Jessica's feet made a strange, sticky sound against the metallic floor as she led Kevin and Salina deeper into the alien ship. The corridors twisted at unnatural angles, bathed in an eerie blue-green light that made her skin look sickly and foreign. Her enhanced senses picked up a faint, acrid smell that grew stronger with each turn.

  "Does anyone else smell that?" she whispered, wrinkling her nose.

  Kevin sniffed the air. "Smells like a chemistry lab gone wrong."

  "More like death," Salina muttered, tugging her black jacket tighter around her shoulders. "We shouldn't be going toward it."

  But they were. Something about that smell pulled at Jessica's new instincts, as if her werewolf senses were trying to tell her something important. The corridor widened suddenly, opening into a vast chamber that stole the breath from her lungs.

  "Oh my god," Kevin whispered.

  Jessica froze, her body going rigid at the sight before them. The laboratory—because that's clearly what it was—stretched out like something from a nightmare. Harsh, flickering lights cast grotesque shadows across sleek metal surfaces. Strange machines hummed and pulsed with an alien rhythm. Glass tanks lined the walls, filled with bubbling liquids in unnatural shades of purple and green.

  But it was what lay at the center of the room that made Jessica's stomach lurch.

  A naked man—unmistakably human—suspended inside a large transparent chamber. Tubes and wires snaked into his body at dozens of points, pumping him full of viscous purple fluid. His skin changed, patches turning a sickly lavender while others remained human. His eyes were open, unseeing, his mouth frozen in a silent scream.

  "I know him," Jessica whispered, the words sticking in her throat. "That's Jack Pine the hiker. My dad used to talk to him a lot at the O'Malley's bar in downtown.”

  Salina gripped Jessica's arm, her nails digging in. "Is he...?"

  "He's still alive," Kevin said, his voice hollow with horror. "Look at the monitors."

  A series of screens displayed alien symbols and what looked like vital signs—jagged lines pulsing across dark backgrounds. The symbols meant nothing to Jessica, but the intent was clear enough. This wasn't just torture; it was transformation.

  "I think they are turning him," Jessica said. The realization hit her like a physical blow. "Into a… Purple Man.”

  Kevin moved closer to one screen, his face lit by its sickly glow. "It's not just physical transformation. Look at this." He pointed to a pattern that pulsed in time with what must have been Pete's brain waves. "They're rewriting his neural pathways. Erasing who he was."

  "They're stealing people," Salina whispered. "To turn them into their own kind.”

  “But why?” Jessica asked. “Why are they doing this?”

  Kevin narrowed his eyes at the screen. “Perhaps that is how they procreate. They need to assimilate other species to exist like a virus.”

  “Geez, talk about Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” Salina added.

  Jessica’s skin crawled. More like werewolves from outer space.

  She took a step toward the containment chamber, some irrational part of her wanting to break it open, to save the man inside. But even as she moved, she knew it was too late. The Jack Pine who her dad knew was gone.

  The man in the chamber convulsed suddenly, his back arching at an impossible angle. The purple fluid pumped faster, and before their horrified eyes, his skin began to ripple and change more rapidly. The purple spread like spilled ink across his body.

  "We have to get out of here," Kevin said, backing away. "There's nothing we can do for him."

  "No," Jessica growled, surprised by the ferocity in her own voice. "We need to understand what we're dealing with. Because this?" She gestured at the horrific scene before them. "What if they planned to turn more people into that thing? What if this is only the beginning of an invasion?”

  Salina moved to another console, running her fingers just above its surface. "These readings... I think they're cataloging humans. Different physiologies, different... outcomes." She pointed to a series of images that flashed across a nearby screen—faces, human faces, some Jessica recognized from town. "They're rounding up test subjects."

  Kevin's breath hitched. "Then that means—"

  "We were next," Jessica finished for him. "Probably still are."

  The realization hung between them, heavy as lead. They weren't just random targets; they were specimens, carefully selected for whatever twisted purpose drove these aliens.

  Jessica's gaze drifted back to Jack. His transformation had sped up, his features now barely recognizable beneath the purple flesh that engulfed him. His fingers had fused together, forming into rubbery appendages. Whatever was happening to him was irreversible.

  Stolen story; please report.

  "There's no way back from this," she whispered. "Once they start the process, that's it."

  Kevin swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. "So what do we do? We can't fight an entire ship of these things."

  A familiar feeling bubbled up in Jessica's chest—the same fierce protectiveness she'd felt when she fought each monster that tried to harm her friends. "Maybe we can't save Jack," she said, "but we can stop them from taking anyone else."

  Salina's eyes narrowed. "You're suggesting sabotage."

  "I'm suggesting we blow this entire ship to kingdom come, if that's what it takes." Jessica could feel the wolf inside her stirring at the thought, hungry for action, for retribution.

  "Using what, exactly?" Kevin asked, though Jessica could tell from his tone that he was already running calculations in his head. "I doubt these aliens keep convenient explosives lying around labeled 'In Case of Human Resistance.'"

  Jessica gestured at the surrounding laboratory. "They've got enough chemicals and weird tech in here to cause some damage. Between your brain and Salina's magical knowledge.”

