Explorers of the Universe

Chapter 5: Mysteries of the Prometheus and the Temple; Of Ghosts and Monsters

An Hour Later

Alien Temple

Once they had been prepped up and suited up, Isaac, Gwen, Rei, Jeff, and a reluctant Ken had traversed on the ATV NR6; a two-person transport vehicle with 4-tread, track-belted wheels that was able to negotiate near-vertical terrain carrying small payload. Once they got there, they looked over to find that the temple was a large, complex structure of sorts. It was far bigger than the Prometheus and the Falcon put together. As they approached it, they also saw carvings of skulls on the front. It almost looked like a grim version of Mount Rushmore.

Isaac grimaced, as he looked up at it, "Charming." He looked over to Ken, who seemed to be a bit calmer after what happened, and asked, "Don't suppose you could do a spectrograph of this structure? We'll need to know if this thing's natural… or if somebody put it here."

Ken shrugged, "Well, I can't tell if it's natural or not, Sheepy. But what I can tell you is this…" as he pointed forward, causing everyone to turn and look. There, they saw a crevice-like temple opening on the side of the temple wall. "It's definitely hollow."

Jeff radioed on comms, "Prometheus, are you getting this?"

"Affirmative," Marek spoke up. "We see it on the vid screen on the main deck."

Jeff looked to the others, "So is everyone ready?"

"Yeah," Isaac stated. "Let's go in."

As they looked at the fissure entrance, the darkness didn't seem all that inviting. In fact, the idea of going into an pyramid-like alien building didn't seem all that safe. And they still didn't have a clue on what happened to the crew of the Prometheus, much less any idea of where Isaac's parents were. The dangers of going in there weighed on everyone's shoulders and minds, as they stood at the crack of the black abyss in front of them.

Isaac sighed, as he genuinely asked, "Okay, so who wants to go into the creepy alien crypt?"

Ken looked to Rei, as he waved a gesture to the hole, "After you."

Inside

After a small debate on going in, Isaac and Rei took the lead with the others to follow. They entered in, walking down a small hill of blackened sand and rock, entering inside the temple. It was dark with no illumination, as their suits activated their shoulder and helmet lighting. Small ports on the right shoulders opened up, as a small camera-like flashlight scope extended out, moving in the same direction they turned their heads to gaze about. The temple looked like a giant cavern on the inside, with nothing but darkened rock and shadows about. However, the corridors and pathways all had carved paths, indicating it was definitely man-made into the rock itself.

They entered into a fork in the hallway, leading ot three paths, as they stood unable to know what or where they should go. Gwen looked around, trying to decide which way to go, as she looked to her cousin, "Which one should we take?"

Isaac shook his head, "I don't know. But if we have a stick and let it fall to a pathway, we'll still be lost." Isaac turned to Ken, as he asked, "Can your SIG get a grid of the structure? We need a map."

Ken got on one knee, as he took off his SIG's pack, and opened the top compartment. From out of it, he was taking out small little metallic spheres roughly the size of baseballs. "If there's anything in here worth looking at, the PUPs will find them," Ken boasted, as he stood up, holding two of the now named PUPs.

"PUPs?" Isaac asked.

"PUPs," Rei answered. "Parameter Uplink Spectagraph. They were developed by Weyward Corp as the next generation piece of equipment for geologists and engineers. Its purpose is surveying unknown planetary terrain during the pre-terraforming process."

"Yep, my PUPs for ya," Ken boasted, as he threw them up in the air.

Suddenly, they barked to life, so to speak, as they spun in the air, hovering, and going down in several different corridors. Once the first two went, the other five began to activate as well, shooting in different directions. Once they did, they began to illuminate a laser like scanner, scanning the corridors they flew down, up, through, or above in, mapping the entire temple.

Ken radioed back to the Prometheus, "Prometheus, we are now mapping the temple."

"Copy that," Marek replied, as he and Vickers walked over to the holo-map table. Once they did, they saw the entire temple being mapped with every second. The temple's corridors and interior almost looked like a giant horseshoe, as all the crew aboard the Prometheus looked at it.

Back in the temple, the teens were going down a corridor to explore further now that they had a map being built. They were currently going down a tunnel, as instructed by Ken, who had the control console on his right wrist fo his suit. Once they ahd reached to the end, they entered into a bigger room, with a pit well of sorts in the center with some light. They heard the sounds of dripping water as they looked about. There, they saw stalagmites and stalactites being formed by the dripping water from eons ago. They all stopped to look around the place, hoping for another way to go.

But Gwen looked at her wrist-top, as she was getting a reading in the room. But once she did, she was amazed to say the least with what she had found. "Oh my God."

Isaac turned to her direction, and asked, "What?"

"The computer's scanned the humidity levels in this place," Gwen explained, as she looked to them. "The Sunlight from outside's heating the water within this place. You guys need to check the CO2 levels in here."

