Kylie was woken up and taken to what looked to be a laboratory. She inhaled sharply, conjuring to mind all the images that she had seen throughout her life of alien life forms experimenting on human bodies. She had wanted to trust that no harm would fall to her after Kane came and visited her that morning. His presence was a great comfort and she found herself wanting to believe everything he said. He was excited and told her that some tests needed to be done, tests that could change everything and make her a hero. He had assured her that she would come out feeling great, and when she remembered the way the food affected her, she had been very tempted to believe just that. Unfortunately, it was hard to stay calm when she was confronted by terrifying instruments of potential torture.
The man, Korda, apparently the Legacy's leading scientist, told her to sit down on a bed much like the one that they had put into her little apartment on the ship. It was surprisingly comfortable, and when she laid down on it, Korda began his examination. He scanned a red light across her body, and she suddenly felt very exposed as images of her insides were projected onto the walls around them. Korda studied them intently, his large brow drawing in concentration. His assistant stayed in the background taking notes, scribbling furiously as Korda called out words in a medical jargon that Kylie found impossible to understand. It was the same woman who had held her down before, and they glared at each other from time to time as Korda obliviously studied her body.
After about 10 minutes of this, Korda gave her something to drink, and she fell into a blissful, trancelike state where the rest of his probing did not affect her at all. She could tell that he was drawing blood and looking at it under a microscope, and experimenting with this and that. Kane had told her that her body would be a valuable scientific anomaly, one that could potentially save the lives of billions of beings throughout the universe. She felt like that was a lot of pressure, and wondered if maybe she should have worked out at the gym more often when she was on earth. Maybe she shouldn't have eaten so many doughnuts. Maybe she should have avoided more processed foods. If the fate of the universe relied on her body, maybe she should have treated it like a temple.
And then she was suddenly frustrated by the fact that so much pressure was put onto her. If it weren't for these people, she wouldn't know anything about the other beings in the universe. She would still be blissfully living her life on earth, allowing the blank question mark of possibilities to remain open above her head, but never truly wanting to explore anything further than that. The reality of her life on earth suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks. Everybody she knew had turned against her, and she was without a job and without any hope at all. Most of them, if they heard anything about her, would have said that she disappeared, but most people probably wouldn't notice or care. The thought made her angry, and she made a small decision to care more about having a purpose in the universe rather than leading a boring and trivial life on the planet where nobody cared about her.
Finally, the testing was through and she was led back to her apartment by Kane himself. He held her arm firmly to steady her as she walked numbly beside him. Whatever Korda had given her had made her feel a little bit out of it, and Kane gently guided her, speaking softly and soothingly as he walked with her through the bay of his ship. She could feel all eyes turned on her as they moved, and Kane walked regally forward, not making contact with anybody except Kylie. He didn't want any of the crewmembers to discover just how valuable she was, but he also wanted them to understand that she was to be respected at all times. He hoped that they would respect his wishes, and the first not to would deeply regret it.
“So how did it go?" Kane asked Kylie once she was resting comfortably on her own bed.
“You tell me," Kylie said sleepily. "I don't really understand what it is that you're looking for."
“I think that we will know when we find it," Kane said with a small smile.
They gazed at each other, Kane brushing her hair away from her forehead reassuringly. It felt soothing, and Kylie just wanted to close her eyes and bask in the feeling forever. It seemed almost more normal to be here with this man from another planet than it did to be on a blind date. The thought made her start to giggle, until Kane was also laughing because he didn't understand what she had been set off by. The sound of her laughter was beautiful, but not as radiant as the way her face brightened up. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, and soon gave up asking what she was laughing about and just shook his head bemused. There was still a lot he had left to learn about earthlings, he decided, and stood carefully to take his leave.