‚Someone's coming... Wake up!'
There is no noise from the door, no ominous hiss telling Hicks he's about to get company. No voices or footsteps from the adjoining room either, but he knows nevertheless and sits up with a jolt. Just in time to hear the door open. Several people. Three, by the sounds of it. The android and two he doesn't recognize. Getting up from his bed, he recognizes several other things simultaneously: First – he's feeling ace. Incredible, since he felt like shit to various degrees throughout the whole past two months, and even more incredible in the light of yesterday's events. They zapped him, damn it, and it had taken him an eternity to even get back into bed again. And now, all of a sudden, he's evolved into Superman, all over night. No more pain, no more exhaustion, nothing but pure energy surging through his body. He feels like he could run a marathon before breakfast.
His discovery makes him smile, but it dies when he notices something else on his way to the small living room: They activated the stasis barrier. They know he's feeling better, too, and they know he's outrageously pissed at them. They are afraid! The smile's back, a nasty, pleased-with-himself one, as he comes to a halt in the doorway, and – shielding his eyes from the bright light – 'Christ, they wanna blind me now? ' – he watches them fumble around at the monitor there.
"'Morning everybody!" His two human visitors jerk, making him smile. 'Man, I'm finally getting some authority around here, huh?' He creases his brow. "What are you doing? Hey – leave it here!" One of the men is carrying out his monitor. "Hey!"
"Cool it, Hicks," Isis says, whom he ignored so far. "You'll get a new one."
"What's wrong with this one? It was okay when I turned it off last night."
"Callback," she adds with a shrug, and then eyes him a little more thoroughly. "So, how are you feeling today, Soldier? You look quite a lot better than yesterday."
The two workers have left, and now they're alone, only separated by the stasis barrier. Hicks squints into the light, still shielding his eyes. Even though he can't see any details, he feels her scrutinizing look.
"I'm okay." Amazingly enough, it's the truth, even if he can't wrap his brain around the fact himself. And suddenly he remembers what the android told him… about her mission. Sheeit – what is he supposed to make of this? Is she lying? Using another clever strategy to make him perform? Or… he lets go of the door frame to step into the living room and notices how the force-field adjusts to remain between them. A casual glance in the direction of the table. "Dim lights." The computer-controlled atmosphere changes to a twilight which finally enables him to open his eyes fully. "Did you bring me breakfast?"
"In the food-dispenser. You should really know the drill by now."
"Aw, heck!" He directs his steps over there. "Don't tell me it's another serving of this aromatized mud. How about something decent for a change?" He opens the little door and glances into the niche. Sighs. Sure as hell. He pulls the tray out and holds it out for Isis to see, accusation in his voice. "How am I supposed to get well if you keep on feeding me this shit?"
A slight smirk plays around the left corner of her mouth as she stuffs her hands into her frock.
"Seems to me it works just fine. It's actually much healthier than scrambled eggs and bacon and hash browns, you know? But I agree it looks appalling. It's another one of Darwin's little psycho-games, of course."
He hunkers back with the tray and all but lets it fall onto the table to sink into the chair beside it, dimly remembering their last night's conversation.
"The part of the 'quid-pro-quo' arrangement, huh? You wanna eat something that doesn't make you throw up, you have to perform a trick for the Ice Queen?"
"Exactly." She approaches, cocking an eyebrow. "I see you listened to me yesterday after all. Had any time to think about it yet?"
"No need to." He turns his back on her and shovels down the first spoon of mud. "I'm not that cheap."
"Okay…" she stretches the word, looks over to the camera, then back at him. Inhales. "Tell me, what have you got to lose if you comply? Other than your pride, I mean."
""My pride's all I've got left. I'm not going to throw it away for a sandwich." He forces himself to swallow another spoon full and looks his visitor straight in the eye. "I'm not going to turn into a dog for your boss, Isis. Forget it."
"You're even more bullheaded than a herd of cows!" is her reply, accompanied by a head-shake and an audible sigh.
"Thank you." Coming from her, he takes it as a compliment.
"I don't know what you're thanking me for, but…" Another look out of the corners of her eyes in the direction of the camera. A few casual-looking, but well-considered steps, and she blocks the lenses view... and lowers her voice. "Don't look up. You remember what I told you about laying low? About making life as easy for you as you can until-"
"Yeah." Another spoonful.
"I see. You don't believe me yet."
"Why should I?" Hicks pushes back the half-empty bowl and leans back, stretching his arms into the air. "Just because you took my side against queen-bitch for a minute? Nice try, but it'll take more than that to convince me, I'm afraid. Skeptical by nature." He wiggles his eyebrows.
