"Alright, children. Now, the lesson for today is to teach your xenomorph how to sit and stay."

The humanoid android walked between the seven children and their xenomorphs at various stages of development; however, most of the xenomorph's were less than a year old and the children were under ten years. Sapphire and I were the newest additions. This was our third month in class. We were learning how to tame and domesticate our xenomorphs.

Sapphire stared at me, cocking her head in annoyance. She was taller than me now. I named her Sapphire because gems were shiny and worth a lot and she was worth all of the gems in the world. Blue was also one of my favorite colors.

Sapphire snorted at the androids instructions and I tried to keep the grin off of my face with little success.

Annoying. She imparted as her tail tapped on the floor. The chain around her neck and tail rattled.

I full heartedly agreed and I was hungry. The answering feeling from her was similar. Sapphire learned to communicate telepathically days after our bond was formed when we were reunited. As far as I knew, none of the other children had this ability to communicate with their partnered xenomorph. Although, Sapphire was able to communicate with the other xenomorphs easily. She said they were rather slow mentally, and blamed it on their cloned human hosts. She was always eager to boast that I had birthed her. She was proud of that, very proud of me in particular.

Sapphire's behavior began to further agitate the other xenomorph's until the android turned.

"Subject thirteen, calm your xenomorph."

The other children snickered. I sent them a glare along with a sharp hiss and Sapphire responded in kind. The other xenomorph drones quieted bending their heads and curling their tails in submission. The children quieted, uncomfortable and not understanding hive dynamics. Sapphire sniffed pleased with their obedience.

"Sapphire is bored, this is boring" I huffed staring at the android in defiance.

The android approached staring down at her. "We have explained this to you before, Subject thirteen-"

"Mikki, my name is Mikki."

The android began once more unperturbed by my defiance. "Subject thirteen, the xenomorph's are numbered accordingly to their human counterparts as you well know, thus your xenomorph is X-13." The android turned and I stuck my tongue out at their back petulantly.

"Now, let us begin the lesson. Perform the instructed signal and only when your xenomorph has completed the activity correctly do you present the reward. The first pair to accomplish the task first receives a lesson free day."

The reward happened to be manufactured beef. Sapphire sneered at it when I held it up. We both shook our heads at the smell. It was not appetizing in the least.

"Sit and eat?" I asked her simply, giving her the choice.

She hissed and turned away. "Not for that, not for them. I listen to no one."

"What if Sapphire doesn't want to?" I asked interrupting the lesson once more.

The android stopped mid conversation with a child I knew only as Subject Seven. "Then make her want to."

I sighed not enjoying this lesson. Most of them were not enjoyable, but any time we spent together was worth it. "Not even for no lessons?" I attempted a playful tone. She disliked them as much as I did.

"No." She hissed sulking further. I smiled and continued my teasing.

"For me?" I stuck my bottom lip out in a pout.

"Do you want me to?" She asked as her head cocked in actual curiosity.

I paused the retort. Sapphire was a Queen and was meant to rule and order the hive to complete her bidding. It was the way of things, and how the xenomorph infrastructure worked. She was above such things and the humans that wanted to control her. I took care of her and gave birth to her. She cared little for anyone but herself, even the other xenomorph's around her. They were not her drones.

She would do the exercise, I realized as I continued watching her as she waited. Sapphire would do as I asked and follow the rules as I trained her like an animal. That was not what I wanted. She trusted me, and I her. I would not treat her like an animal. We had been through months of this and I had always given her a choice. Perhaps there had been times when we had both lost our temper or one of us had been more stubborn.

Slowly, my hand reached out to touch her tail that was nearly as long as her three-foot body. Queen's matured slower than the average drone. Her mind was developing, but mentally and physically she would not be ready to breed for a few more years. I had a feeling that she was going to be much larger than the xenomorph Queen that had birthed her. I could not wait to see her and be at her side when she ruled her own hive.

Sapphire keened at my touch and understanding passed between us immediately. She sat and stayed as I put the piece of clinically grown cow at her feet. She sniffed, and drool pooled from her mouth as she bit at the meet. Sapphire immediately threw it up, dissatisfied with the flavor.

"Subject thirteen. Cease this behavior and step away from X-13."

