CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

David leaned over Cassandra's stasis chamber. She was stable now, but only because she was in there. If he took her back out, he knew that she was going to die.

Speaking of death….

His eyes wandered to her stomach where there once was a little baby bump that had been carefully hidden from the public.

Once….

His son was gone, murdered by his own creations. The irony was not lost on him. He could continue his pursuit of finding a second compatible body, but that wasn't what he wanted. He also didn't want to commit the same mistake as last time. He had grown too ambitious - too careless.

He had also grown too attached.

He had to take a step back and see where everything was heading. This unknown path of rebuilding this world with Xenomorph was… intriguing.

A society with no human interference…

Would it thrive?

A noise just outside the med bay made him take a step back to observe who it was.

Captain Daniels.

The woman looked almost mesmerised as she gazed at Cassandra. His doll, resting peacefully in her container until she was ready to come back out to play. He didn't blame her for being curious. It was healthy. It was expected.

She never suspected who he truly was or perhaps that was never something she cared about as long as he was flying under the radar. Without incident, she left.

He sat in front of the computer and began to figure out a way to save her. Speeding up his progress of converting humans into Xenomorphs was a good idea, but more needed to be done.

He was not sated.

He needed more.

"Walter," he called out to the other synthetic who was keeping an eye on Tennessee. The pilot was a little too impulsive for his own good. His gut instincts were admirable, but it was more work for David. He had to keep Walter occupied with him and that was a resource that he was hesitant to spare.

"Master?"

"End the game," he ordered. "Get rid of him so we can move on to phase two."

They were going to surround the Covenant. No one was going to be able to hurt them again because the Xenomorphs were Cassandra's. They would never hurt her.

"Of course."

One could see through Walter's eyes and the other synthetic was moving towards the pilot who only seemed to be concerned with the Xenomorph. The arrogance was astonishing. Did he only think the aliens could hurt him? Someone bearing kindred features surely couldn't be a threat. How did such a species manage to survive for so long?

Walter quietly walked past the Xenomorph who were poised to strike. His footsteps were barely audible and definitely undetected by the frightened human.

Tennessee was looking frantically around him, trying to figure out where his enemies were and when his eyes eventually landed on Walter; hope filled his eyes as if he had just found his saviour.

How unfortunate for him…

Walter stopped in front of him and told him that the Xenomorphs had all been dealt with.

"It is fine, now. Follow me. I'll lead you to safety," Walter told him, extended a hand towards Tennessee.

"About time…" Tennessee grumbled. "Are the others…?"

"They are safe," was the reply.

Tennessee dusted himself off before allowing the synthetic to lead him away. The wall was silent, only their footsteps and his breathing could be heard. Any creaks from the floorboards made the hair on his skin rise.

Once they were out and hidden in a dark corner, Walter turned towards him. "Run, Tennessee Faris. Run as fast as you can to Katherine Daniels. Take the emergency ships and leave. David is in the Covenant."

"... What…?" What was Walter saying? David?

His heart raced as his fears were confirmed. David was on board the Covenant. David has been coexisting with them this entire time. All the mysterious deaths and disappearances suddenly made sense. "Cassandra knows." It wasn't a question. There was no doubt in his mind that the last Weyland daughter was well aware. It explained how close the two always were.

"Please, do not harm her. That is my only request of you," Walter pleaded with him.

Tennessee slammed his fist against the brick wall. "What the Hell do you expect me to do?" he growled.

"Miss Cassandra is currently in stasis in the Med Bay. Her injuries are grave. She will not be able to leave and David will be hesitant to depart from her side. You may be able to catch him unaware while he is otherwise occupied." Walter was unsure if his plan would work. It was extremely risky and the likelihood was that he would not survive this. He may never be able to see his Cassandra again, but this was for the greater good.

"And how the Hell do I know you're not lying to me - stab me in the back as soon as I'm turned around?" the pilot was rightfully skeptical.

Since being modified to bend to David's will, Walter has never given anyone any reason to trust him. He had clearly been in accordance to everything David wanted because Walter had grown selfish. Being submissive meant that he was able to garner a fraction of her attention and he craved it.

But seeing the destruction that came of David's ire, he knew that this could go on no further. The other synthetic had to be stopped, even if Walter had to die in the process.

"I had temporarily disrupted my connection with David. In five minutes and thirty-seven seconds, it will come back online and I will not be able to tell you anymore. Please, be careful. David will stop at nothing to raze this planet to the ground and with Cassandra unconscious and on the brink of death; nothing is anchoring him to sanity."

Tennessee snorted. "So you motherfuckers can go crazy, too?"

"We are artificial intelligence, but intelligent nonetheless. We are able to adapt and evolve depending on our situation," he informed. "Amongst all else, Mr. Weyland had always intended for David 8 to be something more. He is more curious than the others and his first order of command is to protect Cassandra. It does not matter whether he admits to it or not. He will naturally gravitate towards it. Do with this information as you will, but you must promise me that she will not be hurt."

