2132:Phoenix

Chapter 29

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She was balled up in the middle of a dampener cell. Her blood shot eyes peaked over her knees and tears soaked into the gray clothes they put her in. She gave me a wobbly smile, but her breathing got heavier and she tried to hide her head in to her body.

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Stop crying. Calepus is not your emotional support, he does not have to continue to choose you, and after this why would he? Pull yourself together.

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I ran aimlessly around the room looking for a way to pull down the shield, but Lexi was sobbing. I laid my hand against the shield and it glew bright blue before settling.

"I'm sorry," she croaked.

"For what?" She started shaking again but pushed up against the glass like she could fall through it if she tried hard enough. These cells were meant to hold mindlinks of every caliber, I knew she wouldn't succeed.

"For hurting you. For hurting your aunt. For making you feel everything I felt because I'm a mess. For whatever trouble I've caused you."

"You are trouble," I admitted, "but the fun kind." She looked up, chuckled, and laid her head against where my hand was. "Are you still having flashes?"

"I guess they're running a DNA sequence?" She ignored my question, so I supposed she didn't want to talk about it.

"They're trying. For some reason, it's showing a match to known human, and Torrex, and a few other species of DNA.

"A few?" What I wouldn't have given to feel what she was. I had to know. I always knew and trying to figure it out in her state confused me. She was shocked, I could see that, but was it because of everything that was happening around her. Was she excited, afraid, too frantic to process?

"They're trying to figure out how much of it has been added, and how much of it was there, to begin with."

"Certain species accept plasmids easily into the DNA under times of stress..." I stayed quiet to let her process, I wasn't sure when she learned that fact though. "So I'm a cross?"

"Most likely. It would explain a lot about why my abilities become less effective, and how fast you are, and why the stuff they gave you had the opposite effect to everyone else on the ship."

"Stuff?"

"Chemical compound of human happy hormones and stress relievers. It has the opposite effect on a few species."

"It was in the food." Shouldn't have told her that. She started rocking a bit, then stood up and started to pace around the bed. She stopped and looked at the corner to the right of me. I didn't know what she was trying to do until she rammed her shoulder into the corner. She backed up a bit and did it again. The shield reverberated each time brighter than the last one.

"Lex!" She hit it a bit lighter but didn't stop until I thought she popped her shoulder from her socket. Then she sunk to the floor with a limp arm. She stared at me, but her eyes were glossed over with pain. More tears rolled down her face but she was barely there to notice.

"Lexi! Talk to me." Her arm hung limply against the barrier. Her hand lay upturned under her hip. "Lex.... Damit. Hemphin." I ran from the room to find Hemphin. I needed to get to her, to feel her, to set her arm. I looked for him mentally, but he was too far away for me to feel him. The halls squeaked under my shoes as I sprinted, but Rozener was walking easily down the hall. "You need to open that cell." I spit, and he looked like he was about to argue with me. "She dislocated her shoulder. Please."

"Calepus!" His eyes looked like they'd break and lava would pool from his earth-brown eyes. He was cursing me the entire time as we ran to the room to bring the barrier down. More so when he saw his mother's body lain against the door. I was surprised she hadn't awoken yet.

Lexi was standing now, her arm dangling precariously as she waddled around her cell.

"Cale, you can't be here. The minute this wall comes down, whatever the hell is eating her will come to you."

"I'm not leaving. Bring it down." I felt like Rusilike giving orders, but Rozener nodded and extended his arms to the center of the room. I stifled a groan when the barrier started to fall. I knew it would get worse, but I had to hold her. I could feel an ache in my gut and she looked at me. Her eyes were still glazed over, but her gaze seemed to be a bit clearer when she felt me. "I'm not leaving you, Lexi. I know you can feel it." She nodded stiltedly. She turned to look at her arm. I need to set it. I took a step then another. She watched me as I positioned my hands against her arm. "Does this hurt?"

"No," she croaked. I kept rotating her arm so the bone would align with the socket. She whimpered a bit, and it twisted my insides.

"Roze, come help me. This is gonna sting."

"Beep." It was so quiet I barely heard her, but it gave me a bit of consolation as I popped her shoulder back in. Rozener grabbed a sheet from the bed to hold her shoulder in place until we got a proper sling.

"Let's go get something to eat?"

"Pancakes?"

"Of course," I sighed. I almost laughed that she wanted them, but I didn't want to give her the wrong idea. "Enough syrup to make us all sick twice over."

"I like syrup."

"I know, Lex. I know."