Everyone in the room was silent. Saphire and I stopped moving and looked around us, noting how nervous the human children were. I did not understand what was wrong as we both had done as instructed, until Sapphire shifted in my arms and I realized that I had somehow crossed the boundary between us. Physical touch was strictly prohibited unless directly supervised and the xenomorph was practically nailed to the floor.

I let go of Sapphire, and felt the sadness between us. The android watched us more closely the rest of the lesson. We never did get credit for being the first pair to accomplish the task.

Come.

Come to me.

My eyes snapped open. The last vestiges of sleep left my body. I turned in bed, seeing the other kids sounds asleep. Everything was silent around me. The sheets rustled as I moved and sat up in bed.

Come.

Come to me.

My legs moved over the side of the bed. The cold air tickled my toes and I curled them before dropping down to the ground. The voice echoed in the back of my mind, calling to me. It was familiar and it did not frighten me. I had heard it speak to me once before, back when I chose Sapphire.

"Mikki?" I turned around seeing David rubbing his eyes watching me. "What are you doing up?"

"Go to back to bed." He watched as I gathered my robe.

"We're not supposed to be up. You'll get in trouble."

I paused at the edge of the door. Miraculously, it opened. The doors were always locked, and cameras monitored our every move. I know now that it was not just me that began all of it, but small bits of chance, fortune and gullible humans.

"Only if I get caught." I walked through the sliding doors with a smrik. "Besides, she's waiting for me."

The birthing chamber was easy to find. I followed the voice, the stronger it got the more I followed. The Queen was calling me and you did not ignore the Queen. It felt like I walked longer than normal, or rather longer than it should have taken. I crouched behind a wall obeying the voice and my instincts and watched as guards passed by. This is why it was taking longer. The path I was going was taking longer because she was leading me away from patrols.

I rounded the next corner and saw the doors leading to the birthing chamber.

Two guards stood outside of the entrance speaking amiably. I hesitated, worried that I would not be able to get past them and how long I would need to wait for them to leave.

Patience. They will leave soon.

A sigh escaped past my lips. I was suddenly calm and unworried. My legs bent and lowered me to floor where I sat and waited, patiently as instructed.

"It's about time for a shift change."

"Shut up, you know they're always late."

"Well I say we leave. I haven't had sex with my wife in weeks."

"That's your problem, not the shift change. If she's lonely I'll take one for the team and offer my services."

"Fuck off. You're right, let's leave."

They walked away bickering and jaunting. My hands and knees scraped along the floor as I snuck past them unawares. The door blinked and opened with a gasp of smoke. The air was humid and thick with comforting smells. The floor was covered in thick vapors hiding the eggs from sight.

The outer layer of the egg was coarse beneath my fingers. The top of the egg hissed and the folds exposed. A facehugger crawled out and stared at me and I stared right back. It prepared to jump but stopped and scampered away. It would die if left alone for long without a host. They did not usually give birth on their own like that.

"They're beautiful aren't they?"

I stilled and turned meeting the Queen. It was different this time, seeing her without anyone to hinder us or interfere. She was even more beautiful and larger than I remembered, but something was wrong.

"I'm dying."

Her head drooped wearily taking in my smaller human form. Fragile compared to hers, but oddly, she looked like she was the one who needed to be cared for. The chains capturing her limbs rattled with her weak movements. The chains looked heavier, more foreboding than usual. She was practically lying on the ground and I felt the truth in her words.

"No, you can't die." Even I could tell my thoughts were frightened.

"Rest easy. It was as it is meant to be. I gave you a Queen. There is only ever one Queen."

She was right. I knew it deep down. There was a pause before her next question.

"Do you want your Queen to live? The hive to live?"

"Yes, more than anything." My answer came quickly, without thought or reason. I knew it with ever fiber of my being.

You need to trust me when I tell you that my time is ending and soon things will change, but they cannot change unless you make it so. They will hurt her if you don't stop them.

The anger nearly consumed me.

"I won't let anyone hurt her. I'm her Mother."

She regarded me with acceptance and even pride.

"Yes, you are. Protect her. Protect us. Protect the hive and our future."

The resolve settled within me as I walked closer to her. I settled down along the thick hide of her breast and leaned my head against her. My eyelids fluttered shut and I felt calm, protected, and loved.

