Incipience

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Ow! What the hell!"

"My apologies," Xiomoazi replies with the least apologetic tone ever. "I have to do some tests before the injury heals over."

"I came here to get help! I would've just gone back to my barracks if I knew you'd be trying to take a chunk out of me!"

"Stop being so dramatic, cadet," Instructor N'vei huffs. "You will definitely sustain worse injuries during your field deployment. Not all soldiers are as lucky as you to have such a mild wound. Besides, Xiomoazi is only taking a sliver of tissue to further her research. This could very well prove to be useful to you and your fellow cadets in the future."

I do my best not to give N'vei a crooked look. Research be damned, Xiomoazi is serious scrapping at my wound! To be fair, she did try to give me some pain killers, but they had no effect. I personally think she should've called it quits at that point, but the Inovarian clearly doesn't share my sentiments. It feels like forever passes until she's satisfied with the amount of tissue she's collected.

By the time Xiomoazi is done, Rombag comes striding into the room.

N'vei turns to Rombag as they enter the door and offers them a lazy wave. "Se, Rom."

Rombag acknowledges N'vei with a short wave of their own before zeroing in on me. "What happened?"

"I fought another cadet and the two of us went a bit too far," I answer. "Xiomoazi is running tests on my healing rate but not, you know, actually helping me!"

Xiomoazi shrugs before turning back to her workstation to tinker. "Your tissue was already in its regeneration process by the time you arrived at my lab. I am sure N'vei only brought you here to—what's the term you humans use? Oh!—save face. Had your instructor opted to leave you to catch yourself on the mat, your fellow cadets would have grown suspicious of your ability to recuperate so quickly. Secrecy aside, you are here to further my research."

Rombag turns to me, "You are to tell those who ask that Xiomoazi is experimenting with stem cell procedures and was able to heal you quickly due to her research. Understood?"

"Yes, Instructor Rombag," I answer immediately.

Seemingly satisfied with my answer, Rombag takes a few long strides to Xiomoazi's computer. "Earlier you said you would have results for me by this time, correct?"

Xiomoazi suddenly has a pep in her step. The blond excitedly taps away at her computer before the room's lights suddenly dim. A hologram of blood cells appears before us.

"This image on the right depicts a normal human's blood," she starts. "Note that there are only three main components to it." She clicks away at her screen before another hologram appears. "This is Miss Joesph's blood from this morning. Can anyone tell me what's different about the two samples?"

There's a sinking feeling in my stomach. "There's a fourth element."

"Exactly!" She replies. "That much I was able to find out last night. Today's task was to figure out exactly what that substance is. I spent hours thumbing through the known elements that could possibly compose this curious substance when I realized I've seen it before. You have debris from the meteors in your system!"

"So you're saying that my...skills come from the meteor? How is that even possible? It's been weeks since I've been on Earth, it should be out my system by now."

"So you would think," Xiomoazi says with a shake of her head. She pulls up two images. "The first picture is from the blood sample we took when you first came on board. If I were to zoom in closely, you'd be able to see traces of it in your cell nuclei. The next image is from your first time in my lab. There's more of the substance in your cells, but not enough to draw much attention."