Chapter Ten
The next day, everyone was gathered around the table in the mess hall of the Vortex to discuss the changes in the environment. As Sophie sat next to Kyle, her tail wrapped lovingly around his waist, she looked at Sam and purred. Kyle couldn't help a smile. Through his link with Sophie, he knew MacReady's scent was heavy on Sam, and vice-versa. Sophie purred more deeply as she slid her arm around her mate's shoulders.
A-Mos placed a cube in the center of the table, which glowed as a holographic image flared above the table showing aerial footage of the valley and surrounding area taken by the small aero-probes ordered sent out by MacReady.
The images showed almost the whole of the coastline was alive with activity, the mosses and lichen glowing strongly. Sam, in particular, was fascinated by the local ecosystem.
"This is amazing! I've never seen anything like it before!" Sergei nodded as he sipped his tea through his mustache.
"I concur. I've never seen an ecosystem that is based almost entirely around symbiotic life," grinned the linguist as he watched the video the probes had taken of the coastline.
After they had seen the return of life to the coast, they had retreated to the Vortex to rest, regroup and not cause any damage to an already-fragile ecosystem. It presented them with a fascinating opportunity to observe the life of Sophie's home world without disturbing it. They also were able to see the creatures that Kyle had said were Sophie's "cousins", lounging on rocks, sunning themselves, or swimming in groups.
Sam watched as a group of them swam around one of the mantee-like creatures, which Sam had named "Mer-Gels". She smiled as she looked at Kyle and Sophie.
"So, Kyle, are these little ones a subspecies of Sophie's kind?" Sam asked. Kyle sighed sadly as he watched the images, a light frown on his face.
"Yes and no." The others looked at him as Sophie gave a soft moan, wrapping her arms around her mate. Kyle looked at the group as he spoke. "They are Sophie's kind. Or, rather Sophie's kind as they naturally were, once upon a time." Seth sighed from his place, leaning against a wall.
"So, the Creators changed Sophie's people into what they are now," he harshly stated. Kyle nodded. The group was surprised at this. MacReady grunted as he rubbed his beard.
"It's all starting to make sense. The pieces are coming together." Mac brought out his pipe, but returned it to his jacket instead of lighting it. A-Mos crossed his arms as he watched Sophie's natural relatives swimming gracefully alongside the Mer-Gel.
"So, they turned Sophie's people into weapons for war." The former soldier's tone was filled with sympathy for Sophie's people. Terry frowned as he looked at A-Mos.
"But that begs the question: Why?" A-Mos sighed tolerantly as he looked at the tech.
"Probably because they could," replied A-Mos.
As the group murmured amongst themselves, Sergei noticed something on the video from the probe.
"What a minute, what was that?" A-Mos backed the video up as the probe flew over one of the higher cliffs.
There, carved into the rock of the cliff, was a statue, but not a statue of any creature they had seen yet. It wasn't the Creators, but a creature with four arms and two legs, standing upright, holding a staff and dressed in robes. The head was almost diamond-shaped. The statue was very weathered and old, the features almost completely smoothed away by weather and time, if there ever were any. Mac grunted in surprise as they watched the probe pass by several such statues in the cliff.
"The Creators weren't the only race to inhabit this planet," said the captain. He looked to Kyle for an answer. "Anything in Sophie's Hive Memories about them?" Kyle frowned and shook his head.
"It must have been from so long ago, even Hive Memories don't recall them," Kyle replied. Sergei smiled as he watched, looking ready to burst with excitement.
"This is amazing. An ancient, extinct alien culture. The Creators must have built their civilization over the ruins of this older culture that preceded them. Fantastic! I would love to climb those cliffs to study those statues!" Mac chuckled lightly, shaking his head slowly.
"I thought you were a linguist, not an archeologist," quipped MacReady. Sergei smiled at him.
"Yes, but the study of archeology and ancient languages often go hand-in-hand."
