In reality, it began seven years earlier.

Earth 2017

The quiet calm of the forest surrounded me; birdsong, wind in the trees and that soft scent of rich earth. I’d come here to escape, to get away. From myself as much as the people around me. Lying down on moss and pine needles, watching the clouds pass by and trying to let go of all the pain inside. Life fucking sucked.

Out here I could forget everything and just let the world pass me by. No mocking peers, overbearing parents, human responsibilities. It was nice. Peaceful. It wouldn’t last though, eventually I’d need to return to that world I hated, but for now I could just lose myself here.

The streak of fire in the sky caught my eye. A plane? It seemed close and was moving fast, plummeting towards the ground with reckless abandon. Passing below the treeline beyond, I heard the crash.

Without thinking, I leapt to my feet and ran towards the site of the crash. There was an hour’s walk of deep forest between here and the nearest road, and if there were any survivors I was likely their only chance of making it out alive. Blood pounded in my ears, I focused on the run. One foot after the other, branches whipping past dangerously and I tried not to think about the other possibilities of what I might find there.

It definitely wasn’t a plane. Fire burned around the crashed craft which could only be described as an alien spacecraft. Organic metal flowing in the form of something not unlike a manta ray, sleek and black. Too much greenery for the fire to spread too much, it must’ve rained not too long ago. Good, one less thing to worry about. The front of the ship was open, a crumpled form leaning along the rim.

I rushed over, realizing as I went, that whatever was piloting the ship was not human. Skin a deep umber, head too small and strange, spindly limbs. “Hey, are you okay?” It was a stupid question, I knew, but I wasn’t sure what else to say. No response, not even movement. Hesitantly, I reached out to them, only to find them limp and cold. I recoiled in shock, just as it hit me that this was an alien.

Shit, I should be freaking out more. Where’s the military? Surely they’d be all over something like this, wanting to cover it up. Did I hear something in the distance or was that just my imagination? It didn’t matter, I climbed into the cockpit to see if there was anyone else in here, calling out again for good measure. This ship was big enough it could’ve had a good five or six people inside. Something slick brushed against my hand and I jumped.

A large slug sat on the back of the dead alien’s neck. It had reached out to me with one of several tentacle appendages. What looked to be eye stems were watching me with an uncanny intelligence and it beckoned again. Hesitantly I touched the creature and felt a zap of static.

I was overcome with a rush of thoughts and feelings. Pain at the body it lost, an impossible request, fear of death, greater fear of something else. A symbiote. A creature that bonds with a host body and takes control. Imminent danger. The feeling of being hunted.

“Take my body, bond with me.” It was impulsive, but I’d come to the forest to escape. It hadn’t asked, only explained what it was. I’d wanted to die, to leave it all behind. So much pain. I hated the way people treated me, the roles I was forced to play in this fucked up farce of a world. I hated my body as well, having never really felt at home in my skin. It could have it, if it meant that I didn’t need to be that person anymore.

It hesitated, before crawling up my arm and around to the back of my neck. Through contact it continued to communicate with me. Bonding with a sentient creature was considered taboo, taking away a being’s free will an unforgivable crime. But it also seemed to feel my pain, perhaps this would be for the best after all. It wanted to live, and for that it needed a host.

Pins and needles around my neck and shoulders as it attached to me. Run. It instructed and I obeyed, the creature still afraid of whatever had caused it’s crash landing. Call me Rar’ir. Logan, I thought back, realizing that it - Rar’ir - was able to feel the things he thought. 

“Do you know what’s after you?” I inquired, curious more than fearful. Perhaps I still hadn’t fully grasped the gravitas of the situation. The tingling on my neck was increasing, it was becoming less pins and needles and closer to daggers and swords. Around his shoulders, it was becoming numb.

Hunters, they don’t like who we are. Us... symbiotes aren’t always thought of fondly. You should find shelter soon, the bonding process can be uncomfortable. Sorry, I should have told you that before you agreed.

I felt genuine concern, with a little bit of regret mixed in. Rar’ir’s emotions starting to bleed into my own. Usually I should’ve started getting tired by now, but I kept running regardless. “It’s fine, what about the ship though?” If nothing else it would stick out, perhaps give the hunters a lead.

She will hide when she recovers from the crash.

“She?” I know that some people refer to their vehicles as female, but this seemed different.

Yes, my ship is alive. The crash injured her, but with time she’ll be well enough again to fly.

We were approaching the edge of the woods already, I’d lost track of how long I’d been running. Home wasn’t too far, probably a good idea to slow down as to not draw attention to myself. My legs slowly responding to my thought, feeling distant. Sorry, I didn’t realize I was taking control already. Ah, that explained it, feeling snapping back to me. The rest of the trip home was taken more slowly and we arrived late afternoon, still long before anyone would’ve missed me.

“So what’s going to happen with this bond thing?” Nobody was home yet, parents still at work and likely wouldn’t be back for another hour.

Honestly, I’m not sure. We tend to only bond with bioengineered hosts created specifically for us. From what I remember, it will take a day or two for the initial process of attachment which is what you’re feeling now. Over time your - now our body will adapt as we need it to survive.

“What do you mean, adapt?” I was wondering if I’d be growing extra limbs or getting horns. Horns would be cool.

Hahaha, no horns. I don’t know what it’ll mean since we don’t tend to bond with sentient creatures, and I doubt any of us have bonded with a human. What it means changes depending on who or what we bond with… I think it will mostly be sensory changes, or strength. 

I thought back to what I’d said earlier, in the heat of the moment I’d offered my body to this creature and started to worry what that meant. “So what now?” I asked nervously as I found something to eat, the long run finally catching up on me.

I was afraid to die, I should have bonded with some of the local fauna instead of putting this on you, sorry. Shame, embarrassment.

“Don’t worry about it, I don’t really have a lot here for me.”

You feel hurt, what happened?

It was jarring to have Rar’ir open to all his thoughts, emotions. “I hate this world, this shitty life I have. Everyone expects things of me, and I’m pretending to be someone else; the person everyone wants me to be.” My throat tightened in that way before the tears might come if I could bring myself to cry. Thoughts of suicide passed through my mind, and again I roughly shoved them to the side. “So yeah, I don’t know what it means for me, but you can have this body if you want it. Fuck all it’s done me.”

We do not take hosts from sapient races because the idea of taking away free will is abhorrent to us, yet you offer this freely. This isn’t something I fully understand, but with your permission I would like to return to my people if possible. I have a duty there, which is unfulfilled.