Chapter 46

Hammarby Snedvägen

Mary wakes up and the first thing she notices is that she is lying on her bedroom floor and the second thing she notices is that her throat feels very sore and dry. Mary feels a lump in her head as if she has been partying hard but it has been a long time since she last partyed. The dull pain from the cancer means that she can't party anymore. Mary lifts her head and upper body and sits up and she sees her webcam a little further away and she grabs it and stands up.

Mary places her webcam on the desk where she has her laptop and when she has sat down in her chair she discovers that she is still broadcasting live. There are a lot of comments streaming in during the live chat and she doesn't have time to read them all. Mary gathers herself and continues her live broadcast and she sees that there are 385 viewers watching her live and she can hardly believe the number.

- Uh hi again. I. I don't know exactly what happened but I just woke up on the floor. I hope you don't mind my involuntary pause. It has never happened before. Anyway, I'm back live.

Mary sees a comment from NBC and is surprised that they are watching her live. Mary reads the comment that someone from NBC has written.

"Hi. My name is Sophie and I just started watching your live. I backed the live and found out that you were attacked by a facehugger. If you don't mind I have a few questions but you don't have to answer them."

Mary reads the comment several times and turns around in the room and sees the dead facehugger and she shivers involuntarily. That explains why her throat feels sore. Mary doesn't really know what to say but she's starting to talk again soon.

- Well this wasn't how I supposed my live broadcast would be but hey, everything can happen. My throat feels very sore and I understand why. To the person at NBC, you're free to ask questions and of course everyone else.

Mary sees a comment from the BBC and they also wonder if it's okay to ask questions.

- Alright, so both BBC and NBC are watching my broadcast? And of course my usual public.

"Yes we are. Theres alot of helicopters in a area called Zinkensdamm and they send live while many soldiers are killing Alien monsters. We are watching that and your live."

- Oh Zinkensdamm is kinda close to where i live. I live in Hammarby. Its probably our swedish defense that kills the monsters. They do a great job. Since friday the situation with the Alien monsters have esculated out of control.

"You live in Hammarby? Did you knew that there are rumours that an Alien queen might be in Hammarby?"

- What? Where is she supposed to be? I had no idea about this.

"I don't know if my spelling is correct but the Alien Queen is said to be in Erikdalsbadet. Maybe you know where it is."

- Hell yeah. I know where that is. Its really close to my villa. Its just a few villas away. Damn, that was something i did not know. I mean, no matter if its true or not. Hmm that place is actually big enough for holding an Alien queen even if she would have some tightness. I wonder if she has an eggsac thing.

Mary sits and thinks for a few seconds but then she starts to smile big.

- Guys, do you want me to go there and have a look? Because i have been facehugged the Alien queen wont kill me even if i come close to her. I will still be able to send live because its so short distance from this villa.

The comments starts to flow and they are unanimous.

"Hell yeah, do it"

"Of course you should. You have nothing to loose."

"This will be your most exiting live ever! Dont fake out now"

"We wanna see the queen! We wanna see the queen!"

"Some reporter just mention that there might be two monsters there and some weird guy in a barrel."

"Both monsters cant be Alien queens. There must be some other monster around."

"Rumour says the other one is a PredAlien."

"Err, do you mean that weird thing that vomited its eggs into peoples mouth in the second Alien VS Predator movie?"

"Yes, that one"

"If the PredAlien meets an Alien queen they will fight."

"Mary, you better follow up this right now!"

"We wanna see them fight!"

Mary chuckles softly when she sees the comments and of course she's going to go there and film what's happening. She has nothing to lose from this. She's going to die anyway.

- Alright people. I definitely plan to go there and film the Alien Queen but I want to point out that I don't know how threatening the situation is there so the picture might not be the best. I hope you understand that even if I'm going to die I don't want to take too big risks. I don't know how long it will take before the Chestburster is born from my chest but I'll broadcast live as long as I can. Okay, lets go to Erikdalsbadet and hopefully we see some Alien action. Heh, by the way. I thought nothing could ever excite me but this actually does.

Mary brings her laptop in one hand and her webcam in the other. Even though Mary knows she is going to die, she still locks her front door before she starts walking to the bathhouse. Since Mary lives on Snedvägen, she misses Michael going home to his parents' house. It would have been a big scoop if she had managed to film him. Mary is soon at Erikdalsbadet and she comes from one long side of the bathhouse.

