The first time most people see a Xenomorph egg, it hits them with a wave of instinctive revulsion.
But Adam wasn't seeing one for the first time. Far from it. He stepped right up to the clutch, smiling as he ran his hand over the smooth, leathery surfaces, feeling the steady pulse of life inside each one.
Every Xenomorph that hatched would form a psychic bond with him from the moment it was born.
In a normal hive, only the Queen held absolute dominion over the entire brood. Even freshly hatched facehuggers obeyed her without question... an authority written into their very genes.
"Absolute sovereignty…"
Adam murmured while glancing at the creature beside him.
"But after testing it, even the Queen ranks below me."
The Xenomorph standing next to him wasn't like the others. While ordinary drones had those long, smooth, elongated skulls, this one bore a majestic, crown-like crest that radiated authority and status.
A Queen.
In any hive, only one Xenomorph could lay eggs. That was the Queen.
"You've worked hard..." Adam said with a warm smile. "It took you so long to metamorphose into a Queen, and then you pushed out these five eggs."
Xenomorphs had no fixed gender. If a hive lost its Queen or an individual found itself isolated, their genetic instincts would kick in. Hidden sequences in their DNA would activate, triggering a transformation into a Queen capable of laying eggs.
That was exactly what had happened here. Adam had stayed with this one for a long time, patiently waiting until it successfully evolved and produced its first clutch. Only then had he finally relaxed.
Xenomorphs were born for combat. They could parasitize almost any host, stealing the best genetic traits and emerging stronger. In theory, every Xenomorph that hatched was superior to its host.
Five eggs meant five facehuggers. Those would need five hosts before they could mature into full adult drones.
For a brief moment, Adam had been tempted by Blade... the Daywalker. The guy was already a superhuman specimen. If he could capture him and use him as a host, the resulting Xenomorph would be terrifyingly powerful.
But he quickly dismissed the dark thought.
"Better start with some stray cats and dogs, at least build up my forces first."
He turned to the Queen, who waited silently for orders.
Compared to the massive Queens from the movies, this one looked almost pitifully small. She'd need a lot of meat to bulk up properly.
And so, the local wildlife paid the price. For several nights in a row, sleek, deadly shadows slipped through the darkness. A flicker of movement, and another life was snuffed out.
At first there was only one shadow. Soon, more joined it. The slaughter grew fiercer. Blood soaked the ground and dried into dark, mottled stains.
Until the police showed up.
"Captain, we're on scene. According to the report, a bunch of wild animals have gone missing around here..." A young officer grumbled. "We've got plenty of real work back in the busy parts of New York. Why are we wasting time out in this dump? Just because some animal-rights people are making noise?"
"Remember who we are." Captain George Stacy replied with his voice steadier as he scanned the area.
Besides, the person who actually filed the report wasn't some activist…
"Ever since that playboy who calls himself Iron Man came back, our caseload has exploded."
"Could be worse. At least we're not in the middle of the city where lunatics keep popping up."
"Yeah, and we're not getting sent after some other armored rich idiot flying around in a tin suit."
George thought back to the classified details he'd heard and shook his head. Some things couldn't be made public, but as an insider he knew the truth... there had been a massive explosion at Stark Tower recently. Two men in armor had gone at it.
Tony Stark had clearly come out on top. The loser... who had since vanished... was almost certainly Obadiah Stane, the former second-in-command at Stark Industries.
That incident seemed to have lit a fuse. Strange cases had been piling up ever since, stretching the department to its limits.
George pushed the thoughts aside and focused on the job. He pulled on gloves, took out his tools, and began carefully collecting evidence from the scene.
"It's too quiet. Like all the animals vanished overnight."
"There are scattered bloodstains. Something's been attacking them."
George frowned. Blood. The word triggered an uneasy feeling in his gut.
They didn't have long to worry about it.
"Gentlemen. Looking for something?"
"Who's there? Hands where I can see them!" The officers drew their weapons instantly.
But the figure didn't stop. He kept walking forward. In the flashlight beams, they saw a pale face and a mouth full of sharp fangs.
The officers opened fire. Bullets punched holes in the man's pale skin, but the wounds closed almost immediately, pushing the slugs back out.
In a blur of motion, the man leaped more than thirty feet and sank his teeth into one officer's throat.
"Vampire?" The word flashed through George's mind in the heat of the moment.
"Captain! There's more than one!"
Several other pale-skinned figures emerged, rushing the fallen officer and tearing into him with savage hunger.
The gruesome sight made the remaining officers' skin crawl. Their bullets couldn't inflict lasting damage.
The lead vampire wiped his mouth, eyeing them with amused hunger, like a diner inspecting a plate of appetizers.
"Looks like we weren't the only ones interested in this place. Why are NYPD officers out here? I don't recall authorizing any operation like this."
"Since when do vampires give us orders?" George snarled and steadying his breathing.
"Heh. You know nothing about our power. If you won't talk, fine. I wasn't here for you anyway."
The vampire licked his fangs. Compared to these ordinary humans, he was really here to investigate the source of the powerful acid weapons the Daywalker had been using in the area.
"It's highly corrosive... enough to seriously injure lesser vampires whether injected or sprayed. But for some reason… I keep catching the scent of blood in it."
As a member of the Thirteen Houses, Dennis had a duty to strengthen his kind. Blade had destroyed one of their outposts and killed many, but the raid hadn't been a total loss.
Whether by design or carelessness, Blade hadn't fully covered his tracks. Using security cameras and motorcycle routes, Dennis had traced him to several key areas.
He was very interested in this blood-like substance.
After all, for vampires, blood was power. If it was blood, it could be drunk.
Unfortunately, the strange fluid evaporated quickly on contact with air, denying him the chance.
"Kill these snacks." Dennis ordered with a casual wave.
"Slaughtering on Weyland's territory without my permission? What exactly are you thinking?"
A voice carried across the distance.
In the flashlight beams, Adam's figure appeared faintly in the shadows about a hundred yards away.
"That damn Daywalker really is impossible to work with. I asked for a few subjects, but not like this."