Chaos Theory (20 page)

Lara’s eyebrow lifted. “She gets a room to
herself?”

Since it was his home, Blue didn’t feel the need to explain
himself. “The two spare bedrooms will need to be shared. Lara and
Christabella can take one, Ken, Igor and Max the other. Unless you
want to sleep in the medical bay and armoury?” Kenshin and Lara
beamed at each other. Blue shrugged. “I have cots in storage you
can use since that appeals to you.”

Leaving them to sort themselves out, Blue took Kali into one
of the smallest bedrooms in the bunker. “It’s not much,” he said,
stating the obvious, “but you’ll have your privacy.”

The room had a pleasant vibe, one of the cosiest she had seen
in the unadorned lair. There were puzzle boxes and constellation
charts scattered everywhere. The furthest wall was a VidSee
programmed to look like the night sky. An atlas of the world was
stuck on one wall, and a life-sized diagram of the human body on
another with black scribbles over it. A steel table was pushed
against the VidSee, and on it was a half completed drawing of a
purple planet.

Kali rubbed her arms, and the hairs on the back of her neck
lifted as if electrically charged. She winced as her head pounded
and she fought what must be one hell of a migraine. The pain eased
when she relaxed and stopped fighting it. “I’m cold, Blue.” Her
voice was hollow. “It’s cold in here.”

Blue adjusted the settings of the HeatMe on the control panel
by the door. He also increased the lighting to dim the shadows in
case they made her nervous. “I can bring a cot and some bedding for
you to use,” he offered absentmindedly.

Turning because she hadn’t answered, Blue started when Kali
stood right behind him, staring fixedly. Her pupils dilated into
startlingly blank holes, and her face was pale, lips pinched
together as if she wanted to scream but forced herself not
to.

Blue’s heart tripped when that elusive pull he’d been seeking
drew him closer. “Kali?”

Pupils contracting to a normal size, her face relaxed, and she
shuddered hard. Kali glanced at him questioningly, taking a step
back. “Hmm?”

“
Are you well?”

She shrugged. “Cosmic. It’s a bit warm, isn’t it?”

“
You said you were cold.”

“
No, I’m fine.” She gave him a look as if to say he was acting
odd.

Blue was disturbed. Traumatic as events had been, she was
acting bizarre. “So you’re alright?”

She nodded confidently.

“
May I?” He took her head in his hands and tilted it back to
stare into her eyes. They appeared fine. He brushed his fingers
against her pulse. It was steady. He touched her and felt nothing.
Blue waited. What was he waiting for? Expecting to find?
“Nauseous?” he asked. “Dizzy?”

“
A little. I was off balance and my eyes hurt earlier, but it’s
getting better.”

“
You have a concussion,” he decided, letting his hands fall.
“Once you’re settled go see Kenshin in the medical room. Anything
you need?”

“
Um, not right now. Just some sleep and food.”

“
Don’t eat yet, not until after the tests.”

Kali leaned on the wall, her fingers twisting together. “I’ve
got it. You don’t have to hover Blue.”

His brow furrowed deeply, because he couldn’t shake the
feeling that though they were together again they had come undone
somehow. She said she was fine, and there was nothing he could do
if she didn’t ask for his help, or talk to him. “You need me and
I’m here for you.”

The floor became interesting to her. “I’ve got Max, so I’m
cosmic.”

What could he say to that? Blue clenched his back teeth
together and left.

The moment the door slid closed behind him, Kali walked to the
control panel and turned the VidSee from a starry sky to a
mirror.

Standing in the middle of the room, she stared at
herself.

Rubbing her eyes, she dragged a hand through her hair. She
looked like something a FetchMe dug up and mauled.

At the thought of Howl, Kali managed a tense smile. Her
companion would wake soon, and that’d make her feel more
grounded.

A high-pitched keening in her ear ripped through several
higher octaves making her wince, and she rubbed her cheek furiously
because touching the actual ear hurt too much.

