Flux

19

"So you're saying bacteria has literally changed my sister's DNA?" Marvin's voice was skeptical.

"It's not that simple. Chemical messages from bacteria can alter chemical markers throughout the human genome. Inside human cells, bacteria can trigger processes that change gene activity and that ultimately affect how your cells behave."

Errend rubbed a tired hand over his face and, after a moment, continued, "Honestly, Marvin, my people have been trying to figure it out for a century. We don't fully understand it, but we know that whatever this alien bacteria is that comes from some of the monsters, not all of them, just some, causes a mutation in ninety-eight percent of the people it infects.

"Usually mutation occurs within weeks of infection, mind you. I have no idea what it means that it took so long to take effect in your sister. Perhaps a more significant change because she was infected during her pubescent years? Or maybe a smaller change because her body was able to fight it better? I don't know Marvin. But if Sardini feels the change in her, then she is changing. Sardini is... Gifted." Errend's voice trailed off as his thoughts seemed to swallow him whole.

Errend was exhausted. In all his years, he couldn't remember a day that had taxed his training and resolve so much.

First, seeing Inta so broken and frail then feeling Aiya leave him. He couldn't explain it, he had just laid Inta back down in the lounge chair when it had happened. Inta had cried herself to sleep and as he was straightening from placing a blanket he'd found on a chair over her he'd felt something deep inside him pull from him.

At first, it had been a gentle tugging. Then something had suddenly ripped from his soul, leaving an empty space he hadn't realized had been filled by anything. It had only taken a nanosecond for him to realize it was Aiya. Or a part of Aiya?

Somehow, maybe from their connection on the train, she had burned a piece of herself into his soul, starting a healing process he didn't understand.

But however it had happened, they were or had been connected on some deep level. Then she had suddenly disappeared from his soul. And the pain had almost been unbearable.

He was now struggling with his control again.

When the feeling of loss had struck him, without even realizing how Errend had found himself in the garden watching Aiya crumble to the ground, he cried out her name, striding to her, needing to know if she was alive—needing her to be alive.

After reassuring himself she lived, he'd froze. He somehow kept himself from outwardly showing it, but inside, terror gripped him. An emotion so strong he couldn't ignore it as he he'd been trained to.

He thought he was going to puke for a moment from the intensity of the fear but managed to get himself under control enough to answer Marvin's question.

Rechecking her pulse and her pupils, he knew she hadn't been drugged. Yet, it wasn't until Sardini spoke that the image of Aiya's luminescent eyes had come back to him. Sardini was right. The change was upon her.

Thank Vishnu, it wasn't something else. Hopefully, only the Rakshasa were using the wormhole. It needed to be closed.

Now Errend paced the small living area outside the bedrooms, Sardini's door slightly ajar so he and Marvin could keep on Aiya.

Errend did his best to explain what he knew to Marvin. But Marvin expected, no, he deserved to know the whole truth. If Aiya survived, she would be changed forever, and her brother would have to accept that.

Errend didn't doubt Marvin's love for his sister, but a person's true character only really came through when tested. Words were just words.

Errend still needed to talk to Aiya about what happened on the train. He couldn't even guess at how she would handle her changes when she hadn't even really reacted to him yet.