"What's the problem," Jeff asked, as he holstered his firearm.

"Nothing," Gwen replied. "It's just… out there, it's completely toxic, but in here…" she looked to them, as she confirmed, "It's breathable." After a short pause on that discovery, she then noticed Isaac adjusting his helmet. He was going to remove it. She tried to stop him, "Isaac, wait! The readings might be wrong! Don't be crazy!"

"Don't be so skeptical," Isaac said.

"Mr. Shepard, I'm advising you not to remove…" Marek ordered. But it was too late, as Isaac's helmet was folding back, leaving Isaac's head exposed to the outside. Marek, grumbled, "You opened it, didn't you?"

"ISAAC!" Gwen called out, looking in fear for her cousin and family.

The others were about to rush out to him, but he held his hand out, stopping them, as all they could do was stand and watch. Isaac held his head down, as he looked up, eyes closed. Finally, he let all the air out of his lungs, and then slowly breathed the air.

He opened his eyes, as nothing apparently happened to him, and smiled in relief, "Whew. I don't know what this is, but I think it's safe to assume it's air."

They all sighed in relief, as did Gwen, but then she stomped forward, and gently started to rap punches on Isaac's head, as she berated, "You stupid idiot! You drive me crazy with these antics!"

"Least it won't be stuffy in these suits all the time," Isaac defended, calming his cousin down.

She sighed as she pulled her helmet back, allowing herself to breathe the air, "Well… at least you were right. This is obviously air."

Sighing, Jeff radioed back to the Prometheus, "Prometheus, connect our suit cameras. If you're still watchin' this nutshow…" And then his helmet folded back, as he sighed, "We're takin' our helmets off. As it is breathable down here."

"Copy that," Marek replied back. "Switching feeds."

The group continued to go through the structure, still in their suits but now without their helmets. Though oddly enough, the air was certainly breathable. Though Ken asked, "So, why isn't the water frozen down here?"

Jeff shrugged, "Maybe it ain't water. Maybe it's alien urine."

"Oh, that's comforting to know," Isaac groaned, as he looked back at the two. "That's the big Theory, Mr. Science Guy? Alien piss?"

"Well, whatever it is, it's clean," Gwen stated, as she looked at the scanners.

Rei looked around at the walls of the darkened passageway they went down into next. As the others passed her by, she noticed strange glyph marks on the wall, and gently traced her fingers on the markings. In the process, she had scooped a little bit of what would have been considered sludge or mucus. But once Rei pulled her fingers close, holding a glob of it on her fingers, she gently pulled apart, seeing sparks of electrical energies lightly zapping.

"A technology based on organic substances," Rei deduced at the finding. "Impressive."

"What's impressive," Isaac asked, causing Rei to flinch a little: something she wasn't aware of doing. Isaac had stopped earlier as he saw that Rei wasn't following with them. He blinked, seeing her uneasiness, as he asked, "Did I startle you?"

Rei was a bit taken by that question, as she asked, "No, I believe I am not. You forget that I am Artificial Intelligence; if I were to feel fear, I would need the thing that Mr. Weyward said I required. A soul."

Isaac shrugged at that, but then asked, "Okay, but what kept you?"

She pointed at the glyphs, as she simply stated, "I believe the Creators that your parents described might have been more advanced than what was believed. They have naturally created a genetic technology that uses organics instead of mineral-based substances." She thought for a moment, and then traced the glyphs with her fingers still in the sludge.

"Hey, what are you doing," Isaac asked her, feeling a bit worried. "You don't know what that'll do."

The others doubled back, as soon as they saw that Isaac or Rei weren't following after them, as Gwen asked, "What's going on? What will do what?"

"If my theory is correct, this might be a computer console of sorts," Rei replied. "I'm attempting to access it."

"With snot," Ken asked, sounding unimpressed, as he stated to Jeff, "Robot's malfunctioning."

"Statistically, she's probably smarter than you, pal," Jeff stated.

Finally, Rei finished one glyph, and pulled back. But suddenly, the hallway lit up with a small light beam that trailed down the hallway, startling them all, as machines hummed back to life. The light beam itself looked like a cluster of fireflies or spores pulled in together to make a solid shape. It was awe-inspiring beautiful to them. But the beauty did not last, as a strange howling screech was made, clearly indicating that it was not human or friendly to begin with.

Ken gulped, as he asked, "What the heck is that?"

At that moment, coming down from where they walked out of, holographic figures made of the same light spores were running down the hallway… heading for them.

"Aren't you glad we brought weapons," Jeff stated, as he pulled out his rifle, and then fired blue shots at them. However, they went right through them, as they continued to run down their pathway.

Isaac gulped, "Come on!" And then ran forward, pulling Gwen with him. The others followed after them, as the figures continued to chase after them.

