I am SOOOO sorry for not updating! I actually had this chapter done for nearly TWO WEEKS! But I can explain, I swear. Before I could finish the story, my computer went down for a LONG time. I spent an arm and a leg to fix it, and it took over a week for the repair to be done. plus, my iPad wouldn't turn back on, and I was in a temporary state of depression for a while, because I lost the will to write for an entire day. BUT! They are now both working and my computer is absolutely FUCKING AMAZING now, thanks to the geek squad at best buy. They are the real heroes. Anyways, ENJOY!

Chapter 6

12 years ago

"Sir… I'm not sure how I'M applicable for the job…" I said.

"Look buddy, I'm going to be blunt and brutally honest with you." He said, barely looking at me. "Let be get a thing or two straight with you: don't call me sir. I'm not your boss, just your over watch officer. The real boss is Adam weyland. Second: I don't give a shit about your injuries. You're going to be in a lab all day everyday, not doing jumping Jacks or running a track. Got it?"

"Yes si- I mean yes, of course," I replied, a bit surprised. He opened the blue Manila folder on his desk which contained my files.

"Tell me, do you have anything to lose?" He asked me, finally looking me in the eye. "Don't bullshit me, Mr. Wolfe, this is a serious question."

I didn't know what to say. A few minutes into this guys' office and already he's practically tearing me apart. "Well? Family? Friends? Career? What? Come on, I don't have all day. I have about a dozen applications to file today."

"Well… Not really anything…" I replied. To be honest, I didn't really have a posh life after the incident. Here's a quick rundown of the most basic explanation as to why: my wife was disappointed, I was called a failure by my previous superiors and my own family evicted me. There is no way sugar coating it, that's how my life was when I came back home. The only one who didn't care about the incident was my son. But that wasn't enough.

"Humph." He grunted. He lifted a page from the folder and read another document. "Your family lives on planet EF–12, sector 17 in Mars city, correct?"

"Yeah…"

"Buuuut…" He lifted another page. "YOU live in the neighboring planet, EF–13. The first sector, Ghrey town, right?" He began to look skeptical, furrowing his eyebrows and looking at me.

"Yes." I said to him, gaze downcast.

"No criminal record, which is good but…" He looked in closer at the document, bringing it closer to his face. "Judging by your files here… You've had a pretty shitty life after you were discharged. No jobs or companies want you working with them either. And…" He paused, and his features darkened as he leaned back into his seat. He looked to be deep in thought, which made me wonder what the hell he is thinking.

"What's wrong…?" I asked, but he wave the question away.

"Did you get an invitation here or something? Did they mail you a letter offering a job, or they called you? Or was it an E-message?" He asked.

He was now beginning to worry me a little. "Well, they tried to call me first, but I was busy at that time. They did mail a letter though." The job I currently had was working in a market, and it offered shit pay. All I could afford was a small apartment with barely enough money to even feed myself. Another job opportunity was a godsend to me at the very least.

He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. He sank into his chair, rubbing his brow with two fingers. "Oh Jesus Christ… You're one of them,"

"What? One of what exactly?" I asked, confused.

Sitting back up straight, he stared at me for a moment or two while gathering his thoughts. He looked tired compared to what he was a few minutes ago. "All right, like I said before, I'll be brutally honest with you. But, since I'm obligated to tell you certain things first, I'll just let them out:

"'Weyland industries is currently offering you a spot to work for us. We are one of the top mining, medical, and space exploring company on planet earth. We specialize in nanotechnology, biology, and advanced machinery. We exist only for a better future'" he announced without much enthusiasm. "God I hate reading that… Anyways, here is what you will be doing. Since you are unable to fight in anyway due to your injuries, you will not be part of the militia to help safeguard the colonies, nor will you be capable of the engineering profess."

