*Eixubar*

I was patiently thinking in my home, contemplating whether it was truly a good idea to rescue Axel. I, after much thinking, decided that it was, because now that I had saved him he might listen to my cries of freedom.

Suddenly, to my shock, I saw a green glowing hologram of Axel materialize beside me. His holographic self seemed very shaken and flustered. With a note of urgency underlying his flat, metallic hologram voice, he told me to return to his laboratory- and quickly. I inquired why, to which he simply responded that it concerned the PAKs. I realized the note of stress in his voice was entirely justified, and darted over to his lab. Stepping inside, Axel 'greeted' me with an even stare, and said just as levelly, "I have settled on a moral compromise regarding the PAKs. Rather than have them tweak their mind for the worse, I will make it a symbiotic relationship where both find dependency on the other. However…" His voice trailed off, visibly hurt. Struggling to pick up the sentence, he continued, "However, the PAKs that are currently attached to the Irkens' backs… cannot be reprogrammed. The Irkens are condemned to destroy themselves…"

I held back tears, lowering my head. "I warned you…I told you what terrors those PAKs were… I warned you…" I said, soft, quiet, hurt. His eyes, still fierce, but somewhat softened by the guilt he now possessed, looked straight at me, and he whispered, "I am sorry."

He put every ounce of compassion he had into those words.

My voice, now high pitched with an edge of panic, "How can we possibly worm our ways out of this hideous predicament?" Though I said it strongly, I was incredibly saddened inside.

His eyes flattened at the thought, but he responded with fake confidence, "The only way is through technology. The only way.

"The lone approach to save the Irkens would be to artificially create them. We would have to take gene pools from Irkens and use them to create the backup race. Nonetheless, cloning of any kind is incredibly risky and has many drawbacks. In fact, the PAK would be the only thing keeping them alive. It might have other unwanted side effects as well.

"I have written up some very basic blueprints for the gene device. But, obviously, to have this thing work, we need genes. The actual process of extracting the gene pool from the person shouldn't be difficult- the trouble will be to get the gene suppliers to comply. We could both give our genes, but from only two gene pools the Irken race would be pathetically dull. Since I am crafting the machine and doing most all the technical work, I send you to get the specimens."

I sensed just the tiniest sliver of doubt and hesitancy riding smoothly, sneakily woven underneath the confident exterior tone of Axel's voice. He wasn't sure of his request? That fact and another, more prominent one made me hesitate. The Irkens were not keen on getting kidnapped, and that was such an understatement that it wasn't funny. He handed me a tranquilizer dart gun, and I stepped outside.

To my complete and utter shock, as soon as my foot touched the outside ground, clouds moved over the sun and the day blurred into the sky. It turned dark- almost as dark as night. My antennae detected the faintest hint of fog in the air.

It was the most ominous day I had ever seen.

Before my departure, Axel had warned me that the sedative gun was not as fast-acting as most people believe them to be- though their range is incredible. I thought to myself that a tranquilizer was not a very good weapon against the magnitude of sheer horror that was wrapped in those little PAKs.

Regardless, I lifted the tranquilizer gun up to my face and looked though the aiming mechanism. It did have a surprising range. I spotted an Irken from a long way off, and I wondered if the gun could fire that far away. The Irken was running towards me besides, so I fired with as careful aim as I could possibly manage. The dart flew straight and true, and it struck the Irken in the forehead. It seemed to have no effect on him at first, but as I watched, the Irken ran slower and more clumsily until he collapsed.

I sprinted over to the Irken's limp body, carrying him over to Axel's lab for gene contribution. I had realized that the best thing to do was bring in each Irken separately, and as soon as it was shot to lessen the chances of its awakening in the meantime. By the time I got to Axel's house, he had constructed several holding tanks, and was finished with the gene contraction machine, but not the Irken spawn machine. He placed his hand on a sensor pad which made one of the holding tanks open, in which I placed the knocked-out Irken. I started to walk back outside to snag more Irkens, but before I could, Axel said, "We need at least ten more Irkens, not counting ourselves." Keeping that in mind, I stepped outside.

I successfully managed to sedate nine more Irkens- one of which was a girl- and I only needed one more. One more…one more… as if listening to my thoughts, the sky grew darker. Fog settled in completely. I was truly scared. Through the corner of my eye, I saw movement. Another Irken! I raised the gun up to fire. Right when it would be the perfect angle, the perfect trajectory, I pulled the trigger.

Though it made the loud boom, the dart did not fire.

The Irken heard the noise, and immediately shot like an arrow towards the direction he had heard it, desperate to get to me, to get to the scent.

I panicked. I tried to no avail to get the gun to shoot. I had forgotten to ask Axel to give me more ammunition beforehand.

What a stupid mistake.

The Irken was only a few yards away. I raised the gun over my head, ready to use it like a hammer. With malice in its eyes, the Irken leapt. I hit it hard over the head, but it was so scent-crazed that it did nothing. All the Irken's weight crashed down on my skull, and for the second time that week, the world went black.

I never saw daylight again.