They weren't fast enough, as the figures were catching up to them. Weapons all but useless, they had no choice but to run for it… or so they thought. As the figures had reached up behind them… they went past them, or rather through them, as they were nothing but ghosts, as they ran down the hallway away from them. The teens stopped, as Rei did as well, and deduced, "Perhaps I triggered a video log of the ship."

After that deduction, the last figure of the holographic figures seemed to slow down, almost as if it were suffering from some kind of wound or such. As the teens caught up to the holographic figure, as they rounded a corner, they saw the being collapse onto its knees, and then fall face first into the ground. Just as a large vertical drop door dropped on the figure's head, and thus ending the hologram, as it faded back into dust particles.

Isaac and Gwen walked up slowly to see what the scene had been about. Isaac pulled out his gun, switching it on, as it hummed to life. Gwen was about to go forward, but Isaac halted her from going further, taking caution over excitement and adrenalin. Once they cautiously walked over, with the others following after, the cousins and the others had before them witness something shocking. There, lying at the closed door was the body of the figure that had collapsed on the hologram display moments ago.

Gwen gasped at this, as she cautioned to her cousin, calmly, "Oh my god. We found them, Isaac."

Ken, looking rather freaked out, finally huffed and puffed, "Them? What do you mean them?"

"She's talking about the Creators," Isaac stated. But then looked at the structure before them, as Rei walked close by to the corpse, as Isaac stated, "I'm guessing this must be a door… and that this guy was obviously decapitated by it. Right before he died of… whatever it was that caused him to collapse."

Back on the Prometheus

The crew had gotten an eye-view of what they had just witnessed, as Vickers slumped back in her chair, in utter shock, as she whispered, "Son of a bitch. They were right."

Marek turned to look at her, as he scoffed, and looked back at the screen, "You wanted them to be wrong?"

Back in the Temple

Gwen was currently looking over the body, while Isaac walked to the side of the door. There, he spotted similar glyphs to what Rei was messing with before, "Hey, Rei. Can you come over here?" She walked over to him, as she stood right next to him, as he pointed to the glyphs, "Look familiar?"

She carefully examined them, and nodded, "Indeed. They match the same as the ones before."

"You think they might be able to operate the door?" Isaac asked.

Rei walked past him, and climbed up on a fallen rock piece, giving her a boost to the glyphs. "I'll try."

Finally, as if he couldn't take it anymore, Ken dropped his equipment bag, and huffed it back the way they came in, as he stated, "That's it. I'm outta here."

Gwen spotted this, as she got up, and walked after him, calling out, "Ken! Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going? You've got a job to do to help us!"

Ken stopped in his tracks, and then turned around, looking rather exhausted from the whole ordeal he was going through. He stomped over to Gwen, getting in her face, as he stated, "Look. I'm just an engineer's apprentice. I'm also a geologist in training; I love rocks. It's clear to me that you and your loser cousin don't give a shit about rocks, but what you do seem to care about is gigantic dead and headless bodies. And to be honest with you, I don't really have anything to contribute…" and then shouted hysterically in her face, "… GIGANTIC DEAD AND HEADLESS BODY ARENA!" Gwen was unfazed by the outburst, even as Ken was calm again, as he stated, "I'm going back to the ship, if you don't mint." He looked to the group, and asked, "Anyone want to join me, eh?" Nobody spoke up, as Ken sighed, "Fine then, I'll go myself." He then looked to Gwen, and then to Isaac, as he stated almost mockingly, "Congratulations on meeting the maker your parents seemed to obsess over."

Finally, Gwen spoke up, "Thanks."

And then Ken stormed off, as he mumbled, "And everyone thinks I'm the crazy one."

As soon as he was gone, they went back to work, as if nothing had happened earlier. Gwen knelt down to the body, scanning it with a carbon reader, as Jeff knelt down next to her, as he asked, "So you can tell how old he is or how long he's been dead for?"

Gwen nodded, "Yep." Suddenly, it beeped, as she checked the readings, "According to this, they've been dead for… " but then blinked, as she checked it. "Wait, this is a bit strange."

Isaac looked to her, as he asked, "What?"

"Well, according to the database, this body's been dead for… two to three years," Gwen deduced. "That would mean that Uncle John and Aunt Martha were around that time to meet them."

Isaac looked confused on that, as one of the PUPS were nearby, as he asked, "Then where are they now?"

At that moment, Rei was finishing inputting the code, catching Gwen's attention, as she asked, "Rei, what are you doing?"

"I'm attempting to open the door," Rei answered. "As per Isaac's instructions."

Gwen shot up, as she tried to stop her, "No wait! We don't know what's on the other side…!"

Suddenly, the door shifted open, as it slid down, allowing access to the other room, and allowing the PUP to fly on in there.

"Oops," Rei replied.

