Sublevel 23 - Xenology

These laboratories are dedicated to the study of anything of an extraterrestrial origin. Some of the deepest labs in the whole complex, their contents are a carefully guarded secret because humanity's few alien contacts have not yet been officially disclosed to the public. As a result, security procedures are almost absurdly strict. You are made to repeat your DNA, fingerprint and retinal scans and carefully decontaminated in a sealed chamber before you can enter.

This level is a sterile conrete and steel bunker with the elevator and decontamination chamber at one end. Other parts, devoted to different aspects of xenology, radiate out from a central hub where the head of xenology, Dr. Avila Carrington, can monitor and direct everything from her control desk.

As she sees you approach, Avila stands up and smiles. "Dr. Doe!" she says, "What a surprise to see you down here." Avila is a beautiful woman of 30, tall and slender, with a tight body and firm breasts. If not for her pure black eyes and unusually shiny skin, you might not notice she's half alien. Her father was the previous head of Chyoo Laboratories and her mother one of the first Kalidorian ambassadors. Unfortunately, although she inherited her looks from her father, her immune system is totally alien and unable to deal with Earth microbes so she almost never leaves this level. You had actually intended to visit last week, but postponed it because you had a cold.

"I just thought I'd see how things are going in person," you say.

"Well," she says, "we still haven't found a means of placating the tentacle shrub in containment pod 14. I think any solution is going to have to be pheromone related but that's going to be a real nuisance to synthesize. On the positive side, we think we've figured out what that artifact from Fornax 447 does. Also, we are about to implant the last of the Narvian refugees into a human host. Is there something you'd like to see while you're down here?"