by Sarah Carter
“Alright.”
“I will take the girls over here,” Mr. Paulson says, gesturing to the right side of the room.
“Why are you taking us over there?” Ariel asks.
“You need to take your shirts off. I can curtain this area off.”
Her jaw drops. “You want us to take your clothes off in front of you?”
“We need to apply the discs.”
Aurora vigorously shakes her head. “No, I’ve never taken my clothes off in front of a guy.”
“They have to be placed in specific spots,” he replies.
“Come on. I will be right there,” Claire says. “I can kick his ass remember?”
They look from Claire to Mr. Paulson and back to Claire. “Fine,” Ariel says.
“Okay, come this way,” Mr. Paulson instructs. When they get to that side of the room, he pulls the curtain around them.
Xander looks at Dr. Galliger. “What do I need to do?”
“Take your shirt off,” he replies. Xander does. “I’m going to apply these sensors on your body.”
He raises an eyebrow. Dr. Galliger applies them on his chest and back. When he goes for his head, Xander jerks back. “What are you doing?”
“Putting these on your temples.”
“Weird.”
“It’s just to measure wavelengths,” Dr. Galliger says. He applies them. “Okay, you can put your shirt back on.”
Sliding it back on, Xander asks, “What now?”
“We turn them on,” Dr. Galliger replies. He takes a computer tablet and presses a few things. Some graphs pop up and Dr. Galliger jerks back.
“What?”
“Hold on a second,” Dr. Galliger mumbles. “Henry.”
Mr. Paulson pulls back the curtain. “What?”
“I’m not going to say anything. Just grab your tablet. Turn the girls on. Tell me what you get.”
He does that. When graphs pop up on his screen, Mr. Paulson says, “What…? I don’t even understand.”
“Will you tell me what you are seeing?” Xander snaps.
“You have completely different energy than us. Like a whole different energy. And Master Damien is right. You’re pulsing.”
“What in the hell does that mean?” Ariel gasps.
“You’re not Neturu.”
“Of course we are,” Ariel snaps. “We are shifters. Last time I checked there are no other shape shifters on the planet.”
“We need blood samples,” Mr. Paulson says. “Who wants to go first?”
Ariel steps forward. “I don’t mind.”
“Okay, sit down and put your arm out.”
She hops up on a table. Dr. Galliger comes over and takes a silver cylinder out. “What’s that?” Ariel asks.
“A syringe.”
“From another planet,” she says. Ariel pauses and then laughs. “You know what I mean.”
“What do the syringes that were used on you look like?” Mr. Paulson asks.
“Like the ones that humans use,” Ariel replies. “Like the ones you see in movies.”
Mr. Paulson tilts his head. “We haven’t used anything like that in over two hundred years. How odd.”
“They look exactly like a regular syringe. Where’s the needle on that?”
“It freaks me out but it pops out, pokes you and then that’s it,” Claire says.
“How do you get blood that way?” Aurora asks. “Don’t you have to draw the blood out?”
“We do. We don’t need that much blood. So the sample is small,” Dr. Galliger explains.
Aurora’s eyebrows go up. “Cool.”
“Ready?” Dr. Galliger asks Ariel. She nods. A light comes on at the end of the tube. He places it on her skin and presses a button.
“Oh!” Ariel says. “That’s so weird.”
“That’s what I said,” Claire laughs. “Half of what they do boggles my mind.”
“Okay, let’s see what you are,” Dr. Galliger says. He hands the sample to Mr. Paulson.
Mr. Paulson drops a little bit on a slide and then puts it in a computer panel. There is some beeping and then a bunch of charts appear on a screen.
“What does that all mean?” Xander asks.
Dr. Galliger and Mr. Paulson just stare at the screen. “Umm,” Dr. Galliger hums.
“What does it mean?” Xander snaps.
“You are part Neturu,” Dr. Galliger replies.
“Part? What else are we?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know. We’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s an entirely different strand.”
“DNA?”
