Sequence

by Adam Moon

  She looked Chris’ robotic body over and then stared at the floor, deep in thought.

  If she were alone, she’d have wept.

  Another Gray

  The abducted Gray was scrabbling around in the holding cell, trying to find a way out.

  The captain put on his translator helmet and said to the Gray, “You will be given three detox pills to rid your body of contaminants and a translator that is to be placed in your mouth.”

  The Gray looked up at the ceiling and said, “I know how this works, you piece of shit. I’ll take the damn pills. Lord knows I need to cleanse my body from all these years in space, eating freeze-dried crap. But I will not implant the translator.”

  Chris was surprised he could understand the Gray because it didn’t have a translator yet.

  “You will, or you will not be allowed out of that room.”

  “Bullshit, Captain. If you keep me here, where will you transport the new arrivals? We both know you’re bluffing. Remember that I know all about you and your people. You can’t fool me.”

  The captain shook his head and said, “Do it or else I’ll forcibly remove large chunks of your DNA and then shoot the rest of you out into space.”

  The Gray said, “We both know I can understand what you say and vice versa. You’re wasting my time with this and insulting my intellect.”

  The captain relented and said, “Fine, take the pills and expel your waste. I will send someone down to restrain you shortly and put you into stasis.”

  “Is the stasis pod for my kind fixed already? I heard it was damaged enough to allow my friend to escape.” The Gray said it with barely disguised arrogance, peppered with a hint of pride.

  The captain mumbled to Chris, “Those fuckers know how to communicate better than any other species in the universe. I can’t believe he already knows about that.”

  Chris said, “Is that how they found us so easily?”

  “Of course. But who knows how much info that escapee was able to glean before he took off. Who knows how much knowledge he’s already passed along to this one. We need to be vigilant. This Gray probably knows as much as we do about this ship and this mission.”

  The Gray ate his pills and then squatted, staring straight into the camera defiantly.

  Anger Issues

  When the captain ordered him to go and fetch the Gray, Chris argued with him. “Can’t you knock him out first?”

  “Sedatives don’t work on his race. Don’t second-guess my orders again. Who do you think you are: my first mate?”

  The first mate chuckled at that, and Chris slumped off down the long corridor to fetch the scariest living creature in the known universe.

  The door to the holding cell opened just as he reached it and the Gray stepped towards him.

  It said insultingly, “You cowards with your mechanical bodies make me sick. If you’re going to go traipsing through the universe, at least have the guts to risk your own skin.”

  Chris said, “I’m not actually one of them. I’m a human being from a planet called Earth.”

  “Ah, an Earthling? We’ve scouted your planet. I’m a little surprised you were selected to become a part of their little experiment. The last I heard, you didn’t measure up.”

  Chris was upset for the hundredth time. These fricking aliens all had superiority complexes.

  To wound the Gray, angrily he said, “Well this unworthy Earthling just destroyed your ship and several others.”

  The Gray stared hard into his single robotic eye. It said, “Your mech no doubt did most of the work.”

  “That’s not what I’ve been told. I’m told that I took to it like a duck to water.” He had no idea if the analogy would translate, but it apparently had because the Gray said, “Your people are a bunch of maniacal, homicidal barbarians. I’m not surprised you excelled at murder.”

  Chris grabbed the Gray by its scrawny neck and said, “I was only told to do the job. I chose to enjoy the work all by myself.”

  The Gray struggled so Chris squeezed tighter and dragged his spindly body along the corridor as they were bombarded by all the normal cleansing agents.

  Once inside the command station, the captain yelled at him. “Let it go and get your anger under control, Earth-man.”

  Chris let Gray’s neck go and he felt its body fall at his feet.

  The captain said, “If I wanted it dead I would’ve just killed it myself.”

  Chris looked down and saw that the Gray was laying there, lifeless. He panicked because he didn’t know he possessed cruelty like that. Killing was becoming second nature to him. What did that say about him? What did it say about the alien mech he was inside? Was it designed to make him a murderer or was he supplying that part of the psyche?

  He felt a surge of relief when the Gray began to twitch back to life. He hadn’t meant to lose control like that, despite the fact that the Gray probably deserved no less.

  The Gray was hefted to its feet by the captain.

  Chris said, “I’m very sorry I overreacted like that. I’m not sure what got into me.”

  The Gray smiled sadistically and said, “It’s not your fault. You’re becoming more and more like them.” It pointed a long finger at Number Four and then at the captain. “Your mech was designed by them. They are crazy sick bastards, so the mech has that twisted element infused within it. The longer you stay in there, the more you’ll lose of yourself.”

  Now the captain grabbed the Gray by the throat. “You’ve said enough and caused enough damage already without spreading lies about my people. We are creators and you are destroyers. How dare you judge us?”

  The Gray tried to rebut but the captain carried it from the command station before it could.

  Number Four ran after them, shouting at the captain, “The first mate’s almost done fixing his stasis pod. I’ll help you watch over him until it’s operational.”

