Kaleidoscope (joshler)

- chapter 2 -

In the lab, the thing sat in a large glass container, kind of like a big bathtub with a ceiling. Tyler was smiling the whole time, observing as the thing walked on its hind legs.

"Astonishing," Tyler said with stars in his eyes, writing notes down in a purple notepad. He took many notes, how muscular the creature was, how human-like it responded. It walked around the glass caging, occasionally sliding down the walls with its stomach turned out, and slumping to sit on the floor. Tyler was quick to notice that its palms glowed a reddish purple. The tips of its ears did too, and Tyler wrote this down.

"Um guys, what kind of info do we have here?" Mark asked, tapping away on the computer in front of him.

"Well... It's very human-like. Not in the way it acts on its own, but the way it responds to things. And how it looks, except for the eyes, and the antennae, and the tail, and the um... hands... claws," Tyler said, his eyes not leaving his notebook. He then looked up, stepped a little closer to the glass walls, and tapped his fingers on it. The thing immediately perked up, and came over to where Tyler's hand was. It tilted its head, and Tyler repeated the motion of fingers tapping a rhythm on the glass.

"Tyler, what are you-"

"Shh, watch." Tyler said, staring the thing in the eyes. Tap back. Tap the glass.

The thing smiled a little, sticking its tongue in between its teeth and tapping the glass two times. Tyler grinned successfully, and turned to face the others. They were not as impressed.

"And what does this prove?" Someone asked, and Tyler frowned.

"It's not about what it proves, it's about the fact that it has a consciousness. It's impressive, its stance is advanced, in terms of the similarities," Tyler twisted a piece of hair in between his fingers, and turned to see the thing copying his tic. Tyler laughed at this.

"I don't know man, it's still kind of strange. I don't like it." Mark said. Tyler sighed dramatically, looking at Mark with mock annoyance. Half real annoyance, Mark was not making this as fun as he hoped.

"Oh of course you don't like it, I don't like it either. And yet, it decided to choose me as its comfort character. Shut your mouth." Tyler said, and Mark huffed. The thing made a little noise, and Tyler turned to see its sad face.

Oh come on. I can't actually like you.

...

The crew had decided that since Tyler was the only one who the creature wasn't negatively affected by, he would be the one to sleep with it too. So with that being said, Tyler brought his sleeping bag from his office to the lab. The lab room was one he had slept in before, with the occasional beep of the monitor, or the hum of the vents.

"Alright big fella." Tyler sighed to the creature as he settled in, the familiar uncomfy feeling that came when he slept with company reigning in quickly. The soft glow of the thing's palms against the glass lulled Tyler more than he would have liked to admit. The thing cooed every once and awhile, making soft chirp-like noises that caught Tyler's attention every time.

"Hm? What's up, bud?" Tyler asked, sitting up and ruffling his hair a little. The thing chirped again, clearly trying to get Tyler's attention. The pinkish glow had faded into a blue-purple color, and Tyler became even more curious.

"Huh...? What's going on?" Tyler asked softly, walking up to the enclosure with a soft lantern light by his side. The creature grunted, and rubbed its belly up against the glass.

Oh, food.

"Oh.. are you hungry? You must be." Tyler said, and the creature's eyes lit up. Yeah, that was definitely it.