In 2015 We Were Warned Never To Return To Mars.. Now We Know Why | Part 2
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We can't let the alien out of the lab, especially now that even more of them are about to hatch. Who knows what will happen if they get out of the facility? Considering what just one of them was able to do to a room full of people, there is no telling what kind of damage they might be able to do to the rest of society if they get out, especially if even more of them are birthed. I wish my rover never collected any samples from Mars. We could have just left these things up there in the dust, buried in the dirt.

but now we've brought something horrible into our home. It's just myself, Dr. Saval, and Dr. Harris remaining from the team that was supposed to start researching the samples Marvin collected from Mars' surface. The Martians aren't what most people would expect, I imagine. They aren't little green men with ray guns trying to fight us with flying saucers. They're feral, vicious animals that can rip a human to pieces in a matter of seconds.

With their spindly ten legs, three scorpion-like tails, pincered mouths and claws, they look like abominations and perversions of some of our own species here on Earth. "We can't let them leave this facility," I mutter again. Dr. Saval and Dr. Harris understand the risks of this, just like I do. There's no telling what will happen to the planet if unknown creatures like this, a species we know nothing about, infiltrates our ecosystem.

We know so few factors about how they operate and behave, outside of seeing how incredibly hostile they are. We haven't had the chance to study them at all, and we can't determine if they're carrying something contagious or harmful to other species either. "You're right," Dr. Harris said. "It could be disastrous. Then they're not going anywhere!" Dr. Sabal shouts as he braces against the metal door the creature is trying to bust open.

The door is the only thin membrane between us and guaranteed death. If it gets through, we'll be pulled to pieces just like the creature did to all of the other scientists in the lab. "Come on! Help me!" Harris joins him against the door. I'm about to help barricade it with my body, but my attention is drawn to the reinforced window into the lab. I can still see all of the mangled bodies of the other scientists.

It isn't the corpses that I pay much attention to. It's the alien eggs on the lab table. They're not buried beneath the mound of Martian dirt anymore. They're exposed. Worst of all, they're rocking and cracking open. They're larger than most eggs I've ever seen from any animal on Earth, already the size of rodents. It's unbelievable. I can't take my eyes away from it. The eggs crack open.

The familiar lobster-like claws and scorpion-like tails emerge from the shells, breaking them apart and tearing themselves free. The alien creatures seem to be born into the world violently, already almost fully formed. They emerge from their eggs and skitter around the room on their many legs, picking up the human cadavers around them. The first alien, the more mature one, still throws its full weight at the laboratory door,

It's strong, nearly strong enough to knock the doctors away from holding it back. It's this sight that snaps me back into the present. That, and Dr. Saval screaming at me. "Don't just stand there! Help us!" I rush to their aid and press myself against the door. I finally feel for myself how strong the Martian is as each time it strikes the door. I can feel the barrier almost give way, and I'm almost thrown back myself.

It's taking every bit of strength I have to help my colleagues keep the creature at bay. I glance over at the lab window and see some of the newborn aliens rush over toward the door.

Suddenly, there's even more force striking us. The other aliens are joining their elder, adding their own strength to his own by throwing themselves at the door too. "God damn it!" Dr. Saval cries out. "We can't hold this thing for much longer! What are we supposed to do?" "We can fall back into the facility," I say. "There's more people that could help us. Other scientists."

"Not many," Dr. Harris says through clenched teeth as he presses his back against the door. "This base and what's inside of it are classified, and we only keep a small crew around to man it. Most of the people that did are on the other side of this door. Then we round up who we can to help." I refuse to give up or accept defeat. "There's only about ten of them. We can do this." I'm trying to convince myself of my own words, but I've seen firsthand what one can do.

while the new ones are newborns. They don't seem like helpless babies either. The dented metal door rocks hard and is nearly ripped off its hinges, but we just manage to keep it in place. Some of the things snapping claws squeeze through the opening. They try to grab us, but we just manage to avoid them. It's more clear than ever that we're losing ground. We need help. "Go!" Dr. Harris says. "I'll keep holding the door as long as I can."

"That's insane!" Dr. Saval says. "You won't be able to do it for long." "No, but hopefully long enough to buy you two some time." I open my mouth to argue with him, but he won't hear it. "Go, now, before they kill all of us! Okay!" I say, relenting a little. "Thank you, Harris. Just don't let them get out of the building, yeah?" I nod. "We'll do our best." Dr. Saval and I begrudgingly step from the door and hurry out of the room.

