Lilia found success doing what she learned from the first human she met, never giving up and actually caring for what happens. These two motives have served Lilia well on earth when interacting and living with humans. Lilia does not know where she comes from, having fell to earth from a metor and not having an organic body. Her time in space was a hibernation of sort, as she was only aware of the void then the heat from entering earth's atmosphere. As the metor broke apart, her body landed in the ocean. The current took her body to a container ship, and then to Savannah, Georgia. Lilia, at this time a floating blob, floated around the harbor for a while, then back out to open sea. A mile or so off the short, Lilia was caught up in a fishing net. That is when she met Ben. It was 1973, and Ben was an old man, spending his days fishing. He knew he had some garbage in his net, so he hauled it in and began to clean the goo off the net, when the goo moved to the bottom of the boat. Lilia did not make it easy for Ben to scoop her with his bailing pail, and went into the bucket of fish he had caught that day.
Ben wasn't sure what he saw. He dumped his catch overboard, not sure of the goop that went into that bucket. Lilia held onto the bottom of the bucket. The bucket was still heavy, but now empty of both water and fish. Ben pulled the bucket back into the boat and saw the same goo that he pulled in from his net. Ben sighed deeply and called it a day, and began to row back to shore.
Ben tied his boat to the pier with the other rentals, and carried his pole, nets, and bucket to his truck in the parking lot. Ben drove to the warehouse that was his home. He left the bucket outside with Lilia still in the bottom, and carried the rest of his gear inside.
Lilia stayed in the bucket, as other creatures of the night came to investigate the smells of the bucket. Lilia had felt and aborbed many fish and other sea creatures floating on the surface. The first cat that came by was lucky and got away, but the second cat was absorbed by Lilia. Later two racoons came by the bucket, and were also absorbed. Lilia worked to mimic the structure of the cat, and soon a grey goo form emerged from the bucket that barely resembled a cat. It was Lilia's first form she could remember. Lilia could not see, and her only perception of the world was from touch. Lilia didn't sleep, but felt something pushing her up. Ben had a shovel and was about to throw the goop in the trash when Lilia took her cat form, and jumped off the shovel.
Ben was no dullard. He was retired from the Savannah River site. He had seen some strange mutations, and presumed Lilia to be one of those. Ben went inside to get his geiger counter to measure for radiation. Ben was relived to find he could only register normal background radiation. Ben returned quickly with a couple of candy bars. He broke of pieces and led Lilia inside the door, closing it slowly as he led Lilia the warehouse.
Lilia had no idea what chocolate was, but aborbiing the cat and racoons had given her a way to form very primitive taste buds, and this stuff was amazing. Ben put the rest of the chocolate bars, still in the wrappers, next to Lilia. The sugar and chocolate rush was too much, and Lilia lost her ability to control her form, and relaxed as a puddle on the floor, her version of passed out.
Ben spent the next few months feeding and trying to train Lilia. Lilia grew larger, and worked to mimic Ben's form. Her eyes were a hybrid of feline and racoon, and slowly she could form sensors for sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch all at once. Ben didn't know what Lilia was, but he was not afraid. Lilia didn't know what Ben was, but he had chocolate.
Five years of working with Lilia, Ben thought he had some mutated mammal that could mimic shape like a camouflage. Ben was slowing down more each day. Lilia knew something was different about Ben, she could detect his cancer, but didn't know what it was. For Lilia, it was as if Ben was transforming from the inside out. Ben had seen Lilia absorb her food, and would offer his body to Lilia when it was time. Each night, Ben would sleep with the chocolate in his bed. Ben did not come one morning to feed Lilia, now living in a former grease pit. She went to where Ben sleeps, and could smell the chocolate. Lilia began to take the chocolate from the box when Ben grabbed her paw. Lilia pulled back, Ben had never done this before. Ben was now on top of the chocolate. Lilia moved on top of Ben, and absorbed him along with the chocolate. Lilia's digestion was fast, and Ben knew that. Neither one knew that when Lilia processed Ben's brain, that she would absorb his brain's structure and chemical makeup, and his memories. As a merged form, Lilia-Ben were better, better at keeping their form, and understanding the world around them.