The door finally finished, as they all looked inside, to see a gigantic room that was big enough to be a cathedral. The floor of the room was littered with what appeared to be egg-shaped black pods no bigger than a crock pot. In the far back was a giant alter of sorts, holding in place some kind of silver coffin of sorts from afar. On the edges of the ceiling there were murals of sorts; an alien version of the Sisteenth Chapel in comparison. And in the center of the room was a giant bald humanoid head carved of stone and looking rather ominous. Isaac stared at it thinking it was going to come to life.

"Whoa," was all that Isaac could manage to speak up on after looking at the structure before him.

Jeff weakly nodded, "Yeah, whoa is right."

"Look at the head," Gwen replied.

"Yeah, it's huge," Isaac pointed out.

"No, I mean the one by your feet you guys," Gwen corrected.

The two boys blinked at that statement, and looked down. And sure enough, they saw the severed head of the giant before them, as they hopped back a little. Gwen knelt down, as she examined it, "An amazing state of preservation. Even after three years." She pulled out a duffle medical bag, as she began to carefully stuff the head in, "We'll take it with us. Maybe we'll learn what happened here."

Rei examined the head, as she looked around, looking at the head, "Remarkably human. And quite beautiful paintings. It would seem these Creators had evolved or reached a state in their civilization that would be considered paradise, as you put it."

Isaac looked around, but heard her talking, as he agreed, "Yeah, I guess." But then stumbled, as he stepped on something. He looked down on the ground, examining it with his light. There, he spotted a small gray and white orb of sorts with white eight bumps, giving it a rectangular shell of sorts for protection. He picked it up, looking it over, as he asked, "What the heck is this?"

Rei walked in through, as she stepped on the soiled ground, unaware of worms popping out. She knelt down to one of the eggs, shining a light on it, as she noticed a dark green translucent shell around the casing of whatever it was she was looking at. For a moment, the insides shifted, as Rei deduced, "It's alive."

Isaac walked around again, after pocketing, and spotted Jeff walking towards the altar. Once both the boys got there, they noticed the huge silver coffin was way more high tech than it apparently was. Isaac walked up to it, and looked at the glass shielding being yellow… that there was someone inside.

"Hey, Gwen," Isaac called out, getting her attention, as she was walking around with the bagged head. "I think there's someone still alive in here."

Jeff looked at the sides, and saw it to be removable, "Don't have a clue on how to open the box, but the box seems to be on display only. I think we can carry this thing out to the RV out there."

Isaac pulled up Ken's discarded tool duffel bag, as he rummaged through, "Awesome. We've got some portable gravity levelers." He pulled out small puck-sized silver disks, as he threw a few at Jeff, "Stick 'em on the side and let's haul this sucker back."

As they did, the coffin was easily able to hover off the locking dock altar, as the two were easily able to move it down. But as they did, Jeff had to ask, "You don't seem all that disappointed that we haven't found your folks yet."

"Well, it's only the first day; can't expect them to be found so easily yet," Isaac stated, but smiled, "But I'm hoping we find them tomorrow, if we're lucky."

Back on the Prometheus

Outside it was not looking all that pleasant, as small tornados were beginning to form and stretch down, touching the ground of the planet's surface. Even Chance was noticing the weather changing as well, as he looked at the weather monitor. After seeing it, he radioed Marek, "Boss."

"What you got, Chance?"

"We got an incoming storm front," Chance reported. "Silica and lots and lots of static. This is not good."

On the bridge, Marek was getting a front row seat, as in front of them, a giant dust storm was coming towards the temple. "Yeah, I see it," Marek replied, and then radioed back into the temple to get the kids out in time.

Back in the Temple

Halfway to the entrance, the kids' radios went on, as Marek was talking to them again, "Ground Team, this is Marek. I need you all to hustle back." They all stopped, as Marek replied again, "Ground Team, do you copy?"

Jeff switched on his radio, as his helmet folded back on, as he replied, "This is Jeff Carter, come in again, captain. Say again."

"We've got 200 kilometer winds of airborne silica and enough static to fray your suits," Marek replied. "You might wanna hurry and get back."

"Copy that," Jeff stated, as he and Isaac, who had his helmet back on, pushed faster now. He looked to Gwen and Rei, as he stated, "You ladies better hoof it!"

"But there's still so much look into," Gwen protested, easily wanting to stay to find her Aunt and Uncle longer.

But they had to move it more, as Vickers radioed, "I'll be closing the outer doors in fifteen minutes." She then snidely quirked, "I sincerely hope you children can make it by then."

As they made it near the entryway, Isaac huffed, "She's a real piece of work, that Vickers. What a hardass."

"Probably has one too," Jeff stated, as they reached the RV vehicle, and prepped to go.

They slid in the coffin carefully, as both boys entered, and snapped it in place, as the two females hopped in, with the door closing behind them. Jeff made it to the steering wheel, as they revved up and raced back to the Prometheus as fast as they could. As they did, Gwen noticed in the rear the storm was sweeping over, like waves smashing on the shoreline. The storm wsa dangerously kicking up sand and dust, making it undesirable to go into at a moment like that. They were going as fast as they could to reach the Prometheus, as the hatchway was coming in for a close call. The light disappeared as the storm was getting dangerously close to them.

