Chapter Nine: Isaac Clarke.
There was a knock on the door of Abby's apartment. She opened her eyes and slowly rose off of the ground where she'd been sitting for the past hour. She left her bedroom and walked to the door, slowly opening it. A tall, bald man was standing in the doorway. He had a quizzical expression on her face. Abby hadn't realized that her cheeks were covered in black tearstains from her makeup running.
"C-can I help y-you?" she asked the man. He could tell from her shaky voice that she'd been crying.
"My name's Sam," the man replied. "I'm the father of Grover's best friend, X."
Abby, who hadn't been making eye contact with the man, now suddenly lifted her head. She'd heard that name before, and it was a name that she'd been waiting to hear for years. But she acted ambivalent about it.
"Oh yeah, Grover told me about you. Come in."
Sam stepped into her apartment as she closed and locked the door behind her.
"I had a few questions for you…" Sam began.
"It's about the Necromorphs, isn't it?" Abby interrupted.
Sam stopped suddenly and looked at her with an expression of surprise. How could she already know? Unless…
Before he could think any further of it, Abby burst into tears. "I KNEW I WASN'T SAFE FROM MY FATHER'S CURSE! I KNEW HE COULDN'T PROTECT ME!"
She collapsed on her couch, sobbing hysterically. Sam sat down next to her and put his arm around her.
"Your father protecting you? What are you talking about?"
Abby wiped away her tears and turned to look at Sam. "I've been waiting to meet you for years," she explained. "You knew my father like my mother knew him. You were best friends with him. Before… his accident."
Sam now realized with whom he was speaking. He knew there was something about this girl that he found familiar. When he was in the Xilian Black Ops in his youth, he was involved in a mission to a human space station with a CEC systems engineer named Isaac Clarke. Almost 20 years prior, the human civilian space station known as the Sprawl was host to what was known by most as the Site 12 Marker, a man-made replica of the dangerous alien artifact known as the Black Marker, before it was destroyed by Clarke along with the entire Sprawl. Twenty years later, the CEC had built a new civilian station on the same moon of Saturn, Titan. However, the remnants of the Site 12 Marker still present on Titan served as a homing beacon for the Gray Marker, a Xilian-made Marker with even more destructive capabilities than its predecessors. Sam's elite team was sent to assist Clarke in containing and destroying the outbreak caused by the Gray Marker. However, the Marker's ability to cause them hallucinations ultimately resulted in their failure. The station was destroyed once again but the Gray Marker went unaccounted for. Now a fugitive from the law of Earth after destroying the Station, Clarke went into hiding with Sam and his wife Coraline on Planet X. However, he was later killed in a skirmish with the authorities pursuing Cora. Sam distinctly remembered Isaac's dying wish. He asked Sam to tell his wife and daughter of his fate next time he visited Earth. Sam had done so, but his daughter was no older than Chester when he did. Now everything was making sense. Why the Brute had attacked Grover and Abby and why she knew so much about it.
"You… you're Isaac's daughter? …Abby?" Sam asked her.
Abby's sobs intensified and she started crying into Sam. He held her closer as she cried.
"It's okay," Sam said. "I know that you're sad, but I promise, as Isaac's best friend, I will take care of you and make sure you're safe. No Necromorph will get near you."
Abby smiled and hugged Sam. "I know I can trust you, Sam," she said. "It's just that there are people who want me… to find out what I know about the Marker."
Sam raised an eyebrow. "The Marker? So then you know?"
Abby nodded. Sam paused for a minute, thinking quickly. If Abby knew anything of worth about the Marker, she could potentially help him figure out the root of the infection. He then spoke.
"Come back with me. I think we should talk of the details…"