Love, Undefined
"These samples need to be classified."
"Are these from the passing comet?"
"Yes. The space station sent them over. We got delivery last week, but because you were on vacation and what's-his-face is lazy, they've been waiting for you."
"Remind me again why we haven't fired him."
"Director's son."
"Right. I'll get right on these. That director's son must look amazing on paper."
"Mm, hmm."
*******
Johnson, Jr, as everyone liked to refer to him, thought it would be fun to take pictures with the samples. He thought that it was a sure-fire method to impress the girls. Stepping into the Restricted Area, he began to take selfies.
Done with his photo session, he removed his protective garments without noticing a tear by his right hip. That night, he took photos of his conquest while she was asleep. Leaving her behind, he passed the rest of the night at a bar near work, playing show and tell.
*******
"What's good for a hangover?"
"Taking your own life."
Johnson, Jr. laughed in spite of the slight.
"I like you Rita. You hate me and you're not afraid to say so."
"Why are you here? Clearly you're in no condition to get anything done. Why not go home and stop being in the way. All you do is occupy space when you're sober. Right now you're just useless."
"Don't overstep your bounds. I can get you fi--..."
Johnson fell to his knees. The wind had been knocked out of him by an invisible force. As he fell backwards, Rita stared, transfixed on her stool.
*******
"What happened to him? When I heard that he was in the ICU, I thought that you finally hit him."
"Look at this." Rita stepped away from the microscope to allow Michelle a chance. Meanwhile, Rita stared through the protective glass at Johnson. His flesh had become ashen in color. His breathing, shallow. His limbs, stiff. The ladies monitored his temperature, which remained consistently high, his blood pressure which remained consistently low. Antibiotics were the only thing keeping him stable for the moment, but those had to be changed to a different formula after only two days.
"Bacteria?"
"Keep watching."
"What am I looking fo-" Michelle abruptly stepped off the stool. It crashed to the floor.
"That's not possible."
"And yet you saw it for yourself."
"My mind is having trouble registering what I just saw."
Look there. I took images of the slides. I will be presenting this to the boys on Earth during the conference call. Notice the time-stamp."
"Every two seconds. Every two seconds this thing is attaching itself to a new cell, contaminating and changing it to another host cell. Johnson doesn't stand a chance. What are we going to do? We have to do something."
"The conference call is in an hour we'll-"
"Send him out to space."
"Calm down!"
*******
"Send us samples of his blood."
"Michelle had to be sedated. She's resting. Johnson is now in the fetal position, covered in a sticky, opaque substance. I won't be going anywhere near him. I just wanted to let you know that the moment that he flat-lines, I will be jettisoning his body to the cosmos."
"Is this how you want to end your career?" Rita cut the talking suit off. She walked over to the window. At her right was the emergency button that could take care of all her problems.
With just one press and in a matter of weeks, she could be back on Earth. Probably imprisoned, but it was a far cry from dealing with the unknown.
Johnson stirred. Rita inched to the button. It required that glass be shattered for access. A fire extinguisher hung just underneath. She would use that to reach her goal.
The substance had become solid around Johnson. Cracks began to form. His right foot, left elbow, broke through first. His back was to Rita as he sat up.
Rita thought, "alopecia," when she saw him step from the table and turned to face her. Something else was missing, his genitalia, his anis. It was Johnson but modified. He was eight feet tall where he was six before. His face was intact, but his ears were missing. No iris in the eyes.
"Rita."
"You're not Johnson."
"No. A hybrid."
"You're in my mind. Your lips don't move."
"I am still evolving. This form that you see is for your benefit."
"I have too many questions. I, they're jumbled."
"May I answer them for you? I can see each one. May I come to you? I have turned off all emergency protocols and communication with the outside, just temporarily, until we can talk properly. I will not harm you."
"Stay where you are!"
"I will wait for you." He stepped away from the window, walked around the exam table and stepped through the wall into space.
*******
"Rita, Rita!"
Rita's eyes fluttered open. Michelle helped her from the floor. They held each other steady. Michelle was still weak from the sedative.
"I heard you scream. What happened to Johnson?"
Rita's memory slammed into her, stealing her breath for a moment. She turned to the protective window. The room was empty. After explaining everything to Michelle, they stared at the cocoon.
"Should we collect samples, see what it's made of?"
"He said that he would wait for me. He wanted to answer my questions, but when I was ready."
"The old Johnson would just take you and brag about it later."
"It's not him. He called himself a hybrid. The feeling, thought, knowledge imparted from him can be summed as 'principio, beginning.' I don't know how else to describe him."
"Well, what now? We're cut off from the rest of the world. How are we going to get help? I ran a diagnostic and there's nothing wrong with our communication except that it won't respond to anything I do."
"He communicates through thought. He said that he would wait for me. Maybe I should, I don't know, call him?"
"How?"
Before they realized what was happening, the hybrid walked through the outer wall, back into the exam room.
"Don't be afraid Michelle. Hello again, Rita. Michelle, prince implies a position of power. Principio is closer to what I am. It's the Spanish word for beginning. Rita, I truly mean you no harm. If you check, you will see that communications is back on-line."
Michelle confirmed this last statement. Rita remained affixed to her position. She wondered how much of the old Johnson was still left in this creature.
"None. Believe your senses. You cling to empirical data on the norm and yet you still doubt. What I have to share will shake your foundation. I do not know what that will do to you mentally. We will go slowly."
"I heard that!"
"I am allowing for a three way conversation. You are able to speak to one another as well."
"Get out of my head!"
Michelle clapped her hands to her ears. The hybrid slowly nodded at Rita. She stormed out of the room.
"I'm sorry for her."
"She is afraid. It is understandable. You are not. You are more interested in studying my anatomy. May I come to you?"
Her response was a slow exhale. The hybrid walked to her through the wall. He extended his left hand, palm up, to her, allowing her the choice of touch.
Since she was a little girl, exploration became a part of her. She was always the first to walk into a cave, always the first to order something from the menu that she had never tried before. Now would be no different.
She put her right hand under his and touched his palm with her left fingers. All three hands became translucent and sparkled from within as they melded.
"No! Please..." He walked to her, into her. He glowed ethereally for a moment and became opaque again. He stepped back out to space.
*******
From outside her window, he could see Rita's thoughs. She would destroy the station. He shut off all but life-support.
She caught a glimpse of him before he hid in the shadow of the station. The engines boomed into operation. Rita ran to the control room.
"Come to me. You want me? Come to me!"
"Rita."
"Stop the engines." Her breath was haggard. Sweat poured from her brow.
"You are ill. No. Why did you poison yourself? Let me help you." He reached for her shoulder. She jammed a screwdriver into his right eye. Her left hand began to glow. His face sparkled. She held her hand as the glow traveled up her arm. He kissed her cheek.
Worlds collided. Galaxies interlaced. Dimensions died and became...