DOTM: Chapter 517/518

Chapter 517: No Choice

As the ostensible supervisor of the Prometheus, responsible for overseeing the scientists' expedition, Meredith Vickers held considerable privileges on the ship.

She had a private hypersleep pod, a luxurious private cabin, and a personal escape pod.

David led Ethan to Meredith's hypersleep pod and then woke up the supervisor. Meredith's pod was equipped with a special wake-up program that would rouse her directly when the ship reached its destination.

In the original plot, when David received the notification of impending arrival and went to wake her up, he found that the supervisor was already awake and had begun simple exercises to restore her body to normal as quickly as possible.

The hypersleep devices on the Prometheus were not particularly advanced. There seemed to be a certain risk during sleep, potentially leading directly to death, and upon waking, users would experience spasms due to the prolonged stasis.

From these conditions, it was clear that these hypersleep pods were far less advanced than the one Betty had used.

Seeing Meredith's pale face after waking up, Ethan decided to dismantle all of these things. Turning the entire hypersleep bay into a card room would be much more useful than these pods.

Anyway, Ethan's ship didn't really need this kind of thing.

Meredith glanced at David, then took a few more looks at Ethan and the others, but she didn't ask too many questions. Instead, she naturally asked David to get her clothes.

Watching Meredith sitting there, letting the spasms in her body subside, Ethan actually admired this woman. Not everyone could remain calm in such a situation.

Just for not jumping up and shouting, "Who are you?!", she earned a few extra glances of respect from Ethan.

"Meredith Vickers, the supervisor of the Prometheus?"

"Yes."

"My name is Ethan. I have some things I need to discuss with you. I can wait for you to change, or give you a little more time to recover?"

Meredith stood up. Her tall stature allowed her to meet Ethan's gaze equally.

"No need. I'll be right there after I change."

The subtext was that she didn't need extra time to recover. Taking the clothes from David's hand, Meredith began giving orders like the true mistress of the ship.

"Take the guests to my quarters."

David was still a very obedient robot at the moment. Although he wasn't sure if Ethan and the others would be willing to follow this arrangement, he still made the gesture to lead the way.

Ethan didn't monitor Meredith here or anything, because there was no need.

The Prometheus was only so big, it was just a research vessel, and this was a completely unknown area of space very, very far from Earth.

Meredith had no choice at all. Perhaps her calmness was due to her understanding of this point. If these people who had suddenly appeared truly wanted to do something, she had no room to resist at all.

Their current willingness to talk to her proved that things were not heading in an irreversible direction.

Meredith quickly tidied herself up, including taking a quick shower, then changed her clothes and went to her private suite. It had a spacious living area, suitable for receiving guests.

When she arrived, Ethan was sitting in the seat that should have been occupied by her, the mistress, with his legs crossed, drinking juice.

Meredith glanced at the other two women and one man. These three didn't seem to mind her arrival. It appeared the leader of the group was this young man.

"What do you want to talk about?"

Meredith sat down opposite Ethan and then took a high-calorie shake from David. This was specifically for physical recovery, to replenish enough calories and return to a normal state faster.

"Let's talk about the trouble you're about to face."

"What trouble?"

Meredith's gaze swept over Logan and the others. From their appearance, Logan was undoubtedly the most intimidating. She was wondering how these people had appeared on the ship. Could they be people secretly arranged by Weyland?

Thinking this, she glanced at David nearby. If it was Weyland's arrangement, then David would definitely know the situation.

To Meredith's surprise, David denied her guess.

"These guests appeared on the ship suddenly. There are no records or data of them on the ship. I believe these individuals are likely not from Earth."

Meredith raised an eyebrow. She wondered if David was joking. Although she knew David was a robot, he was a highly intelligent synthetic. Perhaps something had gone wrong with a program during the long voyage?

Ethan didn't refute David's speculation in any way. Strictly speaking, he was indeed not from Earth.

As for Logan and the others, while they were Earthlings, they weren't from this world's Earth, so it wasn't entirely wrong to consider them all aliens.

"No need to guess. We are indeed not from Earth."

