000 Disclaimer, I own nothing, not a sausage 000 Whoa! Huge thanks for the ace reviews go to: firebirdgirl (I don't know whether this will confuse you more lol), Roaring Mice, Rinne, West Dean (Oh, you had me blushing so badly!), JacobedRose, GoddessAnjanee, Cha Oseye Tempest Thrain (That review meant a lot, thanks :) ), The Libran Iniquity (So you like Walters now? lol I'll try not to kill him but I promise nothing!) and Tata. Sorry about the slow update but between school, homework, work and rehersals for Jesus Christ Superstar I've not got much time to do anything else.000
The scene became oddly detached as Trip watched Walters hit the ground, everything seemed to slow. It felt like he was watching himself push Lily behind one of the leftover barricades from whatever fight had happened there previously.
He watched himself raised his phase pistol, just in time for a muscular, breathing, living version of one of the corpses to throw himself at Malcolm.
To Malcolm, it felt like he'd just had a small tank slam into his midsection. Winded and stumbling, Malcolm was incredibly surprised to find that the punch he threw back at the attacker actually made contact.
Of course a second later, Malcolm had the vague sense that he had just punched something reinforced with concrete.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Trip and Lily with their phase pistols out. The alien was screaming nonsensical words at him and started to hit any available body part. The alien knocked Malcolm down and pinned him to the ground. A well placed punch had Malcolm seeing stars.
The phase pistols weren't working; the alien simply shook off the shots. Trip upped the setting and fired again. This time the alien grunted and turned to Trip screaming another stream of nonsense.
In all the commotion, Walters had been able to crawl unnoticed to where the alien's weapon had been discarded. His fingers lightly brushed the handle…
Trip kept firing giving Malcolm chance to move away, Lily joined him. The alien staggered for a moment before lunging at Trip.
Trip felt something warm spray across his face and watched in morbid fascination as the alien slowly sank to the ground in front of him – minus the back of his head.
Walters dropped the alien gun and let himself flop back down. Lily ran to his side.
"Joe!"
He didn't respond for a moment. Lily bent down and winced. Walters' leg was a mess, the bullet had been slightly off target but it had still ripped through the side of his leg. "Joe! Speak to me!"
Walters blinked and offered her a smile. Malcolm staggered towards them panting. Trip merely stared at the body on the floor in front of him before slowly moving to join them.
"We need to get him out of here," said Malcolm gesturing towards the leg.
Trip bent down to examine Walters' leg. Trip unzipped the top half of his uniform and whipped off his black shirt. He zipped his uniform up again and used the shirt to apply pressure on Walters wound.
Walters gasped, Lily held his hand tightly. Malcolm glanced round the room. Every door had closed…bar one. The only open door was the one the alien had come barrelling through.
"We're being manipulated!" Malcolm exclaimed suddenly. "Everywhere we go only certain doors open, we're being led somewhere!"
"Probably to more never-die aliens," said Lily looking worriedly across at Trip. "Captain, what are we going to do?"
Trip paused a moment. There was no other choice. If they stayed where they were Walters would almost certainly bleed out and die in some alien facility. If they left there was a possibility they would find an exit…or at least who had been leading them round. Walters sighed.
"D'ya think you can walk?" Trip asked finally.
Walters closed his eyes for a second and nodded. Trip secured the makeshift shirt bandage in position and with Malcolm's help brought Walters to his feet. Lily moved forward to take his weight.
The lights came on in the corridor up ahead. Malcolm raised his phase pistol and led the way. When they had made it through, the door slid shut and a new one opened up on the right.
The plaque on the wall faded into English. It said simply: 'Records'
The second all of them were in the room, the lights dimmed, the door slid shut and a recording began to play, the voice echoing round the room.
Chief Medical Officer Iain: Day 6205:
Two aliens have been found in a crashed spacecraft on the eastern side of the complex. I-officers Iyen and Iso were sent on retrieval and took them to Angels Iona and Isobel for downloading.
They were both brought to me. According to procedure their wounds were not treated and an appropriate sample was retrieved from both.
The largest alien, Original Alpha, woke during the procedure and the smallest, Original Brava, woke during the initial examination.
After procedure completion Iyen and Iso returned the aliens to their spacecraft where they were retrieved 60 minutes later.
Not long after this the samples collected were injected into the main system and subjects Alpha and Brava were prepped to receive Original Alpha and Brava memories.
They were returned to Angels Iona and Isobel approximately 120 minutes later.
Chief Medical Officer Iain: Day 6206:
Created a new version of Subject Alpha and proceeded with dissection. Even without memories I found it interesting to note that Subject Alpha still displayed emotion and screamed as I cut it open…
... I have begun mapping their genetic code. If possible a female of this species should be found for further study.
Chief Medical Officer Iain: Day 8027:
Angel Iona has reported that Subject Brava is not responding well to the switch in the scenario. I have supplied her with drugs to keep him under.
On examination, Subject Brava appears healthy.
Angel Isobel was found dead at her station, cause of death - electrocution. This suggests she attempted unauthorised access into the Main Computer. However, They have ordered that Angel Isobel be recreated immediately. In the meantime Subject Alpha is being watched over by Nurse Iona.
Chief Medical Officer Iain: Day 8031:
Subject Brava awoke from the scenario due to the incompetence of Angel Iona. Angel Iona inserted Subject Brava into a Mercy Scenario before being recycled by Iyen.
Angel Iona will not be recreated. The previous five models have shown that she is an unreliable worker. Her sample has been erased from the computer.
Subject Brava has been removed to Angel Isobel's care.
Chief Medical Officer Iain: Day 8191:
The facility has come under attack; I fear this will be my last recording before the end. Enemy troops have broken in. I-Officers are being slaughtered faster than they can be recreated.
The only remaining Subjects not murdered by the enemy are Subjects Alpha and Brava. I have instructed Iyen to guard them...
What? No! Please! I beg you! I knew nothing! Spare me! Have mercy! Aaaargh!
Repeated shots echoed round the room and the recording fell silent. The lights came back on. Both Malcolm and Trip had their hands on their stomachs as if trying to feel their identical scars through the fabric of their uniforms.
"They cloned you!"Lily whispered. She swallowed trying to quell her rising nausea. "Oh God, they dissected a living clone of you, they're studying living clones of you."
There was no answer.
000 Please review! Also, if you review feel free to ask questions about the plot, and I'll try to answer them (just so I can be totally aware of what people are confused about) 000