"Dek!" I shrieked. He fell, he struck his sword into the tree trunk, slowing down the fall, just in time to stop before the Thia could get a scratch from the razor grass. Looking down with this... panic, I wasn't expecting to feel for people I barely knew. I sighed with relief, seeing them okay. Looking at the bison, they could reach it if they timed the jump right. Moving quickly, I made my way down to them. The trip down was easy, almost forgetting about the Luna bugs. "Dek, time your jump, and you can land on the bison."
Dek grunted and nodded. I landed on the tree beside Dek and waited for the bison to get close. We leaped on once the bison got close. On one side, Dek stabbed the bison with his blade. I stabbed my extension on the back of my hand and stabbed into the other side of the bison.
"Come on," I pressed my blades deeper. Then I looked ahead. The bison was going to hit the other two against the tree. "Dek! Look out!"
Dek looked ahead and saw the tree getting closer. At the last second, Dek jumped off to the side into the woods. Yanking my blades out, I leaped off to the woods and landed in the woods. Getting to my feet, I made my way over to Dek.
"The bison is gone," I said to him. "Now we have to look for a new-"
Rustling came from behind us, and the little creature came rolling through.
"Get up!" I ordered him and chased after it as it went up into the branches. Dek chased it through the branches. Soon enough, Dek caught it, and they started brawling. Standing aside, I watched, seeing how little he could handle himself against one of the many creatures on this planet. The little thing landed many hits on him until he caught it by the neck and stood up. There was faint thumping coming up behind me. I turned to look behind me, and charging this way was the bison.
"Shit," I cursed,
"Dek! Look!" Thia managed to get Dek to look in the direction I was looking. Moving quickly, I moved out of the way, its head thrashing against trees. Dek dropped the small creature and threw his blade, spinning, just barely making it between the head plates of the bison. It sliced straight through the bison, splitting it right down the middle. I watched, eyes wide. Dek was between the two pieces as it fell. Dek grabbed the two halves of the skull and tore them out.
"Wow," I spoke low to myself. "He might just survive this place."
Dek lifted his head and let out a roar, signifying his victory, until he got dragged by his feet by something.
"Dek!" I ran after him. He was lifted by his feet with something pulling him by his ankles, and tentacle-like tongues wrapped around both him and Thia. "Shit!"
"Kalisk?" Dek asked overhead.
"Fucking hell, that's a Luna bug!" I panicked. I have no weapons to help them get out of there, and even if I climbed, I wouldn't get there in time.
"Got any more weapons?!" Thia was just as panicked.
"Dek!" I screamed, forced to watch this, useless to do anything. My plasma cannon would hurt them, too. The Luna bug was about to eat them both alive. Then, like a prayer come to life, the little creature came in swinging, and jumped into the Luna bug's mouth, the back against the teeth, and broke them. The Luna bug shrieked in pain, letting them go, and they fell.
"Dek!" I rushed over as he fell and hit the ground. He got up slowly but was uninjured. Then the creature fell, and he caught it. The creature looked up at him. he hissed at it, the creature gave a sheepish smile, and Dek let out a growl. "Dek! We gotta go! now!"
Dek looked up at the Luna bug and dropped the creature, following me as I ran out of there. I could hear the creature following him. We ran to the edge of the forest, where we had to stop before the razor grass. The little creature dove in, rolling through.
"Move!" I shoved Dek hard aside, and I ran the other way; the Luna bug just barely missed stepping on us.
"Why'd you stop?" Thia said, "Let's get out of here!"
"Awak terlalu mudah mengala," Dek told her, going to the tree and cutting it, climbing it as it fell towards the Luna bug. Taking a deep breath, I ran into the razor grass; my suit kept the grass from cutting through to my skin. I ran; additional speed came from a boost in my suit's strength propulsion. The Luna bug was chasing after the small creature. I managed to climb on its leg before it leaped. I held on. Once it landed on some ragged rocks, I made the climb up its leg to its head. The tree was coming down, and Dek leaped off the highest branch and landed on the Luna bug. I grabbed his arm before he could fall.
