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Chapter 113: It Could Be Anyone.

  “No Garko! I’m not the alien!” Yoko shouted. Her, I was pretty sure she was female, voice echoing across the now empty halls on the second floor.

  Like all the other aliens, she was basically a pink fluffball with two thin arms and two sets of legs below her torso. Two poofy green antennas sprouted from her brow and four wide black orbs blinked in unison below the protrusions. Her mouth was wide and filled with the kinds of teeth that betrayed her species as obligate herbivores.

  She also had big red lips. They were quivering.

  “You so are an alien Yoko!” Garko shouted off the top of his lungs. “Nerry can’t be one because they’re dead! Gawa can’t be one because she’s using a bloody flamethrower instead of eating us alive. AND she didn’t bother chasing us. Ertie can’t be one because he’s still going about him being the best thrice dammed researcher in the whole place because he was the first one to touch the thing and Dereng can’t be one because he’s still fighting with Ertie! It has to be you!”

  I raised a hand slowly.

  “Um, sorry. I don’t mean to interrupt. But wouldn’t Ertie be the main suspect because he was the first one to touch it?”

  The rest of them turned back to look at me. All but Yoko brandishing wrenches and icepicks.

  “Who the yolk are you!?” Dereng hissed.

  “And why are you trying to throw me to the meat-eaters!?” Ertie screeched right after.

  I put my hands up. Glad that [Mimicry] had at least done a good enough job that they didn’t immediately single me out as a human.

  “Whoa. It’s okay. My name is Sully and I was a guard. I managed to come in just in time when someone tripped the lockdown. I’m still wearing the suit. See?”

  I came closer to them, so that they could see the power-armor in its entirety

  Naturally, I had gotten it from the armory. After ripping my way inside with the bulk I had earlier. But they didn’t need to know that.

  I looked at each of them in turn.

  “And speaking of which, why was the lockdown triggered?”

  They all looked at me wearily.

  “Why are you trying to mate with us?” Yoko asked.

  I blinked.

  “I’m sorry?”

  They all stepped back.

  “Your hands. You’re bringing them up. Why are you doing that? Are you a pervert?”

  I cursed inwardly.

  ‘Oh come on! What kind of species thinks bringing your hands up is courtship behaviour!? This is an evolutionary dead-end if there ever was one! Quick Sully! Think of some way to make them forget about this!’

  “Uh, no. This is how we show non-hostility in my hometown. It’s my religion.”

  They all stopped talking.

  ‘Damn! Come on! Is that the best you could come up with on short notice!? There’s no way they’ll fall for…’

  “Yeah. Okay. That checks out.” Ertie spoke.

  ‘It does!?’

  “Yeah.” Dereng agreed. “They skimped out on hiring security personnel cause Dr. Gawa wanted to use most of the budget on the labs and the equipment.”

  He made a low rumbling noise.

  “She went on and on and on about how we should be taking pay cuts to keep the project going and how the jarheads weren’t needed cause the storms would kill anything that moved. Then, when the crown started making noise, she spent the added cash on that stupid smart security network!”

  He huffed.

  “Which means she skimped on hiring competent personnel! Probably figured the smart network would be enough to keep the bureau off her back if they ever did an inspection. She probably grabbed this guy and all his buddies off from some no-name hick town in the mountains. I’d be willing to bet money that his mother was also his sister.” Ertie added.

  I said nothing. Stunned into silence as these four started to say all kind of things about my character after only just meeting me.

  ‘Okay. Okay calm down Sully. Maybe this species has a convention of being rude to people they meet for the first time. Plus, they’re rattled after killing each other over baseless suspicions. Tensions are high. I can forgive a few insults.’

  “Hey himbo! What took you so long!? Were you too busy humping to your cousin’s picture or something!? Why didn’t you come to the meeting room at once!? We pay you to die in front of us!” Ertie continued.

  ‘Right. No. Ertie dies first.’ I decided.

  “My mistake sir.” I allowed. “I was busy grabbing hold of a rifle. I figured it would help.”

  “Did you bring more than one?” Yoko asked. Some hope in her voice.

  “No. There was an accident in the armory and the whole place exploded right after I left.”

  By which I meant that I had rigged a whole lot of grenades to go off in order to cover my tracks.

  People might have questions if they saw the [Claw] marks on the door after all.

  “Useless!” Ertie bellowed. “I knew we shouldn’t have hired the inbreds! Those dirty farmers are always breaking our expensive equipment!”