"You know what you should ask yourself, Hicks?" He glances up, noticing how she has positioned herself in the room. Silently, but his eyes say it all. 'Well?' "You should ask yourself whether you can really afford to ignore me. Looks like you got a lot of time on your hands today to think about it. Use it wisely." She turns to leave, but halts again when she hears him saying, in a different tone than before:
"You know what would help? A little honesty."
She turns around, eyebrows meeting her hairline.
"Honesty?"
"Honesty. Tell me about your wonderful project. What you did to me. How it changed me, or will continue to change me. What you expect. What you want. How long you're gonna let me live. Everything you can tell me, you know?"
"Uh…" her hazel eyes go up to camera once more as if looking for help there, but of course, it doesn't come. "Okay, tell you what: I'll clear that up with my boss, and I'll be right back and give you what I can. How is that?"
He shrugs.
"We'll see."
***
"And that's it?"
"That's it." I look up from my folded hands on the table to meet Hicks' inquiring gaze. Now that we toned the light down enough for his hyper-sensitive eyes, he's pinning me like a virus under a microscope. What does he think? How will he react? I told him everything. Darwin put it all into my hands, saying she'd trust my judgment. Wow. So far, I didn't have time to think about it, but – it's really something. She's trusting me to do it right, even if it's a high-risk game. If I play the marine wrongly, he'll give us nothing. So what now? Does he believe me? Is he angry? Shocked? Amused? I can't tell. If I'd have to put a name on the expression he's wearing right now, I'd say he's… sad.
"Let me summarize: I've got night-vision, ultra-tough skin and I'm basically evolving into a super-human, that right?"
"Basically."
"I, uhm… I absorb material through my hands…" he breaks off, turning his palms upward to look at them and grins helplessly. I suppose he's asking himself whether he's still dreaming.
"Not necessarily your hands. As far as we know, everything your skin comes in contact with."
"But there's no way back for me…" The grin falls off his face as sudden as it appeared, while his gaze wanders off distractedly to the false window which displays a clear blue sky. He sucks on his lower lip for a moment, deep in thought.
"To Earth, you mean?" I shake my head. "I'm afraid not. You'd never pass ICC quarantine. The sensors-"
His attention returns to me, and yes, he is definitely sad.
"I didn't mean it like that, but I guess it answers my question. There's no way to reverse the… the process? Those nano- nanobots, they… they're only programmed to work in one direction? They can't undo what they've built?"
What an idea!
"Believe me, Darwin would be thrilled if she knew more about the 'bots. They fall apart under the electron microscope, we haven't find a method yet to study them… let alone understand their programming" His expression darkens. "I'm sorry."
"Likewise you've got no idea whether they're through with me, or… or…" He inhales deeply. "You know… whether they'll turn me into one of those things."
'No, soldier. Sorry.' I shake my head as he goes inside himself for a moment longer. A small nod, then another long, scrutinizing glance. He folds his fingers on the table.
"And what if I'm a success?"
"What do you mean?"
"If I become this indestructible, cold-blooded killer you want-"
I shake my head.
"No, no, no! Weren't you listening? Raven's supposed to become the killer! You're the prototype for the 'perfect soldier'." He laughs acidly.
"Where's the difference?"
I groan and imagine Darwin's bemused features behind the surveillance camera while she listens in on our conversation.
"You know perfectly well. You've killed people before. Does that make you a killer?"
"To some people? Certainly."
"What I mean is, would you define yourself as 'killer'?" An interesting conversation we're having. I didn't see this one coming. And I am equally amazed he's taking the topic and runs with it. No more blocking. Maybe all this loneliness over the last weeks helped in cracking his shell. Maybe Darwin's right again. Heck, what am I thinking? Of course she's right, ain't she always? Even if she isn't the biggest expert on practical human interaction, she knows the theory. Funny, there seems to be genuine surprise in the marine's eyes now, as well. The treatment added a slight metallic touch to the green of his retinas that looks stunning. I hope he doesn't mind my staring.
"I wouldn't. In this job, it's usually kill or be killed. Self-defense. I'm happy if things work out without violence, but I don't have a problem using it, either. That's probably the difference: I don't enjoy it. I only shoot when I have to. Then again, to other people, it would be nothing but playing on words. I kill, therefore I'm a killer." A short break. "So what will you do if I turn out to be everything you wanted to create? Will every soldier in the USCM get that treatment, whether he wants or not?"
