They gave the creature a potent tranquilizer, firmly knocking it out but for the incoherent words of its bizarre language, of which they had been unable to decipher and identify with anything else.

They carried it into one of the containment rooms and set it on the floor that, if it were not in a cage, would have been considered fairly comfortable.

The guards left the room and the chief examiner thanked them for their help before sending them off.  He then turned his attention to the one-way screen between himself and the creature.  He noticed that it was shivering and raised the temperature of the room to accommodate its biological requirement, then sat back and waited for the creature to wake up.

This was not the first creature of this species they had encountered, #15 in fact, but while their base DNA identified them all as similar, their outer features were always different, so many varying colors that oftentimes didn’t seem to aid in their survival.

This one’s hide was camouflaged to match its environment, a clever evolutionary tactic that was seemingly shared with only a small number of its species.  As of yet, this was the first one that had been captured that truly showed any uncommon adaptations to suit its survival, this meant he would have to perform a full scan on its physical parameters once it had woken up, to ensure maximum effect.

He watched the creature carefully as it began to stir a few hours later, lifting itself with its front paws and sitting back on its haunches.  It rose wearily for a moment then fell back on its hindquarters again with a groan, it looked around with dreary, sleep-worn eyes.

It muttered something, its bizarre language had almost none of the same linguistics as the previous specimen, so the doctor set the auto-translator to start deciphering based on all previous specimens.

“Hello,” the doctor spoke to the creature through the intercom, causing the tired specimen to look around in rapid confusion, “Can you understand my words?” The doctor ask.

The creature shook its head, a common body signal of this species that seemed to mean both weariness and affirmation.  The doctor assumed the second.

“I’m going to perform a few tests to ascertain you abilities, I assure you that they will not hurt you in any way.  Do you understand me?”  The doctor asked the creature again.

The creature looked around in confusion, attempting to find the owner of the voice that it heard echoing about the room.  Perhaps the doctor had come to incorrect conclusions and this species was not as intelligent as their potential showed.

“I shall commence testing as scheduled nonetheless,” the doctor said bluntly, “If the scanner somehow starts to injure you, I will stop it immediately.”

He ran the tests for another few hours, at times the creatures showed signs of slight discomfort, but because all he was doing were scans, he didn’t worry about the creature being harmed.

During said tests, he ascertained that this creature was a male of its species, with physical abilities honed to levels only a few of the other specimens seemed to be even remotely capable of.  He also ascertained that this must be one of the soldier units of this species, specialized through the  evolutionary need for survival.  He determined that, in its natural habitat, this creature would follow the orders of its queen and/or pack leader.

The scanners winded down upon finishing, a piercingly high-pitched sound that the specimen seemed unable to hear.  If not for the insulation around the room, the doctor would have held his own ears in pain, but instead held his attention to the data screens as wave after wave of information flowed in front of him; he had to make sure no anomalies had been created in its capture that would prevent its successful release back into the wild.

He remembered when they first discovered these creatures, living in various habitats.  Some were created directly from nature, using broken twigs and blankets of fur, presumably from their prey as this species was omnivorous.  And still others were found living in their mountains, masterfully excavated to allow numerous individuals to live in hive-like numbers.  The walls of these mountains were unusually covered by lengths of melted earth the seemed to have very few purposes.

This one had been found alone in the wild, separated from others of its species by a large distance.  They came across this individual by accident, it had actually wandered into one of their exploration parties.  When it attacked them, they managed to tranquilize it and bring it in.

“How is it doing?” the doctor’s assistant surprised him as she walked up behind him.

After settling down, the doctor went back to work despite her playing with her hair.  She bent down to see what he was currently working on, then looked up at the specimen, her left arm dangling over the doctor’s shoulder.

He looked up at her only a moment and grabbed her left hand, using only one hand to work.  He felt at the metal bracelet around her fairly thin wrist and smiled as he touched the shining gem that adorned it.

“ Have we learned anything new from this one,” she asked him over his shoulder.

“Quite a bit my love,” he said putting his other hand back down to work and brought up the newly acquired information on the screen, “But it still requires time to decipher, an amount of information this large seems to take forever to code.”

He sat back while the computer finished its work, “What did you have in mind my love?” he asked her.

“Only to see if you need help with the specimen, but I see everything is going smoothly. Do you think this one is ready for the final test yet?”

“Not quite, from past specimens of this species we’ve determined they’re naturally bipedal, so until it’s capable of standing under its own power it will not be even close to its best.  So for now, I think it best that we simply make sure he’s well nourished.”

“He?  You’re starting to talk like this creature is a person like us,” she said to him and wrapped her arms around his chest, “You’re relating to your work now.”  She laughed.

“Perhaps, but is it so farfetched to think so?”  He asked her while watching the specimen try to stand up again, steadier this time.  “They have a unique language, the same potential for learning as our own species, they’re just set back farther than us.  They’re even able to use rudimentary tools, all in all, they’re really quite close to us in many respects.”

“I know, but past tests have shown them to be quite bloodthirsty if provoked, attacking anyone who gets near them.  Whatever their potential, that will always separate us from them.”