I listened, intent on hearing what this job is offering. "But, on the flip side, you will be an assistant to help the scientists in the biological research facilities. And to top it all off, you have a possible chance at becoming a certified scientist yourself the longer you work with up, because of your college degree, of course. Lucky you. All in all, as an assistant, you will be making about $30–35 a day. Once you become a scientist, IF you become a scientist, the salary will double, triple depending on the job,"

My jaw was nearly hanging off of its hinges. Holy shit! I could be set for life in just two or three years! I thought. And it was offered to me? Why the hell would I want to turn down something like this!?

"That's all that I'm supposed to tell you, and you have the choice of accepting the job if you sign this," he said, neatly placing the contract in front of me. I read it as carefully as I could not wanting to regret taking the job later in the future. It was mostly about the usual stuff, any crime committed will have me held responsible, sexual harassment laws, a few regulations, etc. Though what did throw me off was typed on fine print, something that is the VERY important in most contracts. I read it in my head:

"… And by signing this contract, you are bound to the company until your day of quietus."

Most contracts that I've known can last to about 20–25 years at most, others being shorter. But this particular one… This is until I die. I would have to work until I die?

"Wait, this contract doesn't nullify until the day I die?" I asked, feeling nervous.

"No, it's until you retire. 'Quietus' has more than just one meaning, you know. You are kind of perceptive though, a good quality to have," he said. I gave a nod and picked up the pen. I was just about ready to sign it. Doing this would actually do me some good, earning money, learning new things, being around new people. This would DEFINITELY help me greatly. But just before the pen was even within inches of the paper, the man grabbed my wrist, and gave me a sinister look. I didn't let go of the pen, but it surprised the hell out of me.

"I'm not finished," he said cooly. "This IS NOT the job you want. Trust me. Refuse the job, don't sign the contract, and go back to what you were doing before, as if this never happened. Just walk away, Phil."

"And why the hell not?" I spat, annoyed. Despite my small outrage, he didn't let go. Instead, his grip tightened.

"You don't know what I know, Phil. You don't know what kind of shit they're doing in those colonies," he said. "I can't tell you anything, but take this as a warning. You DO NOT want to work for them." He let go of me and sat up straight, waiting for my reaction. Of course, I was too stubborn to pass this up.

This was what I REALLY needed. Not only will I be able to support myself, but I'll be able to send some money to carol and Jimmy. At least, in some way, I could support my family once again. I took the paper and signed it. I also signed a bunch of other forms confirming I wanted the job. The superior sat there motionless as he watched me sign the contract and sub forms. He was practically emotionless.

I gave him the small stack so freshly signed forms. He took them and placed them in a green folder. He then rolled it up and put it in an opaque cylinder. As far as I've seen, these containers are virtually indestructible and are only used by big companies. They're usually used in passing information and precious document nets without them being stolen. Once closed, it locks itself automatically and cannot be opened until a higher up uses a special key to open it. He was about to close it but stopped halfway and looked at me.

"Last chance, Wolfe. I could destroy these before they're copied and finalized. Just say it…" He said.

"Just send the damn thing already." I said, annoyed. With a sigh, he twisted the cap another inch and I heard a loud GLIP! Without a moment wasted, he slid the container into a tube behind him and it shot into the ground, disappearing into nothingness.

"You just sealed you fate," He he mumbled. "That's all. Have a great life."

I left the office, unsure if I had done anything wrong at all.

0-0-0-0-0

All I did was just stand there, watching her crawl towards me in a steady pace. I didn't know what to do. I could barely hold off the marine, how in the hell am I supposed to fight a goddamn Xenomorph!?

She was getting closer by the second, her face holding an unrecognizable expression. I let out a terrified yelp and backed myself into the wall, curling myself into a defensive position and cowering. Just as I did so, she stopped.

She didn't move. It was almost as if she was a highly detailed statue. Hell, not even a twitch was made. I saw one paw up to make another step while the other was flat on the ground supporting her lithe body. I didn't move either, for fear she might pounce if I even breathe too quickly.

She stared. And… I felt something cold touch me. I didn't know what it was. I just felt it. It felt like a little poke. Before I could think about it, I felt something grasp me. It felt like someone was grabbing my shoulder and softly squeezing it.