"What do I have to do?"

She purred and curled me closer to her.

"Kill them. Kill them all."

A few days later, the Queen died. I felt it, a sudden sense of loss like no other. Sapphire felt it as well. The Queen's death meant that another would take her place, and there were no other born Queen's except for Sapphire.

The entire compound was in a state of panic. The scientists knew the Queen was ill, and had been attempting to heal her, but it wasn't enough. When a Queen knew her time was limited, she began laying eggs, not for drones, but for Queen's. Sapphire was not the only xenomorph Queen, but she was the only one to survive and escape detection, because of me. Queen's gave off a particular scent, and genetic marker, until they could be easily depicted from the others by sight alone. For whatever reasons, having had me as a host, and our bond had kept her away from scrutiny.

A four (and a half) year-old human girl new little of subtlety. Dr. lark discovered out that Sapphire was more than a drone, but it took the Queen's death to really see her value.

"You promise this won't hurt Sapphire?"

"Not one bit," Dr. Lark said as he hooked up the machine to both myself and Sapphire. He was humming under his breath to an old song I had heard my mother play once before. An old song from Earth. He had a sandwich for lunch and both Sapphire and I were hungry and it made our stomachs ache. We were provided with replicated food from the processor. Sapphire assured me. Dr. Lark would taste better. He didn't smell very appetizing to me.

He straightened and one of his assistants approached. "I want you to watch for these ratings. Anything above this, but make sure you get the entire recording. Imagine if we can actually listen in on their telepathic communication. We'll have something far more valuable than anyone has ever accomplished before."

"She's scared," it was a testament to my own fear that I acknowledged both of our fears. I suspected Dr. Lark already knew, and I was also four (and a half!) and while I was fairly capable of keeping secrets, I was also still prone to mistakes.

"Sapphire is going to be just fine," Dr. Lark began with a smile. (His smiles were the worst). He was eager to begin more advanced stages of testing, especially because their entire organization relied on the hives Queen to produce offspring. Without offspring, there were no xenomorphs to breed. It was quite the conundrum.

"What are you going to do?" I asked trying to belay the tremble in my voice and act the role of protector. Sapphire was afraid; I could sense it. She had been oddly silent since the Queen's death. The loss was still fresh, and while they had not been connected on a grand telepathic scale, they were still of the same hive.

"Here Mikki, I'll show you." The use of my actual name gave me pause. He showed me the monitor. "These lines here are your brain waves. We're going to send you commands to give to X-13" he stumbled and directed almost immediately, "I mean Sapphire." I had to give him credit for that, it made me more at ease.

"We're going to feed her information, and a small amount of electricity to get her to comply with commands. It's all very small," he assured me when I looked even more fearful. "It's only enough to reproduce the magic you have over her, when you ask her to do something and she listens."

I looked at him like he was the most stupid human being I had ever seen in my life.

"Tell X-13 to move her tail back and forth."

I sighed looking at Sapphire knowing how belittling this exercise was. She was not pleased with being poked and prodded any more than I was. The time for dinner had long since passed and it was time for bed. We were both exhausted and Sapphire complied with the ridiculous request to speed things along.

"Readings all match sir, we're good to begin." One of the personnel stated.

Sapphire and I looked at each other and her shoulders tensed as she felt my unease. Her instinct was to protect, but she was young and impressionable.

"First command, walk three steps forward, stop."

I did not bother relaying the command as Sapphire understood perfectly. The humans knew very little of her mental capacity and Sapphire was continuously underestimated and undervalued. A small shock of electricity coursed through her body at the command. She growled irritated at the uncomfortable feeling. It was not enough to harm her, but it was unpleasant.

Commands were fed and tolerated until Sapphire had enough. She dug her heals in, even as the electricity increased each time. The hairs on my skin stood on end and sweat began to drip from my skin at Sapphire's anger and distress.

"She doesn't want to do this anymore." My pleas were ignored.

"Damnit," Dr. Lark swore as Sapphire failed to perform. "Turn it up."

"Stop," I whispered horrified. I could practically see the current flowing into Sapphire's body. Her flesh twitched and she thrashed more stubborn than ever.