  "Correct," Salina supplied with a small smile.

  Jessica giggled. “Yup. We can totally do this together.”

  A sudden movement caught her eye. On one screen, a new image appeared—a map of Moon Valley, with pulsing dots scattered throughout. Homes. Businesses. The school.

  "Target acquisition zones," Kevin murmured, leaning in. "They're planning systematic abductions."

  Jessica's heart hammered against her ribs. "When?"

  Kevin tapped at the symbols. "I can't read their language, but this sequence here... it looks like a countdown. And it's not long."

  A low, pained moan drew their attention back to Jack. His transformation was nearly complete now, his humanity eaten away by alien technology. His skin had hardened into the rubbery purple shell, his features smoothed into the eerily blank face of a Purple Man.

  "I think I'm gonna be sick," Salina whispered, turning away from the sight.

  Jessica couldn't look away, though. She watched as the last traces of Jack vanished, consumed by this alien infection. In his place stood something else—something no longer human, no longer individual. Just a Purple Man, a mindless drone in this invasion force.

  "Is that what I would look like?" she whispered, more to herself than to her friends. “If I had stayed in the tank longer?”

  Kevin's hand found her shoulder, squeezing gently. "You’re still you, Jessica." He nodded toward the creature that had once been Jack. "What happened to him will not happen to you.”

  "Kevin is right," Salina added. "You broke free before they could change you. The only thing we need to worry about is ending this madness.”

  Jessica nodded, drawing strength from their words. Unlike Jack, she hadn't lost herself when she changed a little. The alien goo inside the tank probably didn't affect her because the wolf inside her protected her. She still had choices, still had agency.

  The contrast crystallized something in her mind. After her transformation and slaying the beast who had cursed her, Salina gave her a potion to help her control her curse. Standing here, witnessing the aliens' cold, systematic destruction of human identity, made her feel lucky her inner wolf didn’t consume her. She was still herself with her friends, her memories, and her will.

  “So, how can we totally stop them?” Jessica asked.

  Kevin rubbed his chin. "This ship must have a power source of some kind. If we can find it, we could overload it.”

  "Or the navigation system," Salina suggested. "Send it somewhere it can't hurt anyone."

  "Or maybe there's a control center? Something directing all of this?" Jessica suggested.

  Before either of her friends could respond, a mechanical hiss sounded from across the laboratory. A door they hadn't noticed before slid open, revealing the silhouette of a tall, purple figure.

  Jessica grabbed Kevin and Salina, pulling them behind a bank of equipment. They crouched low, barely breathing, as the creature entered the lab. It moved with precision to the containment chamber and tapped a sequence on a nearby panel. The chamber opened with a whoosh of pressurized air, and the newly transformed Jack stepped out.

  The two naked bald creatures were alike in appearance: they both had lean, muscular bodies covered in purple, rubbery skin, and their open mouths revealed fangs beneath yellow eyes.

  The original Purple Man made a series of clicking sounds, which Jack mimicked perfectly. There was no recognition in his movements, no hint of the human he'd been just minutes before. He followed the other creature toward the exit, each step in perfect synchronization.

  They waited until the footsteps of the Purple Men faded before emerging from their hiding place. The laboratory, horrific as it was, had given them something crucial—a clear goal. Jessica glanced back at the now-empty containment chamber, thinking of Jack and the jokes he had told her once. A fun memory, now erased from the universe.

  "Let’s find the core and blow it straight to hell," she whispered. “For Jack.”

  "And everyone else they've taken," Kevin added.

  Salina's lips curved into a grim smile. "And everyone they're planning to take."

  Jessica led the way toward the door, her werewolf senses alert for any sign of danger. The acrid smell was stronger now, mingled with something new—the ozone tang of raw energy. They tiptoed into the corridor beyond, following the steady pulse of blue light that beckoned from the heart of the alien ship.

  Behind them, the laboratory continued its silent, terrible work—screens flashing with the faces of potential victims, tanks bubbling with the fluid that erased humanity. But Jessica didn't look back. Her focus was forward now, on the core, on the mission.

  They would stop this. They had to.

  Because the alternative was unthinkable.

  Kevin paused as they approached a doorway, his expression troubled. "You know," he whispered, "all my life I've dreamed about aliens. About making first contact, discovering new technologies, expanding human knowledge." He gestured at the surrounding walls. "This wasn't what I had in mind."

  "Reality rarely lives up to fantasy," Salina said, but her voice was gentle. "Especially when the fantasy involves benevolent space brothers."

  Jessica nodded toward the pulsing blue light ahead. "Well, maybe you can channel some of that disappointment into figuring out how to blow this thing up."

  Kevin's smile was thin but determined. "Disappointment can be a powerful motivator."

  They fell silent as they entered another corridor. Jessica paused, taking a deep breath before leading her friends forward into the heart of the alien vessel. Whatever lay ahead, they would face it together. They had no choice.

  Because back in that laboratory, they'd seen the future the Purple Men had planned—a future where humanity was systematically erased, replaced by mindless drones. And Jessica had no intention of letting that future come to pass.

  Not while she still had teeth to bare and claws to unsheathe. Not while she still had the power to fight back.