"CP 1766, January 1. 157 days have passed since landing. Local time: AD 2017, January 21."

  "Overall, the trip was pretty much as expected — got to see quite a bit of alien scenery. The main annoyance was the rain at the end. My cloak offered almost no waterproofing; the rain soaked me through and thorough, from head to toe. To make matters worse, the temperature also plummeted. Wet fur offered no defence against the cold, and I was freezing and drenched. The last time I experienced anything like this was probably years ago when I fell through the ice by accident."

  "Thankfully, both were over and done with."

  "Besides, thinking about Ye Min, he must have had it worse than me. I'd be curious to know how cold it felt for him, but if there were any way I could experience it myself, no thanks. Maybe I shouldn't gloat like this, but seeing him grimace from the cold actually gave me a strange sense of satisfaction..."

  "On the other hand, the fur on their heads doesn't absorb water well, so they probably don't get that 'soaked to the core' feeling?"

  "Funny as it is, there's another serious issue now. I hope I'm overthinking it, but first trekking through an untouched rainforest, then getting drenched in the rain — and all this on an alien planet. Common sense tells me to be worried... At least I didn't drink the water, and the air should be similar to city air, so maybe I'm just being paranoid. So far, I feel okay here. Seems my body has established a decent balance with the local bacteria. It won't be a rock-solid equilibrium, but fretting now won't help. I'll just have to play it by ear when the time comes."

  "At least most of the meds survived the landing..."

  "Their national space station is in a low orbit. I could actually see it from the ground... It appears as a slowly drifting white speck. Though the Grand Unified Force Space Station looks similar, their sizes are incomparable. Ye Min can see it too, wonder how bright it seems to him. Funnily enough, before arriving here, I'd always assumed that animals with poor night vision could only spot the brightest stars. Surely I'm not the only one who's thought that? Yet no one seems to have conducted any experiments on this..."

  ***

  Another new morning dawns. Without any auditory cues, Min wakes prematurely. His first sensations are the heavy weight on his stomach and the dampness on his face. By the time he registers these, the dampness has intensified.

  He snaps his eyes open to find a fox's head hovering over him, its mouth slightly open as if about to lick him again. Without pausing to process his thoughts, Min thrusts his hands out from under the covers and shoves the creature away forcefully, yelling: "Xi P!"

  Xi P's voice comes immediately: "What is it?"

  Only then does Min realise that he has pushed away the silver fox. Relief washes over him as he replies: "I — "

  Before he can finish the syllable, he quickly corrects himself: "I just got licked by the silver fox. It startled me."

  'That's disgusting.' Xi P thinks in the living room.

  Deep down, he is actually a little pleased. So it seems like the fox licks both him and Min. He sincerely hopes the fox will lick Min many more times in the future. Who knows, Min might not be able to take it anymore and want to get rid of it. Every extra second that thing spends in the house is a curse.

  As he gets up and tries to stand, Xi P suddenly gasps for air, fighting the urge to scream. Something is wrong with his second knee. A sharp, excruciating pain shoots through his leg as he pulls it. Yesterday's ordeal must have taken its toll, although he cannot fathom why it is affecting his leg.

  After taking several deep breaths, he gradually regains his composure. It's not too bad, really, probably just temporary arthritis. Might not even be related to the bacteria. Besides, he wasn't planning on going out anyway...

  With that thought, he gently straightens his leg again, inch by inch. The pain is almost gone — until the doorbell suddenly rings, startling him into snapping his leg straight.

  Hearing his yelp, the doorbell rings again. Min rushes to the door and peeks through the peephole.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Outside stand two uniformed airport employees. The reason for their presence is immediately apparent to Min. Astonished by their dedication at this hour, he opens the door to deal with them.

  They seem unfazed by him still being in his pyjamas, calmly discussing yesterday's plane incident and completing some paperwork. When they are finished, one of them asks curiously: "What was that thing barking earlier?"

  "My pet fox." Min replies without flinching, inwardly chuckling.

  The guy doesn't press further. Though his expression alone makes it clear that he doesn't believe Min — surely a fox couldn't possibly bark like that?

  ***

  After spending three times longer than usual on his morning routine, Xi P finally makes it to the living room, ready to tackle today's scheduled task: having a proper discussion with Min about the medical spray.

  "Are you okay? I thought I heard you scream earlier." Min asks, a hint of concern in his voice.