  “Yes Ertie. Insult the man with the rifle some more.” Garko cut him off. “I’m sure that will end well. Especially when he’s got the only other weapon in the whole compound aside from the flamethrower. Especially now that the security system isn’t working, even though the alien has killed at least one of us. Especially since neither the turrets, nor the cameras have burst from the walls and come online! Nice going. You sure are showing off those Boberner University smarts. And you’re also showing off the results of those top-tier, prohibitively expensive tuition rates too. They sure weren’t wasted on a drooling moron like you. I’m sure your professor will in no way take your actions as proof that you’re actually the halfwit they always said you were.”

  I listened to the creature carefully. Hanging on his every word. Then I fought past my incredulity, to what little hints Ertie had dropped.

  ‘Security system? There was something like that? Here? And what’s this about turrets or cameras? I sure as (Gnome) didn’t see any of them. The security station was devoid of monitors too. Also, anyone with cameras should have seen me leave. I literally just sauntered off past one of the unguarded exits.’

  I forced myself to keep copying their mannerisms. Even as my mind whirled with activity.

  If there really was a network in place, then it was a very poorly designed security system.

  Again, I would have put the cameras front and center. Not just for everyone’s protection, but also to act as a deterrent for anyone trying to steal data or samples or, (Gnome), booze. That was a surprisingly common problem back in Uni. Not to mention that cameras were the most practical way to monitor any experiments that might be going wrong.

  I simply couldn’t see any reason why they wouldn’t be out in the open and working all the time.

  I wanted to ask, but I was certain the question would give me away.

  Someone from security would have been expected to know about any protocols in place, after all.

  Garko turned to me.

  “I’m sorry about that boy. Ertie jests, but he’s a bit of an incompetent imbecile at times. Please keep doing your job from now on and keeping us safe.”

  He heaved and I could practically smell his stress, despite the differences between our two species.

  “As you know, we all have the chips. They should have activated when we came under attack by anything that didn’t have a chip. And the turrets and the lasers and the nerve gas and the pressurizers should have annihilated anything that initiated that attack. But they don’t work if we kill each other, since it wouldn’t do for the system to kill us all if one researcher went rogue. And the cameras won’t turn on because the crown was too afraid of any trace of the operation being left in something like footage. They only turn on if there is a real emergency and the whole operation is at risk. It was different for traitors. You were supposed to put them down if that happened and…”

  He shut his mouth suddenly. Afraid that he’d said too much.

  If I had to hazard a guess, it was because the guards weren’t cleared to know much on purpose and any guard that did learn too much wouldn’t be seeing their kids again.

  “It’s only a countermeasure against outsiders.” He continued. “Or any of the nastier experiments. I… I don’t know how the alien hasn’t triggered the alarms yet.”

  ‘Probably because I haven’t killed anybody.’ I thought to myself. My inner musing dripping with sarcasm.

  Though most of what I felt was pity.

  The whole scenario sounded like the kind of thing the brass would come up with if they were drunk or high or… well… the kind of people who rode the small bus to school.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Unfortunately, I knew very well that some people back on earth had done similar things. Before I cleaned house.

  If the data was important enough and the project secret enough, then the old heads back home really would be more afraid of other people learning about it than they would be of their employees getting slaughtered.

  And the sad part was grandpa Gus himself had been privy to some of those secrets.

  Though even he could see that the main motivating factor for a lot of those decisions had been the exuberant amounts of paranoia the top dogs were so enthusiastically huffing.

  He paused to change color, and I got the notion that he was swallowing a bit of vomit. No doubt resulting from an ongoing panic attack.

  “Ertie might be stupid, but he is right that you… gentlemen… were supposed to be an afterthought. You weren’t even supposed to know what went on in here because the crown was afraid of leaks. You… You’re a great help. Now that you’re here.”

  He paused to eye the others.

  “I, for one, will make sure your performance leads to a nice bonus at the end of this. Isn’t that right Ertie?”

  Ertie’s face flushed a light blue color. Then he nodded without another word.

  I paid close attention to the expression of embarrassment. Focusing on both it and the way the others moved their many feet about on instinct.

  I willed Psy into my body and aligned my own posture to match theirs.

  Nice.

  As for Ertie’s nonsense…

  Well, that apology wasn’t the best. But it was at least something.

  I mean, sure. His tone was so condescending that someone with less patience, like Prudence for example, might have gutted him on the spot, but at least it was an improvement of sorts.

  “Okay. No problem.” I stated warmly. “Now what?”

  They all blinked.

  “What do you mean boy?”

  “I mean why were you going around threatening each other?”

  “Oh. Right.” Garko spoke slowly. Then he turned to Yoko. “She’s an alien! Shoot her!”

  “What!? Shoot yourself in the rear Garko! I’m not an alien! You’re the alien! Why else would you be accusing me!?”

  “Shut up you stupid Snork!”

  “Your mother’s a Snork!”

  “Don’t you talk about my mother!” Garko roared. Then he turned to me.

  “Shoot her already!”

