Okay, so it's time to, once again, incorporate some key plot points in the story, which will serve a major purpose later in the story. So, I hope you all like it!

"I dunno, Kai..." Kira said. "...you sure this is it?"

Kai looked at his tablet, and then back at the scene they were facing.

"...It's gotta be. I just know it." he said.

They were standing outside of the fence of a fairly large farm of photovoltaic panels, anchored to the ground. A skyscraper sat not too far away from it.

"The building is a WY building, that's for sure." Kai said. "And the city already has a nuclear power plant, which outputs more than enough power for the entire city. So, where else would all this solar power be getting redirected to?"

Kira looked at the ground for a moment.

"...A giant computer mainframe?" she asked.

Kai nodded. "Exactly. I assume that, because it requires a massive amount of electricity to run a highly-advanced quantum computer cluster, they would need to use solar electricity to make it independent of the city's power, and have it run on battery or generator power when the sun is not out."

"So... if this is it..." Kira said.

"...we'll have to come back later tonight if we're gonna have any chance of being unnoticed. I'm sure there would be a ton of security during the day, but only a smaller amount at night." Kai finished.

(XXXX)

Kai was grabbing some gear that he would need in order to infiltrate the Weyland supercomputer complex. He would take his phone, a bug detector, a handheld electromagnet, a high-powered laser pointer, a lockpicking kit, a ski mask, and for insurance sake... he decided to bring his handgun with him as well. He hoped he would not have to use his lethal device.

Sugarcube was unsure about this whole thing.

"Kai... are you sure about this? What if something happens to you?" Sugarcube asked.

"I'll be fine, Sugar." Kai said. "Don't worry about me."

Sugarcube wrapped her arms around her mate.

"How can I not worry about you, Kai?" Sugarcube asked. "You're my hero... my warrior... so, it's best if I return the favor for you."

Kai looked up at her as she let go. "What do you mean?"

"I wanna come with you! I wanna be there if you need me! Besides, I think you're gonna need all the help you can get on this one." Sugarcube said.

"Sugarcube... I can't do that." Kai said. "I don't want Weyland-Yutani to recapture you... don't you remember what happened before we met?"

Sugarcube hung her head down.

"...I can never forget those twenty years." she said. "And that's why I want to help you bring them down! I will only have a sense of closure if I am involved in their downfall!"

Her human mate sighed, but smiled while doing so.

"...Okay, Sugarcube." Kai said. "I concede; you can come. But you have to do exactly as I say."

"Okay, fair enough." Sugarcube said. "You be the master, and I'll be the pet."

They both laughed for a bit, and then Kai decided to visit Chase really quick, just to let him know to stay hidden.

"Chase, your mother and I are going out for a while. Just stay here, and don't leave for any reason. Keep all the doors and windows locked, and the curtains down. There's food in the fridge and pantry if you get hungry." Kai said.

"Okay." Chase said. "But, what's going on, Dad?"

"Well..." Kai began. "...your mom and I have some... things to attend to. We'll be back soon. But..."

He thought for a moment.

"Maybe it would be best to leave you over at the Sykes house with Star, since Kira has a roommate to look after you, and a SORIA unit, which will help to alert you if anything goes wrong." Kai said.

Chase sat bolt upright.

Wait... I finally get to be with Star? And ALONE? He thought, a big smile forming on his face. YES! Finally, we get a chance to really spend time together!

Without dawdling for too long, the two left with their son to drop him off in good faith that he would remain hidden, and took to the streets over to Kira's house.

(XXXX)

Kira got all the equipment she had available at her disposal, which was not nearly as good as what Kai had, but she was bringing her stun gun, just in case.

"Listen, Kir..." Sam said. "...this is just crazy, what you're doing..."

"I know... but we can't keep letting Weyland get away with this! We need to stop Meyers' experiments for good!" Kira said.

Aster walked in on her in that moment, shortly after she explained what was going on.

"Kira, listen..." Aster began. "...would it be okay if I... came with you? Y'know... just to make sure you're okay?"

Kira darted her eyes around for a moment. "I don't know... it would probably be better if you stayed here with Star. I don't want to take the chance of having you captured for a third time... especially with what Dr. Meyers did to you..." she said.

Aster hung his head down. He remembered quite well what happened.

Some time after having met Kira, Aster was tracked down by Meyers with the help of a Xenomorph Queen he had personally raised and trained, and had the very same Queen take control of his mind, effectively making him into Meyers' slave, as he would obey the Queen, who was loyal only to Meyers.

However, Kira was able to break the shackle on his mind by making him remember who she was... and it proved beyond a doubt that the love within his heart was stronger than the hold on his brain. Unfortunately, the Queen embedded a function into his brain that could cause his vital bodily functions to cease once he was self-aware, free of her influence.