Hammarby Erikdalsbadet

Mary comes to the broken panoramic window and she can see the Alien queen's body inside. Mary sighs loudly.

- Oh such a bummer. It seems we missed the action but i,m going inside anyway. Sorry people, the Alien queen is already dead.

Mary sees the barrel that MIchael hid in and she goes to it and looks in the barrel. Mary is unsure what kind of liquid is in the barrel but it doesn't look like water anyway. Mary films the barrel but then turns to the broken panoramic window and the two monsters inside the bathhouse. They are more interesting than this barrel. Mary goes into the bathhouse and she sees the body of the Alien queen and the PredAlien. Mary goes to the Alien queen and films all the details of her enormous body. Mary chooses to go down into the pool and she goes to the Alien queen's enormous crowned head and she puts her hand on the crowned head.

- I just have to feel how her skin feels like. Its really hard and is like a beetle. Its amazing to be this close to the alien queen. The picture doesnt give her justice. I dont know what that other creature is. Anyone knows what it is? Do you want to see the other monster as well?

Mary soon gets answers to her questions.

"That other monster is a PredAlien. It mostly works as an Alien but vomit eggs into its victims throat instead of laying eggs. It thus reproduces much faster than the Alien queen. Please show the PredAlien close up."

Mary walks up to the PredAlien and she has her webcam close so that the viewers can see all the details of the dead monster. Mary feels that her pain pills have stopped working and she is starting to feel pain in her body but she chooses to ignore it this time. Mary has no extra pills with her and she will soon die but she feels that she can broadcast her live.

While Mary is filming, she hears a car driving by and a short while later a large car reverses in through the broken panoramic window. Mary looks at the car in surprise and she can immediately tell that it belongs neither to the military nor the defense nor the police. The driver doesn't seem to see Mary and jumps out of the driver's seat and approaches the Alien queen's eggs and the destroyed egg sac. Mary watches as the person opens the back of the car and then retrieves a first Alien egg and puts it in the luggage. The person retrieves another Alien egg and puts it in the luggage. Mary is completely silent and watches what happens. The live chat is filled with comments.

"The fuck. Is that the guy who was seen placing eggs in the park."

"U should stop her."

"Could be dangerous for Mary."

"This person was aware where the Alien queen and her eggs was. Interview him and ask why he is doing this."

"No no. Bad idea. Stay quite and don't let the person see you. It will cause problems."

"That person have a lot of money. That car is really expensive."

Mary doesn't dare go up to the person and confront whoever it is and she sneaks up behind the Alien Queen and hides there but she makes sure the webcam shows what the person is doing. Mary feels a cramp and a growing heaviness in her chest and she guesses that it's the growing Chestburster that she feels. The person who is retrieving the Alien eggs pushes the Alien Queen's body away so that the person can take the eggs that the Alien Queen is laying on. The person sees Mary and there's silence for a few seconds.

- But what the hell. Who the hell are you?

Mary can now see that it's a man and he looks like a typical gangster complete with shaved hair and intense gaze. Mary swallows hard.

- I heard that the Alien Queen was here and I wanted to show her on my Youtube channel. Well, she's apparently dead and PredAlien too.

The man's eyes narrow.

- You weren't here when I picked up my car. Is that a webcam?

- Yes, I'm filming the Alien Queen with it.

The man moves quickly towards Mary and he jumps into the pool where she is and he points to the webcam.

- You have to delete every clip where my face is visible. Now!

- It's going to be a bit difficult. I'm broadcasting live.

- Have you filmed what I've done?

- No, I've filmed the dead bodies of the Alien Queen and the PredAlien. There are several viewers watching what's happening and also the BBC and NBC.

- BBC and NBC? What the hell do they have to do with us?

- Well the news about the Alien monsters' advance has spread internationally. If you want, I can leave here and continue broadcasting when you've left here.

Mary feels a strong movement in her chest and so does Morgan. Mary sees Morgan's reaction and smiles. This person will also die soon. He won't have time to spread the eggs. Mary points to the man's chest.

- You also have a growing chestburster in your chest and, like me, will soon die. Can't we spend the last time as friends? If you want, you can tell me why you got these eggs.

- What the hell are you talking about? I don't have a Chestburster in my chest and we are definitely not friends.

- But I saw that you felt its movements just now.

