This unnamed humanoid species appears to be in control of Earth, manipulating the Human population for various types of experiments.
Biology[]
A bullet wound on an alien's leg healing
The aliens are humanoids who bear a mostly Human-like external appearance. However, their craniums appear somewhat enlarged, and their eyes are entirely black, sunken into their heads like semi-skeletal eye sockets, making them somewhat resemble Greys. They are capable of at least minor shapeshifting, able to hide their alien features and take on a perfectly Human-like outer appearance. Internally, their bodies appear to be almost metallic, or possibly liquid, only appearing grey with no blood. They have been able to walk away from being struck by cars completely unharmed, displaying some sort of super durability, although bullets are able to pierce their skin. When pierced, at least by bullets, the alien's skin appears to smoke. Notably, they are able to heal in a matter of seconds, with the wound no longer smoking once healed, and appear to feel no pain. In addition, direct hits from bullets do not make them fall or even flinch. The aliens also have the ability to create shockwaves by shouting, able to blow adult Humans away and shatter glass in a fairly large radius. Most notably, they are able to erase years worth of memories from Humans, appearing to read minds of victims, seeking a "source memory." Using this source memory, they erase all memories after it that are related to its subject, able to remove an entire type of memory while possibly adding in false memories, such as removing the memory of one's children. However, this ability has its limits, unable to overcome parental instincts and emotional bonds. Certain items or other memories connected to the erased memories, especially those with a very strong sentimental value, can override the erasure, restoring the memories.
Culture and society[]
Little is known about the alien society. They are known to effectively take over planets, and then proceed to run various experiments on the population, conscripting local governments to support them, with no apparent reservations about harming sapient beings. A Human agent claimed that complying with the aliens is the only way to protect mankind, implying that the aliens would destroy a planet if they meet mass resistance, also saying that there is really no way to stop the aliens from doing whatever they want, at least by Human capability. To avoid sparking mass resistance, they only met with government officials or other select individuals directly related to their experiments, and keep themselves hidden from the general public. They appear to have a radically different concept of parental love, or possibly no concept of it, although they believe they can tangibly measure and break it, also showing no remorse for doing so. If their experiments fail to get the desired results, the tester will be punished, presumably for wasting their resources. In the case of a failed experiment, the aliens are known to revert things relating to the experiment back to the way they were before.
Technology[]
Possible alien ship disguised as a cloud
Little is known of the alien's level of technology, as no examples have been directly seen by Humans, but they appear highly advanced. The only example of their technology in action, or at least what is presumably their technology, is their abduction technology, which appear to be some sort of invisible tractor beam, capable of violently sucking a target into the air, presumably towards one of their ships or facilities. They also appear to possess some sort of long-range communicators that they can hide on their person, unseen by Humans, which they use to keep in contact with other aliens. It is possible that they utilize flying saucer-shaped spacecraft, which appear able to disguise as clouds, but this is unconfirmed.
History[]
At some point in the past, the aliens arrived on Earth, using the planet as grounds to secretly perform various experiments, while also forcing Human governments to comply with their actions. In the early 21st century, an alien decided to run an experiment on measuring and breaking parental bonds. To do this, the alien staged a plane crash on a flight that was carrying many children on a field trip, taking the children to a secret location while letting their parents believe they were killed. After a period of fourteen months, presumably used to "measure" the parental bonds based on their grief, the alien decided to enact the bond-breaking part of the experiment, erasing the memories of their parents and anyone who knew them, while also removing, altering, or otherwise covering up physical evidence of the children, and manipulating their Human agents to keep up the ruse. However, Telly Paretta, mother of a boy named Sam who was on the plane, managed to keep her memories of her son. Rather than re-attempt the erasure, possibly due to Telly's bond being too strong, the alien opted to make her believe she was insane, manipulating Dr. Munce, her OB/GYN, into telling her that her memories of Sam were the delusions from a miscarriage. However, Telly refused to believe the lie, managing to escape from Dr. Munce, and managed to reawaken the memories of Ash, a man whose daughter, Lauren, was also taken by the alien.
The alien, seeing Telly threatening the outcome of the experiment, sent Human National Security agents after her and Ash, but the agents were unsuccessful in capturing them. In response, the alien erases the memory of Telly from her husband to prevent her from going back to him, and personally begins stalking Ash and Telly. He appears before them in the city as they acquire a car, getting run over by them, although he gets up unscathed. The pair then managed to capture one of the Human agents, named Al, who began exposing the aliens, forcing the aliens to take him away. Contacting a policewoman named Anne Pope, Ash and Telly attempted to find the CEO of Quest Airlines, the company that owned the plane the aliens used, although the house was now empty and long-abandoned. The alien stalked them again in the house, and Anne then arrived at the house, seeing the alien and shooting him in the legs and back, although the alien calmly walked away while regenerating. Anne, now believing Telly's claims of her erased son, was then taken away by other aliens before she could offer her help. Arriving back in the city, Telly and Ash meet up again in an apartment, only to be met by the alien. Ash attempted to attack the alien, but the alien, deciding to remove Ash from the experiment, quickly overpowered him and threw himself out the window with Ash, allowing Ash to be taken away while the alien also vanishes.
Dr. Munce, deciding the experiment has gone far enough, meets with Telly and takes her to the abandoned hangar of Quest Airlines, confronting the alien and demanding that he stop the experiment. The alien refuses to stop the experiment until he severs Telly's parental bond, explaining the purpose of the experiment to Telly, and the fact that failing to obtain his desired results is not an option. When Telly refused to forget Sam, the alien revealed his true visage as he yelled at her to forget, blasting her back and shattering the glass around the hangar. He then grabbed her, making her think of her first memory of Sam. Latching onto that memory, the memory of Sam being born, the alien manages to erase her memory of Sam. However, after turning away and dropping her, Telly remembered when her love for Sam truly began: when she was pregnant, overriding the alien's alterations and restoring her memories. The alien attempted to contact the others to ask for more time, but the experiment was deemed over and a failure, with the alien being taken away. Ash, Lauren, Sam, and presumably Anne and Al, all still alive, were brought back to their normal lives, the memories and records of all around them altered to fit them back in, although only Telly remembered the aliens and the events of the experiment.
Appearances[]
- The Forgotten (2004)