“Sort of,” Mr. Paulson says softly, reading things on the screen. “How incredibly odd.”
“Thanks,” Xander mumbles.
“Okay, I need Aurora’s and Xander’s blood samples.”
Dr. Galliger takes them. They slide them into the computer too. “Well now, that’s just odd.”
“What is?” Damien asks.
“The other genetic strand is exactly the same in all three.”
“That means we are related,” Ariel suggests.
“You and Aurora are identical twins. You match perfectly, but the odd thing is, Xander has half of your genetic make-up. So, technically, he is part of you too.”
Everyone is silent for a moment. “Like I’m sort of their twin,” Xander suggests.
“No, not exactly,” Dr. Galliger replies. “You definitely share the same make-up. So, you are somewhat…”
“Yeah! You really are our brother,” Aurora gleefully yells. She runs over and tackles Xander, giving him the biggest hug. “I’m so happy.”
“I wonder if all of the kids are related,” Damien whispers. “If they are engineered it would make sense.” He pauses. “So, now the big question, can we find them?”
Mr. Paulson touches a few things on the computer screen. A graph shows up with a moving line. It has a rhythmical pulse. He touches the graph and moves it to the side of the screen. Mr. Paulson then pulls up another graph. The line on this one has a smooth flow. “On the left is Xander. On the right is Master Damien. Do you see the differences between the energies?”
“Wow, we really are different,” Ariel sighs.
“I wish you could scan us,” Xander declares. “I wonder what our insides look like.”
Dr. Galliger stares at the screen. “I want to try something.”
“What?”
“I wonder if we made adjustments to the energy signal if you would show up.”
“Can you do that?” Xander asks.
“We can try,” Dr. Galliger says. “Come on. We have to go to the next room.”
Everyone gets up and follows him there. There is a scanner archway in the dead center of the room. Mr. Paulson and Dr. Galliger walk over to a computer panel with a large computer screen. Dr. Galliger leans over and whispers something to Mr. Paulson. “That may work,” Mr. Paulson says. He starts to touch things on the screen.
Xander raises his eyebrows because he can’t even grasp what Mr. Paulson is doing. Dr. Galliger turns around. “Alright, we made some adjustments. Who wants to walk through the scanner?”
“I will,” Xander replies. He walks over to the scanner. “Just walk through?”
“Yup,” Mr. Paulson says. Xander steps through and the scanner immediately shuts down. “Damn. Let’s try this again. I’m going to make a few more adjustments.” He turns and presses a few things on the screen. “Okay, walk through.”
He does again. Suddenly, twenty things pop up on the screen. One is a picture of Xander’s body. Everyone is deadly quiet as they stare at the picture.
“What is that?” Ariel exhales.
“I’m not sure,” Dr. Galliger replies. He starts to press things on the screen. “It seems like an energy source. I think this is where your energy comes from.”
Xander stares at the screen. In the center of his chest is a circular disc. The inside and edges are pulsing a blue light. “Holy crap,” he exhales. “What ar
e we?”
"I can only make guesses," Mr. Paulson says. "But, if I were going to make a guess I would say that you are part Neturu but you can't create energy so someone created it for you."
Mr. Paulson starts to touch things on the screen. Xander's scan is blown up. "What is all of that?" Xander asks.
"It seems to be tiny wires to your brain."
"What!" Ariel gasps. "No, creepy, don't say things like that."
"It must be what carries the current. This disc sends energy to your brain which then sends out the energy in your body. It needs to be a pulse, not a current. This is extraordinary. The brilliance that had to go into this."
"It's not extraordinary," Ariel cries. "We are freaks."
"Listen, so am I," Claire says.
"You're at least Neturu."
Claire shakes her head. "Yes, but no. I'm Neturu but my genetic makeup is different. There hasn't been a succubus in hundreds of years. Hundreds. I'm just as big of a freak, because there is no one like me. I'm a succubus. I am it. Just me. There probably won't be another one of me for a long time."
