Ryaia let out a sigh as the mists of the decontamination protocol inside the warp room washed over her suit. Her thumb worked at the latch on the side of where her helmet was sealed and popped it off, drinking in the free air of the ship. She hated away missions, the suit was always so cramped and the bodysuit under it way too tight. She shook her head, a shock of red hair falling around her head loosely. 

She was very obviously not human looking at her. Ocean blue skin was certainly not naturally occurring on earth, nor were radiant purple eyes common. Three silver bands were upon her neck, not decorations but part of the skin. A pair of triangular ears sprouted from either side of her head, poking out from her loose red hair. Aside from that though her form was shockingly humanlike and starkly pretty. 

The doors to the teleporter opened up and she stepped out from the room and into the hall of her rather small single person ship. The Valgaren woman hummed a little tune as she walked to a section of the wall across from decontamination and pressed on a pad there. It slid open, just enough space for the container she was holding in one hand. She hoisted the container holding hundreds of thousands of humans inside of it and chunks of the earth, slotting it inside. Automated arms took it and the wall slid shut. 

“Wew, lots of samples at least.” She mused as she stretched. 

“Dunno, scans detected a pretty boring biosphere, Doc. Lots of microbial fungus and life. Maybe some slight electrical signals.” A feminine voice came through the speakers of the ship. TINA, her Ship’s AI. 

Ryaia shrugged as she walked to the supply room nearby and started stripping off her suit. “Most times that's all you find out here and you know it. Most life doesn’t make it past that phase anyway. What’s the atmosphere looking like?” 

“Perfectly breathable. A little thin, but nothing Valgaren physiology can’t handle. Sadly not detecting any diseases that will turn your lungs to goo.” The AI remarked with a slight lilt of disappointment. 

“Gee. Thanks. You’re such a positive ray of sunshine.” The blue skinned woman rolled her eyes. 

“It's what I’m here for~” 

Ryaia finished removing her outer suit and peeled her way out of the skin tight bodysuit beneath it. Her form was as filled and full as a well endowed human woman, her breasts large swells of soft blue flesh and her rear shapely though not absurd. She covered herself in some casual wear, some loose baggy pants, a shirt, and a white lab coat. A pair of glasses were set on her face, sliding ever so down her nose. She slid on a pair of fuzzy pink slippers with some cutesy animal theme to them before stepping out of the room and toward the largest room on the ship, the onboard lab. 

The lab was a modest affair with a few long tables and some equipment set up on some shelves. There were some cold storage devices and a number of other pieces of technology that were mundane to her but would have been alien to humans. For Ryaia it was the place where she plied her trade. Research vessels like her were not uncommon, sailing the stars in search of anything the Valgaren Empire could find of use. From planets to biological lifeforms. Really it was a boring job since most of the galaxy was dead, but hey, it was work and she enjoyed it. 

“Finished processing the samples by the way. Surface facing samples have been placed onto slides per your request, I’ll check through the dirt and see what minerals we’ve got.” Tina remarked. “Not really holding my figurative breath, initial scans weren’t promising.” 

Ryaia shrugged as she poured herself a cup of a warm stimulant drink. “Hey, at least those gas giants had some rare gases. Not a total bust.” 

One of the shelves shifted back before returning with 12 square plates containing the surface of the cubes her machine had dug up. She walked over to it and peered down. For those humans inside their world had been a dizzying array of lights and quakes but most of them were alive. Buildings were ruined or collapsed but most of the people were alive. They looked up from their glass containers and saw a vast and unreal visage that filled their whole world. 

Vast soft blue fingers gripped the edges of one of the glass prisons, hoisting them up off the shelf. People cried out from below, waving their arms and screaming up. Ryaia however couldn’t see them with the naked eye. Indeed the glass container simply held a mixture of grey, brown, and green to her eyes in the vast unfathomable distance. Her visage was incredibly beautiful but also quite alien to those of earth. 

“Let's see what we’ve got then, shall we?” She spoke aloud to seemingly no one. 

Her voice was thunder in the distance that no one could understand inside the glass prison. It forced many humans to their knees as Ryaia was walking toward a machine upon one of the desks. There was a little slot in the side of it that looked like it could fit the container they were in and Ryaia slid it inside, the whole world becoming one of darkness for the scared and terrified humans. Ryaia slid into a stool and adjusted the lens of the device in front of her, setting her eyes near it as she flipped a switch and turned on the internal lights. 

The machinery of the vast device whirred around the terrified humans, light suddenly all around them. It was so very bright, a warmth that radiated from every direction. The distant hum of machinery was a constant and those that looked up were treated to an alien sight. A single vast purple iris was gazing down upon them, magnified by the machine. They could see it flicking over them, darting around and dialating ever so here or there. A few people waved their arms up at it, while others were simply falling into stunned silence. 

