I carefully approached the cage. Maybe the reptile was still inside, and the crate got damaged during the acceleration of the rocket.

I peeked inside between the iron bars...

Nothing.

“Hey, who’s there?”

A bewildered voice emanated from somewhere behind me.

I quickly turned around to face the source of the noise, but there was nothing there.

“Are you okay?”

The voice was reverberating off the walls, making it impossible to judge where it was coming from.

My hands began shaking as I was starting to feel frightened.

Suddenly, a metal clang came from somewhere in the darkness, followed by a screech.

I recoiled in shock, hitting my head on the green cage. I let out a grunt of pain and rubbed the back of my head.

I looked at my hand. Blood.

I tried to stand up, but found my legs were not complying.

This is the point where I lost it. I started feeling dizzy, as if the whole world was spinning.

I once again tried to stand upright, but I didn’t have the strength.

My eyelids started to droop... The last thing I heard before going unconscious was the mysterious voice again.

“Are you injured?”

I woke up to the view of some claws, positioned right in front of my face.

I recoiled slightly, getting some distance from the mysterious claws. I let my gaze wander further up the leg, and it became apparent that the creature lying in front of me was the 939 anomaly. It appeared to be sleeping.

I rubbed the back of my head, and to my surprise there was no blood.

What the hell happened when I was knocked out?

I tried to stand up but every time I did, the 939 snarled. I didn’t want to risk upsetting it, so I remained in the same spot.

Well fuck. A creature I know nothing about has me held hostage, and I can’t leave. Maybe I can find something to use as a weapon from where I'm sitting...

As I moved my hand around the dark room, I suddenly felt something scaly with my fingers. I instantly recoiled, fearing it was the 939.

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The reptile didn’t seem to mind.

Was that humming noise always there, or did the 939 suddenly start purring?

I looked down at it. Sure enough, it was letting out a low-pitch purr like a cat.

Does... does it want me to pet it?

I moved my hand again, touching the scaly skin of the 939 again.

It scooted over toward me and began purring even louder.

A small smile formed on my face. “You’re not so bad after all.”

The 939 stopped purring and opened its mouth. “You’re not so bad after all.”

Did it just copy my sentence and voice?

This intrigued me, and I continued to speak to my newfound friend. For every word or sentence I said, the 939 would answer with its own or copy what i had said.

“I think I'll call you... Tomato.”

Tomato seemed happy with its new name and repeated it over and over. “Tomato. Tomato. Tomato.”

Suddenly the door to the cargo bay opened with a smash, startling both me and Tomato.

“Security! Freeze!”

I raised my hands immediately and looked to the doorway. The people standing there were shining flashlights into my eyes, and I was blinded.

“That 939 is out of its case! Get the tranquilizer darts!”

Next thing I knew I had handcuffs on my hands, and I heard the familiar sound of a tranquilizer gun going off.

The armored men gave me no room to look back and shoved me forcefully out of the cargo bay doors without mercy.

“You better have a damn good explanation for this, researcher.”

The security officers put me in a holding cell. I’ve been interrogated before and instantly recognized the room layout. Metal table, 2 metal chairs and a one-way window.

First day at work and I've already been knocked unconscious, flown in a fucking spacecraft to mars, and befriended an anomaly and named it Tomato.

I think I'll enjoy this job.

The door to the interrogation room opened with a soft click. A man wearing a leather jacket walked into the room and closed the door behind him.

“Hello Bacon. I don’t believe we’ve met yet; my name is Cedrik.” He stretched out a hand towards me.

I took it. “Pleasure.”

Cedrik sat down on the metal chair across from me at the table.

“Now, care to explain what happened in that cargo room? In return, I can show you how to model your mom in blender.”

I raised an eyebrow in intrigue. “That sounds like an amazing offer. I’ll tell you what I remember.”

I let out a sigh, trying to recall the things that happened before I passed out.

“Well, I was on the spaceship. Out of curiosity I decided to enter the cargo bay and found that one of the cages was damaged. I went over to inspect it, when I hit my head and fell unconscious. When I woke up, there was a 939 anomaly in front of me, and then security arrived.”

Cedrik leant in closer and folded his hands on the table. “That’s not the full story, is it? The SCP-939 instance we contained alongside you was acting completely different from any other we’ve encountered thus far.” Cedrik stood up and placed both hands on the table. “So, I ask again, what happened in that cargo bay?”

I gulped a little. “Uh, well, you see, I don’t know. I just... Pet it and said some words to it?” A horrific thought then occurred to me, and I asked Cedrik. “What... what’s a 939’s typical behavior then?”

Cedrik sighed and sat down again. “The expected outcome in a situation such as you describe would be your demise. SCP-939 instances are typically predatory and it’s frankly a miracle it didn’t consume you in your sleep.”

My face turned pale, and I nodded. “So... How come it let me live?”

Cedrik crossed his hands across his chest. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. You’re free to go.”

I was left speechless as Cedrik opened the door to the interrogation room. Before he exited, he looked back at me with a small smirk. “The files that contain your mom are too big to be modeled, by the way.”

With that he closed the door, and I was left in the room alone again. The handcuffs that were on my wrists unlocked and fell to the floor.

Well, what the fuck do I do now?