Fear slithered deeper. What if, one day, she looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize herself? What if she opened her mouth and spoke in a language she couldn’t control? What if she reached for Christian and hurt him without meaning to?
She gritted her teeth, blinking hard against the burn in her eyes. Why did the orb call to her, of all people? Why did it have to destroyherlife?
“Hey, kiddo,” Gunner said from outside her shelter. “Whenever you’re up, we have breakfast ready.”
She took a deep breath. If she could live through her sister’s “death,” she could live through this. She’d just take it one step at a time.
Breakfast ended up being some sort of powdered egg and animal jerky, and an hour later, she still had a horrid taste in her mouth.So disgusting. How long could humans go without food? She might try to find out.
At last, Doctor Manae called for Gemma.
She took a deep breath. This is what she wanted, wasn’t it? She was about to get answers. So then why was this moment so terrifying?
“Hi, Gemma,” Doctor Manae said when Gemma had reached her. The older woman’s voice was calm, even kind, but Gemma didn’t miss the way the doctor’s eyes flicked across Gemma’s face, searching and assessing. Looking for change.
Gemma resisted the urge to look away. “Morning.”
The doctor motioned for Gemma to walk beside her, leading her deep into one of the temple’s far corridors, where a portable lab had been set up.
“Did you sleep?” Doctor Manae asked.
Gemma gave a noncommittal shrug. “Enough.”
The doctor offered a tight smile but didn’t press, for which Gemma was beyond grateful. The less she thought about that nightmare, the better.
Doctor Manae opened a sliding partition that led into a diagnostic room, where a low platform bed, an arch scanner, and a medical station waited, the devices humming faintly with power. The air smelled like antiseptic and scorched metal.
“I want to run another series of scans today,” the doctor said, gesturing toward the bed. “In the event we are able to find a cure, we need to better understand what the orb did to you and yourbody. Since the last time I ran these tests, I was able to isolate several strands of foreign RNA. Those purple cells in your blood? Those are new proteins mankind has never cataloged. It’s like your blood is . . . changing its components.”
Gemma frowned. “You mean mutating.”
Doctor Manae looked at her evenly. “Adapting. Climb onto the bed for me.”
Gemma lay back and stared at the ceiling, her hands trembling. Doctor Manae positioned the arch station over her. Gemma’s reflection stared back from the metal hovering over her head.
“I want you to tell me if something changes,” Doctor Manae said. “Sensation, memory, hunger, language comprehension, vision—anything.”
Gemma closed her eyes, a lump forming in her throat. “Can I ask you something?” she said quietly.
Doctor Manae looked up from her electropad. “Of course.”
“Do you think it chose me? The orb?”
The doctor’s expression softened. “I think the orb did respond to something in you. It’s possible your biology acted as a kind of . . . beacon.”
Gemma scoffed under her breath. “Great.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions yet. It’s just a possibility. We’ll know more after we run a few tests.”
Gemma took several deep breaths in through her nose, out through her mouth.No conclusions. One step at a time.She could do this.
Doctor Manae tapped a series of commands into her electropad. The arch scanner hummed as it turned on and slowly moved up and down Gemma’s body. Cerulean light radiated from the machine, covering her in an oddly beautiful glow. A tickling sensation arose on every inch of her skin, as if the lightitself was touching her. Was that normal? Or was that something she should report to Doctor Manae?
When Gemma caught her reflection in the arch, she appeared completely herself. Maybe the machine was just reading her biology and DNA.
Minutes passed before the arch shut down. Doctor Manae’s brows furrowed as she read the results.
“Tell me,” Gemma said, sitting up slowly. “I can handle it.”