"So, honored alien guests, what do you wish to discuss with me here on the Prometheus?" Although Meredith wasn't entirely convinced, for now, she wasn't going to question them. She wanted to figure out what these people's true intentions were.

"As I just said, you are about to stir up big trouble." Seeing Meredith's skeptical look, Ethan spread his hands. "Don't look at me. The trouble I'm referring to isn't me, and these words are not a threat to you."

Meredith's mind raced. Although she didn't believe Ethan's words, she decided to play along for now.

"So you're here specifically to warn us? What do you want us to do? Order the ship to turn around and go back?"

"That would indeed help you avoid trouble, but you won't do that, will you? After all, your superior wouldn't agree to it."

As someone who knew the plot, Ethan naturally knew that while Miss Meredith Vickers was the official supervisor on the Prometheus, the true owner was Mr. Peter Weyland, hidden deep within the ship in hypersleep.

He was the owner of Weyland Corporation, the financial backer who fully sponsored this expedition.

Meredith was now increasingly suspicious of Ethan and the others' true identities. She no longer thought these people were sent by Weyland. She began to suspect they were sent by a competitor.

At this point, Meredith finally couldn't help but ask the question, "Who exactly are you?"

"In a sense, bystanders who happened to see you preparing to seek death, and wanted to watch the show?"

Ethan thought about it and felt his summary was quite accurate. He was indeed there to watch the show, and perhaps pick up the ship while he was at it.

"Why do you consider our actions to be... seeking death?"

Meredith noticed that the person opposite her had mentioned more than once that they would have trouble. The other party clearly knew what they were about to do. What she found strange was why this person was so certain that their actions were going to lead to their death?

"Is there something terrifying on that planet?"

Regardless of whether the other party was acting out of kindness or malice, these people had suddenly appeared on the ship, and she was still very curious about what they wanted.

If they were just well-meaning passersby giving a warning, now that the words were said, shouldn't they leave? The fact that they weren't leaving clearly indicated they had some ulterior motive.

"I want to join your team."

"Why?"

Ethan spread his hands. "As I said, I'm just a bystander who wants to watch the show, so, of course, it's to watch the show."

"Why should I agree to that?"

"Because you have no choice."

Ethan lightly moved a finger, and the pistol hidden under Meredith's clothes slowly floated into the air, then flew into Ethan's hand under Meredith's disbelieving gaze.

He turned the pistol over and over, examining it. It was a weapon that used electromagnetism to propel projectiles, quite advanced in its design concept, but judging from its performance in the plot, the power of this weapon was really not very impressive.

For some unknown reason, the weapons carried on the Prometheus weren't very powerful. Even the electromagnetic rifles couldn't inflict serious damage on crew members who had been parasitized.

With Ethan and their current physical strength, even a direct hit from this weapon wouldn't cause any serious harm.

Something so insignificant to Ethan, something he didn't even take seriously, was the only thing Meredith could rely on at the moment.

To have it so easily taken away by the other party using such magical means, at this moment she finally understood why David had told her that these people were not from Earth. This was definitely not an ability Earthlings possessed.

"Are you... are you the 'Engineer'?"

"The Engineer?" Ethan shook his head. "No, there's quite a big difference between me and those guys. You'll know when you see them."

"You mean, there really are... on this planet..."

The Engineers were their true target for this trip. It was just that Elizabeth Shaw and the group of scientists wanted to explore the origin of humanity, while Meredith and Peter Weyland had other, more personal ideas.

"Yes, there are surviving Engineers on the planet you're going to." After fiddling with the electromagnetic pistol for a few moments, Ethan offered Meredith a suggestion. "You can wake up Peter Weyland as soon as the ship lands. Doesn't he want to meet the creators of humanity?"

Even without careful observation, Meredith could sense the strong tone of mockery in Ethan's words.

Just then, the ship emitted a notification sound, informing everyone that they were about to arrive at their destination, the planet where the Engineers were located.

This meant the story was officially about to begin.