A-Mos sighed softly as the probes flew back over the valley and the remains of the Creators' city, displaying the devastation, however ancient, for all of them to see.
The massive U-shaped ships were laying where they had crashed, thousands of years ago.
Some were still relatively whole, others were in pieces. Some were overgrown with plants and vines.
One of them was covered in the "rainbow-vines" that sheltered small creatures, turning the whole surface of the ship a bright emerald green. The gaze of the former soldier sharpened as the probes flew low over the very large ship at the edge of the city, displaying the barren ground around it, and the small piles of bones at the very edges of the plants around the barren field.
"This thing has me worried. Since the ground around it is barren on all sides, and there is a good number of bones has me thinking of radiation," muttered A-Mos darkly, his face grave.
"Even worse than radiation," said Kyle. They looked at him as Sophie hissed softly. Kyle sighed as he looked at the gargantuan ship on the hologram. "The Creators' ships were somehow partially alive. How, I don't know. But, something they made, another one of their creations, got loose and infested that ship and turned it into one giant, living creature. And a hungry one at that."
They all listened, silent as Kyle looked back into the Hive Memories that the Great Mother had shared with them. "Sophie's people came to call it "The Devourer". That whole ship would eat anything that ventured inside it, or too close," Kyle's voice was filled with unease. Sam stared at Kyle, her eyes wide in horror.
"Even . . . Sophie's kind?" Kyle looked at her.
"Anything," Kyle replied. Sam swallowed. A-Mos growled as he looked at the massive, living ship that sat at the edge of the city.
"How fitting they ended up getting eaten by the very thing they created to be a weapon," snapped Seth, a small, grim smile adorning his face. Mac shook his head at all of this.
"It makes me wonder what the hell happened here." Mac looked at Kyle, who shook his head.
"From what I've seen in the Hive Memories, the Creators seemed to be fighting amongst themselves. Why, I have no idea." Sophie purred softly as she stroked Kyle's hair. Sergei looked at the hologram, and the image of the large, central pyramid that Sophie's kind had claimed as their own. The Creators' capital building.
"Well, if we'll find any answers, it'll be in there," chirped the linguist, obviously itching with excitement at the prospect of exploring. MacReady looked at Kyle as the video stopped and the hologram vanished.
"Well, is it safe to poke around the inside of the pyramid?" Mac queried, his eyes locked on Kyle and Sophie for answers. Kyle smiled softly and nodded.
"Yes. The Great Mother and her children sealed themselves in when the fighting was still going on. It was one of the few places that was safe." Victor smiled at this, adjusting his sunglasses.
"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go meet mama."
XXX
Kyle and Sophie led the group into the depths of the pyramid, the darkness close around them, despite their flashlights. They were excited, but nervous as they ventured further into the pyramid. The architecture reminded them of the inside of the derelict ship they had been in on HS-90, the walls having that same ribbed look to them. The Creators' pyramid had a distinctive eerie, haunted feeling to it. It made the whole group uneasy as they ventured deeper into the pyramid, following Kyle and Sophie, who were on Point. When they entered the hive, Kyle smiled faintly as he looked back at them.
"This is the hive. This is home. Don't be afraid if some of the others touch you or smell you. They won't hurt you," Kyle comforted as they ventured into the hive. Hugo shined his light on the walls, looking at the resin that covered it.
"How can they smell when they don't have noses?" Hugo wondered aloud.
"With their tongues," Kyle replied as they followed the tunnels. The group was a little startled when they heard a trill. They looked forward as another of Sophie's kind came trotting up, seeming excited by their return. Kyle chuckled as the smaller Xenomorph rubbed her head against his waist.
"Everyone, we'd like you to meet Lissa," he chuckled as Lissa purred. Sam tried not to be nervous as Lissa turned her attention to her.