  Attitude

  Chris shook his head in confusion. Where had all that aggression come from? Was it always within him, dormant? Was it only unleashed because he was free of his body? Or was the Gray right? Was the mech feeding his anger, even creating it?

  For the first time, he realized he wasn’t alone in the room. Samda was scrutinizing him closely.

  She said, “Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine. That Gray is a killer. And he insulted me.”

  “I insulted you earlier. Are you going to try and squeeze the life out of me too?”

  “Oh, come on, Samda. Those people killed off your entire race. Why are you defending them now?”

  “I’m not. I just don’t like to see aggression like that. It scares me.”

  Chris suppressed a smile which was stupid, because he wasn’t even sure if his mech could smile. He was amused because Samda was built like a tank. It was surprising to hear that anything made her nervous. It was eerily emboldening to hear that his actions had scared her. He felt encouraged. Maybe these aliens would be forced to see that he had worth beyond just his DNA.

  Then he rethought that stance. It went against his simple nature to feel so invigorated by his own strength. He was generally a peaceful man by nature.

  Again, he worried that some of the suit’s previous occupant’s thoughts or essence were intermingling with his own, skewing his judgment.

  No More Mr. Nice Guy

  All three members of the original flight crew returned before things could get too awkward between Samda and Chris.

  The captain said to Chris, “As much as I like having you in that suit, I don’t think it’s good for your mental health. You nearly strangled that Gray to death.”

  Chris pointed at Number Four and said, “That asshole didn’t scrub the unit before he put my mind into it. If I’m going crazy it’s his fault.”

  Number Four explained to the captain, “We were out of time. I had no choice.”

  The captain looked at the floor. “So you’re telling me there’s a chance the suit was contaminated when you transferred th
e Earth-man to it? You know how dangerous that can be. He might go insane and kill us all. He might jeopardize the mission.”

  “I’ll transfer him back right away, sir. Come with me, Earthman.”

  “Go fuck yourself. I’m here to stay. If I go back into my meat I’ll be at your mercy once again. In here you can’t force me to go into stasis.”

  Samda added, “You’ll just have to put someone else into the suit if you come across another fleet of Grays. Why not just let him stay? It’s the safe bet.”

  The captain relented. To Chris he said, “You’ll be scrutinized closely from now on to make sure you’re not losing your mind. The second I think you’re lost, I’ll forcibly evacuate your consciousness from that unit. I hope you understand my meaning. Your mind will simply evaporate if I set it free without giving it a vessel to fill.”

  Chris shuddered but he had no intention of letting the captain rattle him or change his mind. As a human being, they treated him like a punk, but as a physical equal, they treated him with far more respect. And if things went to hell, he was better equipped to defend himself as a humungous robot.

  He had quickly gone from being an annoying pest to being someone they had to worry about.

  Plus, he liked being able to look Samda in the eye as he flirted with her.

  As a human being, he’d have to crane his neck to do that. And if she didn’t like his banter she could just step on him like a bug while he was inside his own small human flesh. No, he liked everything better this way.

  It had been a pleasant surprise too, when his hunger pangs had vanished the moment he’d taken over the mechanized unit. He could only imagine how starving Samda was right now.

  As though she’d read his mind, she asked the captain, “I don’t suppose you have anything to eat on this ship?”

  Topsy-Turvy

  They followed Number Four down meandering corridors. Number Four stopped at a dead end and pointed upwards. “Do as I do.”

  He put a foot on the wall and then his other foot. Then, like magic, he started to walk straight up the wall. As Chris neared the spot Number Four had walked up, he felt a tug on his metallic abdomen, like a magnet.

  Samda chuckled. “Wouldn’t it have been easier to install elevators?”

  “Actually, no. This was more cost effective; it’s more economical to simply walk to another level.”

  Chris jumped and bent his body. His feet clung to the wall as his orientation shifted. He heard Samda do the same thing as he caught up with Number Four.

  They approached the mouth at the end and Number Four said, “Just step over the edge.” He did so and disappeared from view.

  Samda and Chris followed suit. They were now in an identical corridor, but a level up.

  Chris asked, “Couldn’t you guys have used anti-gravity or something to just shoot you up here?”

  “Then how would you ever get back?”

  “Just a thought. Sorry.” He imagined that if it could shoot you up, then its polarity or whatever could just be reversed to shoot you back, but he knew better than to ask. He was out of his element with this technology and the suit wasn’t supplying him with the answers.

  Samda said, “I like it. All I had on my ship was a bunch of ladders to get from level to level, and a single pneumatic lift to get me from the top deck to the very bottom one.”

  Number Four chuckled. “It’s not a big deal. There are way cooler things on this ship. Now come on. It’s just around the corner.”

  Dinner Time

  Number Four led them into a circular room with a tangle of hoses dangling from the ceiling in the middle.

  He said to Samda, “I’m going to run a scan on you to see which nutrients you’re short on. Then I’ll have them synthesized. It’s no gourmet meal, but it’ll get you by for awhile.”

  Chris said, “You guys told me you didn’t have any food here.” He said it accusatorily but Number Four didn’t take offense.