“That’s true.”
“It’s very true. You are unique. That’s kind of cool. There’s no one else like you guys.”
Ariel gets a sudden sad look on her face. “This means…”
“What?” Xander asks.
“This means we can’t have kids. We really are engineered. I will never have kids of my own. And if Mason is half of my genetic makeup. That would make him my brother. I can’t be in love with my brother.”
"We don't know that for sure. Don’t get the idea in your head when we don’t even know if it’s true,” Damien says, putting a hand on her shoulder. Ariel still looks defeated.
Claire asks, “What does he look like?”
Ariel looks up at her and smiles. “Dark blonde hair and gorgeous hazel eyes.”
Gesturing her hands to Xander, Claire says, “So unlike Xander, he looks nothing like you.”
“No,” Ariel replies, as she shakes her head.
Fear bubbles in his chest and Xander asks, “Trin looks like me though.”
Mr. Paulson finally steps forward and puts up his hands, “You’re looking at this like humans. We’re not. Xander isn’t technically your blood brother. You’re just the same mix of two different species. The other strand is identical but we don’t even know what else you are. We don’t have the same genetic makeup as humans. You’re related but not like you’re thinking.”
Ariel stops wringing her hands. “So, it’s not weird?”
“No,” Mr. Paulson replies. “You’re not in love with a blood relative.”
She points to Xander. “But you called him my brother.”
Tilting his head, Mr. Paulson smiles. “He is in the context that you are of the same species, or mix of species.”
Out of nowhere, Aurora interjects, “Kenga.”
Damien turns to her with a raised eyebrow, “What?”
Aurora nods her head and firmly says, “I bet we are part Kenga.”
With a slight roll of his eyes and a sigh, Damien says, “I’ve told you, that’s impossible.”
Dr. Galliger says, “What are you talking about?”
“They were supposedly taught a lot about the Kenga. They were told that Neturu were married to Kenga. That they could have intercourse.”
Xander nods in agreement. “Babies wouldn’t last that long, only months.”
Mr. Paulson presses his lips together and looks like he is thinking. “We have no information that could make that true.”
“What if we are right? What if we are part Kenga?”
“Xander, it’s not as easy as that,” Dr. Galliger states.
His jaw drops and Xander exclaims, “Not easy! We are engineered. We’re not even fully Neturu. How do we know we aren’t? What else can we be? We’re not half human.”
Everyone is quiet for a moment, before Claire pipes in. “That’s a really good point. What else could they be? We have only come in contact with two humanoid species. Kenga and Homo-sapiens.”
Now, everyone is super quiet and wide eyed, looking at each other. Damien finally asks, “Could it be true?”
Dr. Galliger nods his head. “Claire has made a really good point. What else could they be?”
Claire starts, “What if…?”
“What?” Damien counters.
“What if The Collector is some descendent of someone who was actually in love with a Kenga.”
Xander adds, “What if we are right?”
Ariel stands up straight and thrusts her hands out. “What if it’s The Collector? What if they are the one who wiped out the mainframe?”
Raising his eyebrow, Damien says, “Hundreds of years ago?”
“Wouldn’t it make sense that it was The Collector?”
Damien half laughs, “The Collector is hundreds of years old? Kenga…maybe, and I mean maybe. An immortal Neturu…that’s just silly.”
“The Collector knows so much history about the Kenga,” Xander interjects. “Neturu, too. We are ourselves are impossible. We have to look at what else may be possible. What if we are part Kenga? Why would someone, through engineering, want to combine the species? It makes no sense. They would have to have some vital interest, not just curiosity. Who engineers children for nothing better to do? Why cross with Kenga and not humans. There are billions of humans on this planet. No Kenga.”
Mr. Paulson starts to rub his forehead. “This blows my mind because it makes sense. They very well might be part Kenga.”
Crossing her arms, Claire asks, “How could we find out if that’s true?”
“I will have to think about that.”
“There’s no similarities between humans and the Neturu, right?” Damien asks.
