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The First Study

The creature existed as a brown, oily biomass. Burrowed in the surface of moist soil, every few hours the creature exhaled, blowing toxic smoke through its glass cage.

Caitlyn watched, intent on discovering the source of the fumes. She wanted to see how the creature would react. Without any notes, Caitlyn had to sort out what the creature did by herself.

She adjusted her glasses and pulled back her red hair. There could be no distractions. Her eyes stayed transfixed, even as her finger juggled a ballpoint pen.

Pressing a button, Caitlyn released a small mouse into the cage and started a timer. Since she already knew how much poison the creature ejected. Caitlyn wanted to know exactly how the mouse would die. If its tissues were coated in toxins, then the creature simply exhaled death.

Otherwise, Caitlyn didn’t know what to expect.

Hour after hour, the mouse wandered the cage. It neither slowed or collapsed. It lived when it should have died.

At the end, it stared up at Caitlyn, unwilling to look away.

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