Chapter Text
Xeno still remembers. After all these years, he has not been able to forget his husband's face.
He would recognize him anywhere.
He had been searching for him for so long.
But he never found a trace.
"Is that where you were? Stan."
Xeno collapsed to the ground as his legs lost strength. He felt Tsukasa catch him, preventing further injury. Chrome shouted his name, but to Xeno, everything seemed unreal. A thought formed in his mind, spreading like poison through his body—fear nearly consumed him.
A cacophony of noises erupted behind him. Voices asking about his well-being, trying to bring him back to reality.
Stan can’t be dead, he told himself. But humans don’t live that long.
On the screen, there was a man. Xeno recalled the last time he saw him—his delicate features enhanced, arched eyebrows, calm brown eyes, thick lashes, and lips with a soft purple hue. His blond hair was neatly combed back, with a large strand falling over his face, smoking a cigarette despite Xeno’s protests.
The figure on the screen was still very attractive but now disheveled. His blond hair was messy and much longer, falling past his shoulders. His expression was weary, exhausted—Xeno recognized the reluctance to live.
Thick streaks of sweat and greasy dirt covered his face. Anyone could tell he was in a desperate situation. Yet, he seemed to have something urgent to say. His voice was low, tired, speaking in fluent English.
[My name is Stanley Snyder.]
[I am the commander of the research vessel Argo 1 and the head of security for the mothership Atlantis.]
[To those who see this video, no matter who you are, remember these words.]
[Atlantis has fallen. Destroyed, beyond repair.]
[And... I may be the only survivor.]
It didn’t take long for everyone present to understand the implications. Who in the modern world doesn’t know what a mothership means? "Destroyed." Xeno didn’t want to believe it. What could one assume from those words?
That same reaction spread across every English-speaking person on Earth—which was nearly every scientist and important figure monopolizing the televisions.
Those words meant that the human colony that had left for space was gone. How many people had lived on the mothership? How long ago had this happened?
On the screen, Stanley suddenly rubbed his forehead as if he had a migraine, a severe discomfort. Still, he didn’t stop his report—he gritted his teeth and continued speaking.
[We encountered an alien lifeform that took control of the crew, infected them, and mutated them.]
[All my team members died fulfilling their duty to protect the residents' escape. The mining area was lost. All life signals now show as lost connections.]
[Although I don't want to admit it, I fear there is no organic life left on the ship. AHH... AHHHH!]
In the video, Stanley clutched his head and screamed in pain. Everyone watching could see that this man was in agony.
And if they thought about his words, it meant he had been in space for a prolonged period—completely alone.
Stanley leaned on the console, enduring severe pain. After some time, he pulled himself together, his hair even messier, with strands sticking to his forehead from sweat.
[I think... I'm sure... this disaster was caused by the "thing" the miners found in the ruins of the Orion mining planet.]
[It makes us go insane. It caused everything. It made us kill each other. We didn’t even know what it was, but I am certain it is NOT the "hope" that Professor Gallagan was searching for.]
Suddenly, Stanley’s pupils filled with hatred and fury—a murderous intent that could be felt through the screen.
Tsukasa, who had been trying to bring Dr. Xeno back to his senses, suddenly felt intimidated.
That man was extremely dangerous.
But listening to his words, Tsukasa began to form an idea.
Gen, with his keen ability to understand human emotions, had already grasped part of the situation. But like the others, he was terrified at the thought of an entire crew killing each other, some mutating—like something out of a sci-fi horror movie.
Could this be a joke from the Medusas?
Judging by Dr. Xeno’s reaction, it wasn’t.
[No one knows except the general of Atlantis. This... is a conspiracy. A CONSPIRACY! After receiving the distress signal from the mining base, the general ordered no rescue operations. AHHH... That bastard ordered that no one enter or leave. He ordered the mining ships not to return to Atlantis... AHHH... DAMN IT.]
The blond man collapsed, gripping his head in pain. His body barely held itself up in the chair. A small trickle of blood began to drip from his mouth and nose.
It went without saying that even with all that distress and evident pain, there were still people who thought he looked incredibly handsome on the screen.
Of course, ignoring those weirdos, those who knew Captain Stanley had already begun to cry.
His special forces team in America, in Corn City, understood more deeply the immense pain their former captain was enduring.
He was not one to cry or scream.
Those who had seen criminals being tortured now trembled at the thought of what Stanley had to endure. Alone in space, unable to even imagine how far he was from Earth. And knowing that, as a soldier, all he could do was obey his superior’s orders.
Some, with weaker hearts, like Luna, Carlos, and Max, had already broken down.
[Shoot without hesitation. At that moment, there were around 10,000 people on the mining planet. The general ordered us to abandon them all...]