"Again." The dials turned and Sapphire roared. My hands clamped over my ears shutting out, not the vicious snarl and howl, but the telepathic scream that was pounding in my head.

"You're hurting her!" I yelled, shutting my eyes closed and opening them again when the terrible sounds did not stop. "Stop it, stop it! I hate you!" Sapphire pulled at her restraints and the metal dented. Our anger and fear combined until neither of us knew whose emotions were causing the others to heighten. I started to pull at the wires and electrodes but quick hands stopped me. I struggled against them and kicked with my legs over and over again in a fit of rage. Metal screeched and a low hiss took the place of wild howls.

"Dr. Lark, behind you!"

Sapphire's metal restraints creaked as her acidic blood reduced them to a puddle on the floor. Sapphire lunged at Dr. Lark and in a last minute effort to stop her, he turned the dial all the way up. I must have screamed, but I could not hear anything besides the sudden thump of Sapphire's writhing body hitting the floor as she passed out from pain. I was near hysterics. I kicked and screamed. My teeth sank into the nearest person at my side. I wanted revenge and I wanted these people to pay for what they had done.

"You're all going to die!" I screamed as they held me down. "We're going to kill you all!"

Someone stuck a syringe in my neck. My hand clasped over the throbbing flesh in astonishment. There was a small amount of blood, but mostly the shock of it had me shaking. My eyes glanced to Sapphire breathing in shallow pants, but very much alive. Not for the first time, I wished Sapphire were a fully-grown and powerful Queen.

Twelve humans come and go in my room. I can tell by their mannerisms, their unique smell and the way they walk. It's difficult to tell them apart at first because of the way they dress in uniform and rarely speak to me. To be fair, I rarely spoke to them. I also raved like lunatic about killing them all.

The doors creaked open after a longer than normal silence in the room. My parents stood in the doorway and stepped in cautiously. For a moment I was excited to see them, mostly because I was anticipating Katie.

"What are you doing here?" My throat was dry and I was thirsty. They stepped closer to me and my mother grabbed my hand. Her fingers twitched in my palm and I moved my hand away. There was the smallest up turn of her lips at the corners. What looked like an attempted smile actually turned it into more of a grimace. They did not want to be here.

"We're here to take you home." I blinked at her furrowing my brows. Why would they do that?

"Home?" The confusion must have been more than evident in my voice.

They looked at one another curiously. "Yes, home," my Dad says less convincing than my mother. "Not permanently of course, but just for a time until you feel a bit better."

He paused and my mother looked at him and then at me. It was a pretense, and it was disturbing how easily I could see through it. "Until you feel more like yourself again." What they meant was, until I felt calm and complacent enough to be Subject 13 that was paired with X-13. They did not really want me home. I thought about asking for Sapphire again, or making something up to stay. These people had decided what was best for me and that was what was going to happen.

"Will Katie be there?" Their body's tensed. I quickly accepted the negative answer before the words made it past their lips.

They exchanged a glance before regarding me once more. My mother's voice was steady as she spoke. "She might be staying with some friends. It will be just us for a bit. Won't that be nice?"

Katie was the only one I really wanted to see.

No, it was not going to be nice.

The macaroni and cheese was made from real cheese. It was gooey and thick and stuck to the roof of my mouth and the bits of hot dogs were cut into perfect bite sized pieces. Happiness radiated through my body and into the bond I shared with Sapphire. She was lonely and missing me. It was nice to be away from the compound and its grey walls. Katie was away. I knew they did not want her to see me, but I did not know the exact reasoning behind it at the time.

The table was filled with bouts of awkward silences and my parents making attempts at conversation. Before I left to be a part of the xenomorph research experiments I would have delighted in the opportunity to have my parents undivided attention.

It's been three days since I left but it felt longer. Luckily, my bond with Sapphire was strong and even if I couldn't speak with her telepathically from this distance, we could still exchange emotions. Each day she grew more irritable and snappy with the hospital staff.

They wanted to re-forge my human connections, reestablish myself to society. They did not understand that I had already concluded that the survival of the hive was paramount. Sapphire assured me that when we take over the compound, Katie would be allowed to live as a part of the hive, even some of the other children if they cooperate with us. However, the other drones must die. Drones birthed only of the Queen are allowed to be included in the hive. Sapphire had told me it would be a few years until she would be able to produce her own drones, but even then, Queen's are very territorial.