Dr. Galliger shakes his head. “There’s no similarities between anything on this planet and us. Even the forms we take. We live on energy. Nothing on this planet is comparable to that.”
“What about the Kenga?” Claire inquires slowly. “Could there be similarities? We’re from the same planet.”
“We don’t have data,” Mr. Paulson says, tapping his finger to his lip, looking deep in thought.
Aurora finally says, “How can you say they are such an evil species if we have no information on them?”
Damien puts his hand to his chest, “We do have info on the war. We have our history.”
Crossing his arms, Xander says, “So, it’s all one sided.”
Mr. Paulson finally pipes in. “We really shouldn’t be talking to you about this.”
“We are going on trust and it’s my decision,” Damien says. “We have detailed history of the war. Between attacks and deaths it was very apparent that they wanted us annihilated.”
“Our point is that they weren’t all like that. There were some Kenga who didn’t want a war. Neturu were married to Kenga,” Ariel interjects.
With a slight roll of his eyes, Damien says, “Let’s not get into that debate. Let’s start with what you might be. It seems crazy but we must consider you’re part Kenga.”
Dr. Galliger looks at him. “Even they are part Kenga, how do we explain all their abilities?”
“I don’t know.”
“If we don’t know much about the Kenga, how do we know they can’t do these things, or could along the way?” Ariel replies.
Damien shakes his head. “The super shifting has nothing to do with the Kenga.”
“What if it’s a latent Neturu gene? Twins aren’t that common with Neturu. Rare even. So, what if it’s latent, like Claire’s succubus gene?”
“Well…” Damien starts.
Claire’s hand flies to her chest, “Oh my god. If they made another succubus.”
“We are jumping ahead of ourselves here,” Damien says, putting his hand on her.
Xander says, “We’ve had years to think about this. We make no sense, but you can’t create abilities.”
“We can’t merge species either,” Damien counters.
“That makes more sense than The Collector being all, ‘You shall be able to turn into energy and jump.’ POOF!” Xander dramatically gestures.
Claire starts to laugh. “Maybe The Collector is really a wizard. An evil wizard.”
“Well, they have to be a super genius. Even off the charts for Neturu.”
Mr. Paulson nods. “I will agree on that. I’m our head scientist.”
Smiling, Damien says, “One of the smartest Neturu alive.”
“I could come up with some ideas on engineering but executing them would take years. It would need a team of scientists working on it full time.”
Aurora nods towards her sister. “I agree with Ariel. The Collector is older than dirt.”
Damien throws his hands up. “That sounds insane.”
She turns to Damien. “How could they do all of this? You don’t learn that much in one lifetime.”
Sputtering, Damien says, “Just…what!”
Ariel sides with her sister. “Even if it was a child after child after child. Are they all geniuses? I know we are smart but we’re not all that smart.”
Claire raises her hand. “I’m proof of that. My parents and brother are way smarter than me.”
“Also, if this is generations, how has no one slipped up? How do you know nothing about any of them? Somewhere down the line the family would have been known.”
“Where are you getting these ideas from?” Damien asks.
Xander smirks. “We’ve had a lot of time to think about it.”
“You know honey, it sounds crazy but it sort of makes sense,” Claire says.
Turning his gaze to her, Damien raises his eyebrow. “An immortal Neturu. Really?”
Aurora jumps in. “What if they aren’t immortal, but age super, super slow.”
“All of this is going to make my brain explode. Boom!” He gestures out with his hands.
Dr. Galliger smirks, “Let’s concentrate on one thing at a time. First, we need to figure out what they are.”
“Kenga,” Ariel offers, with a curt nod.
“That’s something we would have to test.”
“How?” Damien asks.
Everyone is silent, obviously thinking. Mr. Paulson taps his finger against his lip in deep concentration. Finally, he says, “We have the make-up of every life form on Jiub. There may be one constant throughout. If there is and we find it in the other strand, it would almost prove that you’re part Kenga.”