Pitch Black/Alien 4 crossover- Part 4
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Once they finally reached the desolate town, Johns finally found his chance to corner
Gediman while everyone else was distracted with other things.
"Okay Gediman,spill it," He demanded,cornering the Doc in a dark building.
Little did he know that Riddick was crouched in the nearby shadows watching the whole
proceedings with some interest.Truth was, he was just as curious as Johns was to find out
who or what this Nikki really was.
"Excuse me,"Gediman asked,not quite catching on.
"Nikki," Johns clarified closing the distance between them menacingly "I want to know
who and what she is right now.Or perhaps I could find a little spelunking hobby for you."
Gediman knew this wasn't just an idle threat and quickly opened his computer on a
nearby canister.
"Okay fine,"Gediman chewed his gum even more fervently. "But this is top secret
Company information.If this gets out,you'll disappear without a trace, along with
everyone who even thinks that they know anything about this."
"Yeah,yeah,"Johns replied undaunted. "Just get on with it."
Gediman shook his head and turned to working the keyboard.Instantly a file filled the
screen.Johns recognized it immediately as a high priority prison file, not unlike
Riddick's.
`A fellow killer,' Riddick thought to himself,grinning slightly. `No wonder I like her.'
Quickly Nikki's history scrolled past the screen, Full Name: Nikita V. Snow, Age:
unknown, Place of birth: Unknown, the number of murders and other various crimes
committed so numerouse,that Johns was hard pressed to keep up with it.
"Okay,"Gediman cut in. "Here we have your standard menace to society.Just like these
others."
Quickly seven other files equally as colorful flashed past the screen.
"No cell can hold them,"He continued as if giving a lesson. "No prison wants them.So
what do you do?"Johns just shrugged,it was a problem he was quite familiar with.
"You sell them," He paused dramatically as he pressed a button, "to the Company,"The
screen changed to the scene of a starch lab surrounded by heavily armed gaurds.The
prisoner's cryo tubes were being wheeled in slowly and secured against one wall.Directly
behind a row of slimy egg like object on a table.
"To be used in their experiments,"the Doc continued hitting the buttons on his comp
with growing excitement. "I mean,if they die, who cares.Nobody really wants them
anyway,sooo.."
The image on the screen revealed the prisoner's cryo's being opened as the eggs slowly
peeled back to reveal a writhing mass beneath.Suddenly small crab-like creatures
exploded from the eggs and attached themselves to the just awakening prisoners' faces.
"Your standard Xenomorphs."Gediman was now smiling proudly as the events unfolded
on the tiny screen. "Now the idea was to hatch them from their hosts and train them for
military combat,an idea that has always met with falure.But then this happened."
The next picture showed the prisoners strapped to the wall,cables monitoring their every
breath and beat.The face-huggers obviously now dislogged.Suddenly a blue fire lit the
room as electricity bolted between the prisoners as if they were transisters.Their bodies
dancing drunkenly as they were electrocuted.
"An inner space annomoly."Gediman spat his gum to the floor and immediately
refreshed it with a new piece. "Also known as an electrical pulse.One in a million chance
of it happening again.Three of the subjects died immediatley.But the others."
The screen switched to one of an x-ray of the human body.From the front it appeared
completely normal,but as it switched to the side the anomaly was immediately apparent
as it was outlined in a bright glowing green.The juvenile Xenomorphic form was still
obviouse,but it had now merged itself with the bone structure of it's host.It's skull now
welded into the underside of the human's chestbone,it's long bony fingers forming an
extra set of ribs, and it's long skeletal tail merging with the spinal column and eventually
disappearing into it's segments.
"Amazing isn't it?Now watch," The screen changed yet again.This time to one of a cat-
scan showing the tiny threads of the central nervous system.All around the alien
form,threads spread like cobwebbing,joining and merging with those of it's intended
host.
"Astonishing," Gediman sounded amazed and a bit in awe of the screen before him.
"Adaptable little buggers.They took 70% control of their hosts.Their
thoughts,movements,their very being.Of course their were certain setbacks." Once again
he paused,only this time a bit more down, as if slightly embarrassed to hit the next keys.
"Two of the new uh,beings if you will, went crazy fighting their symbiotes for
control.They eventually disposed of themselves.Of the remaining three though,a
wonderful discovery was made."
The picture shifted once again,this time the Xenomorph was larger, it's skull seemed
ridged and bonier, even merged with it's host's chestbone.Once again the cat-scan
popped up and the cobbwebbing litterally diluting the normal version.
"This,if you haven't guessed already," Gediman glanced knowingly at Johns. "Is a
queen.She controls the entire hive.Isn't she beautiful."
"If you say so,"Johns said,speaking for the first time during the whole explanation. "So
what does all this have to do with Nikki?"
"Don't you see,"Gediman replied impatiently. "This is Nikki."
Johns stared at the alien figure on the screen in disbelief.. Suddenly the picture changed
to one of a security video and he was drawn back violently to the real world as Gediman
continued.
"She adapted the best.So well, in fact, that we could never quite figure out how much
was Xenomorph and how much was human.Of course there where minor neurological
setbacks, some memory gaps if you will. But all in all..perfect.She controlled the
others, psychically I guess.Kept them from losing it.Unfortunately,her goals and ours
weren't exactly the same.So we fitted them with these wonderful electro-bracelets that
I'm sure you noticed Nikki sporting."
Johns in fact hadn't and secretly cursed himself for not being more aware.
"Bracelets that are in fact controlled by this."He lifted the object around his neck
proudly as the image changed yet again.
This one showed the two male prisoners writhing on the ground, electricity surging from
the bracelets and enveloping their bodies.Strange high pitch screams issuing from their
mouths.
"They eventually had to be destroyed,much to the companies dismay. Nikki,however
caught on much quicker."
"So,you think you taught your dog all the tricks,huh," Johns growled,now thinking more
clearly. "Sit ,fetch, roll over. Well I got news for you, she may appear to be under control
now, but eventually she's going to bite and I don't want to be around when she does. I
say do her now and get it over with. No more worries."
"Well that's all well and good," Gediman replied reading Johns for who he really was.
"but she's worth ten times as much alive."
Gediman slowly turned the screen so that Johns could see the figures now painting the
screen.Johns stared at it in renewed disbelief. It was atleast five times as much as Riddick
was worth alive.
"And that's just to the Company," Gediman pursued craftily. "Who knows what kind of
price she'll fetch on the black market."
"And you're letting her run around out there ungaurded,"Johns asked with
astonishment. "With god knows what running around out there with her?!"
"Oh she's quite capable,I assure you," Gediman laughed, slapping shut his computer
and heading back outside.He wasn't the slightest bit worried about divulging this
information to Johns. After all, Nikki had personally killed dozens of mercs before finally
being captured and sold to the Company.It would prove rather interesting to see what she
could do now.
Johns thought in the stillness for a moment before following after.Riddick slipped out
the back.He knew what Johns was thinking and he didn't like it.
End Part 4
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