From: Montague_Kevin@Tandem.com (Kevvy Kev)
Subject: Re: Alien biology
Organization: In Effect Enterprises
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 21:22:30 GMT

In article <74290@hydra.gatech.EDU>, ccoprdj@prism.gatech.EDU (Jorge Diaz) writes:

[snip]

> >> *>I think this
> >> *>can be explained if we remember that the first Alien knew it was alone, out
> >> *>of touch -- possibly forever -- with its Queen, while those in A2 were in a
> >> *>hive and under the Queen's control.
> 
> >> This is where I disagree with you.  We have no reason to believe that the
> >> Queen actually controls the Aliens.  I don't know if this is speculation on
> >> your part, or if you got this from the comics, but I'm sticking to my guns
> >> here.  There's just no 'canonical' reason to assume that this is true.
> 
> >Wrong wrong wrong wrong.  And you know better, J: we've had this discussion.
> >In that famous scene where we first see the Queen, she clearly communicates
> >with the Aliens that go after Ripley and Newt.  She hisses at them, and "tells"
> >them to back off. Implicit in the whole society Cameron sets up is a central,
> >controlling "Queen" character.  This is overt in the movie.  
> 
> Ah, but I believe there is a big difference between "communicates with" and
> "controls".  Maybe it's just me.  I have no problem with thinking of the
> Queen as the ruler of the hive, and all the Aliens obey her.  But *control*?
> That's going a little too far, IMHO.

Why?  If she tells them to do something, and they do it, then yes, Virginia,
she's controlling them.  Maybe we mean different things when we say "control,"
let me be more clear: controls them the way a sarge controls his troops, or a
momma her children.  Clear?  Again, I think the movie, and in fact all other
canonical/noncanonical materials support this.  (Remember, we're trying to
build a universe here.  Let's try and agree on the things that make the most
sense. . .of course we could postulate scenarios contrary, but I think we 
should take the path of least resistance.  Unless there's an easier, or more
logical path, I'm not seeing.)

[snip, does the Alien eat (we don't see it happen)]

Again, we have to draw from non-canon materials for "evidence," but that's 
okay, for the purposes of this discussion.  In both books, we Do see the 
bugs eating.  In the first it eats the ship's stores, in the second, I believe
they eat the livestock that they don't use for gestation, as well as food from
the colony.  Again, this is a relatively painless assumption, because (a) it 
doesn't contradict any of the canonical, or on-screen material, and (b) it 
makes sense. It's worth pointing out that this was thrashed out awhile back as 
well, and the end result was that your comment about eating the ship is not so 
ridiculous after all: someone pointed out that a creature with "acid" for blood
would have little problem digesting Anything.  

> >Again, we see the Queen controlling two of her "children," in the egg-chamber
> >scene.
> 
> Again, we see her communicating.  Unless the "children" you refer to are the
> f'hugger?  I don't think she "controlled" that hugger to come out of the pod.
> I think it sensed a possible host nearby and it came out.  There's no doubt
> in my mind that she was indeed communicating with the two Aliens that were
> coming at Ripley and Newt, but again, there's a difference between
> "communicating with" or even "ordering" and actual "control".  Even with an
> order, you can always disobey.

See above. However, let's bring in that wretched third movie here (oblig. slam)
because I think there's a good point to be made: was the Alien at the end 
willing to kill Ripley?  Puts a different spin on things.

[Snip, is intelligence genetic. . .still looking into it]

> >> It's logical to assume that the possibility exists
> >> that one facehugger can plant two embryos, or even that one egg can hold
> >> two distinct facehuggers.  Not enough evidence.
> 
> >No it's not, sorry.  It would be an after-the fact patch, and if we're 
> >speculating, we can do better.
> 
> It's not, sorry, what?  It's not logical to assume that the *possibility*
> exists?  I think it is.  I can't think of any reason to specifically
> exclude the possibility, and we are just speculating, right? ;-)
> 
> I'm not saying that it's the right answer, or that it's even a good answer.
> I'm just saying that it is *possible*.

And I'm saying, we can do better.  If you think about it, this is a knee-jerk
response, that sounds like cheating.  We can do better than say, "Oh, the 
numbers don't work out?  Then they must be able to implant multiple embryos."
It's as logical to assume they Could have a yen for chocolate, and this is
why they backed off from the autogunners in the tunnel; however we can do 
better, in thinking up a coherent lifecycle as applies to the events we've
seen on screen. Sorry if this wasn't clear.  See below, for more on this.

> >Yeah. . .like a dog-alien that sees in ROYGBIV.  Bleaghhh. . .
>                                         ^^^^^^^
> You got me.  What's that?

Shorthand for visible light.  Another obligatory slam at A3, in which our
"perfect" killing machine relies on the same perceptual tools we astigmatic 
humans use.  Ugh.

> >Things we haven't considered:
> >The "queen f'hugger"
> >The derelict ship, and it's pilot
> >The thousands of eggs in the derelict, and their size
> >I've seen the picture of Dallas turning into an egg.  The result was huge,
> >much bigger than any other pod we see.  The Queen f'hugger was huge, as well.
> >Get it?
> >Bottom line: we could take all of the info, including all the cut info, and
> >come up with a consistent lifecycle/bio for the bugs.  This guy's on the 
> >right track, I think.  Jorge, you up for this?  
> 
> Sure, why not?

Okay, how's this: the alien in the first was a drone that used whatever means
(help me out here) to turn Brett into an egg, and cocooned Dallas as the next
host. It then went through the ship, killed the others it ran into, and 
crawled into the shuttle to die. . .a consequence of its work on Dallas and
Brett.  The egg that Brett turned into was Huge, *much* bigger than any other
we see.  The superduper queen f'hugger seen in Fangoria and in outtakes from
A3 was Huge; obviously it came from a Huge pod; obviously from a host that 
had been transformed into an egg.  Conclusion: the drones can transform a host
into a queen egg, which releases a queen f'hugger; the Only kind that can
transform into a queen.  The queen then (remember, queens are bigger faster and
meaner than drones) cocoons any number of hosts, and lays eggs, and we're off
to the races.  
NOW:
What was that blue film over the eggs in the first movie?  What happened to
the alien that gestated inside of the pilot?  And why didn't the colony pick
up on the warning beacon from the derelict, either before, or during their 
occupancy of Acheron?

Kevvy Kev
(. . .We're only guessing.  We aren't dealing with reality.)
 -Lance "William Blake?" Smith