"Hi, Lissa. It's nice to meet you," Sam greeted as the smaller Xeno came closer. Lissa purred softly as she stood up and gazed at Sam, their faces inches apart. Sam smiled as Lissa gently stroked her hair, trilling softly. All of the introductions went like that. Lissa was almost twitching with excitement to meet these new friends, purring and weaving around and between them, almost like a cat, as they walked further into the hive.
Of all the crew, Seth seemed to be the least nervous to meet Sophie's relatives. Lissa seemed to pick up on this, purring and weaving around him as he walked at the rear of the group. As they passed through the tunnels and passageways of the hive, they saw the others, hard at work repairing, restoring and rebuilding damaged sections of the resin. The busy Xenomorphs acknowledged the passing group with friendly purrs, trills and soft singsong hisses.
They were awed as they entered the Great Mother's chamber, and the grand, amazing being that occupied it. The Great Mother purred deeply from where she was resting on the silk her children had woven and laid down on the floor for her, Diana and Artemis standing on either side of her. A few of her children were climbing on the ceiling, applying more resin to the cracked sections and shoring up others. Kyle smiled as he turned back to the group.
"Everyone, this is the Great Mother," he introduced her as Sophie purred deeply, her tail weaving happily. Sam couldn't help a soft gasp as she gazed at the Great Mother.
"She's beautiful," Sam's voice was filled with awe. Kyle smiled as he introduced his friends, who all gave a polite bow of the head. The Great Mother gave a low, deep, rumbling purr of acknowledgment to each of them in turn. Once the introductions were finished, Mac turned to Kyle.
"Kyle, we know the Creators were fighting among themselves, can you ask her if she knows why?" Kyle smiled at MacReady.
"Ask her yourself, she understands you," Kyle replied. Mac blinked as the Great Mother looked at him and purred, seeming amused. Kyle gave a soft sigh as he sat, Sophie sitting behind him, her arms around him and her tail draped across his lap. "She says that the bigger ones, and the smaller gray ones were fighting each other. Why, exactly, they don't know." Mac and the others sat near Kyle and Sophie as the Great Mother gave a deep rumble, which Diana and Artemis echoed. "In the fighting, they began to unleash their own weapons on each other. One of which was Sophie's people."
The whole group sat in silence, listening, as Kyle recounted the events that had transpired so long ago.
"And on that note," Kyle fixed the group with a serious look. "The Great Mother said not to go anywhere near any of the downed ships. They might still have some of the Creators' weapons alive on board, in hibernation or dormant, waiting for something to disturb them." A-Mos growled at that.
"I was afraid of that," muttered the old soldier. Mac rubbed his beard, looking thoughtful.
"Do they have any theories why they started fighting?" demanded Mac, rubbing his shaggy jaw. Kyle frowned ever so slightly as the Great Mother gave a low, keening moan, as if in pain. Kyle sighed as he closed his eyes, shuddering himself at what slithered into his mind, Sophie give a soft moan as she pulled her mate into her lap and nuzzled him.
"The Great Mother is pretty sure the Life-Jelly had something to do with it." Sam blinked in confusion at Kyle's answer.
"Why would their Royal-Jelly be behind the Creators fighting?" Sam whispered as she tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear, yet she already knew the answer. The Great Mother moaned, as did Diana and Artemis.
"Because, Sam, they were forcing the Mothers to produce Cradles with new Mothers in them, so the Creators could suction out the Life-Jelly from the fresh Cradles and use it themselves." Sam stared at Kyle in shock as the image formed itself in her head. Nausea swirled through her belly, she bowed her head, sickened by what this meant, what Sam knew it meant. Mac blew out as he looked at the Great Mother as she gave a low moan.
"So, they were harvesting the Royal-Jelly from them." Mac looked back at Kyle, understanding and sympathy on the older man's face. "The little Queens didn't survive, did they?" Kyle's face was ashen, tight and strained, shaking his head as Sophie keened softly with sorrow.
"That's awful!" Terry cried, aghast at what he was hearing. A-Mos gently placed his mechanical hand on Terry's arm, to keep Terry from leaping up to his feet.
