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Scientific Integrity

Assistant Xenobiologist Qz leaned closer to the clear wall of the containment chamber, almost brushing it with xer long, narrow snout. The newly captured alien specimen within stirred, turning its two parallel eyes down at xer. Qz's antennae lifted slightly in fascination. Xer round, stout Zginian body with its four stubby limbs beneath it did not reach even half the height of this impossibly lanky, strangly smooth, and — most interestingly — bipedal creature. The containment chamber, built outsized for capacity, was just tall enough for the specimen to stand erect.

"Where did you obtain this? How?" Qz inquired.

Lead Xenobiologist Wn contentedly thrummed his throat frill. He was slightly larger than Qz, on the larger end for a Zginian, but still the specimen towered over him. As he waddled over to stand beside Qz at the window, he smoothly tapered his wordless humming sound into a tone bearing meaning, a favorite linguistic flourish of his. "It was not I," he admitted. "Defender Vc is responsible. She captured it during the last boarding action."

"There was a boarding action? I don't listen to the milcasts. Was that during yesterday's battle?"

Before Wn could answer, the specimen suddenly hammered on the wall between it and Qz with its front limbs. Qz flinched, scrabbling back with all four legs, xer own frill snapping open in alarm. An orifice on the specimen’s face opened, revealing wet pink flesh and shiny white ridges that moved up and down rapidly.

Wn’s snout twitched with amusement. "It's aggressive."

"Audibly." Qz recovered xer composure somewhat and strode forward again. "What is that orifice? What is it doing?"

Wn glanced aside, at a readout panel affixed to the containment chamber. "Unclear. Right now, the specimen is producing sounds at high frequency."

"Is it trying to communicate?"

"I hope so," someone replied. Qz turned to see Linguist Pd sauntering into the laboratory, a portable interface clipped over her single eye. "Can we hear the audio from inside?"

Wn arched an antennae in Pd’s direction. "Is that truly what you want?"

Pd tilted her snout sardonically. "How else am I meant to do my job?"

Wn lifted his frill slightly in concession and tapped at the readout panel. "If you insist. I shall reduce the volume, for the sake of my sensitive apprentice."

"Don't buzz me," Qz bristled, but before xe could say more, a high-pitched screeching filled the lab. Xe narrowed xer frill to muffle the discordant sound.

"Fascinating," Pd drew level with Qz, staring intently at the specimen. "Is it producing all that sound with just that orifice?"

Wn gestured disagreement by tapping the floor with his forelegs. "I obviously have not investigated yet, but I theorize it has an internal organ with a similar function to our own frills. But smaller, of course, thus the higher frequency."

"It changes tones rapidly. And many of them are contextually meaningless. Could it be a language with a wholly different method of encoding meaning? Or is it merely making noise?"

The conversation continued, but Qz found xerself too focused on the specimen to follow it. As the peculiar creature moved around in agitation, xe swore xe could make out the taut cords and swelling ridges of its muscular structure, and even some hints of its skeleton, through whatever soft exterior layer it had instead of scales. The front upper torso was covered by soft natural padding of some sort, and so were the tops of its lower legs, but in other places, particularly the joints, the anatomy was starkly visible. It reminded xer of the dissected corpses xe'd handled during xer previous studies. Something beyond what xer species thought of as naked. Naturally flayed. Biologically vulnerable. A strange thrill started at the tip of Qz’s tail and crawled its way up xer spine. The creature truly could be described no other way than alien.

When Wn and Pd exited the room, still cheerfully discussing the specimen's unfamiliar tones, Qz lingered for a moment before hurrying after them.

To Qz’s dismay, xe and Wn were not permitted to begin experimentation on the specimen for almost two weeks afterward.

It turned out the Conclave on Exploration back on the Zginian homeworld had strict procedures for this kind of thing, starting with a lengthy quarantine period to ensure no unfamiliar microbes could ravage the small starship’s population. Qz, who would by dint of xer position be one of the first to be ravaged in such an outbreak, supposed xe could see the logic in that.

