Brick Johnson lived a comfortable life. Every weekday he followed the same routine; wake up at 6:15, set the coffee, shower, have oatmeal, brush his teeth, wash his face, gel back his hair, and leave for work at the laboratory. Very rarely was he given the big, secret projects at Hines Science, but he had preferred it that way. He preferred dealing with medicines, and bacteria, though his specialty was on the stranger side of the spectrum.
But, this way, he could keep his order. Brick was very particular about his life—anything different was unwanted, frightening. He was observing a strange strand of bacteria when Ms. Black, the vice president of the facility stormed in, demanding to see him.
"Ms. Black, am I allowed to ask what this is for?"
"You are allowed," she said, continuing to walk at her incredibly fast speed towards the elevator.
"What is this for?" he asked, trying to keep up. When she didn't respond, he repeated his question.
"I didn't say you would get an answer, Johnson,"
The elevator ride was almost in complete silence—until Brick realized they were going further and further underground.
"You are the most qualified for this job, Johnson,"
"I'm not looking for a promotion," he said quickly, not exactly liking where this was going.
She turned to face him directly, her eyes the colour of her last name, almost soulless. Her hair was pulled back in an unflattering bun, the roots of her hair a dark gray that progressed into a bright, magenta red, "Dr. Johnson. I am aware you chose to waste away your career in the most pathetic branch of Hines Science, but eight years ago you signed a contract. It's either you accept this job, for the good of your country, or you can pack up your things and leave,"
At that moment, Brick very much considered leaving. But he made the split decision to stay, arguing that losing his job would be a greater change than whatever was about to happen. When they elevator doors opened, they were greeted by what everyone in Brick's branch referred to as The Slick, Butch Jenkins. He had no purpose being in Hines Science, but his father was a large contributor to the size of Hines Science, and therefore Butch was to be treated with the utmost respect.
"She's sedated; it was the only way we could get her to the examining room. Three of your men are in the infirmary,"
Ms. Black waved at him impatiently, "Replaceable. He's the one we need," she said, referring to Brick as though he couldn't hear her. Slick looked at him with contempt; clearly he didn't like the thought of anyone else being considered important.
"Him?" he spat.
"Yes, him," she replied, "he's the most intelligent employee we have, perhaps the most intelligent in the United States, according to his test scores and work reports. He's perfect, and very valuable,"
Brick felt the need to deny this, but something told him he wasn't necessarily a part of the conversation.
"Did you call in the zoo keeper?" she asked.
"Yes, he prefers to be called Animal Specialist,"
Immediately Brick knew who they were talking about. When he first began work at Hines Science, he had started in that department. It wasn't to his liking.
"I'll be working alongside Dr. Boomer Jameson?"
His question seemed to snap Ms. Black back to reality, she looked at him with slight confusion before replying, "Not really, no. He'll just be there to help,"
Help with what? He was about to ask, but he soon realized they had arrived. They were situated in front of a large, metal door, with a series of locks and scanners positioned all around it. After a few minutes, it moved upwards and Brick finally saw what he would be working with.
In the middle of the room, surrounded by computers, medical equipment and scientific equipment, atop a metal operating bed, lay a woman—or, at first glance, what he thought to be a woman. Her skin was porcelain white, a large contrast to her fiery red hair, which cascaded off the edges of the bed. She almost didn't look real. As he neared, he noticed the dried blood from long, thin cuts that he presumed were from a whip, though he couldn't figure out why she would have been whipped. Her face was bruised and she had been tied down with a black looking metal.
"Isn't she magnificent?" Ms. Black said, her face portraying an emotion of pure satisfaction, "A pure mystery, too, Dr. Johnson, that you are expected to solve,"
"Me? On my own? Ms. Black, I'm not certain I'm qualified…"
She cut him off with a raise of her hand, "You will be provided with whatever you ask for. We even asked that zoo keeper to help you analyze what exactly she is. You have one year to find out what she is while she is still alive before you can euthanize her and perform an autopsy. Over there on the clipboard is what we already know. At night, she is to be placed back in to her containment tube, and you may sedate her as often as required. And believe me, that will be often. Good luck,"
Brick couldn't get a word in edgewise. He sighed dejectedly and walked over to the clipboard.
