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Human colony ship drifting in space. The timing of this is not completely clear. They have no idea where they are or where they are going. They have no idea if they are truly alone in the universe, every star they have seen in the past months has shined so weak and dim it was impossible to see how old the light really is.
On a distant planet, the human colony has long since died. All of the structures in the colony must have been lost at some point in the past century. The colony was meant to be a sort of testing ground, but the council did not see any use for it themselves.
Somewhere along the way, a permanent army of alien soldiers was set up. The alien army, of course, doesn't know they are the army. Their lives are on the line, and the job they serve simply progresses their rank. They get to sleep in the barracks and eat at the mess hall. They are given weapons and little else. This is the level of life within the human colony.
I'm unsure where the humans sleep. There are no windows so that the alien invaders don't realize how small the human colony is. I imagine they sit in their beds, listening to all of the fidgeting around and random noises coming from outside their colony.
The war has been ongoing for nearly a century and the people on both sides have become accustomed to it. The aliens and the humans who support them are in a race to see who can finally come up with a fighting force that will bring this war to an end.
One of the aliens, known as the "Creeper", has become more and more frustrated with his life. He has worked a long time at getting his status as a supreme alien operative. rank. One day, a soldier walks by the creeper's barracks and the creeper attacks him, knocking him on the ground. He was severely injured in the attack, however, so they call it self-defense and give the creeper the soldier's spot.
This brings immense satisfaction for the creeper. He revels in his new title. He gets to spend more time in the barracks, but much less time idle or inactive. His rank has been elevated to the position of corporal. The corporal is a man with a name, not a number.
The doctor walks by the corporal's barracks and finds him, once again, on the floor and lets out a light chuckle before walking on. The corporal pretended that he was injured out of some intrinsic honor and dignity in himself. Out of simpatico, the other creeper's in the barracks tell the corporal a story of how they once saw a doctor type person at a local town.
The corporal spends a lot of time thinking. Of course, the story he has been told is almost definitely fake. A doctor would have no reason to come to such a filthy place, but it makes a good motivating example to the corporal. The creeper resolves to find this town and demand an explanation from the doctor.
One night, when the corporal is not sleeping, he goes on a walk to find some sort of evidence of the town. He is sure that the doctor is a clown who has a magnificent mask that allows him to interact with humans. There is no way they could possibly have a skill set that would interest someone of such high merit.
It is a long walk from the barracks to the town. The corporal must be careful to make sure that he is still within eyesight of the colony when he is nearing the town. He takes the long road up, along the mountainside, so he can see the colony in the distance. When he finally reaches the town, he sees no doctor types. In fact, there is no one in the town.
Confused about where this doctor went, the corporal sits on a bench and starts to feel anxious. He knows that he needs to leave quickly. He must get back to the barracks before the people in the colony look for him. He also knows that he must not show any sign of fear in the town. He can't let them see the shame when he tells them that he is from a colony.
The corporal cannot wait to get back to the colony. He finds a hiding spot behind some bushes and quickly warps back. He walks out, hands folded behind his back, smiling at the guard. He walks through the colony and stumbles into the barracks. The corporal rushes to the infirmary and everyone stares at him.
"This man needs medicine," the corporal says, the nervousness causing his voice to begin to shake. "He is injured. The doctor said I should bring him straight to the infirmary."
The doctor walks up to the corporal and looks into his eyes. The doctor then looks at the corporal's right hand and cocked his head in thought. He turns around and walks away. The corporal begins to frantically shift from one foot to the next.
"What did you see?" the corporal blurts. "What did the doctor say?"
The corporal backs up and turns to run from the infirmary. He collides into a wall and falls to the ground. He puts his hands in his hands and listens to the commotion behind him.
A few seconds later, he gets up and dashes out of the infirmary as he sees the doctor walking up to him. He runs back to the barracks and hides in the showers. He stays there until he hears the doctor calling for him. For him.
He has opened an infirmary, on the other side of the colony, and the doctor had called for his help. Without a second thought, the corporal walks to the infirmary. The doctor has an x-ray machine and puts it on the corporal's chest.
"You have a metal plate on your chest," the medic says.
The corporal blinks. "Yes, yes, I do."
"Hmm... It's folded. And it's jammed into your ribcage, so each time you breathe, it's expanding. I don't know how or why it was there, but it's fact. You have a metal plate in your chest."
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