Disclaimer: Please see Prologue
Part Eleven: Seeds
"We can't take them alone. We are going to need help. I say we call the police. I know we have no right to protection here, since we are offworlders... but we might as well try. We've got to save the rest of our crew."
"You're right, Rosie. We are so used to doing things on our own that we never even contacted the police. We're going to need some help."
[pic]
"Lifestealers. That's what we call them. We've hunted them for years, with no luck... you can't even tell when someone is a lifestealer unless you scan them deep and get lucky finding the seed inside."
"Seed?" asked Radu. He, as well as Harlan and Rosie, stood in the office of the only police officer on Derez who would listen to them. It seemed that Derez's motto was "if you come here with no money and take ours, and in the meantime have no citizenship, then we won't bother you as long as you don't bother us." The only reason that this guy was helping them, they realized, was because he had a personal vendetta against the lifestealers.
"The true body of a lifestealer starts off as a tiny brain casing, about a two-inch sphere. The first body of their species is a humanoid similar to a Derezian, except the head is much smaller since the brain is in the torso, in the seed. The way they evolved gave them the tendrils in order to feed off other animals. They are the other native sentient species on this planet. Normally, their species is peaceful and an ally to Derezians. Once in a while, a mutation occurs which leads them to produce an offspring with molecular psychokinetic power over its own cells. This is a metamorph, or a lifestealer. Because a lifestealer can manipulate its own body, it can shapeshift into whatever it pleases, which normally isn't much. However, these mutants can also assimilate the DNA of others into their own bodies, sometimes draining another creature of all of its mass entirely. They starve their victims. Once a lifestealer has the DNA of another person, it can become that person all the way down to the molecular level.
"Normally, when a child of the species is born with this power, he or she is taught from birth to be careful and that he or she has the potential to kill. Sometimes, one of those children decides not to listen... it's usually the homicidal, psychotic ones. That child grows up to be what you have run into.
"Their motive is obvious: they saw you as a way to get off of this planet. Crews of less than seven are always subjected to deep scans before being allowed to leave the planet to make sure they are not carrying a lifestealer among their crew. Crews of seven or more are questioned and any suspicious characters are also scanned. This group intends to take over your ship."
"Will you help us?" asked Radu.
"Help you? No! We don't have the personnel to go get ourselves killed for offworlders. I'd love to see these lifestealers put to justice, but I've seen too many good men killed by one. All I can say is, if you destroy the seed, you destroy the mind. That's all I can say."
"Thank you."
[pic]
Part Eleven: Seeds
"We can't take them alone. We are going to need help. I say we call the police. I know we have no right to protection here, since we are offworlders... but we might as well try. We've got to save the rest of our crew."
"You're right, Rosie. We are so used to doing things on our own that we never even contacted the police. We're going to need some help."
[pic]
"Lifestealers. That's what we call them. We've hunted them for years, with no luck... you can't even tell when someone is a lifestealer unless you scan them deep and get lucky finding the seed inside."
"Seed?" asked Radu. He, as well as Harlan and Rosie, stood in the office of the only police officer on Derez who would listen to them. It seemed that Derez's motto was "if you come here with no money and take ours, and in the meantime have no citizenship, then we won't bother you as long as you don't bother us." The only reason that this guy was helping them, they realized, was because he had a personal vendetta against the lifestealers.
"The true body of a lifestealer starts off as a tiny brain casing, about a two-inch sphere. The first body of their species is a humanoid similar to a Derezian, except the head is much smaller since the brain is in the torso, in the seed. The way they evolved gave them the tendrils in order to feed off other animals. They are the other native sentient species on this planet. Normally, their species is peaceful and an ally to Derezians. Once in a while, a mutation occurs which leads them to produce an offspring with molecular psychokinetic power over its own cells. This is a metamorph, or a lifestealer. Because a lifestealer can manipulate its own body, it can shapeshift into whatever it pleases, which normally isn't much. However, these mutants can also assimilate the DNA of others into their own bodies, sometimes draining another creature of all of its mass entirely. They starve their victims. Once a lifestealer has the DNA of another person, it can become that person all the way down to the molecular level.
"Normally, when a child of the species is born with this power, he or she is taught from birth to be careful and that he or she has the potential to kill. Sometimes, one of those children decides not to listen... it's usually the homicidal, psychotic ones. That child grows up to be what you have run into.
"Their motive is obvious: they saw you as a way to get off of this planet. Crews of less than seven are always subjected to deep scans before being allowed to leave the planet to make sure they are not carrying a lifestealer among their crew. Crews of seven or more are questioned and any suspicious characters are also scanned. This group intends to take over your ship."
"Will you help us?" asked Radu.
"Help you? No! We don't have the personnel to go get ourselves killed for offworlders. I'd love to see these lifestealers put to justice, but I've seen too many good men killed by one. All I can say is, if you destroy the seed, you destroy the mind. That's all I can say."
"Thank you."
[pic]