The Ascent

Chapter 46

The mere idea that a similar creature could be nesting in Jasmine's body made her feel violated, as if even her last line of defense was broken down by things that were out of control, by things that shouldn't even exist.

If even her body wasn't her own, if it wasn't under her complete control, what did that mean for her? It was a terrifying question but one she had to ask herself.

One thing that always horrified her more than death itself was the idea of losing her mind or control over her body. The diseases that caused those kinds of things to happen always scared her senseless. Because if you lose the last sense of self, the clear delineation between you and the rest of the world, there is no 'you' left to think about, is there?

That was a terrifying notion to consider, especially for Jasmine, who tried so hard not to get swallowed up by the worlds of her family members but to build her own world, the one in which she was free to be herself, no matter how different.

"What did you give her when she first started seizing?" Jasmine asked, forcing herself to focus on what could be done instead of worrying about things beyond her control.

"Oh, just a regular sedative to stop the seizures. Then, we added some antibiotics and antiparasitic drugs to, in a way, flush out the parasite, to make staying in the current host rather uncomfortable, forcing it to move on to the nearest host available or, in our case, the mouse," Melissa said giving Jasmine a not-so-subtle once over. "And you? How are you feeling?"

"You know?" Jasmine asked, still not fully accepting the truth but curious to learn more.

For a moment, she even forgot all the questions she had about the logistics of a parasite inhabiting something as big as a human and as small as a mouse with equal ease, as well as questions about its adjustability and more.

"When I was taking out your blood, I noticed that it's coagulating too quickly," Melissa said with uncertainty, her eyes carefully following Jasmine's even the tiniest movements. "It's not conclusive yet, but it is a sign of a parasite presence in a host's body. That and how your veins moved when we tried to take out blood. Still, we'll know for certain when the blood tests are out."

To Jasmine, that sounded like a resounding yes to her being infected with that disgusting alien parasite.

"I see," Jasmine said, staring at the sterile white walls of a strange research center in the middle of nowhere. "What happens next? With Ariyana, I mean?"

It was easy to get lost in fear and panic, but Jasmine refused to do so. Instead, she focused on the practical matters, on the child who needed her. There would be time to panic and fall apart, but it wasn't that time yet.

"She's parasite-free now. If her father is cleared as well, we'll take her to him," Melissa said, surprised by the sudden subject change.

"Tell him to come and get her now," Jasmine ordered, even though she knew she wasn't the one in charge in that strange place. "She is my responsibility, and I don't want to undergo a procedure unless I know for sure she is safely back in her father's care."

Melissa looked at Jasmine, carefully examining her expression for a long time. Then, suddenly, she called Plague to her side.

"Plague, go get the girl's father to come and get her if his tests are clear," Melissa said sternly, like the person in charge.

"But..." Plague started to say.

"Plague!" Melissa responded firmly.

"Okay, okay. I guess strangers are now the ones giving orders," Plague muttered to himself all the way to the door.

"About the procedure... Are you sure you want to do it?" Melissa asked cautiously. "We generally only do it when a life is in an immediate danger as the extraction can go horribly wrong at times."

"What is the alternative?" Jasmine asked defeatedly. "To let this bug live in my head? To not know which thoughts are my own? To jeopardize the safety of those around me? I had suspicions something was wrong with me for a while, but now that I know what it is, I want to remove the problem as quickly as possible."

"Earworm," Melissa said automatically.

"Excuse me?" Jasmine asked, lost.

"We call those things earworms because they are difficult to get out, just like an earworm song," Melissa said, sounding annoyingly proud of herself.

"I don't care how they are called!" Jasmine yelled out, allowing herself a moment to vent her anger for the first time since all the mess started. "I want it out of my head!"

"I have to warn you," Melissa said cautiously. "The procedure can kill you. We've had a lot of success with animals. But when it comes to humans, it's still on a case-to-case basis."

"You sound like you have been doing this for years, not days," Jasmine said, creasing her eyebrows. "Have you? Has this been going on for years without the public's knowledge?"

"This parasite has been around for a while, but only recently did we connect it to our alien visitors," Melissa said, looking everywhere but into Jasmine's penetrating gaze. "I was hired to figure out the parasite's origin, how it worked, and to find a way to get rid of it. I failed until recently."

"So, you have been experimenting on humans all this time?" Jasmine asked, her lips puckering up as if she had tasted something sour.

"No, not on humans," Melissa said hesitantly. "Working on humans is just a recent development. In the past, we were working on animals with erratic behavior. The government wanted us to figure out what was causing them to act so strangely and to find out if it could be transferred to humans. Only in the last few months have we seen cases of humans being infected, and we've been working on getting rid of the parasites in human subjects."

Jasmine put her head into her hands, once again overwhelmed by the real world. It made Jasmine wish she could live in one of the imaginary worlds she loved reading about.

"What would happen to me if you don't do the procedure?" Jasmine asked, picking out the most important question from the swarm of inquiries viciously attacking her mind.

"It all depends. Some people do just fine. They occasionally suffer from migraines, nose bleeds, and dizziness. But with the right medicine, it's manageable," Melissa said, not sounding too confident about it. "I guess it's like people with a chronic disease. It can be controlled but not cured."

"What happens to the others?" Jasmine asked, seeing that there was far more to the story than Melissa was letting on.

"They... they usually go crazy," Melissa admitted, looking at her plain nails as if they were the most intriguing thing in the world. "Some become dangerous to those around them and lose their minds completely. We had to... keep contained some of them."

Jasmine didn't even dare imagine what those big words meant in reality. It was better not to understand. What she needed to know was already there, and she was surer than ever that she was doing the right thing in having the procedure done.

In a world that had gone into chaos, she never expected herself to be the traitor, to be that one character you couldn't have predicted would betray anyone. Yet, she could feel the call to join the aliens in her blood, even when the sound wasn't there, and now that she knew what that meant, she wasn't ready to take any risks, not for herself or the others.

"Let's do it," Jasmine said determinedly.