Game on

Level 12: The Queen.

"Come on." Ivan said, waving the card in front of a scanner and opening a door. "If I remember correctly, the labs are down lower. We can get the Queen while she's stuck down there." Nodding, we trekked down the hall, with yours truly taking point, and Victor covering our rear while Ivan walked in the middle of us, tinkering with some scrap metal he had found lying around. "So, what's the plan once we see Momma Alien?" Victor said, eyes watching the halls. "We kill her, and we make sure she stays down." I said back, edging around a suspicious looking vent. "Great plan, McAuliffe." Ivan grumbled, zapping himself on a wire.

Rolling my eyes, I saw that there was a stairway coming up, and a faintly glowing sign that said "Bio Labs" right over the entrance. "Looks like we're almost there, guys." I said, looking back. Ivan looked up from his little gizmo, and grinned, his face covered in sweat. "And I finished the thing we're going to need." Ivan held it out to me, and I delicately took it. "I remember from this game that you could make noisemakers and Molotov cocktails, so I kinda made a mix of the two. I call it 'Molotov Hangover'." He said proudly, and I could not help laughing. "Ivan, you crazy genius. You really thought this one out." I turned the device over, noticing that it lacked a bottle, and instead, used flares to substitute for the original parts. Sliding it into my back pocket, I smiled at Ivan, and turned around to come face to face with a android. "Hello." It said, its voice way too calm. "I see you have found Dr. Cabrera... would you be so kind as to letting me escort him back to his station?" Victor and Ivan looked around me, and saw the android. "How about we not let Tin Man get me?" Ivan said, taking a step back. The android tried to reach for Ivan's arm, but I used the body of my weapon to shove him away. "Ivan is coming with us. We have a job to do." The android shook it's pale head, its face blank of emotion. "That won't do at all. He must return to his station immediately." The machine took a step up, shoving me violently to the side, and pushing me to the ground. Ivan struggled as the 'droid grabbed his arm. "Now now, Doctor. Don't struggle. Its simply protocol." The thing said, as if talking to a fussing child. Victor stepped up and put the muzzle of the gun to the head of the droid. "Consider this a reprogramming." He growled, pulling the trigger.

White goo splattered the wall, and the android dropped,its eyelights dying slowly. Ivan and Victor pulled me to my feet, while I stared at the hunk of metal that was attacking us. "Q... Let's go." Victor said, taking point. Following behind Ivan, I realized something. Outside the games,we would never have done the things we're doing now. If we ever get out, would we still be able to function properly, or would we be stuck as these kids who went through Hell, and went crazy.

Following the stairs down,I felt the air grow cold, making the meditool I took from Victor earlier grow cold on my leg. Ignoring the cold, I saw that we had reached the bottom of the stairs, where Ivan and Victor stood on the inside of the Labs, standing stock still. "Guys? Guys, you okay?" I asked, jumping down the last few steps to land right beside them. Looking in the direction of their gazes, I saw what they were looking at, and felt my muscles tense up.

Standing in the middle of the room, standing probably at 12 feet tall, was the Queen Xenomorph. Her tail must have been as long as a ship anchor line. Her arms looked as wide as a full grown man's waist,and her mouth looked like it could tear a car to shreds. I stood there, shocked at the actual size of the being.

I am so dead...

"That is one huge bitch." Victor and Ivan said at the same time, making me jump a little. "Yea... so what do we do?" I asked, looking around. "She's restrained right now and hooked up to some kind of system." Ivan said, stepping up to a control panel a few feet away. "If we can be some redirect some power to here, we could possibly fry this chick where she stands." Grinning, I watched as Ivan tapped away,feeling my smile sink away as Ivan slammed his hands on the panel. "Damn it. It's not accepting my clearance. You gotta reroute the power manually." Victor walked next to me, and folded his arms. "Well? How then, Doc?" Victor joked, getting a small smile out of Ivan. "You two have to go and hit all of the switches manually by the Queen. Bad news is, She would be capable of killing you, since the switches are within her tails reaching distance." "And the good news?" I asked, wanting to hear something good. Ivan looked up at us, and I saw a faint glint in his eye. "You get to fry the bitch if she gets too close."