Looking at Ethan, who was still toying with the electromagnetic pistol in front of her, Meredith thought for a long time and realized that, just as the other party had said, she truly had no choice. No matter what Ethan wanted to do, she was powerless to stop him.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 518: Security Chief Ethan

With no other choice, Meredith could only agree.

Fortunately, Ethan's request was not something she couldn't accept. They just wanted to join the team under the title of security consultants.

Although the Prometheus wasn't a large spaceship, adding just four people wouldn't affect anything.

Moreover, after Meredith agreed, what Ethan said made her a little uneasy.

"Congratulations on making the right choice. Perhaps you can avoid that unfortunate ending because of this."

Speaking of Meredith's fate in the original plot, it felt like the actress had suddenly offended the director halfway through filming, and the director just wrote her off.

Her death was sudden and incredibly anticlimactic, crushed very, very, very slowly by the alien spacecraft that the Prometheus had knocked down.

In contrast, the female protagonist, Elizabeth Shaw, who sought death constantly, somehow survived until the end, which only makes one marvel at the power of the protagonist's halo.

Of course, even surviving until the end wasn't necessarily a good thing. From subsequent works, it is clear that Elizabeth's fate was far more tragic than her companions who died on this planet.

Meredith looked at Ethan a few more times. She wasn't sure if Ethan had just said that casually or if he was serious. She could only push that question aside for now and start having David make some arrangements.

"Assign an identity to these guests, and also... wake everyone up."

The Prometheus had already reached its destination, and the scientists on board should be coming out of stasis.

Although, at the current distance, the Prometheus still needed to fly for a few more days in space to truly arrive, it also takes several days to recover from stasis to a normal state. This period would allow everyone to recover. Otherwise, everyone would just be waking up from stasis and unable to do anything in that physical condition.

Ethan didn't go anywhere. He just sat on the sofa, while Maria Hill followed behind David, observing everything David was doing.

David thought Hill was monitoring him, and even Meredith thought so. In reality, Hill was just observing David's use of the various facilities on the ship and learning about the ship itself.

Ada was doing something similar, but Ada preferred to move around on her own. Aside from standing quietly nearby during conversations, Meredith hadn't seen that woman.

As for Logan, the burly man Meredith saw as the most intimidating, he always held a glass of wine and quietly stayed in some corner.

Looking around, it seemed only Ethan was available for conversation, but after talking for a long time just now, not only had she not resolved the various questions in her mind, but she had accumulated even more questions.

She wanted to be alone for a bit and also observe what this group of people, led by Ethan, intended to do.

Before that, she would just treat Ethan as a real crew member, after all, that was what Ethan had requested.

After the scientists on the ship were awakened, everyone was in a relatively weak and uncomfortable state. They needed some time and exercise to recover, and their diet was also restricted. They had to eat liquid food for a few days.

After everyone's spirits had recovered slightly, Meredith gathered everyone for a simple meeting.

Before this meeting, Ethan and the others hadn't interacted much with these scientists. They had just moved around the ship freely like everyone else, so the scientists knew of Ethan's existence and assumed they had been recruited by Weyland Corporation just like themselves.

Captain Janek was the first to notice something was wrong. As the captain of the Prometheus, he had the information on all crew members, but he had no idea about the identities of Ethan and the others.

To resolve this issue, Meredith had to personally talk to Captain Janek.

"Things have changed, Janek."

"This has nothing to do with things changing. What I care about is why there are suddenly passengers on board whose background I know nothing about."

Ethan could understand Janek's anger. As the captain, not knowing who was on his ship would make anyone angry.

"I understand your anger, Captain Janek, but our presence will definitely be a fortunate thing for you."

"Oh? Is that so?" Janek glanced at the young Ethan, then at Logan not far away. "Why do I feel like you're going to be trouble?"

Ethan smiled and stood up, gently patting Captain Janek's shoulder. "I will prove how wildly wrong your feeling is."

"I look forward to it."

Regardless, although Janek was the captain of the Prometheus, he was essentially still an employee. This ship belonged to Weyland Corporation, and he was just hired to command and pilot it.

