The alien crashed against the electrical field of the holding cell, and was thrown back in a shower of sparks. It had learned not to come near the field in the past day, but sometimes it just wasn't able to control itself, especially when food came near. The scientist passing by the cell who had drawn the alien's attention quickened her pace down the hall, and tried not to look too scared.

"You're sure that thing's gonna hold?" Willow asked anxiously, unnerved by the pure fury and malice the alien displayed. She wondered how much more unnerved she'd be if she was actually in front of the cell, instead of watching Initiative security footage on a hidden television screen in the safety of Professor Walsh's office.

A speaker located besides the screen crackled in response. "Don't worry. It's tried it damndest, but still hasn't come close to breaking free," Tecnician Hicks, the young scientist currently in charge of monitoring the alien, replied. His audience in the office could see his back on the screen, as he eyed the creature. He'd been studying it from the moment it had arrived at the Initiative, and thought he had gained a pretty good idea of its capabilities.

Hicks just wished he could be sure.

It was the morning after Buffy had fought the alien, and while the rest of Sunnydale was cleaning up after the storm, Walsh, Riley, and the Scoobies were crowded into the Professor's office, trying to share a view of the screen, much to Walsh's silent annoyance. They watched as the alien paced back and forth, trading snarls with the nearby vampires and demons in the other cells.

"We're calling it a Xenomorph," Hicks said, "because of it is, quite literally, an alien form." Willow nudged Xander and whispered to him to remind Anya she'd been wrong. "It seems to be an interspecies parasite. When the egg lands on a planet, the pre-larval stage- the one that Mr. Giles encountered- forces an embryo into the nearest convenient organism. The embryo grows and absorbs nutrients within the host's body. The process is not unlike that of certain parasitic Earth wasps. The big difference is that the embryo also absorbs genetic material from the host, so when it hatches, it's better adapted for the environment that awaits it. The larval stage then expels itself from the host, and with sufficient food, grows into the creature we see before us with remarkable speed, utilizing the strongest parts of the host's DNA so it already has an edge on the new environment."

"So it's been only one creature all along," Giles mused. "The thing which attacked me one night had grown into the thing which attacked Joyce the next… truly remarkable."

"Ah, that reminds me," Walsh said. "Hicks, do you have sample 1B with you?"

"One moment Professor…" the tech hurried off the screen, then came back with something that he held up to the screen- a small translucent glob of a substance which resembled dried amber.

"What is it?" asked Buffy.

"It's the thing you found in the graveyard last night," answered Walsh, "and it's also what made it possible for the alien to arrive here. Our tests indicate that this is an organic heat insulator, capable of withstanding extremely high temperatures. We're theorizing that the egg entered Earth's atmosphere cocooned in this substance, enabling it to survive the heat of re-entry."

"As I said," Giles said, "truly remarkable."

"Yeah, I've never seen anything like this," a voice behind them said. "Fascinating creature, isn't it?"

They turned around to see a man stepping into the room. Slim, about mid-thirties, with a face that was both friendly, open and expressive while being almost completely unmemorable. The most noticeable thing about him, besides his amiable smile, was the immaculately stylish suit he was wearing. "Ah, Mr. Traeten," Walsh said. "There you are."

"I'm sorry, Professor, I know you hate tardiness." Traeten laughed. He noticed the Scoobies and his eyes widened. "Hey! I don't believe we've met, but I do believe I've heard of you. I'm Jacob Traeten," he rapidly shook Buffy, Willow, Giles, and Xander's hands, then turned back to Buffy, "And am I correct in assuming that you're the 'Slayer' I've heard so much about?"

Buffy nodded. "Um, yeah, that's me. I'm Buffy."

Traeten grinned. "Wow! I mean… if even half the things I've heard about you are true, I owe you my life at least half a dozen times over. It's really great to meet you and your team." He turned to Willow. "If she's the Slayer, that means you must be Ms. Rosenberg. Magic and computers right?" She nodded, smiling at being called 'Ms.'. "Excellent! That just leaves you two- Mr. Giles, her mentor and dispenser of wisdom, you must let me look at your books sometime…" Giles cleaned his glasses, flustered. "And that means that you must be the steadfast Mr. Harris."

"Um …Yeah." Xander said. "Pleased to meet you, person-who-already-knows-us-all-for-some-reason."

Traeten laughed. "Oh, Professor Walsh keeps me updated on all her new friends. Besides, it's my business to know things. Oh, Agent Finn! I almost forgot you. How are the men lately?"

Riley grinned at him. "Just fine, Mr. Traeten. We're getting some good new people."

"That's great, then." Traeten walked over to the desk and leaned over the screen. "Hicks, isn't it? I'm sorry if I interrupted you."

Hicks cleared his throat and continued. "Well, the Xenomorph also has a number of highly unusual defense mechanisms. First of all, beneath its exoskeleton flows a pressurized stream of extremely caustic fluid, more potent than anything we've got in the labs. We couldn't even get a sample because it just dissolved whatever we tried to store it in. Gave us all a couple of close calls down here."