SUBJECT 'X'
SPECIES: UNKNOWN
AGE: UNKNOWN (Presumed to be around twenty human years)
GENDER: UNKNOWN (Strong indications that it is female)
LANGUAGE: UNKNOWN (Presumed to be mute)
HOME PLANET: UNKNOWN (Presumed to be from the Andromeda Galaxy)
APPEARANCE: Light pink eyes, bright red, lengthly hair. About 5'7'', lean build. Long eyelashes, sharp cheekbones. Porcelain skin.
SPECIAL NOTES:
Day One- Subject X is completely unresponsive. Her wounds from the crash in New Mexico have seemed to heal. Estimated healing time: 2 hours. All attempts to remove her skin coloured body suit while unconscious failed.
Day Two- Subject X is still completely unresponsive.
Day Three- Subject X seemed to show interest in Dr. Evans' pink pen. The interest was slight and disappeared after one second.
Day Four- Subject X seems to be immune to shock therapy. Suggest more physical attempts.
Day Five- Subject X has been sedated for the first time. Dr. Evans attempted to trim it's hair, due to the fact that it had been interfering with the examination. Subject X, out of fear it is assumed, replied by snapping Dr. Evans' hand in half. During sedation, it's hair was cut just above it's shoulders. Upon waking, it was expected to react in a similar rage. Instead, it looked at it's shorter hair, ran it's fingers through it a few times. It seemed confused. It's confusion quickly progressed into a large depression. Spent the remainder of the day lying against the wall, refusing to return to it's cot.
Day Six- Subject X is still melancholy, presumably about the loss of it's hair. Attempts to cheer it up with more pink pens were doomed to failure, though it managed to sigh sadly at them.
Day Seven- Subject X finally responded to the food placed in front of it. It did not react to any of the foods. Due to the previous Visitors from the Andromeda Galaxy's similar reaction to Earth Food, it is now presumed it is from that Galaxy as well.
Day Eight- Subject X was given a glass of water to which it responded by drinking eagerly. This continued after eight glasses. Further adds to the presumption it is from the Andromeda Galaxy. Planet is still unknown.
Day Nine- Subject X has grown back most of it hair, though it does not trail down it's back as it did before. Subject smiled at the return of Dr. Evans, again, for only a second.
PLEASE NOTE: Subject X seems to understand if she is about to be put in a negative situation and responds accordingly.
Great. Brick thought.
"I'm assuming you're Dr. Johnson," a deep voice called from behind him.
"The zookeeper," he said with a smirk at the blonde boy staring at him seriously, "We worked together a few years ago,"
"I remember," he said coldly. Apparently he didn't appreciate jokes, "I took a sample of her blood…it is reminiscent of the Rathenio-Potint Species, though there are a few major differences,"
"Rathenio-Potint?" he asked, confused.
"An alien species living on a planet they call Ganda, in the Andromeda Galaxy,"
"You said…her,"
"Looks like a female to me," he shrugged, "Regardless; there are a few major differences. Though I realize why they called her subject X"
"Differences? Such as?"
"Well, for one thing, her blood contains black cells…in the shape of an X,"
Author's Note: Okay, a couple of things. For one, I don't know a lot about science or alien species. So maybe I am not the best person to write this story, but I will try to leave the science component out of it as much as possible. Regarding the alien species and planets, I think it's obvious this is a government facility that has had it's share of alien encounters, particularly with the Andromeda Galaxy (whose name I am a large fan of, thus my reasoning for choosing it). For another, I don't know anything about government facilities either. So in summary, a lot of the things are MADE UP. I repeat, MADE UP. If you can leave helpful comments about the ACTUAL facts, without flaming our outright insulting my intelligence, that would be wonderful. As well, I am currently IN SCHOOL. Therefore, updates will not be as fast as my last PPG story, but I promise they will be long. Unless of course you don't like the idea. And in that case, it'll probably get deleted. If you thought Brick was OCC in the beginning, he slightly is. He's more of the female Blossom in that half, though he becomes more Brick-like as we know him as the story progresses. And no, the boys are not related. And no, they're not all good friends. Sorry.