Gwen replied in the back, almost shouting, "Guys! Go faster!"

"Alright, we're cutting it close," Isaac stated.

The hangar door to the Prometheus opened up, as the storm blanketed the area, creating powerful winds and gusts. The vehicle nearly fell off its wheels and axel, as it nearly toppled over. But Jeff wasn't about to give in so easily, as he floored it to the hangar bay, hitting the ramp, as the vehicle flew in the air, and crash-landed on the floor. It flipped and rolled on its side, as it crashed into the wall.

"The RV has made it in," Revel reported.

"Alright, close the doors. Close the doors," Marek ordered.

The hangar bay doors closed as fast as they could, as little to no dust was seeping through the cracks until it closed. Finally, the light was green for O2 to be breathable again. The back doors to the RV popped open, as Rei easily carried out a shaken Gwen, while the boys shakingly got on their own legs again.

Isaac fell on his butt while Jeff leaned on the roof of the toppled RV, as the first groaned, "Ugh! I think I understand why stars do their own stunts in action movies."

Jeff groaned, "Trust me. That hurt for the both of us." He looked over to Rei and Gwen, and asked, "You alright?"

Gwen winched, "A little sore, but I'm alright."

"I'm functioning properly. Thank you for your concern," Rei replied.

Marek was back on the radio, as he asked, "Alright everyone. The optimism is really good to have you all back, but ah, where's Heels?"

They all looked to one another, as they asked, "You mean he didn't come back?"

Marek looked to Chance, "Better find him."

Back at the Temple

Deep within the pathways, Ken was still looking around, with his helmet on. Apparently, he had gotten lost thorugh the passageways, and was now a rat in a maze. He stopped as he looked at the walls, and groaned, "Dammit, I've been down this way already."

"Heels, this is the captain," Marek radioed back, getting Ken's attention. "Listen up. Between the static and the wind speed out there. Well, there ain't no safe way to come and get you out of there."

"Say what," Ken asked.

"Now the temperature is dropping rapidly, so you better keep your helmet on and stay warm till the storm passes."

Ken sighed, groaning with annoyance, as he sighed, "Sure. But ah, can you get a message to Sheepy Shepard and his cousin?"

"Sure."

"You reading this right," Ken asked.

"Yeah, I think I got it," Marek radioed. "What's the message?"

Back on the Prometheus

Bridge

Ken finally gave the message, but on one part came garbled up due to static, "Tell them they can %*$# themselves. Copy?"

The trio of the crew laughed at that, as Marek replied, "Copy that. Alright, keep your head down and we'll come get you in the morning."

Later On

Medical Lab

The science crew were working on decontamination both the pod coffin as well as the head that Gwen had brought in with her, Ford, and Rei dressed in Scrub and operating garb, but Isaac and Jeff were walking in, observing the coffin in trying to get it open. As the decontamination was being completed, Vickers strode in, seemingly confident that the mission was a bust. The head was fully scanned, was the box, and its contents, and all was lit green.

"Alright, no contamination present in either samples; they are completely sterile of any infectious agents, domestic or foreign," Ford reported.

Rei pulled the head out of the contamination detector, as the trio were about to go to work. Meanwhile, Vickers spoke up, "So any sign of them? Are they all dead?"

"Who you talking about again," Isaac asked, as he looked at the lock.

"Your parents' Creators," Vickers strainly and impatiently stated. "Are they dead?"

Isaac put his stuff down, as he sighed, looking at the blonde woman, as he stated, "We've only been a day here, and already you're bitching about all…."

"Just answer the question," Vickers interrupted, equally annoyed by this boy.

"Well, like Isaac said: it's only been a day, so we don't know," Gwen replied, as she and the other prepared to examine the exo-skeleton head, as Rei activated the bed scanner over the severed head. "Why do you care?"

"Weyward cared," Vickers replied.

"Miss Tenolds, Ford," Rei spoke up to get their attention. "I believe you should look at the screens."

The two walked over to see the screen, and were stunned to see something was inside the exo-skeleton. "It's a helmet," Gwen was surprised to see. She looked to Rei, and asked, "Can you remove the helmet?"

"I'll try to remove it as gently as I can," Rei replied, as she walked over.

She gently lifted it, as it snapped open, grinding like rock, as she lifted the helmet up and took it to the side. There, lying on the table was the head of a bald and very pale humanoid male, peacefully slumbering, as if he fell asleep before he died. His skin appeared to be covered in black legions of veins and scabs, with hints of metallic shards sticking out. Everyone was a little bit in awe at this, even Vickers, as they saw the new discovery.

