Quinitricetyline

"I saw a drum of this stuff fall into a beachhead bunker once. The blast put a tug in dry dock for seventeen weeks. Great stuff!"

―David (from Alien³)

Quinitricetyline being poured out of a barrel.

Quinitricetyline (QTC) is a toxic and highly combustible chemical. Large amounts of quinitricetyline were stored at the abandoned Fiorina "Fury" 161 Class C Work Correctional Unit. The substance was incredibly volatile; David, an inmate at the prison, once commented that he saw a single barrel of the chemical fall into a bunker on a beach, with the resultant explosion damaging an offshore tugboat so severely it required 17 weeks in dry dock to repair.

History

Quinitricetyline in storage inside the prison.

Quinitricetyline was one of the few substances the inmates at the prison on Fiorina 161 had in great supply. When the Dragon began killing the inhabitants of the prison, the survivors attempted to use the quinitricetyline as fuel to create a fire that would hopefully drive the Xenomorph into a toxic waste containment unit; to this end, the inmates painted the quinitricetyline inside the air shafts in the surrounding area in the hopes of burning the Dragon out.

However, the Dragon attacked one of the prisoners, Frank, before the plan was ready to go. As he was killed, Frank dropped his detonator, triggering the explosion early and catching several prisoners in the chain reaction, killing them. The Dragon itself escaped back into the prison, and the plan was a failure.

Assembly Cut

In the Assembly Cut of the film, the quinitricetyline plan is actually a success, despite the premature detonation, when the fire drives the Dragon out of the vents and Junior gives his life to lure the creature into the waste tank. The Xenomorph is trapped, although it is later released by Golic, ultimately rendering the plan fruitless.

Trivia

• While quinitricetyline is an entirely fictional substance, its name suggests it is some form of hydrocarbon featuring nitrogen molecules in its structure. Its name and highly explosive nature bear obvious similarities to trinitrotoluene, more commonly known as TNT.

Appearances

• Alien³/novel/comic

Gallery

A prop plastic quintricetyline container.<ref>"Alien 3 Weyland Container original movie prop". Retrieved on August 30, 2014.

External links

• Alien 3 Weyland Container original movie prop