At least Qz and Wn were not obliged to remain idle during this time. Once the quarantine period was over, they would present their case at a hearing of Wn’s peers, the other Voyage Leaders, explaining why it was necessary to allocate time and effort to the endeavor of studying the specimen.

"Why wouldn’t you study it?" Qz asked, baffled.

Wn’s frill drooped, and he stared straight ahead in a longsuffering gesture. "You will find that bureaucracy is how most of your time is spent as a xenobiologist."

There were three criteria they had to fulfill for the Voyage Leaders to acquiesce. One, the species must be relevant to the Conclave on Exploration’s activities in some way. Given that their starship, the Questing Snout, had been skirmishing with these strange bipeds on and off for over a year, resulting in a few personnel deaths and extensive expenditure of defensive materiel, that part of the report basically wrote itself.

The second criteria was that the species must be of actual biological interest in some way. That also seemed obvious to Qz, but Wn reminded xer that the other Voyage Leaders hadn’t heard anything about the specimen at all, except possibly for Lead Defender Bm. They would need to explain its strange anatomy and stranger physiology in great detail, while also using terminology a non-scientist could understand. Wn claimed the responsibility of preparing this section of the report, since he’d been translating jargon for laypeople his whole career, and Qz was perfectly content to let him do it.

The final criteria was that they would have to establish whether or not the species appeared to be sapient and self-aware, like Zginians, or fully deterministic in its behavior, like the omnivorous spacefaring Qxxquj fungus that had been the Conclave’s last major discovery (and existential threat). Neither was a prerequisite to further study, Wn explained, but they needed to have an answer of some sort. And getting that answer without interacting with the specimen in any meaningful way would require constant, close observation.

Close observation. Now that, Qz could do.

Xe began that same day, accompanying Wn for the specimen’s evening feeding. Which was itself an experiment, and one of the few they were permitted to perform right away. It wouldn’t be possible to examine the specimen’s behavior if it were to expire from malnutrition, after all.

"I have already determined that it will infuse certain lipids," Wn explained, placing his forelegs on the control surface of the lab’s chemical synthesizer. "That was the morning meal. At midday I offered it silicates and it showed no interest."

"No interest at all? How strange," Qz mused, without taking xer eyes off the specimen. It was currently resting against the containment chamber’s far corner, its rear legs – its only legs, that is – bent in front of it. Its eyes were fixed firmly on Qz, but it didn’t seem as if it was about to lunge at xer like before. "Do you suppose it’s already infused enough gastrolith for the time being?"

"I’m not so sure it digests using gastrolith at all. Did you see those ridges when it was making noise? That orifice also serves as its infuser. It deposited the lipids there. My theory is that it grinds its food using those."

Qz’s antennae lifted. No wonder Wn was lead xenobiologist. To extrapolate such a peculiar biological process from a mere glance, without even auditory confirmation?

The chemical synthesizer whirred and clicked, dispensing a solid block. Wn wrapped his snout around it and carried it to a hatch in the side of the containment chamber. "Therefore, its third meal will be a crystalline carbohydrate primarily comprised of sucrose," he announced, depositing the block. "We can observe how it treats solid food and see if my theory is correct."

The food block clattered onto a small tray jutting out from the right wall of the chamber. The specimen roused itself and stood up, once again towering over the two Zginians. Cautiously, it approached the tray and picked up the block with its upper limbs. It lifted the food to its mouth. The fleshy ridge above its mouth, between its two eyes, flexed slightly.

"It did that with the lipids, too," Wn quietly explained, joining Qz at the window. "That structure seems to be a sensory organ that evaluates if food is suitable. Possibly through resonance, though if so, it is using a frequency we are unable to measure."

The specimen opened its mouth, once again displaying its strange white ridges, and clamped them down on the corner of its rectangular meal. It struggled for a moment before managing to crack off a piece, which disappeared into its mouth. The lower portion of its snout-which-wasn’t-a-snout worked back and forth.

Qz watched intently, not wanting to miss a moment.

Wn thrummed. "That more or less confirms that."

