Progenitor

by Antony J Woodward

  “Go to the console at the furthest wall, it will look like a circular column. It will be grey steel with pink ridges.”

  She found it.

  “Place the hacker on the dock, there should be two pins…” she scanned it, found them and then scanned the device for the appropriate holes for these pins. She slotted the hacker onto the panel.

  The screen flickered and a winding icon appeared.

  She glanced around the room. It was strange. The cabinets and lockers that lined the walls housed strange devices and slices of glass. She noticed there was several of these glass panels mounted on docks on the walls near the door. Were they the alien equivalent of tablets? A locker stood open, its contents missing.

  The vat of water stood nearby. It had been the original plan but now it seemed pointless. She was no longer leaving bloody footprints behind her. Her eyes drew to her palms, they were stained black with blood. The blood was dry. She had dried blood on her hands… Again. It was a surreal realisation.

  PING!

  The hacker made a noise that surprised her. It wasn’t particularly loud but she still froze expecting something to come clanging in her direction. Nothing did.

  “On the screen, there should be eight icons. I want you to press the one that looks like two wiggly lines…”

  Wiggly? She was surprised once more by the extent of this alien’s vocabulary. It was the kind of word Liara would use… That thought abruptly trailed her off in her mind. She felt like she’d suddenly stumbled over some astonishing fact but it had gotten away from her.

  She pressed the ‘wiggly lines’.

  “Done it?”

  “Yeah…”

  There was a long pause.

  Silence fell in the room like a thick blanket. It felt far from reassuring.

  “Right… Now I need you to press the same icon again,”

  “Ok,” she confirmed as she pressed it.

  “It’s about to reboot the system, power will go down and it will set the evacuation procedure off, you might want to hide. This is going to cause a lot of noise,”

  “Evacuation procedure? Surely that’s already been in effect?” She was confused.

  “It was aborted,”

  “Aborted? Why?”

  “I don’t know… Look, I don’t have all the answers but I will give you the ones I do have when you get topside, for now… I need you to hide,”

  “What’s this procedure going to do exactly?”

  “Reboot the generators, restart the mainframe and release all locks. It will unfortunately set the alarms off but it will activate the emergency protocol, the lift should come back online and then you can escape…”

  CHAPTER FOUR:

  “Right…” she swept her gaze across the room. Where the hell was she going to hide?

  “That locker Liara!”

  Liara recoiled. His eyes were on her. She couldn’t resist a sweep of the room for a camera, she couldn’t see one. She hurried to the locker and clambered inside. It was surprisingly roomy. It could’ve fit two of her inside easily.

  She pulled the door shut and peeked out the small slats.

  There was a sudden hum and then the entire room went black. The lights went out.

  The sudden plunge into darkness was accompanied by faint echoes of machines clicking off. After a few seconds of feeling like Liara was hiding on the bottom of the ocean floor the lights flickered back on.

  Yellow light began pulsing around the room and the loudest, and definitely most grating, siren began blasting. The floating monitors in the room began flickering and then suddenly they came to life. They displayed a single screen of colour and a few little pockets of text. It wouldn’t surprise Liara if they were error messages.

  The strange metal capsule in the middle of the room slid open and Liara gasped. It housed the most peculiar artefact she’d ever seen in her life. It was as large as a human head. It was a strange shape, like an uneven hazelnut. It was dark but its surface was slick and shiny, a faint pearlescent effect shone as the yellow lights swept over it. It hovered in the tank, buoyed in the air by some unknown force. Its peculiar shape seemed to be shifting, like it was mercurial in form. The edges of its shape seemed to be rolling slowly and softly.

  Liara had never seen anything like it, it beggared belief. Was this alien technology? It looked almost unnatural.

  There was a loud bang and then the clattering of a grate falling free. The Progenmorph had arrived. It slammed onto the floor of the laboratory. It was the first time Liara had a chance to view it properly and realising its every horrific detail made her knees weak and her jaw fall open. It was unlike any monster she could’ve ever imagined.

  It was tall and thin, like the Tethu. Only its skin was grey, a milky and pallid grey. Like a cross between the grey whale on Earth and a corpse. Its head was a deformed oblong, protruding a little at the base. Its facial features were skeletal, the thin skin pulled taught across its skull. The sockets were hollow, no eyes remained. Its lower jaw was hidden amongst a beard of tentacles, tentacles that writhed and rippled independently. Its chest was skeletal, the skin once again pulled taught over bones and little muscle definition. Its bony neck, bony shoulders and jutting hips made Liara think of the undead creatures of Hollywood. Its two long arms were svelte and they reached down to its knees, each hand consisting of three fingers that tapered into wicked looking claws. Its legs were similar, only its shins curved back and it reminded Liara of a kangaroo. It looked like it contained a lot of powers in those legs just like the marsupials back on Earth. The long tail lazily flicked on the floor. Liara had noticed the extended vertebrae earlier but they looked more sinister in the light of the emergency protocol currently underway.

  Seeing the creature in the light gave a whole new dimension to it. It was horrific. A dark manifestation of some evil nightmare. It shrieked and threw its attention around the room. It cocked its head this way and that. As if it was listening.