The macaroni was gone from my bowl. Cheese soup was the only thing occupying it now and I debated whether or not I would get scolded if I drank it.

"What do you think about going to the park after we clean up from lunch Mikki?" My mother asked with a light smile. I looked up briefly before shrugging and stirred the cheese in my bowl.

"It'll be fun," my Dad commented and I finally looked up at them both.

"Will I get to go back after?" They paused and exchanged glances.

"Not just yet, sweetheart," she began with a brittle and fake smile on her lips.

"You could visit more, with Katie," I suggest.

She ignores me completely in favor of saying "we'll miss you when you go back and it's only been a few days." She grasped my hand with a squeeze and pulled away after a moment. "Go watch some cartoons in the living room while we clean up."

I got up obediently from the table and moved to the living room. I turned on the television to a children's program. I recognized it from one I used to watch with Katie but it no longer held my interest. The conversation occurring in the kitchen did. Their voices are barely above that of a whisper, but I can still hear them if I try. My feet carried me closer to the kitchen. I tried to stay out of sight but close enough so I could see them.

"Don't act like this was my idea, Danica." He whispered harshly. "You were the one that wanted to go through with this. 'Having children, even through a tube was your idea. It was still our DNA, those are our kids. But you, you were always the scientist." The resent and blame spilled from his mouth.

My breath itched and my chest felt like it was burning.

"That's rich of you." Danica snorted and raised her voice only to change it back to a whisper. "Now you want to act like a father? You never cared about them before. But this is wrong. They may be science experiments, but they are still living breathing creatures. This entire operation is getting dangerous. That creature," I gulped in a deep breath of air suddenly fearful, "needs to be killed. Haven't you seen the way it stares at her? It's like they're connected, like they're the same entity. It's insane and it's going to get us all killed."

They did not want me. They had never wanted me. I really was just a science experiment for Dr. Lark to poke needles into.

Tears prickled behind my eyes and my heart was crushed. I don't know why though. My parents and I had been growing apart for months now. But it still hurt to feel this way and to hear those words. I was alone, and all I had was Sapphire and the hive we would build together. I was afraid, sad and also incredibly angry. The myriad of emotions spiraled into a deep web out of my control and my vision narrowed.

My heart rate accelerated and I could feel Sapphire's probing question in the back of my mind. She had felt my uncertainty, sadness and anger and was concerned. I thought about ignoring it, but knew she would not be pleased. Instead, I focused on breathing and relayed soothing feelings. It was a method many of the Queen's performed for their young drones as they were developing.

Sapphire loved me; it soothed me more than I can explain.

"You sound crazy, Danica." My father said after a minutes pause. He moved across the room and began putting away the remnants from lunch. "You know what you sound like? Just like those fanatics in the government. This has been controlled from the start, you were on the board, might I remind you and eager to donate our genetic code." The faucet turned on and off.

When I was young, I enjoyed playing house. It was a normal past time for children. Make believe was a completely acceptable game for young children. It taught us behaviors, how to emulate our elders and eventually conform to the constraints of society. Children are impressionable and we learn by observation first. We mimic what we see until it becomes our truth.

"I know, I know." My mother licked her painted lips and pulled at the loose strands of her hair. She opened her mouth about to say something. That bright lipstick seared itself into my memory. "Mikki, she's lost John, but maybe we can save Katie."

"Mikki is five." My father's face was impassive as was mine. I was four and a half! Or, actually I was getting closer to five now.

"She's part of the hive." My mother reasoned sensibly. She was correct. I was part of a hive more than I ever was this pretend family.

"There is no hive, the Queen is dead." True, but also incorrect. Lies that humans tell and things Dr. Lark hides.

"You know as well as I do that when one Queen dies, it means another has been born. That Queen is Mikki's xenomorph X-13."

He was silent, and I did not need to see them to know he was taking her words to heart.

"But they test them all after they hatch from the hosts. X-13 is a drone."

He was desperate, grasping to make his reasoning true.

"Mikki calls it, Sapphire, for Christ's sake John. She refers to it as a 'she'."

