“We have to leave soon to help with patrols around Mindor. Please follow me.”
Zorin stays close, his pack not far behind us.
Viriden leads me into a small room where a woman stands by an orb of glass with a chair in the middle. “Have a seat.”
“Looks like it could suffocate me.” I stop by the open door. “Can it?”
“No. It will just protect the ship from anything that might…manifest,” the woman says.
I reluctantly climb inside and take a seat. Viriden closes the door and latches it. “We’ve got a series of tests to run. It might tingle. But sit tight, and we’ll have you out of there in a few minutes.”
I fidget in the chair, feeling Zorin’s eyes and those of his pack on me. Onidus stands off to the side. He smiles when I meet his eyes. He tilts toward Viriden, like they’re speaking, even though I can’t hear what they say.
The bubble gets hot for a moment, then very cold. The air vibrates then shimmers. The cell returns to normal temperature as audible sounds of different pitches and frequencies cycle. A probe rises from the floor and presses a panel into my chest as another pushes into my back. They run more frequencies through me.
I hope they’re getting something out of this, because I feel nothing. I would hate to disappoint them after the parade and the stress on extra security.
I’m probably nothing special, and it was just a dream.
Then a set of panels rise from the floor to my right and left sides, boasting white half-domes with pearlescent light.
“Place your hands on the disks please,” the woman says.
I crack open my fists, fight to straighten my fingers, and realize just how stressed I am about this whole situation. A strange hum fills my chest as I move to set my hands on the domes. Settling my palms down, I feel a tingle run through my body.
The woman’s screen flashes, and the frequency of the prickling vibrations changes. It’s like I’ve accidentally bumped a charging unit on a ship’s engine starter.
Zorin steps close to the glass, body tense, eyes on me. He speaks, though I can’t hear him.
The panels change colors to one blue and one red. The same vibration pattern thrums through my palms and into my forearms. Light starts to feed into the veins of my hands, matching the colors of the panels, turning into a purple blend the further it crawls. Then the colors shift to yellow and red with orange near my elbows.
Tests continue with different colors, light, and vibration variations. Finally, the panels shut off and submerge into the floor.
I slump back and linger in the stillness for a breath.
A set of binoculars descend from the ceiling.
“Tell me what you see.”
I blink in the darkness. A second passes before the first image appears. “A boy on a white hill.” Then another. “It’s bright, but maybe a thruster’s coil pack rail. If that’s what that is for you.” More images flash through my eyes, and most of them I can see pretty clearly. “Why are we checking my vision?”
The binoculars retract.
Viriden opens the door. He motions me out. Zorin, Onidus, and the M-pack gather around us as he shows me the screen beside the woman.
“What is this?” I scan the data bars that show my sensitivity and responses to the different stimuli.
Viriden opens a chart. “Tessi… I don’t know how to tell you this. I’ve been trying to figure it out since you called me from Earth.”
Zorin hangs his head and steps back among the rest of his pack, like he thinks he’s no different from them, and he knows his place is no longer with me.
“To be transparent, I didn’t know,” Onidus remarks. “Sensed something, but that was it.”
Everyone is looking at me with hesitation like they don’t know what to do.Like the time I stumbled into Aphria’s office after the bear tried to take Radar.I was covered in blood, mostly the bear’s, some of it mine. But it’s why I stitched extra boning into my armor after that.
“You are half…”
Zorin’s rasp of pain distracts me.