But there was nothing. Nothing was really grabbing me. I whimpered quietly, and immediately the feeling went away. What the fuck…? I thought. Then, for the first time since she stopped, the alien made a move.

But she didn't move away from her position. All she did was… Cock her head? Her stance didn't change, rather she barely moved at all. With her head titled slightly to the side, it made her look… Well, confused would be my best answer. I didn't know what emotion she was experiencing, mostly because I couldn't really recognize her facial expression.

I myself was confused. Why didn't she attack… I thought. Then I looked at my paws and felt like an idiot. Oh. She moved closer, this time dangerously close to my face. I heard a series of muffled clicks come from her throat. It wasn't a growl, or even a snarl. She was… Purring?

I was unsure of what to do. She then ducked her head and rubbed it along the side of mine all the while purring louder. I smelt this strange pungent smell come off of her, a smell I've never noticed before. To make it even stranger, I actually felt like I recognized it. The scent made me shiver as I practically felt it burn into the back of my skull.

She pulled away and stared at me. It was as if she waiting for something. Seeing as I still wasn't moving an inch, she came closer and this time dragged her entire body against mine and purring even louder. I nearly fell to my side as she did which only made me even more confused. She practically mimicked the behavior of a cat when it meets one it likes.

She backed away and waited some more. she honestly looked like a dog waiting for food as she stared at me. But I still did not move. She rose herself a few inches and chirped loudly, making me flinch like a cringing dog. I didn't know what she wanted from me. Did she want me to follow her? To acknowledge her? To do something?

I raised a paw as slowly as I can. She snapped her gaze to it and followed every move it made. I waved it side to side, as if to say hello. I didn't know what to expect. After years of working with and studying their kind, there was still so much WY industries doesn't know about them. Hell, I had hands on experiences with them, collecting samples, studying their behaviors and such. I still didn't understand them as I did with other animals.

Her only reaction to my waving was to lean in and sniff my paw, only to disregard it's existence and return her expressionless gaze to me. Within a moment or two, she snorted and walked towards the engineers limp body. Using her paw, she pushed and pulled on his arms to move them, searching for something. My guess would be for injuries, or possibly a possession of his that she might be interested in.

I lowered my paw watched as she bowed her head and sniffed his entire body. The alien flinched back an inch when the engineers hand twitched. She was silent most of the time. The only noises that came out of her were her shallow breaths. I felt a faint wave of disgust as she took an interest in smelling the little urine puddle the engineer produced.

This gave me time to look at the features of her body. As most of the Xenomorphs I've seen, there were a few different kinds of them that all acted differently depending on the job they took on in the hive. The most common that were encountered were the runners. Unlike their closest siblings, the warriors, their purpose was to scout and collect prey for breeding. They don't really kill much, instead they mostly try to drag their prey to the breeding chambers. Sometimes they carry face huggers on themselves to unleash upon their victims. They don't exactly have very good armor from their exoskeleton, but they are possibly the fastest of their kind.

The amount of encounters with warriors go hand in hand with runners. Their name greatly explains their purpose of existence. Once a runner escapes, warriors come to the fight. They differ from runners on a number of factors. Their dorsal tubes are far longer and thicker than any Xenomorph recorded. Compared to the warriors, runners tubes are smaller and less dense, allowing for more finesse. The warriors backs are heavily armored, and their exoskeleton are more durable than the runners. As protected as they are, they are still no match for a gun with armor piercing attributes, and are far slower than their sisters. Well, they are still fast, just not as much as the runners.

Looking at this particular alien, she looks to be a runner. Her tubes were barely noticeable, her natural armor was a tad bit thin, and her movements expressed her adept agility. Like all Xenomorphs, she had a superior amount of strength compared to humans. Though she wouldn't be as strong as a warrior, that much I was sure.