"I don't know," I admit honestly. "But I wouldn't think so. We don't know anything about your skills yet. We don't know how controllable you are, or how well you can control your yourself. We don't know what else the 'bots will do to your system. Whether you're the 'finished product', or just in an intermediary state." Bad choice of words, Isis. I see him shiver at the thought and hasten to take the impact from my last words. "We'll have to find out as much as possible over the next few months before we can even remotely start to think about something like that. Right now, we don't know anything."
He clears his throat.
"How are you going to test Raven once he's… altered? Are you going to… I don't know… bring him down to the 'Zoo'? Set him loose among the local wildlife? Or let him have a little sparring with me, even? You know… something like Superman vs. The Hulk? Entertainment for your top-guys?"
"I don't know," I repeat. "You're way too far ahead, I'm afraid. We haven't even subjected him to the treatment yet. It's impossible to predict an outcome if we don't even know yet how he's going to react. Whether he will survive the procedure or not. Your own reaction, after all, was already quite a bit different to those of the test objects before you."
"Yeah?" He narrows his eyes, probably seeing the German journalist in front of his inner eye. "How so?" How the hell did we get into this? It's certainly the topic I want to discuss least with him, aside from his escape attempt, maybe! Good one, Isis!
"Well, for once, you didn't die."
"Like everyone before me." I nod. "You know why?"
"No. It's driving Darwin mad. Apart from a few miniscule alterations, the procedure was the same. You were already half-gone when the seizures suddenly stopped. It looked as if…" I stop. The memory is so vivid, it's still giving me the chills. Those dead eyes of his… the expressionless features…"It looked to us as if the process was suddenly slowed. We don't know why. We don't understand it. And, uh…" Should I really tell him? But maybe this is the key to understanding this state of his? "You, uhm… at this point, you didn't seem to be, uh, there." I can tell I have his undivided attention now. "I… I don't know how to express it, but it seemed as if you were, uh…"
"Possessed?" His voice is cool, detached, in stark contrast to his piercing gaze. For lack of a better word, I nod.
"Yes. You suddenly, uh, blanked out. Your features become all expressionless, even as you continued to fight us like hell. Like an insect, you know? Nothing showed. No rage, no effort… nothing. It was very unsettling."
He snorts.
"You're telling me?"
I place my arms on the table. If I'm interpreting his reply right, then…
"You mean you… you have a memory of these moments? Can you tell me what happened?"
"No." He's lying, I'm sure. His answer's too fast, blocking what potential other questions I might have. He doesn't want to talk about it.
"Come on," I urge him teasingly. "It's happening all the time. You can't tell me you're 'sleepwalking' anytime it happens." His stare turns icy.
"Oh yeah? So you're the expert here, I guess."
"Look, I thought we'd been through this! You cooperate and-"
"Cooperate, my ass!" He virtually jumps up from his chair, sends it toppling over behind him, and suddenly all the anger that had been boiling inside him before flares up to full glory again. "You just want to suck all the facts out of me so that you can weasel back to your boss and impress her. You don't give a rat's ass about me! Forget it! It's not gonna happen!"
"Oh yeah?" I raise my voice, too. "You know what else is not gonna happen? You wanna know what you're missing out on?" I jump to my feet, simultaneously digging my omnipresent remote out of the pockets of my jumpsuit. " Come on, let me show you! And this is just one thing you're never getting around to appreciate! It's not even the best!" I can virtually feel his acid smirk behind me as I depress the button. A gap opens in the otherwise seamless wall. I turn around and gesture him along. "Come on!"
His sigh is another insult. One of those "What's the use?"-sighs. But he takes a step.
"Don't tell me– a theme park solely for me."
I don't acknowledge his cynical tone.
"As a matter of fact – yes. Almost. Look for yourself!" He steps past me, passing me as close by as the stasis barrier will allow him to get, and throws a rather bored glance into the next room.
"More illusos. Wow." He sounds anything but thrilled. I step in after him.
"It's more. It's a 3-D gym. The latest in holo-achievements. Games you wouldn't have dreamt of. Machines –"
"Nothing but the best to ensure your lab rat's staying in prime condition, right?" His eyes wander from the virtual grass to the little fountain on the other side of the room, then up to the blue, slightly crowded sky. "After all, you want the 'Perfect soldier' and not some geeky scarecrow or a fat couch potato who can hardly stand on his own two feet. All this to make sure I get the way you want to have me, and you're selling it to me as if it's meant to be a reward? You guys got a fuckin' cheek!"
