Snippet #2825742

"Might as well explain, after all, you are putting your neck on the line for this as well, we are not here to retrieve some typical animal specimen, though it may appear as such. Deep 17 only bothers with things that shouldn't be there... and this? This is most certainly that," Lucius began, signaling Dr. Addler to hand him something. The young man fiddled with something, a small tablet, and gave it to Lucius. On the tablet screen was... very old diagrams and notes from some kind of large animal. By all accounts, these reports should have been lost, ages ago, yet here they were, intact... well, mostly intact, there were garbage data in portions of it, degraded with age. "From what data we gleaned from old unsent broadcasts, the old research teams that held it were so confused on this particular specimen. No known evolutionary ancestry, no matching morphology, no related species whatsoever, it was as if this creature had just one day popped out from the the aether. And you know what? It probably did. A species of one. It was the only creature to allow itself to be confined... it allowed them, they didn't catch it, and it allowed itself to be studied, and in turn, they found, it studied them. But I suppose these details matter not to you, but what matters is... it doesn't think like a simple beast, it thinks on our level, and we needed somebody who's skilled at-"

Before Lucius could finish his speech, there was a loud thud. Dr. Addler spun around and Lucius turned his head. There was silence, dead silence, as a large creature now stood before the docks. Belle looked back and forth. Her black-and-white banded tail swayed as she stumbled about, worn out and disoriented from her great excursion. She took a deep breath and lifted herself up, easily towering around 11-12 feet tall. Hayden was in awe, but Lucius remained stoic. This hadn't gone to plan, but it was convenient. She really was drawn to civilization. But was she still compliant, or was she now above them? She looked to them, her green and purple eyes locking with theirs.

"She's changed, the coloration is the same but, the shape has changed, by... by a lot?" Dr. Addler mutters. "Neoprimordial? And-"

Belle moved in fast, right in Hayden Addler's face, her face tilted to the side as she examined the man. Her mess of black hair hung over one of her eyes, her purple one examining him up close. White coat, just like the others from before. Lucius went for his stun gun but her tail almost instinctively knocked from his hand. He held his hand, a perplexed look as she did nothing more. After a moment of silence, she poked Hayden's nose.

"W-what is-?" he said in a panic, before she moved the claw down and placed it over his lips, hushing him.

"Vessel," a husky voice suddenly escaped from those beastly lips, through teeth sharp and visible. The sound of it... it was calm, soothing even.

"Vessel?" Lucius asked. It wasn't killing them, its stance this whole time hasn't been hostile. It was as the reports stated, a creature exhibiting no hostile traits, but will defend itself. "Oh... you mean, ship, don't you?"

"Yes, ship, vessel, be kind, please," the last words that escaped her mouth were... pleading. Hayden slowly reached into his pocket, that voice touching something deep inside him. It was warm, inviting, and gentle. What was he fishing from his pocket? He raised a hand and in it was the keys to their ship. Lucius saw this and grabbed Dr. Addler's wrist before he handed it over.

"Addler, what are you doing?" he asked, but she snatched the key and rushed towards the vessel that smelled of them. She was fast, much faster than a human, her tail swaying behind her with wild excitement, like a child who had a new toy.