Of Hunt and Change : 8

THE DISCOVERY  

‘Night is too dark’ was his first thought when the lights had been turned off in his cell at night a few days ago. Somehow he think he should still be able to see things better in the darkness. It almost felt like he was blind there even though he was sure it was normal…or was it?  

His family will come today, and so he has been moved to a less guarded area of the base. Sure, they doesn’t use handcuffs on him, but they keep eyes on him like a hawk on its prey. He could almost feel it the way guards react around him. There must be something he is missing here, something very important. Besides, he has no chance to see his hunt mates yet since his return… and he wonder how the fight goes…  

He pauses, probably for the third time today.  

Hunt mates? Where did that word came from?? He had meant his partners. Hunt mates sound so very…aliens. He shudders.  

Three officers, whose face he never seen, come and escort him to a simple waiting room. He could have sworn he feel presence of a strike team in the room just next to him, ready to charge should things go wrong. Though he do not know how. Perhaps he has become a psychic? That would be very useful.  

Suddenly, the door swings open, reveals his mother and father in the door way, his sister and brother coming closely behide them…  

‘Mother…?’ The word echoes in his mind. He looks at the old woman in the door way, knowing she is his mother. But something in his mind telling him…there is also another…  

“Chris! You’re alive!!” She nearly yell out in relieve and happiness as she come to him and hug him tight. “You’re alive…you are indeed alive. I…I thought I’ll never see you again.”  

Sniffing as she rest on his shoulder. He return her hugs gently, make a quiet hissing sound. “It’s alright mom. I’m here now. Safe and sound.”  

He turn and nuzzles her with his nose.  

And he pauses.  

‘Why did I do that?!?’  

She doesn’t seem to notice the oddity in the act, but he certainly does. Something is feeling very wrong ever since he see her. He could feel her warmth as she hugs him. Instinctively, his mind reach out and touches her, telling his mom he is okay… She doesn’t say anything but he could feel it, if only faintly, in the edge of his mind. He could feel mother’s warmth reaches out to him, encompass him, and pulling him in…  

…and he submitted to her will…  

He gasps and jerks back, eyes widen. Memories flash in his mind. He see himself, running aimlessly in the darkness, memory of monsters trying to get at him, of the majestic creature before him … his transformations, his submission…memory of him woke up finding himself already part of the alien hive…the xenomorph…memory of the mother-Queen…her loves…  

…memory of his Clara…  

Last conversation with Mother come back to him…acceptance to his reversal cocoon, and the reason he is to become a human again. He remember he didn’t want to. He was happy with Clara as part of the hive, but he is a soldier and he has duty to perform.  

He is to be the agent of the hives…and the peace keeper.  

“Chris? Chris? Are you alright?”  

Be blinks, snap out of his thought and see mom looking at him with worry eyes. He forces himself to smile.  

“Oh nothing mom. I’m just a bit tired, ‘s all.”  

“Oh you’re tired?” His mom says, “If you’re not feeling well maybe we can come back tomorrow?”  

“No, no. I’m fine mom.” He quickly refuses, “I’m too happy to be able to see you again. Please don’t go just yet.”  

He glances at his mom, his dad, and his family. He could see loves and concerns in their eyes. He reaches out to them, mentally and instinctively, wanting to be a part of that again…his family, his little hive…the way they had been.  

He could feel a glimpse of feelings in their mind, and he reach out further, trying to pull them out, as he had done countless of times as a Xenomorph. But instead, he feel a grasp of Mother—the Queen. Her warmth and feeling reach back to him, telling him he would be okay, and that he would be back into their family soon. The Mother’s mind has dulled out the minds of people before him, barely visible at the edge of his mental eyes. He shrinks back.  

His family—his biological family—loves him, he know. But it seem pales in comparison to the Mother’s own. He knows he could not expect the show of loves the same way a Xeno does, they are humans and not part of the hive. But he couldn’t help when his instincts expect it otherwise.  

His few weeks as a Xenomorph has nearly completely overruled his long years as a human… The Xenomorphs are stronger, faster, and more powerful in mind as well as in body. They can act as one, each can feel what others do. Their race has harmony and unity humans can only dream off… And the Queens and the Empress could even be more intelligent than a human’s for all he know… They are, technically, a race superior to our own in nearly every way…  

It was disturbing to him to be integrated into the hive-mind a month ago. But right now, without it, he feels so dull.  