"Would you rather prefer your secluded existence in the spacious 35 sqm of your cell?" I sneer. "You wanna sit on that chair all day long and stare at the wall, chatting animatedly with your new alien friends?" His head snaps around, all pseudo-mockery suddenly vanished from his face.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
I take an involuntary step back. He looks plain dangerous. Ready to jump at my throat.
"Those fugue states of yours… you know, those numerous occasions where you blanked out…"
"The dreams." So he does remember them!
"I don't know if they are. So far, you haven't told me anything about them, right? But the CAT scan results showed us something in your brain yesterday which leads us to believe you might be in contact with your, uhm… you know, with them." His face goes white.
"Like what?"
"You might wanna sit down, first."
"What's in my head, dammit?" he yells, eyes wide. Making that first, angry step towards me. If it weren't for the force field, I'm sure he'd throttle me right now.
"Alright, calm down, okay? It's nothing serious, it's just-" He looks as if he were about to faint – or bust a vein. "Come on, sit down."
"Tell me already, or- What the fuck did you do to me? Did you open my skull? Did you – did you perform brain surgery on me?" A hand goes up into his hair; as if he could feel it there.
"We didn't do anything. Apparently, the 'bots built it. Judging from how early you developed those fugue states, it must have been the first thing they established."
"What?"
"It's – we think – some sort of communicator. A field of microscopic aerials, sitting right in the middle of your brain. We were wondering – Hicks?" His eyes are huge.
"Oh fuck… shit…" He stumbles back, both hands holding his head as if he were afraid it'd fall off if he didn't hold on to it.
"Hicks?"
The pyramid. The hive. The … the queen. Not a dream after all? Was she in his head, poking around in his mind, his memories? Is he being manipulated by a giant bug? Is she here with him? Right now? Listening with his ears? Seeing with his eyes? Lurking? Using him to… what? Entertain her? Free her?
"You got an entire hive on this station?" he manages to whisper against the feeling of liquid nitrogen in his innards. "An entire hive… with a queen?"
Now it's the android's turn to look stunned. But she doesn't deny it.
"How do you know?"
"She told me."
"What?" An unbelieving stare. Checking. Is he just trying to fool her? He gives her a weak smile in return. "You are chatting with them?"
"Not verbally. She's sending me images… I think. I – I thought – I thought they were dreams."
Isis looks incredulous. All this, this massive breakthrough in communication, out of the blue… this is big. Most certainly bigger than even her boss would have thought. And Hicks is already feeling a pang of guilt and anger well up inside of him over telling her. But this is too much! If he'd have to cope with this all by himself, it would drive him mad! It probably still will. Knowing what's going on doesn't soothe you when you realize it's the presence of another being in your mind – an alien being! What's schizophrenia against this? He slumps onto the couch, all strength sucked out of him all of a sudden. Trying to feel the lurking mind in the back of his head.
"They weren't." Isis comes after him, casually closing the door with a click on her remote control. It's no longer important. She sits down opposite him, absent-mindedly smoothing away a fold in her jumpsuit. "At least I don't think so. What was it, Dwayne? What did they show you?"
He's too preoccupied with himself to notice her switch to his first name. Suddenly, he snaps back, determination on his face.
" I want it out, you hear me? You got to cut it out!"
"We can't." Matter-of-factly. "It's sitting on a part of your brain we can't operate on. And Darwin would rather die than destroy what she's achieved so far."
"She's got no right to do that to me!"
A tiny nod.
"No. But that doesn't stop her. You know that. She not going to eradicate any changes the 'bots have done to you, and even if she did, they would probably rebuild it." A leaden silence. "You know what I would do in your place?" She lowers her voice again, sinks to that confidential tone she's already been using while she shared her secrets with him yesterday. She's sitting with her back to the camera again, and Hicks knows enough of her by now to understand that it's not by accident. He swallows what he wants to say and forces himself to listen. "Use it. Use it to get out of here. Use it to get even. They don't know what powers you're developing. They may be able to detect a few, like your increased range of vision, but they can't measure everything. Play along by giving them little bits and pieces, just enough to get some of the rewards and make life more pleasant for you … but hold back a few surprises. Take this as a game of poker. When the moment comes, you've got to have a full hand. When the time's there, present them with your Royal Flush. Stun them. And while they're stunned, use the moment to get the hell out of here. I'll help you do it. You know my biggest secret. Tell me yours. I promise, no, I swear I won't tell a soul. But I've got to know what you're capable of in order to help you."
