Chapter 8

Isaac and Alex reached the Cargo Hold without incident, and Hammond greeted them through another holographic transmission when they stepped out. Hammond was already inside the Valor and asked them, "Isaac, Alex? Good, you both made it inside!"

He then hastily explained to them, "Listen! I just found the munitions log for the Valor. I don't think their presence here is a coincidence! They're not on reconnaissance and they're not on patrol! This ship is prepped for war! They're on a seek-and-destroy mission! Do you hear me!?"

His voice and image began to distort until it all went to static. Soon Kendra came online to say, "Isaac- Alex, I've lost him again! No signal from Hammond's RIG... find the singularity core and get the Hell out of there!"

Isaac and Alex quickly made their way to the area where the Valor crashed into. As soon as they stepped into the Zero-G environment and saw green orbs floating about the place, Kendra came back online to explain, "Isaac, Alex, one of the Valor's weapons ripped open in the crash. Those green orbs you see are highly radioactive, and the Valor's airlock has sealed itself. You two are going to have to throw those into space before you can get into the ship."

Both of them jumped down to the bottom of the storage room and got to work; Alex broke the fuses keeping the hatch closed while Isaac used his Kinesis module to bring the radioactive items closer to him. While he fired them out into space, several Leapers began attacking but Alex fended them off. Consuming them while they were alive- or active, seeing as how "alive" was not an accurate term- was quite simple by that point.

When all was said and done, Isaac and Alex jumped their way to the side entrance of the USM Valor. Upon entering they saw a Necromorph that shook quite violently, and it ran off when they drew near. Neither man knew what to make of that, but it was not important at the moment.

Kendra contacted them again to explain, "The part you're looking for will be in the engine room at the back of the ship. I'm reading massive damage, so you may need to find an alternate route to get there."

Moving forward, Issac and Alex found two gruesome sights- the first being the escape pod that doomed the crew, while the other was that same twitching Necromorph from before. Its movements were akin to a sporadic autopilot, moving constantly and seemingly unable to stop no matter what. Running off once again, the two men tried to follow it but found their path blocked by storage containers. Alex felt like going ahead but did not believe leaving Isaac to play catch-up was a good idea, so he stayed behind.

Isaac found he could use his Kinesis once again to push or pull the storage carts in different directions on the tracks they were on. He moved things out of the way to make a path for himself and Alex, finding useful things along the way. While he was doing so, Hammond came online to talk about the Necromorphs being made out of the soldiers in the ship.

He mentioned to them, "The infection process is doing something strange to these soldiers. They all had built-in Stasis units in their body armor. The infection is merging the Stasis unit into their flesh or something... making them move fast... real fast. Be careful."

Alex thought aloud to himself, "I wonder if that would work on me. Might as well find out when they come after us."

He and Isaac continued making their way through the walls of storage blocks until they reached the other side. Upon rounding a corner they saw it- the twitching monster. It was so fast, simply stepping from side to side made it move in terms of feet instead of inches. The creature growled without moving its face and charged at Isaac. Alex took a wild Musclemass punch and decked the creature in the face, knocking the head clean off and sending it flying backwards. It got back up and continued sprinting forward until it took another punch to the gut and through the gut.

Unleashing several tendrils, Alex began Consuming the Twitcher and felt a rush unlike anything he ever experienced before. Not even a thousand caffeinated coffees and sodas could compare to the surreal super speed he was shaking with. Alex looked back at Isaac and briefly wondered why everything was in slow motion- more Twitchers were pulling themselves out of the vents and running at Isaac while the engineer was slowly raising his Force Gun.

It eventually dawned on Alex that the Stasis module his body integrated into his nervous system was actually slowing his perception of time down. Pondering that for a moment, Alex nonetheless went back to work and helped Isaac destroy the remaining enemies. With ludicrously-enhanced reflexes, Alex tore through all of the Necromorphs coming out of the vents, ripping and punching and generally reducing them to nothing more than unimpressive piles of Biomass.

