I do not own anything. Here is the list of what I DON'T own:

Tiki is a Xenomorph, which I DON'T own. No Xeno in this chapter belongs to me!

War of the Worlds (And it's aliens, Machi and Zerxus and all others) is another thing I DON'T own.

And the Crystal Egg is another thing I DON'T own.

I disown everything!

Tiki was lying in the middle of the floor in the living room. She sighed quietly as Machi passed her by.She's been moping about on that spot for days, leaving only to eat, drink, or getting out of Machi's way. She heard Machi go upsatirs and sighed again. She was feeling...lonely, bored, sad, unmotivated to move. There was no spark inside. She made a moaning sound and rolled onto her back.

She missed her friends. She missed playing and exploring with Muffin. She missed swimming with Morphy and nipping his shell. She missed harrassing and arguing with Melissa.

'Why did Machi have to kill them?' she thought to herself. Upstairs, Machi picked up the question via the Hive Mind.

"It was something that had to be done. Get over it." Machi replied. Tiki sighed and thought again.

'I can't get over it. Especially knowing that they died in the worst ways possible.'

"Look on the bright side: Muffin had a quick death."

'Either way, they all died in your tentacular grip.'

Machi didn't reply to this. He didn't feel bad about killing those 3, but he did feel rather unpleasant about Tiki's sorrow. Tiki was his favorite and it pains him to see her like this.

Tiki again sighed and rolled on her side. Zerxus walked in and looked at her. Seeing him awake and moving about, Tiki smiled for the first time in days. Zerxus smiled back, but there was a look of concern on his face.

"What's wrong Tiki?" Zerxus asked. Tiki's smile died.

"I'm lonely." she mumbled. Zerxus gently picked her up and petted her.

"Where's everyone else?" he questioned.

"They're dead." she answered. Zerxus looked shocked.

"They are? What happened?"

Tiki was about to answer with the truth: "Machi killed them!" But before she could, she sensed a atinging ache in her head. She looked towards the staircase and saw Machi, watching them. She knew Machi was warning her. She sighed and looked back at Zerxus.

"I...don't know?" she lied, wondering if the answer would satisfy Machi. It did. The light pain eased away and Machi moved up to them.

"They died of natural causes. Earth creatures don't live very long. Their life span got the best of them." Machi covered. Zerxus still felt uncertain but he accepted the answer, after a little mental 'help' from Machi, that is. Zerxus nodded, sadened by the news.

"I'm sorry. But prehaps we can get new pets a little later." Machi continued. Zerxus smiled.

"That's a great idea. Thanks Machi." Machi smiled back.

No problem." Machi turned away, but not before giving Tiki a short glare. She may be his favorite, but she nearly blew his little secret. He considered wiping out her memory, but found that unnessasary. Prehaps giving her a frequent warning will keep her mouth shut. He directed his Handling Machine to take him back upstairs.

Tiki felt terrible. She wanted so bad to tell Zerxus the truth, but Machi will never allow her to do that. Zerxus was unaware of the situation. He was sadly staring towards a nearby window, watching the birds.

"Zerxus?" Tiki mumbled, getting his attention. "I'm so ALONE!" She started crying.

Zerxus petted her. He knew the only thing that frighhtened a Xeno is being alone or anything along those lines. But Zerxus had an idea. Smiling, he placed Tiki onto his cape and walked around, dragging her along behind him. Tiki smiled and laughed, enjoying her favorite sport Cape Riding.

She feels better now.

-Machi-

Machi entered his room, which was the largest room in the house. Like Zerxus' room, it was designed to be exactly like his homeplanet of Mars. Everything about it was red. Red Martian soil covered the floor and the 6 foot tall cactus-like 'Red Weed' grew in thick bunches in the room's corners. Even the walls and door was made red to resemble the Mars atmosphere.

Zerxus' Yacama rom was different of course. Orange soil covered the floor instead of red. And instead of being confined in corners, amarenths, the Reginite 'Red Weed', grew all over the floor, but were kept off the walls, which too resembles an alien sky: Red on the lower atmospheres and black on the higher.

Machi scanned his room, as if checking if anyone has snuck in recently, then got off his machine. This room made Machi even more comfortable by having gravity equal to that on Mars and the air supply didn't leave him gasping for breath or salivating, as Earth's air does. Only diference this place had with the true Mars is the temperature. It's warmer here, and that's exactly how Machi likes it.

He moved towards the farthest corner from the door and gently rummaged through his plants. He paused and a blue light reflected from a shining object in the clump of plants and off of Machi's large black eyes.

Grasping the object with a couple of tentacles, Machi removed an egg shaped object: the Crystal Egg.

Another chapter here. Finally, it's 1:10 am and I'm still not tired. I plan on staying up all night. The next chapter might come sometime tonight if someone reviews before I go home in the morning. If not, then wait sometime during the weekdays or something.