Guess the real work was about to begin.
CHAPTER 8
While sorry to see Grayson go—fora reason Leila couldn’t have explained—she stirred with excitement at the discoveries to come, an eagerness shared by her unexpected assistant.
“What would you like me to do?” Asterion asked.
“I think the first thing we need to test is what happens when we burn a sample. I know the warriors have likely begun incinerating, but we really should make sure we’re not causing more harm in doing so. While that’s going on, we’ll subject the tissue samples to a variety of rigors.”
“Which means what?”
“Freezing and then thawing to see how the cells react to the cold. Submersion in water. High altitudes, which means a visit to the rooftop. Exposing it to heavy oxygen, no oxygen, and other gases. We want to see what makes it react.”
“If I may ask a question.”
“Go ahead.” Because there were no dumb queries. As a matter of fact, she remembered a teacher long ago saying that, sometimes, out of what seemed like the most inane comments came breakthroughs.
“You are planning all these different tests on a small piece of the alien, but it would seem to me that the test of truerigor might require the actual beast. A hunk of flesh might not respond to a change in its surroundings, but a living creature might.”
“That’s actually a good observation, and if it helps, we will later run these same tests on our subject, depending on the initial results. For example, if we see the tissue when frozen and defrosted loses its ability to regenerate, we might not do the same to the alien because, after all, we can’t test properly if it’s dead.”
“For the creature itself, what kind of cognitive tests will you apply?”
She pursed her lips. “Honestly, I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Usually, the only live testing I do is on mice.”
“Perhaps, since you are more experienced than I when it comes to the scientific aspects, I could handle the social and behavioral aspect.”
“What are you thinking of trying?”
“Attempting to communicate, for one. See if it can be taught words, gestures. Does it play? Is its only instinct to attack?”
As Asterion listed off his ideas, Leila found herself nodding. “What you propose actually sounds great. The more we know, the better we can plan how to counter their invasive and murderous tactics.”
“Excellent. I am most excited. Thank you for allowing me to participate. Ever since my arrival, I’ve noticed everyone in Tower has a role to play, all but me. It will be nice to feel useful. I’ve never had a job before.” His shy admission made her smile.
“It will be nice to have a coworker.” One she didn’t fear. For all his intimidating appearance, Asterion possessed a gentle nature. At least with those he liked and who didn’t threaten. He had admitted to her that he’d killed when living in the Labyrinth, not because he truly wanted to, but because many came seeking him, looking for the glory of killing the famed minotaur.
They each went to work on their tasks, the hours passing with them exchanging interesting discoveries.
For Asterion, he discovered the creature reacted violently as soon as he entered the chamber, gnashing its teeth, claws dragging across the bars, likely driven by a primal hunger. But that didn’t deter Asterion, who spoke to it gently.
As for Leila, she got a sample burning in the contained unit then proceeded with her other experiments. Freezing and thawing had no effect on the living cellular matrix of the tissue. When too cold, it stopped moving but restarted as soon as it reached one degree Celsius.
Gases, no matter the mixture, also caused no change. Dousing it in water, juice, dirt, sand, plants, including vegetable and fruits, had no effect. The only time the sample reacted was in the presence of actual meat proteins. The tiny blob quivered as soon as anything it could actually consume got close.
That led to her introducing a variety of meats. Organ meats excited the tissue matrix the most, making it jiggle rapidly and even extend itself as if to reach. Beef, pork, and lamb got a more subdued reaction. With chicken, it almost seemed hesitant, and it slunk away from the egg she cracked beside it.
As Tower brought her various land and aerial tidbits to use, her hunk increased in size, depending on absorption. When it got to be a certain size, she split it in two. With her second piece, she began introducing seafood. Fish, from white flesh, such as trout and haddock, to the oily, such as salmon and tuna. Blubber from whales, and even shark cartilage. All rejected, leading her to introduce crustaceans, like scallops and shrimp. It quickly became obvious that the tissue either couldn’t find what it needed from those samples or something in them proved unpalatable. Could it be the omega-3 concentration? Fish had very high levels compared to other meats. It would explain itsrejection of the egg, which, while containing less omega-3 than seafood, still had much more than, say, beef.
Curious about her theory, she had Tower bring her some omega-3 liquid capsules and drizzled some on a slivered section. The effect proved immediate.
With an eye pressed to her microscope, she noticed the omega-3 appeared to act as a paralytic, the active cells freezing in place, but not dying, because as soon as she rinsed her sample, they began jiggling again. Interesting. The paralysis from the omega-3 explained why it wouldn’t ingest marine life.
As a final consumption test, she gave it a drop of her blood. Just a single one. The lump absorbed it so fast she almost missed it. She’d just found its favorite source of protein. Humans. Not exactly the best news.
The smoke analysis finished during that time, and, to her relief, nothing hostile was detected, and the ash left behind showed no signs of life.
Despite not having all the tests done, she began typing up her observations and sent them to the Zodiac Warriors’ information desk. A misnomer, since it was simply an internal messaging box that she assumed someone read.