  “Okay. Okay. Or… hear me out. Or…”

  The all stared at me again.

  “Or we could do some kind of investigation to find the alien. Like, imagine some manner of test we could do. Imagine features only our species would have and let’s try to see if someone is missing those features.”

  Yoko wailed.

  “Pervert! You want me to expose myself!?”

  “What!? No! I was thinking of something like a medical test!”

  “Yeah!” Ertie shouted.

  “The inbred farmboy is right! Why would you not want to do tests if you had nothing to hide!? Show us yer glands!”

  Dereng hit him with his wrench.

  “Nobody is showing anybody anything you idiot! At least not without more of us being present.”

  He turned to me.

  “I was finally able to think again, after the boy snapped us out of our frenzy. We have to stay calm and we have to think things through if we want to survive. The alien is obviously hiding and it obviously has some kind of ability that allows it to mimic its victims. It’s also obviously weak. Otherwise it would have eaten all of us already.”

  Dereng paused to heave.

  “I’m willing to bet it’s hiding because it’s still weak. All that time in the ice must have degraded its bones and muscles. Maybe even its brain matter. It’s trying to buy time to recover, so the smartest thing to do is to kill it right now before it’s ready to kill us all. Because if it escapes…”

  Dereng shuddered. Though not as a human would.

  Instead, his antennae quivered up and down while a series of bristles went up and down his furry body. Parts of it turning slightly red and parts of it turning a light shade of green.

  I paid close attention to all the hairs that rose on that fuzzy frame. As well as to those that didn’t.

  I sent Psy to my skin in order to try and mimic the reaction and when I looked down to one of my arms, I saw that I got it pretty close.

  “Because if it escapes, it will become the single greatest threat to our species that has ever existed. I mean, just imagine what a creature like that, one who could survive being frozen solid all those thousands of years, could do out in the open. Imagine it hunting our kind through the streets. Taking one by one and then pretending to be one of us before going out and hunting even more of us.”

  The others bristled as well.

  “Now then. Let us assume it really is one of us. And let us further assume it couldn’t kill the other three when there were only four of us. In that case, then it definitely isn’t going to show up now that the boy is here with a real weapon. So, the alien will try to pretend to be one of us for as long as possible, while snacking on those it can if it finds them alone. This way, it may be able to restore its own muscle mass and bone density again.”

  I looked to the other three and paid close attention to their gestures and expressions. Noting the way their muscles shifted beneath the skin using my new Shifter Vision abilities. When that wasn’t enough, I sent more Psy to them. Until I could make out the subtle differences in how they breathed in and out. In how they reset their postures while listening.

  I started deliberately moving to copy them.

  The task became easier at once. As if a switch had been flipped. I felt more relaxed, but my body assumed a more tense posture instinctively. Matching the expressions I was seeing with contemptuous ease.

  “That means that our primary goal is to stay together. While also re-uniting with any other survivors. If we find a body, or at least some remains, then we can identify it and then we can know for certain that the alien is taking that form. If we find lone stragglers, then chances are they are an alien and we should kill them in order to be sure. If we find another group, then we can take our chances and re-unite, because there is only one alien.”

  The others didn’t relax right away.

  “What if one of us is the alien?” Yoko asked. “I know I’m not, but I don’t know about…”

  “Ertie is too stupid to be an alien.” Dereng snapped. “Just now he was insulting the guy with the gun. And Garko can’t be an alien because he gave the flamethrower to the boss. If he was the alien, then he or it would have cooked us all alive and eaten us afterwards. Similarly, the security guy can’t be an alien because he has the rifle and he could just shoot us dead if he was.”

  I made all the right gestures.

  Kinda impressed about his logic.

  He was dead wrong of course, but that wasn’t his fault.

  “So, Yoko. You are still the number one suspect. As such, you will have to walk in front of us.”

  She made a high-pitched hissed.

  “Only until we find the real alien.” Dereng spoke again. Forestalling the rebuttal.

  “There’s only one, so we will be able to rest easy once we kill it.”

  The others began to relax some more.

  And that was when I started to get a nasty inclination.

  Sure, agitating them would make things harder from the sneaking department. Since they would all get more jumpy, more paranoid and more suspicious. But on the other hand…

  I might be able to get more levels if I made things harder for myself.

  ‘That and I guess I can always kill them all if they sus me out.’

  “Hold on sir.” I spoke up. “What makes you think there’s only one alien?”

  They all froze like a herd of deer in the headlights.

  “What do you mean?” Dereng asked. Though his fuzzy pink face was starting to turn a greenish blue hue. Which made me think that he knew exactly where I was going with this.

  “I mean, what evidence do we have that there is only one?”

  “We only dug one up.” Ertie snapped. Though again, he was oozing nervousness. His mind already catching on to what I was suggesting.

