Two days ago, an immortal had ravaged his neck. Today, he could see across rooms without glasses, hear a mosquito from meters away, and move fast enough to catch it.
Something fundamental had changed. Something that had started when Tarik had pumped him with his venom.
This was beyond the fast recovery that could be attributed to the healing properties of the venom. He was starting to exhibit immortal traits, and he needed to know whether Tarik's bite could have turned him immortal.
The lab door opened, and Dimitri spun around too fast, his body responding before his mind caught up, leaving him slightly off-balance.
He gripped the edge of Petrov's desk for support as the eight who called themselves Dave filed into the room.
They moved in perfect synchronization, their footsteps falling in unison, their heads turning at the same angle, their eyes, all sixteen of them, fixing on Dimitri with identical expressions of mild curiosity.
"You seem agitated," said the man in front. Number One, as Dimitri had dubbed him. The speaker for the collective. "Is everything all right?"
"Yes." Dimitri forced himself to calm down and let go of the desk. "I just got startled. I didn't hear the door open."
All eight tilted their heads. "You were preoccupied?"
"Yes. There was this mosquito that was getting on my nerves and I was hunting it."
"Did you catch it?"
"Yeah. I got lucky."
"Congratulations," Number One said. "Are the injections ready?"
"Yes." Dimitri motioned at the eight chairs that were a permanent feature in the lab. "Please, sit down and roll up your sleeves."
As they moved to comply, sitting down in perfect harmony, Dimitri grabbed a stool and his notepad instead of reaching for the syringes.
"Before we begin, I need to ask you some questions."
Sixteen eyes fixed on him with identical expressions of mild surprise.
"Questions?" Number One asked. "About what?"
"About the process of transitioning into immortality." Dimitri positioned his stool in front of them and sat down, notepad balanced on his knee, pen ready. "I've been reviewing Dr. Zhao's notes, and I realized that there is almost nothing about that important stage in an immortal's life and the changes in his physiology. To continue improving the enhancement formula, I need a more complete picture of how immortal bodies work."
"What would you like to know?" Number Three asked.
"Let's start with the basics." Dimitri kept his voice casual, scientific, the tone of a researcher filling in gaps rather than a man desperately seeking answers about his own rapidly changing body. "How does someone become immortal in the first place? Are immortals born or made?"
"Immortals are born human, but they carry godly genes," Number One said. "Those genes can only be activated at puberty, when boys can wrestle older, transitioned immortals and trigger their aggression enough for their glands to make venom. A venom bite from an immortal activates their dormant genes and facilitates their transition."
Dimitri wrote that down, his pen moving steadily across the page despite the slight tremor in his hands that he was desperately trying to control.
"Interesting. So, the venom acts as a catalyst?"
"Precisely." Number One nodded. "Without the venom trigger, the dormant genes remain inactive. The child would grow up human, age, and eventually die."
"What about humans who unknowingly carry these dormant genes?" Dimitri's heart was beating fast despite his efforts to stay calm. "Do they exist?"
"They do exist. Descendants of ancient matings between immortals and humans. We call them Dormants." Number Two leaned forward. "The bloodlines spread in ancient times, and many humans carry the genes without knowing it. Most will never discover that they have what it takes to become immortal."
Dimitri's mouth got dry, and he was desperate for a sip of water, but he didn't want Dave to notice the storm raging in his mind.
"Are there any signs that someone carries the genes?"
All of Dave's bodies shrugged as one. "Not that we know of," said Number Four. "They are lost to us forever."