However, he might have spoken too soon, for the specimen’s mouth movements slowed, and it plucked the more-or-less-unscathed chunk of sucrose right back out of its mouth with one of its upper appendages. After inspecting it for a moment, it put it back in, and began to move its mouth in a different way.

Qz glanced sidelong at xer mentor. "Perhaps it requires a softer consistency?"

"Perhaps." Wn scratched his frill idly. "It has not rejected it outright, though. I shall add that to the list of approved nutrients." After a moment of consideration, he turned to Qz. "Since you will be in here all day observing it regardless, why not take over feeding duties?"

"Could I?" Qz perked up.

"Try to determine what it will infuse and what it will not, and develop a compound that will provide it with as many nutrients as possible. That way, when we grasp more, we can be consistent about what sustenance we provide them."

Qz fluttered xer frill excitedly. "Of course."

"And do be careful to keep it frequently watered as well." Wn’s words came with something of a relieved tone, for some reason. Perhaps to him, with his wealth of experience in the field, such frequent duties were a banal chore. But Qz was thankful for it.

Qz took to xer new duties with aplomb. Mealtime became xer favorite time of the day. In the morning, xe arose and scampered to the lab first thing, even before infusing anything xerself. Xer notes on the topic quickly grew long, and xe went to bed still thinking about complex carbohydrates. With xer enthusiasm for the task, it was a simple matter to isolate a variety of chemical compounds the specimen responded positively to. A wide variety, by Zginian dietary standards. Qz was nothing if not creative.

Wn told xer off once for preparing the specimen another meal if it rejected the first, but Qz countered that it could easily dispose of anything it did not want in the reprocessing pit the chamber included for its excreta, and no material would be lost. The Questing Snout was a closed system, after all. Wn seemed dubious that the specimen would exhibit such discernment if not required to, but when he returned the next day, he was surprised to find all previously rejected substances absent from the chamber.

The fact that Qz had spent almost half the day trying to convey to the specimen through gesture that it should discard its waste, with the bemused assistance of Linguist Pd, conveniently never made its way back to him.

After a few days of determining nutrient suitability, Qz was ready to begin the truly exciting experiment – the gastronomic one. Xe had decided xe would not only deliver a compound that was maximally nutritious to the specimen, but one that was both delicious and, if feasible, enjoyable to infuse. It seemed only practical to xer. If the food was attractive to the alien, it would smooth out any hesitance to infuse for future specimens as well.

To discern its tastes, xe initially employed the simplest heuristic possible – the apparent eagerness and haste with which the specimen infused. But curiously, the specimen responded differently to the same compounds at different times. After some false starts and confusion, xe realized that its preferences shifted throughout the day and it lost enthusiasm after repeatedly infusing similar substances. The intricacies of its preferences took almost the full two-week quarantine to discover.

Qz’s time between meal preparation was not idly spent, either. Xe monitored the specimen constantly, only taking brief breaks when absolutely required to. Xe cataloged every little thing it did. Every strange behavior. Anything could be important to include the report.

For the first few days, it seemed to test the limits of its confinement. It banged on the unadorned metal walls with its forelimbs, it lunged at the clear wall when there were Zginians too close to it, it made indecipherable noises that Qz listened to over and over (at considerably lower than normal volume). It unsuccessfully tried to hide from the viewing angle of the observers on the edges of its rounded chamber. Overall, it seemed to Qz to be quite restless, even defiant.

Gradually, however, it settled down. It spent much of its time reclining, or with its body folded up against a wall. It was still quite active in the mid-mornings and mid-afternoons, but this activity seemed less hostile. It vigorously paced laps of its enclosure. It moved repetitively in the center, in ways that made its exposed flesh wobble and bounce. Qz squirmed at the sight, and at the undignified sounds it made in the process, but dutifully continued to observe.

All this activity usually caused it to become covered in a sheen of unidentified moisture, after which it made somewhat ineffectual efforts to wipe itself clean with its upper appendages. It would also invariably become lethargic afterward, sinking to the floor and resting for some time. Qz fretted at first, worrying it was suffering from some kind of unknown malady and that the quarantine would not be lifted. But no other ill effects became audible to Qz, even after days and days of the same routine, so xe was forced to conclude that was normal.