He found his speed to be so ridiculous, Alex could even run around the plasma bolts Isaac fired, running at least one or two circles around them before they got to close, and even then he had just enough time to move. Standing around once all of the threats had been eliminated, Alex found there was actually a downside to being super fast- his friend was now as slow as if he was trudging through mud.

Growing impatient, Alex decided he could run ahead and see what was happening up there without dooming his friend. Meanwhile Isaac continued behind him trying his best to catch up. His journey was a little easier since his ally was already clearing the place of hostiles, but not having his friend around was slightly unnerving.

Hammond gave another update to tell the others, "Isaac, Alex, I'm tracking both of your positions, but it doesn't look like I'll be able to reach either of you. This damn ship was nearly sheared in half. I made it to the Bridge... it's a mess here. These poor bastards didn't stand a chance. I'm going to override all door locks so you can reach the engine room. I'll try to catch up with you there."

When Isaac reached one of the hallways he saw Alex crawling into one. The living virus then contacted Hammond to say, "I'm-trying-to-reach-your-position-through-the-ventilation-system-I'll-meet-up-with-you-wherever-I-can-be alert."

Hammond blinked, then asked, "Alex, what did you say? It's like your voice is on overdrive or something."

Alex sighed, his voice sounding distinctly like a chipmunk spoke, then slowly said, "I'll... see... you... in... a... bit. Going... through... vent... shafts... to... reach... you."

Hammond replied, "Alright, that made a little more sense. See you when you arrive."

He continued walking through the Valor's Bridge until he heard a rapid banging noise from above. The shaft was violently kicked out of its place and onto the ground, with an armored figure jumping out of it. Hammond was tense but lowered his weapon when he saw it was Alex; strangely enough, he was twitching just like all of the soldier Necromorphs.

They wormed their way through more Necromorph-infested corridors and down darkened hallways, fighting hordes of the monsters every so often. Hammond got to see firsthand just how deadly Alex was in a fight, changing into his Biomass armor and just tearing enemies apart when they got too close. He also got to see just what "Consuming" was, not that he really wanted to. The man was at the very least happy that Alex was on his side, though. All he hoped was that it was for real, and not just another lie from the Marker.

Meanwhile...

While they were making their way there, Isaac moved along as well, and he soon found himself in an elevator headed downwards. While he waited, a holographic screen popped up, displaying someone he had never seen before.

"Mr. Clarke! I need to speak with you", the man began. "My name is Terrance Kyne... Doctor Kyne. Listen to me, there isn't much time."

He cleared his throat and explained, "If you really can repair the shuttle... there is a better us for it than just running away. You must understand, the forces at work here are..."

Dr. Kyne faltered and shuddered briefly. Getting over his anxiety, he continued, "... greater than you can imagine. If you leave now... you condemn all humanity! The planet will never stop, never rest, until the Marker is returned. Don't you see? The church is wrong! This is all a trap! I've seen it..."

He stopped again and finished with, "Please, you must help me!"

The video ended, leaving Isaac to ponder the man's ramblings. He walked out of the elevator and was greeted by a saddening sight- a soldier was pinned by metal scrap against the ceiling. The gravity plates had overloaded and forced everything up onto the ceiling, including the man. Isaac could only watch as he groaned in pain and failed to get himself free from his unfortunate position. Unable to help him out at all, the engineer simply continued on with his mission.

Back with Alex and Hammond...

Both men kept walking through the hallways until they heard a familiar groaning noise. Alex squeaked, "Seriously-again?", as he saw a Brute charging after them from another hallway. He wasted no time and picked up Hammond so they could get away; his Musclemass-enhanced arms were able to easily carry the man and the armor that he wore.

Sprinting past several dozen Necromorphs, Alex ignored them all as Hammond struggled to maintain his balance, or even know where they were going. Upon reaching a door, Alex set Hammond down and locked it, hoping it would buy them enough time to get the singularity core and get out. He dared not leave his ally's position- it was just too dangerous to leave Hammond in his condition on his own. Thus Alex stayed put and prepared to fend off any Necromorphs head on.

As the monsters came after them, Alex took them out in close quarters while his human ally kept them suppressed with his Pulse Rifle. The living virus noted that the specific creatures he fought seemed different- none of them were colored red with fleshy pink any longer. Instead they were colored like sickening bile, mostly black with some spots of green or yellow mixed in.