He swallows, feeling his heart beating furiously in his chest. Does She know why he's so agitated all of a sudden? Can she feel him? And Isis… Isis… what to make of her? He wants to believe her! He needs somebody in this mess, he can't shoulder it all alone… but… But, hell, this is all getting too much!" Somehow, without him consciously making it, his decision's there. It's not a decision of the mind, but the gut. He swallows, meets her urgent glance… and gives her the tiny nod she's not seriously been expecting.
"Okay." Her eyes grow huge, and whatever she just wanted to say, the fact that she suddenly got his cooperation after all these weeks of fighting lets her shut her mouth again… and smile. "One try. If I find out you're screwing me, that'll be it. Got that?"
She nods.
"Don't worry, Dwayne. Whatever you tell me will be safe. Only-" A sudden glint in her eyes. "I've got to tell Rogue. My maker. Will that be all right? After all, he' working against W.Y.. He'll need the facts to present your case to the public."
"But he's the only one."
"'course." She looks excited, and Hicks can feel ants walking up and down his spine himself. Things are happening now. Wheels are starting to turn. Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, he can't tell yet. But it's better than waiting. "Just one more thing…"
"Yes?"
"If this is supposed to work, we need to be able to talk freely on a regular basis. We can't do it here, with the camera and all. It'll look suspicious if I constantly turn my back to the camera for 15 minutes in a row. Take that deal I offered you. Ask for the walks in the park. They will grant it to you if you answer a few of their questions… "
"I know something better…" Now that he made up his mind, Hicks is starting to pursue the idea with everything he's got, even if the morning's taken on a decidedly surreal quality. He doesn't deem it totally impossible that someone will shake his shoulder and wake him up any second now. It can still be all nothing but a dream. Narrowing his eyes in anticipation of her response, he throws his suggestion at her. "Take a dose of Xeno-genes."
His proposition knocks the wind out of her artificial lungs, and while they're – presumably – on the same side now, he can't help but feel grim satisfaction over it.
"What?" It's supposed to be a whisper, but it comes out as a hiss.
"Let the 'bots build one of their communication centers in your head, and we can chat 24/7 without them ever knowing." His tone insinuates he's serious, as outrageous as his suggestion sounds.
"That's-"
"The only plan that's making any sense."
"I'm not human, Dwayne! I don't know what Xeno-genes would do to my anatomy!" She leans forward, elbows placed on her knees. Pleading. She knows he's right, but having a piece of her own medicine… well, that's something else, right? Right, Ms. Android? Sorry, Cyborg?"
"Didn't you say you're part human?"
"Yes. My flesh. Muscle tissue, skin… my brain, however, is not. It's a CPU with a self-evolving program. There's no way they could build something like this thing in your head there! God knows what they'd do to me – they'd probably tear me apart to build I-don't-know-what !" Her voice is hardly audible, but the tone's intense nevertheless. Hicks shrugs, hardly impressed.
"Why don't you try? If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. Easy as that." He leans back. "Anyway, I think they want something from you." He indicates a blinking red light below the camera. "Time's up for now."
She gets up without taking her eyes of him.
"What should I tell them?"
"Tell the Ice Queen if she wants answers from me, she's got to come down here herself. And she should bring a recorder to tape the list of demands I'm going to throw at her."
A slight smile from the android.
"Sounds massive."
"My answers are valuable. She's not gonna get them at a bargain rate." He turns his back on his guest, dismissing her. "Tell her that." He hardly hears the door opening and closing behind him as he switches his mind back to the wealth of facts his caretaker presented him. Still unable to grasp the full meaning of what they did to him. Still wanting to wake up from this mess, even if he should find himself in that empty holding cell again where they locked him up after his escape attempt. Everything would be preferable to this. He's… a half-breed now? Part alien, part human? A hybrid? His dreams… they were no dreams, but messages from another being, that's so utterly, revoltingly different, it makes him sick just thinking about it? It's impossible. Is it? How can it be? How can a vicious, bloodthirsty, ugly bug from outer space know how to communicate with him? 'It's nothing but a fuckin' joke, right, Isis? Still trying to get even with me for killing your friend, are you?' His stare goes up to the camera in a vain attempt to see what's lying behind it, eyes narrowed until they're nothing but slits. Seeing a weak, blue vapor around it, but his mind is so preoccupied, he doesn't register the change in his vision. There is a way of confirming his suspicion, right? He can do it, even if his innards cringe at the mere thought of going there. But what else should he do? What else but go into himself, to collect himself, all senses turned inward. To focus on that little ball of alien tissue that's supposed to sit in his brain. To find it… to sense it… to find out how to use it… and to slowly, carefully, reach out…
***
'Take a dose of Xeno-genes…' He must be crazy! He's not seriously expecting me to, is he? Just because he couldn't do anything about Darwin giving them to him, that doesn't mean I'll have to suffer the same! He just wants to see me in agony. He wants to have a good laugh, right? I still didn't get through to him. He's playing with me. It's that sick, warped human humor I'll never be able to get, and he's using me as his own, private entertainment!