- I have no memory of being attacked by a facehugger but I saw that MIchael had been attacked by one, but it's all so funny. I saw off part of the Alien Queen's tail and was going to give it to him but suddenly I woke up lying on the ground.

- I also woke up on the floor at home in my villa and didn't know what had happened until those who watched my live explained what had happened. They are probably commenting on what is happening between the two of us. You have also been attacked by a Facehugger. Who is Michael?

Morgan starts to listen to what Mary is saying and his memory starts to come back. Morgan has a memory of seeing something black coming flying towards his face when he was on his way to Michael and he noticed that the facehugger that was on Michael's face was black. Morgan realizes that the woman is right and it makes him angry. Finally Morgan sighs and makes a evasive gesture with his hands to show that he does not intend to hurt the woman.

- Okay, you are probably right. But I am not going to be questioned on your live. Sorry. I am going to drive my car out of here so that you can continue with your live.

- Hmm. It's probably not a good idea to go out and drive in traffic because you could cause a major traffic accident when the Chestburster is born. You didn't answer who MIchael was.

Morgan stands there thinking about what the woman is saying and he agrees that it's probably not a good idea for him to go out in traffic. Morgan is aware that he's going to die and that thought actually scares him. Morgan decides after much thought to participate in the woman's live show.

- Okay, you win. I have nothing to lose anyway. You asked about MIchael. He was the one who placed all the eggs in Kungsträdgården and he was the one who made sure the Alien monsters became real in our world. He said he wished they would exist in reality. Well, my name is Morgan and I bought the Alien queen from Michael so he wouldn't have to take responsibility for her because the police are after him. I'm the leader of a criminal gang and I bought the Alien queen for half a million. Michael has been attacked by a facehugger and is going to die.

Mary listens attentively to what Morgan is saying and she is surprised to hear that a human has wished for the Alien monsters to exist in reality and the wish came true. Mary thinks that Michael must be a very special person. Mary decides to tell her viewers what Morgan said but she has to translate it into English first so they understand what she is saying.

- Listen Morgan. I am going to tell my viewers what you just said but I am going to explain it in English.

- Sure, go ahead. I can't bear to bother anymore.

Mary does a quick translation in her head and starts to explain to the viewers what Morgan just said. While she is talking, she feels several strong movements in her chest and she has to take a break from her talking. Morgan goes and gets two chairs and places them next to the Alien queen's body and Mary is grateful that she can sit down. As soon as Mary sits down, the Chestburster makes a very strong movement and the soft skin on Mary's chest is pushed out by the Chestburster and Morgan staggers back as he sees what is happening. The Chestburster's snake-like body is very clearly visible through the soft skin. Mary loses her breath and explains to the viewers what is happening.

- I think that the Chestburster just started its birth routine and i dont know how long it takes before its borned. I will ask Morgan to turn off my live when its born and hopefully he will do so. Its not something i want young people to see. I will not end the live yet but its soon will end. Lets end this in a positive way. Thank you for all the time we have spend together throught the years. I will always think of you up in heaven. Take care everyone and be nice to each other.

Mary shows Morgan which button to press to end the live broadcast and he agrees to help Mary with it.

The Chestburster makes another strong movement and Mary's whole body vibrates from the movement and the image from the webcam becomes blurry. The Chestburster makes another strong movement and presses out the skin around her chest and the snake-like shape is visible through the skin. The Chestburster moves almost like a newly caught eel and Mary becomes sick from its wild movements. A cracking sound begins to be heard from Mary's sternum and the same sound is heard from Morgan's sternum. Mary chooses to comment on the sound.

- Its not me making that noise. Its the Chestburster. I think its eating on my sternum and i have to say its kind of scary to know what it might do. I feel pain from whatever its doing. If i press my hands on my chest i can feel the Chestburster's body. It feels just like a long snake thing slithering around.

The cracking sounds continue and the Chestburster makes an even stronger movement and Mary has angled her webcam so that the viewers can see the Chestburster's snake-like form through the thin skin on its chest. The viewers feel sorry for Mary and they send a lot of hearts in the live chat. Mary is touched when she sees that the viewers care about her so much. The cracking sounds stop and the Chestburster makes another strong movement and its snake-like body presses against the skin. Mary thinks that the Chestburster is getting impatient and she changes the angle of her webcam so that the chest is not visible.