“Perhaps for now, but we can easily remedy that if we can teach them not to fear us.  That’s what drives all creatures born from prey ancestors to survive, it’s not a flaw, it’s simply yet another trait developed over time that has to be learned to overcome.”

  “I know, but that is what concerns me,” she said hugging him tighter, “ What if fear is too strong an experience for this species to overcome?”

The specimen managed to stand up fully and wobbled only for a moment before steadying itself.

“We shall see now,” the doctor said to his love, “ That is, if you are still interested and haven’t condemned this species to its bestial roots?”  He asked her as she let go of him.

“Of course I haven’t, I’ll trust whatever you believe in, I’m just worried about your safety in dealing with them.”  she said worried.

“I will be fine so long as you are,” he told her, embracing her lovingly once more before they left the lab together.

“I will meet back up with you soon at the specimen’s cage with fresh food and water, it looks like it hasn’t been nourished for awhile.”  she told the doctor, kissing him before running off.

He walked around to the specimen’s door, unlocking it quietly so as not to alert the creature but not quite opening the door yet.

No guards were required as they had never found any of the members of this species to be truly dangerous; scared, violent nuisances that could only inflict small harm, but not truly dangerous.

He decided to risk it and went into the room, silently closing the door behind him.  The creature did not notice him at first as it had been intently pawing at the walls with its forelimbs.  It was only now that the doctor realized the height  difference between himself and this creature, they were always a small species so part of the surprise was diminished, but it was still different for each specimen.

It came up only to about his midsection, but from what he had discovered through previous studies, this one was of about average height for its species and gender.

The creature looked around and saw him., it backed away in fear and kept its back against the wall with its forepaws held up as if it was anticipating an attack.

“Calm yourself, I won’t hurt you,” the doctor assured the creature, holding his arms up in an attempt to show the specimen he meant no harm.

When the creature showed even more fear, noted by accelerated breathing and increased tension, the doctor ceased his approach and crouched down to the specimen’s height, trying to make it seem as if they were on equal grounds.

The creature dug around in the folds of its hide, another odd evolutionary trait that the doctor hypothesized was most likely devised to allow them capable of carrying small items to free up their forelimbs for more strenuous work.

It pulled out a crude bladed weapon, made from the ore of some metal the doctor couldn’t identify on the spot.  He did however, notice it was edged jaggedly, which meant that if it felt it had to, this creature could hurt him rather badly.

“I mean you no harm, I simply want to learn from you, perhaps teach you if you will allow it.  But I’ll need you to put down the weapon, please?” he asked the creature in as calm a voice as he could considering the situation, although it was still apparent that it could not understand him.

The process seemed to work on most other creatures, he hoped this one would adhere to the norm,

He moved forward to take the crude knife from the creature, but it slashed at his hand and he pulled it back.  It had done no damage, but he decided he had to wait a bit longer.

He did not have the chance however as his assistant opened the door, causing the creature to bolt, quickly getting between the doctor and his love.

The doctor stood up to his full height and slowly started to walk closer to the creature, keeping it distracted while his love set the tray of food and water beside the entrance.  At the sound of the metal tray hitting the ground, it turned away from the doctor and ran towards the assistant.

The doctor made a desperate attempt at grabbing the creature, but it spun around, jumped up and cut him cleanly across the side of his face, then kicking him in his moment of surprise and instability, causing the doctor to collapse backwards.

It then lunged at his assistant again, cutting a jagged edge along her side and pushing her out the way, then ran down the hall at full speed.  The doctor opened his eyes in time to see his love bleeding on the floor.  He quickly got over to her and immediately called for medical help as he held her upright with one of his hands holding her wound.

“You’ll be okay my love, they’re coming already, just hold on…please.” he said to her, his tears burning as they flowed across his open wound, but the pain was nonexistent in comparison to his worry for her life.  He could tell by the wound that the specimen had at the very least partially damaged one of her vital organs, the jagged edge of the knife was what caused most of the damage.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine…” she told him and held his hand at her side, “It still hurts, so that means it can’t be that bad right.”

“I suppose,” he said through tears although he knew full well by the level of injury that it would be possible for the medics to heal her, “but there I still want to ask you, but I’m not sure if now is the best time…”

“What?” she asked as the medical team arrived and put her on a stretcher.

“Get better and I’ll be there when you wake up,” he told her while helping her get as secure and comfortable as possible, “and I’ll tell you then.”

“Is it worth it?” she asked him.

“Yes,” he replied simply and softly.

“Good,” she said as they gave a sedative which knocked her out as they rushed her to the E.R.

The guard arrived immediately after she left, “We were alerted that one of the specimen’s escaped, what was its escape route?”

“Don’t concern yourselves, I can handle it…are those armed with tranquilizer rounds?” he asked the guards, motioning towards their guns.

“Yes, but you’re not authorized to…” one of them started.

“The containment and study of this particular specimen is my responsibility, as such, I am authorized, now give me one of them and go with the medics to make sure my…assistant,” he said choosing his words carefully for now, “Stays safe.”

“Are you sure?” one of the guards asked him.

