Asterion ambled over, and so did Grayson. The alien remained in the cage, splayed on the bottom.
“It grew from a blob in a single day?” Asterion murmured. “That is quite impressive.”
Leila joined them and replied. “Extremely. The clinical applications, if we could figure them out, could be life-changing in the field of medicine. Imagine if we could regrow a limb or organ.”
Grayson’s mind turned to the darker applications. “Which sounds great until you realize people would abuse it by chopping others into pieces and seeing if they could create clones of themselves.”
“The propensity for evil is there.” Leili sighed in agreement. “Although you do raise an interesting point. Is the sample that grew a clone of the original or a unique individual?”
“You could test that with the specimen you have,” Asterion pointed out. “See if a piece taken from it reacts the same way.”
“I don’t know if I would want two of them in my lab,” her murmured reply. “One has proven tricky enough. Two might form an alliance that could prove dangerous, especially since Tower can’t see it.”
“Invisible like the asteroid. I wonder what it is about them that we can see them but the Astraeus and Tower can’t.” Asterion rubbed his chin.
“When do you want to grab the sample?”
“I’d like to do it sooner rather than later, but I don’t know how long it will remain unconscious. I don’t want you getting injured.” Leila eyed his still-dusty hands, which he’d just eaten a sandwich with. Hope it didn’t wreck his digestive system.
“We’ll wear gloves, the kind that go up to the elbow. And don’t forget. Asterion will be helping. If two big guys can’t hold that little squirt, then we’re in big trouble.”
“Fair point. Let’s get you protected, and then we’ll collect what I need.”
It didn’t take long to be outfitted with Tower providing safety gear. Wearing face shields and reinforced gloves, they headed into the room with the cage quietly, tiptoeing as if the slightest noise would wake the alien.
The creature didn’t move.
“Is it even breathing?” Grayson whispered, watching its chest.
“Not that I’ve been able to detect.” Leila crouched. “It could be it absorbs oxygen or doesn’t need air to survive.”
“An alien that doesn’t need a breathable atmosphere can go anywhere, even planets with toxic gases,” Asterion opined, crouching for a closer peek.
“It also means it could hide underwater without drowning.”
“The Toronto area meteor hit the lake.” Grayson remembered hearing about it.
“Which is teeming with animal-based life, and yet it took them more than a week to emerge. Meanwhile, it seems other meteor strike zones had issues almost immediately.” Leila appeared lost in thought.
“What are you thinking?” Grayson could see the gears in her head working.
“That fish flesh isn’t quite the same as land-based animal. I’ll have to try feeding Blue some aquatics to see.”
“Blue?” he queried.
“It needed a name.”
“And you chose Blue, as opposed to something more apt, like Piranha or Mini Rex?” He couldn’t hide his incredulity.
She shrugged. “What can I say? It reminded me of that velociraptor in Jurassic Park.”
Asterion cleared his throat. “I wonder if it can be taught to not be murderous. After all, look at dogs. If left alone in the wild,they become hunters, even of people, but domesticate them and they’re loving.”
“This thing is rabid,” Grayson noted. “I doubt it can be tamed. As for your dog example, even some that are house trained end up turning on their owners.”
“I think that’s a fine idea, Asterion,” Leila countered. “Guess we’ll have to try to find out for sure. Now, if you’re both ready, Blue won’t sleep forever.”
Grayson glanced at Asterion. “I’ll grab its two arms on the left, you hold the pair on the right. Then even if it wakes, it won’t be able to go anywhere.”