The Chestburster presses against Mary's chest and the soft skin cracks and a growing pool of blood forms on her shirt. Now it's not long until the Chestburster is born and Morgan goes over to Mary's laptop so that he can stop the broadcast when the time comes. Morgan looks at Mary questioningly and she nods. He can turn off the broadcast now. Morgan presses the stop button and is immediately asked if he wants to save or delete the broadcast and he chooses to save it because he guesses that the woman wants that.

The Chestburster explodes from Mary's chest and blood sprays over Morgan and the laptop. The Chestburster pops out of Mary's chest with a wet sound and lands on the ground. The Chestburster starts crawling across the ground and is headed towards Morgan but changes direction and moves down towards the deep end of the pool. Morgan looks at the Chestburster but chooses not to follow it. Morgan gets up from the pool and sees that the broadcast now have been saved and he chooses to put the laptop on a bench in the café area.

Morgan goes and gets in his car and turns on Spotify and chooses which song will be the last one he hears in his life and it turns out to be a favorite from the past. Deep Purple's "Smoke on the water" blasts on the car stereo and the bass thumps hard. Morgan stamps the beat with his feet. Morgan suddenly thinks he hears the sound of several helicopters from outside the building but he turns up the volume and pretends he doesn't hear. This is life.

The Chestburster feels the bass from the music and starts moving frantically. Morgan can't help but grin as he realizes that the Chestburster dislikes the bass from the music. Whatever the Chestburster thinks about the music, Morgan isn't going to let it control his last moments in life. Morgan's life has mostly been rock and roll and it's going to end that way too. The Chestburster presses itself against Morgan's chest and he can clearly see the snake-like form through the skin.

Morgan sees through the car's windshield how a helicopter lands and several soldiers jump out of the helicopter. The Chestburster presses itself against Morgan's chest again and his entire body shakes from the incredible power that the Chestburster has. Morgan turns up the volume even more and the Chestburster explodes from his chest a few seconds later. The Chestburster screams its birthing cry but fails to drown out the music. The Chestburster pops out of Morgan's chest and makes its way out of the car and moves towards the broken panoramic window.

The soldiers who arrived in the helicopter spot the Chestburster and kill it immediately. Two of the soldiers enter the bathhouse and they can see that there has been a wild fight between the PredAlien and the Alien Queen but they also discover that the back of the car is full of Alien eggs. The soldiers pull out the Alien eggs and burn them with flamethrowers.

Hammarby Flengatan

Michael calls Sven and the signals come through. Michael hopes that Sven is still alive. After a short while, someone answers on the other end of the phone.

- Sven Tollberg.

- Hi Sven. It's Michael. So nice to hear your voice.

Michael hears that Sven is out driving but doesn't ask where he is.

- Ahh Hi there. Is everything okay with you?

- Well, I can't say that. The Alien Queen and the PredAlien are dead but I've been attacked by a facehugger so everything is not okay.

- Oh no. That wasn't good. I'm guessing you're near Hammarby because you can say that the Alien Queen and the PredAlien are dead.

- Exactly. I'm at my parents' house.

- Oh okay. But then at least you're with your parents.

- No, unfortunately they're dead. They probably died yesterday. I'm sure it was the Alien Queen who killed them but I don't understand why.

- Oh no. So terrible for you. Your parents meant a lot to you.

- I know. Krister is also dead. He was at Gröna lund yesterday.

- Hmm okay. The police killed 14 or 15 Alien monsters there yesterday. According to reports, there was a big accident with the new roller coaster. They say the cars came off the track and fell to the ground.

- So sad. Krister was probably one of the people who died there. He loved to ride roller coasters. This must have happened before the power outage. By the way, did you see what happened at the racetrack in Solvalla?

- Yes, unfortunately I did. An acquaintance had bet a lot on horse number 12. Were you involved in what happened?

- No, I've never been to the racetrack. I didn't want to cause more trouble. We talked about it after my questioning at the police station.

- That sounds good even though I don't think you've really followed it.

- Sure, okay. I admit it. I wanted PredAlien to exist in our world but it was mostly to get revenge on Mahom. His pregnant wife was in Solna Hospital and I wanted her to die but there were more people than her who died. Of course that wasn't the intention.

- Who is Mahom?

- A staff member who works at my group home. He's always been incredibly rude and mean to me and I decided to get revenge on him.

- Revenge doesn't solve anything. You should know that.

- I know, but so much happened after we met and we said goodbye and I wanted Mahom to die.

