Dedicated to an amazing scifi author! I look forward to reading more of the Saurian Chronicles!

Trigger Warning: Skip to the next bolded line should one suffer from queasiness.

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"You're a life saver."

In a lab located deep in the restricted section of the Academy, a female scientist reluctantly delivered a sealed vial into a trusted colleague's arms.

"It better be worth it for all the trouble it cost me," murmured Dr. Hamilton, a biology professor, underneath her breath. The slime stored in the vial could only be found on the black market on Earth if one were not provided with the proper license. Expensive but effective, it served as the revolutionary cornerstone on organic lifeform preserver. Theoretically, people claimed it could sustain human life itself.

However, the government had yet to prove that bold claim. Customs would not bring it into the United States, but the cheapest place to procure it legally happened to be Thailand.

Were it not for her prestigious colleague's connections, she might have never been able to sample it. Alas, foreign countries and airplane travel did not sit well with her; flying a rocket had been enough of a headache.

Her colleague sheepishly grinned at her, tapping her hand as a sign of gratitude for gifting it to him. Motioning to an open container, he tipped his head as if to ask another favor.

Pouring into the container, she eyed a basin in sight, yet did not ask the other doctor what it was for. Throughout her years of service, she had become accustomed to not prying into matters above her clearance level. If this helped develop a vaccine, what was it to her?

"Thank you," said the doctor, watching her back as the sliding doors slit shut behind her. Checking that she had left, he strolled to a side room laid out with medical equipment where a young black man lay naked with only a white sheet to cover him.

"Let's take this from the top, shall we?", said the doctor to his unwilling subject.

PTOOEY.

https://youtu.be/SrA-ULkAzVM

Wiping the saliva off his chin, he smirked. "Enjoying this, are we?"

"Leave. Me. Alone," he forced out with a Central American accent as English was not his first language,. The patient's lungs, filled with fluid, could barely conjure up enough air to speak. Although, to the doctor's chagrin, that did not stop the Panamanian from trying.

"It is futile to resist, my dear West African descendant," nonchalantly stated the health professional, pulling the victim by his hair till drops spilled onto the marked test tube.

"AHH!", Tito cried.

"I'll need to collect hair samples as well," the doctor muttered. "This happens to be the fastest way to do it."

"Insane," he squeaked out.

"Me? I'm not the one that claims not have West African ancestry when it is clearly written on your DNA."

"Panamanian," Tito squeaked. It irked him to no end as he was not African.

"Yes, that is where you were born, and where your family is from, but genetics doesn't lie," said his captor. Injecting a paralyzing tranquilizer into the victim, he patted the body and proceeded to lecture the student as any professor would do.

"About a century ago, it was found that there was yet another human species that mated with homosapiens. It so happens that traces of that elusive species was to be found only in people from West Africa. However, what most are not aware of..."

Leaning closer to the victim, he whispered, "...are the distinct genetic markers that made this species so...durable as a species. It's quite fascinating if you stop to think about it."

Standing up, he took off his medical gloves, and remarked, "The only downside seems to be is that the species could be called...a bit primitive. Hmm. Would that make you closer to a monkey then?"

Tito glared at him with loathing. Internally seething, he prayed for the day he could take down this monster.

The doctor sighed. "Oh well. Whether I'm a racist, or on the brink of an ingenious feat...it's too soon to tell."

Tito attempted to move his lips and challenge the senile doctor's hypothesis.

"Now, now. One word out of you, and that poor Egyptian girlfriend of yours gets it," he threatened, wiping down a scalpel as he did so.

The patient relented. Feeling trapped, he succumbed to the tranquilizer, hating that the fate of Cadet Quibilah Abdel rested in that vile man's hands.

His captor smirked, knowing fully well that by the time the virus raised its peak, the poor girl would be already dead.

Not that it worried him, he would be out of here before the outbreak reached that point anyhow.

"I've heard that screaming is a good way of releasing pent-up stress," his captor started.

He added, "Of course, no one can hear your screams anyway." Pulling a lever, he lowered the man into the basin filled to the brim with the greenish slime and turned on the switch.

If he could have, Tito would have shrieked loudly into the night.

OUTER SPACE

"They shall not know what hit them," claimed the Pharaoh, gears creaking as he remained on the floor.

A couple thousand years ago, he would have mocked those with additional prosthetic attachments. However, the times had changed. Now, a parasite like he, lay before the esteemed Sovereign as a mangle of both mechanical and alien parts.

His multiple-armed leader, the Sovereign, sat in a hall facing his second-in-command, the Pharaoh. His bionic subordinate scooched closer to the Sovereign, still kneeling as he reported the virus currently spread faster than the humans had anticipated.

Sovereign leaned forward, eagerly asking, "Any news on Liege?"

Pharaoh opened his mouth in shock. "Sire...", he pleaded.

The ruler of the Epitogoni waved his hand. "It is through no fault of your own should you be unaware. Currently, he resides at the Academy, having taken a job among the humans recently."

Compared to humans, recently for the Sovereign usually meant a few years ago. As an alien nearing his ten thousandth year of life, time passed in terms of centuries, not months.

Resting his lower arms, the father of Liege sighed. Figuring out his son would forever elude him. That boy did whatsoever he pleased when he desired to do so.

However, now that he stayed near the epicenter, danger lurked at every corner.

"Make sure to take my child out before the peak hits," relayed the Sovereign. No matter how old the baby would grow, Liege would continue to be just a baby in his eyes.

"Of course, Sovereign. I will take great care that the heir of the Epitome empire is safe," promised the Pharaoh.

Leaving with a deep bow, he found his assistant, and squeezed his neck, saying, "How did the Sovereign find out?"

That brat would be their doom if the Sovereign continued spoiling him to his every fancy!

"I...", the lower Epitogoni choked.

"Never mind that," he stated as he snapped his fingers, releasing his other hand from the other Epitogoni's neck. "Know this, Liege cannot come back alive to Earth."

His assistant swallowed, registering the vice commander called for their heir to perish.

Should Sovereign find out...whose neck would be on the line then?

"Yes, Pharaoh."

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Author's note: Well, I think this doctor is very fascist in his way of thinking. The fact that another human species mated with homosapiens, and is found in the DNA of some people with West African ancestry is true. (I can provide scientific articles with links.) However, this 'doctor'...tortures his patients and threatens our main protagonist! The nerve!

Btw, the protagonist, deuteragonist, and main antagonist have all been introduced in this story already. Soon enough, it will be revealed why the Pharaoh disdains Liege so much.

Additional Author's note: The aliens are from one of the first chapters. Quote down below.

OUTER SPACE

"The stage is set, Sovereign," a mechanical voice stated as he bowed before a multiple-armed creature.

The multiple-armed creature continued to wave his arms in the air nonchalantly for a while before responding to his bionic subordinate.

"Tell the players not to take any undue risks."