"Kill it, Dek, now!" I ordered him. He struck his sword deep into the Luna bug's head and dragged it back till the Luna bug fell to the ground dead. I sighed in breathless relief. "Let's get out of here now."
We gathered the meat from the bison, some from the Luna bug, and headed off. To find a place to set camp and cook the meat. It took a few hours, but we made it to a desert area, many rocky peaks. One peak high above the danger ground level, but crowded enough to keep away from sky dangers. Putting together a fire, we set up the meat to cook. I got out of the suit, Douma got out, and roamed. Sitting with Dek beside the fire, watching the flames. Thia talked on and on about what happened. Trying to figure out what to call the five of us as a group.
"Ru?" Thia asked.
"Hm?" I turned to her.
"You said you've been here for nine years, right?"
"No, I've lived here since the day I was born. Genna is my birth home." Dek, Thia, and the little creature all stopped and looked at me like I just said something absolutely ridiculous. I picked up some meat and tore it in half, tossing one half to Douma, and kept the other half to eat. Dek took the other full chunk of meat to eat and offered a small piece to Thia, but she said she didn't need it. Then he gave it to the little creature at Thia's comment on it being hungry. Then it spat on him. Dek growled at it.
"Aw, she's marking you," Thia said. "She wants you to be part of her Clan."
That reminded me of something, back when I was younger. I remember something doing that with me and my mother. I can't remember what. Shaking my head, I didn't think further on it.
"... So, Ru?" Thia asked.
"Yeah?" I responded.
"What was your mother sent here for?" That question was something I have been trying to avoid asking for years, but I know what it is. The only reason anyone ever comes to Genna.
"The Kalisk." I said to her, "She was sent to research it in detail."
"So, she-"
"Used to work for Yutani. Yes," I interrupted her. "She never got to tell me about my dad. Not his name, what he looks like, nothing."
Thia looked sympathetic towards me. "What happened?"
"The very thing she was researching." As I spoke, my eyes never left the fire. "I still remember that day. Every detail. My mom had just finished a meal with me at the start of the day. She was just about to tell me about my dad. The base we had lived in for those ten years."
"Wait... so you're only nineteen?" Thia asked, she looked shocked.
"I am," I said to her. "The last time I saw my mom was the day I made a promise to end the Kalisk. That day, the base began to shake, and its howling filled the space around us. It wasn't violent around us. We never made ourselves a threat to it. That day, it was attacking the base like it had a vendetta against us."
"My mom told me to stay inside," I continued. "When she left, she locked me in. She never did that. When she did lock the door, she was always inside with me. She never left me locked inside. I knew something was wrong. She put her hand on the glass door and told me one thing, before being dragged away by the very thing that would never have attacked us before. Survive, Ru."
The group was silent, and my eyes never left the fire.
"Bawa ai apulang. Kalisk." Dek said, "Untuk Kwei."
"... Kwei?" I asked, glancing his way.
"Kra'nak," Dek responded, locking eyes with me. "Kx'ta… hak'teh?"
"My mom mentioned that she knew someone whose brother has that name," I said to him. He looked at me with a strange expression, like what I said didn't make sense. "What?"
"Kwei ka'tei, k'kwei mah'la d'kthar'ja kren'ta ka'ki-de thwei-de Human."
"Think it's someone else named Kwei then?"
"Ka zdak Kwei-de h'ska, nox-ta. Vral ka-de klan-de Kwei, h'ska-de ka h'rad, Ya'ka."
" Dek... what happened to your brother?" I asked him, and not once did my eyes look away from his. He looked into the distance for a while before speaking.
"Ayah bunuh dia," he said. He didn't need to say more; I understood that it was most likely because he protected Dek.
"You're grieving," Thia spoke,
"Kedukaan ialah Kelemahan." Dek responded,
"You're here because you lost your brother."
"Saya datang untuk Kalisk." Dek said. He looked to Thia. "Kenapa awak di sini?"
"I'm here because traveling with you gets me back to Tessa." This said. "I was in that vulture's nest for so long that I was afraid I would never see her again."
