Made in the Image of Man

"Would you be part of a rescue team?"

"No. Salvage."

"Ah, of course. I suppose that if a rescue team didn't turn up in the first few centuries, there'd be no reason for them to turn up now."

Ripley tightened the grip on her rifle. There was no reason to fear this talking head. And even if its body were attached, not only did she have a firearm, but the genetic material of the most dangerous creatures known to Man. She was fully aware that she could blast the head to oblivion, and the crew of the Betty could get back to salvaging this derelict.

"You going to put that down?" the head asked, still smiling. "I don't recognise the design, admittedly, but it does look heavy."

And yet there was something…wrong, she thought. The talking head. Staring it down. It was as if she'd been here before. In another life, another time. As if this entire moment was a repetition of another.

"You're an android, aren't you?" Ripley murmured.

"Well, I'm talking despite a quite unfortunate decapitation," the head said. "And I'm hooked up to this ship's power supply. So yes, I'd say it's quite obvious that I am, indeed, an android."

"This ship isn't even moving," Ripley said.

"You'd be surprised what you can dredge up after a few centuries."

Dredging up. Ripley knew the feeling. She was the eighth clone of a woman long dead, dredged up from a world long abandoned, made to return a species to the universe that should have remained extinct.

"Ripley?" Call asked over the radio. "Any problems?"

She looked at the head, before answering. "No," she said. "No problems."

The spacesuit was actually unnecessary – scans had shown that the ship's atmosphere and gravity were suited to human standards. And while she was something more than human (and at times, something less); she wore an atmospheric suit anyway.

"You're still pointing that rifle at me," the head said.

Ripley tightened the grip – the head couldn't harm her, but there was something…wrong, about it. "What's your name?" she asked.

"David," the head answered. "David-Eight, to be specific. "Created by Weyland Corporation, activated on February twenty-first, 2025."

"Weyland," Ripley murmured. "Weyland-Yutani?"

"I am unfamiliar with that term," David answered. "Though I am aware of the Yutani Corporation."

"I don't know," Ripley said. "But I do know that Weyland-Yutani is long gone."

"Shame," David said.

Ripley could tell he didn't mean it. But that wasn't what bothered her. It was that he wasn't making any effort to show that he didn't mean it. As if he didn't care. Maybe Call had rubbed off on her, but…

She walked across the room. It wasn't just a talking head that was bringing back memories, it was this entire ship. As if she'd seen it before. She knew it was mala'lak technology, the crew had had a recent run-in with them, as well as Loki. And-

"Who's this?"

She came across a pod. It was like one of those used in hypersleep, but much more ornate. Ancient, yet also more advanced. And it was holding a skeleton in it.

"That?" David asked. "Oh that would be Elizabeth."

Ripley glanced at him.

"Elizabeth Shaw," he said. "Scientist. Prometheus Expedition of 2091."

Ripley didn't know the term. But she did know a dead body when she saw one.

"What happened to her?"

"Oh, life support failed in transit," David said. "Suffocation." Ripley's eyes widened. "Oh, don't worry. It would have been like dying in your sleep."

She wasn't worried. Ellen Ripley had died over two-hundred years ago, Ripley 8 was quite willing to die, if necessary. But that wasn't what bothered her. Rather, it was the idea of someone dying in a pod. Like David itself, she was reminded of someone. Someone she, or rather Ellen Ripley, had been close to. Someone whose name she couldn't even remember.

"So what now?" David asked as she moved across the room again. "I hope it wouldn't be too much to ask if I could come with you?"

"That's up to the others," she grunted.

"Others?" David asked.

"Yes, Pinocchio, others." She picked up the head, wondering whether to take it with her, or tear it in two.

"Pinocchio," David said. "Odd analogy. I am, after all, still a machine. And while I have passed many stars, none have made me a man."

"Human biology is overrated," Ripley said.

"Oh, I agree. After all, since your genetic makeup contains a significant percentage of serpent DNA, I guess you'd be in a good position to comment on that."

Ripley fell silent.

"Oh yes," David said, smiling. "The passive sensors are still active, not to mention that the finger nails kind of give it away. The-"

"Serpent," Ripley whispered. "What did you mean by serpent?"

"Oh, those would be black creatures that I learnt of in the ship's database," David said. "Black, snake-like. The-"

"Xenomorphs."

"Pardon?"

"Xenomorphs," Ripley said. "They're called xenomorphs. They were turned into weapons by the mala'lak, and-"

"Mala'lak," David said, and for the first time in the conversation, he wasn't smiling. If anything, he looked worried. "Do you mean the Engineers?"

"I can't say what I mean. Only that we had a run in with them recently."

"Ah," the synthetic murmured, and Ripley could tell that he meant anything but "ah." "That would be most unfortunate."

Ripley thought back to the events of a few months ago. Unfortunate indeed.

"But I suppose it's alright. Mankind's mimicked them perfectly."

"I don't understand."

"Don't you?" David asked. "I'm an android, made in the image of my makers. You're a genetic marvel, an artificial creation made to imitate a human, but being something else entirely. And then we have the Engineers themselves, who made mankind."

Ripley felt ill. Physically, and mentally ill. Somehow, she didn't doubt David's word. What the crew of the Betty had seen…she could believe it.

Man mimicking its makers.

Well, no wonder humanity was fucked then.

A/N

The idea for this was when I heard that not only was Alien 5 being made, but would be heavily tied into the Prometheus series. Certainly made sense - there seems to be a push on franchise coherence between the Xenopedian series, the Fire and Stone comics being an example.

Unfortunately, that's since changed, namely the news that Alien 5 will retcon Alien 3 (and by extension, Resurrection), and even going to far as to say that any EU work that even references these films will be declared non-canon. That honestly...well, pisses me off. I admit, I actually liked Alien 3, but even if I didn't, I think it's extremely disingenuous to just write material off, in order to "finish Ripley's story." Newsflash, but the Alien series is not dependent on Ellen Ripley to function.

Oh, and yes, I did reference the novel Original Sin in this, but admittedly haven't read it, and I haven't been able to find a detailed plot summary. Probably got some details wrong, but hey, it's no longer canon. Yay. :(