Page 112 of Every Almost

Several minutes passed. Kess's pale green eyes tracked data on a display Charlie couldn't read, her expression cycling through what appeared to be confusion, then interest, then something that looked suspiciously like fascination.

"This is... unexpected," Kess said, almost to herself.

"Unexpected good or unexpected bad?" Charlie asked. "Because on my planet, when a doctor says 'unexpected,' it usually means bad."

"Unexpected neither." Kess looked at Reyna, then back at her display. "Captain, I'm going to need you to come look at this."

Reyna pushed off the wall and walked over. Charlie watched as both women studied the display, Kess pointing at something, Reyna's eyebrows rising incrementally.

"That can't be right," Reyna said.

"It might be. She’s the first human we’ve been able to get biological data from, and I've run it three times," Kess replied.

"Run it a fourth."

"Yes, captain."

"Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?" Charlie asked from the bed. Being kept in the dark in this particular situation wasn't welcome to Charlie right about now.

"One moment," Kess replied, pressing buttons and touching the display. Reyna watched over her shoulder while processes happened in front of them.

A few minutes went by before Reyna's eyes went wide again. "Huh," she said, her voice an octave higher than usual.

How did Charlie already know that?

"So, there you have it, Captain. Same result." Kess turned to Charlie. "So... essentially, your biology is almost identically similar to Kaelari."

Charlie blinked. "To what?"

"To us," Reyna said, gesturing between herself and Kess. "Kaelari. Our species."

"The cellular structure, the organ systems, the neurological mapping," Kess listed, her voice taking on the rapid cadence of someone who had found a puzzle and was not going to rest until every piece was placed. "Your blood carries oxygen using a hemoglobin variant that is functionally identical to ours. Your bone density, your muscle composition, your immune markers. The similarities are..." She paused, seeming to search for a word that satisfied her scientific standards. "Remarkable."

"So, we're the same?" Charlie asked.

"Well, not quite," Kess corrected. "There are differences that are notable." She held up a hand and began ticking them off. "Ear shape. Obvious. Our bioluminescent markings, which are tied to emotional and autonomic responses. You don't have those."

"No," Charlie agreed. "I definitely don't glow."

"I'm sorry... glow?" Reyna quirked.

"Yeah, you... glow."

"Like what, a light source?"

"Well, I mean, it's not like you have Christmas lights on your face."

"What the hell are Christmas lights?" Kess asked. Charlie stared at her, then saw Reyna with a similar confused expression.

"That's a long Earth story."

"Sounds intriguing," Reyna quipped.

"So, wait," Charlie said, looking between Reyna and Kess. "If the markings are tied to emotional responses, does that mean they change?"

"They can," Kess said. "Different emotions produce different colors, different intensities. It's an involuntary biological response."

Charlie looked at Reyna's gold constellations. "But yours are just... gold. All the time."