I take one last look over my shoulder as I close the door to the next room. I see Dr. Harris pushing the door with all of his might, but it's not enough. He doesn't have long. Once we run through the next room, out into the hall, I hear Dr. Harris. I won't forget the sacrifice he made. He clearly saw the bigger picture, just like I do. We can't let them out into the world, but it sounds like they made it out of the lab.

We close and lock as many doors as we can behind us. Anything to slow them down. Dr. Seval hits an emergency alert button on the wall. Most of the staff here might have already been killed, but at least we can warn the rest and rally everyone together.

We sprint out into the main entranceway of the facility, where there are a couple of scientists gathering around, looking concerned. "What the hell is going on in this place?" Charles Carvalho storms into the area. The current NASA administrator went to collect Marvin with me, but left the scientists to our own devices to look at the samples. He missed a lot in the hour since we last saw each other.

I collect myself. Sir, it appears that our rover didn't just collect inorganic samples on Mars, it inadvertently scooped up something living too. What do you mean? Like an actual alien life form? Exactly. He perks up, even starting to smile. That's good news then. It would be if it didn't butcher most of our research team in a matter of minutes. His grin fades away and concern washes over his face instead. It's killed?

"Oh yes," Dr. Saval says through his heavy, exasperated breaths. "It's killed. And it's not alone now. A bunch of eggs were collected with it. And those have hatched now too." Charles' eyes flicker in my direction. He points his finger right in my face. "How could you let this happen?" "Me?" "Yes, you. You built a machine that brought it here. You're telling me that your robot couldn't detect that it was carrying living cargo in that dust bucket?"

We designed Marvin under the assumption that there was no life on Mars. At least not anything large and dangerous. Maybe if you had told me about what happened in 2015 a little bit earlier, I could have taken that into account. Ah, so now it's my fault? No. You designed the rover. You assured me that it would be able to do its job. It did! It collected the samples and brought them back to Earth. How are we supposed to know that it might scoop up something and bring it with it?

Is that what you're going to tell the families of the men in that lab? How was I supposed to know? Really? We won't have a chance to tell anyone anything if those things get through any more barricades. If they get out of the facility, there's no telling what will happen next. Charles is hearing me. I can see it on his face, but I can also see that he's still upset with me. He probably still blames me for all of this, but he sees the bigger picture just like I do.

No matter who was really to blame, we all had a part in bringing the Martian creatures here to Earth. It's our mess to clean up. "Okay, fine," the NASA administrator says. "We must make sure that those aliens don't leave this lab. We deal with the rest of the Fallout after." He turns to Dr. Saval. "Are there any weapons in this place?" Dr. Saval shakes his head.

Unfortunately not, sir. I can't say that we ever expected that we would have to fight monsters like them. We didn't keep an armory or anything like that. All we have is what's around us. And it's not much.

I see a potential weapon out of the corner of my eye and punch out the glass in the wall where our emergency fire tools are kept. Next to the extinguisher, I find a fire axe. It's the best weapon around compared to anything else in the room. I doubt that the axe will be able to do much against the specimens trying to come out of the lab. The Martian creatures have already shown how ferocious they really are. It sounds like other people in the facility have been found by the aliens.

We look down the hall and find the pack of Martians rushing through the corridor, surging toward us like a stream of disgusting flesh. The one Martian creature had been enough, but now we have nine to deal with. They all keep close together and form a swarm of snapping claws, rattling tails, and spindly legs. All of the pincers around their mouths click excitedly while they close in on us. "I'm sorry," Charles mutters beside me. He stares at the aliens with utter disbelief.

It's clear just from his expression that Charles is the furthest thing from unafraid now. He is horrified, too scared to even move. He can't even begin to process the mass of murderous flesh coming in our direction.

The bodies of the aliens look like a wave of death that will wash over us in about 20 seconds. "We need to keep moving," I say firmly, hoping to snap him out of his petrified stupor. "We need to go right now." "It doesn't matter," he says. "This isn't what I wanted, but it's our fault." "Charles, come on! This isn't the time for this! If we stay here any longer,

I'm suddenly the one being dragged away by Dr. Saval. He pulls me away from Charles, who falls to his knees, completely at the mercy of the oncoming swarm. I shout for him but he doesn't hear me. "It's too late for him!" Dr. Saval yells. "He's too far gone!" I know he's right, but I still shout for my boss. Charles Carvalho gave me the opportunity of a lifetime when he allowed me to develop Marvin.