But Jeff took notice of the black stuff on its head, as he asked, "What's all that stuff on him?"

Gwen examined it, along with Ford, as they carefully examined the growths and veins on it, as Gwen stated, "I think this is brand new. It's like this being was changing. Maybe still is."

"Changing into what," Vickers demanded in question.

Gwen shrugged, but then asked Rei, "Rei, can you get the electrical stimulus and insert it into the cerebrum? I think we can trick the nervous system to kick starting it; make it think it's still alive."

Isaac sighed, as he leaned on the box, not noticing the codes counting down to something, "Well, that's cruel. Nothing worse than a head without a body. Ugly way to die."

Rei pulled out a device that looked like a large electrical hydraulic needle, and inserted it into the back base of the neck connecting to the skull. She amped it up to 30, as they all awaited for anything to happen. And almost sure enough… it did something. The black cells began to grow out, almost blackening the face, as the face began to twitch. It's eyes began to open, revealing the dark scleras and irises.

Ford replied, feeling a little worried, "Too much. It's a little too much."

"Yeah, bring it down, Rei," Gwen replied.

Rei pulled it out instead, but they all saw the cells weren't dying, and neither was the head at that matter. Silent panic was starting as the head continued to go black and twitch all over. It even started to gasp for air that would never be fed.

"It's not dying," Ford freaked out.

Gwen looked to Rei, as she ordered, "Rei contain it!"

Rei nodded, but Vickers stated, "Contain it? Turn it off."

"It's a freakin' head, Vickers! I don't think there's an off switch," Isaac yelled out.

"Oh God, the smell," Ford whimpered.

The head was immediately pushed into the glass contiainer, as the black ooze began to leak out of its skull. As it gagged and leaked out more, the glass dome closed around it, blowing sterilization fluid within. All seemed silent and that the head was dead again. Unitl they heard screeching sounds, as the fog lifted to reveal what had happened. Suddnely, the head had mutated with eight metallic and black gooed legs, with the lower jaw split open to become mandibles with sharp spikes sticking out as fangs, and the eyes out as stocks. The back of the head had shifted into a metallic material, making the head more techno-organic that organic.

Vickers shouted, "Someone kill it!"

Isaac looked to Jeff, as he noticed he was still armed, and asked, "Is that glass bulletproof?"

"None at all," Jeff replied, getting the meaning, as he pulled out the pistol and aimed for the glass.

As the creature tried to bust out, cracking the glass, Jeff fired like crazy, hitting the head until it exploded into goo. As the dust and goo settled with nothing left, Rei simply replied, "Mortal after all."

CLICK

Everyone jumped as they heard the box open behind the two boys, as Jeff aimed his weapon at it. The lid opened up, as mist poured out of it, as everyone grabbed something to fight, except for Vickers who bailed. Isaac pulled out his pistol and aimed for the box as well, awaiting for something to come out.

Slowly, a figured arose from the box in a sitting position, but then turned to look at eth startled crewmembers. Finally, the figure got up on their feet, and stood up before them, as the light revealed to what… or who it was.

The figure revealed to be a sixteen year old female. She was very beautiful with a slender figure, Isaac's height, possibly, but hard to determine due to her towering over them from standing up on the examination table. She had long fiery auburn red hair that went down to her waist, and straight with bangs, but a longer right bang while the left one was tucked behind her left ear. She had glowing green eyes that stared down up on them but was silent nevertheless. She also had peculiarly bright orange skin that was flawless along with her beautiful figure. She appeared to wear a simple, yet almost revealing, white outfit made of bandages that were horizontally across her chest but made it hard to keep the amazing C-cup breasts stay in place, pelvis, ribcage, and bangs around her upper arms, and her thighs.

If she wasn't an alien, she would truly be a smoking hot babe to the boys.

She looked down to everyone, as her eyes were still aglow, but Jeff pointed his gun at her, ordering, "If you can understand me, then stop before you do something that'll lose a limb!"

The girl continued to stand before them, as the girl's eyes stopped glowing, revealing the irises to be green, and the white of her eyes a light green. She seemingly passed out, as she fell down, but Isaac snapped to it, and lunged forward as he caught her before she crashed into the floor. Jeff holstered the weapon, as Isaac gently cradled the downed orange girl in his arms and lap.

But then Rei began to poke the girls head with her index finger, almost trying get a reaction. But Isaac stopped her, "Rei, will you stop it? She's a girl, not a head."

"She's a freakin' alien," Vickers pointed out. "Am I the only one seeing that?"

Gwen, who disliked this woman even more, groaned, "Yeah, we noticed." But then she looked to Isaac and the girl, as she asked, "Is she alright?"

"She's breathing, which is a good sign. Even better sign is that I don't see any black blemishes we saw on the head," he sighed in relief. He then gently turned her over so that she was lying on her back, revealing her serene and peacefully sleeping face. A small gust of the AC gently blew a strand in her face, making her look rather cute to Isaac.