- What happened then?

- Well, a leader of a criminal gang came up to me and he bought the Alien Queen from me for half a million and when I was going to take the elevator up, it almost fell down the elevator shaft. I was saved at the last moment by some firefighters.

- Oof. That sounds dramatic. But I don't really understand the thing about the criminal gang. Did he bring that much money?

- No. He only brought 20,000 but I would get the rest of the money later. I even signed a contract. I felt it was reasonable to sell the Alien Queen to him because the police might still be looking for me.

- It sounds a bit like you were a coward after the police interrogation.

- Maybe. Anyway, I went into my apartment after I was rescued by the fire department and immediately Mahom started arguing with me and I got pissed off and decided to get revenge on him.

- I think I understand. Okay, so PredAlien is dead now. That's good. As I understand it, it multiplied explosively.

- Hah, yes it is dead. PredAlien entered the Alien Queen's hive that she had in Erikdalsbadet and the two started fighting. They killed each other.

- Hmm. It almost sounds like you're amused by that.

- It was of course awesome to see them fight even though I was watching the fight from a distance in a big barrel. I wanted revenge on the Alien Queen for killing my parents so that was also about it.

- But you were the one who wished for her to exist in reality. You never thought that innocent people could die?

- I never thought that my parents could die because of my wish. But she's dead now and I'm going to die soon myself because I've been attacked by a facehugger. Life is so damn unfair.

- That's the way it is. On another matter. You were wondering when this news would go international. It has now and both BBC and NBC are talking about the Alien monsters' advance. They have found out that the Alien Queen is in Erikdalsbadet and I think there is a helicopter on its way there right now.

- But wait, have BBC and NBC already sent a helicopter to Sweden?

- No no, it belongs to the Swedish Defence Force but they broadcast live using several cameras on the helicopter.

- Oh, I see. That was interesting.

Saturday's newspaper is open in front of Michael and he can't help but glance at the text while he's talking to Sven. There are a lot of advertisements on the page and most of them are completely uninteresting to Michael but there is one that catches his attention. It may be because that advertisement is the biggest but it's also about its message. Michael reads the text to himself once more and he mumbles loudly to himself while he reads the text.

"Skarpnäck Stål. We melt steel and recycle it in an environmentally friendly way. Our melting pot uses up to 4000 degrees of heat so that all the steel is melted down in a good way."

Michael remembers how the movie Alien 3 ends when Ripley throws herself into the red-hot lead and he thinks that he himself should do something similar. This would cause the Chestburster to die immediately when it is born from his chest. This means that it cannot escape and grow into an adult Alien and continue spreading terror. The more MIchael thinks about the idea, the more certain he becomes that this is the best way to end this.

Michael takes out his mother's Ipad and as usual it is fully charged and Michael searches for the company name and gets an address. He recognizes the building and knows that it is only a 15-minute drive there. Michael also sees that there is a bus stop very close to the building and he looks at the bus timetable and sees that the bus leaves from Erikdalsbadet in six minutes and he has to hurry. He doesn't want to miss this chance.

- Uh, Sven. I saw something that I have to fix. Unfortunately, we will not see each other again and I wish you the best of luck in life. My life cannot be saved. We have had many nice years but now it is unfortunately over. Goodbye.

- Michael, I don't know if it's a good idea to break in...

Michael ends the call and retrieves his bus card from his ruined wallet and puts it in his trouser pocket. Michael rushes out of the villa and this time he leaves it unlocked. Michael hears two helicopters in the air and when he looks up he sees them flying towards Erikdalsbadet. Michael hopes that the bus stop is not blocked off and he runs along the street as fast as he can. Michael can see Erikdalsbadet in front of him and he also sees one of the helicopters landing in front of the bathhouse but he doesn't care about them. Michael passes the bathhouse and he can see the bus stop and it's not blocked off yet anyway.

Michael runs as fast as he can and the bus arrives just as he's there. Michael uses his bus card and sits down in an empty seat on the bus. His heart is beating faster than usual but Michael has run more than he usually does so it's not that strange. Michael hasn't felt anything from the growing Chestburster yet and he thinks it's a bit strange. Michael is sure he was attacked by a facehugger and it must have sprayed its eggs down his throat. Michael's throat still feels sore but he also feels hungry. He should have eaten something before leaving the villa. The bus approaches Skarpnäck Stål and Michael presses the stop button. So far it's just him and the driver on the bus. When the bus stops, Michael jumps off and walks towards the company's main entrance and it's open today so Michael doesn't have to break the fence.

