According to Consortium protocols, the grays are supposed to handle all interactions with humans. This policy was intended to hide the fact that the alien presence on Earth consists of dozens of different alien species. In that regard, the policy is a spectacular failure.

The grays have psychic powers which allow them to render most humans docile. The grays form a sort of hive mind with their “littermates” and so lack individual identities, but some grays, like the one Steve calls Lefty, are not included in the hive mind and do develop individual identities. The grays are only designed to operate for a few weeks before being recycled. Toward the end of their working lives their behavior grows increasingly idiosyncratic.