There's something horrible about my rover. That thing that he let me create, being the instrument that brought about his death. If Marvin hadn't been built, or if it had scooped up a different piece of the Mars landscape, then so many others would be alive. Then the NASA administrator might not die. Dr. Saval is right about Charles, though. It is too late. The swarm engulfs Charles Carvalho. The 16th NASA administrator disappears beneath all of the claws ripping at him.

There is a splash of blood before his entire body disappears beneath the clicking, skittering aliens. It doesn't take them long to end him. Thankfully, my colleague pulls me outside before I have a chance to see what's left of Charles. We lock the front entrance to the facility behind us using the exterior locking functions that only authorized personnel can access. It's a heavy metal door, but so was the one in the quarantine lab. They'll be able to get through, I'm sure of it.

The desert is waiting for us. It's a seemingly endless void of sand all around the facility. It is the perfect location for a secret government research facility. If it wasn't overrun with horrible abominations, it might have continued to be an ideal place for the kind of things that we were going to be doing there. Most people will never be able to ask for a better space to work, but now, all of it is tainted by the blood of the people that were my coworkers.

The swarms of aliens have reached the outer door. They're trying to push through. I see the door's form suddenly puff out, being dented from the force breaking through it. "This is just perfect, isn't it?" Dr. Saval asks through gritted teeth. "We have to drive across a wasteland because we sure as hell can't go back there anymore." "We have to stop them, Saval!"

How? Look at what's happening. We can't stop them. I know you want to protect the rest of the world. I do too. But I don't care about the rest of the world right now. I care about getting out of here in one piece. Let's get to the trucks and get as far away from this place as we can. We can warn people about what's going on. The government, the army, the police. Anyone that'll stand more of a chance than us.

The door slowly opens. Its metal groans, like it's trying to scream, to warn us about what is about to come out. For a few seconds, nothing emerges from the darkness of the lab. Everything is quiet while we stare through the open doorway, unable to see anything on the other side. We don't hear anything either. There's no sounds of movement. No one is screaming anymore, probably because there isn't anybody left. For about another minute, we stand and wait,

All in position to fight if we have to. And I'm sure that we will. Sure enough, I hear a click echo out of the maw of the now abandoned laboratory. I hear another. Then there's a whole chorus. The swarm of Martians are all letting us hear how excited they are to kill us. Just like they did to our colleagues. The clicking suddenly stops, but only for a moment.

When all of those sounds come back, pouring out of the open doorway, it sounds almost like a war cry as it grows closer. Either that, or a cheer of anticipation. "Come on!" Dr. Saval yells from the truck, as it finally roars to life. "This is the only way out!" He's right. If we stay to fight the Martians, we'll die just like everyone else that they've gotten their claws on. We don't stand a chance. As much as we want to keep them contained, we can't anymore.

Now we need to survive. I hurry to the truck. It's the same vehicle that brought the rover to the lab. Things had been so much more hopeful then. I had done something amazing for the world. But now I see the truth. Marvin brought doom to planet Earth. And it's all my fault. Dr. Saval steps hard on the gas pedal. I glance at the side view mirror and see the swarm approaching. They're hunting us. Apparently determined to finish their slaughter.

Even as we speed up, kicking up dust in our wake, they are somehow keeping up. "Faster!" I mutter. "I'm trying!" The eldest and largest alien launches itself onto the side of the truck. It skitters across the body of the vehicle toward us. I roll down the window and hold the axe in my hand firmly, keeping a close eye on the thing in the mirror.

Just before it reaches us, I swing the axe out the window and strike the body of the many-legged Martian. It hisses and clicks at me in apparent surprise. It's not used to us having a chance to fight back. "Get that son of a bitch!" Dr. Saval cheers from the wheel. "Hit him again!" I swing hard but the alien skitters away over the top of the truck. It comes around to the driver's side window. Dr. Saval doesn't have a chance to react as its three scorpion-like tails lash outward like whips.

Their sharp ends pierce his left side, hitting his arm, his collar, and his chest. He groans and barely keeps hold of the wheel. I try to keep the truck steady while he starts to have some kind of reaction to the stink from its tails. Dr. Saval's mouth starts to foam. His eyes grow bloodshot, and when he looks at me, I see him fading away in seconds. Half of his face starts to droop downward, like he's having a stroke. He's gone in a matter of seconds, the victim of some kind of poison.