"Awak sepatutnya hidup sendiri."
"I can survive on my own. But who would want to survive on their own?" Thia said that, and it reminded me of how it felt to travel with Douma after spending so long on my own. Dek looked to her after she finished.
"Tessa Ialah kakak awak." Dek said,
"... I've spent nine years alone," I spoke up, staring at the fire. "I spent so long just hunting and surviving, I didn't know how to handle the thought of traveling with anyone. Didn't realize I missed having someone around until I found Douma."
Dek glanced at me mid-bite of his food. Douma let out a whimper and nestled under my hand as I pet him. What ran through my mind was a constant rerun of what had happened on Genna. The Synths I had to fight, the monsters I had to hunt for survival and food, so much, and I was alone, never once did I let myself think about how alone I felt.
"... Kra'ti na!de kxan-de thwei'ra, de'chi." Dek said to me, handing a torn piece of the meat he had.
"Thanks, Dek," I said to him, taking the meat. Silently, I ate the meat. I felt Dek watching me, like he was trying to see something in me. He and I both lost family; he lost his brother. I lost my mother. He and I know that pain.
"So... you both are grieving in a way," Thia said.
"Look, no one gave me time to grieve," I said to Thia, "Look around you at this planet. Either grow up and survive against monsters and the company, or stay the helpless ten-year-old girl, defenseless and afraid."
Thia looked at me sympathetically. I looked back at the fire; the topic wasn't what I needed to continue with. Dek moved closer to my side. If it was out of respect or mutual feeling, I can't say. But it was actually nice. Having someone who understands. Although in my case it was nine years after losing my mom, Dek lost his brother only recently.
"It's getting late; we should get some rest for tomorrow," I said to the rest of the group. "We had a long day."
Shifting around beside the fire, Douma got in position to act as a barrier for me. Protecting me from incoming threats. Dek lay opposite me. My mind was dark as I closed my eyes to sleep. Before long, I felt someone brushing hair from my face. My mind's dark space filled with dreams of Mom doing this for me as I was about to sleep. Then came the flashes of the day I lost her. I was banging on the door, screaming, crying for her. Begging for her to be okay. Then, her scream was silenced. I remember hitting the door and screaming. It could have just been in my head. I don't know what happened that day, but my scream didn't sound human, and something forced the door open. It's unlikely it was me, as no one else was there. I ran out of there to get to my mother. There she was, lying dead, motionless, and crushed in her abdomen. The Kalisk did this to her. I just remember sobbing, begging her to wake up, to not leave me alone. Even then, I knew she was never coming back.
I felt my sleeping body curl up. Before long, my eyes blinked open, and I saw Dek seeping inches from my face. Creeping, I sat up and moved to stand up. Going to my suit, it wasn't clean.
"What the-" I unfortunately got closer; it was Douma's literal shit. I gagged and moved away from it. Douma ran through even while blind. "That is disgusting."
"Douma!" he ran over top of Dek, waking him up. Dek growled at Douma. "There are worse ways to wake up, Dek."
I sighed and took the device off my suit's arm and attached it to my forearm.
"Douma tx'lak! faek-rahk sha'te?" Dek asked me.
"He did, took a shit in my suit. I am not cleaning that." Tapping a few buttons, the suit closed and turned on the camo. "I'll give it a chance to wash out once we find a stream."
Sighing, I kicked dirt into the fire. Taking an extra vine that wasn't used on Thia, and tied it around Douma as a vest to walk with him.
"The sun's up, we have to go," I said to Dek. Dek went to get Thia.
"We can't leave Bud," Thia said.
"Bud?" both Dek and I asked Thia.
"Yeah," Thia replied, "Bud, I named her."
"Youtja memburu bersendirian," Dek said, making his way over to Thia. Meanwhile, I set a command for my suit to follow us and adjusted my grip on the vine harness tied to Douma.
"You're not alone," This started up again. "Ru and I are with you."
