Answering the Call That Changed Everything

When you work in deep space, you learn to expect the unexpected. But nothing could have prepared us for what happened when we picked up that distress signal. Company policy dictated that we investigate, so we altered course, unaware that this decision would lead to a nightmare none of us could have imagined.

There were seven of us on board, just trying to make it home. When we landed to check out the transmission, one of our crew was attacked by a strange organism-something unlike anything we had ever seen. It latched onto his face, unyielding, unrelenting. As the ranking officer still on the ship, I knew the risks. I followed protocol, locking the doors and citing quarantine regulations. But the captain overrode my decision, allowing them back inside.

That was the moment everything changed. The creature detached, died, and for a brief moment, we thought we were safe. We were wrong. What came next was beyond horror. Our crewmate convulsed, screamed, and then something burst from his chest-something alive, something lethal. And just like that, we were no longer a crew. We were prey.

Fighting Against the Inevitable

We did everything we could to contain it, to kill it. But it was faster, smarter, and more dangerous than we ever anticipated. One by one, it picked us off. Fear turned to desperation, and desperation turned to survival instinct.

We had a chance to get rid of it. We could have flushed it out, ended the nightmare before it consumed us all. But the company had other plans. They wanted it alive. They wanted to study it. And because of that decision, my crewmates died.

Our human need to survive can make us do stupid things, but it also makes us progress as a species, as humans, as family members, as employees.

By the time I realized the full extent of what was happening, it was too late. I was alone, fighting against something I barely understood. And yet, in that moment, instinct took over. I stopped thinking. I acted. And somehow, against all odds, I survived.

The True Monster

When I finally made it back, I was sworn to secrecy. The company wanted to bury the truth, to erase what had happened. But the scars don't fade just because someone tells you to forget.

The human spirit can fight against monsters, but unfortunately, it can't always fight against corporations.

I've spent my time since then trying to come to terms with what happened. Counseling, isolation, silence. But the past doesn't stay buried. Recently, the company reached out again. A team of people disappeared-right where this all started. And now they want me to go back.

I don't want to. Every instinct in my body tells me to run. But maybe, just maybe, facing this again is the only way to move forward.

What Comes Next?

I don't know what the future holds. I don't know if I'll go back, if I'll survive another encounter, or if the company will ever stop chasing this nightmare. But I do know one thing-some things should never be brought back. Some things should be left in the dark.

And some things, no matter how much we fight, will never let us go.