He slumps forward and the truck overturns. I can't stop it from flipping as it topples over into the harsh sands around us. The front of the truck smashes hard against a nearby boulder, damaging the engine as smoke rises from the front of the truck, followed by flames. I'm stunned for a moment, but my panic brings me back to my senses. Dr. Saval's deformed, poisoned body is slumped beside me, dangling upside down by his seatbelt.

I crawl from the wreckage out into the desert. I make sure I bring the fire axe with me. I'm surrounded by a swarm of aliens. They skitter around me, slowly closing in on the last of their prey. I raise the axe, knowing that it won't do me much good anymore. It hardly matters. We couldn't keep them contained in the end. "Go on then!" I yell. "Do your worst! I'm the one that brought you here! I'm the one that took you from your home!" They probably can't understand me.

Even if they can, I doubt that it will mean anything to them except maybe giving them more reason to want to kill me. The eldest one comes forward, its pincers clicking and its claws snapping excitedly. I can almost feel its bloodlust. It can't be reasoned with, I'm sure. It doesn't belong here. None of them do. My mistake has already cost so many lives. If I'm going to die, maybe I can at least take one of these monsters with me.

Maybe if I can kill the oldest one, the others won't have anyone to follow. If he's the ringmaster, then maybe I can still take control of the circus. It creeps closer. It's trio of tails rattling behind it. I need to be careful of them. Dr. Saval was killed almost instantly by their stings. I can't let them touch me, or I'll end up just like him. I swipe in its direction with the axe, trying to keep it back. I can sense that it's enjoying itself.

I notice the younger aliens hanging back, not joining in. It's like they're an audience. And all this for them is entertainment. I get ready to charge. To bring the axe down with all my might, but I don't get the chance. I'm suddenly thrown off of my feet by a shockwave as the truck explodes beside me. The panicking creatures frantically burrow down into the earth and vanish from sight. Even the largest, eldest one retreats into the ground. The sounds, or more likely the fire, frighten them.

It's probably not something that they've ever experienced before. I'm thankful for that, at least. There really is no stopping them. All of our efforts have been fruitless, and now I'm all alone and entirely helpless. I lay there in the dirt, waiting for them to surface. I expect they'll re-emerge and finish me off, but they don't. They don't come back for me. Who knows where they've gone?

I know they won't stay down there forever. They'll emerge somewhere else and when they do, it will be just like when they came out of the mound of collected samples. They'll kill everything in their path." A gasp for air, staring up at the sky. "There's nothing that I could have done. I know that this is my fault, but I need to still tell myself that I'm not responsible for this. I need to believe that I'm innocent of whatever is about to happen to my home planet.

I should never have gotten involved with any of this. I should never have built Marvin. I should never have wanted to take any pieces of Mars to begin with. It's all just led me to this misery and this pain. I am like Prometheus after all. I deserve to be punished for my transgressions just like he did. Maybe that's what's happening now. Maybe my survival is just so I can suffer for what I've done.

...

We aren't ready to face threats like the things that are now spreading out through the desert. The things that we went up against in the facility are beyond humans. "I'm sorry," I say to our neighboring planets as it hangs over my head. "I should have just let you be. Now please, please don't let the things growing in your soil take root here. It will completely destroy everything. Ecosystems. People.

Not to mention the panic that will ensue once people learn that we really aren't alone in the universe. Though I don't think anyone will be happy that the other things out there are rabid, violent killing machines. That won't go over well. I'm sorry, okay? We should have just let you be! I'm sorry! Mars doesn't respond. Of course it doesn't. It's dead. But the supposedly dead planet still has some life after all. And a life we found has already brought so much death.

and will only bring more. I'm losing my mind. Talking to a planet. Waiting for alien lifeforms to come kill me. It's all too much to process. I just wish none of it happened, but it's too late for regrets like that. I want nothing more than to go back to the lab and destroy Marvin. The new Mars rover is my greatest creation, but it's brought all of this. No, I can't blame that piece of machinery. This was me. It's human nature to want more and to take from others to get it.

We have no business taking anything from another planet. It's all supposedly for the sake of science and progress, but in the end, it's really just about greed, like always. Mars is just another piece of land for human beings to exploit. We never should have taken anything from Mars. I climb to my feet, still staring across the vast wasteland around me. I used to starscape as a guide, though I've never been good at using them for navigation.

Besides, my eyes keep wandering to the red dot among all of the white stars. The planet Mars seems like a single eyeball watching my every move, watching me suffer. Maybe it's a punishment for stealing its soil and its inhabitants. I wander alone across the barren desert, surrounded by a landscape of death, just like the rovers on Mars do.