At some point, it stopped behaving aggressively towards Qz entirely. It continued to tense up when other Zginians appeared to observe it, and sometimes made its noises or struck at the wall, but it never behaved that way when Qz was alone. It had, perhaps, come to associate xer with the nourishment xe prepared for it, and as xer sense for its gastronomic preferences improved, so too did its opinion of xer. Instead of threatening xer with its sounds and movements, it simply watched xer go about xer business. It was almost like it was observing xer, the way xe was doing to it.

For some reason, thinking of it that way made Qz’s squat body quiver with delight.

Finally, the time came to assemble the report for the hearing. Qz presented Wn with xer extensive notes the day before. He scanned through them on his tablet and lifted his antennae in surprise.

"You have been quite diligent, Assistant."

Qz shifted from foot to foot excitedly.

Wn’s antennae lowered again. "However. This is too much to go through in detail, especially for our audience. Could you condense it somewhat? Give me only the most important parts."

Qz’s frill drooped. "Isn’t it all important? Why don’t we give a cross-section instead of a summary? I could go over what its daily routine is like-"

"Audience, Qz. I know you find it fascinating. But we only have time to make audible the aspects that are important to the other Voyage Leaders. Bm, for instance, will only be interested in the specimen’s aggression and intent to harm, and he has quite a lot of influence given all the fighting lately."

"That is not something I can adequately judge."

"Well, we must present something." Wn turned in a tight circle, showing Qz his tail. His claws returned to the control surfaces for his wall screen, and he resumed tapping out the final version of the report. "Even if it is complete fiction," he added, more quietly. "We can just say we were mistaken later. Should you not get on with its mealtime?"

Qz backed out of Wn’s office and did just that. But for the first time in two weeks, there was no pleasure in it for xer.

"In conclusion," Wn announced, "while it is not as hazardous as the Qxxquj, extensive study of this new and threatening specimen is of utmost relevance to the Voyage. Are there any questions?"

A general susurrus arose in the room, the other Voyage Leaders chattering among themselves. After a moment, Lead Defender Bm thumped one foot on the ground for silence. "That assistant of yours made some interesting noise earlier. Xe said xe managed to pacify it somehow?"

Qz stepped forward eagerly. "Yes, Leader. It’s less hostile around me ever since I managed to identify its dietary requirements and deliver a—"

Bm thumped again, interrupting xer. "Yes, yes, enough buzzing. So you’re saying it’s food-motivated, then? Could they be harmonized to us in this way? Made to serve us, instead of skirmishing with us?" The other Leaders hummed with interest. "It’s a big, nasty thing. It could be useful."

"That’s, well—it seems that it has some level of int—"

This time Wn was the one to interrupt Qz. "What xe is getting at is, your idea is feasible," he announced.

The murmur of simultaneous discussions started back up again, twice as loud. Qz wilted, turning to stare reproachfully at Wn. He only offered a brief glance back. "To make what should be a familiar sound to you by now, you must match their frequency," he quietly hummed at xer. "You shall not succeed in this profession if you do not hear that."

"But that discords the—"

"Cease buzzing," Wn thrummed back. "You tire of just listening, right? You want to poke and prod at it. So do I. And this is how we get there. Stop trying to sabotage this."

Qz relented. "Fine. Your tones, then."

Wn turned his attention back to the other Leaders. Qz shifted uncomfortably as they began to ask questions. Could the specimen have agricultural utility if domesticated? What about nutritional value as a foodstuff? Could it serve as a replacement for the expensive sensor package that was dropped onto new planets to evaluate their atmosphere, given that it seemed to thrive in the same environmental conditions that Zginians preferred? Wn answered all these questions and more in the same noncommittally affirmative fashion. They could hear it. It was possible. Perhaps, but we would need more specimens to be sure.

