Xeno is already there!

Jason tried to start his normal workday, but Cassie insisted that he should help set up the sensors, half because then she could flirt with him while working together, and half because if they finished the work faster, then that left more time in the day for far more enjoyable activities. Carrie hid her feelings well, but she almost seemed a little jealous of the sudden affection Cassie was pouring on Jason as they placed alien scanning devices all over the observatory. Jason noticed Carrie's glances, wondering if Carrie's jealousy was over his interest in someone, or Cassie's affection for another. Possibly both. As this was a delicate situation, Jason didn't want to stir things up yet, especially since he just met Cassie while also learning of the life-changing fact that aliens truly did exist, so he just kept quiet for now. There would be time to sort things out after setting up the sensor grid.

Or so they thought.

"I mean, I love the mountains and all, but nothing beats a beach day!" Cassie had been talking almost nonstop since they worked through the grid, sometimes chatting with Carrie but often directing her attention to Jason while he was up on a ladder, attaching a sensor to the outside of the hangar that Carrie always kept locked. "I've got this great new bikini I got on sale last fall, but I haven't really had a chance to show off, you know? I mean, when you've got aliens living in your boobs, it's hard to not want to show off the results, you know? Doesn't even look like implants, very natural. Anyway, I'm gonna make a bet with Carrie, if Xeno does show up, then we're all going to the beach after this is over, you'll both need vacations anyway."

Carrie chuckled as she tapped on a tablet. "I'll take that bet, but if I win, I get to wear your swimsuit first. You know, to see what Jason thinks of it."

Both Jason and Cassie's faces turned lightly red at the thought of Carrie in Cassie's bikini. "Maybe I should hope I lose, then," Cassie said as she started to giggle.

Jason finished attaching the sensor and tapped the center of it, just as he had been instructed to do for the last half-dozen sensors. When he touched it, however, it started to emit a loud and piercing shriek. Jason covered his ears for a moment in pain, before he reached out again to shut it off.

"What the hell was that about?" he asked. "Faulty unit?"

Cassie frowned as stepped to the tablet Carrie held, looking at the data. "No, I tested all of these sensors before I brought them, they're all good. Try it again, leave it on for a few seconds."

Jason reached out, tapping the sensor, and it started to shriek once more. He didn't turn it off immediately, but after five or so seconds right next to it, he had to shut it off again. "I know it works for the wifi router up here, but off-and-on-again doesn't seem like it should be a universal truth for intergalactic technology..."

The two women ignored him, looking and pointing at the tablet as they talked in hushed tones with each other. Their eyes began to glow a bright green as they turned toward the locked hangar, with Juno and Aleph taking over in what seemed to Jason like a very sudden turn of events. "Pulse emitter, low setting," Juno instructed, as the two held out their dominant hands. Jason watched as the silvery nanites that had been embedded in their body altered their hands into this very sleek-looking energy cannon shape, with large claw-like fingers protruding from the end where beams of green energy flowed the tips of these claws, converging to form a glowing ball, ready to be fired. Juno looked up at Jason as she spoke just loud enough for him to hear. "Jason, time for you to get inside, we'll take it from here. It seems I had difficulty tracking Xeno because they were already here..."

Confused but not wanting to get caught in any crossfire, Jason started to descend the ladder, but before he could even take his second step, chaos broke out. Xeno, wearing a fully functioning bio-suit of alien design, truly looked otherworldly with what looked like the classic giant alien eyes, though they were really just large protective layers of partially transparent material that the real glowing eyes of the alien inside could shine through, in a brilliant... yellow?

"Oh no, look!" Aleph said. "Xeno split! Where's the blue half?"

Jason had no idea what any of that meant, but he found out very quickly. A blue gelatinous creature with long eyestalks, like some sort of transparent slug, leapt at Jason, encasing his head and knocking him off the ladder! His vision and hearing diminished greatly, feeling the pain of landing hard on the ground. This blue alien was some sort of distraction, and it worked--when Jason tumbled down, Juno and Aleph focused on him, while Xeno, or apparently half of Xeno, ran off with some alien tech under one arm. Cassie gave chase, while Carrie hurried to Jason before he lost consciousness from a lack of air.

He could feel the blue alien was doing something to him, he could feel something happening to his body, but he didn't know what it might be. Jason blacked out before Carrie could remove the alien from his head.