Morning has come again. Sunlight has flooded the world, yet it fails to illuminate the bedroom with its drawn curtains. Nevertheless, Min's body clock wakes him from his dreams.

  It takes him about two seconds to realise that the battle with the alien spacecraft anything but a dream. After washing up, he sees that Xi P is still lying on the sofa, fast asleep. He goes over and gently pats its back a few times, but it doesn't stir at all. If not for its steady breathing, Min would have feared the worst.

  He gently lifts its ear with his fingers — it feels incredibly soft — and blows a soft breath into its ear canal. This trick had worked well several times back in his college dorm days. But now, it barely makes a difference. Xi P merely shifts slightly before going completely still again.

  'Where's all that alertness from when we first met? Sleeping like a log — is that even normal?'

  But Min quickly realises why. Judging by the slight reflection in its eyes earlier in the darkness, could it be a nocturnal creature? Making it study so hard yesterday must have been like pulling an all-nighter for it. No wonder it can't wake up now. Still, leaving it like this isn't a solution. If it only wakes up at night and finds him asleep, how will he be able to help it get familiar with this place?

  'Best to let it sleep a bit longer for now. Need to clean that towel covered in its fur later, and I really ought to figure out what to do about this situation. Ugh... Anyway, plenty of morning chores to tackle first.'

  As he picks up the towel, he can clearly see the bright orange hairs. He gently plucks one and examines it closely. To the naked eye, it looks no different to ordinary animal fur. The microscope in the lab should reveal any difference soon enough. After collecting a few strands, Min tosses the entire towel unceremoniously into the washing machine, adding extra disinfectant for good measure.

  He then retrieves the bodysuit that Xi P had taken off in the bathroom. Wearing gloves, he can't quite tell if the material resembles fabric or plastic more. The overall design feels bulky, with several buckles that allow the top and bottom to be connected together. There are several black hook-like protrusions at the waist, and a cable connector can be seen on the side. Compared to normal clothing, it resembles a high-tech combat suit that one might wear in a fighter jet. Min recognises the other component of the scent. Yesterday, after Xi P showered, the bathroom had a faint trace of this same odour. It seems to be Xi P's... body odour.

  'Some say foxes aren't suitable as pets because they're smelly. I suppose it's good news that I don't need to worry about that.' Min shakes his head; he doesn't want to delve into this as he doesn't want to look like a pervert. So he folds it neatly and sets it aside. Considering the numerous electronic components inside, it probably wouldn't be wise to put in the washing machine.

  Min works silently, preparing breakfast and tidying up the room. By the time he has finished, Xi P is still asleep. So Min crouches down, one hand in a blocking stance, and with the other, gently rolls Xi P onto his back. This finally jolts it awake, as it shoots up from the sofa, staring at Min in surprise. A couple of seconds later, it points angrily at the window and flops back down, ready to sleep again.

  This really confirms his hypothesis that it is a nocturnal animal.

  After lifting it up once more and attempting to explain why it needs to stay awake now, Xi P finally seems to accepts the reality. Clearly displeased, it nevertheless understands the situation.

  'Think of it, maybe this is like being a night shift worker. Night shift workers often get irritable. While I don't know how disrupting their natural rhythm affects them psychologically, it probably isn't good... I hope it can stay calm.' Min thinks.

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  ***

  The way Xi P is sitting on the chair startles Min. He has never seen anyone sit in reverse before.

  Noticing that Min is observing his posture, Xi P nervously swivels the chair back to face the table again.

  Once Min has turned the chair around again and assured him that this position is fine, a theory begins to form in Min's mind. Judging by its habit of sleeping on its stomach, perhaps it prefers its belly pressed against surfaces rather than its back. Yesterday, it didn't do this, probably because it was mimicking Min's posture, which must have been somewhat awkward for it. At least it doesn't seem to have hurt itself, though.

  At breakfast, Xi P still eats only one packet of food brought from the spaceship. The smell it gives off somewhat dampens Min's appetite across the table, but considering his own food is probably no better for it, he doesn't say anything.

  Judging by the size of the packets and how often it eats, Xi P has a surprisingly small appetite, which is not really surprising given that its body temperature is not particularly high, it was not very active yesterday, and it certainly does not have an exceptionally large physique. Plus, meat provides more energy than plant-based foods on average, so this eating pattern makes perfect sense.

  'Come to think of it, for a while there, sci-fi loved portraying aliens as extremely voracious eaters... Probably because they often endowed aliens with all sorts of magical abilities, yet didn't want to violate the laws of energy conservation?' Min thinks idly while washing the dishes.

  After breakfast, Min prepares to resume his studies with Xi P, even though Sunday mornings are theoretically his time to go out and relax. But isn't spending it with this adorable, fox-like alien even better? However, Xi P has other ideas. It gestures wildly towards the backyard, likely pointing out the scattered wreckage of the "spaceship." This region is sparsely populated to begin with, and Min's house is a fair distance from the city centre, so he isn't too worried about being seen. Besides, the thing doesn't even look like a traditional UFO.

  Still, Min nods in agreement, planning to build a makeshift shed to cover the main wreckage later — the smaller parts can simply be picked up and bring home.

  While thinking about it, he browses websites to purchase materials for the shed. A few Chinese sites left Xi P thoroughly confused for a while. It took Min quite some time to explain through diagrams and gestures that this is another language, and that he himself was an immigrant. Upon learning this, Xi P whistled — yes, Min is certain that was a whistle. The tone was remarkably similar to a human's.

  The reason? Perhaps it feels a sense of superiority and absurdity over his planet's lack of unification — only Xi P itself knows for sure. Rather than speculating about alien social structures, Min is more curious about the whistle itself. How did Xi P produce that sound?

  In truth, this question has surfaced when Min first asked its name. Human speech relies on the coordinated action of vocal cords, mouth cavity, tongue, and lips to generate the full range of vocal variations. Yet Xi P mouth shape... looks undeniably like a shortened fox's snout. The fact that it can produce human-like sounds is genuinely extraordinary. Not to mention whistling. Min could only speculate it achieves this through highly developed vocal cords or similar structures. He certainly couldn't bring himself to stick an endoscope in its mouth just yet.

  While scrolling through the web, Min suddenly notices a small news item tucked away about a fallen meteorite. The location? His own city.

  He nervously opens the article and the first thing he sees is a rather blurry photo of a fiery meteor-like object streaking across the city sky. Due to the camera's poor quality and excessively long shutter time, the meteor has become an almost entirely blurred afterimage, revealing no discernible details. The kind of image typically associated with conspiracy theories.

  'Is that the spacecraft on the slope? How come I didn't see it back then?'

  He nervously scrolls down the page. The text below eases his mind slightly — it contains estimates of the meteor's size and mass, with no speculation about alien artifacts.

  Min pulls Xi P, who has just had a drink, over to the computer and first points at the meteor in the photo, then at Xi P. Xi P scrutinises the image for a long time, leaning in closer until its nose accidentally bumps the screen. Then, clutching its nose, it nods uncertainly.

  Min could sense the growing tension. As an alien, having its whereabouts discovered wouldn't exactly please it. Perhaps it is already imagining scenes from movies with alien featuring alien autopsies... just perhaps.

  After all, Xi P is trembling now, practically bristling. Surprised that fear could make it shake, Min tugs its hand to calm it. Meteorite collectors in the city will likely be influenced by such news and search the impact site. Although weekdays mean being stuck in the lab, evenings and late nights still offer some free time. Know what? Min has decided to act fast, and finish the shed before next Friday.