Skarpnäck Stål

Michael goes through the entrance by the fence and finds an overview map of the area and he looks for where the steel might be melted. It's probably not by the building with staff but probably that tall grey-white building that looks to be six or seven stories high. But there is no melting pot or similar anywhere on the overview map and it doesn't say what the building contains, but Michael feels that it is the right building.

Michael walks towards the grey-white building and there is a large black steel gate and when Michael reaches the gate he pulls the handle but the gate is locked. Michael sees that there is an intercom next to the gate and it says; Press B1 to answer. Michael has no desire to talk to anyone to be let in and he can give no valid reason for being let in other than that he wants to jump into the melting pot and die and the employees will certainly not allow that.

Michael leaves the gate and walks around to the back of the building and there are several doors but they all look closed. Michael is about to walk towards the first door when he sees one of the doors further away open and a man with a garbage bag and protective clothing walks out through the doorway. The man is walking towards a larger garbage room and does not seem to have seen Michael. Michael rushes to the open door and sneaks in. It is incredibly hot in there and Michael guesses that is why the man was wearing protective clothing. Michael looks around and looks for a hiding place where he can hide before the man comes back. There is a smaller space further away and Michael runs there and squeezes his body in as best he can. It is really cramped but he is not visible unless the person walks past the space.

After a little while the man comes through the door and he walks past all the boilers and he does not move towards the space where MIchael is hiding. There are boilers almost everywhere in the large basement and there are several metal pipes running from each boiler but Michael cannot see where they lead but he guesses that they eventually lead to the melting pot. Michael leaves the hiding place and goes the same way the man did and it gets even hotter. It is so hot that Michael starts to feel sick but he grits his teeth and continues. Soon he can see something that looks like a giant cauldron and he can see that it is glowing above the cauldron but it is so high up that he cannot see where the opening to the melting pot is. There is a corridor further away and Michael goes into it and the heat decreases as he gets a bit further into the corridor. Michael has no idea where he is in the building but the corridor should lead him in the right direction anyway.

Michael's chest starts to feel heavy and he senses a fluttering strange movement in his chest and he senses that it is the Chestburster that is moving. Michael passes several changing rooms and the corridor turns and moves out towards the basement with the heating boilers again but at the same time the level of the floor rises quickly and it becomes a steep hill at times. Michael goes up the hill and soon he can see the large melting pot again but this time he sees where the opening is. There seems to be several floors where the steel can be thrown into the melting pot and it looks like the first place is on the second or third floor. There is a long staircase up to the floors but Michael sees a large elevator near the stairs and the elevator is on the same level as Michael.

Michael opens the elevator door and enters the elevator and he sees that there is a long wooden panel on the wall of the elevator and it has a total of eight buttons and Michael presses the eighth button. The elevator does not move and Michael discovers that it is because the elevator door has not been closed properly so he closes it and immediately the elevator starts moving upwards. This elevator is significantly faster than the one at the group home and it is not long before Michael is at the top and he gets out of the elevator and looks around. Michael does not close the elevator door because he does not want to be disturbed by the people who work here.

Michael can see down into most of the melting pot and it looks like it contains liquid lava. But Michael cannot go to the edge and jump because there is a two-part lockable fence that prevents unauthorized people from getting too close to the edge and jumping. Michael guesses that several people have tried to take their lives here and the people who work here have probably gotten tired of it. The fence does not look very old. Michael walks over to the fence and inspects the lock, which is the kind of lock that is usually used to lock a storage room in an apartment building. The lock doesn't look very strong and Michael thinks that the two fences could be forced forward, but it might be heard clearly in the building if he did. Michael doesn't want anyone to know where he is, so he has to think of another way.

Michael looks around on the ground and sees several long, thin pieces of metal and he picks it up and holds them in his hand and feels that they are very bendable. Michael looks at the lock again and twists the metal pieces and soon he can push the metal into the lock and use it as a key. Michael is unsure which way the lock opens but he tries his hand and after a few seconds it clicks and the lock opens. Michael opens the fence and starts walking towards the edge and he mentally prepares to jump. The embers and the liquid steel in the melting pot seem to be pulsing like a human heart and it attracts Michael. There is a promise of eternal peace in that pulsation. Michael feels the high heat where he is standing and it is really hot in the melting pot.