  "Fine. Just some joint pain. It happens pretty often." Xi P shakes his head. "I can handle it myself. Let's get to the business."

  Thanks to the detailed ingredient list on the packaging, the initial development of the medical spray shouldn't be too difficult in theory. Although Min can't decipher it directly, Xi P's explanation makes it clear just how comprehensive that list is. As Xi P puts it, "Anyone with chemistry knowledge can make it".

  "Aren't they worried about counterfeiting?"

  Xi P's explanation quickly clarifies things for Min. The medical spray has a long history in Lierus, and with a little effort, one can find detailed recipes and manufacturing steps all over the internet. While their government takes patent infringement seriously, this type of product is legally required to list its ingredients. Moreover, the patent term had long expired.

  After saying this, Xi P jokes: "Even if this particular bottle uses a special, patented formula, by the time they find out we've done this, the... complaint period will have passed. So we're not breaking any laws. Ha, ha — "

  "You know, you can stick to your own way of laughing. It really unsettles me when I hear you try to mimic human laughter. It just sounds fake..."

  The next step is to convert the ingredient list into language that Min can understand. To his slight surprise, Xi P uses a rather sophisticated-looking software. Simply entering the name of a substance outputs a 3D molecular model on the screen, with various styles available. While similar software exists on Earth, it can't match this one's quality; at the very least, judging by the thick stack of options beside it, its capabilities extend far beyond what's displayed. Not to mention that Xi P's computer is currently offline.

  As always, Min begins translating slowly by comparing it to the periodic table. Most ingredients are instantly recognisable — water, cellulose, zinc oxide, and...

  A wave of despair washes over Min at the sight of this colossal molecule dominating the screen. This massive structure is no mere repetition of smaller units — at first glance, Min simply cannot discern any pattern. Min is stunned, as is Xi P, who freezes upon seeing this behemoth before shooting Min a peculiar look. Instinct tells Min that the emotion conveyed is schadenfreude.

  Gritting his teeth, Min tallies the quantities of each element and searches the web for this simplified formula. As expected, he finds no meaningful information. This doesn't mean it lacks a proper scientific name: perhaps his search method is flawed. Perhaps.

  For now, he decides to leave it at that and continues with the translation. However, the complexity of the task continues to exceed his wildest expectations. Compounds he'd never encountered before are everywhere, and midway through, he even stumbles upon a massive compound that looks suspiciously like a protein. Although dealing with protein structures is part of his daily work, the sheer despair he feels upon seeing a protein in this setting is something that cannot be summed up in a few words.

  ***

  Min stretches lazily, momentarily escaping the hell of chemistry. He swivels his chair to glance at Xi P, who is sprawled on the sofa, and a mischievous thought pops into his head. There's something he's wanted to do for a long time, but he's never found the right moment. Now, however, seems like the perfect opportunity...

  Lifting the silver fox from the floor, Min moves silently to the sofa facing Xi P and plops down. The squish of the cushions makes Xi P open his eyes a tiny crack, then widen in shock, completely oblivious to the harsh lighting.

  What is he seeing?! Min is stroking that fox, right in front of him!

  Once, twice, thrice — the motions become increasingly exaggerated, making the fox's skin look as though it were being kneaded like modelling clay. Though Min's expression is hidden from view, Xi P can guess he must be feeling supremely smug.

  "Can't you just stop?" Unable to bear it any longer, Xi P rises up from the sofa and demands.

  "Isn't petting a pet perfectly natural? Don't your kind keep pets? Or do you not use petting to relax?" Min changes his petting position, flipping the silver fox onto its back and teasing its belly.

  'Don't think I don't know you're mentally petting me.' Xi P thinks silently, while asking aloud: "Can't you at least move to a different spot?"

  Watching the fox being petted in increasingly bizarre ways, Xi P genuinely begins to feel nauseated. If these foxes were to turn up at Lierus' pet market, it's possible that some perverts might purchase them — but certainly not after witnessing an alien toy with them like this.

  "Alright." To Xi P's surprise, Min agrees. He genuinely switches positions, moving to another section of the sofa. Just that he is still within Xi P's line of sight. With no other choice, Xi P prepares to get up and retreat to the study — out of sight, out of mind.

  "Hey, hold on — don't move! You have trouble with your legs, don't you? I'll leave now. Don't hurt yourself."

  "And now you are suddenly concerned about my health..."