Because of this, he had nearly died... but once again, his love for Kira was what helped him to cheat death. She was the one thing he had to live for... and he manifested the will to overcome death to be with his true love. It was during these events when Kira realized how much Aster really meant to her.

Sure, Kira really liked Aster before then, but it eventually came to fruition that she truly loved him, just as he did for her.

"...I know that Meyers' Queen is dead, but..." Aster began. "...I can still feel her... inside my mind... it's almost like she left some sort of... imprint... on my brain..."

"Well, you don't ever have to worry about her again, Aster." Kira said. "And, if you really want... I guess you can come with us. Wouldn't hurt to have a naturally-skilled predatory alien as backup!"

"Great!" Aster said. "I look forward to bringing down Meyers after everything he did to me and my kind..."

Kira then decided to inform their daughter about what was going on.

"Star," Kira began. "your father and I are going out for a while."

"For what?" Star asked.

Kira pondered for a moment about how to tell her.

"We've got some... business to take care of." she said. "We'll be back in a little bit."

"Okay." Star said.

Kira then went to find SORIA.

"SORIA," she said. "do you think you and Sam could keep an eye on Star for us while we're gone?"

"Understood, Kira." SORIA answered. "And I can simultaneously assist you on your task as well, provided you would be willing to carry a sensor for me to obtain data of your surroundings."

"Okay, sure. Why not?" Kira answered.

SORIA then dispensed a single device, resembling a microchip, which Kira clipped to the front of her shirt.

"Okay... so, you ready to go, Aster?" Kira asked.

Aster nodded. "Definitely! I've waited a long time for this..."

"We just have to wait for Kai to show up." Kira said.

After a bit of waiting, Kai's vehicle pulled up into Kira's driveway, and she and Aster went out to meet up with him. The first thing they noticed where the Xenos riding with him.

"...What are Sugarcube and Chase doing here?" Kira asked.

"Sugarcube wanted to tag along." Kai answered. "Chase, however, I felt it best, should be left here with Star and SORIA."

"Well... I guess that's okay. I mean, as long as Sugarcube is good at hiding." Kira said.

"Don't worry, Kira. Stealth is practically in a Xenomorph's blood." Sugarcube said.

"Okay, so let's show Chase inside, shall we?" Kai said.

With that, they escorted Chase to Kira's house... and by "escort," it basically went with him rushing to the door and opening it hastily without even bothering to close it after entering.

"Star! Where are you, Star?" Chase called around.

Star was in her room, and, immediately recognizing the voice, rushed out of her room downstairs to see the young male Xenomorph Drone who called her.

"Chase!" she said, lunging at him and giving him a hug. "Oh, it's so good to see you after so long!"

Chase returned the hug to his crush.

"...It's good to see you too, Star." he responded.

"Okay, so we'll just leave you two on your own." Kira said. "There's some food in the fridge if you get hungry. We'll hopefully be back before morning."

"Okay! Bye, Mom!" Star said.

"Bye, sweetie!" Kira responded.

With that, the four adults set off, driving away from Kira's house in Kai's car. They watched until they were out of sight.

"Ah, alone at last..." Star said.

"So..." Chase said, slightly anxious. "...whaddya wanna do?"

Star thought for a moment.

"Well... we could play some video games and watch some scary movies! SORIA can help us get it all set up." she said.

"Excellent idea!" Chase acknowledged.

With that, the two young Drones went back into the house, where they encountered Sam.

"Well, okay..." she said. "...let's make ourselves at home, I guess..."

With that, Sam and the two Xenos began to make sure to lock up the place real tight to ensure no intruders could spot them, and SORIA enabled the sensors that Kira had placed all over the exterior of her house...

(XXXX)

They had made it to the building where the supercomputer they were looking for was assumed to be. Fortunately, there was minimal security, since it was a building that the public could access... but the place was locked down for the night.

"Guess we'll just have to improvise..." Kira said, pulling out a small multitool.

She then punctured her finger, which drew blood fairly quickly, and she traced her finger in a circle on the glass of the door. Her blood melted through the thick, shatterproof glass on the door, which allowed a circle of it to be pushed out without shattering and triggering sensor alarms.

"...Guess this is where being part-Xenomorph really pays off, huh?" Kira commented.

Her finger healed in just a few seconds due to her mutated DNA allowing her to heal as quickly as an actual Xenomorph.

"Okay, let's get inside an in a blind spot before someone sees us!" Kai said.

With that, the pair of humans and Xenos entered the building, which appeared to be deserted. Kira decided to give an update to SORIA.

"Alright, SORIA..." Kira spoke into her earpiece. "...we've made it inside the building."

