Shadow crouched, watching his opponent. The other was completely still, waiting for his attack.
Well, if it was a waiting game, he could play that.
The other seemed to be nonplussed by this response, and broke the tension with a vicious swipe.
Shadow dodged, leapt to a higher branch, and then began his favourite method of approach – the rapid 'bounce' between walls, or any similar objects, that put almost any opponent off-balance. The other tried to predict the motion, and stabbed viciously, but he had expected that. Breaking the pattern, he once again threw the other off, and with a screech of triumph, he leapt.
His opponent stumbled backwards, trying to gain some room, but failed to get out of range. Shadow landed neatly on her chest, knocking her over, opened his jaws ready for the killing blow, and…
>Better,> he commented, helping Othar'a up. >But you need to get the image of 'stupid predictable Alien' out of your head. You tried to stay one step of me, I took advantage of that, and the rest is history.>
"It doesn't help that you're considerably faster than any kainde I've ever seen," she grumbled.
>If it's any consolation, you'd have killed any normal drone with ease there. But…>
"I know. Be ready to face any enemy without expectation."
>Exactly. You did much better when we first met, because you had no time to think – you had to rely on instinct. Let's try again.>
They returned to their starting positions.
Nothing moved for several minutes.
>Good,> Shadow said softly. >If you don't know what you're up against, never make the first move…>
"Please," Othar'a snarled. "I have been training all my life. I don't need an ex-ooman kainde amedha giving me hunting advice."
Shadow leapt, and Othar'a was a fraction too slow in blocking him.
The collision never occurred, though. To his consternation, Shadow found himself being hauled back by the tail.
With a vicious flick, he extracted himself from the iron grip. Spinning to face his opponent, he found himself crushed under Othar'a's weight.
"And that, my little friend, is why you never turn your back on a Yautja," she said with a chuckle.
"Would you please explain what is going on, Othar'a?" said Kal'Arak'e plaintively. "I slow down the kainde amedha attacking you, but instead of finishing it, you merely pin it down."
"Brother, meet Shadow," said Othar'a formally. "He found us this place for you to recover from your injury. He's…"
>Complicated,> Shadow offered. >Now will you get off me? We Xenomorphs might be well-built, but getting crushed by a several hundred-kilo alien hunter will affect anything.>
Kal'Arak'e stared. "Telepathy? But why didn't you communicate with us before?"
>Because I couldn't. I didn't know the… shape, for want of a better word, of your minds. Othar'a and I linked our minds and shared memories.>
"I don't know," the Predator grumbled. "I visit Cetanu for an hour, and the world seems to turn upside-down."
>Let me fill you in…>
"I can't wait to see the look on Shadow's face when he finds out," commented Holly, looking at the newly created retrovirus.
>Same here,> said Spiketail. >I suggest that you lie down. Shadow's transformation took around half an hour. Since this version is more advanced, it should only be five minutes, but you should make yourself comfortable. Especially as it's very painful at times.>
Holly lay on the floor, and pressed the injector against her arm. "Funny to think this is the last time I'll see the world through these eyes."
She activated the injector.
Billions of the microscopic organisms flooded into her bloodstream, and split up, all heading for the locations that their very DNA was attracted to.
The skin was the first change. The pink, human colour bleached out and slowly changed to the signature black of a Xenomorph. The texture changed as well – it was still yielding, but now felt elastic rather than flexible.
Organs shifted to fit strange new proportions. Her abdomen seemed to collapse on itself, leaving little more than the spine and hips.
Her head extended, stretching the skin with a painful squeaking sound. The skull shifted position on the neck, and the teeth lengthened and sharpened.
The tongue lengthened dramatically, spilling several inches out of her mouth before contracting. It rounded, becoming a tube, and the trademark inner jaws sprouted at the end.
Abruptly she cried out, a sound already changing into the bizarre shriek of an Alien. "My eyes!" she hissed. "I can't see…"
Even as she spoke, the eyeballs dissolved into their sockets, which in turn stretched out to form a smooth dome with the rest of the skull.
And then Holly screamed. Skin all over the body stretched grotesquely as the newly-forming inner exoskeleton squeezed flesh. In places the skin broke, and blood that was not quite red and not quite yellow dripped onto the floor.
With a ripping sound, her clothes shredded as the tail sprouted at astonishing speed. Simultaneously, claws sprouted from her hands, and as the shoes exploded from the pressure, fully Alien feet were revealed.
She screamed again, and smoke trailed from her mouth as sections of her body that were not yet acid-resistant were burnt away.
The ridges along the back and tail sprouted, and the few remnants of her clothing snapped off.
Spiketail looked at the limp body carefully. If there were any more changes to come, they were internal.
Where Holly had been, there was now a fully-grown drone.
>Pain…>
>You will recover,> replied Spiketail. > What was damaged during the change will regenerate soon.>
>If I'd had any idea it would be like that, I might have though twice,> Holly said with a shaky laugh.
>How does the world look now?>
>It's… more. I can see you in four different ways, and everything else in at least two. I don't know how to describe it…>
>You don't have to,> said Spiketail amusedly. >I can see it as well. Come. There's a whole world for you to see.>
The two Aliens leapt for the ceiling, and disappeared through the air vent.
>I'd have thought that Vathris would have blocked up a security risk like that,> commented Holly. > I wondered how you'd got in.>
>It's hard to keep us out if we want in,> replied Spiketail. > Quite a few people have discovered that. Although they usually only discover it once.>
They reached a junction where the vents opened out slightly.