"Awak perkas." Dek said. "Ru issk-"
"I'm the guide," I said, ready to leave. Dek got the vine straps on, lifting Thia on his back,
"The tree would have eaten us without her," Thia said,
"Kita bukan di dalam pokok sekrang." Dek said. We left, traveling the ragged rock terrain.
Hours later, we reached a waterfall and stream. I hit a few settings on the device on my arm, and gave it instructions to clean the shit out of it. I took Douma to the water to drink, and I also had a drink from the water.
"Kalisk?" Dek asked, holding up a fang.
"That's a Kalisk fang." I told him, "It drinks here."
Thia was just looking into the distance, not looking at Dek or me.
"We shouldn't have left Bud behind." Thia finally said, I sighed, and splashed some water on my face. Dek grunted and came up to a big rock and sat down, fixing his arm piece. "Bud saved us. She spat on you to claim you as part of her family."
Silence filled the space for a while. "Why did your father kill your brother?"
My hands paused in the water, listening to the conversation. I heard Dek's hands pause.
"Abang saya mel ingungi saya." Dek responded. I knew this was why his brother died. Yautja, many clans refuse to acknowledge runts as strong in any way and kill them off. "Puak Tak Boleg ada Kelemahan. Saya akan tun kekuatan kepada merka."
Silence filled the air again for a moment.
"On earth..." Thia began, "There's the predator known as the wolf. It's a powerful creature. They hunt in packs. They're very loyal. The leader of the pack is the alpha. Known as the most dominant."
"Wolf," Dek said, looking at Thia. "Tx'a! Ka'th br'tek! Xra alpha-dei, ka-dei g'karak ja'k-tel. Kx'ta nauk'cha dha."
"No," I said, glancing at them. "The alpha protects the pack. Like how our brother protected you... And how my mother protected me."
Dek's expression faltered at the comparison. Then he shook his head and stood up.
"Kx'raa…" He said, "Ka'tra nauk'ta, ai-ya. D'lex ka'al pha'ruk-de, txei kxath."
"Then we should head out before we lose the Kalisk' trail," I said, standing up and walking to the forest.
"Ru!" Dek caught up with me. I glanced back, surprised he called my name at all.
"Dek?" I blinked a few times, confused.
"Kxar truuk'tah rrha vrek'ka-dei k'te! Armor-dei sha'kren ha?" He asked.
"No, Douma needs to stretch his legs too," I told him.
"Kxra'n! Ka'thik vren, size'ta meh."
"Excuse your mouth?!" I fully turned to him. "You are just as tiny for a Yautja!"
"Txu dra k'chi, na'dtra ki'cti k'chak."
"Mother fu- Come here!" I charged at him; Douma followed, and Dek ran ahead, laughing. Douma let out these happy yips as we chased Dek. Thia was laughing because she found it ridiculous. My suit stayed close to us according to the programming I gave it. We kept running through terrain, and I kept chasing Dek, moving across the terrain, avoiding rocks and undergrowth.
Soon enough, I managed to tackle him to the ground. Douma grabbed Thia and off Dek as we tumbled. By the time we landed, I was on top of Dek, and Douma was sniffing Thia all over.
"Still think I'm tiny, Dek?" I looked down at him. he looked up at me, bewildered. "What?"
"... Kra'kt, dyu kxan jruk'ta me d'ron..?" Dek asked while I didn't move.
"I don't know why are you a pain in the ass?" I retorted with a laugh, and he laughed while I was still on him.
"Txar-kxan dii'k," he laughed.
"So are you!" I laughed.
"You two flirting?" Thia asked.
"What/Kxa?" Dek and I asked her at the same time.
"The way you are sitting on him makes it look like you are straddling him." Thia pointed out. I sat up and looked at our position. And realized his hands were on my legs.
"You saw nothing." I got up off him, and he got up from the ground. "Thia, mention this ever, and I will rip your circuits out."
