Naomi was up bright and early, just like any other day.  The expectation of her role was to prep the labs and get things ready to begin the day’s experiments before the scientists arrived, which required her to drag her ass out of bed before the crack of dawn.  Her alarm went off at 4 and she groggily swore at herself for staying up way later than necessary reading romance novels until the snooze went off at 4:05.  She was dressed and on the tram by 4:30.  She chugged some coffee and inhaled a donut in the breakroom with security at 4:45 before gearing up and disinfecting to enter the lab shortly after 5.

Her first task each day was to assess the specimens, specifically those in isolated enclosures.  A similar position at facilities where she worked in the past would have required her to be the one to ensure the cleanliness of the specimens’ living conditions.  Thankfully, Black Mesa could afford custodians that specialized in biohazards to tend to those responsibilities.  That night shift crew was leaving around the time she arrived… Lucky them. 

With foam plugs firmly in her ears and noise-reduction muffs on top of those, Naomi entered the room where the Sonicanis myriops were kept, or Houndeyes, as the team referred to them.  In this line of work, it was important to remember not to project anthropomorphic psychology onto the extraterrestrial creatures studied, though no one would blame a layperson for believing these seemed happy to see her.  The moment she entered the containment chamber, they began their “greetings” by bouncing around in their reenforced kennels and letting out their piercing cries.  They were still audible through all the layers of protection, but at least their resonance wasn’t deafening her.  She tried not to get attached to the specimens… She still couldn’t help thinking these guys were cute.  They were short, stout tripedal aliens with compound eyes like an insect and blue bioluminescent stripes on their yellowish thorax.  She provided their preferred diet of kibble and… boric acid, of all things.  The prevailing theory was that the little critters were scavengers since free-roam specimens would eat any and everything they came across.  These ones were just spoiled rotten.  She observed them as they ate, ensuring they didn’t exhibit any atypical behaviors.  The little guys appeared to be in good health, so she noted accordingly and moved on.

Sharing this area was another type of specimen in containment that had yet to be classified.  Three of them that appeared to still be in infancy had been retrieved from the field— larval, amphibious creatures that projected spores from their mouth when threatened.  Field tests also showed they would wrap around the limbs of researchers and make a purring noise when content.  They were currently being kept in liquid stasis.  There wasn’t much to do with them yet.  She checked them for vital signs and verified the integrity of the tanks before continuing.

She found herself disappointed that the real fascinating specimens had been transported to the Advanced Biological Research department— larger, bipedal ones with multiple maroon eyes and a vestigial limb growing from their chests.  Those were the ones that intrigued her the most.  Xenotherium subservilia, or “alien slaves,” as unfortunate as the name was.  She swore they were sapient, though it was difficult to prove due to their reclusive behavior in captivity.  In the brief time they were under her watch, she’d felt it.  It wasn’t mere anthropomorphization or projection.  There was no scientific way to put it— she felt a sort of connection in their presence.  It was terrifying yet exciting at the same time.  She had a bit of a soft spot for them because of it.  Though she treated every specimen with dignity, they were a special case.  She had tried to present their meals in a more civilized manner.  She spoke aloud to them and explained everything she was doing.  Even though they never responded, they watched with cautious curiosity. 

Call her delusional, but she felt like real breakthroughs could have happened if she was allowed the time to communicate instead of squeezing it in the midst of her daily routines.  There had to be a story there worth hearing.  Their wariness was palpable and she believed it had nothing to do with their current captivity.  They were discovered with what seemed to be electric shackles of all things… Shackles that proved fatal when removed for several of the specimens.  Others had been observed groveling for larger, more violent bipedals.  The two that had formerly been kept at the Biodome remained apprehensive without the presence of Xenotherium myrmex and their yokes.  In a human, their behavior could be interpreted as symptoms of PTSD.  Unfortunately, there were “more critical” aspects to survey than attempting to communicate with them.  Her team could perhaps be among the first of mankind to make meaningful contact with another world, but understanding their biology to weaponize it was more profitable.  It was a damn shame.

She got back to work on her mundane tasks, such as cleaning and calibrating instruments for the day’s tests.  Some of the sensors were giving her hell, but she didn’t think much about it beyond frustration.  She still managed to get the majority of her setup completed by the time the research staff started filing in at 7:30, grumbling something about security malfunctions on their way that she didn’t pay mind to.  Her colleagues were crotchety.  She’d gotten used to their complaints by now.

The experiments officially began by 8:30.  There wasn't anything particularly exciting about the day's tasks; research was to continue on the Houndeyes' sonic communication and biology behind it.  The morning was beginning to drag for Naomi as she shifted from her hands-on role to notating everything the scientists were dictating on her clipboard.  A faint rumble caused the equipment to rattle, but the clinking glass wasn't enough to draw attention away from their work.  Turbulence was a somewhat regular occurrence due to Sector E's proximity to the launch center.  It was the power outage that brought their work to a halt, followed by a much stronger disruption that felt like an earthquake.  No one had time to process what they were experiencing as the mundane atmosphere of Black Mesa transformed into pandemonium in a matter of seconds.  Things began to fall off the shelves, foundations began to crack.  The shrill wail of sirens mixed with the grotesque crunch of stone and bone.  

