Test Subject | Patient 17

Juliet changed into a green lab coat with her name badge on the left corner that the doctor had given her. It was the starting day of her career and she could not be more excited. She worked hard for six years at Harvard to get a bachelors in psychology and a week after graduation, she was offered a position in a highly classified research laboratory named 'Defense Lab of Astrobiology'.

On the day of the interview, she learned the facility was ran and operated under the government and a only a selective few were chosen to work inside every few years.

Once she left the bathroom fully dressed, she went back into Doctor Balonky office. He was a tall man with dirty blonde hair and wore a neutral look of boredom. He had a big nose and brown eyes. He wore a white lab coat. "You look good," he commented, eyeing her up and down. "Please sit. I need to inform you about the patient you will be meeting." She sat in the chair in front of his desk. "The patient is seventeen years old in human years, but in her species, we believe she's somewhere in her thirties. Very intelligent too, we've noticed her interests in astronomy and gave her books on such topic in which she had read almost all of them. I can't get her to speak to me or anyone else but we know she can communicate in our language. She does so whenever she is alone. She even sings. I need you to try and get her to open up. Understood?"

Juliet looked confused. She did not know what he spoke about species. She thought of the NDA she had to sign and wondered what exactly was up with this particular patient.

"I'm sorry. But this human years and species thing. I don't follow."

"She's an extraterrestrial creature. We've been studying her kind for over a decade now." He picked up a remote and pointed at the wall beside them and pushed a button. Images of computer files popped up and he clicked one under the number '17'. "This is Patient 17. Your new patient," he said.

Juliet eyed the light green alien in the images. Patient 17 had round eyes bigger than that of a human, silver ones, black straight hair to the shoulders, and the body shape of a female due to its large breasts, curved hips, and vagina. The creature had fainted white designs across her arms and legs. Its appearance caused an unknown feeling inside her. She had never seen anything like that before, she was fascinated to say the least. Although, soon she realized her expertise was not in extraterrestrials.

She turned to him. "I went to school to study about human interactions, not aliens. I don't think I qualify for something like this."

"This alien has minor differences, but for the most part she is just like us. If you can get her to share details about herself and where she came from, I'll make sure you're paid double the amount originally offered.

His response did not convince her much, but for some reason she accepted the challenge. They walked down a corridor of doors and the doctor stopped at one particular with the patients' number labeled on it. He unlocked it with a card and after glowing green it opened. There was a fogged glass wall in front of them that reached from one end of the wall to the other inside. Like a box. There was was a wooden bed, a dresser, a wood table with chairs, and a shelf of books with stuffed animals. Also a toilet, sink, and shower in a corner. Juliet could hear the sound of running water.

"She spends a considerable amount of time in there. Hopefully, it will not be that long," Balonky informed.

They waited about ten minutes before Juliet was able to see the creature in person stepping out of the shower. She could not help but feel amazed at being that close to an alien for the first time. It felt so surreal.

When the creature saw them, it paused for a minute and tilted its head as it looked directly at Juliet.

"So I'm going to open the door and you can go in." Balonky opened a glass door that could be easy to miss as the only indication of it being a passageway was the handle. "Patient 17 is completely harmless and has never shown violent behavior. For today lets just get you two familiar with each other. On a regular day, you would push the green button by the door we came into whenever you finished with a session." She looked over at the green and red buttons. "Any questions before I leave you to it?" he asked and she replied,

"What is the red one for?"

"Oh." He glanced at it quickly. "That one is in case of emergencies. Hopefully it will never have to be used. Not that it ever has. Any other questions?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Very well then. Good luck," he told her and walked out.

Juliet was not sure how to begin the session with Patient 17 so she smiled kindly at it once she walked in the glass box and took a seat on one of the chairs. The creature kept a good eye on her. "My name is Juliet. Its nice to meet you." She received no response and looked around the place. "This is a nice home you have."

"Home," it repeated in a soft tone.

She raised an eyebrow. "Yes, this is your home. I like it."

"This is not my home. My home is on 48 Juler 3."

Oh.

"I'm not familiar with that planet. Can you tell me about it?" The creature looked away for a moment and when it turned back, it walked over to the table and took a seat in the other chair across Juliet.

"48 Juler 3 has one giant ocean and all land is connected. Not like Earth."

"Interesting," Juliet replied. "Do you miss home?"

"Yes. I left mother and father to find sister on other planets. I never found her." The alien looked down and Juliet saw the faint designs on its arm light up.

"I am sorry to hear that," Juliet replied. "How did you get to Earth?"

"My ships' engine failed. I tried to repair it manually but the ship got too close to the planet and fell in. I was unable to stop it."

She felt sorry for Patient 17. Stuck as a test subject when all it wanted to do was find its sister.

"You are not like the other humans that wear the white coverings. They hurt me with sharp objects."

Juliet nodded. She understood how being an unknown environment, held captive, and poked everyday with needles could be scary. In a way that did saddened her. "I'm sorry about that. I don't think their intentions are to cause harm to you. They only want to understand you and your species because you're from another world."

The creature looked at Juliet, eyes flickering back and forth. It blinked twice and replied, "is that why you're here? To understand me?"

"Yes."