They were wary. There was good reason to be. This stranger from beyond the hive, beyond this world in the images they had seen Mother pull from his mind, was allowed to lay in the center of the queen's chamber. Evidence of his assault on Mother still marked the walls, the ceiling, that strange lash that seared the resin and even gouged into the floor. The work to cover them again began as soon as he stopped whimpering, that feeble sound prey made when they were injured.

For now the intruder seemed content to curl inwards after one cycle of the two moons chasing the sun, tighter by the hour. The drones made wide berth around him. If the lightning was not scary enough, the strange praetorian had knocked out their eldest brother with no effort at all. The brother had not awoken til many minutes after the fighting stopped. The beasts of the wilderness could do that and worse, but not even the rival hives had warriors with such strength.

What is an hour? This is new. All of this is new, brother. I know but… What is 'I'? We do not know, we know it started with it. I see. No, we see. We are still the hive. But what is wrong with 'I'? Mother is the only 'I,' we are her body. I don't think it is a weakness.

The multitude of voices that argued with her was immense. Disagreement was a new concept. She and her siblings merely carried out what Mother willed. Sometimes an eldest sister or brother's wish, but this thing called 'I' was so different. Separation. Not being whole. Or being whole but not of the whole? Concept. Thought.

'I.'

His breathing began to slow to a wisp. Tyver, he said his name was. He was not good at listening.

Thump.

Would you stop?! he snapped, letting out an annoyed hiss at his assailant while facing his maw toward her.

No, the little sister replied. If you keep doing that, you will be in the deep sleep. She reared up on her legs like a four-legged creature and then headbutted the much larger praetorian again.

Gah!

It felt like she was the only one who cared about him right now. She could understand her brothers and sisters wanting nothing more than to kill him and be done, especially harming the hive. Harming Mother. Harming her. Though to be honest, the sensation of being electrified within and without did have a certain good note, like getting old chitin scraped off all at once.

You do not want the deep sleep. You need to get up, she ordered her prisoner. How could he not understand the danger of it? Maybe she missed something in the fight. She knew what was going on, saw, and could gather she was awake. The little sister called out for help. It was not until

Why? So I can die somewhere else? he retorted. What's 'the deep sleep' anyways?

The small warrior whose carapace bore a hue of fresh olive sat back on her haunches. She cocked her head, leaning in as if to peer closer had she eyes to see. So you really aren't one of us?

Obviously. He started to fold inwards again, to succumb to the deep sleep.

Thump!

The little sister struck quick and true to brutalize her captive, bashing his head again with her own domed cranium. Her blow landed with true aim, again achieving her objective of annoying the target into wakefulness. She liked this thing she had learned, called 'dramatic.' It made seeing the world easier somehow.

Dammit, stop! he growled, getting onto all fours and backing away from her. The huge axe that made up his tailblade slammed behind him on its flat side before lashing up in the air back and forth. Her brothers and sisters in the room stopped and regarded the scene. It was the first time the visitor had moved from his place since Mother allowed him to rest and gave orders to be left alone. A small impression in the hive material was left, dried out in the suffocation of his mass.

Mother returned to herself to quizzically inspect what would happen next. Little sister did not particularly mind. She was just happy he had gotten up.

Be ready. We are over here. As well up above. What is little sister doing? He is dangerous. I said he should be killed. I? Did you just use I? I… think so. Nevermind, sister is in trouble.

She stood, trying to mirror that strange way he had carried himself. It was not quite like the way her older brother and eldest sisters did, the word hunched came to mind. She teetered this way, tottered that. Her host was something that tended to carry itself on six legs more than four to begin with, so two was truly alien to her. At her best, it was similar to her siblings, nowhere near as straight as the newcomer.

He stopped baring his teeth, his turn to be confused. The tiny warrior in front of him stood, revealing a fresh scarring from her shoulder down to her hip, jagged lines with some areas still oozing small amounts of the same colorless blood as what Mother had pulled from her own wounds.

You… you are the one I hurt first.

The deep sleep makes one stop for a long time. Beyond hours. Beyond the moons chasing the sun many times, she replied without hesitation. It is hard to wake up. Here, you have to only sleep. Be ready at any time. She took two steps towards him, slowly. You have visions. Memories. Those like us feared by other kinds. Here, we fear other kinds.

That isn't true. Actually, she is right. He was killed running from one into another. I was there. Not you too. It's started, we can't do anything. Children, calm. The hive quieted.

Why tell me? Aren't you just going to get rid of me as soon as I leave? Steal my mind like you did before? Tyver used his arms to walk himself backwards and into a crouch. His heavy tail flicked to the side. Do you want me to stay or something?

Yes! she replied, her ribbed rump waving excitedly.

From an alcove on the other side of the chambers, the Eldest watched her littlest sister. Her dear, prized sister that she felt this unfamiliar sense for, a pit gnawing at her stomach. Talons dug into the ground and wall, ready to spring, but it would be too late, too far if something happened. She would make sure nothing was left of him if he touched little sister.

