There is an unspoken rule among space travelers: a rule never mentioned, for fear of being considered superstitious--never rescue the stranded astronaut.

This strange cautious tale began a few decades earlier, when humanity was taking it's first tentative steps into deep space. Aboard one of the many research vessels sent out into the galaxy in search of viable life-supporting planets, a ship engineer is working to repair a minor hull breach that happened during an asteroid collision. One of the crew members inside accidentally cuts off the engineers life support and communications, effectively silencing him and sentencing him to a slow death by asphyxiation. His vengeful spirit returns, still trapped in the spacesuit, and kills the crew. His suit continues to float through the void, preying on any space travelers foolish enough to bring him aboard.

The truth is less dramatic, but far more sinister. The engineer actually patches the hull breach unscathed, and returns inside the ship. After removing his helmet, he notices a small object had managed to penetrate the hull completely. Unknown to him, the object contains an small, highly conformable silicon based organism which was in a dormant state.

One cannot say whether or not the simple minded creature's actions thereafter were driven by pure instinct or some intelligence inconceivable to our kind. All that is known is that the creature inhabits the doomed soul's corpse and suit as a ambulatory vehicle, and uses it to kill and consume any carbon-based lifeforms in the vicinity. Similar to some sea snails which inhabits a shell, and extend their entire body in order to feed. It returns to a dormant state in between feedings.

As the legend goes, never rescue the stranded astronaut.

I made this custom with NECA's compression suit Ripley, sculpt, and a skull.