  “We do our best to avoid using the ship’s systems for anything but research. We would have fed you if it became absolutely necessary.”

  Samda said, “Alright then. Hurry up. I’m starving.”

  Number Four snatched a black handheld device that was dangling among the hanging hoses. It was as big as a loaf of bread and had a strange monitor on its face with bright green symbols scrolling across it. He held it toward Samda and then swiped it up and down her body. Then he stood and watched the symbols that appeared. He swiped his tentacle across the face and tapped the screen three times.

  He let the device go and it dangled among the hoses once again.

  But now the hoses were moving around like hanging vipers. Several of them swung around and their openings pointed at a single spot between them, midair.

  Chris looked at Samda to see if any of this surprised her, but she seemed to be taking it all in stride.

  Then the hoses started to spew out fine dust-like particles that hovered and coalesced into a sphere several feet above the floor. The sphere started to shrink, and as it did it became more solid. It finally shrunk into a compact circular pill about two inches around. It looked like a light blue golf ball.

  The hoses retracted quickly and Number Four reached out and grabbed the ball out of the air as it hung there.

  He handed it to Samda and told her to eat the whole thing.

  She didn’t even hesitate. She must’ve been famished to not ask any questions.

  Number Four said, “Go take a seat on the floor. The nutrients may come as a shock to your system.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “It’s surprising how the machine identifies nutrients that a body would benefit from, even those not native to their world. I don’t know how your body might react, but trust me, it’s not dangerous. When your body adjusts, you’ll feel more alive than you ever have.”

  Samda buckled over as if on cue and said, “Yeah, I think I feel it working.” She shuffled over to the wall and sat down, still clutching her gut with both hands.

  Number Four said to Chris, “I brought you here so you can keep her company and make sure she doesn’t have any allergic reactions. If she starts to act funny, just call for me and I’ll come right back.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I have a ship to fly and a mission to run.”

  “When will I know if she’s in the clear?”

  “When she can walk again. I’ll see you soon. You know your way back, right?”

  “Yeah, we’ll find you.”

  With that, Number Four left the room.

  Suspicions

  Chris sat down beside Samda and watched her progress. She didn’t seem sick, maybe a little achy, but otherwise okay.

  He looked around the room, trying to find anything interesting to occupy him, but the room was mostly bare.

  Samda sat straighter and said, “I think it’s assimilated. I’m feeling much better.”

  “Good. I’m glad. I don’t know how to resuscitate an alien.”

  “You’re the alien, Earthman.”

  Chris smirked. More somberly he said, “Why do you think the Grays destroyed your planet?”

  She sighed. “I wish I knew. I wish I could’ve done something to stop them. I was on a research mission in orbit around our sun when the distress call came through. I was ordered to stay put because my ship wasn’t designed for full scale combat. That order saved my life, but it’s also caused me sleepless nights. I keep thinking I could have done something to help.”

  “I don’t think you would’ve made a difference. I’m not saying that to be mean, just that the Grays are some pretty severe bad asses and I doubt a single research vessel would have made them tuck tail and run.”

  “I know that but it doesn’t alleviate my doubts.”

  “I wonder why that escaped Gray didn’t kill me when it had the chance.”

  “I don’t know, but you should count your blessings.”

  Chris continued, “The other Gray said that he was surprised that
humanity was chosen to be a part of this experiment. And humanity has yet to be destroyed by them. This is a stretch but I’ve been thinking about it. Maybe the Grays are only eliminating the creatures that this mission deems useful.”

  “But why would they care?”

  “Maybe because they don’t think we should be designing God, so they’re taking away the ingredients.”

  “But why not just destroy this ship? That would solve the problem much more quickly than picking out a species that might be included in the experiment, and destroying every single one of them.”

  “They’ve tried to destroy this ship and it didn’t work. Maybe they can’t. I don’t know.”

  Samda sat up straighter and put her immense back against the wall. “Why would they care if these people create God anyway?”

  Chris looked her in the eyes. “It affects all of us. They’re going to have their god alter the very fabric of reality. They’re going to try and get him to stop the heat-death of the universe.”

  “That would be a good thing though, Earthling. The end of the universe means the end of hope. If the universe is destined to fail, then what’s the point to life at all?”

  I see what you’re saying, but what if we’re not supposed to interfere with the natural order of things? What if we’re supposed to let nature take its course?”

  “Huh?”

  “What if interfering causes an unintended side-effect?”

  Samda nodded but she wasn’t convinced. “So you think the Grays are destroying entire planets because they have loftier principles? They’re slaughtering but that’s okay because they have altruistic intentions, huh? That’s preposterous, and a little offensive considering they just annihilated my race.”

  Chris had seen her angry before so he knew he’d accidentally hit a nerve. He shook his head and held his hands up defensively. He hadn’t meant to insult her. “It’s impossible to know their motives. I’m only speculating. Maybe it’s as simple as the Grays are just assholes who like to facilitate mass genocide across the universe for fun or glory.”