#themutantleftbehind

Pressing your ears flat to your skull, you adjust your headscarf one last time before leaving your house. Hopefully meeting this alien won’t excite you so much you forget and move your ears. You like the company you work for well enough, but you definitely don’t trust them not to be weird about something as outlandish as your last vestige of Bec!

Luckily, the biology department is in the building right next to the physics building, so you don’t get too lost in the huge compound looking for your new workplace. When you swipe your ID card at the door huge pulleys whir as they haul open the heavy metal bars blocking the entryway. You involuntarily shudder. That was definitely not the same as the physics building. Just what kind of alien was this?

A senior biologist greets you in the hallway outside the door printed with the number you had been sent in an email. He guides you inside, already talking a mile a minute about the tests that have been run and the discoveries made about this ‘magnificent creature’ they have had the honor of having in their custody for the past week. He pauses just as he reaches what you assume is the last locked door and turns to you with a face now devoid of any awe or joy. You lick your lips nervously as he gives his final word of advice.

“This being is extremely dangerous. If it had the chance it could easily skin us all alive. Do not even touch the viewing glass. We still have no idea what kind of superhuman abilities it may possess.”

You nod mutely. This thing must be huge! In your mind’s eye you can see every movie alien ever: strong, fast, with acid it can shoot out of its mouth. You really doubt it will look just like the “Alien” movies, but you never know!

You step into the room, heart pounding, and get your first look at the subject causing all this excitement. When you do, all you can do is gape. You want to shout his name, but letting all these other people know that you recognize this alien would be suicide. They could institutionalize you, or worse! Instead, you step forward, keeping an awed look on your face, and get as close as you can before whispering,