  Was it blind? Was it hunting by echolocation? This new revelation gave Liara only the smallest sliver of hope. If it hunted by sound, then she needed to remain as quiet as possible and she would in theory be invisible to it. The sirens blasting in the room were ringing in her ears but it meant she was also practically invisible. It wouldn’t be able to hear her past it. The creature stepped forward, its gait and poise reminding Liara of a demon. It shrieked again, barely audible against the blaring sirens.

  The strange pulsating artefact attracted its attention.

  As it drew closer Liara noticed a peculiarity with the creature’s face. There appeared to be some sort of clear substance in front of it, like a visor. It refracted the air ever so slightly.

  It studied the artefact with a canine-like curiosity, turning its head this way and that.

  Liara wasn’t so sure it was completely blind anymore.

  It shrieked, the sound lost in the cacophony.

  It seemed deeply interested in the artefact, then it suddenly turned its head away. Liara recoiled when its face sharply pointed in her direction. She wanted to scream but she held it in. She slipped back in the locker and tried to control her rising pulse and erratic breathing.

  It padded closer, emitting a wet clicking noise. It sounded like a Four and it was not a comparison that Liara was pleased to note. It slowly passed each locker, clicking all the while. It passed Liara and continued on its search of the perimeter. After a few seconds, curiosity won out and she leant forward. She spied the creature continuing its search.

  It completed it, unperturbed by the door that opened automatically as it approached. It then shrieked harshly once more. Then with a feline sort of grace it rushed to the centre of the room and vaulted back into the vents.

  Then it was gone. The sound of it thumping away lost.

  “Liara, Liara…” she could just about hear Krahm. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her nerves were playing havoc on her, she felt jittery.

  “Liara move! You need to get to that lift!” />
  She didn’t want to leave the locker. She knew what was waiting out there!

  “Liara!” she heard her voice hiss through the speaker.

  “Ok. Time to move. You either die here or die trying.” she whispered to herself.

  She swung out of the locker and remerged in the room.

  She tore her hacking device off the console and headed in the direction of the door.

  The mysterious artefact caught her attention and slowed her down.

  “Keep away from that Liara!” She heard Krahm warn gravely.

  “What is it?”

  “Not now Liara! Get moving!”

  She hesitated. The strange object felt mesmerising and hypnotic. She felt it pull out to her, felt a yearning to touch it. Nothing in her life had ever yearned for her touch like it.

  “LIARA MOVE! LEAVE THAT ALONE!” Krahm roared as her hand raised up to it. She caught herself. Whatever this strange object was, now was not the time. She needed to escape.

  She shook herself and headed towards the door.

  She traversed quickly and quietly to the stairwell. As the door hissed open, the alarms suddenly stopped. A profound and sweeping silence washed over everything.

  It spooked her. She descended the stairwell two steps at a time. She just had to reach the lift, then she was home free.

  She entered the corridor and retraced her steps. The floor was bathed in the same white light, there was no sweeping orange pulses on this level.

  The Progenmorph was thumping and clanging around in the vents upstairs. Its lack of stealth was surprising but welcomed. She wasn’t going to object to it telegraphing its whereabouts.

  She reached the corner and rounded it.

  Her arrival prompted a Tethu to quickly bolt away from the door. It disappeared towards the centre of the level.

  “I’m at the lift,” she announced. The door was disappointingly still locked. “It’s locked,”

  “Damn it, hack it, you know how…”

  The creature had stopped moving in the vents.

  She stalled.

  Fuck. She crept forward a little further.

  She reached the shadows and glanced to the left, she spotted a Tethu nervously peeking from around a nearby doorway. The thumping began again and Liara feared it was heading towards the vent opening. As she slipped past the junction her fear was confirmed. With a hiss and a shriek it emerged from the vents.

  Fuck. She felt her heart climb into her throat as she reached the pillar she’d hidden behind earlier. It began clicking rapidly and began its hunt. The footsteps were hard to pinpoint. Was it closing in or straying away?

  The air was electric, practically crackling with the escalating tension.

  She needed to hack the lift door, but she couldn’t do it in the dark. She needed light to see the screen… She swallowed, trying to push her heart from around her tonsils. It was no good hiding behind the pillar. She needed light. She followed the corner around, heading away from the lift and harms way. She strayed as near to the light as she dared. She crouched against the wall and with sweaty palms balanced the Hacker on her knees. With a little gentle adjustment she leant over slightly and caught just enough light to see the screen. She turned both dials, tuning into the right frequency. The creature was stalking the corridor, its footsteps strayed closer and closer. Its occasional shriek felt like gunfire. She turned the dials several times but nothing happened on the screen. Panic was slowly seeping its way into her body.

  She was too far away! Shit!

  She closed her eyes and tried to get a grip of herself.

  “Liara?”

  Fuck! The sound of Krahm’s voice made her jump. A shriek answered it and then the sound of approaching thudding footsteps. It had heard the radio! She threw herself around the corner, throwing herself around the other side of the unknown column. With one hand she found the volume dial and desperately rolled it. Her fingertips were slick with sweat and she had no idea if she was rolling in the correct direction. It clicked and she prayed to Gods she no longer had that it was now off. The creature had homed in on the origin of the sound and its guttural clicking told Liara it was investigating the area.