Eventually, Qz couldn’t take it anymore. Xe turned around and strode briskly from the chamber. Wn smoothly delivered an excuse for why xe was leaving as the doors closed behind xer, but xe barely noticed.

Xer steps took xer to the laboratory, where the specimen was lounging on the floor of its enclosure as usual. It raised its head at xer approach, but recognized xer and seemed to relax again. Xe strode right up to the clear wall and rested xer snout on the glass. For a long, silent moment, alien and Zginian just stared at one another.

"I’m sorry," Qz murmured, though xe did not yet know for what.

The initial experiments, at least, were not particularly invasive.

First, a more detailed examination was in order. Qz, given that xe’d already established a rapport with the specimen, offered to be the one to enter the chamber and make these observations. Wn had other plans, though, and claimed the spot for himself. Miraculously, despite the specimen’s aggression, this did not end in disaster. It merely avoided Wn, keeping as much distance from him as it could manage. Due to the chamber’s rounded shape, he was unable to corner it. He emerged again a quarter hour later, humiliated, and demanded that Qz produce some of the food compound that xe had designed.

With the aid of such bait, Wn was eventually able to pacify the specimen enough to listen to and inspect it up close. While it ate from the soft block of nutrient compound, it mostly pointed its eyes at Wn, but from time to time it glanced at Qz through the glass. Pd had not even begun to decipher the specimen’s body language. Bm had decided that its tones were of higher priority, in order to develop a method of instructing it once it was tamed. But Qz swore xe could feel some reproach in the way it looked at xer.

Once it was done with the food, it returned to its avoidant behavior, and could not be tempted with more. Wn was obliged to return during multiple mealtimes in order to conclude close observations to his liking. Qz was still the only one who knew how to properly appeal to its tastes, so he required xer help each time. And xe did xer best to keep it that way, delaying xer report on the specimen’s gastronomic preferences as much as xe could.

Eventually, though, xe could stretch no longer. Wn gave xer a hard deadline. To his chagrin, though, the report he received was almost thirty thousand lines long. Just because Qz was stalling for time did not mean xe had been idle. This represented another small victory for Qz. While he studied xer obsessively detailed instructions, xe kept xer position as sole distributor of nutrients for a little longer.

But it didn’t forestall the tests.

The next topic that interested Bm (and thereby Wn) was the substance the specimen exuded after its high-activity periods. Was this a natural defense mechanism to be wary of? Could it be weaponized? Qz, once again, was denied the chance to take the sample.

By now the specimen was used enough to Wn that it would tolerate him being inside the chamber and getting close. The lethargy it exhibited after moving around also helped. However, the substance turned out to just be a solution of mostly sodium. An excretory mechanism, if anything. Without wide frills of thin tissue to radiate excess body heat, the specimen was obliged instead to spend moisture. Nothing that could be weaponized with any efficiency at all.

Qz found xerself wishing that it had been more interesting. Because perhaps then the specimen might have been spared the cutting tools for just a bit longer.

The next steps, Wn decided, were biopsies. Tissue samples, and samples of whatever fluids came out along with the tissue. "We know what it sounds like, and what it looks like, now let us discover what it is made of." The fact that Zginians were normally anesthetized for biopsies, which Qz reminded Wn emphatically, did not make a difference in his proposed procedure. "Of course Zginians are put under for that," he said. "With our tough hide and overlapping scales, it takes immense force to puncture us and retrieve tissue for analysis. Who would want to be awake for that? But as you described in great detail in your observational notes, this thing is very soft. I may be able to extract a sample without it even noticing."

It noticed. And it took exception to being cut.

It wrestled the medical blade from Wn’s snout and attempted to turn it on him. When that didn’t work, it simply battered him with its limbs until he lost consciousness. By then, Defenders in subduing harnesses had arrived. A subduing harness increased the range and leverage with which a Zginian could strike unruly individuals by affixing long poles to their sides. It took three Defenders thus equipped to curb the specimen's retribution long enough to retrieve Wn (and the tool).