They went down differently as well- as Alex Consumed them, he could feel his Biomass and general genetic makeup becoming stronger, as well as his natural abilities. As he punched with his Musclemass, he could feel something strange about it changing- a dull yellow glow began to form on his knuckles, eventually becoming full-blown orbs on each individual one. Their glow intensified until they were as bright as an Exploder's deadly payload, and when he delivered another punch, the orbs detonated like the same monsters did, sending the Slasher Alex was fighting backwards with explosive force.

Enjoying this new development, the evolving Blacklight virus continued fighting with even more ferocity until the waves of enemies stopped coming. Once it was over for the time being, Hammond remarked to his friend, "I have to admit Alex, I'm really, really glad you're on our side."

Alex did not respond, prompting Hammond to ask, "Alex? Did you hear me? Are you alright?"

He walked over and found Alex staring into space, almost like he was in a trance or concentrating deeply. Eventually he blinked and Hammond saw his eyes becoming less and less visible until they were nothing more than swirling orbs of Biomass. Right before Hammond realized what was actually happening and felt sick to his stomach, Alex blinked again and had something different in his eyes. His eyeballs had been replaced with something more akin to an insect's than a human's.

Finally free of whatever process was taking hold of him, Alex shook his head and muttered, "That... was weird. Hey, Hammond- did something happen to me? I'm not at hyper-speed anymore. And also... I can see your... well, the neurons in your body."

Hammond replied, "Well you literally look bug-eyed to me, pun not intended, but other than that you seem fine. What do you mean, my neurons?"

Alex looked around and said, "I can see the electrical pulses in you, in Isaac all the way over there..."

He pointed right through a wall and continued, "... and that guy over there. I think he's one of the soldiers. Maybe... I think we should find that guy and question him. He might know what's going on."

Kendra came online to say, "I don't think that's worth it- we need that singularity core before anything else goes wrong."

Alex retorted, "I'm certain they know something we don't, and I intend to find out what it is."

He started walking forward as Kendra tried and failed to dissuade him from his new goal, then switched to Hammond and see if he was able to convince Alex to forget about that. Hammond replied, "I don't know... I think Alex's got the right idea. We know the Valor isn't here for anything normal, and that Marker's about as 'not normal' as you can get. I'm following him."

Kendra angrily sighed and turned off her comm-link, instead switching over to Isaac to say, "Isaac, you might want to hurry a bit. Alex has got it into his head that interrogating a surviving Valor soldier is more important than getting that core and Hammond isn't stopping him. If we want to make it out of here alive, we need that singularity core. Go as fast as you can and get out of there!"

Alex helped Hammond get through the areas as speedily as possible pulling him through vent shafts and killing every Necromorph that stood in their way. Eventually they reached the soldier Alex saw- he was the one pinned to the ceiling by the gravity plate that overloaded. Hammond looked at him grunting in pain and then commented, "Maybe Kendra was right- I don't see how we're going to get that man out of there."

Alex tentatively stepped forward and put his hand to the gravitational energies being released. He was immediately shot upwards and splattered into the ceiling, making Hammond swear in shock. The pieces that remained of Alex stayed separated for just a few minutes until they slowly began to connect to each other again, stitching him back into his human frame. When his body was sufficiently together again for him to make a coherent sentence, Alex grumbled, "Well... fuck. That hurt."

He slowly began to flex his body until he commented, "My body is adjusting to the increased gravity, increasing my own density until I'm able to compensate for it. I'll need a few more seconds... and..."

Alex began to slowly descend to the ground, mostly unconcerned with the energy flowing all around him. He smirked at Hammond and commented, "Nothing to it", then looked down at the overloaded plate and said, "And now to break this thing."

Generating a Musclemass fist, Alex grew the explosive orbs at the knuckles and punched down, causing a large explosion and the gravity plate to shut off. All the metal and debris being held up by the plate fell to the ground, with Alex just saving the stuck soldier from death by mere inches from a sharp metal stick that might have impaled him. He held the man up for a few moments before tossing him to the ground. In severe pain and groaning even more to show it, the nameless soldier tried to get up but could not.