"You two looked-"
"Never. Mention. It," I interrupted her. Dek was avoiding looking at me. I think Dek is three or four years younger than me; young bloods are fifteen or sixteen years old. So, that would be an inappropriate romance between me and Dek, I think. I don't know the laws in the Yautja culture. Doesn't matter; I am not going to be testing that until he is older if there end up being feelings. Regardless, that's not what is going to happen. Taking Douma's harness lead in my hand, I went on, Dek picked up Thia, and we were on our way. Dek and I avoided looking at each other. It was awkward. Soon enough, we reached this mess of machines and reached vehicles from the company.
"This is the place?" I asked, looking over the mess.
"This is it," Thia said.
"Kalisk-tha'k dena'kx." Dek said. We made our way down into the debris. my suit stayed close as we made our way through. "Kxa drau-tek?"
"Synthetics," I answered him. "The Kalisk did this."
"There I am," Thia said, looking down at her lower half sitting motionless on the ground. Picking up her legs by the ankles, I dragged them into a building that had machines to repair synthetics. Dek yanked over a stand and threw Thia on it. i hoisted Thia's legs on and let her put herself in position to repair her legs.
"That'll make walking easier," I said, leaning in the doorway, arms crossed. Douma was sitting beside me.
"It's about to be," Thia said.
"I meant Dek, but sure, I guess for you too," I said. Dek cracked his neck.
"Oh," Thia got back to reattaching her legs.
"Ka'trek ya'ka. Kxar-trophi dei. Traxk xe-dra tel'k!" Dek said.
"The first to kill the Kalisk, the first of any species." I said, giving Dek a genuine grin. First in a long time. "I'll be jealous."
Dek let out a grunt and gave what I think is a Yautja smile. "Kxa'rii vrek-tcha'k!aii-dei.
"And an honor it will be," I said. "Then what are you going to do after all this? Go back and face your father?"
"Jat'ka. Ze!k kwei-de shra'nak'ti kxar-tel." Dek said, mentioning his brother.
"That is probably the most honorable thing to do for your brother, even if he won't see it happen," I said to him, still giving the grin and maintaining eye contact. Dek let out a grunt, acknowledging my words.
"... you should go," Thia said. My grin faltered as I looked at her and stood.
"What are you talking about?" I asked her. She had this expression on her face that clearly told me that she was hiding something. "What did you do?"
"Kx'ta?" Dek pulled around the screen to see what Thia did. She had sent out a location to the company.
"You were never going to help us," I turned to her, anger boiling in my veins. Douma growled, sensing the tension. "You want the Kalisk as a Bioweapon! don't you?!"
"Kx'TRA NAK'TA H'DEG." Dek let out a hiss. "Kalisk ha'ruk-tx?"
"You and Ru can't kill it, Dek." Thia tried again to persuade us.
"Where is it?!" I shouted at her, taking a single step her way, and a growl sounded, most likely from Douma.
"I'm trying to help you both, Ru," Thia said in an almost pleading tone that only served to aggravate me more.
"Kx'ra v'tek sha'n-de." Dek said,
"WHERE IS THE KALISK?!" I ordered her, a harsh growl sounded again from Douma.
"Ru, do you think your mother saved you-"
"Don't you DARE bring her into this!" I snapped at her before she could finish her sentence. "My mother is dead because of the Kalisk. So fucking tell me where it is. Now!"
Dek growled viciously, "Kxar sha'si thwei-de. Vokh na e'thra ka'un."
Picking up Douma, I left the building and tapped some settings on my arms tech piece. My suit became visible and I set Douma in it, and closed it up.
"This thing is dying, I don't care how. It dies today, Dek," I said to him as I took a gun and custom plasma sword from my suit. "I'm not losing Douma to this thing. Or you if I can help it."
"Howl kxan-dei'd! Txra kal'isk-de, d'tok cha k'tra kxan?" Dek asked, looking around the debris.
"Everything possible, even crushing the damned thing under rocks," I told him. "It regenerates faster than it can feel any, if not most of its pain. that thing doesn't bleed."
"Re!gen'ra kxat?" Dek asked, looking to me from some oil spilled on the ground.
"Yes, its wounds heal immediately, but the scars and removed limbs? healed and replaced with new Genetic material before it loses any way of moving."
