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April 8th, 2003
Area 23 Cold Chamber
Kazuo Kamiya and Troy Larson sat at a table across from an alien. It wasn't a hostile alien, nor was it part of any split-off group like the supposedly peaceful sectoid-human village a few kilometers away from the base. Krotyla had wandered into the base just a few minutes before a massive attack by Sectopods and power-armored mutons.
I want to thank you two... I know your commanders don't trust me - think that I led those sectopods to your base. They were not... following me... The words formed on the minds of the two medics.
Larson didn't appear convinced. "So, you say you were a reject from the spawning tanks? How come the aliens didn't just throw you in the trashcan or something?"
They tried. When the brain was destroyed, everything was thrown into chaos. The Ethereals evacuated leaving the base without anyone to defend it. I simply walked out... Krotyla finished and leaned back. The cold felt good on its skin. The rest of the base was too hot... it couldn't understand what these humans liked about the warm.
Kamiya leaned across the table. "I believe you, Krotyla."
Larson scoffed. "Hope you have enough trust for both of us, Sarge."
The door to the cold chamber slid open. Captain Sam Wychin walked in, breathing out a cloud of steam. To his right was an unhappy-looking John Poole.
"You're relieved, Sargeant." Wychin looked at Kamiya. "You too, Squaddie. I'll hear your medical report later..."
As the two medics exited with a 'yes sir', Wychin looked at Poole. "Stand guard, John." He cracked his knuckles. "Time to explain to our friend what's going on - and maybe get some explanation as well." As the sectoid looked in confusion at the Captain, he sat down.
Captain... I know you don't trust me. To be honest, after the way you and your men treated me, I don't know if I trust you either. I...
"Damn right, I don't like you, bug." Wychin interrupted. "Let's get something straight here. I trust you about as far as I can throw you. Why? Look at Poole here." Wychin turned around. "Hell, just go outside, and you'll see why. Your people have turned our world into a blasted ruin. We didn't do anything to you bastards... " Wychin paused for a second, unable to speak. He thought of his friends that had died... some slowly and painfully. He thought of his family.
I know why your world was taken over, Captain.
"Yeah, yeah... we're too violent, too dangerous! One of you bastards already told us this." Poole interrupted. "Who the hell gave you the right to decide? Huh?!"
I did not make the decision Krotyla countered.
Wychin scoffed. "You're an alien - thus, you carry part of your people's crimes against the world. But, I suppose I haven't come here to have a moral argument with you. I'm just here to tell you why you're not being turned into a pool of protoplasm. Simply put, you're a useful resource. As long as you stay that way, you stay alive. Now I realize that what we have here is a paradox. You can't prove that you're not working for the aliens - but then again, it's unlikely that they care about a dinky little resistance group like ours. Unlike my SAS buddies in the NAARO, we haven't destroyed any vital alien installations... What I need you to do... "
Meanwhile...
Leon McManus and Michael Thornside stood in the storage room, almost drooling. The new technology found in this room was amazing. There were laser rifles - both of U.S. and X-Com design. There were all sorts of widgets that would have made an X-Com technician like Mike drool with desire... but most important of all, in a room in the back, there was a human lying on a bench. After closer examination, Mike determined that it was not actually human, although Leon remarked -
"She sure looks human..."
When Mike first made his discovery. After a few minutes of prodding, Mike exclaimed 'Aha!', pushed something, and the 'human' woke up.
"AGENT Prototype 015 activated. Awaiting instructions."
"I think we'd better go tell the Captain..." McManus said after forcing his mouth to stop gaping open...
Written on January 28th, 2000 by Andrew Pokrovski AKA Captain Samuel Wychin