The man laid on the ground and took several deep breaths, trying to keep himself from dying when Alex demanded, "Why is the Valor here? What is your mission in this part of space?"

Unable to speak for a few moments, the soldier eventually said, "I... I can't tell you. Not in protocol-"

"To Hell with your damned protocol!", Alex snarled, pinning the man to the wall. "Tell me or I'll rip you apart worse than those monsters ever could!"

Hammond stepped in front of Alex to say, "Calm down, Alex. I'm going to give him a med-pack and he can tell us when he's stable."

Alex crossed his arms and replied, "Or I could just Consume him now and learn everything at once."

The shock soldier took the effort to look at Alex, asking, "Y-you're gonna do what!?"

Hammond asserted, "No one's doing anything until we know get that singularity core and get out of here", then walked over to the soldier to give him a large med-pack. With a massive dose of healing gel in his system, the man felt much better and said, "I... uh, thank you. Now I... I'm really not supposed to tell you anything about the mission. It's like I said- against protocol."

Hammond stated, "I'm gonna have to call bullshit on that. This situation is way beyond protocol anymore. If you want any chance of getting out of here alive, you're gonna tell us everything we want to know."

The soldier stammered, "But I- I'm not supposed to- I, ugh", before stopping. He then said, "*Sigh*... Fine, but you really better have a way out of this."

Clearing his throat, the man said, "As I'm sure you're aware, the Ishimura is in a restricted space. Planet-cracking Aegis VII is forbidden, but not because of ethics or anything like that. No, it's because of the Marker. I'm sure you're aware of what that thing is by now. Hell, with Unitology being so widespread, I'd be surprised if there's anyone out there that doesn't know about it."

Hammond commented, "I'm somewhat familiar. Alien artifact, correct?"

The soldier looked back and said, "Eh, not quite. At least, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure this one is-"

"Reverse-engineered?", Alex "guessed." In truth he knew exactly what it was, but displaying too much knowledge would make him look suspicious. He even thought he went too far with his one comment, as both the soldier and Hammond looked at him with confusion.

"Yeah", the soldier said. "That's right. How'd you know?"

Alex cryptically replied, "I have my sources", and then continued, "But that isn't important right now. What about your mission here?"

The soldier said, "Well, we were supposed to retrieve the Marker from the USG Ishimura. One of our contacts spearheaded the whole operation while we were out in space. I haven't heard a thing from her so I guess she didn't make it. Damn."

He looked down and muttered, "Guess this whole operation's ruined, then."

Hammond asked, "You had a contact in the Ishimura? Who?"

The soldier corrected Hammond. "No, the contact came to the Ishimura. We waited behind until we were given a signal to enter. When we got the pod and nothing else, we assumed something went wrong, so we kept waiting and cracked the pod open."

He grumbled, "And you can see how that turned out...", gesturing to the carnage all around them. Hammond was confused and further asked, "So then... who was your contact?"

The soldier tried to state, "Her name was K-", but was cut off mid-sentence due to an incredibly unnerving growling noise near them. Everyone turned to hear another noise of very heavy feet get louder and louder near them, and to their horror, a Brute appeared. Alex noted it was one of the superior versions of the creatures, one of the "Enhanced" Necromorphs that were much hardier than their lesser counterparts.

Soon even more Enhanced Necromorphs appeared, all of them quite ready to kill the trio. Alex found it annoying that the voices he spoke to earlier had not called off the attacks on him, but none of the creatures were that much of a threat. Hammond and the Valor soldier on the other hand were quite concerned about the advancing hordes, but stood their ground and prepared to fight.

The two of them opened fire with their Pulse Rifles and began taking down a few of the monsters, but it was really Alex that made any serious progress. He wished he had access to some of his other weapons, but between his exploding Musclemass punches, his Bio-Bomb and Spearshot powers, he was at least able to push back the tide.