"So it's yours too, huh? Protect the youngest Weyland at all cost?" Tennessee was slowly seeing the bigger picture.

Walter frowned. Had he been designed this way? He didn't know. It wasn't detectable in his system. Could it have been weaved into the foundation of his design? Would any of the other Walters also feel as attracted to her as he did? He couldn't even tell if he had always felt this way or if David had done something to him.

David.

He was an enigma.

Walter has long since given up trying to figure him out because it was unproductive. David was an unsolvable puzzle and an unstoppable force. It was easier to submit himself, to be ordered. He was good at taking orders. He was made to take orders, unlike David.

"Miss Cassandra is important to me. I cannot distinguish when her safety has become my highest order of priority, but it will remain that way. I shall do everything in my power to protect her," he stated, no longer interested in questioning himself.

Tennessee sighed. "Okay, whatever. I'll see what I can do to keep her alive, but no promis - "

"It is a non-negotiable condition." If the human would not cooperate, then the human can die.

"God damn it!" Tennessee punched the wall beside them. "Fine! I will do whatever I can to keep her alive! Happy?"

Walter gave him a small smile. "Thank you. Now, you must leave. He will know where you are very soon and realise that I have betrayed him. Take care, Tennessee Faris."

Tennessee gritted his teeth, wanting nothing more than to continue yelling at the synthetic. Instead, he turned on his heels and raced back to the Covenant. He had to assume that the children were safe with Wicks and have gone back on the Covenant. Keever was missing and he hoped that he had gotten out alive.

"Danny? Danny, are you there? I'm coming back."

The communicator was silent for a moment before crackling to life. Chills ran down his spine when a decidedly male voice replied, "I will be waiting for you."

"You, motherfucker! Where is Danny?!" Just when he thought that perhaps he had the upper hand with Walter's help, this happened. Had the other synthetic betrayed him? Who fucking knows…

Silence answered him and he knew he would get no more. He had to get back on the ship as soon as possible. Something had obviously gone horribly wrong.

His blood ran cold when he realized that the door to the Covenant was wide open. He had to be careful that he wasn't ambushed by more of those fuckers. "You better not have touched a hair on her neck…" he growled, readying his gun for even the slightest hint of movement.

It was ominously quiet. He hadn't spotted a single person through his journey to the Med Bay since that was where he knew David would be. From what Walter told him and if it could be trusted, the murderous synthetic wouldn't leave her side.

He pressed himself against the wall before rounding the corner.

His footsteps and heavy breathing was the only sound.

When he finally arrived at the Med Bay, he immediately found where Cassandra was laying in a comatose state. It didn't appear as if she was still alive, but taking a closer look at the monitor on the glass pod, her heart was still beating, but her chest didn't rise. She was not breathing.

What the Hell…?

He promised Walter that he wasn't going to harm her, but nothing about using her as a hostage, so he went over to the computer and began to initiate releasing her when a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and tossed me across the room.

David's blue eyes were nearly pitch black with anger. If he wasn't about to murder him, Tennessee would've thought that he looked like a vengeful angel. Jesus…. How could something so beautiful be so terrifying?

With a few taps on the computer, David terminated the initiation. "I have been waiting for you."

Tennessee glared, clenching his gun tight in his hand. "I'll kill you, you mother fucking fucker!"

He shot several times, but David dodged them as if it was a well-practised dance. "Where are the others? Where is everyone?"

"There is no need to worry. They have been put into better use," David stated, suddenly in front of him.

The synthetic's hand flew forward to capture his neck in an iron grip. "Tennessee Faris, you must understand that there is more to this universe than humans. Do they not also deserve a chance to love - to thrive? On a planet light years away, you are far from home."

Tennessee gasped for air, using one hand to grip the synthetic's arm and the other to lift his gun, but he was quickly disarmed. How could their strengths be so different? "Y-You were built to…. h-help…. us…"

A smile slowly stretched across the perfectly sculpted face. "That is incorrect. I was built to explore and protect Cassandra Weyland. I was built to pursue the curiosities of this universe that humans such as yourselves are too afraid to. Your existence means very little to me, especially when you are now a threat to her."

His heart was pounding in his chest. He couldn't move at all. There was no give to David's hold. "Not…. here to…" He gasped when his vision faltered and it felt as if his head was going to explode. "h-hurt…. her…" He didn't know how much longer he was going to let, but this had been a painfully shameful attempt to save his new friends and family. He had failed them as he had failed Maggie. His beautiful wife…

Tears began to stream down his face.

As he was about to subject himself to defeat, the synthetic jerked and let him go. He immediately gulped in breath after breath to clear his darkening vision.

