The newest, bluest alien

Jason awoke hours later, and he felt, for lack of a better word, strange. Very, very, strange.

He tried to rub his hand on his face, but he didn't have hands. Nor, really, did he have a face, it seemed. His eyes wobbled independent of one another, like they weren't bound to sockets in his head. Just trying to move them around to see his surroundings was challenging enough, he didn't understand how to even really move at first. All he could see was a bunch of glass marbles under him and an acrylic box around him, with some sort of foggy gas being pumped into it. Was he in a fish tank? It sure looked like one he saw in a storage closet earlier, though never from this perspective!

Looking at the acrylic, he could see a reflection, one that shocked him greatly--his body looked exactly like the blue sluglike alien from before, with glowing teal eyes and the eyestalks and all, only he had been larger. He started to move and thrash about in panic, which caught Carrie's attention. She hurried to the tank, and peered into it at Jason, trying to smile reassuringly but her expression just seemed more nervous and worried than anything.

"Hey, uh, Jason. So... we have a lot to talk about. Or more like, I have a lot to explain. Try to calm down, you're safe and healthy, in a sense at least. Don't try to talk, you're not going to find muscles for that, just relax and listen."

Admittedly, Jason was already tiring out pretty quickly in this new form, so relaxing seemed like his best option at the moment anyway. He looked deflated, quite literally, as his eyestalks peered at Carrie, searching for answers.

Carrie bit her bottom lip, trying to think of where to begin. "Okay, so let's start with some alien biology. The alien species have cells that are made up of two chambers, yellow and blue, each holds unique genetic information--that's why they look green normally, because of that combination. Typically, when they want to reproduce, the aliens split into two parts when these cells divide into their blue or yellow components, then these halves seek out other unpaired yellow and blue aliens to recombine with into a new green entity, and then this new combination forms an egg and such."

The alien tried to reproduce with me? Jason thought to himself, feeling rather grossed out in that moment.

"...I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no," Carrie said with a little chuckle, reading Jason's expression even if it was shaped like an alien. It must have been something in the eyestalks that gave away his thoughts. "It's also used as a defense mechanism in rare circumstances, though Juno and Aleph said they'd never seen it utilized quite like this... see, usually the brain splits too, so there's a copy of all their knowledge in either body. Xeno somehow managed to split out the blue cells except parts of the brain related to consciousness and memory, basically sacrificing half of themselves as a mostly brainless decoy. This blue alien latched onto you as just the first thing that moved, I guess, it wasn't really thinking. But whatever Xeno did, it left the blue half incomplete enough that it seemed to just instinctually absorb you into itself, making you its new brain. Honestly, none of us would have thought this was possible, but, well. At the moment, and for the foreseeable future, you're an alien, Jason."

Jason felt those words hit like a ton of bricks, shivering at the thought that he was no longer himself. What would he do now? Would everyone think he was dead? Could he return to a human form later? Was he now just an aquarium pet for the other aliens?

Cassie entered the common area, walking over to sit by Carrie. She set some alien technology down on the table near them. "Juno got a good enough shot that Xeno dropped what they came for, but they managed to escape. It's not the Q-F compressor though, it's the operation matrix, which neither Juno nor Lena know why Xeno would need that yet, it's not critical to get airborne again. Regardless, I've set up the remaining sensors and we can lock this up somewhere, and with any luck we'll be ready for Xeno next time." Cassie looked at the aquarium that held Jason's new body. "How's he holding up?"

"I can tell he's not thrilled with things," Carrie said with a sigh. "But I've got the fluorine gas cycling at the proper rate in the tank that should keep him healthy until we can figure out a new plan. Which is... what, exactly?"

Cassie rubbed her chin, peering closer at Jason's new form. Her eyes lit green as Juno took over to offer their advice. "I think the best option is to do what we already know how to do," Juno said, crossing her arms. "Jason needs a bio-suit of his own, so he needs a host and a nanite cluster. We could transport him in these human forms, but it would be a big strain on our nanite systems to support two aliens, not to mention we'd need a temporary wardrobe adjustment... hmm. If Beta can help synthesize a new nanite cluster for him, I'll work on finding a host. I might have a few options, one's even fairly local, just a few hours away."

Juno tapped the side of the aquarium glass lightly, smiling at Jason. "It seems that we'll be getting that beach day soon, but you're going to find it to be a very, very different experience. Oh, some girl is going to look amazing with your new glowing teal eyes! Among other bodily enhancements you'll provide, of course. Welcome to the family, Jason. We'll take good care of you."