Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Prometheus or Alien Characters.

What is Wanting if One Cannot Feel?

"What do you think it is, David?" Elizabeth asked one day as they examined the mural. Her flashlight shining along the outlines.

David follows her light and takes a closer look. Its skeletal arms are spread out as if it were being crucified. It's thin in body weight. It's head misshapen and parietal bone elongated as if it were stretched. "I'm not sure. Another subspecies, perhaps?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. Although it does appear to have a similar pectoralis as a homosapien. But whatever it is, they seem to have great respect for it. Almost like a god. But I can't read their hieroglyphs properly enough to gather on what it says. There was another one in the other ship's cargo."

"Here," He points to the pedestal. "It reads… ' Three phases of life. An egg is laid, a parasite is hatched, latches to a living vessel, implants the fertilized seed, and then the larva is born. To live, it must first take a host to complete its genetic material.' "

Elizabeth rubbed her arms as they quaked with tremors. "Did you say 'host'?"

He nodded. "Yes, so it would appear that these creatures reproduce asexually in the chest cavity."

"Asexually?" She marveled. "Like a copperhead snake?"

"In a sense." He confirmed, looking back at the mural. "But it's different. They're not cut apart and regrown. There's a dominant female that lays the eggs. These eggs harbor one parasitoid, and they are carriers of a single fertilized embryo each. Then they attach themselves to a living host and implant the embryo. The genetic material from both host and parasite blend together into creating a whole new organism. Which is what we see here."

Her eyes widened. "Does it say where they come from?"

He skims through the hieroglyphs some more and shrugs. "It doesn't really say. Their final stage of life is very short. It seems that the black goo harbors trillions of tiny microorganisms that fuse new genetic material with whatever they touch and mutate."

"It would explain what happened to Fifield and Charlie. Then that weird snake thing they found burrowed in Millburn's throat." She mulled over. "But that still doesn't really explain how this...queen, I think would be the correct term, comes to be. Because she is the one that lays the eggs, right? Huh, 'What came first? The chicken or the egg?'"

David blinked, uncertain. "I beg your pardon?"

She chuckled softly. "It's an argumentative question that must be as old as man. A chicken comes from an egg. But an egg comes from a chicken. No one is really sure which one came first."

"That's...an irrelevant argument. Especially over something so fickle."

She rolls her eyes at him. "That may be, but you must admit. It's a fascinating thought."

He tilted his head. "Something so insignificant that could bring so many to their knees. It is very fascinating indeed. Little wonder why there are wars over things as religion and science."

That made her pout. "Well, when you put it that way…"

"Forgive me," He said more sympathetically. "I didn't mean to offend you."

She shook her head and sighed. "It's fine. But you can be a little blunt sometimes, David."

He lifted her chin up with his finger. "I am trying. I want to be a good match for you, Elizabeth."

Her lips lifted into a kind smile. "You are always trying, David. As if you are searching for my approval."

"Oh, but I am." He murmurs, pecking her lips. "Your approval is the only one that matters to me."

"I don't want you to completely change who you are just for me." She insisted. "This relationship must go both ways. I too must make you happy."

His hand brushes away some stray hairs from her face. "But you already do, Elizabeth. By merely allowing me to stay by your side, then into your heart, is more happiness than a synthetic such as myself can muster."

"That's what a partnership is." She told him. "Being good for and to one another. I accepted once we started to pursue this romantic endeavor, that you are not human and never will be. You are much more than just a robot in my eyes but I can not stop you from functioning in ways that keep you you. "

"Such as I," He says as he pulls her closer. "Have learned to well understand that you will always have moral compasses to guide you verses my installed programming. And it is what makes you so different from other humans"

She sighs and leans into his touch. "You have such a way with words."

"That is a compliment, I hope."

Kissing his palm, she giggles. "Yes, it is." She pulls away and glances back towards the mural. "Now that we've gone off topic, let's return to this mural."

"Of course." He examines it further. "Where does the queen come from?"

"Perhaps it likes insects such as bees and ants. They are the only ones in their colonies able to lay fertilized eggs. But it possible that this queen doesn't even need a mate." She deduces. She takes looks at the carving of one of the eggs. "Perhaps a queen parasitoid is laid randomly at some point. It must be different from all of the others. Like a drone bee versus a worker bee."

"It would seem logical enough. But there's no real way to find out."

"Wait!" She said, her face going pale. "The fetus. It...it...was…." She was starting to hyperventilate. "I...can't...I can't breathe!" Her knees buckled and collapsed under her weight.

"Elizabeth!" David caught her before she could meet the ground. Immediately lifting her into his arms and taking her out of the cargo hold. He sets her down gently on one of the chairs at the console and rubs his fingers on the smooth skin of her sternum. "Try taking deep breaths. Slowly, in and out." He performed the breathing exercise with her. It took a few seconds, but eventually, she was breathing in harmony with him. Once her color returned, he brought a glass of water.

