The pile of blankets stirred at the sound of the door swinging open. Through a small hole in the soft armor of the nest, a bright, glowing red eye watched the two women enter. In the control room, one of the scientists watched the monitor showing the room's temperature.

"No drop," He noted. "It must not be able to gather enough energy. The subject is reaching its point of exhaustion."

The alien seemed uninterested. He passively watched the two females approach, but made no move to stand as he would have in the past. His single exposed eye settled on the smaller body, although it was hard to tell with no visible pupil. He was intrigued by her: no suit? She looked different from the others. Was she not the same? 

A bowl of plain oatmeal sat by the mattress, completely untouched and now solid as a rock. The cup of water was equally ignored.