But he's right! How long would we be able to keep up the secrecy if we did it 'the old-fashioned' way? How long until Darwin – or worse, Kurtz! – found out we're not enemies anymore, that we united against - them? How would we manage to constantly avoid the cameras with their in-built microphones, however weak they are? Darwin's far too smart to be led on for very long. We're not going to be able to plot the fall of Weyland Yutani right under her nose. So… what to do instead?
I look at the probe in my hand. A thin glass cylinder with the dark substance. The substance which my inner turmoil is all about. To take it – or not? 'What would you guys do to me?' I enhance my vision as much as possible, actually believing I see something moving in the liquid. But that's stupid. I may have good eyesight, but I'm not a microscope.
"Isis? Isis, come on! Are you dreaming?" Laughter rips me out of my thoughts. It's no sympathetic laughter, and as I turn around from the cabinet, closing the door from which I took the cylinder a moment ago, I see Darwin standing in front of me, her brow rippled, eyes on me. She isn't the one who's laughing, however. It's someone from her staff, behind her. They love to see me getting it from my boss. Strangely enough, today I couldn't care less. Their laughter sounds nervous, and I am probably just a welcome distraction from the fact that there's less than thirty minutes left before we'll be handling the most violent murderer in human history… to make him even more of a predator! "Are you listening?"
"I'm sorry, Boss. I was-" But she doesn't hear me out, which is probably good, as I don't know how to continue my sentence anyway. A small nod towards the cylinder.
"Be careful with that. It's the last sample we've got. I've got to start working on a new batch tomorrow, but if you let it fall, you'll ruin our little evening party."
"I won't. Don't worry, Darwin." Did she ever see me let something fall? The others have already turned back to their tasks, having lost their interest in me, but Darwin's gaze stays on me for a while longer. Must have been my tone. Just when I expect her to open her mouth again for one of her trademark icy replies, she surprises me by turning her back on me, pretending to inspect the operation table one last time. Twenty minutes until that monster will lie there. Twenty minutes. They've already gone down to collect him.
"Did you check on the stasis caster, Isis? It's probably the single most important item in this room tonight."
"It's in perfect condition," I assure her, aiming the device jokingly at her back while she doesn't see it.
"Are you?"
Just like that, out of the blue. She doesn't even turn her head. I'm taken aback by her calculating tone. What is that supposed to mean?
"Of course I am." I step up to her, pretending to inspect the forest of IV-bottles and lilnes at the head-end of the table. "Why do you ask?" Immediately I wish I didn't ask, but too late. Her pale eyes find me for a second.
"You don't seem to be yourself today. You never were distracted before. Not so distracted you didn't hear me anymore, anyway."
Uh-oh…
"I-"
"We don't have the time to discuss that issue right now. All I'm asking of you is not to let that happen while we're working on Raven. A single mistake could be lethal. You know that."
"Yes."
"We're all placing our lives in your hands, Isis. Don't dream."
I nod, not knowing what to say. Somehow, there's an inner tension building in me I never felt before. I guess this is what humans refer to as 'pressure'. I could do without it, really! Silently cursing Rogue for the millionth time since the new program took a hold of me, I turn around as I hear the ominous hiss of the pressurized doors. The sound is electrifying, not just to me.
"They're coming."
"I hope he's really out cold."
"If Isis screws up…"
The arrival of the human monster is accompanied by a rising level of murmur all around me. They're all afraid. Most of them experienced first-hand what the marine was able to do during the treatment – and Raven's about twice as massive, and thoroughly evil!
My thumb plays with the remote's buttons as I watch the hover-stretcher with the giant's limp form approach. The tension in the room is almost unbearable. We all know what will happen if Raven wakes up before we've strapped him to the table. I raise the stasis-caster. Not to calm the others, but to calm myself. Is this fear I'm feeling? Or merely nervousness? Whatever it is, I don't like it. Wistfully remembering how cool I was when I guided the alien down to Lab 4 for its little sparring with the late Mack, I turn to the instruments. Raven's close enough now for his PDT to transmit its data into the main system and for me to see at once he's definitely not faking his sleep. A glance at the readouts shows me that they knocked him out with one third more of a dose than Hicks, just to be on the safe side. The massive amount of sedative in his blood would potentially be lethal to anyone without his impressive physique, but all it did to him was send him to Neverland. I wish we could go through the whole procedure while he were sleeping. Why does Darwin want him to be awake, anyway?
