ANALYZING… FILE TYPE: Lab Recording PERIOD: Colony Era SPEAKERS: Dorata, S. [ID: SDOR], Blau, H. [ID: HBLA] TOPIC: Exploratory Dissection, Extrasolar Specimen, ref. #003021 SUMMARY: Opening moments of a classified investigation of a specimen of unknown extra-planetary origin. =================================================================== [SDOR]: Begin recording. [SDOR]: This is Major Saviel Dorata, assisted by Hanza Blau, performing an exploratory dissection on an extraterrestrial combatant, reference number 003021. Specimen collected following the event. [SDOR]: Outside of the combat necropsies performed during the contact event this will mark the fourth exploratory dissection of the [REDACTED]… [SDOR]: Oop… Gabriel… Scratch that last— [HBLA]: Major? [SDOR]: […] [SDOR]: Right. System… Scratch the last few words of my previous statement from the record. From [REDACTED] to [REDACTED]. Include these mentions and any that follow. [SDOR]: Will take time getting used to Gabriel's absence up here. [SDOR]: Whole place feels… quieter… without our friends. [HBLA]: Infosec says— [SDOR]: I'm not challenging the necessity. Just adjusting to the reality. Probably best we focus… [HBLA]: […] [SDOR]: After you… [HBLA]: Yeah. Yeah… The, um… The specimen is 193 centimeters long—or tall, rather—and weighs 72 point… Let's call it six… 72.6 kilograms. It presents a mixture of both arthropodal and vertebrate characteristics. The subject is hairless and has no finger- or toenails. It is bipedal, so it has been arranged on the examination table adaxial side up. [HBLA]: Open when ready, sir. [SDOR]: […] [SDOR]: I'm making the primary incision from the approximate location of the acromial process down and over to midline center. And now from the other side and down past the— Well, there's no umbilicus. [SDOR]: The epicuticle is more of a very thin and extremely flexible cartilaginous material. Approximately 3.5 to 5 millimeters thick. Its connection to the procuticle, the hypodermis, is more waxy than fatty. Which goes a long way towards explaining lack of mobility in the epidermis. Reflection of the epidermis is much— easier than on a— mammal. [SDOR]: The thickness and rigidity of the subject's procuticle preclude the use of a scalpel for gaining access to the thoracic cavity. Therefore, I will be using angle-bladed utility scissors. [SDOR]: I'm going to start the incision right under the edge of the exoskeleton, behind the last abdominal segment and continuing up through to the top of the thorax. [SDOR]: There is a fair amount of crunching. Once the body is open, I will be able to determine whether this is due to the thickness of the chitin, or if there were additional subsurface structures that I inadvertently cut through. I am ending the incision at the base of the head capsule. [SDOR]: We are using ligating forceps attached to magnetic restraints to hold the abdomen open. Not ideal, but it's what we have… [END RECORD] =================================================================== TYPE: TEXT [X]; AUDIO [ ]