I stood alone inside a large concrete cube.

Basically featureless, undecorated. No windows or doors. The whole ceiling glowed. As in, no usage of light fixtures.

I had a floor grate for a toilet (I presumed it to be a toilet, at any rate). Even with my acidic drool and claws, I couldn't manage to pry it open. A pipe, built like the drinking end of a guinea pig bottle, projected from a wall. I contemplated breaking the thing, but it provided ammonia, and that's what my species drinks when we're thirsty.

A stone plate had risen out of the floor an hour ago, but after I ate the tough chunk of meat it held, it receded into floor again, leaving no sign that it had ever been there.

Time seemed to crawl by. The fact that I had nothing to mark its passage made it seem that much slower.

Not the first time I'd been imprisoned somewhere and left to my own devices. I occupied myself with prayer and meditation on scriptures. This is what the word penitentiary implies, no? (I'll explain my religious fixation in a moment.)

After a seeming eternity, a hole appeared in the ceiling. Strange manner of construction — doors in this place generally appeared open in this fashion, rather than employing hinges or sliding mechanisms...and vanishing once you passed through them.

A mechanical jellyfish resembling a Man-Of-War with eyes, came drifting down into my cell, bearing a humanoid head in its tentacles.

Bony faced, unsmiling, baggy eyed. Spiky brown hair.

Our android, Bishop. The Man-Of-War had tentacles buried into the back of his skull, interfacing with his electronic brain.

"Greetings...Subject 073...Ernie." His voice came out like a PA system with bad wiring, faint and crackling with static.

"Umm...hello, strange mechanical device? How long must I stay in this prison?"

The machine whirred for longer than a minute before the android head responded with a smile, the facial expression effectively communicating `Nice try.' "That will ultimately be decided by the...court. Right now, we need you to answer a few questions."

"Who is we? Who are you? What is this place?"

The machine invariably took a full sixty seconds to process English. "...That is unimportant. We require information."

"All right...Unimportant...I have nothing to hide. I'll tell you anything you want. But I'm curious. Why have you decapitated our robot?"

"...His body was damaged. We needed his information and linguistic database. It has been helpful, but we do not have a complete record. Files have been corrupted...On a related note, please understand that although we will be using words from your language during this interview, we do this only to help you understand our judicial process. Certain terms may not carry the same exact definition. `Court,' for example. You should not expect Zorbdika to adhere to the guidelines of human `courts'. It should also be obvious that `man-slaughter' by definition encompasses humankind only, whereas zatsoge applies to all intelligent lifeforms."

I nodded. "We Ss'sik'chtokiwij use the term ssisuulxot."

"...Regrettably this machine has not been programmed to speak your native language...You have no eyes. How is it that you see?"

"I have eyes, they're just beneath my exoskeleton. A portion of my shell functions like a one way mirror...or is it a two way? I never understood the difference in terminology."

Following a two minute processing delay, the Man-Of-War unfurled a couple tentacles, and holograms of humans appeared before me:

A sour faced curly haired woman in a tank top and camo pants...Accompanied by a waif-like little girl in rumpled overalls and an oversized army shirt.

A third human, a man in army fatigues, stood separate from them, bandages covering half his face, bandaged arms and legs. It seemed to be live video. The woman paced the floor, the girl wiped a snotty nose, the man sat down...staring despondently at a wall.

"...Are you familiar with these creatures?"

"Yes. That's Ellen Ripley, Newt and Hicks."

"...Please state their crimes."

I frowned. "I don't understand."

"...They have been deposited on Planet Rozacle 311. What are their crimes?"

"I'm sorry, machine thing. They committed no crime. Their landing here is an accident. Our ship got caught in the debris field."

The machine whirred. "Are you stating, for the record, that none of these...individuals are guilty of murder?"

I swallowed. "I...I wouldn't say that. The woman..." I fought down emotional sneezes as I recalled the tragic memories. "...she slayed my sister with a machine gun...And destroyed my grandmother's egg laying fidsvsardissar with an explosive of some kind. Grandmother's still alive, she just got thrown out an airlock..."

"...I know. I've reviewed the recordings of the airlock incident...That was your grandmother?"

"Yes."

"...What other murders did the Ripley woman commit?"

"She played no small role in the detonation of an atomic device that deprived me of my entire family." I couldn't help but sneeze at the sad memory. All those lives lost.

"...Not including your Grandmother, of course."

"Yes, not her."

The machine hovered closer to me. "...Do you wish for...Ripley to be punished?"

I gave my head a violent shake. "No! She is the sole guardian of Newt, my dearest little friend!" I smiled and waved a claw at the hologram of the child, but I don't think she could see me. "She needs Ripley in order to survive."

"...The court will take this into consideration...Is Newt guilty of murder?"

"No! Never that! Perhaps in her heart, but for that sin so one can stand innocent."

"...What about the male? Did he commit murder?"

I nodded. "He worked with a team tasked with executing my kind. They set a deadly machine gun trap that caused the death of many family members, including one I considered a dear friend and sister in the faith."

"...Do you wish for Hicks to be punished for his crime?"

I sighed. "No. I forgive him. Let he who has no sin cast the first stone."

"You quote their religious scripture. Why?"

"My kind has no written language. I have learned much about the humans' beautiful faith, and encountered the one they call Jesus. It has given me a newfound love for their species."

"...I...see."

"Do you wish to know more? I would be glad to tell you how I became a Christian and how it has changed my life..."

"...I am not here to study your religious beliefs. I merely seek to collect facts on your case, for the court. Final question: Are you guilty of murder?"

I sighed. "Yes. I have taken human lives to protect children, and once selfishly out of lust. I have also murdered my own family members, for the sake of protecting humans. If anything, I deserve punishment more than these three."

"...You speak of manslaughter and...rape. In contrast, your own words have implicated these humans with war crimes of the highest order. Genocide. With the exemption of...Newt, do you still request no punishment for these humans?"

I whimpered. "Please. Don't take away Newt's family. These two are all she has left."

"The court will take your testimony into consideration."

The machine rose back up into the ceiling.

I put a claw to my face. "What have I done?"