>Good. Time to begin.>
>Begin what?>
Spiketail spun, and knocked Holly into the wall. > Begin telling the truth. Or rather, begin being honest. I guessed that you hadn't said everything, and now you've joined the hive mind, I know. I can show you how to survive here, how to use what you've gained and how to acknowledge what you've lost, but not without trust. If I can't trust you, I might as well kill you right now.>
>You wouldn't!>
>Do you want to find out?>
Holly looked at Spiketail in faint horror, somehow knowing that the other was not bluffing. > This was the only way to save the Hive!> she blurted. > Vathris said that the Hive had to be brought under control, or destroyed!>
>Better.> Holly relaxed for a moment. > But not the full truth,> continued Spiketail with a vicious hiss.
>There's this… thing!> said Holly, almost screaming. >Vathris calls it T-T! It's been keeping Asphodel safe somehow, it's like it controls things in this area. Maybe even the entire planet! It supplies power to the ship, it was what allowed the Asphodel's guns to fire earlier! It provided the equipment back there; Vathris mentioned that it had some projects to do with it! Please, that's all I know!>
>Thank you.> Spiketail backed off, as though nothing had happened. > Now I can trust you. Here, in the Hive, there can be no secrets. Not between two who have to work with each other. And how else am I supposed to teach you? Hmm?>
Holly slowly got up, looking at the other drone with a new respect. > You keep changing in my view, Spiketail. I don't know what to think any more.>
The other grinned mentally. > Perhaps it's better that way. Come on. Your first lesson awaits.>
NEW DATA ACQUIRED
INITIATIVE ASPHODEL 7-BETA HAS BEEN SET BACK
ANALYSING INFORMATION
ANALYSING DATA ON H-CHARON 7 – 'SPINEBACK'
ANALYSING DATA ON ASPHODEL 89
RECALCULATING SUCCESS RATE OF INITIATIVE ASPHODEL 7-BETA
CALCULATING EFFECT ON TIMESCALE AND CHANCE OF SUCCESS
FURTHER DATA REQUIRED TO CALCULATE EFFECT ON TIMESCALE
CHANCE OF SUCCESS WILL INCREASE
PROTOCOL: WAIT FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CALCULATION ENDS
>It's cute…>
The Squealer kit looked around helplessly, and mewled faintly. Small, harmless insectivores whose only defence was a lightning turn of speed, the fact that Squealers survived on Hades was a small miracle.
>It won't survive for long,> said Spiketail harshly. > Look at its left leg. Limp. The thing is lame – it's amazing that it has survived this long.>
>So what do we do?> asked Holly, with a growing unease.
>Kill it.>
>What did you say!>
>You heard me. Kill it. It won't survive for long anyway.>
>But… it's helpless.>
>First lesson, Holly Chance. Whatever your position in the hive, whether it is drone, Praetorian, Queen, or even facehugger: you must be prepared to kill, or deal with, anything if it gets in your way, or if the hive demands it.>
>That's hardly in my way! And what could the Hive gain from that little creature's death?>
>Aren't you hungry? When you look at it, search your instincts. Doesn't a corner of your mind demand warm flesh and blood, need it to maintain yourself? I can see that you still suffer from the damage caused by the retrovirus. Food will speed up that regeneration.>
>But why that helpless thing?>
>That little adjective: 'helpless'. Do I need to say more? Your morals are just a memory from your human mind, something you must cast aside if you are going to survive here.>
>But…>
>But what?>
Holly grinned foolishly. > I'm vegetarian.>
Spiketail stared at her, and then started to laugh. > A vegetarian xenomorph. That's a new one on me.>
Holly looked at the Squealer sadly.
Abruptly, the decision was made. She dropped from their vantage point in the branches, and swiftly crushed the creature's skull. Death came instantly.
As though a switch had been flipped in her mind, she ripped into the body hungrily.
>Your first step,> said Spiketail. > And as a representation of that first step, you need a name. The Queen gave Shadow and me ours. I shall just hope that I can live up to that.> The drone was silent for a time. > Talon. Yes, that fits you.>
Holly/Talon looked up from the fragments of bone and skin that were all that remained of the Squealer, and considered. > Talon. I could learn to live with that.>
>Good. Then it's time to meet the rest of your new family.>
>There you are,> said Shadow. > Where have you been? From your displays in front of these two earlier, I'd have thought that you'd want to come back here quickly.>
>I got delayed,> said Spiketail.
>That's a nice way to talk about me,> said a new voice irritatedly. > First I'm your protégé, now I'm just a delay.> The owner cleared the treeline, and leapt into the little platform. > Hi, Shadow. I presume that these are the 'yautja'?>
>Shadow, meet Talon,> said Spiketail. > You've already met. But… Talon was different before now.>
>Retrovirus,> hissed Shadow. > No normal drone sounds like that.> Recognition hit him like a ton of bricks. > Holly? Surely not!>
>You need to work on your perceptiveness, Shadow,> replied Spiketail in an uncharacteristically breezy way. >And as I said, it's Talon now.>
Shadow crawled onto an outer branch, and slumped. > Welcome to the family, I guess. You're the first person to take that virus voluntarily. I wish you much happiness from it.>
"Are we missing something important?" asked Othar'a. She sensed that something had gone wrong, but being blocked from the hive mind prevented her from hearing the problem.
>Yeah, meet the latest victim of the retrovirus,> said Shadow grimly.
>Don't you see? If there are facilities on the Asphodel that can create a retrovirus to change her into this, then surely the opposite change can be done! You could become human again. Isn't that what you want?>
>No! Not another word, Spiketail. You know that without my original DNA sequence, nothing of the sort can happen. I'm stuck like this, as an Alien, as a Xenomorph, until I die! So don't you go trying to make me accept this. You two go off and enjoy yourselves, I'm sure that you can find something to keep yourselves amused. You'll regret doing this before long, Holly. Or should I say Talon? I'm going. Don't follow me.> With that, he leapt from the branch, and vanished from sight.