Suddenly Michael hears several people knocking on the elevator door and several of the people shouting something inaudible. It echoes a lot in the building. But the many voices fall silent and soon Michael hears a voice that he recognizes. It's Sven.

- Hey! Michael, can you please close the elevator door up there? I can't bear to go up all the stairs. I'd like to talk to you. Just you and me. No one else.

Michael stands and hesitates but goes to the elevator and starts to close the door but before it's closed he stops himself and shouts out.

- If there's anyone else in the elevator besides Sven, I'll jump right way. No tricks or stupidity with me. Deal?

- Deal.

Michael closes the door and the elevator moves quickly down to the ground level where Michael entered the elevator, Michael hears the elevator door opening and closing down there and soon the elevator is on its way up again. Michael sees that Sven kept his promise. It is only him in the elevator. Sven gets out of the elevator and he is carrying a small plastic bag with cinnamon buns and a steel thermos and two small coffee cups. Michael looks at Sven in surprise. Has he had time to buy coffee? Sven sees Michael's surprised look and closes the elevator door and smiles.

- I was out driving when you called. I was thinking of having coffee up at Refaberget here in Skarpnäck. I heard you mumbling Skarpnäck Stål so I drove here to talk to you. Unfortunately I don't have any tea with me but hopefully that's okay. Should we sit over there? God, it's so hot here.

There are two chairs a little way away and Michael guesses that Sven is wondering if he thinks it's okay if they sit in separate chairs and Michael thinks it's a good idea and he gestures towards the chairs.

- We can definitely sit there. Regarding the heat, it feels like we're in a giant sauna.

- Yes indeed

Michael and Sven go and sit in separate chairs and Sven gives Michael a cinnamon bun and holds out a cup of coffee for him. Normally Michael would have said no to a cup of coffee but this is no ordinary day. The ordinary has been replaced with questions that can't be answered and a great deal of uncertainty. Michael drinks some of the coffee while Sven pours himself a cup. Sven looks out at the embers visible from the melting pot and he takes off his T-Shirt. Neither Michael nor Sven know what they want to say and they sit in silence for a while.

Michael feels a movement from the Chestburster and that movement cannot be explained away because it feels so clear. Michael is surprised when his chest is not pushed out by the movement. The Chestburster seems to weigh more now and affects Michael's breathing and Michael finds it uncomfortable. Michael tries to ignore the Chestburster and think about something else. He has figured out what to talk about. Michael looks at Sven in that special way when he wants to say something important and Sven shows his attention and leans forward slightly as he does when he is supposed to listen to what MIchael is saying and at the same time try to think about what he is saying.

- No one except my mom and dad has liked my wishes. I remember my first wish. I had seen a children's cartoon where there was a talking spider called Charlotte who saved the life of a pig. I thought the spider was so cute so I wished it would be real but not cartoon of course. Soon the spider Charlotte was in our home and it made funny words with its web and it talked to my parents and they thought it was fantastic. I invited some friends from kindergarten and showed them the spider but they didn't like the spider, especially not when it talked to them. Two of the friends killed the spider and I got mad. Charlotte hadn't done anything wrong to them and didn't deserve to die. I beat one of my friends so badly that he had to go to the hospital urgently but I didn't care if he lived or died, Charlotte was dead. Mom and Dad said I shouldn't hurt anyone like this again, but I was mostly grieving for Charlotte and didn't care what they said.

Michael falls silent and eats some cinnamon bun and drinks coffee. Michael looks at Sven.

- Did you know about that wish, the one with the spider?

- No, Jack has never talked about what exactly you wished for. He only said he was worried that you would wish for something that would affect people very negatively and well, that has now happened. It is said that thousands of people have died so far due to the ravages of the Alien monsters and many of them have died in Solna Hospital.

- Mmm. Luckily, PredAlien and the Alien Queen are dead now, I took my responsibility and made sure they fought each other.

- Well done, but you should have stopped the Alien Queen earlier and never wished for PredAlien to become real. You did the right thing in the end, but far too late. Hundreds of people in Zinkensdamm are dead. I don't know if the Alien monsters have entered your group home.

