A New Alpha

Chapter Sixteen

"We'll have to go to the library to look for the book," Lynx said to Landon as they moved down the corridor. Though Landon's movements were admittedly rather sluggish.

"Well, I get that," said Landon. "But I don't get why we're doing that at 6 am on a Saturday when I had plans to sleep in."

"Because there's work to be done!" said Lynx, rounding the turn that leads to the grand staircases.

"After breakfast?" said Landon, gesturing towards the direction behind them.

"Breakfast isn't until 12 remember," said Lynx, referring to when his first meal of the day would be.

Before Landon could object and say lunch was at 12, Lynx continued, "I thought you wanted to know what the note says..."

Landon tilted his head a bit, suggesting that maybe he didn't care that much after all. And yet, now that he was up.. he was curious about what Lynx would figure out... Better to be there with him at the time of the discoveries than to get a summarized or potentially botched version later.

"What's the book called again?" he asked, as they entered the library... which was very much deserted.

"The Return of the Hybrid, by Leonardo Bruckner," said Lynx.

"For a class?" Landon hedged carefully.

"No, that's what Ace's note said," said Lynx. "But... it wasn't from Ace. It seems he was just a messenger because it was signed 'Mr dark'."

"You think it's a teacher?"

"I don't think a student would have gotten Ace to deliver it," said Lynx. "I wish he had delivered it to me himself. Would have saved me from Erin's irrational irateness."

"Interesting," said Landon as they neared the L authors in the resources section.

"Do you think Mr Dark could have put something in the book?" said Lynx.

"Maybe he just wants you to read it."

It wasn't long until they found the large old leather-bound volume sitting behind other books. Landon picked up one as well titled, "The return of the hybrid."

Lynx laughed. He couldn't help it. It seemed like such a stupid name for a book and he told Landon as much.

"Don't judge a book by its title!"

They moved towards the back of the library and got settled in one of the largest group study rooms. The books landed on the table
with resounding thumps. Lynx, who was getting in the habit of his new schedule, slid out a notebook and pen from his backpack. He felt.. excitement. Not just to see what the book held for him, but also for the sense of normalcy. A feeling of belonging. To be just another student in this big school sitting down to start studying.

Unfortunately, nothing slipped out of the book upon opening it. Which meant that the next two hours were spent reading the fine print.

"They're born from Witches?" Lynx said to Landon... who might have fallen asleep.

"Hm? Yeah?" said Landon.. clearly not hearing what he'd just said.

"No, read right here," said Lynx, pointing to a small passage under a graph showing the Hybrids genome.

'Born from two parents with magic, a Hybrid is born a magicless witch and is likely to remain a magicless witch until triggered. Statistics show that potential Hybrids, more accurately defined as witches who have the JF9 gene, make up less than 0.02% of the witch population. In nearly all cases (though there is a theory that one to three people in a century are born with this gene),

referred to as the hybrid gene, will exhibit behaviors similar to that of a magicless witch unless the Hybrid gene is activated. (See more on page 365).

It's believed that the trigger for this gene to be activated is the reason why Hybrid's have not been seen for hundreds of years.'

"Wow, that's crazy," said Landon when he finished reading the paragraph.

"See Landon?" said Lynx, "You could be a Hybrid, and we might not even know it! Then again, you might just not be a witch. I wonder what the trigger is that causes the transformation."

"Did you check the reference page?" said Landon, suddenly much more engaged.

Lynx responded by turning to the page indicated, and they both leaned forward to read.

'As of the date of this publication, research regarding the hybrid gene is tentative and limited. However, certain environments and specific viruses have been found to have a high correlation with the activation of this gene

Stressful environments have been shown to have the highest association with the activation of the hybrid gene; Including, but not limited to situations of abuse, and survival. Even so there is a way where someone could trigger the gene for them by casting the Rervenz hybrid spell, it slowly triggers there hybrid gene. Though this spell was lost half a century ago.

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The viruses, mainly consisting of the Rekara Virus, and the Lassa Virus, have been tested and are believed to be indirectly correlated. Thus far, results have been inconclusive (largely because of the difficulty of segregating the effects of a virus from a more general environmental trigger). Furthermore, it's a challenging study to conduct due to the small population of witches that have the gene required for such studied. (so far there has been one experiment and we have reasons to believe that one to three people are born with this virus every century or so)

"Wow," said Lynx. "Makes you glad you're not a Hybrid. The subject of all these horrible science experiments where they unleash deadly viruses? That'd be horrible."

"I suppose so," said Landon. "But the research is needed. And, those viruses don't affect witches without the Hybrid gene. They would just fight it off like any other illness or just get healed by a witch doctor."

"I don't know Landon. It just doesn't seem right," said Lynx thinking about Ace and Mr Dark, why'd they want me to read this?

"What if the witch didn't want to become a Hybrid?" He asked Landon. "How would they even know what being a Hybrid would entail?"

"You're kidding right," said Landon. "The Hybrid is the strongest species alive today. Anyone with the good fortune of having the  Hybrid gene ought to be grateful."

"Maybe," said Lynx, lost in his thoughts, he looked out the window. "Assuming they survive the unpleasant environment and/or lethal virus they're subjected to. Assuming they survive the transformation into a  Hybrid..."

"It's for the greater good though." said Landon. "I don't know the whole prophecy yet, but I know that the Hybrid wouldn't be prophecized to come unless it was essential to the new reigning order, and the wellbeing of Witches."

"But it's not fair to the would-be Hybrids. Risking their lives? And for what? Are they even told what they're signing up for when their 'gene is triggered?"

Landon seemed... angry. Then again, Lynx felt oddly angry also. It didn't seem right to put people in experiments like that. But he didn't push the topic.

Instead, he closed the book. He wasn't sure if he was happy to have learned those things about Hybrids. He felt somehow haunted now.

"You want to go for a walk?" Lynx said. He wanted the emotions between them to dissipate. Landon was there with him at the start of this new situationBoth were cast into such a jarring and unexpected situation. Both not knowing what to expect. And yet, this new life seemed manageable with Landon. Things were ok so long as he wasn't alone.

"Yeah," said Landon. "A walk would be good. Maybe we could stop by the dining hall for a bagel to go though? We can explore the fourth-floor courtyard after that. We've hardly seen any of it in our Agility class."

"Deal!" said Lynx closing the heavy book. "Take a break from this Hybrid stuff."