"Acknowledged, Kira." SORIA answered.

"Could you put Sam on for us?" Kira asked.

"Yes, I shall signal for her to use my interface to communicate with you." SORIA said.

It took a moment, but Kira thought she could hear a bit of shuffling in the background.

"Sam?" Kira asked. "You hear me?"

"Yeah, SORIA just told me you wanted to talk to me. What's going on?" Sam called through their earpieces.

"We're in!" Kira said. "How are things looking on your end?"

"Uh... everything's fine here. Nobody's come up to the house." Sam said.

"I have not detected any human motion outside of your residence, Kira." SORIA spoke.

"Okay, good..." Kira said. "...now we just need to locate where the computer is..."

"My sensor is detecting heavy electrical activity directly underneath you, a few stories down." SORIA said.

"Wait... so, it's under the building!" Kai said.

"Okay... now we just gotta find a stairwell or elevator..." Kira said.

"I don't sense any other people nearby..." Aster said.

SORIA interjected. "I advise caution, Kira; there are security cameras in the hallways beyond the entrance hall."

"Cameras?" Kai asked, reaching into his pocket. "I can take care of that..."

The four made their way to the hall, and stopped upon seeing the first camera. Kai had pulled out his high-powered laser pointer, and aimed it directly at the photoreceiver of the camera. After a few seconds, he put it out.

"Okay, it should be blinded..." Kai said. "...but we gotta move fast, since it might only last for a few seconds."

With that, they quickly rushed down the hall to the next stretch, and Kai continued the process of temporarily blinding the cameras, and all of them rushing forward. They continued until they saw a heavy metal door with a sign indicating that it was a staircase, and another sign that read "AUTHORIZED PERSONEL ONLY".

"That must be it!" Sugarcube said.

They tried to open it up... but it was locked.

"Damn it!" Kira said. "How are we gonna get down there?"

"Allow me..." Aster said, stepping forward.

He opened his mouth, and sprayed his blood at the door. It took a moment, but it damaged the locking mechanism sufficiently for the door to be opened.

"Wow! Good one, Aster!" Kira remarked.

They quickly proceeded down the stairs for some distance, into what appeared to be a basement. They came across a sliding door, but fortunately, there was no lock. All they did was press the control panel, and it opened up.

Once they made it inside, they were able to get a decent look at their surroundings. There were several identical machines, each one eight feet tall, with dark blue lighting on the rims and glass on the sides, all organized in perfect rows, and stretched for what seemed to be the size of a football field. There were fans all around the room rotating so fast, it looked like they could chop one's fingers off like butter. A humming noise from all the machines could be heard over the whooshing of the fans. Luckily, there were no cameras in the room.

"Woah..." Kai said, stepping forward to examine one of the machines. "...this is definitely a computer mainframe."

"Why is it so cold in here?" Kira asked, closing her arms.

"Given how much heat the computers must be giving off, they probably supercool this room with flowing air that is several degrees below freezing." Kai said.

At that moment, Sam's voice came over Kira and Kai's earpieces.

"Have you guys found anything interesting?" Sam asked.

"We appear to have stumbled onto some sort of... computer mainframe." Kai said.

"Computer mainframe? What's it look like?" Sam asked.

"Uh..." Kai began looking carefully through the glass of one of the machine modules. "...looks like a series of node modules arranged in... possibly a massive cluster... a supercomputer..."

"This must be it!" Kira said.

Kai carefully continued to examine the inside of the closest computer module, observing the many motherboards stacked on top of each other, and the fluid-filled pipes that appeared to serve as a heat exchange system, as they went into a narrow part of the module that emitted a lot of heat out of the vents.

"Do you think we should try to access the computer and see what sort of data it has?" Kira asked.

"Totally! A supercomputer system in a place like that... it's definitely worth looking into!" Sam said.

"Is there a way you can access the system on your end?" SORIA asked.

After looking around for a few seconds, Kai spotted a chair with a keyboard and mouse in front of it, along with dual monitors with streaming lines of code on them.

"Yes: there's an interface!" Kai said, walking over.

Kira was busy glancing around.

"What's the matter, Kira?" Kai asked.

"...I'm just worried about cameras." she said.

"I don't think there could be cameras in here." Kai said. "It would be a terrible idea to put cameras or microphones in a room containing top-secret technology."

With that, Kai sat down in the chair in front of the interface while Kira, Aster, and Sugarcube watched.

"Alright..." Kai said, cracking his knuckles before hovering his hand above the keyboard. "...let's see what this bad boy's got under the hood..."

He set himself to work, inputting commands to access the supercomputer's OS.

"SORIA, can you analyze the data that I am going to send you?" Kai said into his headset. "Once I plug you in, you should be able to interpret the entire mainframe, as well as the IP address."