Dek let out a growl of disbelief. "Txrak!"
"I know, Dek, but it's the truth. that thing won't die easily, unless you have something to destroy it; we can't kill it. It's the one thing I haven't been able to try." I told him, "What were you doing with that fuel?"
"Ka'liks a'de hrak-txai." Dek said.
"Using fire," I noted, "Think it'll come out if you do?"
"Txo-ka thren." dek said, taking out his plasma sword. "Kx'alisk-tek ya, hunt-master."
"Heh," I let out a bitter laugh. "If I were, I would have avenged my mother by now."
Dek came over to me and gave my arm a gentle squeeze. it was surprising since Yautja aren't normally the type to show compassion like this. He turned and stood with the fuel leak, and turned to me, waiting for me to stand with him. Making my way over, I stood on the other side of the trail of fuel. he ignited his Plasma sword, and the red glow emanated with the power in it. I ignited mine; it had a blue glow instead of red. Dek and I lowered our blades and set fire to the source. Dek let our a roar as the Source exploded behind us, engulfed in flames. Typing on the tech on my arm, my suit went cloaked and left, carrying Douma inside it. I just hope it's far enough away to keep him safe.
"Do you think we can do this?" I asked Dek, trying to hide how badly my hands were shaking as I heard the Kalisk roar. "Even with what I know, how will we land a permanent blow?"
"Kxar'ti. De-kran!" Dek said, "Kxar! Vren Kalisk'dat txei-txa ha'nauk ya'ka."
With a shaky breath, I nod and look ahead as the thunderous steps grow closer. Ahead, I see it lunging out of the trees and landing in front of us. My hand shook, memories came flooding in, my mother, her locking me in, telling me to survive, luring away the Kalisk, and how loud her screams echoed in my mind till she was silenced. Dek's roar snapped me out of it. The Kalisk roared back. Taking a deep breath, I tensed up to fight. Dek Charged first and went to strike it, but the Kalisk bashed him into the debris.
"Dek!" I called and started firing at the Kalisk, running as fast as I could to get around it to get to Dek. The Kalisk smacked me with its tail and sent me flying the other way. "Gah!"
"Ru!" Dek came running even with the Kalisk here.
"Ugh," I managed to sit up, my ribs in pain. I saw Dek had used a vehicle door as a shield and slid under the beast and cut its underbelly with his chipped plasma sword. "Dek! Be careful!"
"Ru… kxar'ti ha'n! Staykxe d'tra o'te." Dek said to me, "Kx'rr na, ya'ku. Ai-drax kha'ti sha, na'drah kx'rr. Txal!"
He had quoted me. The Kalisk charged us. then my suit sent plasma blasts at it. The Kalisk swung its tail and sent the suit into debris, and it was covered! "Douma!"
Dek charged at it and sliced its tail. I struggled to get up, but once I was on my feet, I ran to Douma and fought with the debris to get to Douma, who was yapping in a panic. I looked over my shoulder, and the Kalisk was going to swing its tail at me. Picking up my plasma sword, I cut the tail off it. The Kalisk had just thrown Dek into the building Thia was in, with its tongue.
"Dek!" I shrieked, I turned back to the pile of both my suit and the rubble. "Stay here, I have to go get Dek!"
Douma let out a huff. He sounded like he was okay. I rushed back to the Kalisk, gun and Plasma sword in hand. The Kalisk was going to eat Dek! Aiming my gun, I shot the Kalisk's tongue and severed it before it could get Dek in its mouth.
"Dek move!" I kept firing, my gun as I ran, leading the Kalisk away from Dek. "Come on! I'm right here for ya! Overgrown lizard!"
"Ru! Tx'a kxra'da'ti?!" Dek roared, grabbed a gun on the ground, and ran after the Kalisk.
"Saving your Yautja ass!" I shouted and dove out of the way as the Kalisk got its tongue stuck in a wringing chain device, tangling the tongue in chains. Dek was firing the gun he had at the Kalisk, and standing before an open door of one of the buildings. I ran to him, avoiding the tail and the feet. The Kalisk's tail went through the building, and Dek shut the door on the tail. "Dek, what are you doing?!"
