Laura stopped off at one of the rooms near the entrance to the surface where she’d left her backpack. She rummaged inside the bag and pulled out a sandwich she’d made for Bill that morning: ham and cheese. Her husband barely ate unless she forced him—or steak was on the menu. She also took out an unopened bottle of water and caught up to Serena and Ben.
She didn’t have to go far, picking up Ben’s scent in one of the tunnels close to her location. She stopped at one of the special rooms built to accommodate human visitors. Inside was a bed and bedside locker. The faint bubble from the insignia rock that drew clean air from the surface shimmered around both items. Only those with superior sight could see the outline. Laura had seen many new things since her transformation eight years ago.
Serena stood by the door while a quiet Ben sat on the bed, leaning forward and staring at the ground. His energy was a contrast to the boisterous teens she’d encountered on Exilon 5. Through Jenny Waterson’s recounts, Laura understood what horrors the teen had seen on Earth. The criminal regime had been days away from starving the residents or shooting them. If it hadn’t been for Isobel, things might have been far worse. Jenny had credited her for shifting the balance of power back to the ordinary people. And saving them.
Ben held his mask in his hand. A mobile amplification machine sat next to the bed and drew out pockets of trapped air inside the insignia rock into a contained bubble. The environmental barriers surrounding the hunting zones worked along the same principles, except in reverse.
Laura pushed through the membrane and handed the sandwich and water to Ben. ‘Here you go.’ Ben took the items from her and she popped off her mask. ‘It’s not much, but you’ll only be here for tonight. We really should get a replicator down here.’
She looked back at Serena, who nodded.
‘I’m sure Anton could find a way to power it,’ she said.
Ben examined the room hewn out of bare rock.
‘Your accommodation is located in New London, a shared property run by a lovely lady, Annette. Someone will take you there in the morning.’
Ben put the sandwich and water down on the locker and looked up at her. ‘So you can dump me there and forget about me? I won’t stay there. I want to be of use. Stephen promised.’
Laura sat beside him. ‘No, not dump. You need to live somewhere other than underground. If Stephen promised, he’ll deliver. But you must be patient. This planet is not how you remember it.’
‘You mean the genetically superior humans?’
‘Among other things.’ Laura stood. ‘Eat your food and get some rest. There’s a bathroom two doors down.’
She put on her gel mask, pleased to see Ben had at least unwrapped the sandwich. She exited the bubble. Serena nodded for her to walk outside.
‘You’re good at that,’ said Serena when they were far enough away from Ben that he couldn’t hear.
‘At what?’
‘Calming people. You’re a natural.’
Laura didn’t agree. She shrugged.
A strange feeling came over her when Serena invaded her mind and tugged at the privacy wall she’d erected around her thoughts.
‘You could just ask, you know,’ said Laura. ‘It wasn’t that long ago you were also human.’
Eight years ago Serena had been altered using some of Anton’s code. Serena was a perfect human-Indigene hybrid because she could switch between her human and Indigene side at will.
‘I didn’t mean to intrude,’ said Serena. ‘But I wonder why you maintain such a high privacy wall around us. You’ve had the same length of time as I have to get used to your abilities.’
‘I may have been Indigene for a half a second, but that wasn’t long enough to feel like one.’
Serena shook her head. ‘I disagree. It doesn’t matter how long you are something; it matters where you feel you belong. I had been Indigene for only a short time before Stephen showed me my files. It felt natural to remain as one.’
Laura fiddled with the oxygen flow on her canister. Serena’s astuteness bothered her. She didn’t want to admit to how lost she’d felt for a while now. Accepting it could mean major upheaval in her life and she couldn’t do that to Bill.
‘You know, that gel mask may not be necessary,’ said Serena.
‘It feels necessary,’ said Laura.
‘After Isobel’s genetic reversal, her lungs adapted in a way we never thought possible. The reversal changed the lung tissue’s rate of oxygen absorption. She could move between environments without the need for the air filtration device or the gel mask.’
Jenny had said as much in her report. Laura had glossed over that detail on purpose.
Serena continued. ‘We reversed your genetic mutations. We may have given you the same ability.’
Laura readjusted the mask on her face despite its already tight seal, as though the action would put an end to this conversation. ‘Maybe I’ll test it someday.’
Her reply was short and clipped, much like her temper these last few months. Serena pushed against her privacy wall a second time.
‘Stop, please. I don’t like it when you do that. If I wanted you to know something I’d tell you.’
She felt Serena’s exit, like a flutter of wings against her skin.
‘I’m sorry. It’s just you haven’t talked much about your brief time as an Indigene, and my influence doesn’t appear to work on you.’
Laura stopped walking. ‘There’s nothing to say about it. I’m fine.’
Serena stopped too and grabbed her hands. ‘Aren’t you curious to know what abilities you unlocked, to know your real self?’
‘My real self is human, Serena. I don’t know how else to say that.’
‘I’ve seen glimpses of your speed, how you pay greater attention to some people than others. You use your senses as if you’re a child figuring them out. You’ve worked out some, but you won’t embrace the ability you’ve mastered the most. Instead, you hide it.’
Laura sighed. Sometimes it drained her to be around the Indigenes, who felt and sensed too much. Maybe if she told Serena something, she would back off.
‘I can tell when people are lying. It feels like a tiny shudder in the air between us. But it’s not just that; the lie also manifests as an impassive, dark figure or shadow behind them. When the person lies, the figure moves almost imperceptibly, like an adjustment.’
It was the only thing clear to her.
‘A dark figure?’
Laura nodded. ‘We all have one, but others can’t see it. The more we lie, the farther the shadow misaligns from the original. When we tell the truth, the shadow stays perfectly aligned to our corporeal form.’
Serena’s smile told Laura she’d only heightened the elder’s curiosity, not dampened it.
‘I’d like for you to work with Arianna in the Nexus. She helped me after Stephen brought me there for the first time. Her empath ability sensed a new connection between me and the Nexus. It had to do with the different energy I put out. The Nexus changed the same day I used it.’ She tapped a finger against her lip. ‘I’d like to see how it reacts to you. There are other tests we can perform, lab-based ones. Stephen performed similar ones on me—’
Laura put her hand up. ‘I really appreciate your interest in this, but I don’t want to explore anything. I know what I can do, and I’m happy with that.’
She strengthened her privacy wall when she felt Serena push against it a third time. Truth was she hadn’t been happy for a while.
Serena backed off. ‘I promise not to push, but I am curious and I will ask again. Because the GS humans are up to something and we need everyone at peak ability fitness. We’ve no idea what they’re planning.’
‘And you will have my help. Mine and Bill’s.’
Serena turned and listened. ‘Stephen’s calling me. We should head back.’
Her connection with Stephen impressed Laura. To her, Bill’s thoughts sounded like a gentle hum. She couldn’t read them, or sense when he was lying. His mind was closed off to her. But wasn’t that a good thing?
Maybe love blinded the truth.
They walked back to the Council Chambers.
Along the way, Serena said, ‘You’ll have to face it at some point. If you don’t it will consume you.’
‘And I will,’ said Laura. ‘But not now.’
Never, if she had her way.
Because accepting just how Indigene she felt would force her to face another truth: She’d outgrown her human life.
Where would that leave her and Bill?