On coming around, Wn begrudgingly acknowledged that perhaps there had been some logic behind Qz’s suggestion. But that left them with a new problem. What type of compound would it take to anesthetize the specimen, without euthanizing it? Wn retreated to his office to nurse his wounded pride and think that one through.

Qz was left alone to watch the specimen. It had come to rest on the floor, opposite the entry airlock, and it held its upper appendages against the cut Wn had managed to make in its leg. Dark liquid seeped down from the cut and lay in little puddles on the chamber’s smooth floor. Its eyes remained fixed on the clear wall, and on xer in particular. Wary, perhaps, of Zginians after Wn’s misadventure. Qz wondered if xer apparent bond of trust with it remained intact. Xe wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t.

Wn’s foul mood had not abated by the next day. If anything, it appeared to have worsened. He spent his morning in a meeting with Bm and his cohort that Qz was barred from attending. Not that xe would have wanted to even if xe could. Wn returned to the laboratory just before the specimen’s midday mealtime, while Qz was preparing a new blend xe thought might make up for his rough treatment the day before.

"The Defenders have assured me that they can secure more of them," he brusquely announced. "So it shouldn’t matter if this one expires. In that case, we can simply dissect it and get our answers that way. Finish up with the meal and come to my office. I’d like your insight on what compounds might function as an anesthetic for its physiology."

He turned and left again before Qz could reply.

Xe stared at the door for a long moment. The chemical synthesizer buzzed and dispensed xer latest meal-block formulation, shaking xer from xer thoughts. Xe quickly deposited the specimen’s meal, then stared at it as it ate. "I promise this wasn’t what I got into this field to do," xe mumbled despairingly. As if it had heard (impossible, through the thick window) and understood (even less possible), it met xer gaze and stared unblinkingly back with its small yet strangely piercing eyes.

Something shifted in Qz, then. Or perhaps it had already shifted, weeks ago.

Qz held the specimen's gaze for a moment, then turned around and purposefully strode to the lab's only door. It slid open automatically at xer presence, but xe lifted xer snout to the control panel beside it. With a tap, the door closed again. A few more taps was all it took to engage the emergency lock. For good measure, Qz then backed up a few paces and charged into the unused cabinet beside the door to knock it over, further obstructing the entrance.

Xe didn't think about what would happen later, when what xe was doing became evident to xer coworkers and the others on the starship. Xe didn't really think anything at all as xe trotted back to the containment chamber. Xe felt light, xe felt right. Xer frill twitched with barely-restrained energy.

The specimen had stood up, by then, roused by xer knocking the cabinet over. Qz wondered if it recognized that what xe was doing was strange. It tracked xer with its eyes as xe opened the airlock into the containment chamber and stepped inside. With a hiss, the airlock cycled, and Qz stepped into the enclosure for the first time.

The specimen regarded xer carefully. But it did not back away, like it had with Wn. Xer frill perked up a bit. Xe hadn't completely ruined their relationship, such that it was.

Qz took a cautious step forward. Then another. The specimen didn't take a step backward until xe was almost touching it. Xe lowered xerself in a gesture of apology, of supplication, frill narrowing. After a moment, the specimen lowered itself, too, folding its legs underneath itself. Reaching out with one of its upper appendages, it brushed the top of xer snout, behind xer eye, between xer drooping antennae.

The unexpectedly intimate gesture made Qz forget how to breathe for a moment. Xer frill thrummed softly in a wordless sound of pleasure, which seemed to spur the specimen on. It touched xer more, moving the soft fleshy clawlike protrusions at the end of its limb in a pinching, scratching motion. It made one of its high-pitched noises, but surprisingly not at the gratingly-loud volume it normally used. An unfamiliar feeling trickled down xer body all the way to the tip of xer tail, a feeling xe had never even felt towards fellow Zginians. Affection.

Qz luxuriated in the warmth of it for a moment. Then, xe made another decision. Wrapping xer snout around the specimen's limb, xe turned and tried to tug it toward the airlock. It initially resisted, and it was far too heavy for Qz to compel it with just xer snout, but after a moment it caught on and stood. It followed xer to the door, which was about a head too short for it, and ducked into the airlock.