For a woman who had prided herself on her intellect, Naomi wasn't thinking for once.  The facility that she could navigate with her eyes closed was no longer recognizable, but she pushed forward.  She relied on pure instinct to stumble her way through the rubble and dust, relying on only the red strobe of the emergency lights to guide her through the destruction.  Frantic colleagues were crushed to their deaths before her eyes.  Specimens escaped from their destroyed enclosures to feast on the still-warm corpses of men she'd worked beside for years.  Most startling of all, other creatures manifested out of seemingly nowhere, stepping out of vivid green portals to attack those who had been “fortunate” enough to avoid a swift demise. 

By some miracle, Naomi managed to avoid both detection and destruction and soon found herself seeking shelter in one of the biodome habitats.  Though the atmosphere was distinctly alien, it was a welcome sanctuary.  It had managed to remain untouched from the chaos prevailing outside of its confines.  She leaned against a rocky structure, trying to allow her mind a moment to come to terms with what she had just witnessed, though she wasn't sure what that was exactly.  Was it some kind of natural disaster?  A malfunction at the launch center?  A terrorist attack on the facility?  She was quick to determine that the cause hardly mattered as long as she got the hell out alive.  She took stock of her current state.  She looked like hell.  She was covered in what seemed to be blood and she couldn't quite determine if all of it was hers or not.  Her lab coat and blouse were torn at her side.  She pressed tentative fingers against the gash and winced in pain.  Shit… It was hers and now it was probably infected with whatever alien germs were floating around in here.  She shrugged out of the remains of her lab coat to wrap around herself, hoping she could at least stop the bleeding. 

Naomi looked at her surroundings, trying to remind herself which specimen had been kept in this suspiciously empty habitat and how screwed she'd be if they decided to return.  Her eyes landed on one of the small, glistening ponds on the far side of the space.  Preliminary studies had produced evidence that there were therapeutic properties to the liquid, though further tests had not been performed to determine if this healing effect was exclusive to Xen fauna or if it extended to other lifeforms.  Was she reckless enough to experiment on herself at a time like this?  Or would it be more prudent to wait for rescue?  Her adrenaline was already wearing off and the pain was starting to set in. 

Just as Naomi was mustering the strength to drag herself over to what could very well be a fatal decision, she saw movement in the corner of her eye.  She froze, expecting the worst.  She was in no state to put up a fight against extraterrestrials, but the chatter she heard sounded… human.  She willed herself to peer around the rock for a better look and was greeted with the sight of what seemed to be two soldiers in urban camo and gas masks.  A wave of relief passed over her.  She wasn't certain how much time had passed, but she was grateful that the rescue efforts had been prompt.  She couldn't force words to form.  She instead waved a weak hand in hopes of getting their attention.

“Got one over here!” she heard one of them say.  A sigh of relief was breathed as footsteps drew closer and the two men were soon towering over her.  The relief was short-lived the moment she saw their weapons trained on her.

“Jackpot…” one said, following a low whistle.

“Nice find,” said the other.  “First chick I've seen in this place.”

“Not too bad, either…”

Naomi's face further contorted from pain to confusion.  A pit formed in her stomach when the barrel of one of the guns lowered to her chest only to be pulled upwards, forcing the buttons of her blouse apart.  Though she couldn't see their eyes behind those green goggles, it didn't take a scientist to guess where they were looking. 

“Nope.  Not too bad at all.  It'd be a shame to eliminate this one.”

Eliminate?  Oh, God. They weren't sent to save…

“Hey, you heard what they said.  No survivors.”

…They were sent to silence.

“Well, since she won't be around to tattle on us…”

Two sets of husky laughter sent chills down her spine as the implication sunk in.  They weren't just going to kill her.  She shook her head as the rest of her body began to tremble.  This earned her the heel of a boot against her side that wasn't bleeding and she fell to the mossy terrain.  The same boot kicked her knees apart, forcing her to expose what was beneath her skirt.  The now-visible white cotton panties grew sodden as she wet herself in terror, garnering more perverse laughter from the soldiers.

“Tear that shit off'a her,” one commanded.  The other used his SMG to comply.  The end of the barrel— still warm, probably from recent use against some of her colleagues, jabbed against her labia as it was shoved beneath the gusset then yanked down her thighs.  A sickening zipping sound followed.

Naomi screwed her eyes shut as fat tears began to roll down her cheeks.  Her mind screamed.  She begged whatever God would listen to her that they'd just point the gun at her temple next.  In this moment, she didn't care what they did after she was gone, she just wanted to be spared the humiliation during her final moments.