"Kx'tek na'ruuk! Na ka'ti-de thwei'dte, ooman." he quoted me again, and ran along the Kalisk's tail to its head.
"Dek, wait!" I tried to stop him, but failed. he leaped to the Kalisk's neck and cut off its head. "Dek, it won't die that easily!"
I ran to him, and we saw what I experienced a thousand times. The head and body that were severed, pieces of flesh extended in tendons to connect and reattach together. The Kalisk growled and leaped at us, pinning us both to the ground under its claws.
"Fuck!" I squirmed under the claw, trying to get free. Dek was growling, moving, and fighting to get out from under the claw. I thrashed my legs, kicking dirt. Nothing was going to get me free. The Kalisk moved towards Dek first, but stopped. and sniffed him. "What- get off!"
The Kalisk turned to me and sniffed me, but it didn't move to kill either one of us. It made a noise that was so familiar. I looked at it, never been this close before, and its eyes... they look remorseful. I never saw its eyes this close, ever. The Kalisk roared and turned its head to the side. it was freezing to ice.
"What the-" I looked to Dek. "Dek!"
The Kalisk was frozen, Dek was frozen as he looked to me, and I was frozen almost immediately. The last thing I saw before freezing was Dek's frozen, fearful expression.
Everything was dark for a while, faint flashes in my mind. one caught my attention in particular. My mother's voice was saying something in Yautja, but I couldn't hear it clearly. But I saw a large shadow that resembled a Yautja. Nothing was clear; I couldn't hear what anyone was saying or who my mother was with. No matter how hard I try to look at the fleeting images, I can't tell who it was or what my mother was saying. There was mostly darkness between the images, but I still couldn't see them clearly. then, I saw the Kalisk, it was what spat on my mother and me. This doesn't make any sense. The Kalisk killed Mom. If it spat on us to claim us, why did it kill her?
The day I found Mom dead was clear in my mind. I ran out through the damaged doors, and there she was, her abdomen crushed... but the Kalisk was there, nudging her head gently, like it was trying to wake her. what am I not remembering?! this isn't making any sense! Was I wrong? Was it not the Kalisk that killed her? That's when I saw something in the memory, the Kalisks shoulder. A syringe, one with the company's logo. It didn't attack of its own will. It was hit with something from the company that made it so aggressive. The company killed, Mom, not the Kalisk.
My eyelids began to flutter open, and bright lights were blinding. A Weyland Yutani company vehicle. Looking at my hands, they were cuffed, and I was bound to the seat. I turned my head. Dek was strapped to a table and was just coming to. Beside him was a Synthetic that looked a lot like Thia. except the Right eye is messed up. that has to be Tessa. In front of her was Thiam, the company logo in her eyes, most likely keeping her unconscious, or whatever.
"Txul! Kra'g-tek dha kx'i! Ru'dak he'cha kxar'ta?" Dek ordered. Tessa turned to him. "Txea-de Thia na'ka."
"What do you want with us?!" I spat, "Do you plan on killing us with the Kalisk?!"
Tessa turned to me, and Dek saw Thia.
"How did you know about the Kalisk killing someone?" Tessa came closer to me, removing the device from Thia's ear. "And how do you know the Company was involved?"
Tessa came closer to me. I glared at her, anger boiling in my veins. She looked close, in my eyes. "You're Seo-ah's daughter,"
"DON'T YOU DARE SAY HER NAME!" I spat, yanking ahead at the restraints; they nearly broke off. "Synthetics are all the same, you betray, you plan, and slaughter without mercy! Just like what you did to my mother!"
"Tessa, what are you talking about?" Thia spoke up. "You said Seo-ah was killed during an observation mission.
"You lied about my mother's death!" I spat in Tessa's face.
"She grew attached to something that is meant to better the world." Tessa wiped her face. "She was an obstacle."
"She was my Mother!" I screamed at her. "You pathetic tool!"