"Isis?"
"He's a mile under. No danger." I stuff the remote in my pocket and help the others to unstrap Raven and lift him onto the operating table. Not so much as a twitch from him. We close the metal restraints around his ankles, hip, wrists and neck and fix his head in an overstretched position. While Darwin inserts the tube and we're forced to stand back and watch, I can't help but admire the killer's incredible body. Pure, raw power. It would be awe-inspiring if it weren't connected to that evil mind. I saw Raven in that unconscious state once before, when he arrived. Even in cryo-sleep, there was this slight trace of a malicious smile on his lips that made me uncomfortable. It's there now, too. And this time, it's really giving me the creeps. It's as if he's just waiting … 'Geez, get a grip!' I bark at myself, seeing how Darwin's already hooking him up to the ventilator, and the rapid infuser's already applied to his neck, too. We're ready to go.
I stare at the tube and can't help wondering whether I'll have to break his jaws open, too, to rescue our guinea pig from suffocating if he bites through the plastic. I don't want to put my fingers between his teeth…!
"Ready, everybody?" Darwin has the syringe with the xeno-genes already in her hand and looks at us. Not even she knows what the next minutes and hours will bring. If she's nervous, she's a master of disguise. She looks nothing if not 100% concentrated. We all nod dutifully, exchanging concerned looks with each other. Lance, Samuel, Mariah … there are even two guards in the back of the room, heavily armed. If it comes to the worst… My boss looks satisfied. "Good." She shifts her attention back to the IV-line in her other hand, opens it. An alarm rises from the instrument board. I recognize it at once.
"He's starting to wake." More uncomfortable looks. Bracing for the next minutes, for the fight we're all expecting. Darwin inserts the needle into the IV-line and pushes the dark liquid into the solution. A first drop starts to make its way down to the killer's arm…
She is in the middle of teaching when she feels the new connection. The creature which connected to the stream a while ago made a clumsy attempt to get in contact with her. It wasn't purposeful or skillful, like it knew what it was doing, but since she was lurking in it's database anyway, ordering the nanobots to give her more information about the being, she felt its feeble reach and responded with a clear image of herself. Meaning she was listening. The response was immediate, a flood of a substance being released into the being's system which caused its generator to accelerate, to contract the muscles and prepare its body for battle. She realizes this reaction as the common one of other creatures to her own race. Not that she encountered many different species in her short life. That knowledge lies embedded in her programming. As a weapon, she was created to detect that substance in her enemies, to follow its trail and bring the creature exuding it down. She can almost taste the substance's ripe sweetness through the nanobots' transmission, and it fills her with rage. She wants to tear, to rip into the warm, pulsating life, to swallow it and fill up her vast, empty storage with nutrients she needs so desperately by now. The food the creatures give her is not sufficient. It'll keep her and her offspring alive for a while, but she won't be able to develop further. Too many components are missing. How to get them? Not through the one who's joined them, as mouth-watering as its transmitted taste appears. She needs it to learn from. Maybe it will help them. But first, she has to make it understand.
She's in the middle of sending back a sophisticated reply to the crude image she received, when there's another tug at her mind. Another one of these things! Excited, she turns her attention to it. Where are they all coming from? She knows how to proceed now. Slowly. Carefully. Seeing, tasting and sensing through the nanobots on their journey through uncharted territory…
A thin line of blood starts to trickle from Raven's nose. While symptoms like these made us nervous before, we know by now they're part of the game. But I still hesitate to go anywhere near him. I can clean him up later. I don't want to lean over him when he wakes up and finds out what we did to him. As if he heard my thoughts, Raven's eyes snap open, and we all jump back.
"Isis!"
"I got him!" I aim the stasis-caster at him, ready to use it at the first sign of trouble. Behind me is the familiar sound of the instruments going berserk.
The creature's different. There's fear, yes, at first. But it quickly shifts into rage. It's fighting her entry! It's clear it doesn't know how to, but it's impressive nevertheless. All that ferocity, aimed at her! It wants to kill her, to force her out of his mind! Just once one glimpse into it's data-base is enough to know what she's dealing with, now that she learned how to decipher the images: It's a predator, just like her. She didn't know this species had them. Interesting. It's physical power is astonishing given that it's of the same race as the others who couldn't take her. Compared to her kind, it is still weak, but maybe… maybe she can put it to good use…
"He's biting through the tube!"
