Rain and dirt

Interstellar travel was still restricted to scientists and military personnel only. And of those, it was still quite a prestigious honor granted to only the best and brightest. Suraci had worked his entire life to get to this point. Ever since he was a young boy he wanted to see other worlds. His exhaustion with his own species coupled with his existential boredom further solidified this yearning. So when the day finally arrived, he felt an anxious excitement he'd long forgotten he was capable of.

When the ship alerted him of approaching his destination he felt like a kid outside a candy store with his face pressed against the window. As it docked, as he went through the air locks, he struggled to contain his excitement. After he'd made it through all the scans and identification verifications a military science officer met with him to debrief him on his assignment and orient him around the facility.

"Dr. Doessy," the science officer extended her hand to greet him.

"Just call me Suraci." He said nonchalantly.

"Nice to meet you Suraci. My name is Neris. I'll be your guide for the length of your stay. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. Because of your unique skill set and credentials you will be working with Dr. Hyde remotely in sector 036217, and locally in this facility in the project's lab. Because the nature of your work is top secret you will be reporting directly to General Nero. Dr. Hyde will be giving you more specifics, but you will be working in the experimental hybrid program. This is our main facility. The transporter is this way if you follow me." Neris led Suraci to the left down a long corridor through several security checks. She then handed him a badge that began projecting a 3D map. "This is both a communicator, a map and your room key. It will monitor your location and vitals at all times and alert us if you are ever in danger. It also projects a protective electromagnetic field that adjusts according to environmental and psychological conditions. We don't allow civilians to operate remote transporters, so the badge itself can't send you, but we are capable of transporting you remotely by locking on to its signal should you ever be in distress. I would strongly suggest never taking it off. You do have access to all the transporters within the base via this badge, just don't forget your security algorithms. They're a complete bitch to reset. Your room is on deck 67, room 600. The lab you'll be working in is all of deck 24. Dr. Hyde expects to see you there on Wednesday at 0900, so you'll have some time between now and then to familiarize yourself with your surroundings. Transporters are in red on the map. The general's personal line as well as all relevant contacts are saved already in your badge. You can also add new contacts by touching badges to each other like this." She touched her badge to his. "There, now you have my number. Any questions?"

Suraci was still trying to contain his excitement, so he could barely form sentences. He was looking all around with eyes wide like a child completely and literally over the moon.

"Suraci?" Neris wondered if he'd retained anything she just said. He was the first and only civilian allowed on this base. It's official location hadn't even been declassified yet. The only reason this guy was even allowed here was because no one else had the relevant knowledge and talent. But civilians are different than military folk. It's just a different mindset. She wondered if he'd fit in. She'd already heard he was an odd duck and a workaholic, but right now he seemed like an excited little boy. A little boy that looked like an extremely handsome, well built man.

"Oh sorry, I was just thinking... I'm a little tired from the travel, but I don't need more than a good night's rest. I'd rather get to work immediately after I'm rested." Suraci said knowing he wouldn't be able to pay attention to anything until he was able to slake his curiosity about his assignment.

"I'd recommend you contact Dr. Hyde then and see if he will be ready for you earlier than expected. Is that all or is there some other way I can assist you?" Neris knew to stay professional, but she couldn't help but hope he wasn't too tired for fun.

"I'm good, thanks." Suraci said, waved goodbye and punched in his room coordinates to the transporter.

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Suraci awoke the following morning to his badge ringing. Dr. Hyde was calling him. He sat up as the sheet fell from his chiseled abs and answered immediately. "Uh, hello." Suraci said still not fully awake.

"Well hello Dr. Doessy." Dr. Hyde smiled. He looked to be a man is his mid 30s. He had a very normal build, but his eyes had a glint of something sinister and wild that made him seem larger than he was. His hair was unkempt and he was surrounded by lush alien flora and fauna.

"Suraci." Being tired had a tendency to limit his already truncated way of communicating.

"Suraci then." Dr. Hyde replied with a hearty laugh. "I didn't mean to wake you, but I understand you wanted to start early. I'm out in the field now, but if you'd like to get dressed and come out here I want you to meet the test subject you'll be assigned to. I'll explain more when you get here." As he finished speaking rain could be seen bouncing off the electromagnetic field surrounding him that his badge generated. He looked around slightly exasperated and thought 'where did you go you little troublemaker'.

Looking down from the cliff above him was the specimen covered in leaves and dirt.