Seeing the Yautja leader's hesitation, William couldn't help but suspect that these bastards had never truly intended to hand over their ship technology. Just as he was about to raise his hand to summon a mirrored space, the leader finally spoke.
"You don't need to doubt us. We will provide the information you want."
Yeah, right, William thought, staring silently at the Yautja leader and the three warriors guarding him.
Meanwhile, Barney and Trench discreetly spread out, positioning themselves a few meters away from William, on high alert.
Noticing William's restless fingers tapping against his leg, the Yautja leader reluctantly tapped a few commands into his wrist computer. Minutes later, a ten-meter-long ship deactivated its cloaking system and landed on the ice.
The leader accepted a briefcase from one of his subordinates and handed it solemnly to William.
"Inside is what you asked for, along with an interstellar language package as a bonus. One final warning: don't leave your solar system until you're ready."
Taking the case, William immediately retreated into the snow truck Barney had driven. He instructed Sunday to sever the truck's server connection to ensure no one could trace it back to his main server.
Inside the truck, William thoroughly examined the files and confirmed they contained ship technology. Satisfied, he had Sunday store the data in a secure, isolated server.
He tossed the briefcase through a portal into a sealed chamber in Yellowstone National Park, then stepped out of the truck with a grin and returned to the Yautja leader.
"Relax. Staying in the solar system will keep me entertained for a long time. As for the future, who knows?"
Shrugging, William added with a smirk, "Who's to say I won't need to leave? The entire universe might descend into chaos on its own."
"What do you mean?" the Yautja leader asked, surprised. Considering William's status as a mage, he asked cautiously, "Can you see the future?"
"Of course not!" William exclaimed, feigning alarm. "Don't be ridiculous, old man. I'm just a mid-tier mage nearing high-tier. How could I possibly predict the future?"
"You consider yourself a mid-tier mage?" the Yautja leader asked, confused. "Mid-tier mages can wield magic to manipulate space? Who told you your level was mid-tier? And who decided mages have levels?"
"I came up with it myself," William replied. "Why? Is that wrong? Are there mages elsewhere in the universe?"
"I wouldn't know," the leader said, shaking his head. Internally, he thought, If we'd encountered mages before, we wouldn't have been so cautious earlier.
The conversation became awkward as the two waited in silence for the Yautja warriors to finish clearing the Xenomorphs and Facehuggers from the pyramid.
Inside the pyramid, the Yautja warriors, likely disheartened by losing the wager, seemed distracted. Their spirits were further dampened by the gruesome cleanup task.
This carelessness led them to overlook the condition of their fallen comrade, whose intact helmet hid a terrifying truth: the newly evolved Facehuggers no longer needed to enter hosts through the mouth. They could invade through open wounds, such as the chest injury on the fallen Yautja.
After some time, the Yautja captured a dozen or so Facehuggers. The nearly thirty warriors carried their fallen comrade and the captured juveniles out of the pyramid.
Fortunately, following protocol, the Yautja placed the body and juveniles in a 25-meter-long micro-ship for containment.
Before the leader boarded the hundred-meter-long mothership that had arrived, he handed William a communicator.
William looked at it disdainfully and said, "You might as well give me the technology to build my own. At least I could design something that fits my aesthetic."
The leader sighed. "This is for communication between us and Earth. If you're not interested in visiting the alien planet, then forget it."
"Alien planet?" William slapped his forehead. "I almost forgot about that."
But should I really board an unfamiliar Yautja ship? What if they have ill intentions?
The thought of missing such an opportunity was frustrating. After a moment's hesitation, William snapped his fingers. The ten Red Mercury nuclear drones he had previously sent into the pyramid flew over and disappeared into his storage space right in front of the Yautja leader.
The leader huffed irritably and turned toward the ship without another word.
William grinned as he gave Barney and Trench some final instructions to drive back to the icebreaker. A robotic assistant emerged from a portal to retrieve the truck he had driven, taking it to the Yellowstone base.
After ensuring all his loose ends were tied up, William sent the communicator to Yellowstone for Sunday to analyze, then boarded the Yautja ship.
Inside the ship, as the hatch sealed, William tested his ability to open a portal. Once he confirmed the closed environment didn't hinder him, his confidence soared.
Following a Yautja warrior, he arrived at the control room.
To his disappointment, the Yautja's sense of design was starkly utilitarian. Other than various skeletal trophies adorning the walls, the control room was devoid of decoration.
Aside from the space chairs, which piqued William's interest, nothing else impressed him. Even the controls were manually operated, with no artificial intelligence in sight.
Wait, he thought. They do have automated systems.
He watched as the Yautja leader sat in one of the chairs and tapped a few buttons. A burst of energy shot into the atmosphere, obliterating the pyramid and the underground chamber. Only after this was done did the ship accelerate toward Mars.
As the ship passed Jupiter, William gazed in awe at the massive gas giant, its swirling storms mesmerizing.
Approaching Saturn, he marveled at the planet's rings, which resembled a celestial vinyl record.
Suddenly, a loud "beep, beep, beep" alarm broke the tranquility.
William, momentarily tense, tested his portal again and confirmed it was functional before looking questioningly at the Yautja leader.
The leader tapped a few more buttons on the console, projecting a red hologram. William watched as a micro-ship detached from the main vessel and headed toward Earth.
What the hell?!
As he stared, realization dawned. The micro-ship contained the Facehuggers.
Enraged and horrified, William shouted, "What the hell is this?! What's going on?!"
The Yautja leader didn't respond. Instead, he handed William a Yautja mask.
Following the leader's actions, William put on the mask and saw a terrifying sight: a Xenomorph with Yautja-like mandibles had snuck into the control room of the micro-ship.
The creature had pressed several buttons, triggering the ship's departure and setting it on a course for Earth.
Onboard, the hybrid Xenomorph attacked the Yautja crew. It killed one warrior before being discovered.
The second Yautja managed to fire two energy blasts, missing both times before being killed. However, the stray shots punctured the micro-ship's hull, causing it to ignite and tumble into Earth's atmosphere.
"F***!"
Realizing the implications, William unleashed a torrent of profanity at the Yautja leader.
"I knew it! You bastards who play with Xenomorphs were bound to screw yourselves eventually! And now look what's happened! You've lost two men, and you've dumped this disaster straight onto Earth!"
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