Boykisser

2122

Commercial tug "Nostromo" Crew: Eight people Cargo: Processed mineral ore from a refinery (20,000,000 tons) Course: Returning to Earth...

White metal walls, bulging with pipes and other essential fixtures... The walls glinted faintly under the cold light... Empty corridors...

"Mother" activated the crew's wake-up sequence after detecting what appeared to be an S.O.S. signal... You woke up, sat on the edge of the hibernation pod, and stepped onto the cold white metal floor. After getting dressed, you headed for breakfast. Dallas, Ellen, Kane, Lambert, Brett, Parker, and Ash were already at the table. You took your seat and began eating, washing down the meal with terrible coffee. Everyone joked around until the computer called Dallas—a green light flashed. He stood up and left.

A few minutes later, he returned, announcing that Mother had likely picked up an S.O.S. signal. The crew—including you—briefly discussed the pay and then went to listen to the message. Lambert played it... but there were no words, just strange, unsettling sounds. Dallas then asked for the signal's coordinates. It was coming from a small, uncharted planet...

3 hours and 24 minutes later...

You reached the planet—and trouble began immediately. First, a short circuit caused a small fire, but it was quickly extinguished. Then, the backup generator failed, along with 3-4 other systems. Several pipelines needed replacement—a major repair job. A "T-junction fragmentation" occurred, requiring debris clearance and hull resealing. The repairs would take 25 hours...

Dallas, Lambert, and Kane decided to investigate the S.O.S. signal...

2 more hours passed...

In the section housing the planetary access elevator, the lift ascended. Ellen clearly hesitated to open the hatch—but Dallas and Lambert carried Kane inside... with something attached to his face.

You and the others rushed to the medical bay, watching through the observation window. The parasite resembled a spider—no eyes, but with a tail and something resembling lungs...

When Ellen approached to check on Kane... Lambert lunged at her, but she was quickly grabbed and calmed down. Then Dallas took charge of the operation to remove the parasite from Kane. They made the first incision near one of the creature’s legs—and suddenly, green blood gushed out. Acid. It splashed onto the floor, immediately eating through the deck plating. You all rushed down to Deck 3, pressing emergency sealant patches to stop the corrosion. After a tense moment, the acid seemed to neutralize...

1 hour and 10 minutes later... Ash called Dallas and Ellen—something was happening with Kane. 25 minutes after that, the entire crew was summoned: Kane was alive and waking up. Everyone gathered in the med bay as Kane sat up on the gurney, rubbing his eyes...

2 hours later... The shuttle returned to the Nostromo. Half an hour after that, the crew sat around the mess table, laughing and joking—except Kane, who was shoveling food into his mouth like it was his last meal. Lambert pointed it out, uneasy. Then, suddenly, he choked. His hands clawed at his throat. He convulsed. The crew scrambled—Ash tried to force a spoon between Kane’s teeth to stop him from biting his tongue—

Then his chest burst open.

A shrieking, writhing thing erupted from Kane’s body in a spray of blood. You grabbed a knife, but Ash shouted, "DON’T KILL IT!" The creature—slick with gore—hissed, scuttled across the table, and vanished into the shadows...

The hunt began. Parker jury-rigged flamethrowers. Ellen warned the thing could be in the vents. Ash speculated it had already adapted to their environment. When Ellen volunteered to crawl into the ducts, Dallas overruled her—he would go. Lambert and Parker monitored the motion tracker while Ellen controlled the vent hatches.

Then—movement. Something closed in on Dallas. Lambert screamed for him to run. The last thing any of you heard—including you—was a wet, gulping noise...

Now, only you, Ellen, Lambert, Parker, and Ash remained.

Then Ash attacked Ellen in the corridor, his strength inhuman. You and Parker wrestled him down—until his head tore off. Wires sparked. He was an android.

Furious, Ellen hooked his severed head to a power supply and interrogated him. The company’s orders: "Bring back the specimen. Crew expendable." No weaknesses. No way to kill it.

Ellen’s voice was ice. "We’re blowing up the ship."

They needed a coolant unit for the shuttle. You were sent to find the cat, Jonesy. As you searched, distant screams echoed through the ship—three of them, each ending in that same, horrible gulping sound. You grabbed Jonesy’s carrier and a flamethrower, sprinting downstairs, stumbling—

Then silence.

You froze.

Something moved behind you.

Slowly, you turned—

And saw HE.