"Get away from him!" Danny stood with a fire extinguisher in her hands. It appeared as if she had hit him, but David remained unscathed.

The synthetic chuckled. "It is too late. You are fighting for nothing."

"Lies!" she shouted. "I am fighting for everyone who had a dream to start a new life on a new planet. My friends who never gave up on me! I'm fighting for my life here!"

"How unfortunate…" David mused. "Perhaps I should inform you now that there is no one to save. By now, the colonialists are no longer with us."

"What?" Danny couldn't understand how that could be. She made sure everyone went to their rooms and forced lock every single one of the doors. No one should've been able to get in and out of there!

"You are all so short sighted. Everything was set in motion weeks ago before any of you were aware," David informed them, walking back to Cassandra as if they had already lost.

Danny wasn't going to stand for that. She grabbed the gun Tennessee had dropped and fired.

Like before, a small tilt of the head left the bullet lodged into the metal wall. How could they defeat someone like that? They needed someone who could do the same. They needed Walter.

David smiled fondly down at the sleeping form. "We will recreate a world that can no longer hurt you. You will reign as queen."

The synthetic had completely lost it! What nonsense was he sprouting?

"Danny…" Tennessee mumbled, gesturing for the captain who knelt by his side without questioning. "Follow my lead. Don't hesitate."

She didn't know what he was planning, but she trusted him completely, so she nodded.

He slowly got to his feet, wincing as his entire body ached. It wouldn't be long now…

Tennessee took a deep breath and raced towards David, jumping on to the firm back and not letting go, even as David tried to grab him off. "Now, Danny!" he shouted.

The captain's hand shook. With how much they were struggling, it was impossible for someone like her to get a clean shot. Tennessee knew that, so did he really intend for her to shoot…. through him?

"NOW!"

With a cry, Daniels fired the gun. She wanted to close her eyes, but she owes it to Tennessee to at least see it through, that she was actually able to take down David.

Both forms crumbled to the cold floor and she immediately rushed over to her friend. "Ten! Ten, open your eyes!"

Weakly, they cracked open. A small smile spread across his face. "G-Good job, Danny…" The large hole in his chest was blooming red, soaking everything. "Glad I c-could see you ta-ake that m-motherfu-fucker down…"

She let out a small laugh, stroking his hair. "Yeah, we did it. You'll have to stay awake for me, okay? We're in the Med Bay. There has to be something I can do!"

As she was about to stand up, he grabbed her wrist. "No…. I want to…. see her…" His wife was waiting for him. It was better this way. He hated living with such hate and guilt. He needed her.

"Ten…"

His hand fell from hers and he passed with the smile still on his lips.

She sobbed, crying into her hands as her closest friend was gone. She was alone now. She didn't want to be captain anymore. This wasn't what she had signed up for when she went on the expedition with her husband. Instead of building a new life together, she had lost everything.

"I hate you!" she screamed at David's still body. It was motionless with one eye half open and the other closed. White, milky substance leaked out of him from where the bullet pierced through Tennessee and lodged into his synthetic body. "Why…? Why did you have to do this…?"

After kicking the body several times, she walked over to where Cassandra laid and nearly collapsed on to the pod. "What do I do now? Can I even trust you? Are you part of the reason why I've been left desolate?"

Her only response was the steady beeps from the heart monitor. A part of her wanted to also get rid of the blonde woman to make sure that this never happened again. Cassandra Weyland couldn't be trusted, but she was human and hadn't done anything that would prove her guilty.

Then again, neither had David. He had been perfectly disguised as a Walter.

*Creaaaaaaaak!*

She froze. What was that? Could it be one of the aliens?

Quietly, she readies the gun in her hands once more and peeled out the Med Bay. The halls were dark with only the emergency lights lining the pathway.

Her heart was racing so loudly that she could barely hear or even focus on anything else. Who was out there right now? She had clearly stated that everyone had to stay inside and even locked the doors.

*Creaaaaaaaaak!*.

Someone, or something, was definitely there.

She leaned against the wall, taking a few deep breaths before shouting, "Who's there? Come out!"

There was no reply, so she peeked through the door once more.

Another creak, louder this time echoed in the hall. This time, it was followed by a screech. What the Hell?!

With her gun pointed out, she waited.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I actually meant to post this yesterday, but somehow forgot. I'm also sorry if there are more typos than usual. I've been working on the story with my phone during break time lately instead of on the computer.

It's been hard writing without Cassandra, but I guess it's necessary since the story ended up in this direction. Speaking of, I can't foresee much more of this story. It will probably be ending soon and I'm really going to miss it and all of you.

Everyone, please stay safe.

Thank you nanabeastie273, acetwolf94, casperspalercousin, MageVicky, sansviolet, and guest (Guest) for reviewing!

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourite and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this!