As soon as it stepped out of the enclosure, a low, droning alarm sounded. Qz flinched. Xe hadn’t considered the idea that there might have been security measures in place. Wn certainly hadn’t informed her of it.

The specimen didn't seem bothered by the sudden noise. It just rotated its head from side to side as the airlock cycled.

Qz hadn't made any plans for what to do after xe let the specimen out. If xe had stopped to think about it, xe might have lost xer nerve. The consequences of xer actions were just now starting to occur to xer and xe began to shiver with uncertainty. Xer frill chattered faintly. There could be no pleasant ending to this creature being loose on a ship full of distrustful Zginians predisposed towards military subjugation against its kind. Did xe think xe had freed it? No, this was only one step removed from ejecting the alien out of an exterior airlock.

But the specimen seemed entirely without qualm. Hunched over thanks to the lower ceiling in the lab, it purposefully crossed to a cabinet in the far corner, which it opened and began searching through. It didn't take long to find what it was looking for - some sort of fabric covering, unfamiliar to Qz, that it proceeded to awkwardly insert itself into. Presumably this cabinet contained its personal effects, stripped from it when it was taken prisoner. Qz just watched, utterly fascinated. Was this some kind of synthetic skin to compensate for its lack of hide or scales?

As it was still cinching the strange full-body covering onto itself, Qz heard the first banging on the door of the laboratory.

With the same unhurried intent as before, the specimen rummaged through the cabinet for a few moments more and retrieved a strange implement. Initially, Qz had no idea what it was. It tapered to a green, perforated cone at the end. The specimen held it in a relaxed grip with both appendages, manipulating it in ways that caused it to click and hum. When the cone at the tip began to glow and thrum and the specimen sighted down its length, though, Qz started. It suddenly reminded xer of the plasma cannons festooning the outer hull of the ship, which also glowed green when powered on. And this one was small enough to be portable? From a species that Bm had proposed treating like livestock?

Qz rattled xer frill irritably. The realization had shook xer from xer panicked daze. "How typical. That would be discordant with the noise they wanted to make."

The specimen turned to Qz, noticing the sound of xer talking to xerself, but not understanding. It bobbed its head once, and crept forward towards the door. With one limb, and seemingly without serious effort, it hauled the blockading cabinet out of the way. It pawed at the control pad, but before Qz could make xer way to its side to help, it managed to disengage the emergency lock on its own. It waved its limb at xer as if to warn xer back.

And not a moment too soon, for the lab doors promptly slid open, half a dozen Defenders with subduing harnesses arrayed in a semicircle just outside. Before they could act, however, the specimen fired its weapon.

It was the loudest sound Qz had ever heard. Xe felt like xer frill had been torn off entirely. The eye-searing plasma discharge seemed to fill the entire doorway. Qz's vision went white and xe cowered behind the overturned cabinet.

When Qz could hear and see again, the corridor wall opposite the door was charred and daubed with burnt chunks of Zginian, and the specimen had gone. But Qz could hear faraway trills of panic, and the occasional world-shattering retort of the plasma cannon was made more bearable by distance.

Xe stuck xer snout out of the room, cautiously. The first thing xe noticed was Wn, slumped against the wall several paces away from xer. Or roughly 60% of him, anyway. His frill faintly rattled.

Qz ventured over to him, a bitter vindication nesting in xer chest. "What did you say?"

"What have... you done..."

"Just another experiment." Qz gazed down the hallway, in the direction the specimen's trail of carnage led. "You ignored my initial conclusion about its sapience, so I thought you might listen if I had more evidence. I’m testing its capacity for tool use and its visual memory."

Wn did not answer. When xe looked back in his direction, he had slumped down against the floor, frill limp, no longer moving.

"But you're not interested in things like that, are you? You and your Defender friends only care about how to make it harmonize. Well, it seems Bm was correct. It is food-motivated." Qz turned away from the corpse and began striding down the hallway, snout held high. "If you'll excuse me, Lead Xenobiologist, I have to continue my observations."