  It approached, clicking all the while. Every foot step caused Liara’s panic levels to spike. It was closing in. She clenched her jaw shut and held her breath. She wanted to scream, she was on the cusp of hyperventilating. If this thing found her it would tear her apart in seconds. She was no match for it. If it could kill a Tethu that easily then a human didn’t stand a chance at all.

  She closed her eyes and tried to stop herself from trembling quite so harshly. It stepped into the pool of shadows and was lost to her. It stepped within inches of her. She could hear its sickly breathing and chesty clicking, could almost imagine it brushing against her. She didn’t need to see the creature in the darkness of the shadows, her mind was doing a superb job of emulating it. It stepped past her, clicking continuously.

  It shrieked suddenly, the ear piercing screeching shooting through Liara like a bullet wound.

  There was a crash of something in a nearby room and it tore off suddenly. She saw it disappear around the corner and head off.

  She was still trembling while she slowly let herself inhale.

  There was a loud slam and something crashed to the floor. Then it began clicking again. It must’ve been stalking one of the Tethu.

  She needed to hack this lift open. Her body was shaking violently but she managed to slip alongside the wall. She slid to the corner and rested against it. She was now facing the lift so she theorised she was close enough to hack into it. She tilted the Hacker, aware that it was slippery in her hands. The creature was in one of the four rooms, it was sweeping the room. Another shriek pierced her.

  She had just enough light from the corridor and she began turning the dials. She was all too aware that her hands were visible as she did this. She found the correct frequency and drew the shape. Nothing happened.

  She did it again. Her moist fingers sliding over the screen.

  Still nothing.

  Fuck.

  She rubbed her hand on her suit and tried again. This time it worked.

  The length of time it took the icons to appear felt like an eternity. She input the correct sequence.

  There was a cheerful tone from the elevator and the doors slid open.

  She’d done it!

  The silence that greeted this achievement was intense. The creature’s whereabouts had been lost, she had no bearing. Its silence was unsettling.

  Soft gentle footsteps appeared behind her. She slinked away from the corner a little and disappeared back into the depths of the shadows. Where was it? Had it not heard the elevator?

  One of the Tethu was creeping forward, it unknowingly passed Liara and gingerly crept into the elevator. She almost shouted out.

  Where was the creature? Why couldn’t she hear it? Suddenly she was panicking. This Tethu was about to use the lift and escape, she needed to be aboard that lift too! But where was the Progenmorph?

  She hesitated. Should she get in the lift? The Tethu made it inside and it pressed the arrow pointing upwards. PING.

  Liara was running out of time. She slid up onto her feet. She was just about to break for the lift when she heard the approaching thunder of the Progenmorph. It blurred past and slammed into the lift. The Tethu never stood a chance, it was eviscerated in seconds and the sound of snapping bones echoed into the corridor. There was a limp whimper and then the sound of blood hitting metal.

  The lift doors shut behind the monster, trapping the creatures tail. The scream that tore from the lift was deafening to the point of making Liara’s ears ring. It burst back into the corridor, mangling the doors in the process. It roared and hissed, before it turned back and took hold of its victim. It then promptly and quickly retreated back into the vents.

  It’s exit almost brushed past Liara and she felt her bowels threaten to empty.

  Liara’s first thought was fuck. The lift
was broken, absolutely ruined. She was doomed.

  As the creature disappeared into the depths of the ventilation system Liara had a silent moment of disbelief.

  She felt a little numb. In the space of a few seconds her escape plan was ruined.

  She sighed and tried to ignore the crushing sense of defeat.

  A new pair of footsteps approached and halted on the corner.

  The two Tethu’s muttered to one another. One approached the lift and seemed to survey the damage with the same level of defeat as Liara felt herself. Liara slinked away from them, she wasn’t feeling all that inclined to engage with them. So far the Tethu had managed to trap her in a stairwell and try to steal the lift. She didn’t feel charitable.

  The Tethu turned away and disappeared back the way they came.

  After a few moments, when she was sure they were out of earshot, she took the radio and turned the volume back up.

  “Krahm… The lift is gone,”

  “The lift is gone?”

  “It’s broken… Is there another way out…?” Tears welled up in her eyes. What such rotten luck! She was adamant she was one of the most unlucky people in the world.

  “Erm…”

  His response didn’t fill her with confidence.

  “…The only way left is…” he trailed off.

  “What?” She bit her lip as she realised she knew exactly what he was going to say. It was like the perfect twist in the tale.

  “…The ventilation systems…”

  She was right. Of course her only means of escape would be the very way the creature was travelling itself. Climbing into the lion’s den. She stifled a laugh, it was incredibly unfair and so unfunny it was almost funny.

  “How can I do that…?”

  It was rhetorical. She didn’t expect Krahm to have an answer.

  Fuck it. She would try anyway. She’d come this far and she was not prepared to die trapped in some alien lab.

  “Is there a way for me to reach the vents?” All the ones she’d seen were too high for her to reach.

  “…Maybe you could build something to climb in one of the offices?”