“That’s not helping, Phoebe,” Doctor Manae scolded.
“Oh, wait, should I have left that part out when she clearly has a right to know what’s happening to her?”
Doctor Manae sighed. “Yes, Gemma, you’ve been unconscious for six hours. But something’s bleeding through. Your brain is active on frequencies we don’t even have names for. And it’s getting stronger.”
The room spun. These were her worst nightmares coming true: losing control of her own body to whatever was rewriting her DNA.
Gunner cleared his throat. “Might I suggest something?”
“No,” the Kaizen said, sharing a pointed look with her brother. “Out of the question.”
“But what if it’s the cure for all of this?”
“Wait, you found a cure?” Gemma interrupted, her pulse spiking.
“Not exactly,” Doctor Manae answered. “But it’s possible the answer to all of this lies through those doors you opened.”
“I told you,” the Kaizen said, “it’s out of the question. If that doorway is affecting her on this level, entering that room could push her over the edge.”
“Whatever is changing her is desperate to get into that room,” Gunner said. “If we don’t allow her to go, she will find a way. At some point, that part of her DNA will do anything to get there. And I doubt we’d be able to stop her. You just saw how hard she was fighting her restraints. You need to let her see this through.”
The Kaizen pierced her brother with her stare.
“He’s right,” Doctor Manae said. “You know he is, Phoebe.”
A pause. Then the Kaizen sighed. “Fine. But I’m coming with you this time. For both your safeties.”
Gemma’s shoulders sank. This was supposed to be a simple mission, to learn what was in that orb and find a cure. Now, she was bleeding from her own hands and losing time and needing restraints to keep from hurting herself—or other people.
This wasn’t just a shift in her DNA anymore. It was a countdown, a takeover. And she was running out of time.
The doors pulsed low and deep as if they were breathing. Every human instinct screamed at Gemma to turn back, but the alien part of her remained quiet, like it knew it had won.
Gunner’s eyes were glued to his scanner as he scrutinized the double doors. “Still stable. Energy patterns unchanged. It hasn’t reacted since the last time we were here.”
The Kaizen stood just behind them, her presence rigid and coiled like a drawn arrow. “Keep your distance, Proctor, unless we say otherwise.”
She didn’t obey or answer. She brushed her fingertips along the seam between the doors, her gaze locked onto the inky darkness beyond. Her throat felt dry; her skin prickled.
Gunner placed a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to do this if you’re not ready.”
Gemma frowned, knowing the truth deep in her bones. “Actually, I think I do.” When Gunner let go, she pressed her palm against one of the doors.
Warmth surged beneath her skin. Both doors pulsated, and the seam between them split fully open with a breathless hiss. The air inside was thick and metallic, like blood and ozone. Alive, somehow. Waiting.
“No insane heroics,” the Kaizen warned. “Find out what it wants and get the fuck out of there.”
Gemma nodded despite knowing it wasn’t going to be that easy.
She stepped forward at a slow pace, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. The only light trickling in came from where Gunner and the Kaizen waited.
Should’ve brought a torchlight, you idiot.What would happen when she stepped too far for its rays to pierce the blackness?
As if understanding her, the doors to the corridor closed, and the dark engulfed her.
Gemma’s pulse began to sprint. “Okay. It’s okay. You’re just completely alone in the pitch black, where you can’t even see your hands.” Or where to go. She might as well be floating in the vastness of space, with no sense of up or down, left or right.
Her legs began to tremble.I can’t do this.