'Please, not again!' Raven's massive jaws clench, and his teeth sever the plastic as if it were a piece of celery.
"Isis!"
'Please, I don't wanna do this!' But I obey and grab what's left of the mouthpiece to pull it out of the killer's trachea. The colorless eyes find me, and for a micro-second, I freeze. It's not just the eerie experience of being in the human beast's focus – but the odd impression of having two beings staring at me out of the same eyes! It stuns me for a microsecond – for too long. Before I can react, Raven's right hand comes flying at me – tearing apart the metal restraint as if it weren't there and grabbing my hand with the stasis-caster just as I depress the button. Crunching my fingers around it and cutting off the beam. Crushing my fingers! A white bolt hits my CPU, and I scream.
"Help her! Lance, Samuel!"
"Get him off!"
"Wait, I'll knock him out!"
A ruckus of shouts all around me, but I haven't got the time to identify them. Raven's freed his other hand, and blood spatters around as the IV-line is ripped from his vein as he buries his fingers in my throat!
"Shoot! Shoot him!" Don't know who that is, but can't be Darwin. Everything becomes a blur as I fight for my life. With my free hand, I go for his eyes, not caring what Darwin will say if I pop them back into his skull. It's him or me! But he just stretches his arm, and I can't reach him! Blood's spilling down my neck at an alarming rate. Can I die from blood-loss?
"No! Don't!" Sounds like my boss, alright. Just the thing for her to say. It's not her life on the line. My first attempt dismissed as futile, I bring my free hand down hard into the pit of Raven's elbow, feeling the bone shatter. He's holding on, but his grip is weaker. Another blow. He let's go of my throat, but still got my hand, squashed to a pulp around the remote. Trying to squash the remote along with it!
"Help me! Get him off me!" I get a grip on his wrist in an attempt to break it, but only for a moment. With a sharp 'twang' of busted metal, the giant sits up, the restraints around his neck and head burst, his huge head only inches from my face. I knock my brow against his nose with all the power I can muster – and feel his teeth dig into my cheek!
She's gotten better at it. All the research she did with the first body, all her efforts at understanding and using it without destroying it are finally paying off. The creature is like an elaborate marionette in her mind-grasp, controlled by the micro-machines in its body. And it is no longer fighting her. It's participating willingly in the battle against her captors, supplying her a wealth of raw power to use. The transmission brings her an overwhelming taste of blood. A taste of the enemy. She doubles her efforts.
'Can't get him off… Can't – can't keep him at bay…"
I'm falling apart. Raven's smashed me against the console as if he wanted to drive me right through it, submitting me not only to the shock of the impact, but to a dozen or more short-outs. Burning me. Causing my muscles to spasm. The electrical impulses play havoc with my systems. Both my hardware and my flesh is being crippled. I never thought I could lose against anyone, but –
I drive up my knee against his groin, a trick I heard of from someone of the female staff, ages back. A hit, but I lack the necessary power to bring him down. He simply grins, showing me his bloodied teeth in the parody of a smile, filling out my vision. Blood gushes down from his nose and a cut from his cheek, but he doesn't even seem to notice. He's holding me one-handed, the other arm useless, and still there's nothing I can do. Looking into his eyes, I know I'm not only fighting him. This other presence is there as well, watching me squirm in its grip. I can see it in the colorless retinas. This is not like Hicks. Not the blank, expressionless features he displayed during the fight. Raven's there, enjoying it. Loving every second of it.
He opens his mouth to say something. I can almost read it in his eyes. But nothing comes. His lips move, but there's no sound. And then he is gone, and only the other presence remains – and buries its teeth in my face again.
The taste makes her mad. It's the first time she's able to kill for herself, even if it's only in her mind. Even if the transmitted data are but a weak echo of the real thing. She doesn't know that. She wants more! And suddenly, a huge white flash hits her!
"Clear!"
A surge of electrical current, greater than even the short-outs. To much for my sensitive circuits. I want to yell, but I can't. My eyes fold. Hearing, too. It is Darwin's voice I take with me into the blackness…
She pulls back, furious. Hungry. Just when she thought she had one of them, they drove her out with another EMP. Her drones circle her, agitated. Sensing her anger. She needs to find a defense against this weapon. She can't run the risk of destroying her sensitive neural net each time she plunges into those creatures. But she needs to do it if they ever want a chance to get out of their prison. There must be a way. There must be… and she'll find it. Meanwhile, it's back to the other one for her. She needs to learn more, yet. And the other will give it to her…