Just knowing the existence of these creatures bewildered me, but mostly just fascinated me. I always thought that the first aliens that man would meet were absolute geniuses. This discovery proved otherwise. Shame on us for fantasizing it, I guess.

I admired her devastatingly beautiful form, as well as many others that I have seen, when I wasn't running away from them of course. Like her sisters, she was a sight not to be reckoned with. Perfect, like no other living being. But what fascinated me the most was the queen. Elegant… Strong… Terrifying… It's what got me to work with weyland industries in the first place. Well, that and the pay. Heh.

As amazed as I was, I didn't want to stay here. Not with a Xenomorph, despite the fact that it was highly unlikely that she would attack me. I looked around, figuring if she came here, there was an entrance nearby. I knew the doorway was blocked by debris from the grenade launcher the marine shot, but there had to be another way.

Ugh Jesus… I thought, feeling the thick blood drip from my lips. I still tasted the chunk of brains in my mouth, all metallic and sweet... It sickened me to my core. I sputtered a little, trying to get it out of my mouth as I looked for an exit. The alien didn't seem to notice me. Instead, she was still looking over the body, searching for god knows what.

Within moments, I spied a little hole the size of a small fridge near the utility closet. It must've been the hole the Xeno came through. I staggered forward for a second, and began to walk towards the makeshift doorway. I was still a bit clumsy when it came to walking on two legs, mostly because I still wasn't used to this body. But partly because I was sore as hell from the fight.

I snapped my head towards the runner near the engineer when I heard her hiss. It startled me for a moment, but I recognized that it wasn't an aggressive hiss. Instead, it seemed more like an acknowledgement to me, like she noticed me a second time. She lowered her head and let out a soft hiss, bending over the engineer as if to protect it. Deciding I didn't want to stay in this godforsaken room any longer with her, I turned away and tried to make a quick exit.

I stopped and froze at what I saw. Coming out through the whole was a large Xenomorph in front of two others slightly smaller than she was. She towered over me like a brick wall. They all stood on both legs and the largest of them stared down at me, growling with her lips retracted to bear her teeth. With a surprised yelp, I jumped backwards and nearly landed hard on my ass and tail. She only took one stride towards me to reach where I was standing.

As if by some invisible force made me do so, I cowered down under her involuntarily, showing submission as she herself bent down to level with my face. My teeth chattered in fear as her drooling face came close. I didn't need to examine her form to tell what she was. This one was a warrior, no doubt. Fierce, large, lethal in all aspects and ways. I felt her cold breath wave onto my face as her face nearly pressed into mine.

I gave away a shaky breath, revealing my fear to any and all. Her face was so close to mine I could make out the exact details of it. The curved back lips, the razor sharp teeth, the tendons on either side of her mouth, the indentations on both sides of her head, that two small slits that were her nostrils. Hell, I could even see her inner jaws visible between her partially open teeth.

I could feel her slick, clear saliva drip down onto my arms. She took one, deep breath in and exhaled with a ominous hiss. She was breathing in my scent. She leaned in more, this time barely an inch away from me and my trembling, blood soaked lips. She sniffed, went lower, and sniffed some more. She smelled every part of me that was covered in blood, which included my lips, chin and paws. I stayed stationary, hoping she would stop soon.

She got lower, and continued to smell me. Though this time started smelling parts of me with no blood. I kept my stance, waiting for whatever to happen next. Then I felt… Well, I'll keep it blunt. She went even lower and… Sniffed my nether regions. Despite all this fear an surprise I've dealt with, I couldn't help but feel a small twinge of embarrassment as she examined me.

She didn't stop. Instead, I could feel her press her flattened snout into my crotch. She seemed… Oddly interested in this area, though part of me wasn't surprised, yet I didn't know why. After a quick moment, she backed up and snorted, turning away from me. I drew a sigh of relief and relaxed a little. I couldn't exactly leave, mainly due to the fact the other two warriors still blocked the exit. They both stood idle, awaiting their larger sisters' return. I could see their tails and arms sway lightly like a soldier standing at an "at ease" position.

