I stared at the xenomorph in wonder, I had given up a lot to be here and I didn't regret it.
"Amazing creature isn't it?" I turned over to the man next to me and nodded. "Enjoy the feeling while it lasts, once you see these things in action you won't ever look at them the same way again."
I stared at him for a few seconds before looking at the xenomorph again. It was shackled to a specially designed cage just for this creature, it wasn't meant for comfort to say the least. The only part of its body it could really move was its head and part of its tail, everything else was shackled into place.
"Hey focus, you can admire the creature when your shift starts." Content that my focus was now on him he started explaining my job to me.
"Your job is gonna be pretty simple at first then advance into more complex stuff, we've found out that new people don't really handle being thrown into the deep end right away." He walked over to a console then continued. "This thing is fed 3 times a day, your going to be feeding it during the night."
"Sure doesn't look like its being fed 3 times a day." The man chuckled then responded. "Don't let it fool you, a lot of people have died because they thought that. This thing is almost all muscle, its tail is able to lift 200 pound men off the ground with ease, it could lift you and me off the ground with no effort at all."
After giving me a second to take that in he pointed at a red button on the console that had a plastic cover. "This button releases the xenomorph, the cover is so people don't accidently bump it."
He moved to the next console and pointed at another button. "This one blows a jet of... very cold air at the xenomorph, use it if it is doing something it shouldn't."
he moved to the last console in the row. "This button here is basically a panic button, press it and armed troops will be storming this room in seconds, I shouldn't have to explain to you when you should press it." I felt an ounce of dread as the meaning of that dawned on me.
He then pointed to the only door into the cell. "There's 2 doors there, you open the door, walk into it then close the door, open the other door and you're in the cell." With that he began walking towards the exit.
"That's it? That's all I have to do?" He didn't even turn around to look at me.
"We like to ease the new people into the job, don't worry it will get more exciting over time. Now I'm going to get some sleep, if you have any questions ask during the day, I will not be happy if I get a call in the middle of the night asking when the xenomorph should be fed." He then walked out the door and was gone, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
I looked over at the creature and noticed it was staring right at me, I figured I might as well see if it wants to eat right now. I got some meat and went through the doors, the xenomorph tracking me the entire time. I examined it closely, it was really hard to believe this thing was fed 3 times a day with how thin it looked, I could see its ribs clearly.
I stood in front of the creature and hesistantly held out the meat in front of its face, waiting for it to eat. It simply stared at it then at me, its lips idly twitching. After holding it there for a few seconds I reasoned that it didn't want to eat right now and I set the meat down. I slowly moved towards the xenomorph, waiting for any signs of hostility as I steadily got closer to it, it only stared at me.
I got about a foot away from it then stopped, I didn't want to risk getting any closer to its face. I slowly reached out my hand towards its head, waiting for it to try and attack me. It didn't and soon I was rubbing my hand along the smooth front of its head and the odd ridges lining both sides of its head. Its head was smooth and cold to the touch, an odd feeling but not unexpected.
It didn't show any sign of discomfort or irritation, it simply stared at me. I moved my hand towards its arm, once again it simply stared. I put my hand on its arm and to my surprise, nearly its entire arm was muscle. This creature really didn't look like it was very strong. Its arm was more rough and sharp then its head, I wanted to look at its hands but wasn't willing to risk losing my hand in the process.
Its arm felt exactly the same temperature as its head was, I idly wondered why. I quickly got bored of examining its arms and began to move towards its side, it leaned its head down so it could stare at me. I put my hands on its ribs and waited for it to do anything, once again it just stared at me. I rubbed my fingers across its ribs and noticed how it slightly trembled when I did. I moved my fingers across its ribs again and it trembled, slightly more noticable now.