Sam looked at the Great Mother, the anguish written across her features. "Did any of the Cradles survive?" Sam pleaded. They were surprised when the Great Mother smiled softly, a deep, purring trill echoing from her and around the chamber, which her children responded to by repeating the same tonal sound. Kyle smiled wider as Sophie purred and nuzzled him.
"Thankfully, yes. A good number of Cradles are safe and sealed in the hive. They just want to make sure it's safe outside before they take them down to the beach and let them Bond to the Mer-Gels. Then, the symbiotic cycle will, hopefully, begin to repair itself." There were happy, relieved murmurs from the group at the wonderful news. The Great Mother purred from where she was laying, her tail happily waving at the prospect of the birth of a new generation of her children. Kyle and Sophie didn't fail to notice Sam gently squeeze MacReady's hand as she smiled.
"I'm so glad. The Creators should never have interfered with nature in the first place," Sam spat as she looked at the Great Mother, who looked at her and purred, seeming happy at her words.
Victor looked thoughtful, and scratched his head as he frowned.
"So, they were using the Queens like cows for this jelly. What were they using it for?" Victor mumbled. Kyle's brows furrowed as he seemed in thought. They knew he was communicating with the Great Mother.
"It was only the larger ones that were using it, and they seemed to be using it like we would vitamin supplements." Sam was about to ask Kyle another question when Kyle held his hand up, looking at the Great Mother as she gently crooned. Kyle's eyebrows raised lightly. He looked back at the group. "She said that the Creators had a science room in this building. We might be able to find more answers there, from the Creators themselves." Sergei almost leaped up, excited.
"A marvelous idea! I'm positive I can translate their documents," Sergei almost crowed, he was that excited. Sophie purred as she got to her feet. Mac grunted softly as he helped Sam to her feet.
He looked at Kyle and Sophie, his gaze enigmatic.
"Lead the way."
XXX
Kyle and Sophie led the group back the way they came, out of the hive and back into the abandoned hallways of the pyramid, following the directions in the Hive Memories the Great Mother had shared with him. The long, round, ribbed hallways had a very eerie feeling to them as they walked along. There was something very disquieting about walking through those hallways, knowing there had been so much fighting there. Indeed, there was still some evidence to be seen of the fights that had occurred so long ago. Some burns on the walls, chunks taken out of the ribs or arches on the walls.
As they rounded a corner, they stopped when they saw a large mass of something laying in a heap to the side of the hall. A-Mos kept his rifle on the thing as they neared. From the layers of dust, it was obvious that the thing had been still for a considerable length of time. Sophie snarled at the thing, her tail lashing in anger. It looked almost like some sort of mechanical tarantula, but with only six legs.
There were many burns of several types on it, one of the legs almost completely detached. Mac looked at the mess of wires, tubes and other bizarre alien mechanics, then up at Kyle.
"Kyle, what is this thing?" Mac snapped. Sophie hissed as she slid her arms protectively around her mate. Kyle gave a soft groan as he looked the ruined hulk over.
"It was one of their war machines. Kind of like combat-androids are to us." Kyle looked at MacReady. "This was a Mother-Killer." Sophie hissed harder at this, baring her teeth, a hint of drool dripping from her jaws. A-Mos kept his distance from the alien combat-mech, never taking his aim from it.
"Are there any more of these things?" A-Mos demanded, his voice low and wary. Kyle sighed and shook his head.
"No, they were destroyed either by Sophie's people, or the Creators." This brought a round of relieved sighs from the group. Seth crouched near the machine, looking at what could be seen of the underside.
"A good thing, too. Just looking at this thing, I can already see it was armed to the teeth," Seth growled softly, gesturing to the tubes on the underside of the chassis. The group continued on, observing still more damage from fights from thousands of years ago.
As they passed through a particularly damaged hall, Sergei noticed something on the wall.