“The creature is clearly dangerous, you will require assistance,” the other told him.

“ I’m one of only two people who understands these creatures behaviors in the least, I’ll go after it myself to ensure it doesn’t injure itself.”

He took on of the guards guns and ran down the halls in search of the creature, finding it rather quickly, catching the strong scent of exertion that now permeated the halls.  It sat with its back against one of the hallway walls, tears hinted at on the sides of its face as it looked at a picture inked onto a small, thin object.

It looked up at the doctor and stood up quickly, facing him with the picture clutched in its right paw and the crude knife in its left paw, encrusted with the blood of his beloved.  It started to approach the doctor but stopped as the tranquilizer gun was pointed squarely at its chest, with the doctor’s eyes glaring menacingly, making their message well-known.

“Let me go!” the creature told him.

“Good, we can talk now that the translator has deciphered you language, but first, please put down your weapon.”

The creature was surprised at first that it could understand the doctor, but quickly told the doctor to let it go again.

“That will happen in due time, but for now,” the doctor said pointing his gun away from the creature, “You have to trust me.”

I’ll do the same to you as I did the other monster when you attacked me!” it responded angrily, causing the doctor to rethink his view on how intelligent this species truly was.

“That ‘monster’ as you called her was my beloved and you put her in a potentially critical condition!  Do you have someone of your won species you can call the same?”

The creature gripped the picture tighter in its right paw and lowered its weapon, “Yes, now let me go!”

“You said yes, so that means you can understand my predicament, on the one hand, I have the anger towards you for injuring her when all she tried doing was bring you food and water, and on the other hand I have the pity towards you for being separated from your beloved.”

  “So does that mean you’ll let me go…or kill me?” the creature asked, raising its weapon again.

“I will let you go, but in return I need you to answer some questions first, will you come with me back to the observation cell?”

“Promise me you will let me go afterwards…alive!” the creature told the doctor.

“What is a promise?” the doctor asked in return, “a ritual of your species?”

“A guarantee that you won’t kill me when I’ve done what you want.”

“Why would your species require that?  What purpose would it serve for me to hurt you?”

“In case you’re lying and want revenge.”

“In case of what?  What would I want?” the doctor asked because the translator seemed to skip out on those words.

“Never mind then, let’s get this over with so I can get away from you monsters.”

The doctor took the creature’s comment into consideration as he led the creature back to its cage, brought it more food and water, and managed to finish his research with the specimen’s help.

As he released the creature, preparing to send it back to its environment, it asked him a question, “The other one of you, the one I hurt, will it survive?”

“She has recovered thankfully, I would wish to show you to her, but I have yet to see reason to truly trust your species.”

The creature pulled the picture out from the folds of its skin again and showed it to the doctor, pointing at one of the creature’s in the picture.

This is my wife,” the creature told the doctor and let him observe the noticeably different specimen in the picture.

“So this one is female, we have observed very few of them closely.  The differences between individuals of your species are odd, but the characteristics between males and females are more subtle than other creature’s we have come across.”

The creature gave off a sound that seemed similar to a laugh, “I never really thought so, but because of her, I understand, at least a little bit, how you must feel. Is that one you called beloved your wife?” the creature asked him.

“No, not yet at least,” the doctor told the short creature as they reached the transportation room.

“Is this where I’m to be let go?” the specimen asked him.

“Yes, simply step up to one of the symbols on the wall,” the doctor responded.

The creature moved carefully, stepping slowly but calmly across the smooth, green metal surface.  When it reached one of the symbols, it turned to the doctor with its back to the wall.

“Is there such a thing as an apology among your people?” the creature asked the doctor.

“Yes, but there is no need, my love will be fine.”

“Then let me answer one more question, my name is Keith.” the specimen told him.

“Is that your personal name or your species name?” the doctor asked him.

“My personal name, as a species, I am known as a…human” the translator paused for a second to decipher the word.

“Ksri-Ren, Dracian,” the doctor responded, “My personal name and species name in your language.”

“Will your species ever confront humans in a more…public way?” Keith asked him.

Perhaps, your species is both monstrous and unintimidating, a peculiarity that has greatly drawn our attention.  Personally, I hope that we will meet again someday, in a far less violent manner.”

The doctor activated the transporter, sending Keith to one of the human’s populated mountainous areas.

He met with his loved one immediately afterwards, overjoyed to find that the medics had repaired her wound fully and that she only needed to rest now.  When she first woke up, her eyes moved slowly, but her smile spread quickly as she saw the doctor’s face.

“So, is it worth it?” she asked him.

I believe so,” he said showing her a gem-studded necklace.  She took it from him and he helped her to clasp it around her neck, signifying that she accepted her offer.

He hugged her lovingly, being mindful of her side, she asked him while he still held, “So, did the creature pass the final test?”

“No, in fact I never tried it, but I discovered something far more interesting about their species, something that could bring us closer then we ever dreamed.

He then told her about all he had discovered from Keith.  All the similarities and differences between their species, the paradox of love and hate together in the chaotic harmony that was his species.  The potential he saw within these seemingly peaceful creatures that called themselves…humans.