Several hours later, following Vic, Keith, Lexx, and Chel , stripping in front of several scientists and going through a shower, then dressing in hospital type gowns. Vic and Keith had known what to expect. Chel had been embarrassed the entire time, even with only her mother and a couple of other female scientists in white hazmat suits escorting her.
Lexx was a problem. First, he wouldn’t surrender his clothes, even after assurances they were going to be treated and returned to him. Then he wouldn’t take the shower or submit to putting on the gown or go anywhere without Chel. He was still arguing when the four dice romped through the showers. Even Stealth walked through without a problem and Swiftpaw loved the hot water and blow dryers and attention afterward.
Despite assurances that the dice were parasite free, they were taken to another room where several people were going to spend a very long time going over every inch of their bodies with a comb, which none of the dice complained about.
Lexx sulked, until Vic intervened and talked him into it. Then he was wet, sulking, and being shown how to put on the gown properly by Mel. He protested everything, mainly to show how much he did not like being away from Chel, which was becoming more and more annoying to Vic who accompanied him to a separate lab area where they wouldn’t run into Chel, Keith or the dice.
Mel took everything calmly and was left with Lexx while Vic went off to have his own exam with another scientist. Lexx wasn’t as talkative without Vic being there and began to be a little more cooperative, undergoing the poking and prodding with more sulking and grumbling. Mel began with simple, non invasive readings, taking Lexx’s temperature, a little lower than that of the average human. He assured her that it was normal and began talking about conversions from the units they commonly used to the ones Mel was recording in.
Body measurements were taken, questions were asked about his biology, how fast his heart beat should be, and lung capacity. His eyes were dilated, much to Lexx’s annoyance, then healed after several minutes, much to Mel’s annoyance. Everything was recorded. X-rays and photos were taken for reference.
Mel ruined several needles trying to draw samples of Lexx’s blood. His skin was stronger than normal human skin and would not draw, until Lexx allowed it. That took a little bit of convincing on Mel’s part, but Lexx eventually relented and let her draw what she needed. He didn’t allow any nanites to leave.
She was just finishing up the samples and taking them to another lab to be examined when Vic returned. He had obviously showered again after a stress test and his hair was still wet. His examine had been much shorter than Lexx’s would be, for obvious reasons.
Vic walked up behind his wife, grumbling under his breath. Mel glanced back at him in silent question before continuing on her way. “Mel, they assured me their transportation technology purges all foreign contaminants.”
“24 hours and he needs a full round of preventative inoculations.” Mel stated.
“That boy is healthier than we’ll ever be.”
“And he’s been through enough, judging by the scars.” Mel placed her tray on an empty counter and turned to her husband with a stern expression. “I’m not taking chances. His ancestors were never exposed to Earth bacteria or viruses.”
Vic nodded in grudging agreement. “We’ll take care of him.” Mel had a look in her eyes that Vic quickly recognized. Mel took her job seriously and loved every moment of it, but she was still very much a mother at heart and despite all the teenage level grumbling that had come from Lexx, she meant meant what she said in more than just the agency’s interests.
“How could any civilized society put someone through so much pain in the name of entertainment.” Mel had hidden her assessment of what she had seen in her examination. Scars upon scars, layered over more scars covered Lexx’s body. Most of them were light and faded with age, but when they crossed older scars or they were especially deep, they formed unsightly malformations in his skin. Lexx had explained a few of them and while Mel was mortified by how they happened, she had kept her professional calm.