She grew cold again, and a whisper ghosted through the
room.

Kali spun.

The whisper returned, and this time her heart thumped because
it was that much louder.

Blood thundered in her head, and her heart tried to punch
through her chest. The hairs on her neck prickled as her gaze
roamed the room. Her head was
killing
her. The throbbing ache
returned with vengeance, but she shoved it away and breathed
through the worst of the pressure.

There was no time to be laid up in bed with a
migraine.

Her parents needed her.

“
I’m cosmic,” she muttered, palming her forehead. “I’m just
hungry. Stress and panic are making me lightheaded. Exhaustion
makes people hallucinate. I’m safe. Safe.”

17.

Kenshin’s sombre expression lifted in greeting when Kali
knocked and popped her head into the room.

She entered cautiously, her eyes roving. “This is your
room?”

“
There are only two spare bedrooms. Igor and Max took one, and
Christabella has the other. Lara chose to stay close to what
comforts her, and took a cot into the weapons room. I would rather
claim a space for my own.” He waved a slender hand nonchalantly.
“I’m comfortable.”

The tiled floor gleamed. A steel examination table reflected
the light from the overhead fluorescents. There were two large
mirrors on opposite walls that made the room seem bigger than it
was. A ComUni floated in hibernation, and beside it was a unit of
metal shelves. Resting on top was a ceramic tray holding various
shiny and pointy medical contraptions.

“
The cot beds are surprisingly comfortable,” Kenshin finished
as he switched on the ComUni.

Kali wasn’t convinced, and was beginning to be thankful for
her small room. “It smells like a decontamination
point.”

“
I like it. Please, lie down. I know you’re uneasy, but I truly
have no desire to harm you. The tests won’t take long and will be
painless.” Fingers punching the VirtuaPad with competent speed,
Kenshin noticed her hesitation. He followed her gaze over his
shoulder to a red blinking in the uppermost corner. “Ah. This room
is recorded, as is standard in medical facilities. That is alright
with you?”

“
Um, sure.” Kali dropped down onto the examination table. It
was cold and hard under her butt. Doctors were intimidating. Her
parents had kept her away from them and she’d never really been
hurt in her life to require any healing other than a quick pass of
the FixMe. Fortifying her self with a deep breath, she swung her
legs up and scooted back to lie down. The heels of her hands rested
on her lower stomach, and she plucked at her tunic, wiggled her
feet.

Kali took her mind off it all by indulging her curiosity over
the Hybrids. “Why do Hybrids call the aliens, the Novae,
Creator?”

Kenshin made a pensive face as he swabbed her elbow with clear
disinfectant. He picked up the syringe to take a blood sample, and
the needle hovered over her skin as he answered. “It feels right to
call them that. In my heart, it feels like there is someone
watching over me, a higher being. I am compelled to recognise their
might.” He pricked her. “Have you eaten yet?”

“
No. Blue asked me to wait.”

“
You must be hungry,” Kenshin mused. “When I was beamed back I
was ravenous.” The vile filled with blood and he removed the
needle, swiftly wiping the red bead that welled in its place. He
rubbed a SkinAid onto her skin to seal the pinprick. “There. That’s
all I needed. It’ll take just a few minutes to make sure your
metabolic ranges are within the normal boundaries.”

Anticlimactic
, Kali thought, now
inquisitive as it was clear Kenshin had been telling the truth and
was not going to hurt her. “Are you going to look at my
DNA?”

“
Yes. DNA profiling takes a little longer, but I know what
anomalies to look for. Soon we can put this nasty business behind
us.”

Kali didn’t have anywhere else to be. “Can I stay and
watch?”

“
I’d be glad of the company.”

Kali curled up on the table and propped her hands under her
head. When she shivered, Kenshin passed her the blanket from his
cot. She took it with a thank you and draped it over her lap. “Do
you have anything to eat?”