Even though they were in space far from Earth, and Meredith Vickers was here as the full representative of Weyland Corporation, he could only tolerate it no matter how dissatisfied he was.

After reluctantly resolving Janek's issue, Meredith gathered everyone for a meeting, but this time the pre-prepared Weyland video wasn't played because Ethan had clearly told Meredith there was no need for it anymore. He would have David wake Weyland up as soon as the ship landed.

Even though David's task was to first confirm the existence or survival of the Engineers before waking Weyland, since he couldn't resist Ethan, he could only choose to follow Ethan's instructions.

During the meeting, Ethan stood to the side. At this point, their identities had become security consultants.

"Security consultants?"

They had originally thought that Ethan, Ada, and the others were experts in certain fields, just like themselves, which was why they were recruited by Weyland Corporation and joined this mission. They hadn't expected these few to be security consultants.

In some activities, so-called security consultants are actually bodyguards. These people generally have rich military experience, and to some smart people, they are just a group of lower beings who only know how to use force and not think.

Ethan could sense that the attitude of a few people towards them had subtly changed. They didn't think highly of them but weren't going to offend them.

The most extreme was the protagonist, Elizabeth Shaw, who displayed her disdain for Ethan and the others without any cover up.

"This is a scientific expedition. We don't need any security consultants."

The Prometheus already had security experts. These guys were now under Ethan's command, although the original chief security consultant, a man named Jackson, didn't even understand what was happening.

Ethan didn't respond to Elizabeth's behavior, just looked at the woman with the expression one would use for an idiot. And this woman was clearly someone living in her own world. She didn't notice Ethan's contempt at all and excitedly educated the scientists present about her findings.

Her husband, Charlie, did realize something was amiss, but his pride as a scientist prevented him from taking these matters to heart.

Deep down, he felt that this mission would not be dangerous at all and that security consultants were completely unnecessary.

Once this mission was over, he would have no further interaction with these security personnel anyway, so why bother caring about their feelings?

The introductory meeting ended in such an awkward atmosphere. Ethan didn't go back to Meredith to freeload on food and drinks because Meredith had already arranged dedicated cabins for them.

During this time, they lived like ordinary crew members on the Prometheus.

Apart from Ada and Hill attracting some excessive attention due to their appearance, Ethan and Logan weren't noticed by anyone.

At most, Jackson would often chat with them and complain about how those scientists always looked at people with an expression like, "you are all mentally retarded."

"Don't bother with those idiots. It won't be long before reality proves who the real idiots are."

Perhaps it was Ethan's casual remark that earned Jackson's approval. Subsequently, Ethan smoothly became the head of security on the Prometheus. Even when Ethan told the few security consultants to organize their weapons when they were bored, they obediently did so.

"It's probably related to Meredith."

These people might not be as intelligent as the scientists, but in terms of social intelligence, they were all experts. Upon realizing that Ethan could directly communicate with Meredith, the person in charge, and that Meredith had to be polite when facing Ethan, they decisively chose to yield.

"They are much stronger than that idiot Elizabeth."

Amidst Ethan's complaints, the Prometheus arrived at its destination and began preparing to land.

Everything that happened next was no different from the plot. After the Prometheus entered the planet's atmosphere, Charlie Holloway quickly discovered the temple-like structure, leading Captain Janek to choose to land nearby.

Ethan did not interfere with the plot's development from beginning to end. Only Ada and Hill wore special glasses, recording the Prometheus's cockpit and the specific operational procedures.

With their specially trained memory, their continuous observation from the side during this time had already allowed them to memorize the ship's operational methods.

Recording the operational details was just to help Tony modify the ship later and also to make it easier for others to learn, which is why they insisted on secretly filming.

After the Prometheus officially landed, Charlie, just like in the original plot, requested the expedition team to put on their gear and set out to explore the building ahead.

But this time, Ethan did not let things continue according to the original plot.

"Wait, there are other things to do before that." He first stopped Captain Janek, who was preparing the search team, and ignored the displeased Charlie and Elizabeth, turning to face David. "It's time to wake up Peter Weyland."

(To be continued.)