It doesn't help that I'm finding this all strangely fascinating in a Bairn kind of way—the kind that usually got us into trouble! I just can't help running little experiments. I keep finding myself standing in front of them, peering into their eyes and suchlike. Interestingly, their reactions vary.
Some are completely oblivious to me, but others show discomfort. They keep looking over their shoulder but reassuringly, not at me; just at where I was at the time.
I'm not sure then, if I am actually invisible or just beyond their perception, so to speak. In the same way that the kaleg was invisible to us, am I out of sync with them? Maybe I am and that my ability to see them, but not the other way around, is because their sensitivity to it is more finely tuned than mine. They perceive things within a smaller bandwidth. I don't know if I'm right, but it's a plausible explanation.
They are odd creatures too. I had thought they must be energy-based judging by their appearance, but no. They are distinctly corporeal although the glow that they have is more than luminescence. They are physically blurred around the edges—I can't quite explain it. I'd love to touch one or take a look at a skin sample under a microscope. Tempting though that is, I have resisted. I know touching them would be a mistake and give the game away completely.
So, resisting the urge to carry out more tests, I continued on my way, creeping around the place like a naughty little girl getting out of bed in the middle of the night. I had no idea where I was going, but continued on deeper and deeper into the vessel. The Dancers became more abundant and dodging them in the corridors was becoming harder and harder. In the end, I had to duck into a room to avoid being walked into. The fact that the door opened at my approach was disturbing. The ship's sensors obviously knew I was there, which meant that the Dancers could detect me if they used the ship's systems. It would be prudent not to give them any hints as to my presence.
Once through the doors, I found I was in another, short corridor. I proceeded to the end where a second door opened at my bidding and I stepped through into a large, round room. Around the periphery were six more rooms. They reminded me of the brig with open fronts and a bed inside. One of them had a forcefield of blue bars in place. It was indeed a brig.
Inside was an occupant laying on a bench that served as a bed. He was black as night, but his skin glistened as though speckled with glitter. He was reptilian in form with a face that reminded me of an iguana. He even had a large round scale on each cheek like an iguana, but he also had a crest of four horns adorning the back of his head. His mouth was wide and stretched from ear to ear, and his flesh was scaled and jagged like a lizard's. It looked tough and reminded me of the black body armour the Marines use. His eyes looked to be small like a Human's, but they were closed so I couldn't tell. I moved closer.
He awoke and his eyes flicked open. They were black and shone like obsidian with a pinprick of a white pupil. He lay there for a moment, his eyes staring at the ceiling and then he swung his legs over the side of his cot and stood up. He rose tall—he was easily seven foot high and looked like evil personified, more intimidating than even a Gem H'Dar. This was a Helvetian warrior!
"Creature," he suddenly said. His eyes, like cold balls of polished stone, flashed in my direction. He looked blindly at me, and my feet froze to the spot.
"I had begun to believe that you were a myth, a lie, but now I know that I was wrong. You are real."
I could not speak—I dared not speak.
"Creature. I cannot see you, but I know you are there," and then his eyes seemed to focus on me, and I felt a long, cold shiver run down my spine.
