…

(It had abilities that rival mine…but how can that be? - )

The youngling is distracted from that trail of thought by a loud, echoing, thump…thump…thump, vibrate it's body to the core. It tries to 'look' around. It's dark and it feels warm and wet and very uncomfortable due to the small space that seems to be getting smaller with every passing second.

( This can't be the end…trapped…have to…break free…)

oOo

The crewmember wakes up beside the generator in the engine room from his drunken sleep. His eyelids flutter sluggishly as he groans, pulling his body forward from its relaxed position. His arm with the bottle moves forward, causing the bottom of the bottle to make a high-pitched rattling noise as it rubs along the metal grate of the floor. The sharp sound brings the man into full alertness. He felt for the first time, a tightness in his chest and of coarse…the hangover. He groans and puts his free hand to his forehead and his eyes wonder to the lifeless spider thing on the floor. It was lying on its back with its many legs curled in towards its fleshy underside like any other dead arthropod. Its tail was coiled, but lay loosely to one side. Its black body lay there glistening with slime already drying up in places due to the long exposure to the air. He blinks, making sure that what he's seeing is not alcohol-induced hallucination. He opens his eyes, but its still there, just as lifeless as before.

"What in God's name-"

A sharp agonizing pain ripping through his chest cuts him off. He drops the bottle and clutches his chest, the bottle tinkers noisily away from him as he winces in pain.

"Ag…Jesus…what the hell?"

oOo

( Must… 'Snap'…break…)

There is the sound of bone splintering followed by the muffled sounds of swearing and groans of pain making their way through the thick walls of flesh.

(…FREE…)

oOo

"Ooooh God…AAAAAAAAGH-"

He doesn't even finish his sentence as splinters of bone, blood and gore erupt in a fountain from his exploding chest. The chest buster propels outward from the spray of blood and lands rather sluggishly on the floor and rolls to a halt about two meters from the now bloody corpse. It lay there unmoving.

( Free- but…) It lifts it's head off the hard floor and 'looks' at its surroundings.

( This isn't home. If I am to be a Queen then I must create a safe haven for my young to come. )

With a new purpose to fulfill, the chest buster rights itself from its pathetic position on the floor and starts to slither toward the darkness and towards the engine core, It's exoskeleton already pulsing from the next developed stage of it's life clawing underneath it.

oOo

Ok…gory chapter…at least I thought it was gory…until I read Fire Redhead's next chapter on Hunter 2 'The pit'…now I think that this is but a shadow in comparison…

R+R