"Huh, what's this?" Sergei wondered aloud as he investigated something on the wall. Mac walked up behind him as Sergei brought up his datapad and began to type.
"Found something?" MacReady murmured low, uneasy in this corridor. Sergei nodded as he mumbled in some alien language.
"This would appear to be an interface panel of some sort. Now, let's see . . .," Sergei began murmuring in different languages as he focused on translating the alien text. As Sergei translated, A-Mos shined his flashlight around the hallway, taking note of the numerous burns and scorches on the walls and on the floor.
"Definitely a firefight here. And a pretty intense one by the look of it," muttered the former soldier.
"We'll know shortly. I think I can activate their security cameras," Sergei said as he touched the marks of the panel in sequence. They all were surprised when the hallway suddenly flashed, and the room erupted into the chaotic sounds of battle as the hologram of the ancient battle played around them.
A group of the golden Creators were shooting at a group of the smaller gray ones. A few of the gray ones were laying dead by their comrades as the firefight raged through the hall, blasts of energy flying from their weapons as the sides exchanged fire. Here and there, resin smoked, slagged, burst into flames, scorch marks streaked down the walls and floors. They watched as a blast of energy from one of the Creators' rifles hit the helmet of one of the gray ones, knocking it to the floor. Through the hole burned in the helmet, they could see the face of the being underneath, and it was similar, but different from the face of the Creator they had seen back on HS-90.
The skin was very pale, almost pure white. Unlike the Creators, this being lacked hair, not even eyebrows or eyelashes, the eyes were dark. They watched as another of the blue energy bolts flew and hit the arm of one of the gray ones, searing it off just below the elbow. There was very little blood.
"He's down for the count!" quipped Hugo as they watched the wounded being stumble backwards. Seth frowned as he watched the holographic battle.
"Don't be so sure," Seth growled as the gray being picked up its weapon with its other hand, stood back up and resumed fighting. They were startled to see several such events happen, as arms and even legs were blown off, only for the wounded fighters to brace themselves against a wall, almost as if they didn't feel the pain, and continue to fight.
"Jeez, what the hell are they on?!" Mac shouted over the noise as the Creators, the golden ones, seemed to gain the upper hand, pushing forward and downing more of their foes. The group of golden giants pressed forward, firing and shouting as they dropped more and more of their enemies, until only one was moving, crawling across the floor for a fallen energy rifle. One of the Creators stepped on the back of the fallen gray one, stopping its movement as the Creator grasped a thin wand at its side, bringing the wand down onto the gray one's head like a knife.
They were startled when the head, and most of the upper body of the gray being, was reduced to nothing but ash in a millisecond. Just like that, the fight was over. The Creator stood and looked at its allies and spoke in its alien language. They nodded and picked up the weapons from their fallen enemies before leaving as the hologram faded away.
The group was stunned at what they had just witnessed.
"Whoa . . .," Hugo breathed, speechless. A-Mos frowned as he looked at the blast-marks around the hall.
"Looks like they were trying to stop the advance of the gray ones," A-Mos commented as he looked up and down the hall. MacReady frowned, hands on his hips as he grunted softly.
"It's about time we got some answers," Mac looked at Kyle. Sophie was softly growling, her arms and tail wrapped protectively around her mate. "Let's find out what went on here." Kyle nodded as he and Sophie turned and led them further into the hallways.
As they turned a corner, they saw a doorway that was covered with the resin Sophie's kind used to make their hives. Mac stopped near it, looking over the shapes. He looked at Kyle and Sophie, a light frown on his face. "What's with this?" asked Mac, touching the dry, cracked resin. Sophie gave a very soft growl at this.
"That was one of the rooms the Creators stored their weapons in," Kyle explained. The group looked surprised. A-Mos chuckled with amusement.
"Great idea. Keep the enemy from rearming, and you strip them of any advantage," A-Mos smiled his approval as he slung his rifle. Kyle smiled and nodded.
