Alien: Isolation (1st POV Ripley Edition)

#7

Bring the medical kit to the wounded Taylor! It was the only thought that kept me sane in this whole nightmare filled with corridors, armed men, nightmare monsters, and crazed, murderous androids.

After extremely bad experiences in the upper and lower wings of the hospital and the explosion that - completely unexpectedly - saved me from the monster who, despite all my efforts, finally found me and confronted me face to face - I crawled through several tunnels that brought me a little closer to the elevator which leads to the main level where I hope Taylor and Samuels are still.

But look, a new problem. Nothing out of the ordinary, at this station. Four armed men ten meters from me, walking and talking. They are doing something, on a console or similar, and they are patrolling. My motion detector, previously trained to show me the direction to my desired destination with a discreet line, directs me straight between them, into the corridor beyond.

Options, options...Should I start shooting, because I'm armed? Or should I sneak up and try to beat all four of them (it wouldn't work!) with a mechanic's maintenance jack? Or should I try to run through them and hope they don't hit me? But that would attract the attention of the creature that would immediately appear from the ventilation ducts...

I decided to use my previous knowledge of using the collected materials and making handy aids from them. Since the previous "adventures" in Sevastopol have made me extremely perceptive and a master at diverting attention from myself, I decide to use a smoke bomb. I have enough material to assemble it. I do this silently in a few moments and throw it among them. When the drums beat and the smoke covers them all, I sneak past them very quickly and quietly - neither walking nor running - but I'm fast. Soon I am far behind them. I can't even hear the sounds of the creatures. I didn't attract them to them. At least some consolation.

The annoying hassle with eternal system activation follows. The tuner is not strong enough, so I have to find an upgrade. I succeed in that. But then, in order to get to the skald with the spare cylinder part from the elevator, I have to activate a nearby android to take me there.

And soon I'm standing in front of him, who wakes up and asks how he can help me. I'm ready to shock him with an EMP stun bat, but he's not aggressive. I ask him and he leads me.

His presence doesn't instill confidence in me, neither in him nor in the possibility that a monster won't appear and attack because I'm with this artificial guy.

- The replacement part is in row 8b, there - said the android and added - I suggest finding a bypass and turning off the current electrical protection before reaching for it.

- No shit, Sherlock. Very wise suggestion.

- If you have no further requests, I will go about my daily routine tasks.

Android goes and I soon have a new cylinder in my hands.

Quietly and cautiously I return. Fast, but every step measured. Everything is quiet. Too quiet.

When I go back through that corridor to that room with four people, I see why. All dead, each in a different bloody pose on the floor. So the creature found them after all. They were too loud.

I look at the motion detector - for the hundredth time this minute. Nothing moves near me, neither below nor above me. Alright.

But my head is working around the clock. I am aware that the creature could simply be waiting somewhere, not moving an inch. I'm shaking. Amanda, calm down. Go on. Discard gloomy, depressing thoughts.

Passing by the dead, I ask myself, should I take their weapons and supplies on them or not?

No, I decide. It would be a waste of time, and it might not be not as quiet as I hope.

Slowly, too slowly, I move to the elevator and its open panel where one cylinder is missing. I'm putting in the missing and system activation sounds - loud and ubiquitous on this station - sound, rumble and beep as ever. I prayed to myself that the thing wouldn't jump out of the nearest opened vent, only three meters away from the entrance to the elevator. I click on the button to call the elevator. The door opens, because the elevator is already here.

I enter and click to take me to the desired level. The door closes and I just stand there like I'm stoned. I did it! But I'm afraid to let out a loud sigh of relief because you never know. The monster can be at the top of the elevator and realized someone is inside if I'm loud. Or something like that? Probably not.

A minute later, I must have become even more numb. I am no longer even aware of the troubles I am going through, but I do it automatically, like a machine. And nothing can even surprise me anymore. The monster jumps three meters from me, but it has one unfortunate person in its mouth and hands and immediately continues on its way with it. Like me. I climb the ladder to the level above, where the man and woman are. Armed and stressed, they just lost a member of their team, I'd say.

And I sneak past them, using the big table as a hideout, and sneak into a further corridor, which leads to the next elevator. At least this one leads directly to Taylor and Samuels.

Not really. I got back to the place where that wily Dr. Kuhlmann talked me into getting into the elevator that leads to the medical wing. Fortunately, I know the way back from here.

I take a shallow breath. Through a nearby window I see a gas giant and a star around which it spins. A wonderful scene. I even smile. Ok, enough relaxing.

I hack the flimsy electronic door protection with a frequency tuner and move on.

Okay, sure! Even though in Sevastopol not long, I'm starting to recognize and remember levels and areas. This staircase leads straight to where I left Samuels and Taylor.

I'm going down and I know the door will open automatically. I stop. The voices on the other side are loud enough for me to hear. Unknown voices.

- I clearly told you that under no circumstances you are cleared to get to Sevastopol because of first-degree quarantine! - the first voice was speaking with authority.

- I already explained, the connection was full of interference and we didn't understand a word of what you told us - said Samuels firmly.

Ah, that's him arguing with the marshal and his men, I'm quite convinced and continue through the door.

They open automatically and, I was right, the marshal is there, with his assistant. They both point their guns at me, ask me to introduce myself, which I do, and they no longer aim at me.

I got to Taylor who is on the floor in bad shape. Samuels immediately applied medical care to her, but it seemed it won't be enough.

Marshal Waits, a middle-aged, sturdy man with a business cap, and his twice-younger deputy say that the two of them are the only support available to me: and that it is necessary to use the console on the upper level to activate the elevator to the level called Solomon's habitation, because there are marshal cabins, supplies and even an emergency medical chamber. They obviously cannot go there at the moment.

I nod. I'll do it. I will activate the elevator via the console on the upper level. Faster than those two. In the experience of moving and noticing danger in the last few hours, I have learned a lot. Because after everything I've been through so far, it's a real child's play. I explain this to them in a few words. They have no complaints. The next moment, I'm on my way to the elevator to the upper level.

Soon, I hope, and all five of us will be able to successfully recover from these extremely distinct "inconveniences" of wandering around the station in its worst representative state in the history of our universe.