"An excellent defense mechanism," Giles observed. "It makes it a risk to even harm the creature."

"At least to break the shell," Walsh said. "Riley, once you're done the sweep get someone to inventory the armory. I want every weapon which can stop this thing without releasing the acid readied, just in case."

Riley nodded. "I'll get Graham on it. He spends most of his time in the armory anyway. Anything else Hicks?"

On the screen, Hicks glanced over his shoulder and nodded at the camera. "The alien doesn't seem to have an immune system, at least not as we know it, but we're pretty sure most Earth diseases don't affect it. We were able to chip off a bit of the exoskeleton while it was unconscious, and it looks like its shell is extremely effective- lightweight, durable, highly resistant to a wide range of stress and damage. To top it off, it heals faster than anything I've ever seen before. The wound from last night is already completely gone, not even a mark. There's also the matter of its senses. It doesn't have eyes, ears, or a nose as far as we can tell, but it's senses are still far beyond the human. We think it senses heat somehow, and it might be able to sense an animal's natural electrical field, like sharks do. Its hearing is excellent; but we don't know how it senses sound vibrations without ears. One of the researchers thinks that dome on its head might have something to do with it, but it's just a guess. Then there's its sense of smell. We don't know how it does it without a nose, but it's twice as good as any breed of dog on both air and ground scents. We do know that all the senses are located in the head. This is all conjecture, but we're sure of this: bottom line, it would be near-impossible to hide from this thing, and it could track prey in almost any environment."

Walsh stared. "Anything else?"

"Yes... we don't think this is the alien's final stage of development. Its DNA is showing signs of reorganizing itself for another change. We don't know what the new form will be, but I think it's safe to say it will be much more dangerous."

"More dangerous?" said Xander. "This thing already sounds like it could go a few rounds with the Metroids."

Walsh stared at him. "Never mind," Xander said. "The point is, yikes."

Traeten smiled. "Well, we'll just have to keep a close watch on our visitor from the stars, won't we? Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing what it does next."

Buffy frowned at this, and opened her mouth to remind Traeten that the thing had already killed two people, but Walsh spoke first. "Mr. Traeten, we have a meeting."

"Oh sorry! I just got so caught up with the Slayer and co. here." He shook hands enthusiastically with them all before heading off with Walsh.

Buffy watched them go, thinking. Traeten was very friendly, which was a welcome change to the winter winds which seemed to emanate from Walsh, but he didn't seem to realize what the alien was. Also, there was something about his energetically endearing manner which reminded her of Ted… but no malarkey. Big plus. She decided to give him a chance; it would be nice having someone friendly in the Initiative besides her boyfriend. She turned to Riley. "So, what's his deal? Is he a member of the Initiative?"

Riley shrugged. "Not really. I don't know everything, but as far as I can tell, he's the representative for some kind of corporation. He's been visiting the Initiative every so often since we got established here, checks on our work, discusses things with the Professor. He gets along really well with the men too, especially for a civilian."

"He said he knew that I did magic," Willow said. "I thought the Initiative didn't believe in that stuff."

"He probably has other sources," Riley said. "Any company that's allowed to work with the Initiative is probably going to be really well-connected. But I think he's nice, don't you?"

"That's some creature you've gotten yourself there," Traeten said. He was sitting with Walsh in a small meeting room within the Initiative complex. Walsh regarded him coolly. In her opinion, it was never a good idea to let your guard down around people like Traeten. Especially since it seemed to her that he was good at getting people to do just that.

"What do you want to do?" She asked.

Traeten shrugged. "The usual, except this time I plan to stay around to see what develops. Ravnon is extremely interested in this thing. We'd like full access to whatever data you get from the organism. I'm talking about raw information, samples, and, if any more of these things turn up, whole organisms. In return, we'll cover all the costs related to the organism's study… and we'll increase funding on the you-know-what."

He was talking about project 314, of course. Ravnon had nearly as big a stake in it as Walsh herself did. Walsh was still considering the proposal carefully when her mind seized upon an idea: how much more perfect would Adam be if parts of this remarkable alien were added to him? A cyber-extraterrestial-demonoid…. "All right then," She said. "We have an agreement, but no contracts. I still remember what happened to the last group that signed a Traeten contract."

Traeten smiled his most charming smile. "Why Professor Walsh," he teased, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you didn't trust me."

The two shook hands.

That night, Corporal Riley Finn called his girlfriend from the Initiative after coming back from his patrol. His team had been unable to find any more eggs in the town, but a lot had happened at the Initiative while they were gone.

"Hi Buffy," he said, "just thought you ought to know. The thing- the alien, something's happened to it. It's gone completely unconscious, and its shell is beginning to swell up, like it's growing inside. The techs think it's changing forms again. Whatever it's gonna become, it's pretty big. We're converting one of the unused caverns into a special holding cell for it. Also, the Traeten guy's sticking around longer than usual this time. It looks like he's helping Walsh supervise the project. Just thought you should know."

And then he hung up.

A/N: Jacob Traeten is my first attempt at an original character, kindly review and tell me what you think.