  “Yes, but what if the alien is able to reproduce in some unconventional way?” I insisted. Not allowing them to escape the image I was planting.

  “What if the alien is able to split itself into two? Or worse, plant some kind of egg inside people?”

  “Like Garkaloks!?” Yoko shrieked in obvious terror.

  I took from context that these Garkaloks must be some kind of animal similar to parasitic wasps back on earth.

  “Yes, like Garkaloks. The kind that lay their young inside you so their larva can eat you alive as they hatch. From the inside out. Leaving your vital organs for last.”

  Yoko vomited and green goo splattered all over the floor.

  The others looked at it. Then Dereng spoke.

  “Right. Yoko vomits like a normal person, so she isn’t the alien. The alien must still be out there in the compound.”

  Then he turned to me.

  “And it looks like it’s your turn to take the front of the formation boy. You are getting paid to defend us, after all.”

  Neither he, nor the others commented on my theory. They didn’t need to. I could see the dread in their expressions and I took a bit more care, so that my own expression matched theirs too.

  From then on, we moved in two separate groups.

  Me in the front. All by my lonesome. Followed by all the others.

  They still had the wrenches in their hands. As if that would help.

  But I suppose anything heavy and bulky would have let them feel safe at that point.

  “The living quarters are over this way.” Dereng spoke softly. “Let’s go room by room and see if there’s anyone in here.”

  I knew there wasn’t anyone hiding around here due to all my combined senses, but I confirmed the order nonetheless.

  We started with Dereng’s own room. Opening the door to find what I could only describe as the aftermath of a tornado, if that tornado was also a hoarder and a kleptomaniac. The floor was suffused in papers, pens, pencils, tools large and small. All kinds of charts and reports and small posted notes being scattered about in every surface and every corner. With some even being stuck to the legs of chairs or tables.

  It reminded me of Luigi’s own lab. Which annoyed me.

  Then it reminded me of how Luigi always seemed to be able to find exactly what he was looking for in a matter of seconds and I got even more annoyed.

  ‘Though perhaps this is simply how they are as a species.’

  “Ugh! What in the name of Gozo is this!?” Yoko exclaimed with obvious disgust. “You live here!?”

  ‘Or not.’

  Dereng became defensive.

  “What? It helps me focus! I can keep things organized in my own way. We have the freedom to do what we want in our rooms so what’s it to you?”

  Yoko released a quick, sharp hiss.

  “Even the farmhand looks disturbed.” She declared with disgust.

  I schooled my expression some more on reflex, but then relaxed it once I realized my body was mimicking the other’s reactions on instinct.

  ‘Better to blend in than to stand out. At least in this case.’ I thought with a small pang of satisfaction.

  Next, we went to Ertie’s room.

  Where I saw a vast, gargantuan collection of…

  Of…

  Oh dear.

  I…. I can’t be the only one who…

  Sweet Buddha, why must you test me so?

  “Ertie.” Dereng began.

  “Now hold on. I know what you’re thinking, but this is perfectly normal.” Ertie cut him off.

  It was no use. We had all seen the book covers. And the titles.

  Garko was the first to pick one up.

  “The time that I, as a 40-year-old, kissed a bunch of girls.”

  He too turned to Ertie. All thoughts of Dereng’s room banished from his mind.

  “It’s not what you think! Okay!?” Ertie floundered. “It’s a story about a guy, who gets hit by a truck and then re-incarnates into another world in the body of a 12-year-old. And, he’s a prince right? So, he needs to find a princess to marry. So, he needs to kiss a lot of 12 year o… WHY ARE YOU ALL LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!?”

  He tried to approach us.

  We all backed off as one.

  And in that moment, we weren’t a mix of human and whatever these guys were.

  No. We were people.

  Backing off from something vile.

  ‘Come to think of it, I wonder if he has [Predator’s Instincts]?’

  “It’s not weird!” Ertie lied. “Why are you trying to make it weird!? He’s not 40 anymore! He’s a 40-year-old possessing the body of a 12-year-old, very effeminate boy and… WHY ARE YOU MAKING THOSE FACES!!??”

  I turned to see the faces in question and saw that Dereng’s face was a stiff, paralyzed mask of half-shock, half-mute horror. Opened halfway and hanging there without moving. Even as his eyes widened.

  “I’m telling you it isn’t weird!” Ertie kept protesting. “Okay, okay. Just imagine, two 12-year-olds kissing.”

  We all shook our heads and let our jaws drop in unison.

  “Now imagine, one of those 12-year-olds has a grown man inside of the…. STOP MOVING AWAY!!!”

  I felt my hands reaching behind me. Reflexively searching for a phone with which to call Kris Hansen.

  Alas, no such luck. I… we. Were alone with the monster.

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