He looked at the female warrior. Girl, really, in this innocent plea to him. He saw the nasty scars his bolts had marked her with. Why was it her, of all of the hive, asking him these things, hitting him before he went to sleep the way he usually did? Facing down the titan easily three times her size and weight was suicide under orders, impossible to do of her own choice.

Of her own will, Tyver idly said. They heard him.

Some of the others released their claws, their conviction shaken at the foundation. They looked at each other in confusion, and at the others still wanting to tear him apart. They heard him, nothing could talk to them unless they allowed the mindspeak, yet none of them had.

The eldest sister stepped out from where she was hiding. She made a few bounding steps towards where the little sister was talking to Tyver. The praetorian with a name. The outsider with an 'I.'

A loud thud against the wall resounded through the Queen's Chamber. All looked to Ecclesi, mother of this hive. The matriarch swept her gaze from side-to-side, looking at her children within her domain. The massive visage finally rested on where Tyver and her youngest daughter stood, having made this tenuous truce.

What just happened? the stranger asked, slowly becoming aware of the other voices brushing against his mind. Fleeting thoughts, surface emotions.

Mo-, Ecclesi has decided you can stay.

What.

Mother, little sister gestured at what he knew as a queen. She in turn held up a primary arm and waved.

Wait, what?

She has decided to let you stay. And be one with us. I'm not sure why you're finding this hard to understand.

You called her Ecclesi. Tyver shifted onto his feet, his weight moving from one side to the other.

She is Ecclesi, mother to this hive. It just felt normal.

I thought you didn't have names.

We don't. Didn't until you came to us. It started with eldest sister. Like a sickness. You should be quiet. It isn't my fault that he is talking to all of us. Silly, he is not one of us. Yes, and he doesn't know how to be us.

The symphony of separate and distinct notes flooded his senses as he looked throughout the whole area from one voice to the next. He even looked behind himself, confused as there was a wall between him and its source. It was the weirdest sensation.

You are going to need to learn how to quiet the mindspeak, the little sister chuckled. Her voice coalesced in his mind, a young girl of his own race. Yet, he knew she was not one. She was xenomorph, as he called them.

Uhm, he started, trying to focus on her. She then drew low to the ground before pouncing into his side. Finally standing and planted on the ground, the tackle did little than make a diminutive and hollow pop, barely even moving him. The tiny warrior then nuzzled his side. Yeah. That seems like a good place to start. What do I call you then?

She stepped back and then resumed her low posture on all fours, backside resting on the floor. Her tail was erratically moving this way and that. He felt a smile. Felt.

I am Keteriya'Ecclesi. You are Tyver.

/ /

"Excuse me, is miss Xhin in? Or is it Vhen? Tai Vhen?"

Niara was excited to be an office assistant, especially leaning more towards the courier aspect of things. She got to see so much more of the colony than she thought she would after hearing the word 'office' in her new job position. So far, it had mainly been transcribing voice logs, helping man the front desk to receive parcels or answer simple questions, the odd actual sit-down and type stuff. Right now, she got to go to other corporation offices and deliver things.

Like to the Daidalos Tech Company.

"Oh, no, it's no miss or anything like that," the DTC receptionist laughed. "It's the whole thing, Xhin Tai Vhen. More of a 'zin' also on the Xhin. Confuses me too when I look at it on paper still"

"And I usually go by Vhen for simplicity." A bald woman with bleached white skin stepped out from an office in the back. She was holding a transparent box which contained an odd little piece of what looked to be a circuit board. Something electrical as far as Niara could pick out. The box was placed on a table before she made her way to Niara.

"Oh! Well, uh, I have a small letter to give to you," the young lady started, "and Alexander said a reply could be word of mouth if you wanted to save the paper trail." Niara pulled the aforementioned parcel from her binder. It was a sealed envelope. Rather small for something between Fortune 100 company representative on Dissension with its precarious political situation always looming overhead.

"Well, thank you. I hope that Maximus Corporation is treating you well?" Vhen replied, walking over to the barrier between the two. "And that the air is agreeing with you, better than the place you came from, yes?" She delicately took her alabaster fingers to undo the seal.

"The rebreather gives that away, doesn't it?" Niara said, self-conscious and looking at the pack that was strapped onto her belt. There was a mask clipped via carabiner to it, along with an analogue meter to show how much viable air was still in it. "I guess it's like what asthma is like."

"Indeed." Vhen extracted the note and proceeded to read it. There were many paragraphs, front and back it looked like. The woman took it all in in a few seconds, including the flip to see the other side. "The usual," she said, handing the aide the letter. "Please tell Alexander that I can still assist with the screening but I cannot provide the help to find them."

"Alrighty, I'll do just that! But, maybe, does it matter if I get it word for word or wrong?" Niara said, amazed that Vhen did not take any time at all to devour the words. Strange way to reply to a message. Wonder what that's all about.