"They did that with some of the other rooms, too. The science room included. We'll have to break through the resin to get in," Kyle informed. With that, Kyle and Sophie turned and led the group further down the halls, passing several more rooms blocked by resin. Finally, Kyle and Sophie stopped by one door that was covered with resin. Kyle motioned towards the door. "This is it," he said as they looked it over. A-Mos had been about to step forward, when Sophie gave a soft hiss and began to rip off pieces of the resin, tossing it behind her in a pile against the far wall.
In the span of a few short minutes, she managed to pull enough of the resin off for the door to open. Sergei walked over and pressed several symbols on the control panel next to the door. The door slid upwards into the ceiling, revealing a dark room. They shined their flashlight around the room, the light landing on strange things and shapes. Sergei mumbled as he pressed more symbols on the control panel, and the room gradually lit up, revealing the room in full.
There were several tall tubes, filled with liquid, running from floor to ceiling. In most of the tubes, was a preserved creature. Preserved creatures, floating in clear liquid. Some they recognized, some they didn't.
"Fascinating," said Sergei as he looked at one of the preserved creatures. Sam was struck by one tube in particular.
The creature inside was humanoid in form. The legs and arms all were webbed with delicate, transparent skin. The whole body was covered in very fine, iridescent scales, that shimmered in beautiful golds, blues and greens. The creature inside was so well preserved, it almost looked like it was still alive. Sam blinked as her eyes burned with tears, awed by the beautiful creature, yet stricken by grief at its death.
"It's so beautiful. We haven't seen one of these," Sam croaked as she gently touched the glass.
"Actually, we did," Kyle said from where he was. Sam looked at him as Sophie moaned sadly, wrapping her arms and tail around Kyle. "This is the adult form of the Mer-Gel." Sam looked back at the creature, and noticed the liquid-gold eyes. Kyle sighed and smiled sadly as Sophie stroked his hair.
"You see, after they Bond to one of Sophie's kind, they undergo a metamorphosis, kind of like a butterfly." Sam looked at Kyle, stunned.
"So, without Sophie's kind, they can't reach maturity?" she gasped, stunned. Kyle slowly nodded his head.
"They need each other to survive. If one dies out, so does the other." The group was silent at that. Mac sighed and shook his head at all of it.
"Such a damn waste," Mac murmured. A-Mos nodded.
"War always is," agreed the former soldier. Sergei looked at another panel and brought up his datapad and began to translate, tapping symbols as he did.
"There were more cameras in here. Let me see what I can bring up . . .," Sergei trailed off as he typed in commands, lost once again in translating alien glyphs.
The room hissed with holographic static for a brief moment before revealing two of the tall, golden giants, the Creators, standing in the room without their helmets. They could see that these two had longer hair that the others they had seen, with their wavy, golden locks reaching almost to their shoulders. One of them walked over and sat in a large chair, next to one of the consoles. The other stood next to the tube that held the adult Mer-Gel. The Creator reached a hand up and gently touched the glass, the same way Sam had.
The group was surprised when a tear rolled down the golden being's face as he stared at the beautiful being in the tube. The Creator said something in his native language, his voice quivering. He looked back at his companion, who sat in the chair, his back hunched. The one in the chair had a long mustache framing his lips. It reminded them of the mustaches the Celts wore back home on Zerichs II. The clean-shaven Creator said something to his companion, who only frowned and shook his head, sorrow clear on his face. With one final, sorrowful look, the younger Creator turned and walked away from the tube, over to the panel Sergei now stood at, touching the panel, and the hologram vanished.
Seth looked at Sergei, who bore a sad, serious expression on his face.
"What did he say?" Seth pleaded. Sergei sighed as he looked at the Mer-Gel in the tube.
