Alien: Isolation (1st POV Ripley Edition)

#5

Medical wing. Searching for a first aid kit for Taylor.

Of course, a real hassle. After some guy - over the loudspeaker introduced himself as Dr. Kuhlmann - locked some and unlocked other doors (probably following me through the camera system), I soon arrived in the medical wing.

Although not thrilled. I knew immediately that the guy was a manipulator. Tall, broad-shouldered, strong. Handsome, but somehow...scared? But who wouldn't be in such a catastrophic situation!

Behind the glass, in some kind of office, he sat on a chair and said what was on his mind:

- I'm Kuhlmann.

- Amanda Ripley. I am looking for a first aid kit for my friend. Or a doctor, anyway.

- I'm a doctor.

- Then...

- I can't do any procedure until we're in the medical wing.

- But this is...?

- Upper level. In the lower level there are beds, equipment and the like.

- And we can go there or...

- We can not. Not without a code and a physical card that unlocks that elevator. Fortunately, both are at this level.

He pointed in the direction of the elevator. Yes, once again an elevator with special requirements. I sighed.

- Alright. Let's go in search of the card and the code.

- Me? Do I look like I'm able to move?

- Yes! - I glanced over him and he didn't seem hurt. At least not at first glance. He shook his head sharply.

- No, I'm not in good shape, Ripley. But don't worry. I'll open the door for you, and you find the card and the code. Come back here, hand them over to me, and we'll go down to the lower level together. Simple.

- Yeah. Extremely.

Trouble ensued. The medical upper level was the perfect embodiment of clinical cleanliness and hospital equipment at every turn. And all empty, without even a living soul. Not even a dead body anywhere. Creepy.

The detector was stationary and I very quickly found the console with the code (1702).

The only thing I didn't like was that the guy was talking over the loudspeaker like crazy, making it clear that this place was not really deserted of human presence. Within minutes I got a better impression of him: a coward to join me (we'd have a better chance together - especially if he knows this place as he claims), and a braggart at the same time. He rambles on about medicine, resources, costs, too little compensation for a long-term job on the space station... He simply enjoys his voice too much during a time of superb disaster. It is clear to me that he knows that the lives of others are not much on his mind. And his? But let's check.

I warned him that the creature might come to his location if he didn't shut up. It worked and the guy fell silent instantly.

And at the last moment, really, because suddenly the monster broke through one of the formwork on the closed ventilation duct near me and jumped.

In the few seconds until he came down, I entered the code and opened the door that took me further, into the next set of corridors. And I realized that I'm starting to hate this station. Full of corridors, meaningless spaces that fork, branch, all full of consoles, codes, locked doors and the like. And me, new here, am very ignorant about all that. Like a mouse in an unknown labyrinth where there is also a very hungry, hungry cat.

Although not very familiar with these areas, I very quickly found a physical card on the body of a dead man (with code 1702) and headed back to Kuhlmann.

Once there, I manually calculated the door and the nearby drain before addressing him. Just in case.

- You lied to me! There was a creature there. And you knew it! - I didn't shout, I just raged silently.

- Your argument is not fair, I didn't know it was there, I just had a hunch. Code, please?

- 1702! Now let's get out of here!

- All right, just a moment to get things. And I'm sorry, I didn't mean to inconvenience you...

But he was not lucky. He stayed at the reception for a moment too long and when he returned to the room he had just left, he was greeted by a monster at the door.

He didn't attack right away, surprisingly. He feasted on several unfathomable moments of terror and panic on our faces, grabbed him and pulled him into the previous room, and me...

Fortunately, the reception was surrounded by a glass wall (perhaps bulletproof, and the creature, because it sensed it, didn't even try to break through it). But I didn't give a damn for a moment. I walked away towards the elevator (which Kuhlmann deigned to open before his infamous demise), readily inserted the card into the slot and then pressed the button for the lower level.

The elevator door closed in front of me and even though I didn't see the creature, I felt that I narrowly escaped death. But it was close. Too close. I take a deep breath and reach into my dwindling supply of energy.

All right, Amanda, concentration. Concentrate. Find a first aid kit for Taylor. Priority. Then go back to the marshal and his deputy guarding Samuels and Taylor.

Step by step. Calm, I faced new challenges when I got out of the elevator. The lower level of the medical wing seemed to be waiting just for me.