“
Dumplings and soup? The soup is probably cold, but the
dumplings will be warm.”

Kali nibbled on a meat-filled pastry, and dozed to the sound
of the kind Hybrid shuffling around his room.

Kenshin sat at the desk and entered her samples into the
genetic analyzer. Some time later, he cleared this throat, feeling
quite unwell at what he was seeing.

Kali jerked awake, unsure of how much time had passed.
Yawning, she rubbed the side of her face; embarrassed she might
have been drooling. “Everything standard?”

“
Hmm.” Kenshin rubbed his eyes with his forearm because his
hands were gloved. Beads of sweat studded his upper lip. “Ah. Let’s
do this again.”

He reran the sequencer a number of times and went as far as to
take another blood sample to redo the test. Kali was worried by the
restless and uncomfortable expressions that flitted across his
face.

When the results for the second tests came back, Kenshin eased
himself onto the table next to her and drummed his fingers on his
knees. “The DNA profiling told me nothing so I ran a complete
genome sequencing, twice, and the results are … well I’m not sure
how to explain.”

Kali swung her legs back and forth, the repetitive movement
helping to soothe her panic. “Some–” Clearing her throat, she tried
again. “Something’s wrong with me.”

Blue chose that moment to walk into the room.

“
I don’t have an original sample of your DNA to compare, but
there is a structure all human beings have, and yours doesn’t quite
match.”

“
So… you’re saying that I’m not Human?” Kali’s gaze shifted to
Blue and watched as his body became rigid.

“
If only that
was
the case,” Kenshin
said.

He looked ill at having to explain and that comforted her
somehow. She placed her hand over his. It hadn’t stopped tapping
since he’d sat. “It’s alright,” she assured. “I won’t break. Tell
me.”

“
There are three main building blocks to all life. DNA is one
of them and this is where the problem lies. There is a certain
grace to how it is formed in Humans, in all living things. An
eloquent balance has been reached through millions of years of
evolution.” He paused. “You are Human, this has not changed, but
the structure of your helixes are highly unstable. The hydrogen
bonds are weak and I cannot tell if they are deteriorating or
stabilising.” Kenshin encased her hand in his. “It’s as if they
stripped you to nothing, began piecing you back together then …
stopped. Your redesign is like scaffolding. It wasn’t designed to
last, only support the structure until the build was finished. Your
coding is so basic, so raw, it’s a wonder what’s holding you
together.”

Horrified, she stared at him in utter disbelief. She sucked
down a breath and swallowed a scream. “But– I–” A sob hitched in
her throat.

Kali screeched.

Eyes rounding, dropping her hand, Kenshin scuttled off the
table.

A hurricane of anger, of pain, Kali picked up a beaker and
flung it across the room with a yell. The resulting crash chipped
away at some of her hurt, so she kept going. A concussion was
expected and what she got was a big fat question mark with a bunch
of space crap that equalled
what
exactly? Her body unravelling at the seams? She
pushed the examination table over and kicked it until her foot
numbed. She hurled anything her greedy fingers grabbed and cracked
one of the large mirrors.

Kali’s chest heaved as she stared at the destruction. The rage
abandoned her and she was left disillusioned. “Why me?”

Kenshin shook his head wildly. “I don’t know. You might not be
the only one. Maybe because you were there it was convenient and
they decided to….”

“
Experiment,” she croaked.

She buried her face into her hands and screamed until there
was no air left in her lungs.

“
We’ll fix this,” Blue vowed hoarsely then turned on his heel
and left.

Wiping her tears away, Kali gritted her teeth. This would not
stop her, or drag her down. She would find a way to make herself
better and she would find her parents.

“
We both took that well,” she said finally, feeling guilty when
she took in Kenshin’s distressed expression. “Stars, I’m sorry
about the mess.” She toed a broken piece of glass and winced at the
cracked ComUni screen. “I’ll clean it.”