The Valor soldier was rather disturbed Alex was displaying powers similar to the monsters and absorbing them, but when he asked Hammond about it, the man just said, "Be glad he's on our side!", and still kept firing. They thought they made some decent progress in killing all of the creatures until one of the Slashers came up from behind. It was too late for the soldier as he valiantly blasted the monster with his Pulse Rifle, but his efforts were simply not enough to stop the end from coming.

With a swing of its' blade, the Slasher decapitated the soldier and readied to kill Hammond next. Tangling with the Brute, Alex saw this and immediately abandoned the fight, intent on saving Hammond. He tackled the man out of harm's way and picked him up, speeding towards a safe location. Alex headed for the engine room and hoped Isaac already had what they needed- if anyone could make a difference in fending off all the Necromorphs, it would be him.

Once they were outside of the door that lead into the lower level, Alex set his ally down and let him walk in. Hammond kept his weapon ready as he charged in and saw Isaac there.

"Isaac!", Hammond shouted. "Over here! I'm with Alex- we've been running through this hellhole and back trying to get answers! Did you get the singularity core?"

When Isaac nodded, Hammond took a breath and said, "Thank God- that's our ticket out of here! Get that core to the shuttle. Don't wait for us- we'll catch up with-"

A familiar growl followed by Alex getting knocked into the room let both men know what was coming. As the living virus got back up and growled in return, the Brute that was chasing them appeared. Hammond shouted, "Oh fuck me...", and fired all of the rounds he could from his Pulse Rifle into the beast. It shrugged the barrage off and then charged at Hammond, knocking him into the glass sheet that separated Isaac from them, then began pounding him into it several times. Eventually it grabbed one of his legs and pulled.

With a sickening rip, Hammond's right leg was torn off, earning an incredibly loud scream of pain from the man. It was about to smash him into the ground several more times before Alex was able to intervene. He knocked the creature away with a Musclemass and explosive punch, then grabbed Hammond and his severed leg and quickly got out of there.

With them gone, the Brute turned its attention to Isaac behind the glass, smashing right through with both of its' fists. Alex could barely hear the sounds of Isaac taking on the beast as he ran past fire, explosions, and Necromorphs all around him. He practically leapt out of the side entrance to the Valor as it began blowing apart, hoping that neither the lack of oxygen nor the loss of a limb would be enough to kill Hammond.

Running into the bowels of the Cargo Hold, Alex looked around using his new vision power, his... Neural Vision, to make sure nothing was nearby. When he was sure it was safe, Alex gently put Hammond and his severed leg down. The man was just barely alive and made it apparent to Alex.

Coughing up blood, the man said, "I... I'm not going to make it."

Alex asked, "Isn't there something I can do or get for you? A bunch of med-packs? Some place in the Medical Bay? Anything?"

Hammond took a breath and struggled to say, "I don't... I don't think so. This is the end for me. D-damn it all... I thought... I was actually gonna make it out of this fucking nightmare."

Alex crouched down, mind searching desperately for anything he could do. His thoughts jumped to those of everyone he had in his mind, from the scumbags he first Consumed to even his loyal lieutenants- the Evolved. He blinked and realized he did have a way to save Hammond, but only if the man was willing to sacrifice part of his humanity to keep his life.

Getting closer to the dying man, Alex asked, "Would you do anything right now to live?"

Hammond managed a smile and asked in return, "Is this a trick question?"

"No, but I want to know if you're willing to give up what makes you human for something less... and yet something more."

Hammond's smile went away as the life began to fade from him even more, just barely able to say the words, "If you think you can..."

Alex decided to go for it and took Hammond's severed leg and placed it next to the other end, channeling portions of his Biomass into it and into the rest of Hammond. As the tendrils went into the exposed red muscle and began forcibly changing it, the man shot his eyes wide open and screamed in pain. Hammond strained his vocal cords as his voice roared with pain, the horrific sounds reverberating throughout the walls.

Eventually his leg was reconnected to the rest of his body and he stood up in pure shock. All of the pain had suddenly disappeared, replaced with an adrenaline rush that did not seem like it would stop anytime soon. Hammond checked his leg and found it was perfectly fine, then looked to Alex and asked, "What in the Hell did you do to me?"

Alex simply replied, "I made you... Evolve."