Xenomorphic

Chapter 39: War, Disease, Famine, and Death

o she doesn't kill you."

Silence pervaded. Thick, pregnant, and heavy. Cold settled over the throne room, the gods stiffened, the demigods paled or were confused, and the Hunters had their own varied reactions. The silence might've continued indefinitely, so Shin'en opened his mouth to speak but was cut off/interrupted by one of the Hunters.

Catherine Fabian, the nymphomaniac lesbian daughter of Aphrodite, stepped up.

"How is Asteria's starting her period and killing all of us connected?"

Shin'en almost smirked. "Before I answer that, let me first ask you this: what does anyone here know of Xenobiology?"

Blank stares and stony faces.

"No one? Nothing? Okay, how about this: what does anyone here know of Xenomorphs?"

"Xenomorphs?" Aphrodite said.

"That must be the name of the alien creature that Asteria's DNA was spliced with," Athena muttered. "The Yautja only ever called it Kainde Amedha."

"Yes, the Predators have their word for the aliens, and the aliens themselves have other words for themselves. All mean then same thing. So, anyone have any idea just what Xenomorphs do?" Light's eyes roamed around before landing on Athena, who straightened and stiffened, and then all eyes were on her.

She answered, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt."

Light tilted his head from side to side. "Wise words. Okay," his voice raised. "Lore and biology lesson. Listen up, for I'm only saying this once.

"Xenomorphs are among the most dangerous and lethal creatures ever conceived. They are insectoid by a caste system, humanoid by their main source of breeding material, highly adaptive, and highly intelligent. Xenomorph Hives are matriarchal, led by a Queen that lays eggs. Inside these eggs are not, in fact, Xenomorph embryos that mature into adults, but instead a different creature. Called Egg-carriers among the species, called Facehuggers by everyone else, the creatures inside the eggs will hatch when they sense something close, and then latch onto the face of the unfortunate creature to get too close. From there, an embryo is forced down the throat of the victim, and said embryo with take on DNA strands, and eventually emerge from the chest cavity, in an eruption of blood. Granted, there are variants of this process, but it's still the same: The Xenomorph Hive spreads by killing all life that it comes into contact with, regardless of everything."

Shin'en watched as the faces of the crowd slowly morphed as their minds grasped the full gravity of what was coming.

"Puberty," Shin'en continued, "brings change in all of us. Increased muscle mass, deepening voices, chiseling of the jaw in boys, and breast enlargement, waist trimming, and hip widening in girls. However, despite the differences, there is one glaring similarity: increased desire for sexual contact. In other words...the desire to reproduce brings itself out with tremendous need, and, if you were paying attention, Asteria's reproduction methods aren't going to be as simple as letting someone's penis inside of her vagina. People are going to die, lots of people, which is why she wanted all of you up here, so you all are not among the body count."

And the silence reigned supreme once again, disturbed only by shifting and rustling.

Then...

"You're lying," Poseidon accused. "My daughter isn't like that anymore, she's changed. She no longer kills so indiscriminately like that. She has control, morals, values that have been taught to her."

"Oh, agreed," Shin'en conceded, and he smirked ruefully, "but you know what they say about the boy and the jungle..." He trailed off, surveying the mounting tension, and continued. "When Asteria starts her period to night, she will become primal, only the barest traces of her humanity left. She will ascend, assuming the caste of the Queen, and she will start a Hive of her own, one that will grow to encompass the globe, and she will use all breathing life on this rock as breeding material. Humanity will be wiped clean from the earth, and all species of animal and fish will follow."