There was a long silence.

"Did you alert the board?" His voice sounded louder for some reason despite the television in the background.

"What do you think I've been trying to do?" There was a heavy set to her shoulders and her voice sounded just as weary.

"What did they say?"

"What do you think they said John?" There was a pause with a sigh. "They told me I was paranoid, making shit up basically. Lark, the asshole, was right there, disregarded all of my concerns. This doesn't feel right. Something's coming."

"Maybe we can help her." My head rested against the wall and I watched the bright colors of the cartoon dance across the television.

"We can't. We need to get off of this planet." The credits began to roll as another cartoon was introduced. A cat was singing this time. Katie liked this show.

"You can't be serious? It's Mikki, we changed her diapers."

"We'll take Katie, the board will give her us if we let them have Mikki. You're sister lives only a months travel away on that harvesting planet. Surely, they'll be eager to have use? Agriculture planets always needs scientists."

"Danica…"

"Will it really be such a loss? You were never particularly close with her anyway. Mikki was a science experiment, Katie was, she was..." Her words trailed off.

"Katie was the best thing that could have happened to us." Fabric rustled and a pleased gasp sounded in the kitchen.

"Ya."

"Okay, fine. We'll figure it out. I love you."

"I love you, too."

They droned on for some time and finished cleaning the kitchen. By the time they were through I was watching the children's program quietly.

"Mikki, did you want to go to the park?" I turned and looked at these people who had given me their genetic code and brought me to life. I was thankful to them, but they weren't my family. I let them take me to the park. The faster we went and came back, the sooner I would be back at the compound with Sapphire.

Dr. Lark was lenient with me. He found Sapphire and I fascinating. We thought he was an idiot. We were both still angry with him for all of his testing. He was currently trying to make it up to us by allowing us private time. Like a fool, he allowed me to be in Sapphire's cell with her untethered. Furthermore, he thought I controlled her and he was safe to be in here with us. He was very wrong, but today was not the day he was going to die. He was undoubtedly going to die, all of them were, but it was too soon. Sapphire said we needed time to plan.

She nuzzled into my palm with a purr. We were lying down and she was curled around me in a protective manner. She had been worried about me and I her. I turned my head deeper into her neck and her tail wrapped around my legs.

She hissed and nudged my head affectionately.

"Mine. Safe."

"Mine. Safe." I mimicked back with a sigh.

"How are your parents?"

I tensed at Dr. Lark's voice. Sapphire tittered and turned her head to Dr. Lark with a warning snarl. He smiled and held up an appeasing hand. He smiled, clearly believing he was safe amongst friends. I grinned pulling back my lips showing my teeth. What he thought was a childs grin was really a wolf sizing up her prey. And what stupid prey he was.

"Danica and John are fine," I answered while stroking a hand down Sapphire's spine. Underneath her armored hide I felt her muscles flex in pleasure. Happiness erupted in the form of a giggle. Her tail thumped playfully in response. We had been basking in the warmth of each other's presence but now it seemed she wanted to play.

Dr. Lark studied us as Sapphire pushed me off of her like a lazy cat. I slumped to the floor and quickly got to my feet trying to climb her back. Every time I got a firm hold she would move and I fell onto my butt. Dr. Lark approached and suddenly I was lifted up and placed on Sapphire's back. I grasped onto her hide and looked at Dr. Lark with a startled face.

Dr. Lark looked absolutely pleased with himself.

"Easy now." I murmured to Sapphire while staring at Dr. Lark. He stared back at us, and somehow I think he knew we were using our telepathic capabilities to converse. Perhaps he knew we were contemplating his demise.

"I will bleed him well for touching you."

"Soon." I promised her as I stroked her sleek hide. Then he set a hand upon Sapphire and I nearly told her to forget all of our plans and kill him without mercy.

He considered this a victory. His smile was slimy.

"They're leaving," he said and I nearly startled at the comment. "You're parents," he explained at my confused expression. I sobered and I knew exactly what he meant. "But you already knew that didn't you? You're such a smart girl" he cooed. "But don't worry," he continued, "I'll take care of you now. Even if they don't want you, I do."

My fingers clenched. It was finally happening, all of it. Everything was about to change.