"Understood, Kai." SORIA answered. "Connect the wireless transmitter to any open data port in the general area of the computer interface."

Kai plugged in SORIA's transmitter into an open Ethernet port, and a window opened with lines of rapid code appearing in it.

"Hopefully, SORIA can read through the entire mainframe's data." Kai said.

"There appears to be a firewall. It will take me a few moments to hack through it." SORIA said.

"Okay... but hurry!" Kai urged.

It took several minutes, with various status windows popping up due to SORIA accessing the system on an encrypted, near-undetectable connection. But, she was able to finish up, and open a window containing the mainframe information.

"I have conducted a basic analysis of the system architecture." SORIA said. "The nodes each consist of a motherboard housing four quantum processors, as well as state-of-the-art water-memory disks. I believe this has a ninety-seven percent chance of being one of the most advanced supercomputer mainframes in the world."

"Wow..." Kai said. "...this whole setup... is a quantum cluster supercomputer!? Christ... how much did this thing COST!?"

"I estimate that, from the components used, the cost of the system would be likely within the range of—" SORIA spoke before getting cut off.

"It was a rhetorical question, SORIA..." Kai said.

"I will now display a system analysis page on the interface screen. Please leave the transmitter plugged in while I do so." SORIA said.

With that, lines of data began to appear on both of the screens. Kai was careful to skim over it as it passed. From what he could deduce, it was the source code of the entire system.

"Okay, let's see..." Kai said, looking over the data. "...this supercomputer runs on the customized hybrid kernal that WY developed, but..." he looked over the entire computer. "...none of these modules have been registered into the Weyland network. It's completely off the grid..."

He started inputing data on his own, trying to narrow down what it was they were looking for to see what the computer was running. It showed data that looked promising, but going over it did not seem to yield any real results for Kai.

"Hm... this data doesn't make any sense..." Kai said. "...I keep seeing binary references to something called 'Virax,' but... I have no idea what it means."

"...Maybe you could try to look into it more?" Kira suggested.

"I guess..." Kai said.

(XXXX)

While the four continued their mission... they had no idea that they were being watched from the next room over...

Behind a piece of one-way glass... Meyers and Baldwin were observing the four of them.

"Well now... it's Mr. Ripley accompanying Ms. Sykes..." Meyers said. "...he is also responsible for my arrest! And what a treat! They brought Subjects SR-724, and VX-429!"

Baldwin stared at the group in shock.

"What the hell are they doin' with aliens!?" he asked. "How are they not being slaughtered like pigs!?"

Meyers sighed. "Apparently, Ms. Sykes is a sort of Xenomorph Whisperer... as is Mr. Ripley, apparently. They have somehow managed to befriend these abominations, and humiliate me and all of Weyland!"

"Well..." Baldwin said. "...let's give them a piece of our minds, why don't we? Should we go through with our plan, now?"

Meyers nodded, an evil grin on his face. He hovered his hand over a valve, with a pipe that led into the next room, stemming from a tank they had hooked it up to.

"So... let's give these children the equivalent of a warm glass of milk, shall we...?" Meyers said, turning the valve...

(XXXX)

Kai continued to try and figure out what program the supercomputer was running, and what "Virax" could be, as well as how this computer relates to this top-secret Project: SUBCON. After a little bit, Kira began to notice a distinct smell in the air.

"Do you... smell something?" Kira asked.

"I can..." Aster said, sniffing.

"...Me too..." Sugarcube said. "...smells kind of... sweet..."

Kai shrugged. "Probably some coolant chemical. They definitely wouldn't use anything toxic in a room that's meant to... be... occupied..."

He began to slow his speech as he started feeling extremely drowsy and weak. He noticed that the other three were in the same condition as well.

"Ah... jeez..." Kira said, rubbing her eyes. "...what's hit me...?"

"...I feel... s-so..." Aster said, yawning. "...tired... my body... is... h-heavy..."

"...Ooooh... what's... happening...?" Sugarcube asked, slowly lowering herself.

The four of them could not remain standing any longer... and they all collapsed, nearly unconscious. Before Kira was out... she could make out the shape of two tall figures wearing gas masks, slowly stalking towards them...

One of them knelt next to her, lifting her head as she stared drowsily at him.

"Shh... sleep now, my little sheep..." he said mockingly, his voice frighteningly familiar. "...rest your head... it's time for bed..."

With that, he closed Kira's eyelids with his index finger and thumb... and this was enough to force Kira into sleep...

Well, things sure are going from bad to worse all the time, aren't they? Let's hope the heroes can get out of this mess, right? Anyways, thanks for reading! I'll be back real soon... after my fucking midterm exams... -_-. Keep holding on...