Mikhail chuckled. “Okay, Mr. al Faris, you’ve got me presumably right where you want me. I’d be willing to let the four of you into the restricted area to see the specimen. At least, that’s what I would say, except it sounds like two of you have already experienced the mental contamination associated with the specimen, which would make you more susceptible to any negative side-effects of proximity to the specimen. Now, our lab is organized in such a way that such proximity would be extremely unlikely, but I thought you should know because my own safety is affected by your decision here.”

Mikhail was lying, of course. The laboratory was sterile enough that there would be no risk of contamination whatsoever. In fact, from what the eggheads in the lab had told him, those who had already been exposed to the specimen or anything derived from it would be less susceptible to its side-effects, assuming the subject survived in the first place. No, Mikhail’s goal here was to separate the group. Talk to his son one-on-one, even if that other security officer ended up coming along it would provide less opportunity for distraction. As for al Faris and the other woman, they could rot for all Mikhail cared.

Brad, though, he’d understand given time. He was just in shock. That’s all it was. It had to be. That last bodyguard could be difficult to deal with, though. Especially since she–had to be a she, that was not a masculine figure–hadn’t spoken. No telling what was going on in her head. She’d pointed her weapon during that little standoff earlier, but that’s it. She hadn’t spoken up as much as Brad or the other girl–what was her name, Jolene?–had.

Mr. al Faris finally spoke up, “Are you really worried about our safety, or do you just not want us all going in at once? If it’s a safety issue, why not use one of the bots? The lab is sterile, right?”

Damn. I was never good at the fast-talking part of negotiation. Think, Mikhail, think.

“I figured you’d want a zero-percent risk. I certainly do. You wouldn’t mind surrendering your arms before we go in, would you?”

Brad looked at Mikhail incredulously. “You can’t be serious, Dad.”

“Oh but I am. I’m putting myself at great risk here, going in with four armed people, two of which have already been exposed to the specimen. Wouldn’t you ask the same?”

“I wouldn’t bet any money on it, no,” Brad replied, unconvinced. He turned towards the others. “Look, if you want to concede to his wishes, by all means, but I’m not going in there unarmed. It’s clearly a trap of some kind.”

“Come on, son, you can trust me.”

"Can I, though? Keeping secrets from your family doesn’t do much to inspire confidence.”

That one hurt. He was right, but it still hurt.

Rami interjected again, “If, and only if, it turns out to be as bad as you fear, we’ll deal with it when the time comes. I trust that my bodyguards will handle whatever comes up.”

“Fair enough. But we’re also going in with a few of my bots.”

“Fine,” the group said in succession, including the guard who hadn’t spoken up until this point.

Called it, another woman. Not that that really meant anything if she was properly trained, but still.

Mikhail typed something into his communication device. A final contingency plan, in case something went wrong.

–

Elaine was absolutely livid at the flippant attitude Brad’s father had on display. The fact that he was carrying on about the future, and legacies, and whatever the hell else he was using to justify the amount of secrecy on display here was astounding, though she did catch herself being genuinely curious about the specimen, especially if, as implied, there was more, deeper within the moon.

Aliens existing as close as Mars had been the stuff of science fiction for literal centuries, even after mankind’s understanding of the universe expanded to the outer planets of their solar system and beyond. The only thing that had gotten in the way of first contact with alien life was humanity’s own lack of faster-than-light transport. That and alien life’s apparent lack of interest in humanity. As irritated as she was at Brad’s father, she had to admit that the implication here was pretty cool. Was this life intelligent? If so, why did it stop so short of Earth?

On the other hand, what if it was something else entirely?

The laboratory was in the section of the facility outside of the pressurized, breathable atmosphere, through a small airlock chamber. Mikhail had explained that this was the best environment to give the specimen, and that both scientists and security bots would be okay working in vacuum.

Eventually the steel corridors of the laboratory’s restricted section gave way to the rudimentary rock tunnels, eventually ending with a plastic partition, separating the tunnel from the pen with an entrance on the other side, this side obviously being meant for observation, the other meant for feeding. Possibly.

The creature held within was bipedal, its hind legs very feline in appearance. It’s front legs–arms, Elaine corrected herself– were long and slender, hanging down quite a bit longer than a typical human’s. It had six eyes, and something about its mouth seemed almost fishlike. Elaine imagined it having rows of teeth like a shark. It stood, per Elaine’s estimation, at about three meters. Just how the scientists had managed to capture it was something Elaine couldn’t quite imagine.

Mikhail’s voice echoed through her helmet’s radio speaker.

“Here it is. We call it the Bradbury specimen, following the naming convention of the Chronicles project, though to be honest I don’t like that name very much. Being near it, I just feel unsatisfied with the Bradbury name. It seems to prefer the name In'ads.”

The creature looked at the group, blinking a few of its eyes, almost as if the six of them formed three sets, each pair matching its counterpart on the opposite side of its face.

It truly was a pitiful sight. As Elaine looked the creature over, she felt a tremendous amount of compassion towards it. Poked and prodded day by day, given a diet that was barely enough to sustain it, separated from its loved ones.

Elaine blinked. Was she imagining this herself? It didn’t make any sounds, not that Elaine could hear them in vacuum anyway, and it certainly held itself in more of an animalistic manner than something Elaine could call humanlike or even intelligent, and yet, just looking at the creature, she was able to gather a large amount of information about it, what sort of life it led, how it was feeling in this particular circumstance, and the worry it had about ever getting out of this place.

“Careful,” Mikhail said. “I don’t know exactly how it does this, but it has quite the pull on a person’s empathy.”

“I mean, you’ve got it in a cage,” Brad said. “Doesn’t that seem like something that might make it sad? C’mon Dad, you’re not a sociopath, you know.”

“I mean beyond that. Something about it is able to take advantage of the suggestibility of those that interact with it. It’s why most work with the specimen has been with bots as of late. Eggheads are finally getting cold feet about the experiment, I guess. Though, I look at the thing and can’t help but wonder if what we’re doing is right. But it’s gotta continue. What we’ve gotten out of it so far has already been so beneficial. We think that its…power…for lack of a better term over people’s empathy can work wonders in medicine and psychology. One among you has borne witness to that, apparently. More than a base drive for violence, more than mind control. The possibilities are endless.”

Elaine was unconvinced. Something about the way Mikhail was talking was off. She’d almost call it salesman-like, but no, he believed what he was saying too much. He seemed to sincerely believe that the possibilities were somehow worth the unethical practice inherent to these experiments.

Elaine looked at the others. Jolene and Rami were dead silent. She put out a quick text message into the group chat.

You guys are awfully quiet. Talk to me.

Immediately a message came from Rami.

I…think I’ve seen this before.