“So…bro.” His brother break the silence, “You haven’t tell how did you survive? We all heard you were dragged away by the aliens. And here you are, one month later, without a scratch?”  

“Josh!” His mom eyes hard at his brother, obviously worry he wouldn’t want to answer the question, and probably fear she wouldn’t like his answer either.  

He sighs. He know he has to tell them. He would probably be locked up and interrogated again when the military know it. But he just has to tell his biological family of what had happened to him. It would ease both his mind, and maybe theirs as well, he hope.  

“It’s okay mom. I have to tell you all what happened.”  

And so he does. He starts in the dark tunnel, being dragged away, thought himself dead for sure. The darkness, the dreams that had been haunting him. He could hear they gasp in terror as he tells them of his rebirth and the Queen. Their eyes soften as he tells them of Clara and their reunion… In the end, they still love him. He was their son, is, and will always be, no matter how much he has changed.  

His mom seem to accepts him and his story more than the others. His father merely frown, looks rather worry. His sister is indifference. And his brother…he chuckles to himself…his brother has that wide-eyes looks on him, glaring at him almost in excitement and anticipation.   

It is seem the Queen will have a new drone soon, he muses.  

He then looks at the security camera in the corner of the room, feeling sure that the General will hear it. And then there will be a hell lots of explanation he need to make. But it is inevitable.

* * *  

True to his thought, not a few hours later he has been put into an empty interrogation room. The General at the opposite end of the table, along with another commanding officer he do not recognizes and a guard. And they start demanding the truth in what he said. And as much as he had disliked the Aliens for invading their world before, he now wouldn’t bear the thought of them being destroyed either. It feel like another family to him, one he hold on dearly…  

“I’m telling you the truth, sir.” He say, for the third time, “I had walked within the alien hive together with my hunt mates…my advance team. They are all still alive, sir. Although difference in body, but still the same in mind. All of the aliens we fought with were…are actually our own people, sir. Their forms have changed, but they are still the same inside. I know that, sir, because I was there myself.”  

“Well…” a commander start, “If you claim they are still the same, why did they fight with us? And why did they invade that town and kill everyone inside?”  

“Few have died from that invasion, sir,” he defense, “Most are now part of the Hive. They are happy there as their own home now, and want to defense it. In truth, it is like a newly formed nation in itself, sir. They have adapted to the new social structure and their new forms. And are willing to defense it by any means. For them, we invaded their home, sir.”  

There is no response from the Commanders, so he continue.  

“Sir, the first queen couldn’t have known when she attacked the town. She was indeed an alien. She was very young, got winded here by accident and knew nothing of us when she arrived – she was merely trying to survive – But she know better now, sir.” He pause, looking at his interrogators, “She does not want us to kill each other unnecessary, if she could help it.”  

A commander snap and stand up from the chair, sighs loudly.  

“I don’t believe it. This is outrageous! How do we even know if he is telling the truth or he is just mind-controlled by that said Queen?!”  

“Well sir, I cannot deny the possibility that I might have been under the effect of the Queen while I was her drone. But right now, sir?” He wave his hands aside, “I am fully human now. I have no devices or any alien life-form on my person, you have made certain of that. I could not have been controlled here, sir.”  

‘Well, beside the fact that she was probably tampered with my head to sway my loyalty while I was in that cocoon. But they don’t need to know that, do they?’ He thinks to himself.  

The Commanders and General still doesn’t look very convinced. He doesn’t blame them. Aside from the impossibility it all sounds, they could very well wary this to be an alien’s trick. Which in truth, it could be. Considering he still considers himself part of the hive even now, although he tells no one.  

It would take a while for him to make them believe he is being truthful, he thinks. But for now, he would enjoys exploring his telepathic ability in human form. Although it is very weak compared to his time as a Xenomorph, it is something he could use.  

And then he thinks… With mother-Queen’s support, he might be able to sway the Commanders’ thought to his advantage? Not exactly a good act of truth, but he couldn’t bear the thought of the hive getting destroyed either. There has to be a peaceful way to end this war.