- No, I don't think they have. The front door to the group home is made of a stronger material than other front doors. This is partly because the front door will keep out fire if a fire starts in the stairwell. None of the staff would open the front door if they suspected there was an Alien monster outside the front door. I heard rumors that PredAlien gave birth to a lot of monster babies at Zinkensdamm's sports field and when I passed by there it was like a deep lake of Alien monster drool on the sports field but PredAlien was no longer there then. Of course I couldn't help but swim in the lake of drool. You know me well so you probably aren't that surprised by that.

- No, I'm not the least bit surprised by that but why were you at the sports field?

- I was just passing by and then I walked through the forest and soon ended up in Hammarby. I wanted to know why my parents didn't answer when I called them and I found the answer when I got to their house.

- Oh, so you took the forest road to Hammarby?

- That felt safest. By the way, Sven. Have you seen the movie "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation"? Chevy Chase is in it and he invites his strange relatives and celebrates Christmas and everything goes wrong.

- Hmm. I think so. Why do you wonder?

- I was going to tell you about another wish. I saw that movie in 1994 and thought it was fun. At Christmas 1995, my parents decided to invite some strange relatives who lived in Jämtland at the time. We had visited them in the early 90s and Jack thought it was time for them to come to us. That family is called Werjengren. I don't know if Jack has told you about them.

- No, he hasn't.

- Well, the main reason we met them was because they had a son with the same disability as me and Jack thought it was good that I was hanging out with someone who was an equal. But there were many big differences between their son and me and we didn't like each other. He was way too shy and didn't want to do anything more than talk to himself.

- Michael, you are one of those who have the least noticeable disability. I've seen many people with the same disability who can barely hold a normal conversation.

- You're probably right. Anyway. At Christmas 1995, the Werjengren family came to my family and we celebrated Christmas Eve and there was chaos. Of course I helped with the chaos with my wish but that family wasn't really wise. They had a big Christmas light that they put in the middle of the street and it looked like a giant penis but somehow they didn't see it themselves. None of our neighbors on Flengatan liked that. The family emptied their caravan's septic tank into the public sewer on the street. They had a cat that bit the lights in our Christmas tree so it shorted out. The father in that family got to be Santa Claus this year but he was awful and kept saying the wrong name. Plus he was very drunk. We haven't met that family since then and that's lucky.

- But did your family understand that you had wished for things to go wrong?

- It didn't seem that way but I don't know. Maybe I played along too well so they didn't understand. It was never said that it was anyone's fault.

- How did the neighbors react then?

- They never wanted to see that family again. They told my parents that they would protest wildly if they came back.

The chest burster makes a stronger movement and Michael coughs involuntarily. Michael starts to smile at another memory.

- Okay, this is not related to what has happened in any movie, but still. When I was in seventh grade, we were going to some joint camp in Halmstad and we went there. When we got to the camp, I decided to get revenge on one of the bullies in the class. I influenced him so that he stole a pretty girl's wallet and took all the money. The theft was discovered of course and the girl was devastated. The teachers asked each student if they had taken the money but no one confessed, not even the guilty one. I played detective and figured out who the thief was and the girl got most of her money back. I was in love with that girl and we hung out for the rest of our stay at the camp. She was really nice

Michael stops smiling and sighs deeply.

- But when we came back from the camp, she stopped paying attention to me and soon she was hanging out with the person who had stolen her wallet. So I was worth so little when we got back to school and I hated her for her passivity. It would have been a completely different story if she hadn't hung out with the person who had taken the wallet. But this person could dance Breakdance very well and that's what attracted her.

- Breakdance?

- That HipHop dance from the USA where you had to crawl on the floor like a worm and spin around on your back but also your head. If you could do Michael Jackson's robot dance too, you would become popular.

- Uh okay. I think I know which dance you mean. But did you ever tell the girl what you thought?

- No, I completely ignored her after that. She wasn't worth my attention.

- Have you met her since you left school?

- Only once at a school reunion. We barely spoke to each other.

- Could you forgive her?

- She didn't seem to remember me and when she did remember who I was, she didn't seem interested. She was more interested in drinking alcohol.

The Chestburster makes a more violent movement and Sven sees it through the skin of Michael's chest and Sven involuntarily recoils when he sees the snake-like form. Michael looks down at the Chestburster's snake-like form but he feels no fear of this creature. Michael eats the remains of his cinnamon bun. It's very tasty.

Disclaimer: Facehugger, Chestbuster, Alien, Alien Warriors, Alien Queen, PredAlien Bellybursters is a property of Disney/Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation