The scene changed, and I struck the ground hard from an explosion; my weapon flew from my hands. Instead of an Insectoid, I felt the weight of another human on me, desperately trying to pull the helmet from my Exo-suit. He pinned me down, but I managed to draw my knife and bury it deep into his unarmoured Bio-suit. He stumbled back, screaming in pain before I finished him off.
“There are no aliens on Big Red, Darren. Just humans killing humans, the way it’s always been. We created this narrative to make it easier for you. To help you adapt. We dehumanised the enemy so you wouldn’t feel guilt or pain and could return to Kat and Louise without all the baggage from the things you’ve done. We wanted to spare you that, Darren.”
“Humans?” I said, desperately trying to process what I had done.