Instead, I watched the largest alien of the bunch walk towards the marine with great interest. She bent down and sniffed the golf ball-sized hole I left in the head, tail lightly swaying side to side. Without warning, and with extreme speed & viciousness, she sank her fangs into the shoulder and dragged the body towards the exit. The other two warriors immediately ran like starving raptors and pounced on the said body, assisting their larger sister in taking it anywhere but the room it was currently in.

I nearly shit myself watching them do what they just did. They acted like such… Savages. But that was expected of them. It's their natural behavior, and I knew it well. They dragged the fresh corpse through the hole with a bit of effort, not caring if they harm it any more it already is. The largest warrior let go of the body and let the other two take it away. She backed away and turned to face me, growling slightly.

Next to me was the runner, chirping at the warrior as she walked up to the hole with the unconscious engineer hanging on her small dorsal tubes. That was what intrigued me, the Xenomorph prancing away, looking happy. Never, in all my years of working with them, have I ever seen any of their kind act this way. I stared in awe as she reached the hole in the wall, tail tip wagging side to side.

The warrior tracked her every movement up until she exited the room. She looked at me and waited. I stared back at her, unsure of what to do. Part of me knew that she wasn't going to attack me, and that she was waiting for me to leave the room as well. Another part of me was too scared to even go near her. I was too confused to move from my spot.

She hissed at me, seeming to grow impatient with me. Not a moment too soon, she took only three long strides towards me and hissed again. I still didn't move. She got on all fours, hissing even louder and went behind me. I felt her nudge me in the small of my back and push me forwards about a few inches. She stood up and snarled behind me, indicating that she's had enough.

My entire body jerked and I scrambled forward. I obviously didn't want to anger her any further or else she would attack me. I galloped on all fours towards the hole as quickly as possible to having the irritated alien as far away from me as I could.

I entered the hole and crawled on the cold cave floor. The other Xenos didn't seem to wait for the warrior and I to catch up. Instead they just kept on walking (or crawling) towards some unknown destination. I didn't want to follow them. I would've stayed behind and went the opposite direction, just to be away from these cold-blooded creatures. But the warrior behind me prevented me from doing so, drooling and hissing loudly.

I kept a steady pace, trying not to get too close to the group in front while staying a favorable distance from the warrior behind me. Though she was faster than I expected, quickly gaining speed and closing distance between the both of us within every few steps.

I quickened my pace as she got closer, forcing me closer to the prancing runner with the soon-to-be-dead engineer. The closer I was to the runner, the more I could make out a few distinguishing features. Though I was only on her right side, looking at her actually did reveal significant characteristics that set her apart from the others. Or at least that I could tell, that is.

Just below her jaw was a gray streak. I've noticed this on a few other aliens, but not particularly on the same spot. It was sort of a birthmark, really. Sometimes they had it on their arms, or on their upper backs. I've recorded one that had one a few inches above their genitalia, and another on the side of their head. The shades of these birthmarks also varied, but weren't significant to research. There really wasn't any important pattern to it, they were just ordinary birthmarks. Apart from a few scars, the most noticeable was the gray streak.

The runner turned to me and chirped. I could hear her breathing loud and clear, as well as her seemingly ninja-like clawed feet. She was acknowledging me. Though I didn't exactly know why. I turned away from her and continued on.

Eventually one of the two warriors dragging the marines body let go and left. She practically vanished in this air as soon as she jumped on the wall. The other continued to drag the body with its teeth with some effort, content on completing whatever task she set herself.

Where the fuck are we going…? I thought. I had absolutely no idea no idea where we were headed. As if answering my mental question, we turned and immediately went through a large opening that looked like it could easily fit a tank with no problem. I stopped, jaw dropping in amazement at what I saw. Whoa...

I know, terrible close for a chapter, but bear with me, ill make a better one for seven :)

Leave a comment if you liked it! And please, Let me know if I made a mistake, whether it be a typo or something that isn't lore friendly to the magnificent alien franchise.