“Hmm…” Ryaia mused from on high. “Tina, voice recording.” There was a faint beep. “A fairly rich microbiome. Rudimentary hive structures imply presence of complex bacterial life.”

She increased magnification and could make out a large number of incredibly small lifeforms moving around below. They seemed to be concentrated around the existing hives and moving around within them, which implied they were the bacterial lifeforms she was seeking. She increased it further and could see a group of them much more clearly. They were waving what appeared to be arms and seemed to be cognizant of observation. 

“Dominant bacterial lifeforms are to be classified as Class A. Scientific designation Ryaiathum 78. Ryaiathum 78 appears to possess some minor level of spatial awareness. Thus far appear to be social, lacking in aggressive consumption of other samples of Ryaiathum 78.” Ryaia noted as she pulled back from the scope and had a drink. 

It was common practice among Surveyors of the Empire to use their name in the temporary scientific designation of organisms or new minerals. Occasionally they would just be the permanent designation if the organism or mineral were minor or worthless enough. The humans below were oblivious to anything but loud booming thunder from the heavens above. The worlds of Ryaia were simply impossible for any of them to understand, the difference in scale was just too vast. 

“Tina, take Dish Number 2, and run a composite breakdown on the subjects inside of it. Let me know what chemicals you find.” Ryaia said at length. 

“You got it boss, one vat of acid- er, composition separation gel, coming up.” The chipper AI said. 

Back on the shelf a robotic set of prongs picked up one of the containers, shaking it around slightly as it was lifted up. The people inside were in a panic, trying to figure out what was happening to them. The arm brought the container over to a rather unassuming machine on the side of the room, sliding it inside in a perfectly fitted slot. They were pulled along in the darkness before the container stopped moving. 

There were lights that flickered in the darkness and beamed over all of the ruins of the city and the people inside of it. The beams weren’t hurtful, just strange and frightening to the humans inside. The lights stopped flickering after a few moments and then the top of their container was removed, replaced by something metal with a vast hole in the very center of it. People gazed up with bated breath as they weren’t sure what was going on. There was a distant rushing noise that was heart and that was their only warning. 

A strange blue fluid oozed down from above and splattered down inside the city. Anything it touched aside from the glass was broken down, melting away. Buildings, earth, people. It didn’t matter. The fluid melted whatever it touched and broke it down to its base material components. It took a mere few seconds before every human inside the container, thousands of people, were completely dissolved. More lights flickered over it, this time whirring for a much longer amount of time before a ding sounded off. Almost like a toaster oven finishing. 

“Analysis completed. For the most part, it's pretty boring, nothing exciting. Boring minerals and nutrients fleshbags need. But…” Tina trailed off, a smirk in her voice despite not having a face. 

Ryaia sipped at her nutrient drink and lifted a red brow. “But what? Don’t leave me in suspense, or are you buffering again? I gotta smack your core again?” 

“No violence please, I bruise easily! Anyway, I am detecting HEAVY amounts of Ethonium in the dominant bacterial lifeforms designated as Ryaiathum 78. Like, extremely heavy concentrations of it. It appears their bodies produce it naturally.” The AI remarked. 

Ryaia blinked and coughed into her fist. “E-Ethonium you say? Well that is… interesting.” Her cheeks were shading a darker shade of blue. 

“Interesting huh? You fleshbags are so groooooss sometimes with your sexual urges and needs. Just, ew.” Tina said, miming a fake gagging noise. 

Ethonium was an extremely highly sought after aphrodisiac in the Empire. Exceptionally rare and it commanded ludicrous prices. When inhaled, ingested, or injected it had something of a hyperdrive in sexual pleasure. It was described as a positively ethereal experience, like transcending to another plane of pleasure. Naturally, Ryaia wasn’t rich enough to afford it, only the truly elite in the Empire were. 

Her purple eyes turned toward the containers on the shelf, a steady gaze in the vast distance upon them. “H-how heavy are we talking here, Tina? And are there any toxins detected?” 

“Well, judging from my measurements, the amount that is in one of those containers is equal to about… three commercially sold doses roughly. Also, nope! Totally toxic free, as safe as can be!” The AI said, a knowing lilt of humor in her chipper tone. 

“Ah…” Ryaia coughed and cleared her throat. “Tina, separate the Ryaiathum 78 out in one of the containers if you would be so kind. I will, ahem, study their effects on Valgarens later.” 

There was a snicker from the AI as one of her arms gripped one of the containers and moved it aside to handle that. Ryaia for her part turned her attention back to the one under her microscope. Though the subjects of her study couldn’t see it… Ryaia’s thighs were rubbing back and forth against each other and her pulse had skyrocketed. Unlike before she was only barely paying attention to their behavioral patterns. Instead, her mind was racing with just what it would feel like once she licked some off a slide. Later couldn’t come soon enough.