She took it, offering him a thankful glance before drinking the entire cup of its contents. "I'm sorry about that, David."

He continued to analyze her breathing and heartbeat. Her pulse was still somewhat erratic. "Please tell me what you were thinking about that made you react in such a way. You mentioned the fetus."

"When you talked about how these parasites lay eggs in a living host, it got me thinking." Her arms shook as she shivered. "Before the Engineer came for me in the Vickers' pod, I heard a sound come from the medical bay and went to investigate from the window. The medical pod was empty and I'd left the extracted fetus there and had it contained. I thought I'd killed from the decontamination function. But then a giant tentacle banged against the window. I didn't have enough time to look further before you called me and told me that the Engineer was coming. Of course, by that time, it had already found me and was breaking in. I didn't have to hold it off for long because I unlocked the medical bay door and that same tentacle pulled it off me. Unfortunately, we both went down in the struggle and the Engineer landed right on my still-fresh scar." She rubbed her abdomen absently. "That...thing was huge. It was bigger than the Engineer. Despite his great strength, he was no match for it. It pulled him closer until some smaller tentacles wrapped around its head, holding him still. Another appendage comes out and then forces itself into his mouth. Only then did he give up the fight. He collapsed as it wrapped itself around him as close as it could." She shook her head. No doubt trying to clear the memory. "What if what that fetus was was a mutated version of what we just read on the mural? And it laid something inside of him?"

David thought back to when he first glanced at the droplet of black goo. Inside he could see millions of microorganisms. Knowing that speaking of Mr. Holloway's demise was still a sore spot for her, he had to try. "It's quite possible that Dr. Holloway's semen was replaced with a similar gene with what creates the same eggs as the creatures we saw in the mural. But it was done by fertilization instead of that of an oviparous."

"If your translation of the hieroglyphs is correct, David, then it's quite possible that we left one of those things back on LV-223." She hid her face in her hands. "What have I done?"

His eyes narrowed with uncertainty. "What do you mean, Elizabeth?"

She lifted her head, her fiery gaze met with his. "Don't you understand? I knew that that thing would certainly kill the Engineer. I couldn't do it, I was too weak. So I unleashed it so I could get away. Not even considering what might happen. Now after learning what we just found out, it means that there probably some monster roaming loose around out there. And it's my fault!"

He took hold of her arms to prevent her from hurting herself. "You did what you had to survive."

"But at what cost, David?" She sobbed. "I unleashed something horrible and unstable. Who knows what havoc that thing will wreak?"

He lets go of her arms and pulls her into his chest, placing his chin atop her head. Her dark hair tickling his nose sensors. "That planet is completely barren, Elizabeth. The creature will wonder for a while until will eventually die of hunger."

"But what if it doesn't?" She insisted. "There are several creatures out there that can survive for weeks without food or water. What if this is one of them? I left a message warning others to stay away from that planet. But what if they investigate it anyway?"

"Hush now." He tells her gently. "Their final stage of life is very short. Probably less than a month. It won't be for years before someone crosses that planet again. You don't need to worry about that, Elizabeth. I promise you."

"It's just the thought that I…" She sniffed. " I am the reason for that thing! I brought it into the world and I let it kill another living being so I could get away. Not even considering the consequences of what it could have unleashed."

He places a gentle hand to her cheek. "If anyone is to be blamed, it is I. It was me who infect Dr. Holloway. I never anticipated the possibilities of what would happen if you two performed intercourse."

"You were acting on orders." She sniffed. "But you know the worse part?" He waited patiently. "That thing is the closest thing to a child I will ever bare. Even when I got it out of me, when I saw its misshapen form, when it was being pulled out, I still had that strange feeling of...awe. That I brought life into existence."

She snorted. "Of course the moment was very short-lived because when it burst from the embryonic sac it tried to attack me."

Moving some hair from her face, he says, "I can never apologize enough."

"Even though I was terrified of it, I can't help but still think that thing had my DNA. It's half of me. But…"

"You wanted a child that was what you envisioned. A blend of genetic material between you and your mate." David's hard drive put together an image of the scenario in the mix of his and Elizabeth's physical features. If he actually had DNA. "The idea of you and I creating a child together makes me feel...prideful"

She chuckled lightly. "Oh, David, you're as sterile as I am."

"But imagine it." He continues. "There's been similar science done. Picture us implanting a surrogate with your egg, fertilized by sperm from a man identical to me. The child would be a mixture of both of us. And we would love it unconditionally."

She kissed his forehead. "Why bother with all that? We could adopt a child that already exists."

He smiles. "Any child with you, Elizabeth, would be a joy in itself."