"That can't be. That's too many people... how could they just abandon them?" Luna said.
"If you think about his first words, he mentioned that an alien lifeform infected them. The general was probably trying to prevent it from reaching the main ship. Besides, have you thought about how many more people must have been on the mothership compared to the mining planet?" Brody reasoned, earning nods from the former soldiers. "It's for the greater good."
"But Captain Stanley mentioned it was a conspiracy. That means the General knew a lot more about that thing, right? Maybe he even ordered people to excavate it despite knowing," Maya added.
"Don’t forget he also mentioned ‘hope.’ Maybe they thought that thing was of immense value... and that it was worth the sacrifice," Leonard clarified to the group.
[For 80 years, Atlantis was stationed on Orion. This type of mining project is generally carried out under protocol Terra-0864. A section of the planet's surface is extracted for industrial cracking. For this task, engineers, soldiers, and mining personnel are sent to establish a base and monitor the environment to prevent future accidents.]
[Ha... This isn't the first time Atlantis has done something like this. As a ship lost in space, the only way to obtain resources is through mining and harvesting on unknown planets. But according to protocol, we could only remain on a planet for 20 years before seeking a new resource source.]
[To avoid being found by that creature. HAAA... IT'S BEEN CHASING US FOR SO LONG. EVEN TWO THOUSAND YEARS AFTER LEAVING THE MILKY WAY... HAAAAA!!!]
This time, Stanley collapsed to the floor, writhing in agony, his nails digging into his own skin until blood began to seep out. The video started to show interference. And then, something terrifying happened.
The metal doors began to be pushed, and the sound of pounding and growls filled the room. Something wanted to get in.
The most fearful had already fled. The children had already hidden. Among the remaining scientists and personnel, fear was evident, but they refused to look away for fear of missing crucial information.
Xeno, watching the screen, felt sick—he wanted to be there that instant, to not leave him alone. But reality hit him like a slap in the face. It had been two thousand years since the petrification. Xeno had awakened three thousand years later.
"It’s getting in!" Taiju shouted.
"NO... NO... NO... STAN CAN’T..." Xeno clutched his head as he watched a sharp blade force its way through the door, widening a crack. That blade was not made of metal.
Under the desperate gazes of thousands of people across Earth, a deformed creature with rotting, bleeding flesh entered. Parts of its skin were missing, and multiple mutations covered its body, but everyone could tell—it had a human structure.
People thought this would be the moment Stanley met his end. Soldiers bowed their heads, honoring him in their hearts. Regular citizens turned away, trying to shut off their screens. But the scientists wouldn’t allow it—if they couldn’t even watch a video like this, how could they ever understand what had truly happened?
[Heh... heh... Necromorph? You came here alone...?]
"Necromorph. That’s a sinister name..." Gen was using all his mental strength to analyze every detail. If this was a potential enemy, they had no choice but to prepare to face it.
Contrary to what the people on Earth believed, Stanley only scoffed—the pain seemed to have faded. The monster lunged at Stanley with incredible speed, its movements barely trackable even through the screen.
The same blades that had forced the door open—one on each arm.
Stanley showed no fear.
From what looked like a pile of metallic scrap on the floor, he pulled out a saw. His movements were swift—he dodged, and before the creature could react, the saw tore through its body, splitting it in half.
A massive pool of blood spread across the floor, yet not a single drop touched Stanley. However, some blood had splattered onto the camera, making viewers instinctively step back.
"Is this the level of a commander?" some thought.
The saw was undoubtedly heavy. Soldiers and military personnel on Earth now had a new understanding of life in space.
They were not alone.
Still alive, Stanley dismembered the body in under five seconds and kicked the remains into a corner. The saw crashed to the ground with a metallic thud.
[Sorry for showing you something so unpleasant. But as you can see, life here isn’t exactly peaceful... Well... it never really was.]
For Stanley, this was just another day. He sat back down, reaching into his pocket with a familiar motion. He found nothing, sighed, then cleaned the camera. His gaze turned distant for a few seconds, lost in thought. A faint murmur left his lips, too quiet for the microphone to capture.
But for the spectators, this feat made their hair stand on end. The monster had been incredibly fast, and the sheer force of its blades had been enough to cleave a nearby desk in half.
Now, thinking about how they had sent a trio of inexperienced young people. The adults and specialists felt bad. But then there was a sinister thought. The people on the moon would have received this message too. That's why they left; thinking about that assumption was too much. The weaker-hearted people tried to forget it.
And then, from the right perspective, the most observant among them noticed something.
There, on Stanley’s forehead, the wounds from his own nails—
Had vanished.
As if they had healed in seconds.
For him to break down like that... they couldn’t begin to imagine the suffering he had gone through.