He blinked, as he slightly blushed at the sight, 'Wow. I never realized until now but… this girl's pretty… beautiful.'

She slowly began to open her eyes, as she looked up, opening her pretty green eyes, as the first thing she saw was Isaac.

Isaac blinked, as he looked to the girl in concern, as he asked, "You okay? Who are…?" But suddenly, she grabbed him by the throat, causing everyone to back off… as she lifted Isaac off his feet, as he gagged out, "… you? Sorry if I offended you in any way…"

"Senno Ecto Gammat!" she seethed with anger in her eyes and voice, as she turned with Isaac being used as a shield, but still looked at Isaac eye-to-eye, as she continued, "Senno Ecto Gammat!"

She then looked to the others, and seethed out a battle cry, as she threw Isaac across the room, crashing into the wall, as he fell flat on his butt, while the small orb banged across the floor an into a darkened corner. The others looked to the girl, as she suddenly was lifted off her feet, while the tail of her hair was glowing, almost like they were lit on fire, as she hissed viciously, "Heska vo."

Then suddenly, she flew forward, smashing through the doors, as she flew light speed ot the left, heading to the hallways.

Jeff then ran after her, as he stated, "Who is this girl? Supergirl?"

Isaac got up off his butt, as he groaned, "Whoever or whatever she is, she's loose, flying around, has super strength, and super pissed." Then the two boys ran after her in an attempt to stop her.

The girls followed suit, while Vickers grabbed a syringe full of what appeared to be a sedative. When the room was absent, the little orb in the corner started to shake, and a blue lens opened up, glowing.

And then it spoke, "Where am I? I must have taken a bad step."

Meanwhile

The crew were all in a rush as loud screams and banging were vibrating everywhere, even as Marek and his men ran down with weapons. Jeff radioed to Marek that an orange girl was tearing through… an orange girl who could fly and had freakish strength, and a really short fuse. The ship shaking was proof of that, as they also heard screaming. When they reached a corner, they bumped into Isaac and Jeff, as he asked, "That her?"

"Yeah," Jeff confirmed it.

But then Isaac asked, "Any idea where she went?"

"SLOPFORN IVORTMAT!" the girl's screaming angered voice echoed through the place.

Chance then blinked, "Sounds like it came from the hangar."

"If she tears down that door, we won't be just be exfixiating from the nitrogen out there, but with the storm still out…"

"It'll fry the ship," Isaac concluded.

They make their way to the hangar, and got their weapons ready for stun. But before they went in, Revel asked, "So how strong is this girl?"

Suddenly, two members of the crew were thrown into the door between them, bringing them and the door down and all, as they all witnessed it.

Isaac casually said, "Strong. Even with someone of her build."

They made their way in, using the downed vehicles for cover, as they saw the orange-skinned girl roared out, banging at the hangar door, with her burning eyes, "Slopforn ivortmat! Slopforn! Ond gudshik zerrole!"

Isaac, going against his better judgement, slowly started to approach her, despite Jeff and Marek warning him not to, "Shepard. Get back here."

"Get back here," Jeff warned. "She'll throw you like a rag doll again."

But Isaac didn't stop, as he slowly and stealthily approached her, as her banging became slower, like she was losing her fire. She growled as her breathing slowed down, as she stopped banging, taking deep breaths as she hung her head down, her shoulders hunched up. Finally, her eyes reopened, still blazing as strongly as ever, as she started to swing her arms every which way with a fresh yell. She suddenly flipped up, and pounded the floor between her and Isaac hard enough to dent it to make a pothole.

However, she stopped her assault, as the girl looked towards Isaac, with her knees bending inward. She looked to him, almost a little bit pleading, but then noticed the gun in his hand. Her anger appeared once again, as she roared at him, "ZOP! YARK MESNEF!"

She suddenly came up into a leap that carried her towards him; luckily, Isaac ducked as she delivered a steel-wrecking downward swing. He jumped clear in the time of time, and touched down in a skid. But she wouldn't stop attacking as one roundhouse after another forced him to keep bobbing and weaving from her. As the fight continued, Gwen and Rei arrived in as they saw the fight beforehand.

Gwen was freaking out seeing her cousin in danger, as she looked to them, "Why aren't you guys firing?"

"Your cousin decided to play negotiator and now we can't fire without risking hitting him," Marek stated.

Rei observed the girl, as she concluded, "Perhaps he has the right idea with negotiating."

It was Jeff's turn to look confused, as he asked, "What are you talking about?"

"She does seem to be attacking and sounds angry," she stated. "But she seems… scared."

They all looked at the scene, as the orange-skinned girl continued to wreak havoc, while crying out in a battle cry tone. Jeff looked to the android girl, as he asked credulously, "That's scared? I hate to see what she looks like when she's really mad."