"'How could we be so cruel?'." The group was surprised at this. Of all the things they had expected the Creators to say, that had been what they had been least expecting. Even Sophie looked surprised. Sam frowned as she looked at the tubes, and the specimens within, then back to Sergei
"Sergei, was there anything else?" Sam queried, her eyes suddenly intense. The linguist frowned lightly as he tapped symbols, bringing up a row of glowing, alien text.
"Um, yes. It looks like some medical scans, from the looks of it." Sam's ears perked up at that.
"Show me," Sam muttered as she walked forward. Sergei tapped the appropriate symbols and brought up the information. The group stared at the floating images of what looked like human brains.
Some were gold, others were gray. Sam reached up and touched one of the gray brains, surprised when it suddenly enlarged, displaying the scan in greater detail. Sam stared at the scan, shocked awe written across her face. Sophie hissed, sensing Sam's distress. Kyle stepped forward, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Sam? What's the matter?" Sam didn't answer at first, as she tapped the scan again, enlarging it again.
"Oh, my god . . .," Sam's voice was barely above a squeaked whisper. MacReady gently shook her.
"Sam, what's going on?" Mac snapped, worry clear in his voice. Sam looked up at him with wide, incredulous eyes.
"The limbic system. It's almost gone," Sam sounded unable to believe what she was saying. Victor scratched his head, looking confused.
"Um, I'm a little slow, Doc. Could you dumb that down for me a bit?" asked the mechanic. Sam pointed to near the center of the brain, below the ventricles.
"This is the limbic system. The part we're concerned with, here, controls emotions." The area she indicated was flattened, as if stunted or shriveled. She looked at the group, her face grave, her eyes wide with the shock of what she was seeing on the scans.. "This is the brain of a psychopath. They have no emotions. No pity, no remorse, no fear and . . . ? No guilt, no conscience." A-Mos growled as he crossed his arms.
"The perfect soldier," huffed the former soldier. As they took in this information, Sam tapped one of the golden brains, enlarging and displaying it.
"But this one, the limbic system is even more developed than a human one is," Sam declared. Seth's eyes widened as he looked at the floating, rotating image.
"Wait, if the golden scans are from the larger ones, and the gray ones are the smaller ones, that means that the Royal-Jelly stimulated the limbic system to heal. Which means . . .," Seth trailed off, almost not believing his own words. Sam frowned as she nodded.
"Yes. They deliberately removed emotions from themselves." There were more than a few startled murmurs at this. Sam stared at the rotating scan of the brain of one of the Creators. "The Royal-Jelly restoring their limbic system was likely an unexpected side-effect." Mac sighed as he rubbed his beard.
"It all makes sense, now," said the bearded captain as he began to pace, every now and again, uneasily eying those scans. "The golden ones, the Creators, engineered emotions out of themselves, and the smaller ones, who I'm guessing are like servants or soldiers. When they accidentally regained emotions, they were disgusted with what they'd done and created, and turned on their former servants," Mac said as he looked at the Mer-Gel in the tube, then back at the group. "And we've seen the rest." The group was silent at this revelation, a few looking rather sickened. Sophie hissed softly, her tail fluttering in her agitation.
Sergei looked through some of the other information, and stopped, his eyes wide.
"That's not the only thing," Sergei hissed as he turned to the others, pointing at the displayed scan. "Take a look at this." They looked, and were surprised when they saw a familiar shape in the medical scan. Next to one of the Creators, it was too small even to be one of the Servants. Sam blinked, almost unable to comprehend what she was seeing.
"That's a human," Sam gasped, horrified. Sergei frowned as he looked at his datapad.
"Yes, but according to the translation, it's labeled as ' an experiment'." Sergei's eyes slid to lock with Mac's own, adding hoarsely, "Cap'un, there are thousands of . . .," Sergei had to pause, lick his lips, try to speak again as his mouth lost moisture, "experiments like this one."
Silence.
Stunned, horrified, comprehensive silence was all that answered Sergei's revelation.
Author's note: Thanks goes to my mother for her medical knowledge, as well as helping me sit and plan out a chapter that was already complicated.