Xarlix looked at the puny human in the cantine queue as always stuck in his suit.

"So what's up Tom ? Still in your big giant walking Condom ?"

Whatever a condom was - something human did not like to be compared to... The human immediately changed his camouflage, becoming a nice shade of red. A few smirk were seen outside, a few feelers curling. Bullying the human was so fun.

"It is named a biological separation suit! I told you hundred of times ! I am sick and tired of this cultural exchange program..."

Xarlix laughed openly now. Tom seemed distracted now taking his food from some sort of dispenser. Xarlix let discretely one of his lower pedipalp on the way of the stupid human-animal. The human fell down over. The whole room started to laugh loudly.

Xarlix looked at Tom and exclaimed "Still have not found your 'leg' on this ship, huh ?"

Everybody by now was clacking their mandible, some other rolling their tentacle.

"I broke my suit, you idiot".

The human was spreading now a cleaning tissue over a leaking red substance... What was it ?

Xarlix looked at the substance slowly dropping from the break in the suit, smirking.... Then his smirk stopped.

Xarlix looked nearer. Sniffing.

"gee got a scratch now" and started to clumsily close the suit, swipe a cleaning cloth over the opening.

The cloth now was covered by a ruby like substance.

The room suddenly went silent.

Xarlixs' Occeli were now trembling, recognizing in the spectra of the substances...

Recognizing...

This compound in the carmine liquid... It was...

Tom dropped the smeared cloth in the trash.

It was traces of Iron.

Lorvas the biologist asked with a trembling voice "I think your suit is leaking some thermal liquid..."

Tom looked at him and answered immediately "thermal liquid ? No this is my blood".

Lorvas tentacle were shaking a little bit. "surely you are joking Tom ?"

Tom looked surprised at the first time the Alien doc spoke to him using his name , rather than any other mocking monikers like "mammal". He shrugged , removed part of the broken suit and showed his arm.

"see : this is my blood , I just got a scratch".

Lorvas looked at the blood, then at Tom, and whispered "that can't be ... Do ... do you have iron in your blood ? Is it .... Accidental poisonning ?"

Tom looked puzzled. "No this is haemoglobin, our blood is based on cells containing iron to transport oxygen".

The silence in the room was deafening.

Then one after the other, the alien lowered their thorax, their body, their cephalothorax.... And stayed silent.

The days of the Galactic union were now ended. The human divine empire started on an obscure cargo ship.

Edited: thanks for the feedback