Isaac dodged another swing, as he rolled and skidded to a crouch, as the green eyes glowed right at him. She looked at one of the Prometheus's RV units, and hooked her bare left foot under the chassis… and then effortlessly kicked it up several feet so that it rotated to point its nose towards the ground. When it was an inch short of splattering its innards across twenty yards of hangar floor, she booted it towards Isaac, who threw himself flat to avoid being in its way with his face. The RV sailed in a low level lightning fast trajectory down the hangar, and smashed into the side of the hangar.

Isaac went wide eye, as did everyone else, as he turned to look at the girl, "Whoa. You're stronger than you look, I'll say that."

The orange-skinned girl cracked her neck in a brawler-style, as she smirked in a battle-lusting way, as she simply whispered menacingly, "Zota…"

Isaac finally got on his feet again, a bit shaky, as he calmly walked to her, trying not to be as menacing as he seemed to her. "GNarkfa! Rafma Karfma!"

Isaac stopped, as he held his hands up, and tried to reason with her, "Whoa. Hold on. Look, lady, I only speak two languages: English and New York. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for a little conversation or two, but maybe you could just calm down, and we can talk?"

The girl seemed to hear reason in it, but then shots at her, caused her to flinch and cry out. They didn't seem to pierce her, but they were annoyhing her, as well as tear at her 'outfit'. Her eyes glowed green again, as she sneered at Marek and his men, "GAAAAAAAAH! VAMORFKA!"

She then brought up her fists, pointing them right at the vehicles shielding them as they glowed a bright green flickering to life. They all looked in surprise as she uncorked a machine-gun fusillade that punched into their position, bombarding the vehicles.

"At this rate, she'll tear up the whole ship," Marek cried out.

Isaac saw this happen, and frowned, knowing that this had to stop. He ran forward to her, as his suit suddenly hummed, as the black film started pulsating. It started to swell and pump up, giving Isaac a heavy muscle build. The orange-skinned girl did not see it in time, but had a moment to turn her head, as Isaac charged at her, got behind, and grabbed her in a bear hug lock hold. He planted his feet firmly into the ground, anchoring him, along with grapnel lines shooting from his belt which were used to anchor him when gravity-locking boots wouldn't work. He had literally become an anchor to hold her down.

But she cried out in rage, as she thrashed about, trying to fly away, or even tear Isaac's arms. But the muscle-enhancement to all the SIG suits made Isaac super strong and super durable; a feature used in heavy construction SIGs. And it also made it easy for her to be subdued, even as she was kicking around crying out. At that time, Vickers had arrived in time with a gun loaded with sedative darts, as she saw the scene.

As she thrashed, it became weaker, as did her screams which died down to nearly a weakened whimper. Isaac finally was able to talk to her, as her weakened state made her calmer, "Listen! I know you must be scared, and I know you don't understand a word I'm saying; I don't understand what you're saying. We're not gonna hurt you."

"Maybe he won't," Jeff groaned, still feeling frizzed from what happened.

"Okay, I'm going to let you go, but you have to nod that you won't go crazy again," Isaac bargained to the orange girl. She turned to look at him, as he asked, "You understand what I just said? You agree to the terms?" finally, she nodded, as the lines retracted into the belt, and the muscles shrunk back to Isaac's regular sized self.

Finally, he let go of her, to which she gently turned to face him, as her eyes glowed down, returning to how they were before. Isaac sighed in relief, as did everyone else, as he combed his hair back, "Great. Now maybe we can…"

But he didn't get any farther from his sentence, as she grabbed him to her with one hand around his suit's collar, and pulled him in by the back of his head with her other hand… and kissed him. Long, gently, and full on the lips, causing him to go wide eye with shock at this. Everyone else was a bit shocked by this turn of events; even Gwen whose jaw dropped at the sight of this. Her eyes were closed the whole time, as Isaac's slowly closed in as well, relaxing into it. However, what happened next caught him off guard.

She shoved him in the chest hard enough to drop him on his back. And two: she spoke perfect English, but despite her gentle tone, she possessed the same fire she did before the fight.

"If you wish not to be destroyed, you will tell me where the Creators are!" Her eyes then glowed green again, as her anger boiled again, as her hands glowed as well, and pointed them right at Isaac, as she screamed out, "Where my people are! And where my treacherous sister I…GAAH!"

She faltered a moment, as she turned around, seeing Vickers with a needle in her hand. She powerfully pushed the blonde away, as she scooted on her butt to the others. The girl then turned to face Isaac, angered yet again, as she attempted to step on him.

But her steps seemed to be more sluggish then… and her vision blurring up, as she swaggered a moment. And then she lost consciousness as she fell forward. And just like before, Isaac lunged into action and caught her before she crashed, as he gently set her down in his arms and lap.

Jeff, who had witnessed the scene, sighed, "Déjà vu all over again for those two."

Next Chapter: Finds and Discoveries; How Far Would You Go?