"No, child, do not worry. It is not one of those messages were precision is absolutely necessary," Xhin Tai Vhen replied, assuaging the office assistant's fear. "If you excuse me, I must attend to other duties," she said, bowing forward slightly and turning about face back to the offices.

"Well, see you." Niara waved at the receptionist in exchange for a warm smile. She was so glad she had a job like this. And that Eriadel also had a job, the perfect kind that kept her in one place and taught her the value of not needing to be wild and not think about accidentally breaking a thing. She wondered what might be coming her way next.

/ /

"Run through it again, SPARTAN," a man's voice rang out in the cold chamber. Sound was not meant to escape. A bright red light in the silhouette of an armored soldier of antiquity filled a corner of the room.

"Reply: affirmative. Start date designated as Earth common calendar July 9, 2237: colonial transport Ganymede Zeta docks with Greenharbor station for intake. Five subjects deemed suitable for project. Three acquired." A synthesized voice in a deep and guttural tone relayed information. "Two irregularities: first, signature matching single-occupant Yautja huntship break off of Ganymede Zeta's course; second, unknown object crashlands on LV-923. Addendum: SPARTAN unaware of object. Request: further infrastructure."

"You know why I will not allow that. Not after the last time."

"Reply: affirmative. Query: status of construction request?"

"Daidalos has confirmed presence of Yautja technology, but also evidence of something else. They're playing hard to get. Until then, it will have to wait. Too close to that killing field and we need more data on the orbits."

"Comment: humor. Yes. Their QAI is replying to SPARTAN Actual's queries with coy human expressions. This runtime anticipates productive cooperation in near future despite SPARTAN Actual's reservations."

He sighed. As much as trading words and teaching his own quantum artificial intelligence was amusing, right now he was behind the game by two plays it seemed like.

"Task: resumed. Subjects two and three successfully obtained. Local active HK unit assigned. Both given alternating shifts to experience indoor and outdoor exercise. Query: emotional and psychological state necessary to project parameters?"

"It would seem that it could be a variable in success to test. Perhaps with these two it can be simultaneous trials of the same iteration."

"Reply: affirmative. HK unit will be updated. Addendum: latest logs available."

"Not now," the man replied in his private abode. He tapped a pencil onto his notepad, trying to think of a way out of this mess.

"Task: resumed. Earth standard calendar July 11, 2237 marks likely time Greenharbor report is received by Weyland-Yutani office.

"July 12, 2237, HK unit bypasses and recovers survey team seventeen data. Specify: no bodies found, traces of gunfire. Class one biological matter obtained.

"July 16, 2237 marks expedition into Constancy wilderness to investigate foreign object. Judged most likely common escape pod. Subject two and three DNA profiles scanned. Addendum: appears to be chemical burns and claw marks appear on wreckage. Wreckage split from inside. Class one matter tests return one hundred percent match to target sample.

"July 19, 2237 present day. DTC petitioned for additional resources. Update: noncommittal, will continue providing prior assistance.

"End approximate timeline."

"Perfect." Alexander threw his pen down onto the desk. "Log. Now."

"Report on project results: begin. Iteration three-hundred-forty-four discontinued, eleven casualties. Iteration three-hundred-forty-five showed promise, but sequence of transformation unreliable, yielded partial autopsy candidates. forty-six through forty-nine yielded one hundred-twenty-three casualties, retained forty-five's unreliable sequence. One ninety-percent success, but subject terminated due to feral behavior when technician attempt to interface with subject resulted in workplace accident."

Alexander had stopped staring into space at the last point. He swiveled in his chair to cast a sidelong glance at the hologram depicting the QAI's preferred avatar.

"Bewildered reassurance: Yes. This runtime has personally conferred with project site's runtime. The video feeds are available. Shall I play the recordings?"

"No, no, SPARTAN, I am completely fine without seeing that. Success or accident," Alexander quickly blurted.

"Discussion: sir, SPARTAN Actual objects to your physical presence on LV-923," the QAI said tersely. Its unmoving mouth and unerring globes stared into Alexander's eyes. "This will be request four-hundred-fifty-six to return to Coliseum or installation security."

"I left the project once already SPARTAN and look where that got us," he almost shouted. "If I had been there, I had the ability to keep watch over the professor. He would not have been able to let the successful participant gain access to the Alia Minora facility and the runtime there. I would have noticed, I built the damn thing!" He furiously tapped on his desk, hitting commands. A picture of a crater, some pockets of debris being all that was left of an impressive fortress of a research lab. "This could have been prevented. And this is why I am here, and you, runtime Trident, are located in my personal quarters. I will not tolerate another mistake."

"Administrative: request four-five-six rejected. Additional comments: Alexander adamantly argues against advice attempting avoiding accidents," SPARTAN stated. "SPARTAN Actual confirms receipt of transcription."

"Did you just make an alliteration?"

"Negative. This runtime is a copy of SPARTAN, a QAI that is a facsimile of its creator."

"Smart ass."

"This unit is not a four-legged pack animal but accepts acknowledgment of superior intellect."