The Xenomorph Defendant

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Plot Summary:

Act 1: The Xenomorph Queen, a massive insect-like creature capable of producing powerful acidic saliva, is held in captivity by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation for research. She is the leader of a hive of xenomorphs, which had hunted down and captured humans to serve as hosts for their parasitic larval stage known as facehuggers. Despite her obvious intelligence and ability to communicate, the Queen is treated as a mere animal by Weyland-Yutani, who seeks to establish legal ownership over the xenomorph species.

A sympathetic researcher, who has suffered personal losses of her own, discovers the Queen's language abilities and informs the Queen that she has a right to legal counsel. A young public defender named Liam Archer is assigned to the Queen's case, tasked with proving if xenomorphs are sentient and therefore have a right to legal representation.

Liam's boss assigns him the case because all the other attorneys have reputations to uphold and Liam has a reputation for losing so his reputation can't get tarnished. Liam is initially conflicted about defending the creature, as he lost a close cousin to a xenomorph attack, leaving him biased against the species. Liam's boss recognizes Liam's reluctance based on his history but tells Liam as a public defender he's not always going to be defending the dream of every defense attorney - the wrongfully accused innocent person. Most clients are guilty and to succeed, Liam needs to separate his personal feelings from him professionalism.

Act 2a (First Half): As Liam delves deeper into the Queen's case, he begins to develop an unlikely attraction to her. Their bond forms primarily through intellectual communication, as Liam is drawn to her obvious intelligence. To prove the Queen's sentience, Liam must find the only known living survivor of the LV-426 incident - the android Bishop. Liam's investigation uncovers the fact that Weyland-Yutani knows the xenomorphs are sentient but needs them classified as non-sentient to circumvent regulations forbidding the use of sentient beings as research test subjects. The valuable military research Weyland-Yutani has gathered so far will belong to the Queen if they lose.

Liam's relationship with the Queen deepens as he comes to see her as an intelligent and caring individual, rather than a mindless killing machine. Meanwhile, the bored prosecuting attorney, Evelyn Hargrove, flirts with Liam, driven by sexual boredom on the sparsely populated DSRV-3. Evelyn also lives a lavish lifestyle and needs the big bonus for winning that Weyland-Yutani will pay on top of her large salary.

Act 2b (Second Half): Liam presents his findings in court, arguing that the collective intelligence of the xenomorph hive is equivalent to the brain centers that make up individual sentience. His argument draws on the precedent set by the sentient alien race of crickets known as the Keplerians. Evelyn Hargrove, the ruthless prosecutor, fights back fiercely, determined to maintain Weyland-Yutani's control over the xenomorphs and to hurt Liam for spurning her romantic advances. Liam manages to locate the remains of the android Bishop in a waste reclamation bin on another DSRV. Weyland-Yutani classified him as destroyed which means, legally, he is a non-entity. Unless Liam can get the categorization reversed, Bishops testimony is only considered evidence equivalent to photos and videos.

Act 3: In a dramatic courtroom showdown, Liam presents Bishop's testimony. The truth about the events on LV-426 are that the Xenomorphs were acting in self-defense, and Weyland-Yutani's actions were responsible for the loss of life in every recorded encounter with Xenomorphs. The Queen, and xenomorphs, are innocent. The Queen is granted the legal status of sentient being with all the legal rights that entails.

The story ends on a happy note, with Liam winning the biggest case of his career, securing a place in legal history, and solidifying his relationship with the Queen. The Queen countersues Weyland-Yutani for the death of her brood and destruction of her hive. As the legal representative of xenomorphs, she demands that LV-426 be declared off-limits to all humans, except for one - her lover, Liam.

To test the latest version of the PBN guide, I developed a throwaway idea for a story in genres I don't write in. This ensured I was forced to use what the prompts generated. This is a more complex version of the idea - and output - you see in the videos. More characters, more challenges, and multiple subplots and character arcs.

If you like the idea, take it and make it your own as a work of fanfiction.