Laihud had never seen a Zorax up close before and was amazed by its physical characteristics. It had a thick, woolly hide that was almost impenetrable, and its limbs were strong and muscular. Its claws were razor-sharp, and its teeth were long and pointed.
"A creature bred to kill anyone and anything that steps in its way," Laihud mumbled into a recorder to keep a note of his observations.
Despite its fearsome appearance, Laihud couldn't help but feel a sense of fascination as he examined the creature. He ran his fingers over its skin, marvelling at the texture and how it seemed to shift and change in the light.
"The creature seems to have a multi-layered skin that changes appearance according to the type of light shone upon it."
As he continued his examination, he noticed something strange about the Zorax's behaviour. Usually, when a creature was sedated, it would remain still and unresponsive. But this Zorax seemed to be stirring as if it was trying to wake up.
Laihud quickly checked the sedation levels, but they were still within safe limits. He realized that something else must be causing the creature to wake up.
"It must be something about this place," Laihud mumbled and turned to call Vimur for help.
Just then, the Zorax's eyes snapped open, letting out a low growl. Laihud took a step back, but he didn't panic. He might be a healer, but he had dealt with dangerous creatures before and knew how to handle them.
He reached for a tranquillizer gun and aimed it at the creature. But before he could fire, the Zorax suddenly sprang up, its claws slashing at the air. Laihud dodged to one side, narrowly avoiding the attack.
"Oi, calm down, baby!"
The Zorax continued to lash out, its movements quick and unpredictable. Laihud kept his distance but knew he couldn't avoid the creature forever. There was only enough room there for the two of them.
Thankfully, one of the straps was still latched onto the Zorax's legs, giving Laihud enough space to dodge the incoming attacks. However, the belt would not hold forever. Laihud needed to think of something and fast.
He quickly assessed the situation and realized he needed to take a different approach. Instead of trying to subdue the creature, he needed to figure out why it was so agitated.
He carefully observed the Zorax's behaviour, looking for clues that might explain its hostility. As he watched, he noticed the creature's eyes darting towards a particular part of the room.
"The window!"
He followed its gaze and saw a small window in the corner of the medical bay. Through the window, he could see the rocky forest outside, bathed in the light of the rising sun.
Suddenly, it clicked. The Zorax wasn't just reacting to being sedated - it was responding to the unfamiliar environment of the spaceship. It was afraid, disoriented, and desperate to escape.
"Vimur... run a simulation of the area surrounding the ship." Laihud softly whispered into the radio to not get Zorax's attention.
"What- ok, got it." Viimur wasn't sure what Laihud was barking about, but he knew better than not to follow his words.
Within moments, the operating room was turned into the area where they had met Zorax for the first time. It took a while, but the creature calmed down enough for the sedative to take effect again.
Laihud let out a sigh of relief before being joined by Vimur, who had grown worried sick about Laihud's well-being.
"What's going on here?" He asked.
Laihud wiped the sweat off his forehead before responding, "That's what I'm trying to find out. What about the rest of the crew?"
"They are busy forming diplomatic relations with the Ratacules-"
"What they are doing is called... playing with cute creatures." Laihud shrugged his shoulders. "Take a few of them and start searching for what we are here for, ok?"
Vimur nodded and left the med bay, giving Laihud enough time to figure out the reason for Zoraxes' sudden strange behaviour.
As he scanned the creature's body with various medical instruments, he noticed a strange object in its flesh. It was small and metallic, with a series of wires and tubes extending from it.
"What the hell is this?"
Laihud carefully extracted the object, studying it closely. It was an artificial parasite designed to control the Zorax's behaviour and turn it into a weapon. Laihud had heard of such devices before but had never seen one in person.
He worked tirelessly to remove the parasite from the Zorax's body, carefully cutting and detaching the wires and tubes. It was a delicate and intricate process, but after several hours of work, he was able to remove the parasite altogether.
Laihud carefully extracted the tiny, wriggling object from the Zorax's body and placed it on a sterile tray. He peered at it through his magnifying visor, observing the little, intricate details of the artificial parasite.
With the parasite removed, Zorax's behaviour began to change. Its breathing became more even, and its eyes lost their wild and aggressive gleam.
Laihud continued to monitor the creature's vital signs, ensuring it was stable and healthy before getting it off sedatives.
"I need to inform the others about this parasite. Who knows how many creatures have been affected by this little fucker."
***
Moments later, Vimur was back inside the ship while the rest of the lieutenants were joined in via communicators. Everyone was there except Ashton and Vulcan, who were preparing for the prison break.
"What do you make of it?" Vimur asked, leaning over Laihud's shoulder.
"It's definitely an artificial construct," Laihud said, his voice tinged with curiosity. "It's designed to attach itself to a host's nervous system and manipulate their behaviour."
"That explains the Zorax's aggressive behaviour," Anna said, looking at the parasite with a mixture of fascination and revulsion.
Laihud nodded in agreement. "Without this parasite, the Zorax would be a docile, harmless creature. It has to have been implanted by an intelligent species, possibly even by the Xylopians... but I have a feeling something much deeper is going on behind the scenes."
"We can't deny the Cult's involvement either. That bunch can do things no one would even think of in their dreams."
"Whosoever it might be, they're using these parasites to control the wildlife on this planet," Otiga said, her voice laced with anger. "That's despicable."
Leon, who had been quietly observing the proceedings, spoke up. "I might be able to isolate the signal that the parasite uses to communicate with its host.
He continued, "Bring back as many parasites as you can back to the Tower. I'll run some analysis, and maybe we can track the culprit down using the parasite."
"No, that won't do it." Otiga intervened. "We don't know how the parasite works, and it may alert the culprits after being removed."
"So bring a few Zoraxes to the Tower." Anna chimed in. "We'll remove the chips here, and by the time the culprits would know about it, it'll be too late for them to do anything. I'll ask Mazton to send over a cargo ship to transport the creatures without trouble."
Laihud looked up at Anna, impressed by her presence of mind. "That's a brilliant idea. Let's get to work immediately."
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