7. Eggs Would Be Enjoyable

The screamthat erupted into the cargo bay as the thing defrosted was obliterating. It was unending—a shrill cry of pure agony. Lupo covered his ears, trying to drown it out. He watched in horror as the pod released its sealant clasps, opening itself to the room.

"Can't you stop it?" Auren screamed.

"I'm trying!" Lupo yelled back over the din, and he was, but the pod was old tech, and he was having difficulty gaining purchase on it. And then it was too late.

Ittumbled out, finally silent. It thudded to the floor.

The being was approximately humanoid in form, albeit nearly seven feet tall. Its scaled gray flesh was swollen with augmented musculature, and its meter-long tail was almost as thick as its powerful legs at the base. It was undeniably one of them.

Lupo didn't know how he knew. He just did. Humans had never encountered another sentient species, not once in the thousand years that they'd roamed the stars, not until them. But no one had ever seen one and lived, let alone captured one alive, and yet…

Its tail lashed out, and Lupo barely dodged the halfhearted swipe as the thing dragged itself pitiably to its feet. It towered over the pair, and glared down at them with cold, alien eyes. It let out a low, rumbling hiss.

"Oh. Fuck," Auren murmured.

Lupo couldn't move. He watched in fascinated horror as the alien watched back.

The being's flesh was thickly plated, and its limbs somewhat resembled a human's; it even had what approximated for hands, each finger ending in a cruel talon. Lupo noticed with dismay the way its incisors glittered in the dim light. The creature had an inherently predatory visage. It was a perfect actualization of humanity's worst nightmares.

The being was still hissing at them, looking from one to the other, sniffing the air nervously through its slitted nose as though confused by them. It flicked a long, barbed tongue at Auren first, then Lupo. And then, to their utter shock, it began to speak in passable Common.

"What are you?" it demanded. Its voice rattled and swayed over the sounds. Its stance remained aggressive, as though it were preparing to make a last stand.

"I think we have the exact same question…" Lupo replied.

"I am a Keth. And you," it lanced, "are not human."

It bent down and peered at Lupo, tilting its huge head this way, its barbed tongue flicking the air so close to his face that it was all he could do not to scream. But then it was doing the same to Auren, and remarkably, the young man just stared down the reptile just like he'd stared down the jailer, seemingly unafraid despite the vast size difference between them.

"You're right. We're androids. Our consciousness was uploaded into these frames," Auren said cautiously. "But we're also human."

"So it's true," the alien rasped, backing away suddenly like the two were contagious. "Abominations!" it cried, looking at them as if they were the walking damned.

"What do you mean, abominations?" Lupo asked; the thing seemed genuinely perturbed by their existence.

"This, you, it's forbidden," the alien spat. "It disrupts The Great Game. The cycle must continue. Growth and evolution must be preserved. Synthetic intelligence, cyborg technology, cloning—it's all outlawed. You must be purged," the thing finished, its hateful tone dark and dismaying.

"Just like that, you make the rules for everybody?" Auren demanded, staring at the thing defiantly.

"Because The Game is eternal. It is our mandate," the creature blurted impatiently, stamping its taloned foot. "I wouldn't expect a lesser being to comprehend."

"Easy," Lupo soothed, holding up his hands placatingly. "Do you have a name?" he asked, wondering if that was too human-centric a concept for the creature.

"Names are tantamount to holiness. I would never soil myself sharing it with an abomination," the Keth retorted vehemently, still standing as far from them as possible.

"Well, what would you like us to call you then?" Lupo asked, attempting to connect them with the alien mind in any way possible.

The thing blinked, its vertical eyelids unnerving, before pronouncing, "You will call me Ophion."

"Well… Ophion… I'm not sure what your experience with humanity has been up until now, but in my culture, offering a guest food is customary. I imagine you're quite hungry after your time in the freezer there. Might I offer you a bit of Terran hospitality?" Lupo suggested smoothly.

It was rare to be from Terra, from the old world where all of this started, and while Lupo hadn't been back to visit in all his years since he'd left for the stars, old customs died hard, and he hoped blindly that culture might be a bridge that spanned species.

The creature, Ophion, regarded him coldly for a moment, as though digesting his words, before hissing a reply.

"After deliberation, I have concluded that eggs would be most enjoyable."

"Well, luckily for you, we can make those. Follow me."

And with that, Lupo looked uneasily at Auren before turning his back on Ophion and leading the reptilian into the sanctum of their ship.